SAM

  “Honey?”

  Ree dropped my hand as her partner wandered in, pulling her into a hug and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. The easy intimacy caught me off guard, and I forgot my confidence in the presence of this tall stranger.

  “Jax, how you feelin,’ baby?” Ree asked softly. The two of them made my heart melt.

  “Like I need a mint tea,” Jax rolled their eyes. “Anyone need a refill?”

  Cora and I followed our hosts into the kitchen, Jax muttering. “Stomach cramps on top of everything else, hon, but that’ll be alright. It’s the goddamned wind chimes waking me up again.” They tapped their temple.

  I was completely lost about what was going on. Unease crept up my spine, earlier bravado forgotten.

  Jax looked at me with soft eyes, “No need to worry. I talk nonstop for Ree’s benefit. Otherwise, I forget to, so don’t mind the constant prattle.” They laughed, and I felt warm watching their Adam’s apple bobbing and chest shaking.

  Jax was almost a foot taller than Ree. Thin. With very pale skin, dark eyes, and nearly black hair in a long mohawk cascading down over their ears.

  The effect was something like a metal musician housed in a ghostly waif—and hold on a minute! I was supposed to be feeling creeped out, but I wasn’t.

  “You’re doing that!” I accused, eyes narrowed.

  “You blame me?” Jax asked, one eyebrow raised. “You’re in my home, practically boiling over with anxiety. And I have stomach cramps while my great-grandmother whispers like ridiculous wind chimes in my dreams.”

  They stirred honey into a mug, reciting that odd list of nightly goings on as though I should understand any of it. What the fuck was happening?

  “Ooookay,” Cora said, hands raised in front of her. “Let’s back up a sec? You’re Jax, right? And, if I had to guess, I’d say you’re a telepath. But one with different sensibilities than what we’ve experienced, because most people don’t go around coating us in happy juice.”

  Jax shrugged. “You’re consenting.”

  “How do you figure?” I spat.

  “If you weren’t, you wouldn’t feel it. I’m not a miracle worker. You like me. I like you. You’re my wife’s friends, and she’s really content. So I let some of my gratitude spill over, and you waded around in it like it’s the best puddle of your life. Don’t blame me if you like feeling happy,” Jax finished matter of factly.

  I giggled, and I couldn’t stop. The whole conversation was the oddest, most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard, and I wished desperately that I could write it down in a story.

  Cora slid an arm through mine and pulled me over to the auto.

  “I think another chamomile tea would be perfect,” she said, filling our mugs again. “Jax, I dunno what you are, but I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone like you. And we’ve got some major issues going on, so could you try to keep the bonkers turned down a bit? Hmm? Is that an option?”

  Jax grinned, “Not many people bother asking me to be normal these days. Challenge accepted.”

  “So, your gran is on the wind tonight, babe?” Ree asked her partner.

  “I’ve just promised to be normal, hon, so maybe that convo can be had later?”

  Ree laughed. “Fine, fine. Sam, Cora, if you’d like to head home, I don’t blame you. We’re a lot, but there’s something I’d like to show you.”

  I actually didn’t wanna go home. I wasn’t tired. I was invigorated! And Jax was so odd, I couldn’t get enough.

  “Since you’re not a man standing next to a porter offering me candy, I’m gonna say, ‘Yes.' What’re we looking at, Ree?” Cora accepted.

  “Come on,” she motioned us back into the living room and opened a cabinet lined with shelves, several of them holding books. “That’s my collection. I’ve spent years finding everything I could. Trying to piece together a framework to understand who I’m up against. Jax is—“ she looked at her partner, grinning ruefully.

  “Jax has a way of thinking about things that’s not always easy to follow. What matters to me doesn’t often occur to my mate, so I’d actually love to see what the two of you come up with when you—“

  “Duvald?” I asked in shock, eagerly pulling one of the books from the bottom shelf.

  I sat down on the floor, and Cora joined me, grabbing another volume.

  “History: Fact or Fiction?” I asked dubiously.

  “The Statistical Significance of Erotica?” Cora wondered, and Jax laughed straight out as Ree giggled gleefully.

  We went through the rest of the books on the shelf, calling out their names. “Plebrum History With Flare!”

  “Art and Culture, Synthesized.”

  “To Train The Brain: Analysis Makes Cents!”

  “Coherence: Themes and Techniques.”

  “Brutality As Method.”

  “What the fuck?” I finished, baffled. “Sorchen Duvald wrote all of these books and gave them nonsense titles?”

  I waved the volume in my hand, “Brutality As Method? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “So, you’ve heard of Sorchen Duvald, then?” Ree asked, one eyebrow cocked.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  I wondered if I’d given too much away. Should I trust Ree and Jax with what we’d learned on Shurwinn? This whole night was spinning out of control. I opted to look dumbfounded since it wasn’t untrue.

  Cora took another tactic, “You said you weren’t born here, right, Ree? What was your birth world?”

  Nice deflection, love.

  Ree nodded, obviously approving of the topic change. “Pingmai in the Seqran system. You saw that book titled Plebrum History With Flare? The system I’m from is next door to Plebrum—“

  That meant she was from somewhere close to Shurwinn, and possibly. . .

  “And my ancestors were Earthen. From China,” Ree finished, willing us to understand something.

  She was giving us so much information, but I still wasn’t sure how much I should say in return. I didn’t wanna give away what I’d learned on Shurwinn.

  “So, you’re Indian? Do you speak Hindi? Or English?” I asked, confused.

  The whole time we’d been talking, it was in Universal, and her accent sounded nothing like people from back home.

  Ree cackled, “You have no idea, do you? The actual history of what happened after Earth joined the 9 Galaxies?”

  At the blank looks on mine and Cora’s faces, Jax and Ree turned to each other, laughing gleefully. As if we’d stumbled on a longstanding joke.

  “They really don’t know!” Ree laughed. “The Earthens are completely clueless!”

  “Uh, reminder! You said you’d tone down the crazy,” Cora complained. “What don’t the stupid, goddamned Earthens know?”

  Ree pulled herself together with obvious effort, pointing to me. “Right, grab the Plebrum History, and let’s move to the sofas.”

  We settled down, and I pulled the blanket back over my lap while Ree went on.

  “You can read the whole thing, and it’s really good. But the maps are the best way to explain what you don’t know about your own world.”

  I followed her instructions, finding flagged pages. The first pink marker had a two-page colorful map of Earth spreading across it.

  I recognized the continents of my home world instantly. Oddly, the map was simple, like something from a children’s story book. I flipped to the next marked page and found another map that looked something like a star chart.

  “Gods,” I grumbled. “I don’t even know Milky Way’s constellations. How’re we supposed to make sense of Andromeda’s star charts, Cor?”

  “Keep flipping the pages?” she shrugged.

  I did and found a different map of Earth, this one more familiar. Turning back to the first Earthen map, I compared the two. The first one was pre-2337. The second post-2337.

  The year Earth joined the Known Cosmos Trade Guilds.

  I flipped back and forth from map to map, comparing the colors. Five-hundred plus years ago, Earth joined the 9 Galaxies, laying down weapons in favor of new tech and trade agreements with the rest of the Cosmos.

  The map boundaries changed.

  I handed the book off to Cora, closing my eyes and trying to remember the history. “How did it go, Cor? We joined the Guilds, then Earthens left to scour the Cosmos for trade partners and new goods? Or to seek adventure? Scientific knowledge? People left in droves, right?”

  She shook her head, “That’s what they told us, but Sam, remember—“

  She broke off, obviously not wanting to talk about Shurwinn.

  “There are stories about Shurwinn,” Jax prompted, and I looked at them sharply.

  Jax was obviously a telepath but had different ethics than Pitch and Bitsy Joon. Probably something like Ree with her hacking skills.

  Hells bells, the two of them were unnerving.

  I tried again, “So, Earthens spread out all over the Known Cosmos, and the economy shifted.”

  Cora brought the book over. “I’ve never seen a map like this Sam. Did you know America used to be this tiny?”

  “The Americas weren’t united?” I asked in wonder, seeing the map of the ancient world with the two continents divided into a zillion separate countries.

  Cora flipped to the post-2337 map, and the borders were familiar. Two American continents under one name: America.

  Five-hundred years had passed, and nothing was any different. Canada, Brazil, everything just as it should be.

  I glanced at Arabia, Europe, and India.

  The difference between the ancient map and today’s was astounding. Arabia used to be called Africa? And the eastern portion wasn’t part of any cooperative? India was so small!

  “China?” Cora read dubiously. “It was independent? Not Indian? How did it survive? And Korea? Were these really all separate states? That would be like Tennessee or Florida trying to survive on their own.”

  Ree laughed, and I was just as confused as Cora.

  Our host took the book, closing it, and wrapped Cora’s hands around it. “Read. It won’t be spelled out for you. Sorchen never said anything outright, and she was wise to be vague. But I can tell you this: my people left China, and they were not alone. Do you have any idea how many ‘adventure-seekers’ as you called them went out from Earth five-hundred years ago?”

  The question should have been obvious, but Cora and I turned to each other, grimacing.

  I had no idea.

  “People left,” I started slowly, and Cora picked up my thread.

  “So many that the nations joined together into conglomerates suitable for Trade Guild structure, ensuring equal profitability. But Sam?” she asked. “Did anyone ever tell you how many Earthens left?”

  I shook my head, feeling uneasy and suddenly terribly worried. Cora and I'd set out from our cottage hoping to find holes in history, but I didn’t expect our own to be incomplete.

  “I have no idea, Cor.”

  I whirled to Jax and Ree, holding out the book. “Is it in here? Where? Please? Tell us! We don’t know our own sphere’s history!”

  I wished I didn’t sound so desperate. But Jax came over, placing warm hands on my shoulders.

  “You’ll be alright, Sam. Sorchen doesn’t lay things out in straight lines, and I don’t know if anyone will ever find the exact number. That’s the problem, and that’s the solution.”

  The dark eyes from pale skin looking into mine held kindness, grace, and fortitude, and something in them strengthened me.

  “Sorchen didn’t give a count, and we probably won’t find one on stream,” I looked from Jax to Cora, wondering aloud. “Because the Guilds don’t want us to know our own history, do they?” I asked softly.

  Cora stepped forward, taking the book from my hands and pulling me close. “It’s ancient history, Sam, and what we do know is this: so many people left Earth that the entire world collapsed into four Guilds. America, Arabia, Europe, and India. It was probably billions who left. What was the old name for Arabia? Africa? And China was its own country?”

  Cora paused, turning to Ree. “You said your people migrated from China? Do you know more about them? Really, we have Chinese food delivery, and I love Mushu Pork, but beyond that, I—this is really embarrassing.”

  Ree grinned, “Pretty much everyone left, as far as I can tell. I’ve searched far and wide, and this is one of those areas where there’s a huge gap in data. The records don’t exist, but the worlds the people settled do. I can tell you with confidence that the Chinese who fled Earth colonized other worlds and were successful.”

  That sounded exactly like Shurwinn, but I didn’t say so out loud. I nodded to Ree, knowing Jax could probably pick the thoughts out of my mind. “It adds up, then. The maps in this book, and your families’ heritage."

  I took the book back from Jax, running my fingers over the cover. The true history of Earth had been hidden from time, and that was a clue.

  Someone didn’t want us to know our own story.

  Why?

  “Can we come back and read these books another day, Ree?” I asked, feeling the weight of the day pressing my eyelids and wishing I was in bed with Cora—burdens forgotten.

  “Come back? Stars, girl, take them with you. They aren’t priceless treasures! They’re fucking books!” she scoffed, grabbing tote bags and shoving the collection in.

  We headed for the door, Cora and I carrying what felt like the mother load.

  I paused, turning to our hosts. “My life is weird, and I can say with absolute honesty that this has been the oddest night I’ve ever experienced.”

  Jax bowed, “Glad to be of service. Don’t be strangers, ladies, my great-grandmother is quite certain you’re going to be needed for what comes next.”

  “Great,” Cora said flatly. “Let’s end with bonkers talk. Bye, friends,” she waved.

  I slid an arm through Cora’s and stepped into the cold night, grateful for the cold wind biting my cheeks reminding me that sometimes life was just about putting one foot in front of the other fast enough to get home before the frostbite set in.