“It’s too late. I can’t change what he did or what he’s become.”
Mau bent down and gazed into Trevor with a wry grin.
“The bridge moves backward, sideways, and forward.”
“What? Even to the future? How?”
“Enzathi is not ephemeral. Enzathi is always of a bridge.”
Trevor didn’t understand, but he recognized why Mau Ping never accepted the proposal.
“If I do this, I lose myself. The people I love won’t see me the same way.”
“Incorrect. You will not see them the same way. What you will see is greater. The Enzathi will shape you as a current against the waves. So fluid are the streams between the stars.”
Trevor froze.
“Nexus told me and Kieran Haas the same thing. What do those words mean?”
“Accept the proposal,” Mau said, “and you will see.”
Trevor closed his eyes and whispered.
“I won’t play from behind anymore.”
He made a decision.
25
Epilogue
MX Transport Dalliance
SHAD ABDELMANI LIKED TO PAINT. He ran a dry brush across an empty canvas in his beautifully apportioned quarters. Colors and patterns emerged, seen only within his mind’s eye. Some paintings reminded him of his childhood home before the family estate. Others drew upon his countless travels and those rare glimpses of beauty among the vast rot.
When the urge arose, he focused on bridges.
Today marked one of those times. A sudden, blistering thrill excited his blood and tickled his fingers while watching the many holos. He rushed to the canvas and lifted the brush.
He prepared to create a masterpiece joining the impossible.
Naturally, Shad was interrupted.
The door slid open. Malik entered.
“We’re fifteen minutes out, Father. Raul confirmed he’ll be there.”
“Perfect. We have a great deal to navigate. And please, set aside your anxiety about Raul. He’ll be a gentleman. I promise.”
“Not likely, but I’ll give him a chance.”
“Thank you, Son. The fires are lit. We’re almost there.”
After Malik retreated, Shad studied the canvas again but realized the inspiration had passed.
He was OK with it. He painted so many other bridges.
Shad set down the brush and made a cup of tea.
“The timing is perfect. Don’t you agree?”
An internal echo replied:
“The Enzathi agrees.”
He added a pinch of sugar to the tea.
“I dared hope the right one might accept the proposal.”
“Soon, he will see. Then he will know.”
All those amazing journeys. And to think, it began that day in Philadelphia Redux with those two boys.
“The odds were incalculable.”
Shad’s internal echo replied:
“So fluid are the streams between the stars.”
