The influences of World War Two are felt throughout the story and it adds a certain grounding that is missing from some fantasy films. As much as there are some things that bother me about the story, it is extremely well-crafted.
Score: 1
Characters
When I first watched it, I disliked the boys but rewatching it, I see the struggles they have both in family and in a world that expects them to do nothing.
The rest of the cast was great, and despite not being a huge fan of the voice of the lion, it isn’t as bad as I remember.
One thing that really bothered me was the stereotype of “beauty is good and ugly is bad”. They went out of their way to make all the good guys look pretty and all the villains, except the witch, ugly.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue is mostly from the book and I’m really glad they removed some of the sexist language. The banter between the characters was nice and family-like.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The special effects, sets, and camera work hold up extremely well for a twenty-year-old movie. The clothing and armour are fantastic and it’s easy to forget that the animals are CGI.
The music is epic and really sucks you into the story.
Score: 1
Fun
Jen and I had seen the movie a few times already and knew we liked it. It was really cool to watch the kids watch it. They both liked it but said it was a little scary.
Score: 1
Overall
A classic story done extremely well. The acting, music, and special effects hold up twenty years later.
Typing in 2025 feels like I’m writting some far off date not the actual year. Not sure I’m in love with the future as it is but let’s concentrate on the things that we can control.
This year, I’m going to be extra ambitious with my resolutions. (Quick reminder, my resolutions are goals that are meant to push me.)
1. Write The Hounds of Bakerville
I have a basic outline and I’m going to start re-reading the first four to get back into it. It’s kind of exciting to be working on the penultimate book in the series.
2. Write a serial story
I’m not sure what I’m writing this year, but I will try to get a 1000 word chapter out each month. This is going to be the twelfth year I do it.
3. Master 1 song on the ukulele and record it.
I wrote a song for Elizabeth 4 and set up the chords, but between the colds and the medical issues, I didn’t get really good at it. I’m going to do my best to get good enough to record it.
4. Read at least 12 books
Last year I crushed my reading challenge and I’m hoping I can do the same this year. 12 might not sound ambitious but it is.
5. Build my new book nook and lego
Three years ago for Christmas I got a Magical Cafe book nook. Over the three years I’ve made it to page 17 of 40ish I think. There’s so much painting and gluing and it’s really hard. This year, my sister in-law took pity and got me another one that doesn’t need the paint or the glue. Maybe this will help build my confidence.
I also got an epic Van Gogh’s Starry Night LEGO set. It has a lot of pieces.
6. Feel less guilty
2024 was a busy year and now that I’m feeling better, I have more time that isn’t just for recovering. I’m having trouble taking that time for me and not feeling bad about it. It’s not selfish to read, it’s not selfish to watch a show on my own, it’s not selfish to do things for me. I know that, but I’m having trouble shutting up the little voice in my head.
7. Design and deploy a new coffee flavour for Ottawa Comic Con in September
I have an idea what it’s going to be, so this should be easy.
8. Plan and plot out the first in a cozy mystery series
I have this idea for a series of short cozy mysteries. The hope is to make them around 40 thousand words and just have fun. It would also give me the chance to play around with self-publishing. The idea would be to write this after Elizabeth 5 before I jump right into the final book.
9. Organize a massive birthday party and book release
10. Keep fighting to learn more about myself and how to make my life easier
I have learned a lot about my body and mind this year, and I know I have a lot of work, both to improve my health and to accept what and who I am. More details in a future post.
I hope that everyone has a productive, healthy, and good 2025.
Adorable meddling mothers and a sweet romance. I love the symmetry between the relationships. That being said, it’s just two different tropes smushed together.
Score: 0.5
Characters
The mothers had incredible comedic chemistry and the love interests were adorable. Both sets together worked great. The dad and brother were entertaining as well.
I do hate when all the drama comes from a misunderstanding or a character not keeping a secret. It felt a little forced.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue is funny, flirty, and cute. I liked the multiple jokes about the mothers being witches.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The snow was ridiculously fake and a few scenes were obviously filmed in summer. But the camera work and the scenes were well done and excellently decorated.
The music did it’s job and accentuated when it was needed. Could have used more holiday music though.
Score: 1
Fun
This was a nice break from the traditional angsty holiday movie. It was sweet and everyone but the 5yo loved it. He thought it was boring.
Score: 1
Overall
A fun and rewatchable holiday movie that avoids the angst often associated with romance. It thrives off the chemistry and charisma of the mothers.
We finished in early December and it’s with beta readers now. We should be submitting it early in the year.
4. Clean up FADDS and continue the re-skin towards making the Aetherverse the default setting. (Fail)
I’ve done a lot of work but there’s a lot of cleaning and work to do.
5. Play more Ukulele and Bass (Fail)
I’ve maybe touched each once every few weeks. I want to practise more but it’s hard to find the time.
6. Work weekly on my magical café (Fail)
I really have started to loathe this thing. I need to do more work on it… sigh
7. Read at least 10 books (Success)
I’ve managed 25 books this year and I’m happy with the success. I still need to work on the guilt I feel when I read but I’m trying.
8. Be kind to myself (Success)
I’ve discovered a few things that have helped me understand myself and I’m working through that emotionally but it makes being kind to myself easier. It’s still a fight but I’m getting there.
9. Find time for me (Fail)
I feel like I relied on the mythical “free weekend” too much and didn’t set aside time for myself. I need to learn to internalize that it’s okay to do things for just me and not work, hobbies, family, or writing.
I haven’t missed a week since I started and I have a few set up for next year. It is a little stressful now that all my favourite Halloween and Christmas movies are done but I’m enjoying it and think I’ll continue next year.
Six successes and four fails. 60% is good. I do these to push myself and hold myself accountable and I think I did good. I still need to work on my own needs to avoid burnout.
A few months later Suzie and I were relaxing on a beach on Earth. Zuri and the Galahad had returned to their home to try and organize the survivors. Where Zuri went, the Myrddin followed. Diamond Stars and the crew of The Revenge returned home with the remnants of Black Sun to try and fix the harm they’d done. Captain Ng and the crew of the Warship Ennill had stayed to learn all they could from the various people.
The other speakers and people of the Sun fleet were given the chance to stay with a quarter of them doing so and the rest returning to their systems.
With all the technology we’d gained, travel between systems was going to be a regular thing now. The universe had shrunk significantly.
I was enjoying the feel of clear water on my toeswhen we got a call.
“I shouldn’t answer it,” I said.
“They won’t stop,” Suzie replied. She’d seen it was the Hey Sunny Too.
“What is it?” I asked into the coms.
“The Gate activated, get up here,” Adric replied and we had no choice but to get the shuttle and head back to our new ship.
The gate dated from the beginning of the universe and seemed to emit a kind of power we couldn’t recognize. Sol didn’t know what it was. Of course I installed it on my ship.
Once we were aboard, Adric said, “The gate activated and a crude robot came through, left this, and then went back in. The whole thing lasted less than a minute.”
He handed me a nicely embossed piece of paper that had a tree on it. As I stared, the words swam and formed, Yggdrasil Command Aether Earth. If your atmosphere is safe for us, we shall visit you in 24 hours. It was followed by a complex mathematical algorithm.
Adric anticipated my confusion and said, “It’s a formula for figuring out what their 24 hours means using the speed of light and the emission frequency of a hydrogen atom.” He stopped there and I gave him a quizzical look. “Oh. It’s close to our Earth but their day is roughly 80 milliseconds longer than ours which means they are probably from an alternate reality Earth that is further in the past.”
I blinked a few times and asked, “How do you get that from a simple calculation?”
“It wasn’t simple, and I also analyzed the note. It has massive quantities of microplastics and greenhouse gases which was typical of Old-Earth.”
I nodded and said, “I’m impressed. How long do we have?”
“Ten minutes. You really took your time.”
Suzie wanted us to greet them remotely but I figured if we’re going to meet interdimensional aliens, we should do it in person.
The gate lit up with blue energy that looked like waves, which was different from our jumpgates that just shimmered silver.
Two people walked through, a man and a woman in what looked like pseudo-military garb. He had dark skin, was tall, broad, and his long brown hair was streaked with grey and tied in a bun on the top of his head. The woman with him was also tall, but had white skin and blonde hair, just starting to turn white.
They didn’t look like any military I’d met and there was a strange power about them.
The man smiled and it was obvious from the creases in his face that he did it a lot. He moved forward and spoke gibberish.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand you,” I said. I was surprised, we’d installed a translator designed by the Children of the Stars, and it was able to translate almost anything.
The woman said a few words, pointed at Suzie, and at Suzie’s sword.
“I think she wants you to talk about your sword?” I said.
“I don’t want to tell them about my sword,” Suzie said, sounding almost offended.
The man held his hand out for a handshake and said, “Thank you, our translations need two native speakers and a few sentences to parse the language. I am Agent Jason Johnson and this is Agent Kennedy Johnson.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shook his muscular hand. “I’m Hal the Sun Speaker, this is Suzie, and this is Adric. You are on my ship in orbit around our Earth.”
The woman smiled broadly and said, “I love it when it’s a spaceship gate. It’s always so cool.”
“I don’t want to be rude, but why are you here and where did you come from?” These two were likeable, but seemed genuine and not fake.
“We’re from Aether Earth and we’re here with a warning. The Mulciber are coming.”
The word meant nothing to me, but it triggered a vision from Sol. I stood on a tall mountain on Mars and watched as a silver serpent of massive size decimated the Martian military.
At least it was less disgusting than the void-beasts, but it looked like I had another threat to prepare for.
While you wait for the next serial story, check out the previous ones:
A standard buddy-cop action movie dressed up for the holidays. It has some facinating world building and leaves some unfortunate story threads. (Why bring up that the kid didn’t know his father if it wasn’t important?)
Score: 0.5
Characters
At first, I thought the characters were flat, but around half-way through the movie, I started to see their depth… for an action movie anyway.
The two main heroes were the disillusioned cop and the criminal with a heart of gold.
The supernaturals were far more interesting. Their take on Santa was fun and interesting, and I’d love to see more about M.O.R.A.
Score: 1
Dialogue
There were plenty or great quips and ridiculous dialogue said with a straight face. The speech from Jack to his son at the end was nice and heartfelt.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The visuals were great. Lots of over-the-top action and special effects. The fight scenes and camera work were done cleanly and made it easy to follow.
The music was good but could have been done so much better by integrating more holiday music into the action scenes.
Score: 0.5
Fun
This was a movie made for fun. Everyone in the family liked it and we all finished with a smile. It also had a lot of great supernatural and fantasy elements that made me happy.
Score: 1
Overall
This is a Christmas action movie mixed with a fantasy. It’s not the most original plot, but the setting and action is worth the watch.
Saturday the 13th of December, 2003 – Westmeath, Ontario
Running over to them, Jason checked the boy’s pulse and it was extremely weak but still present. “It’s not petrification. They’re fine.”
“Wasn’t there a tree in the middle of the dance floor?” Kennedy asked, before shouting, “Duck!”
Over a year of training together and a trust built on saving each other’s lives countless times meant he dropped to the floor without thinking about it. The silvery ball that would have hit him in the shoulders flew past and hit Dr. Amita. She froze on the spot, her face contorted in confusion.
People screamed and would have panicked but Kennedy said, “Everyone please move toward the exit in an orderly fashion.” Westmeath had enough strange things happening that people walked quickly but not fast enough to hurt each other. There were still quite a few people left, all frozen.
“Where did that come from?” he asked as he kicked up from the ground and landed on his feet.
“The tree,” Kennedy said, “But I’m not sure which one.” She joined him near the boys.
The five trees seemed to shiver at the sound of her voice. Jason used his shadow power to stretch his senses out and see if they moved.
“How does a tree that’s in a pot move around?” he wondered aloud. He felt the attack and movement before seeing it. Grabbing Kennedy’s hands, he swung her around to avoid a volley.
“I can’t tell which tree it’s coming from,” she said, annoyed.
“Even my shadow senses aren’t helping with that. It moves too fast. But only one is moving”
“The cake!” Kennedy exclaimed and ran to the buffet, weaving and dodging around attacks. She lifted up the large red Yule log cake and said, “We just need to figure out which one moves and we can use the cake to mark it.”
It was a good idea, but a shift in the lighting and shadows made Jason turn away from her. The room had gotten darker as the moonlight from the wall of windows was blocked.
Surrounding the room from outside were massive pine trees. The christmas trees inside stood just over two and half metres tall, the ones outside were easily ten times that height.
Kennedy gave a small squeak and said, “Well, that’s not good.”
The doors flew inward, followed by a figure in silver full-plate armour. He had a longsword on his left hip and a dagger holstered on the opposite side. His helmet was down but he looked around the room and lifted it before saying, “You need to get out of here. It’s not safe.”
Laughing, still comically holding the cake, Kennedy said, “Jeepers, that was dramatic, and we know.”
“Kennedy?” the man said, looking surprised.
“Albert?” she replied. “For heaven’s sake, is everyone I know from Baker magical?”
The armour was the symbol of the Gatekeepers and organization that was dedicated to protecting the world from Aether incursions. Creatures created from imagination and magic could cause havoc if not controlled. The creatures were returned or hunted, while the people or Aetherborn were educated and placed in communities like Westmeath.
“Not to break up the reunion but—” Jason was cut off by a volley of flying ornaments. It seemed the tree took a little time to reload.
“Right. Sorry. I am Gatekeeper Therien. I tracked a part of a rogue tannen-bomb here.” He looked out the window and replied, “and it looks like the rest of it just arrived.”
“Part? You mean this is all one creature? Like a magical Pando?” Kennedy asked. When the knight didn’t reply, she added, “Pando, the giant organism that’s one root system with tens of thousands of trees?”
“Yes.” He drew his sword and swatted at the ornaments that were flying toward them. “Why are you holding a cake?”
“It’s to throw at the tree so we know which one it is,” she replied sheepishly.
“Ah. Good idea, but it’s the one next to your husband.”
Jason whipped around, not used to being snuck up on. He raised a hand in defence but was struck by a freeze bomb. It didn’t hurt, and he could hear and see everything happening.
A cake flew into his vision and smashed into the tree, covering it in red icing, and some splashing on Jason’s face and hair.
“I just have to grab it and I’ll be able to banish the whole thing,” Albert announced.
Kennedy picked up two covers from the warm Hors d’oeuvre trays and said, “I’ll distract it.” With a few long strides, she made it to Jason and whispered, “Sorry and I’ll save you.” then she pecked him on the cheek. “Yum, strawberry icing.”
“Try to get it to run to me,” Albert said.
Banging her trays at the obviously marked tree, she said, “I was being sappy. Are you ent-ertained? Wood you please move toward the knight? No pining and no barking!”
The tree let out a horrifying shrieking noise and ran toward Kennedy.
“You said distract, not taunt,” Albert said, sounding amused.
“It’s following me, so it’s distracted,” she yelled. “Come on tree, are you that easy to needle?”
Despite Kennedy running as fast as she could, the tree was catching up. “Hold on,” she said. “It’s a tree!” Turning around with her makeshift shields, she braced for impact. Surprised, the tree reversed course right into the Gatekeeper.
Putting his hands on the tree’s branches, he shouted, “Ga Bort!” and the tree disappeared, replaced by an equal mass of clear pine scented goo. It was followed a second later by the rest of the trees outside and a wave of goo that covered the windows.
Everyone started to wake up and as Kennedy was distracted, the knight tried to walk away. “Albert, stay and enjoy the party,” she said, before running to check on Jason and the boys.
“If you insist,” he replied, making a magical gesture that transformed his armour into formal clothes.
The guests who had run away had been trapped in the lobby but now they were moving back to the party. It wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen in Westmeath. Not even this year.
Later, as everyone was enjoying good food and drink, minus a strawberry Yule log cake, Jason said, “The thing that bothers me about the whole situation is that I didn’t get to make a single tree pun.”
Kennedy kissed his now-clean cheek and replied, “Next time, when you’re not frozen. But I always have you covered, just leaf it to me.”
The story was written by Jen and Éric Desmarais with the help of Dragon Desmarais.
Assassins! Accidental matchmakersMonsters! Incidental Wedding GuestsCrushing ItWinging It
Saturday the 13th of December, 2003 – Westmeath, Ontario
They were halfway down the corridor to the cafeteria before the music reached their ears.
“Maybe that’ll be you in a few years,” Kennedy said to her teenage brother, Tommy.
He cocked his head, listening. “Nah, that’s a string quartet. I don’t plan on changing instruments.”
Jason chuckled. “They don’t get the same band year after year. You have a chance.”
“I think I’d rather spend my time eating that delicious smelling food,” Tommy replied. “And dancing with my boyfriend,” he added, squeezing Carter’s hand.
“I love the variety of decorations,” Carter said. “You’d think the mishmash of cultures would be chaotic, but it works really well.”
“You should tell Amita that,” Kennedy said. “This party is all her doing. She’s been talking about it for weeks.”
“Oh, it’s Amita now?” Jason murmured. “You finally managed to drop the ‘doctor’?”
Kennedy grimaced. “She had me practise. To her face. I still feel awkward about it, though.”
The corridor opened up to the large room, and the teenage boys halted in awe, almost tripping the older couple.
“I forget that you’ve never visited me at work,” Kennedy said. “We’ve had school groups in for field trips. Didn’t you come last year, Carter?”
“Yeah, but there weren’t five ginormous Christmas trees in the building then,” he said, shaking his head.
“We’re supposed to come in early January,” Tommy said absentmindedly, eyes wide as he took in the two full walls of floor-to-ceiling windows.
Through them, even with the lighting creating a mirror effect, they could make out the snowy courtyard and the fields beyond.
Carter recovered first. “They’re making some of the Everdome recipes we brought back with us! Come on!” He grabbed Tommy’s hand and pulled him to the buffet tables.
Kennedy was about to follow them, but Jason tugged her hand, pulling her against him. He pressed his nose to her neck, his fingers trailing down the mostly bare skin of her back as he inhaled deeply.
Her knees went weak. “Jason?” she murmured.
“Have I told you exactly how much I want to tear this dress off you?”
Kennedy bit her lip to hold in her laughter. Her emerald green dress, styled after the iconic Jessica Rabbit dress, never failed to drive him wild. “Many times. But if you tear it, I can’t wear it again.”
“The torture would end,” he teased.
“Excuse me,” said a new voice.
They side-stepped out of the doorway and she pinned him against the wall. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“That waistcoat and your rolled up sleeves are doing things to me.”
He grinned at her. “What kind of things, and can I get involved?”
Kennedy walked her fingers up the buttons on his chest. “Absolutely. When we get home.” She pulled away. “But right now, I want food, and then I want to dance with my handsome husband.”
Jason looked around comedically. “Where is he?”
She laughed and caught his chin in her hand. “Right where he’s supposed to be.” She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “Let’s be sociable.”
“If we must,” he groaned dramatically.
“Oh good, I was hoping I would get to say hello before the New Year,” Dr. Amita teased them when they approached the near-groaning buffet tables.
“You outdid yourself,” Jason said. “How will you surpass this next year?”
Amita waved a hand. “Pssh, nobody will remember this one next year.”
“I remember that you only had four trees last year, and this time you’ve got five,” Kennedy pointed out.
“Is it some sort of pardonable offence that you cut down trees to bring inside?” Jason asked.
Amita raised an eyebrow. “I only cut down trees from the side of the family that I don’t like,” she said dryly.
They glared at each other for a moment before Amita chuckled, followed by Jason. “You know they’re replantable trees,” she said.
“And yet I will continue to pretend you murder your family members every year,” he replied.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I forget that you two go way back. I should’ve known Jason wouldn’t insult someone like that otherwise.”
“Go dance. You haven’t fulfilled the romantic quota for the night yet.” Amita shooed them onto the dance floor.
“We can be romantic and eat cheese!” Kennedy protested half-heartedly.
“You like this song,” Jason said, sweeping her into his arms. “One dance and then we can feed each other bites of cheese.”
“It doesn’t have to be cheese,” she replied. “Oh, look at the boys! They’re so cute.”
They were swaying slowly in place near the big tree in the middle of the dance floor, looking deep into each other’s eyes.
“We can’t let them out-cute us!” Jason teased.
“I don’t think the word ‘cute’ ever crossed my mind when it came to you,” Kennedy said thoughtfully.
“Oh?” He spun her under his arm.
“No. More like hot, handsome, jaw-droppingly gorgeous…” She laughed when he flushed. “Okay, maybe now you’re a little cute.”
“Whoa, watch out—” Jason pulled her against him, away from the couple they almost bumped into.
The other couple didn’t move.
Jason frowned. “Are you two alright?” he asked.
Kennedy circled them. “They’re frozen in place,” she observed before scanning the room. Several other people were not moving either. “Tommy,” she breathed, whipping around to the teenagers. They hadn’t moved since the last time she’d looked over at them. “Oh no, mom’s going to kill me!” she groaned.
Both an homage to time travel movies and old Hollywood. The movie balances its gimmicks and the actual romance extremely well. Also, in a reversal of the standard holiday movie, it’s the guy who gives up everything for the girl.
I love the parallels between the characters in the movie and those in the movie inside the movie.
Score: 1
Characters
The characters are vague stereotypes that are elevated by both the quality of the writing and the acting.
Score: 1
Dialogue
Although corny and sappy, the dialogue works extremely well, and I like that they point out when she says things that are out of time.
Jonathan Frakes’s tour guide voice is straight out of Believe it or Not.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
As good as the movie was, there were a few scenes that feel like they were only added to showcase the location, and that made it a little awkward and feel amateurish. That being said the location was spectacular.
A lot of great touches with the lighting differences between time periods, the costumes, the sets, and some creative camera work.
The music was okay but nothing stood out in the score.
Score: 0.5
Fun
This was pure time travel and romance fun. Just enough angst for flavour but not enough to be annoying. Everyone in the family loved it.
Score: 1
Overall
One of the better Hallmark movies with a gimmick, it pulls off both the time travel and the romance while being clever, sappy, and witty. I’m going to want to rewatch this next year for sure.
Being helpless in a tin can is the best descriptor I’ve heard for living in space. But being trapped in your own ship, you can’t pretend you have any sort of power. We all sat there; assassin, immortal doctor, child prodigy, pilot extraordinaire, and three Sun Speakers. Each more useless than the last.
I considered playing I-spy but since the panic room was also my quarters, and I hadn’t had much time to clean, I decided it was a bad idea.
Finally, I heard the rumble of the ship being surgically cut to pieces by the Venusian mothership. They cut out just the panic room and pulled it to their ship while blasting the damned void-beasts that still crawled all over us.
Once in their cargo hold, we opened the doors and piled out. “Thank you for the save, Gwin. You owe me a ship if we get out of this.”
“If? We’re just mopping up the leftovers and we’re good,” she said, exasperated. She wasn’t arguing with me, she was trying to negotiate with the universe, and she knew she was going to lose. That’s why she barely paused before grumpily saying, “Fine. Where do you need to be?”
“There’s a last planetship that’s coming. Take us to the edge of the solar system,” I said, causing both Gwin and Suzie to gasp.
Suzie was the first to say, “That far out you’ll be almost powerless, especially with the micro-suns completely depleted.”
Diamond put his hand on Suzie’s shoulder and said, “It’s what has to be done.” He said it with such charisma and conviction that she didn’t remove the hand from his arm. I was impressed.
If the planet-ship got too far into the solar system it would start nudging the orbits of the planets and that would be devastating to those who lived on them. We needed to stop it quickly.
As we travelled to the right place, the doctor insisted I eat something. Apparently my body needed fuel. That would explain the headache and weakness.
“I’m tired of you almost dying. Can we take a relaxing vacation after this is over?” Suzie said, holding my hand like it was going to run away from her.
“If I find a way to survive this one, I will take you to Earth and show you what a real beach looks like,” I said, smiling. Despite the terraforming and millenia of living on the other planets, beaches didn’t have the same quality as the pristine beaches of Earth.
Our snuggling moment was interrupted by Zuri cooing and saying, “We’re going with you. The vision only showed you so maybe we can do it together?”
“That would only leave the converted Sun-Speakers to take care of Sol,” I said knowing it was a weak defence.
They gave me identical stubborn looks and I laughed saying, “I hope I look half as cute as the two of you when I do that.”
Suzie shook her head and said, “She’s adorable, he’s sexy, and you’re just barely tolerable.”
“Love you too!” I replied and kissed her passionately.
The planet-ship was more of the same writhing masses of void-beasts. That didn’t make it any less horrifying. I don’t think I could ever get used to that view and that’s probably for the best.
“So what now? How do we stop that?” asked Gwin, annoyed. She probably hadn’t rested since the war started.
“We are going to crash a shuttle in the planet-ship, and then take over its propulsion, sending it into the black holes at the centre of the universe,” I said with complete confidence.
Zuri added, “If we blow it up, we’ll disrupt the gravity in the system and that’s a bad idea.”
I got a kiss from Suzie, a stimulant from the doctor, a hug from Gwin, and a dirty look from her husband. All very reassuring.
“If these are my last words, I want you to remember that I died protecting humanity, not because it loved me but because I believed there was good in us.”
“Nice,” Diamond said.
“Little sappy,” said Zuri.
We got into the shuttle and they let me pilot, probably because they weren’t used to the controls. Both of them were better pilots.
Part way there, they both asked, “What’s the real plan?”
“Crash the ship and figure it out there,” I shrugged.
We crashed through into what the scanners had told us was the largest cargo hold.
The ship was so massive that it kept its atmosphere with gravity alone, which meant our ship piercing the walls did nothing.
The room was large enough that we could have put half the Venusian fleet inside with room to spare, but it was empty except for a large stone semicircular gate with alien sigils on it.
We stepped out of the shuttle and I walked toward the gate. In the vision from Sol, I died horribly in front of that gate, killed by a void-beast five times the size of a regular one.
When we were close enough, the large beast appeared and spoke in a raspy voice, “You are foolish to come here. I will kill you!”
“Foolish is definitely my strong suit,” I said.
Both Zuri and Diamond’s eyes flickered like they were getting a vision. I was jealous for a split second before I realized I was the distraction.
“You can talk. Why can’t the others?”
The beast growled and said, “We can all talk but not in your disgusting language.”
“Great. I’m guessing you’re a sun speaker?”
Its eyes grew wide and it moved forward like a cat about to pounce. It wheezed, “Yes.”
In my vision, this is where it pounced on me and played with my entrails until I died. I waited and at the last second threw myself forward and down. The beast flew over me and landed elegantly on its face.
“No!” it bellowed. I thought it was talking to me, but a quick glance back showed Zuri and Diamond holding the gate and forcing plasma energy through it with their powers.
I rushed to the beast and grabbed its head. I tried to cleanse it the way I had other Sun Speakers, but it wasn’t just loyal, it was part of its god.
My goal was to slow it down and not let it attack or call the other beasts to attack.
Suddenly the gate opened and connected to a black hole. “Now!” I shouted into my coms and we were teleported away.
The black hole turned the planet ship inside out and devoured it. When the metaphorical dust settled, there was nothing left but the gate floating in space.
