Baffled, he stared at it.
Surprise? he thought. Just surprise. What kind of last message was that? So damn typical of her, he decided, balling the paper up in his fist. Then, relenting, willing to settle for even as little as this, he smoothed it out again.
At a faint sound, he whirled in the chair.
She was standing at the doorway to the flight deck. She was deathly pale, and her eyes were glassy. But as he watched, dumbfounded, her lips moved into a smile.
“So, you got my message.”
“Sunny?” He whispered her name at first, wondering if he was hallucinating. It was only one of the potential side effects of time travel. He would have to remember to make a note of it.
But he could not only see her, hear her, he could smell her. He catapulted out of the chair to grab her close, to devour her mouth like a starving man.
Then it struck him. Terrified him.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, shaking her. “What the hell have you done?”
“What had to be done.” When she swayed, he cursed her again.
“Yell at me later,” she said calmly. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
“No, you’re not.” Though he was infuriated, he lifted her as though she were fragile glass and carried her to a chair. Then he was all business.
“You’re light-headed?”
“Yes.” She put her hand on her temple. “It was a hell of a trip.”
“Nauseous?”
“Some.”
He pressed a round black button, and a small compartment opened. He pulled out a square box. From it he took a tiny, paper-thin pill. “Let this dissolve on your tongue. Idiot,” he said, even as she obeyed. “You aren’t prepped for traveling at warp speed.”
The relief was instant. She took a long breath, pleased that she wasn’t going to disgrace herself. Ignoring him for the moment, she turned to the viewscreen. The galaxy was spread out before her.
“Oh, my God.” The color that had come back into her cheeks fled again. “It’s incredible. Is that—is that Earth?”
“Yes.” His palms were damp. If his stomach didn’t settle, he’d have to resort to a pill himself. “Sunny, do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“How fast are we going?”
“Damn it, Sunny.”
“Yes, I know what I’ve done.” She swiveled in the chair to rest her hands on his knees. Her eyes, when they met his, were dark and clear. “I’ve passed through time with you, Jacob.”
“You have to be out of your mind.” He wanted to shake her until her bones rattled. He wanted to hold her against him until they melted. “How could you have pulled off a ridiculous stunt like this?”
“Cal and Libby helped me.”
“They helped you? They knew you’d planned this?”
“Yes.” When she felt her hands begin to tremble, she sat back and folded them in her lap. She didn’t want him to know how frightened she was. “I decided last night.”
“You decided,” he repeated.
“That’s right.” Her chin lifted, and she gave him a long, level look. “I talked to Cal this morning, told him what I wanted to do.” Calmer now, she turned to the viewscreen again. There were lights in the sky. Stars. Instead of looking up at them, she looked out. As incredible as it was, she was hurtling through space with the only man she had ever loved. Would ever love.
Someone had to be sensible. Someone had to be calm. But he wasn’t sure it could be him. “Sunny, I don’t think you understand what you’ve done.”