The air was cool on the surface of Rommys, the night sky dark. The settlement was near enough to where they landed that its city lights blotted out their ability to see the stars from the ground, but not near enough to sufficiently light their way.

Solaris switched the light setting on her multi-purpose communication and exploration device to its maximum setting so they could see the ground in front of them.

Captain Li got out her standard Space Force-issued communication device to contact the President of the local council, and they settled in to wait.

Solaris estimated they waited a period of approximately 43 minutes and 57 seconds before the council member reached them in a large multi-passenger vehicle which would allow all five members of the landing party to travel with a significant amount of room to spare.

"You've arrived!" yelled a man as he embarked from the vehicle, no more than three metres away from where they stood.

"Indeed. I hope we haven't taken too long to get to you," Captain Li said.

"You came faster than I expected. I'm Joseph Ash, the man who put out the distress call," the man said, and waved a hand to indicate the doors of the vehicle. "Please, get in and I can explain more details of the situation on the way."

*

There were few working lights alongside the road that Ash drove towards the remaining settlement.

"Rommys was an important battleground during the war," Ash explained. "Illvos detonated experimental weapons nearby, hence the anomaly. Obviously you all know how many time-space anomalies there are at this end of the sector."

At this Richards clenched a fist and nodded to himself in the darkness of the back of the vehicle.

Ash continued, "The tear was small enough that citizens continued to live here and in the surrounding cities until a few years ago, when things finally got bad enough for people to start leaving. Now there's only the research team, their families, and those of us who were willing to stick it out in our homes until it was unbearable."

"Your distress call mentioned localised distortions," Captain Li said.

"I bet I can tell what those are," Richards muttered.

Ash nodded, still driving them down a dark road towards a settlement finally bright enough to loom in the distance. "The anomaly gives people visions of other times when they get too close. This can be especially distressing for children. We've also had a problem with, well, I'm not sure of the technical term. Waves, I guess, of space distortion. It picks people up and sends them to other parts of Rommys when they're not expecting it."

Captain Li bent around the edge of her seat to look Solaris in the eye. "Does this accord with the experiences you had with a similar anomaly in the past?"

Solaris nodded, but only a small motion. "The visions of past and potential future moments are familiar to me from previous experience with an anomaly of similar size. However, these spatial distortions are not something I have experienced. Kennedy did complain about finding small personal items in strange places; however, Captain Savage dismissed his concerns as mere absent-mindedness. I cannot draw a conclusion based on this limited evidence."

"There were definitely things moving about when there weren't supposed to be," Richards said. "I bet it was the anomaly."

"I can neither confirm nor dismiss the possibility," Solaris said.

*

Ash drove them through the largely abandoned city before he reached the research facility at the far end, less than three kilometres past what used to be the city limits.

He parked in front of a brightly lit building, its cement rendered facade painted a deep purple. The sign above the wide opening arch stated 'Time Institute' in large, pale green letters. It was one of many such research institutes dedicated to studying the time-space issues caused by the fallout of the war and its great weapons.

"Most people that remain here have been working in this building," Ash said. "Though I was in the council building three miles down the road."

He led them through the large sliding doors into the building, into a large office.

"And this is our lead researcher, Lily Bow."

The councilman indicated a woman behind him, standing at one of the desks. The woman put down her tools and turned around to look at them. Solaris looked over Ms Bow to assess her and her capabilities – dark hair and eyes, below average height, slender though not athletic build.

The captain greeted her immediately, moving forward to shake hands and introduce the crew members who had come down to help them evacuate.

*

Jennifer gathered every bit of charm she had as Mr Ash introduced her around the room, but it required no effort to be enchanted by Lily.

"Lily Bow. What a beautiful name," Jennifer said.

Lily Bow was a vision in a black dress, her hair wrapped in a brilliant purple floral scarf. She looked Jennifer up and down with a sly smile and said, "What's your first name, Captain?"

"Oh, just Jennifer. Nothing interesting at all."

The night outside was cool but the air inside the Time Institute was warm, though Jennifer doubted that accounted for the flush on Lily Bow's face.

"Is this all the crew you'll need to help us, Captain?" Lily asked.

Jennifer leaned forward over the table between them. "Oh, not all, only the crew members who've come down to Rommys with me. I am still in contact with the remaining crew on The First Breath of Spring, and we will work together to bring the people here to safety. The important thing is to get as many people as possible on the shuttle as soon as we can."

Jennifer had a sudden image in her mind of Lily reaching out to touch her face in a field of flowers as purple as those on her scarf. A fantasy, or one of the visions she was warned of? She shook her head and smiled, decided not to worry about it.

*

Graham took over liaising with the councilman and the staff of the Time Institute, allowing Jennifer a chance to go outside to breathe the fresh air.

Now that they had arrived most of the town lights had turned off. The night sky was pricked with stars. Jennifer's breath resolved into a cloud in front of her face. She put her hands behind her back and allowed herself a moment to think, to check through all the details of the rescue plan the group had gone over on the way down.

Within a few minutes Commander Solaris joined her.

"Captain," Solaris said, and drew to her side.

Jennifer nodded. "Commander Solaris."

"I believe it is of the utmost importance that we carry out this rescue plan as quickly as possible."

Jennifer let herself smile. "I quite agree."

Silence settled on them. But not only them – the night was very quiet, with no bird sounds or sounds of industry to relieve the darkness. Jennifer looked up at Solaris, a tall figure, leaning her head down over her own fist in an awkward gesture. Was she trying to figure out what to say?

"Out with it," Jennifer said.

"Captain, I believe it is urgent as a matter of social convenience and information security."

"Social convenience?"

Solaris cleared her throat. "Much as my ability can create an uncomfortable environment between myself and any person I touch, due to the unfortunate viewing of their memories, the visions created by this anomaly can also lead to an unfortunate sharing of knowledge. Further, I believe they may make people see things they do not have the ability to adequately assess, and such knowledge can be dangerous."

"That's strange, Commander Solaris. You didn't strike me as someone who would consider the pursuit of knowledge to be a danger."

"It is not a matter of research within the bounds of an experiment or the pursuit of a special interest. I do not even mean this in regard to the pursuit of knowledge that the UAP considers out of bounds to us. Even then, there are times when it might be right to ignore a boundary erected in error that seeks to keep us out from what we need to know. No, what I mean is that Johnson looked into a vision he believed he had of the future and allowed this dangerously incomplete knowledge to drive him mad."

Jennifer remembered fighting Johnson only weeks before and his eventual fall to his death. What a waste of a young man.

Jennifer nodded, and looked off into the distance. "That is a reasonable point, Commander. I propose that we ask Mr Ash to begin gathering those who remain here immediately to begin transportation via his ugly minibus to where we landed."

"Murray has already done so before I came outside."

"Excellent," Jennifer said. "I'm glad I brought him down with us."

More than that, she was glad she had someone she worked with before so not everything had to be new to her. She thought of Richards following Solaris like a lost duckling and was glad they also had the comfort of familiarity.

Jennifer and Solaris turned to walk back into the building.

Jennifer paused as soon as they passed through the glass doors. "You never did tell me if Johnson was the only person responsible for those deaths on your previous ship. I know you saw into his mind. Surely you must know the answers."

Solaris stopped, but only turned her head. "The investigation on that matter is closed. I believe it will be useful to let things lie."

*

The warmth of the building in contrast to the outside world hit Jennifer as soon as she walked back in. Her hands began to sweat. In the Time Institute the rest of the team had continued getting to know the residents of Rommys in her brief absence.

Graham turned away from what he was doing and took a moment to pull Jennifer aside. "Dr Fortuna is single, you know."

Jennifer sighed. "I don't believe I needed this information, Graham."

"Come on, Jen. Don't you want to match-make?"

"Match-make who?" she said. And then, "No, certainly not."

"Miss tall, dark and psychic is also single. She doesn't talk about emotions. Joan never stops talking about them. They could balance each other out."

Jennifer squinted at them both moving around the room – Solaris pointing something or other out to Joseph Ash, Dr Fortuna talking to Lily Bow, and neither of them looking at each other or nearing each other's personal space at all.

"No, I don't think that's how it works. I don't think that's how it works at all. This is not one of your better qualities, Graham. And since when are you on first name basis with Dr Fortuna?"

He laughed. "She doesn't think we're on first name basis. Come on, have some fun!"

Jennifer shook him off. "Professionalism in the workplace is fun. You know better."

She walked up to the doctor and Ms Bow instead. "How are things progressing?"

Dr Fortuna flipped her hair out of her face and crossed her arms. "The psychiatric research team have been notified and should be here within the hour. Murray and Ash said something about rounding up everyone else on their own. I suggested Commander Solaris might be more useful than Murray is."

Lily shook her head. "Oh, no, that's not how it goes. Joan, you're the one who goes with Murray into the town. I've seen it already."

Jennifer swallowed air, frozen. "You have the benefit of us, Ms Bow. How unfortunate that you've had the intimacy of visions of us and we know almost nothing of you."

"Oh, no, that's not quite right. I still had to ask your name. I really didn't see anything much," Lily said.

Jennifer breathed in deep, relaxed her posture, looked at Dr Fortuna with a wry smile. "Well, you heard her. You're the one who gets stuck with Mr Murray."

*

Richards stumbled as they left the building.

"Are you alright there, Mr Richards?" Jennifer asked.

Richards stood in place and blinked a lot. "I... thought I saw something, sir, but I think it was just the lights."

"Be careful not to let the lights surprise you like that again," Jennifer said.