Now he could see more of them popping into view.Not flying into view.Popping.They just appeared.
They weren’t in a swarm like most butterflies he’d seen.They began to form into a kind of swirl.Or a vortex.
A vortex.
This could be worse than ‘not good.’
Even the firmly secured John looked scared.
Scared of butterflies.
The Butterfly Device.
That’s what they’d called it.Maybe a better name would have beenPandora’s Box.Or “prepare to be hosed again.”
Rita pulled almost free of Con’s embrace, studying the phenomena carefully.That was a lot of butterfly wings.
Suddenly Stella was at her side.
“This is very bad,” she said.“We—I need to repair the device.”
The shadow of something flickered in, then out of Rita’s view.She thought she saw the others climbing into theRay.And she patted her pocket.Her little packet of tools was still there, if she could just reach the device.
She traveled with with the tools in case her gear broke—or she wanted to dig around in the guts of one of her devices.
The device was in the center of the slowly building butterfly vortex.
“You need to get in theRay.”She turned suddenly to Con.“You need to get the others in theRayand go.”
“I’m not…” Con began.
“Please.”She grabbed his hands and held them to her chest, her gaze fixed on his.“Please trust me.”
She saw the war in his eyes, but finally he gave a slow nod.He backed away, holding onto her hands as long as possible.
Rita looked at Stella.“You should go, too.”
Stella glanced at her daughter, then shook her head.“You’ll need my help.”
She saw Alastor gently push Ness toward theRay, then he came over to join them.
“You’ll need my help, too,” he said.
Did she trust his help?
“I caused this.I should help or…”
“Dad?”Ness called him from the hatch of theRay.There wasn’t room in the cockpit for all of them but the rear hatch where they’d stored parts could fit them for a short flight.Rita hoped.
“Go with them, Ness,” he said, his hands clenched at his sides.“And be happy.That’s all I really needed to know.That you were happy.”
Despite the increasing urgency of the situation, no one pushed Ness inside.She stared for a long moment, then lifted a hand to blow him a kiss.She turned and climbed inside.
Alice looked at Stella for a long moment, then ran over and hugged her.Stella clung to her for a moment, then gently pushed her away.
“Go,” she said.“I’ll do what I can.”
Alice nodded, then turned and climbed into the rear hatch with Ness.
