Page 121 of Every Almost

Charlie dropped her gaze from the screen and stared at her hands in her lap. Then her brain started to overload.

"She doesn't know where Iam. She heard something happen to me and heard the crash on the phone and thennothing,and you're telling me there's no way to send her a message!?" Charlie's voice had climbed higher and higher as she spit out her rambling.

"At this time, Ms. Wickett, no."

Charlie's hands began to tremble, and Charlie started gripping the arms of the chair. She could feel the material cracking under her fingers.

"Admiral." Reyna's voice cut through the room. "You will look into the possibility of finding a way to get a message to Charlie's sister." Charlie's eyes snapped up to look at Reyna. She looked at the wall display, and her eyes were steady and uncompromising. This was not a request. "Right, Vondra?"

The stone figure was still for a long moment. The water around her shifted with micro-currents. Then, the resonance came.

"I will look into it, Reyna."

"I have your word?" Reyna asked, her voice stoic. The water around the leader on the screen seemed to move, like waves.

"Yes, Captain," the Admiral stated, her voice clipped. But it didn't seem to tamp Reyna down. "You have my word."

"Thank you."

Charlie looked at Reyna. This woman, this captain of aspaceshipthat she'd met less than an hour ago, had just stared down an Admiral made of stone for her. ForKatie.

Charlie was grateful for Reyna in that moment more than she'd been grateful for anything in a very long time.

"Now," Vondra said. "Regarding repatriation."

Charlie's heart lurched.

"Earth's coordinates are known. The Emberkind has the capability and navigational data to reach your planet. Once again, I must say how fortunate you were to arrive on a vessel with both the knowledge and the resources to assist you. Many ships in the fleet would not have known how to get to Earth and it would have taken much longer."

"The Emberkind currently has an active mission assignment that must be completed first," Vondra continued. "Once that mission is fulfilled, Captain Solas and I will coordinate directly to ensure that all subsequent assignments for the Emberkind are routed along the path toward Earth."

Charlie looked at Reyna. Reyna gave her a small nod.We'll get you home.

Charlie sighed heavily. Actually took a deep breath and fully exhaled, shoulders relaxing, muscles in her back releasing kind ofbreathed. Until now, she hadn't realized that after she screamed Katie's name in the kitchen, her whole body had gone rigid.

She could go home. They could take herhome.

"How long?" Charlie asked.

The question hung in the air. Charlie looked at Reyna, who looked at Vondra.

"Given the current distance between the Emberkind's position and your planet," Vondra said. "Between the Emberkind and Earth," she specified. "And factoring in the required diplomatic protocols for approaching a non-contact world and the transit routes available, the estimated timeline for your return is approximately six months."

Silence.

"Sixmonths?" Charlie's voice cracked.

"That is the current estimate. It accounts for?—"

"Six MONTHS?!"

Beside her, Charlie felt Reyna shift. Not toward the screen, but toward Charlie, as though it was her part to protect Charlie from... what, exactly? From the truth? But Charlie noticed the small movement, barely perceptible, as though Reyna had leaned in without deciding to. Charlie realized this was news to Reyna as well. They'd both heard the number at the same time. And now, they were both sitting with it.

Six months. Half a year. Katie would spendhalf a yearnot knowing if her sister was even alive.

Charlie pressed her hands against her face. She sat like that for a long moment while the room held its silence around her.

"Has a full medical assessment been completed yet?" Vondra asked, her tone shifting into something that, through the Voxlink, almost sounded gentle.