The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald

arms again.”
    â€œDr. Gayle…” Myell sounded appalled. “Please don’t.”
    Gayle’s eyes started to glitter. “I believe you came here today not just because you wanted to support Commander Scott. I believe deep down that you want me to persuade you, that you truly want to help. It’s a dozen steps from here into that Sphere. All you have to do is take them. Twelve steps, and you could enable my husband to come home again.”
    Jodenny watched indecision play out on Myell’s face. Perhaps he had come out here just to be persuaded. It stung a little that Gayle could succeed where Jodenny had not, but then again, the stakes were much higher for Gayle.
    Myell stared at the archway of the Mother Sphere.
    â€œIt won’t work for me,” he said, but not very strongly.
    â€œPlease try,” Gayle said. “Please just try.”
    He looked hopelessly at Jodenny, but she couldn’t help him. The decision had always been his to make. But she doubted that his convictions were strong enough to withstand the force of Gayle’s grief and hope.
    Myell said, “Only this once.”
    Gayle was instantly on her radio. “Chief Myell’s going in. Make sure you’re monitoring.”
    Jodenny squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”
    He kissed her hard, then disappeared into the Sphere.
    â€œThank you,” Gayle said to Jodenny.
    Surprised, Jodenny said, “I didn’t do anything.”
    â€œYou could have stopped him.”
    â€œYou don’t know him very well.”
    Silence from the Mother Sphere. Across the grass, a baby squirrel popped out of a fallen log, peered at them, then darted away again. Gayle’s right hand, fisted at her side, looked so painfully clenched that she’d probably have fingernail marks in her palm for hours. The defeat of hope was such a difficult thing.
    Then the loud, clear call of an approaching ouroboros blasted through the air, and that changed everything.
    *   *   *
    The horn cut through Myell as surely as a dagger.
    He told himself he hadn’t expected the system to respond to him. He’d said as much to Gayle and Jodenny. He was not special; he had in no way been singled out or chosen.
    A lie, he knew. The worst kind. The kind told to oneself.
    But Gayle had been right. He had come here knowing that they would ask, and perhaps wanting to be persuaded to try.
    The scuffle of boots made him turn. Gayle and Jodenny came through the arch. Gayle shook his hand with a forceful grip and a wide smile.
    â€œYou did it, Chief,” she said. “I’ll always be in your debt.”
    Jodenny kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
    A half-dozen Marines in gray camouflage uniforms entered the Mother Sphere, each loaded up with equipment, backpacks, and mazers. Leading them was a tall, muscular commander of Aboriginal descent. His hair was cut close to his skull, and his orders to the other soldiers were crisp and confident.
    â€œSaadi, make sure your GNATs are ready to go. Collins, we might need that Blue-Q at the first station. Breme, Lavasseur, that anti-grav sled’s got to get in position fast. Remember the window.”
    â€œYou’re leaving right now?” Jodenny asked, surprised.
    â€œWe can’t take the chance it’ll shut down again,” Gayle said. One of the soldiers brought a backpack to her. She shrugged into it with practiced ease. “The mission leaves with that token.”
    Myell said, “But you don’t know that the network will continue to work.”
    An ouroboros flashed into existence on the ground. The circle was larger than Myell remembered, the cool metal fashioned into a snake devouring its own tail. He could see the interior glowing faintly with symbols. The female soldier and one of the men steered a sled into its confines and took up position.
    â€œIt could stop,” Myell said. “You might get one or two stations and the