Member-only story
Part Three: Into the Flame
This is part three of a four part story. If you have not already read the first part, check it out here. And part two is here. Otherwise, read on!
In the end our paths did not cross for several years. Was that unusual? Slightly, perhaps. But then, if you’re part of an intergalactic sisterhood, people have a tendency to fall between the cracks. I had best friends in the Guild I did not see for five years at a time.
In addition, few bridgebuilders were posted permanently to Cassonne. The rest, were scattered across the worlds of this galaxy — and two more beside — and though their skills had opened the universe to us, there was a price to pay. So much so, that casual travel between worlds was not a thing encouraged, ever.
You see: skipping back and forth through portals does not take time. You may step into a portal on Valois or Belvis and step out of a portal on Cassonne and the time spent in p-space, as our scientists call the bit in-between, will be a fraction of a second. Or possibly none at all: they are still arguing about that!
It is not the time that is an issue, but the energy spent. Someone “out there” needs to communicate with someone back home and then the builders do whatever builders do: projecting their wormholes through space, obliterating time and distance…
