The cold was paralyzing. Daiki gasped in pain, wrapping his arms around him for warmth, but to no avail. The stench of methane filled his nostrils as the atmosphere pressed against his body.

    He glanced around in desperation. A giant ringed planet – Saturn, by the looks of it – filled the horizon, faint but visible in the orange-brown haze. The ground was a sea of rough ice stretching as far as the eye could see, covered with pebbles that looked like no rock Daiki had ever seen. His gaze fell upon a short, round structure only twenty feet away.

    Daiki shook his head to clear it, without avail. His vision swam. Everything seemed fuzzy, every thought an effort. Daiki fell to his knees. A blur approached him from the structure.

    Darkness took him.

Daiki blinked as he opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed in a small room, faint orange light streaming in through a tiny window. The room was cluttered with lockers and shelving, as though every single space needed to be used.

    An unfamiliar voice said something in English.

    Daiki turned. A tall, brown haired Caucasian man was sitting on a chair beside him, wearing coveralls. On the breast pocket was a blue circle filled with stars and the word “NASA.”

    The man said something else in English.

    Daiki shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you. Do you speak Japanese?”

    The man blinked. “Japanese?” he said with terrible pronunciation. “I took Japanese in college! My hallucination is handsome and Japanese!”

    “I’m not a hallucination,” Daiki said. “I’m quite real. Where am I?”

    “You’ve got to be a hallucination,” the man said. “This is Armstrong Base on Titan. Last I checked, the moons of Saturn weren’t easy to get to.”

    Daiki tried to sit up. His head swam.

    “Take it easy,” the man said. “You were out there for at least a couple of minutes before I managed to get to you. There’s no oxygen in that atmosphere. I’m amazed you weren’t flash frozen – it’s only 97 Kelvin out there.”

    “I’m built tough,” Daiki said, easing himself up.

    “You’re lucky I was already out there taking measurements. If I had needed to get my space suit on, you would have died.”

    Daiki nodded. “Thank you for saving me. My name is Daiki Yamato. What’s yours?”

    “John Gilbert,” the man replied. “You can call me John.”

    Daiki bowed. “A pleasure to meet you.”

    “Handsome, polite, and Japanese,” John chuckled. “I really did luck out in hallucinations.”

    Daiki blinked as John’s words registered. “Oh...sorry, I’m not into other men. I’m actually trying to get home to my fiancee – her name is Athena.”

    John sighed. “So much for lucky.”

    “Are you here alone?” Daiki asked.

    John nodded. “For about three years now. There were five of us, but there was an accident, and I got left behind. I was able to establish communications pretty quickly, though, so everybody knows I’m alive. The problem is that Titan is really far away from Earth, so the rescue ship takes years to get here. They dispatched one as soon as they found out I was still alive, so just two weeks left, though! Frankly, I’m amazed I didn’t hallucinate somebody earlier.”

    Daiki chuckled. “You still haven’t. I’m real.”

    “Okay, real person Daiki Yamato, what’s your story then?”

    Daiki took a moment to collect his thoughts. “I can travel between worlds – it’s a long story.”

    “I’ve got time.”

    Daiki checked the timer on his sword interface. Just over twelve hours to go.

    “I guess I do too,” Daiki said. “I’m travelling with three friends...well, I was. We got separated – I don’t know where they are now, or...or if I’ll ever see them again. I hope they’re okay. Captain Matthew Markham, Aquila, and Kasumi. Matt is a war veteran, and Aquila and Kasumi are a couple. Aquila, I guess, fought in a war too.”

    “Second Afghanistan?” John asked.

    “Something like that, I guess,” Daiki replied.

    “My boyfriend Todd was in Second Afghanistan. He was infantry.”

    “I guess he must miss you.”

    John frowned. “It’s more the other way around. He died about a year before I left on the mission.”

    “Killed in action?”

    John shook his head. “Suicide.”

    “I’m sorry.”

    “Thank you,” John said. “He came back with some pretty serious PTSD. I didn’t know what to do, you know? And then I got into the space program while he didn’t, and that didn’t help either. I keep thinking that maybe if I had given him a bit more support, said the right thing, he’s still be alive waiting for me back on Earth.

    “But, I brought his ashes with me. We both loved space, so what better final resting place than somewhere with a close-up view of the rings of Saturn? I scattered his ashes on the ice shortly after we got here. I figured that if I couldn’t help him the way he deserved in life, at least I could give him this now that he’s gone.”

    Daiki nodded. “Hopefully he would have liked that. Not that you’d ever truly know. ‘The dead don’t forgive’ as Aquila likes to say.”

    John blinked. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

    “Well, she’s right, isn’t she? Once they’re gone, they’re–”

    “Look, Daiki, just because somebody is gone, it doesn’t mean they’re gone,” John said. “It’s just the body that dies – the soul is immortal. The people we care about can still see us from Heaven. Sometimes I can even feel like Todd is here, watching over me, making sure I get home. Your friend is wrong.”

    Daiki stared at the floor for a moment. “I wish she could hear you say that.”

    “Sounds like she’s got some PTSD of her own.”

    “I don’t know what you’d call it,” Daiki said. “She’s a really good person – she wants to do right by everybody – but all she can see are the bad things she did during her war. Cap...Matt, Kasumi, and I keep trying to get her to see herself as she truly is, but we can never get through to her. I wish I knew how.”

    “Sometimes you can’t,” John said. “That was the hardest thing for me to accept when Todd killed himself. I guess I still haven’t accepted it, really. But, so long as she’s alive, there’s hope. Keep trying, and you could reach her next time, or the time after that.”

    Daiki smiled. “Thank you. I will.”

    John chuckled. “You know what we need? A superhero. I’ll bet a superhero would just find a way to save us and get us both home. The Human Spider, perhaps, or even Captain Infinite. Captain Infinite would save the day! I’m a big fan of his – I’ve got all the omnibus volumes of his comics.”

    Daiki suppressed a smile. What came out instead was a chuckle. “I guess he would.”

    John checked his watch. “Time for chores. You going to help out, Daiki Yamato?”

    Daiki checked his timer. Eleven and a half hours to go. “Sure – I’m a biology student. What can I help with?”

Daiki hadn’t expected John’s day to be as regimented as it was, but in retrospect it made sense. Life in a hostile environment required a routine that ensured everything got checked and maintained. Moving from station to station, John walked him through the inner workings of the base.

    “So, we’re going to check our O2 now,” John said, activating a panel. “The base replenishes oxygen using the water below the ice and, to a lesser degree, the plants in the greenhouse – we extract oxygen from the water, which in turn gives us hydrogen that we can burn for fuel and heat the base. O2 levels are fine, and extraction is nominal.”

    Daiki nodded, wishing he understood half of what John had just said. The plants and the greenhouse made sense, at least.

    “Next station is the greenhouse,” John said, leading the way. As they entered the chamber, the air became damp and humid. Vegetables grew in rows of planters along the floor. “We’ve got carrots, potatoes, turnips, and cauliflower. They’re watered using water pulled from under the ice that’s been run through a filter.”

    “What are you doing for fertilizer?” Daiki asked.

    “A portion of the crop is set aside for composting,” John replied. “That’s then used to replenish the soil.”

    “So what are we doing here?”

    John grinned. “Harvesting dinner. And checking the plants. This usually takes about an hour, but two of us can get it done in half the time instead. That is, of course, assuming you’re telling the truth about not being a hallucination. Then again, claiming to not be a hallucination is what I’d expect a hallucination to say.”

    Daiki rolled his eyes. “I can assure you, I’m real.”

    “Okay then, definitely real Daiki Yamato – you take that side and I’ll take this side.”

    Once they were done, John led Daiki to the kitchen. “Hope you like steamed vegetables,” he said, pulling out a cutting board and starting to chop some carrots.

    “If that’s all there is,” Daiki said.

    “I’m afraid so. I ran out of the all the spices and sauces ages ago. No vegetable oil either. I think I could been able to made some if I was a cook, but I’m not – I’m a physicist. The big problem is protein – I ran out of that too. Good thing that the rescue ship is arriving in two weeks, or that would be causing me some serious problems down the road. But, the good news is that we have lots of water and vegetables, so there will be enough to eat, even if it is a bit bland.”

    John pushed the chopped vegetables into a pot. “So, once we’ve eaten, we’re going to need to check all of the interior seams for wear. Because the atmospheric pressure is higher than Earth, the problem here isn’t atmosphere getting out, but getting in. So, even the smallest crack needs to be documented and sealed. This place is now two years past its expected lifespan, so catching the small things before they can become big is more important than ever.”

    “And you do this every day?” Daiki said. “All of this?”

    John nodded. “If anything fails, I die. Besides, Todd may be watching over me from Heaven, but he’s not exactly talkative. The routine helps keep me sane.”

    “And what do we do then?”

    “We sleep,” John said. “And when we wake up, we check the instruments outside and the exterior walls for corrosion. That’s what I was doing when I found you.”

    Daiki checked the timer on his sword. Around seven hours left.

    “I think around then I’ll be leaving,” Daiki said. “I can only move from one world to another once per day.”

    John chuckled. “And you keep saying you’re not a hallucination.”

Daiki checked the Black Sword’s timer as soon as he woke up. He was good to go. All that was left was to say goodbye to John.

    He got out of bed and stretched, his joints stiff. The bed had been comfortable enough, but a bit too hard for his liking. He stepped out into the main room.

    “About to leave, definitely real Daiki Yamato?” John asked.

    Daiki nodded. “I’ve got to find my friends. I just hope they came up with something that will lead me to them.”

    John smiled. “Well, hallucinations have to do what they have to do.”

    Daiki scowled. “I keep telling you, I’m real.”

    John shook his head. “Daiki, you’re a Japanese man wearing leather armour out of fantasy novel who showed up on Titan claiming to be travelling between worlds. And, according to you, you’re about to disappear into thin air. Real people don’t do that.”

    Daiki sighed. “I guess not.” He checked his sword’s interface, scrolling down to home in once again on Athena and her world. Then he stopped short. There was a new entry on the list of destinations.

    Cap and Kasumi.

    Daiki grinned and looked at John. “It seems they figured something out.”

    “Good luck!”

    Daiki selected the new entry and opened the portal.

    “Neat!” John said, looking at it.

    “Don’t step through it or touch it,” Daiki said. “Other than my friends, I don’t know what’s waiting for me on the other side.”

    “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

    Daiki took a deep breath and began to step through. As he did, he heard John say, “Hey, come to think of it, wasn’t Captain Infinite’s name in those early comics Matthew Mar–”

    Daiki emerged on a hill to find Cap and Kasumi waiting for him. Behind them lay a large half-timber framed building and what appeared to be a stables.

    “Right on time,” Cap said with a grin. He turned to Kasumi. “Told you all we had to do was give them what they needed and wait.”

    “Thank the gods, you’re safe,” Daiki said. “After I saw you get blown into that vortex, I...”

    “We landed here,” Cap said. “Quite a pleasant place, too. It’s a nice inn, good food, and we’ve got comfortable rooms until the end of the week. The owners took a little while to open up to us, but they’re former adventurers who were in the party to defeat the local Devil King. They retired after losing a few too many friends. Apparently the hero was a bit on the inept side, too.”

    Daiki nodded. “Sounds like a quiet slice-of-life sub-genre. Those were getting popular when I got taken from my Japan. So, is Aquila here yet?”

    Cap’s face fell, and he shook his head. Kasumi looked tearful.

    “If she fell back onto that world,” Kasumi said, “she might have...she...”

    “She didn’t,” Daiki said. “I was the last one out, and I saw her enter a vortex. She got away.”

    “Then where is she?” Kasumi cried. “Why isn’t she here yet? She should have been the first one to arrive!”

    “I’m sorry, I don’t know,” Daiki said.

    “Look,” Cap said. “Daiki can’t open another portal for a day. We can wait that long at least.”

    Daiki nodded. “We can wait a couple of days if we need to, at the very least.”

    “Please let Aquila be safe,” Kasumi said, wiping away a tear. “Please just let her be safe.”

NEXT: “Revelation”