Mercy tossed and turned unable to sleep; her hand reached out to the pillow where Logan normally slept and found no comfort when she felt it cold and empty.
He'd volunteered, along with Haru and Grace, to run a recon mission prior to the inevitable battle against Duvos. Mercy had been against that idea. They'd fought and Logan had stormed out, telling her it wasn't her choice. He had to do this.
That was a week ago.
There had been no word since then from any of them. Mercy was sure her worst fears were being realised. And tomorrow, they would face the Duvos army without any intel or three of their strongest assets.
"I shouldn't have come here," she muttered to herself as she punched her pillows. "I should have stayed in Highwind."
"You really believe that would be better?" a soft voice asked from the bottom of the bed.
Mercy screamed. There was a woman - no, the ghost of a woman, Mercy could see the window through her - watching her closely.
"You, my child, are a vital part of Sandrock, whether you believe it or not."
"Who are you?" she asked, pulling the blanket up around her neck.
"Call yourself a Sandrocker?" the vision laughed. "I'da thought you'd have recognised the founder of the town."
"Martle?" Mercy asked. "No, I'm still dreaming, you can't be here, you're dead."
"Well, yes I am dead, doesn't mean I can't be here. Anyway, with everything that's about to happen, I figured you might need a little reminder of why you're here."
"To spread telesis and fix other people's messes," Mercy replied.
"Indeed. I just thought you might welcome a reminder of what that means."
"Yeah, how are you going to do that?"
"Three visitors. They'll show you what was, what is, and what may be. Good luck, Mercy."
With that, Martle winked out of existence.
Mercy rubbed her eyes and flopped back on the bed. "I'm dreaming," she mumbled as she fell back asleep
Daylight streaming in the window woke Mercy.
"Fuck, what time is it? I was meant to be at Martle Square by dawn."
"Oh don't worry about that just yet," a male voice spoke up.
Mercy pulled the covers up with one hand and reached for the gun Logan insisted she left in her nightstand.
"Oh, you won't need that, it won't work."
Mercy looked round and found someone standing there. She blinked, she recognised him from… somewhere. Rubbing her eyes again, it came to her.
"You're, wait, you're that genetics scientist. Your books and notes were all over the dead sea lab we visited. Scott, Sam, no wait, Steve." Well, almost Steve. Like Martle, she could see the room through him.
"Great, another ghost. What do you want?"
"Martle told you, didn't she? What was, what is, and what will be. I'm here to show you what was. Come along, we don't have much time."
Grumbling, Mercy climbed out of bed, pulling her robe and slippers on over her pyjamas. "Can I at least get time to get dressed?"
"No need, you'll be fine like that."
Steve reached out and touched her arm; in the blink of an eye they were stood by the oasis.
Mercy looked around her. There were more trees and fewer buildings than normal. The building at the end of Main Street bore a sign calling it the Sandrock Hotel.
"Where are we?" she whispered.
"Not where, you know that. When. Seventy years ago, just after Martle founded Sandrock."
Steve nodded to a couple strolling hand in hand around the oasis as the sun set. She recognised Martle from her unexpected appearance earlier, which meant the gentleman with her…
"Mort?" she whispered.
Steve nodded. "Don't they look so happy together? So full of hope? Of course, they didn't know what was coming, did they?"
"The relic rush?"
"Exactly. But even that didn't break the Sandrock spirit. Let's go to the saloon, shall we?"
Steve headed off towards the Sandrock Hotel, and Mercy gasped. The sign now read The Blue Moon, and there were more buildings that there had been moments earlier.
"Come along, stop dawdling, you've got a long night ahead," Steve called back to her.
It had dropped cold in those few moments, and Mercy watched as the Winter Solstice decorations appeared. Steve held the door open and she stepped into the warmth of the Blue Moon.
At first she thought that Owen was behind the bar, but at a second glance realised the man was softer than Owen, with chestnut hair rather than black. Owen's pa, then, she realised. A small boy of around ten ran up to him; this was Owen.
"Twenty-five years ago," Steve told her. "Your friends are all children, celebrating the Winter Solstice."
At the far end of the saloon, there were some adults Mercy recognised - Hugo, Vivi, Cooper and Mabel, along with an older Mort and Martle - and some she didn't. But it was the children that took her breath away. It was easy to spot Justice, who Owen had returned to play with, although she didn't recognise the other boy with them. Closer to the parents, she smiled at a toddler Logan and Heidi. Again, there were other children she didn't recognise.
"You heard Mort talk about them to Musa. Aakil, Miya and Tang. They died in a sandstorm a few years later. But these are the hopes and the future of Sandrock. Even after the relic rush, hope remained. These are why we keep the town going."
Mercy watched as Logan toddled up to his pa, who picked him up and swung him round. Mercy's heart ached, both for what she knew the boy would face, and from missing the man she knew now.
"They're why we do it," Mercy sighed.
"Exactly," Steve said. "You're starting to get it. But there's more to come." He led Mercy towards the door of the saloon and ushered her out.
In the time they'd spent in the saloon, the lighting had changed again; now it was that dim twighlight that came before the dawn.
"Today is a big day for the town," someone said.
Mercy looked round to discover Steve had gone, to be replaced by Fei, one of the miners from Rocky's scrapyard.
"Let's see how everyone is preparing for the day ahead, shall we?"
He led Mercy into the commerce guild across the street, where they found Wei and Mi-an putting together parcels of bullets to hand out to fighters. Mi-an's daggers were strapped to her back; Wei had a gun in a holster on one hip, a sword on his other.
"I should be helping them," Mercy said.
"You will, when you wake up."
They headed back across to the saloon. Owen was in the bar, cleaning an old rifle. He had a grim look on his face, so unlike the Owen who had essentially adopted Mercy as a sister since she'd arrived. She remembered some stories he'd alluded to from his travels, and realised how hard this must be for him.
She stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm.
"He won't know you're here," Fei said. However, Owen glanced up and around, making Mercy think that might not quite be the case.
"Come along," Fei said, leading Mercy out the top door of the saloon and straight into Martle Square in a way that wasn't normally possible.
The air cannon she'd installed the day before stood outside City Hall. Justice, Unsuur and Hugo, under Mayor Trudy's supervision, set up sandbags around the square. Heidi was helping Fang set up a field hospital in Construction Junction.
"They're all ready to fight for the town," Fei said.
"Even knowing what we're likely to face…" Mercy mused. "Sandrock is the people as much as the place."
Fei headed up the stairs towards City Hall, however the door led them not into Trudy's office, but to the End of the Road graveyard, and Mort's shack.
They followed Zeke inside, where they found Mort, along with Vivi, Krystal, Jasmine and Pebbles.
"Hopefully they're safe here, away from the battle."
"That's the plan," Fei replied. "Shall we head back?"
They walked past the upgraded games centre and museum, showcasing both Sandrock and the Old World.
"What about Logan?" Mercy whispered. "What's he doing?"
Fei sighed. "That I can't show you. His present depends on you."
They entered the tunnel that led to the ranch and to Mercy's workshop. Stepping out the other side, the sun was high in the sky. After her previous experiences, Mercy looked round, finding that Fei had been replaced by both Venti and Banma.
" Two of you?" she asked as they walked towards her workshop.
The workshop door opened and Mercy froze as she and Logan walked out. They were laughing, happy and carefree. Mercy cradled a baby in her arms, while Logan had a young boy with a shock of white hair that matched his own balanced on his shoulders.
"He comes back to me?" Mercy whispered.
"I don't know," Venti replied. "I'm just keeping you company on my way to the scrapyard. You'll need to ask Banma."
Mercy turned to speak to her, and a loud clap of thunder sounded, accompanied by a bolt of lightning that hit behind the workshop.
The colour drained from the town and clouds rolled in.
"You left?" Mercy said.
"Yes, I did. Which is why I'm here to show you what would happen if you'd left. Or even never come here."
Mercy looked around.
Her workshop was in ruins, worse that the day she'd arrived. The saloon was in ashes, as was the ranch behind it. In the distance, Mercy could see rock hyenas scavenging on the remains of Coop's yakmel herd. The oasis was simply a puddle of mud pooled around the base of the Peach statue, which was missing its lantern and scarf.
"What happened?"
"Duvos won," Banma replied flatly.
"How? We're so well prepared?!"
"Your Sandrock's prepared because they've got two builders, one of whom is loved and adored by the best fighter in the area. But, you wished you didn't come to Sandrock, that you'd stayed in Highwind, so…" Banma gestured round the remains of the town. The more Mercy saw, the more appalled she was.
Most of the buildings were in ruins. The commerce guild was one of the few that still stood.
"Shall we?" Banma asked, opening the door.
Mercy gasped as she saw Yan back behind his desk, with his feet up and a smug smile on his face.
"How did he get free?" she whispered.
"He didn't. He was never captured. You weren't here to help blow the plot. Oh, Mi-an tried, but, well, let's see how that worked out."
They left the guild, and headed towards the station. Several soldiers in Duvos uniform were walking towards the waiting train, dragging two figures behind them, thir clothes in rags.
Mi-an and Elsie.
A commanding officer approached and hauled them both to their feet, sizing them up like prize cattle, his hand swooping round to test the feel of their bodies. Mercy was unsure what had happened to them up to this point, but there was no fight left in either of them, they just stood there and let him grope them.
Eventually, he made a decision, backhanding Elsie out the way, and throwing Mi-an over his shoulder.
Mercy tried to run after them, but Banma caught her arm. "Ain't nothin' you can do, sister," she said. "Well, not here and now."
Banma led Mercy back where she had just come from with Fei. Researchers bustled in and out of the research centre, although there was no sign of Qi. The games centre was gone, but the museum stood proud, with flags declaring it the centre of Duvosian knowledge and culture.
"They moved fast, didn't they?"
Banma shrugged. "When you saw your friends, it was only a few days after the battle. It's now about six months later."
They approached the graveyard. Zeke stood tall and proud in the middle, leaning on a shovel. He'd lost weight and looked gaunt, his clothes hanging off him. He wiped his arm across his brow before turning and heading into his pa's shack.
There were a lot more graves, Mercy realised. Mort was memorialised on the centre pillar, alongside his beloved Martle. Vivi and Hugo were next to Zvonimir and Rhonda. All around the graveyard, new markers showed where her friends had been buried. Some were missing, and Mercy found herself hoping they'd escaped rather than suffered Mi-an's fate.
The last grave was the one that broke her.
Next to Howlett's gravestone was a smaller one.
Logan James
Battled Bitter Monsters to the End
Mercy fell to her knees and wept.
"No! It's not supposed to happen like this! Darkness, Lo, you were supposed to come back and save the town, we're supposed to grow old together!"
She stood and turned on Banma.
"No, this doesn't happen," she wailed. "Venti showed me a different future. We were happy!"
"The future isn't fixed. You can help prevent this happening."
"By accepting I'm a Sandrocker and fighting the best I can for them."
"You got it."
Mercy sat upright in bed, her heart racing. Dawn was creeping in the window. Time to do this, to fight for Sandrock.
She hustled through her morning routine, trying not to linger on the thought of what was to come. She understood now why she was doing this, what the stakes were.
There was still no sign of Logan.
As she left her workshop to join the crowd in town, she glimpsed red paint on her mailbox. Of all the days for kids to be painting grafitti, she thought, as she went to wipe it off.
Suddenly the design registered, a pointed "L" with stylised horns at the top. Logan's mark. She smiled in relief, he was alive and about, if still hidden.
She thought the mailbox was empty when she looked inside, before spotting a small parcel. She unwrapped it to find a carved pensky, something she knew Logan did to pass the time on a watch, and a note - "be my pensky?" Mercy grinned; Logan had told her once that penskies mated for life. if she was looking for a sign, this was it.
Mercy had a spring in her step as she headed towards Martle Square.
As the enemy swarmed up Main Street towards them, it was clear that luck was on the Sandrockers' side. Every shot connected, whether it was Owen and Coop on the roofs with rifles, Justice, Heidi, and Hugo in hand to hand contact in the square, or Mercy sending swathes of troops to their feet with the air-cannon, things were working in their favour.
Until Mercy heard a familiar voice behind her.
"I am so sorry, child," Matilda said, raising her cane to thrust it into the air intake of the cannon.
A Duvos soldier ran up behind her and grabbed her arm, forcing her arm behind her, and causing the cane to fall.
"I don' think so, Matilda," a familiar voice drawled, bringing a smile to Mercy's face. Two other soldiers she realised had pulled away from the ranks and were returning fire. No, wait, three, Mercy realised in confusion.
Once Matilda had been neutralised, and it was clear there were agents within the army, the fight faltered and they surrendered readily.
Justice cuffed Matilda and dragged her off to the cell at the Civil Corps office, but it was clear they didn't have enough cuffs for the soldiers.
Logan pulled his mask off, and Mercy ran to him, jumping up and wrapping herself round him.
"I'm so sorry we fought," she murmured.
Logan ran a hand down her back. "Let's get this lot sorted, and we can spend all the time catching up that we need. Got any rope in your bag, darlin'?"
"Always," Mercy grinned. "But isn't it a bit public for that?" she couldn't resist teasing.
"For the prisoners," Logan huffed. "You know I prefer the softer stuff on your skin, darlin'," he added, pitching his voice low enough for anyone else to hear.
The next few hours were chaos. The Duvos soldiers were taken to the church as a holding cell, and Matida remained serene and silent in her prison cell. Atara and Meidi were contacted and were sending planes and representatives to deal with them.
Finally, Mercy and Logan found themselves free and alone. Hand in hand they wandered to the oasis and leaned over the railings, watching the moon shining off the water.
"They were camped in the Valley of Whispers," Logan explained, "they're trying to access something on top of the mesa across the tracks. M'pa an' I never managed to get up there, so we'll need to see if the Alliance'll fly us up there once they arrive.
"We stumbled on a single soldier the night we found them. He surrendered straight away, offered to help us in exchange for the chance to defect."
"So he got you uniforms, helped you blend in?"
Logan nodded. "We had no other option, no way of getting word back to you."
"I was so scared," Mercy told him. "And I felt so guilty. The last conversation we had was a massive argument. I thought you were dead."
"Oh, darlin'," Logan groaned, pulling Mercy against him.
Five years later
The sun shone down on Sandrock as Mercy and Logan left their house. Howlett, their three year old son, was perched on his pa's shoulders. The boy was Logan's double, down to the shock of white hair and his sense of adventure. Freya, their six month old daughter, was wrapped in a sling against her ma's chest. They were heading to the oasis, where a mid-summer picnic had been arranged.
As they left the yard, Venti passed, heading towards the scrapyard. She caught Mercy's eye and a moment of recognition passed between them.
"Peach blesses everyone," Venti called out to them as they headed off in different directions.
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