Free Paradox by A. J. Paquette

hand grip her arm.
    Ana gropes around for her pack and shoulders it. With one hand holding Todd’s and the other still trailing the cave wall, she follows Todd deeper and deeper into the darkness. Finally, they come to a stop. Ana drops her backpack and collapses against the wall.
    She glances at her circlet and its glowing numbers. Barely sixteen hours left, and they have a whole mountain to cross—and who knows what after that.
    “How long can we afford to stay in here, do you think?” she asks.
    “I’ll check in a half hour or so,” Todd says out of the darkness. “See whether the worm’s gone, then find the others.”
    Ana yawns. She can’t help it. She’s been pushing for hours, and that last run squeezed out her final drops of energy. She thinks she could happily sit here in the darkness, holding Todd’s hand, for the rest of her life.
    Wait … holding Todd’s hand?
Still?
    Cheeks flaming, she slides her fingers out of his.
    She hears Todd settling on the ground next to her and keeps expecting her eyes to adjust to the dark, thinks she’ll start seeing the faint shapes and outlines of the things around her. But there’s nothing. Not even the faint glow from her circlet can penetrate the gloom. It’s like being part of the night sky. She could easily bring up the map and get some light that way, but there doesn’t seem to be any point. It’s warm in here, too.
    Weariness sweeps over her in a rush and she’s sleepy—so sleepy—
    “Take this.” Todd’s whisper is gentle and low. “You should eat something.”
    “What?” she mumbles. “Not …” He’s sliding something at her, but she can’t think about that right now. She feels him press a package into one of her jumpsuit pockets. She’s in a hammock, hung between two stars. She’s lying on a comet. She is the night sky.
    “Hope the others got away safely, that they aren’t—” A yawn swallows the rest of her words.
    Funny how this darkness works. In the silence she can hear Todd’s face wrinkle into a smile. She smiles in return and wonders if he can hear her, too.
    “I’m sure they’re fine.”
    How did she ever think it was dark in here? She can’t see the moon, but the stars are more than bright enough. Thenearest one is just a leap away. If she stands just so—she leans her foot way back, and
jumps
.
    She looks around her. What she’s landed on isn’t a star at all; it’s a planet, a small red planet with a wide yellow ring around it. No … not a ring but a worm, circling the planet, with gnashing, slavering jaws. Then her feet are disappearing into the ground and the stars overhead are getting closer and she’s being swallowed up by light.
    And then even that is gone.

Ana opens her eyes. She closes them. She opens them again.
    For a second panic courses through her. She reaches her hands out to either side, half expecting to feel the plush velvet cushions of her rocket. It couldn’t be—
    It isn’t.
    Her left hand smacks into a stone wall and she gasps. Where is she? Then it all comes back.
    “Todd!” she says. The word echoes around her, a hollow, empty sound. “Todd?”
    Ana fumbles for her right wrist and activates her circlet. The rocky room—a small alcove, tucked just off a wider chamber—fills with the map’s glow. Blinking, she looks at the countdown.
    She’s been sleeping for over two hours!
    She staggers to her feet, her neck stiff and her shoulder on fire. “Todd!” she calls.
    Todd … Todd … Todd …
    The echo boomerangs around the hollow chamber.
    Okay, think
. Ana tries to quell the panic surging in her.
He’s probably just gone to check on the others, to see if the worm is gone. He’ll be back in a few minutes
. But … 
two hours?
    And why would he go by himself, without waking her?
    Ana stumbles out into the main chamber, where a corridor winds out of sight in both directions. Which way did they come in?
    To her right, the trail curves gently downward, while to the left it