Maite and Kepa slowly hiked up to the peak of Santa Klara. They were in no hurry. Neither relished the idea of hurtling into another bubble, another unknown time filled with new dangers. It felt like they had just gotten back from their excursion to future Bilbo and here they were, being asked to enter another bubble. While, physically, they were unaffected, as if they hadn’t gone, mentally these trips were a bit taxing.
Once they got to the peak, they stopped to look back at the city. Their future home.
“Do you ever wonder if we’ll make it back, if we’ll get stuck in one of these bubbles?” asked Kepa.
Maite reached out and took his hand. “To be honest, as long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter to me where we are. What time or place.”
Kepa sniffled back a tear. “Maite zaitut. I love you.”
Maite smiled. “Maite zaitut ere bai.”
They turned away from the water. In front of them flashed the white light that would take them to the next bubble. As it flashed, dark shadows bloomed in and out of the rocks and trees around them.
Kepa sighed. “Prest?”
Maite nodded. “Bai, prest nago.”
She heard a rumbling in the back of her mind. “Are you not going to ask me if I’m ready?” Garuna’s voice echoed through her skull.
Maite grimaced before mentally replying. “Ez. No, I’m not.”
Kepa, still holding Maite’s hand, reached out, his finger extended, toward the center of the light.
There was a bright flash, familiar and disconcerting, that temporarily blinded them. They heard before they could see explosions, seemingly coming from all sides. As their eyes adjusted, they saw a fleet of ships in the bay, canons pointing to the old part of the city. Explosions burst into flames. Maite and Kepa could hear screams from the distant walls.
“What the hell is going on?” yelled Kepa.
“The city is under attack!” exclaimed Maite.
“By who?” asked Kepa.
Maite vigorously shook her head. “Ez dakit!”
Garuna’s voice popped into her head again, eerily calm against the chaos that was erupting around them. “The flags on the ships….”
Maite looked at Kepa. “It’s the British and Portuguese!”
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