There appears to be a stow-away within USS Detroit’s crew. After returning Sand Dollar to 1944, Alex mysteriously collapses. Finding herself back in 1942 and in someone else’s body, can she maintain the timeline as she remembers it or will things spiral into nightmare? Can Alex find a way to save one of her beloved sisters?

We rejoin the Empress of Time and Space in Reilly Research Station’s Infirmary where two survivors of the ill-fated invasion force recuperate. A mysterious message received by CINCPAC causes more to be revealed about the Sisters of Kili and Alex must both hold and fold her cards with regards to members of the USS Detroit’s crew. Might the recently neutralized Janelle Hathor still have an ace up her sleeve, though?

The first gathering of the three- figuratively- Empresses quickly degrades into a trap for Alex, her sisters, and the Admiral. After a hasty retreat, Alex and what is left of her original travel party must regroup and plan the liberation of Kili Island carefully. Relatively, can the present save the past in the future?