Sam stood in a private room, feeling completely numb. Why had she agreed to do this? Why did she think she could actually pull this off?

The wall in front of her was one giant mirror, reflecting her fraught expression. Even with the ash blonde wig and four-inch heels, she still saw only herself—terrified, broken Sam/Rosalie, dressed up in Jenny Lind's simple white gown with minimal embellishment or detail. Even under the wide petticoat, the skirt's volume didn't make it feel any less plain. This was Jenny Lind's signature style. Modest, simple, minimalistic. Boring, in other words, Sam thought. Really, she didn't mind the dress. It was fine. But the fact that Lind depended on nothing but her voice to move a crowd added an additional layer of pressure. What was it her high school drama teacher used to say? When something sucks, add sparkles. Sam was confident enough in her talents that she knew she didn't suck, but a diamond necklace or metallic embroidery certainly couldn't hurt. Except, of course, it could in this case, if she wanted to embody Jenny Lind as best as possible. "Ughhhh."

"What's wrong?" It was JB. He'd stayed so silent sitting in the corner, she'd forgotten he was even there.

"If something goes wrong…"

"It won't. You're going to do great." His eyes were reassuring, but there was a darkness underneath, the unmistakable flicker of worry. Of course he was nervous. She didn't doubt his confidence in her, but he wasn't delusional. The fact was, they were attempting the impossible and it would be foolish to deny it.

"You don't have to try and boost my spirits. We all know I'm not Jenny Lind."

"I'll take Sam Cretney over Jenny Lind any day," he said.

"You're sweet, but right now the world does not need some amateur performer from Ohio. They need a legend."

"If we pull this off, you will be a legend. Not a single person from my time won't know your name."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Don't they already know my name though? I'm Interchronological Rescue's big mistake."

"Penicillin was discovered by mistake. Does that mean it shouldn't be praised for saving millions of lives?"

She smirked. "Penicillin, really? You couldn't have gone with a more fun accidental invention? Like Coca-Cola, for instance?" He wrinkled his nose and she laughed. "Right. I forgot you're way too sophisticated and mature for sweets."

He smiled at her, and she tried to savor the fleeting joy. This was just the eye of the storm, and her mood darkened just as quickly. "The voice-perfecting pill has an uncertain duration depending on the person, right? What if I run out of time?"

"Then you just keep singing."

"And if I'm not good enough? It's not like I ever made it big when I was Rosalie."

"You starred in all those roles in the twenty-first century, didn't you?"

"I like to talk up all those community theater productions, but the truth is that that theater wasn't even the best one in town." As she confessed this, she felt her confidence wither under the knowledge that she really wasn't as special as she wanted people to believe. "It's decent, but there's low competition. All the really talented actors performed at the community theater downtown. I auditioned for it a couple times, but never made it. I'm a big fish in a small pond, that's all."

His expression gloomed. "You sound like you don't even want to try."

She'd been looking at him through the glass this entire time, but now she turned to face him directly. "Oh, I want to try. I'm just letting you know it's a Hail Mary."

He got up from his chair and closed the distance between them. She melted against the contours of his chest, closed her eyes, and tried to exist solely in the moment. "It's not fair that this is all on your shoulders," he said.

"I just want it to end. Gérôme must be furious that I escaped the 1880s and I know he's coming for me. I'm ready to put him away so you and I can finally have a chance at living a normal life together."

She felt his chest bounce with a quiet laugh. "I don't think our lives will ever be normal."

She couldn't argue with that, so she changed the subject. "How much longer do we have, do you think?" About two hours ago, the agency had stalled the unraveling of the twentieth century in the 1940s. Since then, the damage had bled into the 1920s and 1960s. Twenty years forward and twenty years backward, just gone. If time continued to disintegrate at the same rate, that meant another twenty years would disappear in just an hour.

"Things are still being set in motion," said JB. "Cira's team is working with Kevin to plan out the exact moment, but we know you'll need to step on stage before the damage reaches the twenty-first century. At that point, we'd be cutting it too close."

"So about six hours?"

"Something like that," he said.

She shuddered. Six hours until the potential collapse of everything. "The worst part is, if it doesn't work, then we'll have wasted all this time planning for nothing. I'd much rather spend my last moments with you than on stage performing for a bunch of strangers."

"Believe me, I feel the same," he said, leaning in so the tips of their noses touched. He let out a strained gulp and squeezed his eyes shut.

"What is it?"

"I just…" His voice was thick and breathy. "I really want to kiss you right now, but I know that if I do, someone's bound to barge in right away."

She exhaled a soft giggle. "Do you care?"

He seemed to consider it a moment, then smiled and shook his head. "You know what? No. I don't." He pressed his lips into hers and her worries evaporated. Whatever fate was in store for them in ten hours, it didn't matter. Right now, she was content.

...

EVERYONE ELSE GETS TO BE WITH FAMILY flashed across Cira's elucidator. Yet another message from Kosi, her sister. She felt a pang in her center, but willed it away and responded:

I'M SORRY, BUT UNAUTHORIZED INDIVIDUALS CANNOT VISIT HEADQUARTERS DURING EMERGENCIES. NOT EVEN FAMILY. She sent the message along, then paused and added a quick, I LOVE YOU, KOS. TELL MOM AND DAD I LOVE THEM TOO before muting the conversation. "Damn you, K'Tah," she mumbled to herself. If he'd just stuck to the mission, she wouldn't be here, getting disgustingly sentimental. She hated it.

Even more than that, she hated that it wasn't really his fault. The truth was, if he hadn't grown so attached to Cretney, if he'd just done what he was told, time would still be in danger. Because it turned out, Gérome Donais was the reason for all the instability, not Cretney's existence in several different time periods. That's just what IR had wanted her to believe, and she'd fallen for it. Now time was unraveling and the best chance they had of stopping it was only fifty-fifty. As soon as she'd sent the announcement about the state of things and the upcoming "live-stream," the funds for the voice enhancer flooded in, just as Kevin had predicted. Everyone had rushed to be with family for their final moments—just in case it came to that—and together they would hold each other close and watch Cretney's Jenny Lind impersonation unfold. Cira could picture her parents and Kosi now, huddled in the family room drinking hot chocolate—the secret family recipe, of course—and counting on her to do the impossible while they waited for the performance to start. "Damn it all." Her voice cracked, but she squared her shoulders and breathed. She would not break down in the middle of the control room while Thorpe lurked just two desks away.

The time primitives and Correro were there too, hovering over her shoulder for a glance at the image projected in the air in front of her. Right now, it was just the number fifty, glowing a shade of neutral yellow. It represented their odds of success. Once Cretney stepped on stage, the number would increase or decrease, depending on the audience's reaction. If the number increased, the color would become greener, with one hundred being the deepest green. If it decreased, the numbers would turn redder the closer it got to zero. It was terrifyingly simple.

"When should I get JB and Sam?" asked Correro. "I should let them know when Sam needs to take the voice enhancer."

"Go in a few hours. Cretney should take the enhancer just before she arrives in 1850, while she's still in outer time. No sooner, no later," said Cira. "And be sure to place an elucidator in her pocket before she goes so we have guaranteed visibility into 1850." Miraculously, 1850 wasn't currently blocked from view, but she didn't want to take any chances, what with everything changing so rapidly.

"Should someone check on them now?" DuPre asked. "None of us have heard from them since we sent them to that private room to get ready."

Katherine snickered. "Do so at your own risk. Those two can hardly take their hands off each other. You have no idea what you might be walking into."

Cira bristled. She'd seen enough of her former mentor's canoodling to last a lifetime, and she had no desire to imagine any more. "Do whatever you want, just make sure they're ready when the time comes."

...

JB's elucidator buzzed and he ignored it. Again. He was lying on the floor, Sam on top of him in her fluffy white dress. The petticoat spread over his legs like a parachute as they held each other and tried to savor whatever time they had left together. Her lips were petal-soft as they lapped against his, her fingers weaving gently through his hair.

Buzzzzzzz. He fished the elucidator out of his pocket and groaned. "What now?" He rose to a sitting position and propped his back against the mirror.

Sam slid from his stomach to his lap and said, "It's okay. I think it's sweet that your friends keep checking on you." She traced her fingers in a swirling motion across his chest as he checked the messages. The gesture sent a whisper of shivers rippling down his body, but he tried to focus on the various notifications he'd ignored for the past hour.

From Cira: BE SURE TO REVIEW THE SONG LIST WITH CRETNEY. IS SHE CERTAIN SHE HAS THEM ALL MEMORIZED?

From Jonah: REMEMBER, DON'T LET SAM REHEARSE FOR SEVERAL HOURS NONSTOP. BURNOUT CAN BE JUST AS BAD FOR THE BRAIN AS NOT REHEARSING AT ALL. HER PERFORMANCE WILL BE BETTER IF SHE ALLOWS HERSELF BREAKS IN BETWEEN.

From Hadley: CIRA SAYS SAM SHOULD TAKE THE VOICE ENHANCER WHILE SHE'S STILL FLOATING THROUGH OUTER TIME, RIGHT BEFORE SHE LANDS.

From Angela: HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP? NEED ANYTHING?

Katherine: ANGELA WANTS TO CHECK ON YOU. PUT ON SOME CLOTHES.

"Our clothes are on!" He scowled at the elucidator.

Sam cackled. "You're not actually going to send that, are you?"

"Erase, erase!" he said as DO YOU WANT TO SEND THIS MESSAGE? appeared on the device.

Then another message from Angela: CAN I COME IN?

Sam rolled off his lap and settled beside him on the floor, glancing at the elucidator. "You can let her in," she said.

"You might want to fix your wig first," said JB, noticing its lopsided state.

Sam turned her face to the mirror and blushed. "I swear I secured this." She stood and placed her hands on either side of her head, then pulled until the part was once again centered. As she smoothed the flyaways and dug into her pockets for more pins, JB got to his feet and smoothed out his wrinkled shirt and trousers. Thankfully, a quick swipe of his hand was enough to tidy his hair.

As soon as he responded to Angela, she appeared. "Sorry if I'm interrupting your rehearsal," she said. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. We haven't heard from you in a bit."

"Oh, sorry," said JB. "We were…uh, distracted…" He trailed off, having no desire to elaborate.

Fortunately, Angela was more cordial than Katherine and she just nodded graciously. "Not a problem. How are you?"

Happy. Nervous. Excited. Terrified. "We're okay."

"Trying not to think about what's ahead," said Sam. Her voice sounded grim again.

"I know the feeling," Angela said with a sympathetic nod. "I'll be sure to get out of your hair soon, I just wanted to check in." It was funny seeing Angela and Sam side by side. Even with her high heels, Sam was significantly shorter than Angela, who was nearly as tall as Hadley.

"How are things in the control room?" JB asked. "Kenneth giving you any trouble?"

Angela laughed and shook her head. "I think we put him in his place back in the time hollow."

"And Cira?"

She shrugged. "I can tell she's nervous. Can practically see all the millions of worries running through her head, but I know not to ask."

"She doesn't think I can do it…" Sam said quietly.

"No, that's not what I meant, Sam," said Angela. "I just think it's the pressure she's under as agency director, that's all. She wouldn't have agreed to let you do this if she didn't think it was possible."

"Or she decided a lost cause was better than no cause at all. If the voice enhancer runs out, I don't think I'll have the skills to match." She folded her hands in front of her and looked down at the floor. It broke JB's heart to see her so deflated. He knew how much she loved to sing, and he hated to think that her last moments could be spent thinking she wasn't good enough, all because she couldn't meet some nineteenth century audience's standards. Stop worrying, he tried to tell himself. They'll love her. How could they not?

"Maybe it's not about skill," said Angela. "I mean, think about it. Tons of people have amazing voices. It's the performance that makes someone stand out."

"That's what I've been trying to tell her," said JB. Sam's gaze stayed fixed on the floor.

"Take Amelia Earhart, for example," continued Angela. "She wasn't the most skilled pilot of her time."

This seemed to catch Sam's attention because she looked up and stared at Angela quizzically. "She wasn't?"

"Ah, so there is some history you don't know," Angela teased. Sam offered no response, so Angela went on. "Amelia crashed a lot and didn't even know morse code."

"So…you're telling me her disappearance wasn't even that surprising?"

"What? No!" Angela waved her hands as if to erase what she just said. "That's not my point. What I'm saying is, even though Amelia Earhart may not have been the most talented pilot ever, she was passionate, and people saw that. They admired her tenacity, her spirit. The world fell in love with her love for flight. And Sam, I've seen you sing. Believe me, you have what it takes."

Sam stared at Angela for a minute, eyes glistening, then leapt forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. Angela looked surprised at first, but soon smiled and hugged her back.

From behind Sam, JB caught Angela's eye and mouthed, Thank you.

Hail Mary or not, success or failure, one thing was certain: Sam was going to dazzle.