Traveler's Blessing

Chapter 12: Catalyst Event

"Do you think she got the message hidden in the medicine label?" Miller asks. He is sitting amongst his usual friends in Clarke's quarters.

"I hope so," Jackson answers, his hands crossed as he recounts the interaction with Bellamy.

"And Bellamy didn't get suspicious?" Miller continues his inquiry.

"No, although he might think I am interested in him." Jackson grins teasingly, and Miller's face flashes red.

"Even if he is suspicious, he can't read the letter. It is written in Trigedasleng. Plus, we printed the letter with random numbers, brackets, and symbols to look like coding. Hopefully, even if he sees the letter, it will not register as language." Raven joins in. Adding random meaningless computer coding was her idea. She is extra paranoid with all the planning to ensure this life will not end like the last.

"I still don't get why we can't just tell Bellamy," Miller asks.

"We went through this, we ..." Raven starts to explain when Miller interjects, "Can't risk our soul, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I know. I know."

"Then why do you keep bringing it up?" Raven questions.

"Because I don't like it," Miller states, matter factly.

Raven rolls her eye and leans back on her chair. "Well, at least the plan we have might save Octavia and Bellamy's mom. We just have to figure out a way to save Clarke's dad too."

"My dad finding out about the system failure is a catalyst event. Without him finding it out, we would not have been sent to earth to test the atmosphere." Clarke adds with an air of resignation.

"What if we release his video to the public early?" Miller offers.

"That won't work. There will be no reason to arrest Clarke if the information goes public. We may just end up preventing Clarke from going to earth with the 100," Raven replies, shaking her head.

"How about it is you that found out, and you told Clarke, so both of you gets send to earth?" Miller directs his question to Raven.

"That won't work either. I've thought through this scenario. I will have to do this before I turn 18 so I don't get floated. This would mean we accelerate the timeline by one year. If the council sent us early, we risk missing some key people on earth on this timeline. Suppose they send us later like the original timeline; it probably means they had floated me, "Raven answers dejectedly. "I'm working the problem. I just need some time."

"How about just fixing the system issue?" Jackson asks, "Raven and the system engineers will have at least four years to fix it if they bring the issue up now."

"Yeah, it can't be done. I already check during my system inspection. The future engineers are wrong about this; the system failure is catastrophic. It can't be fixed. We don't have the parts to fix it. Eventually, they will realize that as well." Raven says.

"Yes, my dad did say he couldn't fix it and that he tried."

Clarke can't justify risking her soul traveling friends' lives without betraying the one person she loves. Gaining a new perspective of how Lexa feels when she left Clarke to die at Mount Weather brings a whole different level of irony.

"The only way my dad will not be floated is if he doesn't want to release the information. Or if my mom didn't tell Jaha. Or if Jaha decides to pardon my dad." Clarke has gamed out these scenarios multiple times, and it always comes down to these three possibilities.

"What if Jaha is not the Chancellor? Abby won't have a chance to misplace her trust and tell Jaha if he is not on the council? In turn, Jaha will not float your dad." Jackson chimes in. "We just have to make sure he loses the next election or kill him?" That last part was less convincing.

"Then what, that crazy bitch, Diana Sydney, becomes Chancellor? We all know she prioritizes her own survival over others. Don't forget she killed 1,500 people before going down with the Exodus ship. Do we really want to risk the lives of everyone in her hands?" Raven ask.

As absurd as that is, an idea starts to formulate. "Yeah, yeah, ok. Jackson has a point. What if my mom doesn't get the chance to misplace her trust?"

"What do you mean?" Raven can see Clarke is onto something.

"We sabotage their relationship. Jaha and my mom." Clarke looks at Raven. "Starting with me beating up Wells."

"Come again?" Miller asks, not catching on.

"I beat up Wells before the catalyst day. Get thrown into Juvi. Then mom can't possibly confine in Jaha after her daughter almost kills his son. Can she now? And I still get on that dropship."

"But your dad can still get floated for releasing the information?" Jackson objects.

"Or maybe, my mom convinced him not to release the information. Or if the information still gets released, they grant him a stay execution. They did that for my mom when they really needed her. The information already went public; killing him won't achieve anything; a live system engineer that can help fix the problem is better than a dead one. Besides..." Clarke pauses for a moment, "this will prevent Wells from following me to earth, then maybe ... maybe this time he survives."

"But will getting yourself thrown into jail for another reason prevent you from being selected as one of the 100?" Raven asks. She hates the idea and is worried about changing history, however slight that chance may be.

"No, my mom is on the council. In her mind sending me to the ground will give me a chance at survival. She will make sure I get on that dropship." Clarke explains.

"And you are sure about that?" asks Raven.

"Yes, history doesn't change that easily... " there is a tone of sadness when Clarke admits it. "But I will try to get arrested as close to the original timeline as possible just to be safe," Clarke reassures her friend.

"One more problem, what makes you so sure you can beat up Wells? He is bigger than you." Miller asks.

"No, but Costia can be very dangerous," Clarke answers with her mouth slightly upturned. Clarke has retained Costia's motor skills and kept up the practice. Clarke was never big on fighting, not like Octavia, Echo, Hope, or even Raven. In her first life, she preferred using guns. After the Transcendence, the warriors in the group will train with each other to blow off steam. Clarke would join them sometimes, but she is always the weakest fighter amongst them. But that changed after her life as Costia. She had years of training with Lexa, and the Commander had made sure Costia could defend herself amongst the best fighters.

"Right, your other life," Miller realizes.

"Puts a whole different meaning to Grounder Pounder," Raven punches her fist into her palm teasingly, earning grins all around. The air is noticeably lighter now the group of friends has a plan.