He sat within his vessel and brooded on his longstanding dilemma.

A vibration, a mere hint of a disturbance, imposed its way into his consciousness, interrupting his inner gloom. Startled, he raised his head.

In all his time of searching, this was the first instance in which he had perceived any trace of that which was required. Hopeful, he concentrated.

A link.

His mind pursued the thin, almost imperceptible thread, and met with an obstruction. Frustration creased his brow. Perhaps he was mistaken. He quietened his mind and focused. There was no mistake. It was indeed the long sought after assistance he would need. He had but to reach it.

He pulled his mind back and mulled over his next move, which was to determine how to overcome the obstruction, and then isolate the exact location and identity of the link. It was crucial to make this discovery as soon as possible. After several trials that accomplished nothing, he thought to ask the ship.

“Zua, assess. Why am I not achieving success with this?”

“Your efforts are hindered by a lack of power, Master.”

He waited for a moment then said patiently, “I am waiting, Zua. Are you then going to explain how I may rectify this?”

“The link itself is the answer, Master. Through it, you can access a strength that, while not great, may be combined with yours. It can be used to cancel the distance and thus overcome the obstruction. Then, you may isolate the position of the link.”

He stared at the ship’s console, thinking that it had seemed reluctant to answer him, but that thought was lost in his annoyance that he had not considered that angle himself. His irritation faded as he set about analyzing the parameters of the approach. His heart lightened with the discovery that the task would be complex but not insurmountable. As long as he was careful, such a tactic would work quite well.

So as not to sap the fragile power, through the link, he used a subtle touch to pull upon the delicate strength. He intermingled it with his own and negated the distance to gain egress. Then, he sent his perception through.

Reaching the source, he made a further survey and smiled with satisfaction. It was more than expected. Before him lay the pathway that would lead to his defeat of the enemy.

He made his plans, gave directives to his vessel, and wended his way toward his destination.

Four kids from four different sets of parents born the same year on the same day.

This was not an uncommon occurrence, but it was a fact not known to the parents as, at the time, they lived in four different states and didn’t know one another.

It was perhaps less common that the kids were born within the same hour within the same minute, but that was a detail not discovered for years.

Mere seconds separated their ages. Evelyn Bryce made it into the world first, a second after midnight and a second before Connor Helmuth. Connor beat Shane Anders by a half-second, and Valerie Worthy was the youngest at one second behind Shane. Three and a half seconds after midnight, they were all out and squalling.

They met when they were eight weeks old. Or rather, their parents did. One could say that the babies already knew each other.

Two weeks after the births of the newest addition to their families, the fathers transferred from their respective jobs to a town in Massachusetts. On a sunny day in mid-spring, the mothers met while in the park with their new babies and found they lived within a few blocks of each other. Upon discovering the babies were all born on February twenty-fifth, they marveled at the coincidence. They became good friends.

One mother noticed her baby sometimes appeared to be listening to something, something she couldn’t hear, or the baby would coo or giggle when alone in the nursery. In comparing notes with the other mothers, she discovered their babies behaved the same way. They chalked it up as normal and got on with enjoying their little bundles of joy.

From the beginning, some connection the babies seemed to share called to mind the one shared by multiples from the same womb. When the kids were older, and the mothers brought them together, they would crawl to each other and babble as though they understood. It was as though they had their own language and were communicating on a level no one else had.

Like puppies, they would fall asleep in a huddle. Shane was always next to Evelyn, and Connor next to Valerie. Everyone thought it was cute.

Their families jokingly called them the quad squad.