“You’re angry, but please understand. I’m using discretion. We must be careful about whom we share this encounter. Don’t tell anyone. I’m going to ask you to trust me—I’ll share more when I can.”
“If you want trust, why don’t you start by being trustworthy? You could hand over my coded notes for starters.”
Surprised, he gives me a hard look. “You’re right, of course.”
We step into the dry lab. Finn moves to the shelves of steel boxes secured against the bulkhead. “With my crossbow, I shot the Albatross…” he mutters under his breath.
Pulling one of the boxes off the shelf, he carries it to the table where I stand.
His eyes flick to the wall behind me, and he swallows. Then he gives me another long look and straightens his glasses.
“Dr. Nathan Carter.” His voice has changed. He’s on show. “It’s taken decades for us to get here.”
What the hell is he talking about? I feel a prickly sensation crawl up my back.
“It was kismet.”
“Finn, can you cut to it? I’d like to go home.”
“Like I was saying… kismet… You came back—right when you did. And even more fortuitous, you had no memory. Almost too perfect to be random.” He looks behind me again, toward the hatch.
I turn and see a man about my age. He stands where he entered, waiting to be introduced.
Finn doesn’t acknowledge him and continues. “As you know, I’ve been running analysis on the stone you found years ago. It’s impossible to formalize conclusions.” He pauses. “But when you know, you know.”
He nods to the waiting man. “Let me introduce you to a colleague of ours. Dr. Stavon Green.”
Green walks over to stand beside Finn.
Both men look at the box, then back at me.
Every instinct I have is screaming that something is wrong. Green locks his gaze on mine. His eyes are black. They’re so dark that I can’t tell where the pupils and irises meet. Or if he even has both. His skin is smooth and pale. If he’s our age, he should have some lines around his eyes or forehead, but he doesn’t. It’s impossible to draw any hint as to what he’s thinking or feeling.
“Hello, Nathan,” Green says. His voice is pleasantly pitched with the clarity of a bell.
Saying nothing, I wait for him to continue.
“Dr. Clark and I have a mutual interest. One we’ve spent years working on independently. Until recently, our work has been theoretical and relatively private.” He pauses and grins. It’s the most unnatural smile I think I’ve ever seen. I’m tempted to find a piece of glass and put it under his nostrils to verify he’s a human being. But I don’t have to—I can see the pulse hammering in his neck. “You have no idea how many powerful people have their eyes on this. It was you who came to us. Seeking. But we didn’t know what you found, not until later. That wasn’t very courteous of you to keep it secret… as a fellow scientist.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Our work proved it was possible, but we didn’t know if it actually existed. You found thewhere. You found what we were looking for. And today. You showed us.”
“Found what?”
Green doesn’t answer and instead pushes the box toward me.
“Open it.”
I stare at the box.
Putting my fingers against it, I think before I open it. Green is the guy Walter claimed tried to kidnap Natalie. Minus the sunglasses and hat, it was him in the park surveillance photograph. That makes him dangerous and an enemy.
It’s Finn who’s a wildcard. Is he on my side or Green’s? Finn isn’t telling Green everything. And I think he warned me not to either.
“Okay. You’re both weird as fuck. But I’ll do it.”
Gently, I lift the top.
