There’s a knife, beautiful and ancient.
Its patina is brilliant blue-green.
It’s familiar. There’s a faint engraving partially hidden by the colors of the patina. Straining my eyes, I examine it closer.
My heart stops.
Reflexively, I touch the knife on my belt. It’s still there.
Throwing away all caution, I pick up the knife from the box and bring the handle closer. I read the engraving.
Son, be brave. Be free.
I look up at the two men in front of me. Fear and awe collide.
“How? How is this possible?”
Before either answer, a wave of images flashes behind my eyes. The sickening pressure of a non-lethal shock squeezes my veins. I drop the knife.
What’s happening?
But I know. I see the photo album, Crystal’s delicate fingers as they flip through the pages, her words, the stories. Natalie’s eyes, her dreams, her time machine.
Memories.
Of Maverick Key, of Miami, of…
Mom and Dad.
Dr. Paulson was right.
Snap.
I fall to my knees.
Two worlds collide. My recent tactile life, as Elliot, and the more distant past of Dr. Nathan Carter. Like crashing waves, they churn and mix. I feel myself tossed and carried amongst them, moving through the ocean toward land. When they reach the shore, I touch down. And I’m something new.
Then I laugh—unhinged. Like I’ve lost my mind. But it’s just the opposite.
“Nathan?” Finn asks. Cautiously, he walks to my side and offers me a hand.
I stare at it. Then, after a beat, take it and stand. When I meet his gaze, a flash of recognition crosses his face. He squeezes my hand harder before letting it go.
“What just happened there?” he asks.
I think carefully about what I’ll say next.
“Is one of you going to explain this to me?” I ask, nodding to the knife. Of course, I already know.
Green clears his throat to speak.
Finn jumps in. “If I may, Dr. Green. I’d like to explain this to Nathan.” His eyes squint when he returns his gaze to mine.
“Shortly before your disappearance, you reached out to me to inquire about my theoretical work with exotic matter.” He grins. “You came to me under the guise of a hobbyist. So, as a scientific colleague, I indulged you.”
He walks to a desk in the corner and pulls some papers out of his briefcase. He lays one of them on the table.
It’s an overlay cave survey of Carter’s Drop. But we both know it’s more than that.
