Departure(64)

“We get it from Dad, you know. The replay obsession. When he was in the moment, in the thick of negotiating an agreement or managing a diplomatic situation, he was as focused as a laser beam. Total blinders. After that he bounced around his study, pacing, talking on the phone with everyone who had been involved, going over every second.”

He’s right. I never thought about it before.

“How did you get over it?”

“I didn’t. I got past it. I made this deal with myself that I would focus only on making it right, and that in return, I would allow myself only a single reward for the rest of my life. I stopped allowing myself to think about what had happened. Told myself that every moment wallowing in my guilt was one moment stolen from making it right, from redeeming myself. Since that decision, I’ve focused only on the next step in bringing humanity back to Earth, on starting over. That was the key to my survival, pouring it all into that one goal. We’re close to that goal, Nick. When we destroy that quantum device in a few hours, we’ll be home free.” He walks to the door. “You ready? Mike and the others are almost awake.”





We agreed that I should be there when the passengers awoke. They were captured after Nicholas and Oliver drove the other faction from the crash site, so this would be a bit jarring for them. Given my role at the camp, Nicholas thinks they will respond to me, that seeing me first will put them at ease.

After our first talk, we strolled through the three-tent complex, leaning over the tables, surveying the faces, slightly obscured by the plastic sheets, selecting the passengers who would join us on the raid of Titan City as if we were at a farmer’s market picking out steaks for tonight’s barbecue. How about him, Nick? Sure, add him to the list. He looks strong, what do you think? So weird.

I came up with eight people, passengers who had received the vaccine and who I had seen perform under pressure at the crash site. Nicholas prodded me, insisting we needed more. We settled on eleven. Mike is among them, and so is one of the other strong swimmers from the lake, a half dozen people from the line that passed the bodies along, and three of the guys I sent on the scouting missions before the camp was invaded. I couldn’t bring myself to include Jillian; she’s been through so much, and this will be intense. Weapons training is on the agenda next.

I asked Nicholas if I needed to wear a suit in the tent complex. He said the containment protocols were to prevent another mutation, but he figures there’s little risk of that. I think the guilt from the previous mutation and subsequent global pandemic has them a little paranoid, but I can’t say I blame them.

The first of the bodies are starting to awaken and Nicholas and I stand in one of the twenty labs Grayson and I saw earlier, waiting. Mike sits up on the metal table, rubs his sleepy eyes, and shakes his head. He’s still wearing his green Celtics T-shirt.

“Nick . . .” His voice comes out scratchy, sounding like it hurts to speak.

“Take it easy, Mike. We’ve got some catching up to do.”





It’s like a sci-fi summer camp. The eleven passengers and I sit in a makeshift training room inside the third tent, the twelve Titans and Nicholas by our sides, helping us learn the suits and orienting us to their technology.

The glass-tile-covered suits that make their wearers invisible are even stranger inside. A series of holographic images inside the helmet display everything from biometric data to infrared scans and video feeds from the other team members. Panels on the forearms of the suits control it all. The Titans can use their eyes, but according to them, that takes more practice time than we have.

After the suit orientation, the talk turns to the assault plan.

Nicholas stands before the group, a large screen behind him flashing images and schematics in sync with his words. I wonder if he controls the screen with some neural link, or if one of the other Titans is assisting. Just one more mystery.

It’s actually a pretty simple plan, but simple plans aren’t necessarily easy to execute.

We’ll suit up and drop into the Atlantic, a few miles from the dam. The suits were designed for total containment, to avoid another mutation in the event the Titans ventured from their stronghold in Gibraltar. The oxygen will last far longer than we need.

We’ll use backpack diver propulsion vehicles to reach the dam, entering Titan City through the massive water intakes in the power plant. Things get dangerous at that point, but assuming we survive, we’ll split up and fight our way up the dam, then into the five finger-shaped towers, searching for the quantum device.

Nicholas is fairly certain it will be in the middle, tallest tower, the one that houses the labs.

The screen changes to photos of Sabrina and Yul.

“Most of you have seen these two individuals, Sabrina Schr?der and Yul Tan. They have been deceived by members of the other Titan faction and are working against us. They will likely be close to the device and may be able to activate it on short notice. We can’t allow that to happen. If you encounter Schr?der or Tan, shoot them on sight. After we’ve neutralized the device, our priority will be preserving as many lives as possible.”

The words hang in the air for a moment as Sabrina and Yul’s enlarged faces stare out at us. From across the room Grayson’s eyes meet mine, a mix of concern and sympathy on his face. I feel the same. Yul and Sabrina lied to us, kept things from us, but I hope they don’t lose their lives in what’s to come. Grayson agrees. His father sits beside him, his Titan mentor. The time they spent training with the suit was the happiest I’ve ever seen him, though, to be fair, he’s been either drunk, hungover, ticked off, or somber for all six days I’ve known him. Maybe this really is a new chance for all of us.