The Extinction Trials(61)

Alister rolled his eyes. “Oh, for crying out loud. There are no good guys! The good guys are the people who put food in your belly and keep arrows out of your heart.”

“I don’t agree with that,” Maya said.

“Dead people make my point,” Alister shot back.

Owen turned to the group. “We’re not going to The Colony. We’re going to Garden Station. We’re going to finish The Extinction Trials.”

Alister laughed out loud. “Oh really? That’s wonderful. By boat or helicopter? Now or at our leisure?”

“We’re going to go right now. By boat.”

“You’re hilarious,” Alister muttered.

Maya focused on Owen. “Explain.”

“It’s very simple. They just told us where it is. In the videos. In a code.”





Chapter Forty-Seven





On the boat’s main deck, Maya sat on the couch, studying Owen’s face. He had that same look he had had back at the station when he figured out that the antique physical key unlocked the tablet and that the GPS coordinates of the cargo ship were embedded in the videos.

Owen motioned to Will. “Pull up the list of files.”

Will tapped the tablet and turned it toward the group.

Maya scanned the list. Whatever Owen saw, she still didn’t see it.

1_Genesis ………………………… [16]

2_ARC Technologies … [23]

3_Revelation ………………… [90]

4_Dark ………………………………… [30]

5_Exit ………………………………… [32]

6_Next ………………………………… [51]





Owen was pacing the deck now, seeming contemplative. “Think about how we got here. We saw meaning in the video that perhaps others had missed. We don’t know what happened to the cohorts before us, but I think it’s safe to assume that they were also given The Escape Hatch location. Perhaps in the same way as us. Perhaps explicitly.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Alister said.

“But it does,” Owen said, staring at the storm in the distance. “It gives us a clue about what we’re dealing with here. We found the coordinates to the container ship embedded in false data in the videos. Incorrect patient counts. There’s something incorrect about these videos too. It’s also numerical.”

He turned to the group and waited.

“Maya, how did we find the container?”

“The time on the pocket watch.”

“What about it?”

“It was different. From when I had it before The Extinction Trials.”

“Exactly. Now take a look at the file listing.”

Maya focused on the tablet, but for the life of her, she couldn’t find what was wrong.

“It’s the time,” Owen said. “They’re off. The videos were either longer or shorter than these time listings. These aren’t times at all. They’re GPS coordinates.”

The group crowded around the tablet, studying it.

“Coordinates to where?” Maya asked.

“Where should an Escape Hatch lead? To safety. To salvation. I think we are very close to completing our mission here, to finding Garden Station and rescuing the people ARC collected.”

“It doesn’t feel like we’re very close to me,” Alister muttered.

Owen pointed to the screen. “Look at the files again. The names.”

1_Genesis ………………………… [16]

2_ARC Technologies … [23]

3_Revelation ………………… [90]

4_Dark ………………………………… [30]

5_Exit ………………………………… [32]

6_Next ………………………………… [51]





“The first letters,” Owen said, “spell garden. These coordinates, I would bet, will lead us to Garden Station.”





Chapter Forty-Eight





With the boat cruising towards the coordinates of Garden Station, Owen slipped below deck and stretched out on the narrow bed in the stateroom he shared with Will. He tried to take a nap, but sleep was elusive.

His mind was in a recursive loop, obsessing over what they would find at Garden Station. Was it truly salvation for humanity? Was it the exit from the burning building that was this world?

His mind kept drifting to the last time he had seen his mother. Would she be waiting there? Or was she gone, like so much of the world, swallowed up by the Change War and the aftermath.

Another thing was bothering him. One by one, he replayed the stories from the others. Instinctively, he felt there was something he was missing.

What was it?

The door cracked open, and Maya leaned her head in.