I held up the photo. “Some kind of lab?”
“NASA,” he said, sounding reluctant. “The old space program.”
“I thought you said you were a schoolteacher!”
“I’m not the one who worked there, genius,” Prof said. “Look more closely.”
I looked back down, and realized that in the photo Prof looked more like a tourist, grinning and getting his picture taken. It took me a second to spot that one of the many people in the photo wearing a blue NASA shirt had short red hair. Tia.
“Tia’s a rocket scientist?” I asked.
“Was,” Prof said. “That was a long time ago. She let me visit right after we first started dating. Highlight of my life—bragged about it to my students for months.”
I looked down at the picture. The man in this photo, though it was obviously Prof, looked like a different species entirely. Where were the lines of worry on the man’s face, the haunted eyes, the imposing stature?
Nearly thirteen years of Calamity had changed this man. And not just because of the powers he’d gained.
Another photo peeked out from underneath the sheet. I pulled it out. And Prof didn’t stop me, turning back to his experiment.
In this picture, four people stood in a line. One was Prof, wearing his now-trademark black lab coat, goggles in the pocket. Beside him Regalia stood with hand outstretched, a glob of water hovering above her fingers. She wore an elegant blue gown. Tia was there, and there was another man, one I didn’t know. Older, with white-grey hair sticking out from his head in an almost crown shape, he sat in a chair while the others stood.
“Who is this man?” I asked.
“Those are also memories from another time,” Prof said, not turning to me. “And ones I’d rather not revisit.”
“Because of Regalia?”
“Because I thought the world could be a different place back then,” Prof said, stirring a solution. “A place of heroes.”
“Maybe it still can be that place. Maybe we’re wrong about what is causing the darkness, or maybe there’s a way to resist it. Everyone’s been wrong about the Epic weaknesses, after all. Maybe we don’t understand all of this as well as we think.”
Instead of replying, Prof set down his beaker. He turned toward me. “And you’re not afraid of what would happen if we fail?”
“I’m willing to risk it, Prof.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Can I trust you, David Charleston?”
“Yes. Of course.” Where had that question come from? It didn’t seem to follow our conversation.
He studied me, then nodded. “Good. I’ve changed my mind. Tell Tia I’ll head into the city as soon as you leave; she can tell Val and Exel that the emergency with the other Reckoner team got solved quickly, and I came back early.”
“All right.” Prof had a motorboat from a hidden Reckoner dock. He could get back to the city on his own easily. “But what was that about trusting—”
“Go finish loading those boxes, son.” He turned around and began packing up his things.
I sighed, but put the picture down and climbed up, closing the trapdoor, leaving him in the hidden chamber. I grabbed a box of supplies, then almost ran headfirst into Val as I left.
“David?” she said. “What were you doing in there?”
“Sorry,” I said. “Had to catch a breather.”
“But—”
“You left the sub?” I asked.
“I—”
I hurried past her. Sparks! What if some scavenger found it and decided to take it on a joyride? Fortunately, it was still there, sitting in the calm black waters.
Val and I got the boxes loaded quickly, with minimal conversation. I tried to bring Val out again with some questions, but she didn’t say much. Even during our ride back in the sub she was mostly quiet. She knew I was hiding something. Well, I didn’t blame her for feeling annoyed at that—I felt the same way about the entire situation, honestly.
At the base, we docked and climbed out into the dark room. The docking mechanism was completely airtight, fitted exactly to the submarine. Quite ingenious. They still left the room dark though, in case of a leak. Even outside of Regalia’s range the Reckoners were careful. It was one of the things I liked about them.
I found the guide ropes in the darkness and grabbed two pairs of night-vision goggles off the rack on the wall. I handed one down to Val, then put on the other pair. Together we began unloading the boxes. Eventually I grabbed one and hefted it onto my shoulder, then left the darkened docking room and hauled the box toward the storage room down the hallway.