“As I said, Yuri’s a survivor. He wouldn’t set foot on this island without an escape plan. And he wouldn’t leave without Desmond and Conner. They possess Rendition and Rook, both of which he needs.”
“What will they do to Desmond?”
“They’ll try to help him regain his memories.”
The thought terrified Peyton. “I’m going after him.”
Lin turned to her daughter. “There are greater forces at work here.”
“Not for me, there’s not. You want the coordinates of the Beagle? I want Desmond back. You’re going to help me. And you’re going to tell me exactly what’s going on.”
Her mother smiled. “Now that’s the young lady I raised.”
Chapter 135
When Desmond woke up, Conner was sitting on the bunk across from him. He knew instantly that he was on a ship. A submarine, he would have guessed.
Conner cocked his head, but didn’t speak.
Desmond’s arm and leg hair were singed. Minor burns dotted his body, but he was okay. He looked his brother in the eyes.
“You pulled me out, didn’t you?”
“I did what you wouldn’t do for me.”
“I tried, Conner. I was five.”
“I was three months.”
Desmond sat silently, hoping some of the anger would drain away. “Where are we going?”
Conner smiled. The hideous scars contorted on his face. “We’re going to finish this. You’re going to help us.” He stood and walked to the hatch. “Get some rest. You’ll need it.”
In the passageway, Yuri was waiting.
“Don’t worry, we’ll reach him. Thirteen years ago, I helped him rehabilitate you. You had lost your way, just as he has lost his. Together, we’ll save him. And we’ll complete the Looking Glass.”
Chapter 136
Peyton was sitting in Avery’s tiny hospital room when she awoke.
She rose and walked to the bed. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
For the first time since the two women had met, there wasn’t an undercurrent of tension in their voices.
Peyton still felt like clearing the air. “Listen, I know you and I haven’t always… seen eye to eye.”
“I applaud your skill at understatement.”
Peyton laughed. “Thank you.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I want to start over.”
Avery nodded, but said nothing.
“How’re you feeling?”
Avery glanced at the ceiling and opened her mouth, but quickly shut it, biting off a snide remark, Peyton thought. Maybe they really were starting over. Without making eye contact, she mumbled, “I’m okay.” A pause, then she stared at Peyton. “Desmond?”
“We’re searching the island. Haven’t found him yet.”
“You won’t,” Avery said flatly.
“We’re working on the assumption that Yuri and Conner escaped with him in custody.”
“You’re going to go after them.”
“Yes. My mother knows the Citium—and Yuri—better than anyone alive. She’s going to help me. And I’d like your help. No. I want—”
“You want us to be partners?”
“I think there’s no two people in this world who will work harder to find him.”
“You got that right.”
“So what’s it going to be, Avery?”
“Yeah. Count me in, Doc.”
Peyton smiled. “Call me Peyton. There’s one more thing. I need you to make a call for me.”
“What kind of call?”
“An important one. We need the coordinates of the Beagle’s wreckage.”
Ten minutes later, Peyton opened the hatch to her mother’s stateroom.
Lin Shaw looked up from her notebook. “Did you get it?”
Peyton placed the scrap of paper on the desk.
Lin studied the handwritten GPS coordinates as if they were an ancient treasure, thought lost forever.
“You’ve been looking for it for a very long time,” Peyton said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her mother exhaled. Peyton knew the reaction well. She was digging in.
“Mom.”
Lin still said nothing.
“We made a deal.”
“Very well. If you want to know, I’ll have to show you.”
Day 20
Final Death Toll: 31,000,000
Chapter 137
On the deck of the US Coast Guard icebreaker, Peyton breathed in the cool morning air. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to find her mother approaching.
“It’s time.”
Minutes later, they were in a submersible with two research assistants, drifting toward the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The four of them donned protective suits, docked with the wreckage of the Beagle, and disembarked.
The dark, frigid tomb gave Peyton the creeps. There was so much history here. This was where her parents had met and fallen in love, and, according to her father’s account, where her brother had been conceived.
The LED lamps on their helmets cut through the dark vessel, revealing it in swaths. Frozen, dead bodies lay on the deck. Others had died in their bunks, a book by their side, covers pulled over them.
In the labs, they found some more recently deceased bodies: members of the Rubicon team that had found the Beagle. They had starved. Conner had sunk the Healy, stranding the team here, to preserve Citium secrets. Peyton wanted to know what was so valuable that it was worth taking the lives of these brave souls.
Rows of doors lined the wall of the lab. They reminded Peyton of cold chambers in a morgue, except these doors each had a small peephole that could be uncovered.
Peyton’s mother moved to a safe on the wall and turned the dial. It clicked open, and she withdrew a set of keys. She turned to the two research assistants, who had brought with them several airtight containers.
“When I place the specimens inside, seal them quickly.”
They acknowledged her orders, and Lin moved to the closest door, opened it, and slid the drawer out, revealing a set of bones. They were human. No—the skull was different, and so was the pelvis.
Lin gently took hold of the skull and placed it in the first container. To the two team members, she said, “Quickly now.”
When the drawer was empty, Lin closed it and used the key to open another.