Semele closed her eyes, revolted, unable to look at him.
Viktor drew on the oxygen again and coughed. “Much to my father’s disappointment, it turned out that Nettie’s gift was carried by the X chromosome. I could never have what you have. My inability infuriated him and he despised me.” He shook his head sadly. “My father died an old man with so much rage he didn’t know where to put it.”
Semele tried to process what she had seen of Viktor’s life. In the Soviet Union, when Stalin died, paranormal studies came into the mainstream once more and research institutes cropped up all over the country. Viktor worked at an institution in Leningrad, funded by the arm of the Kremlin, studying everything from mind control and electromagnetism to telepathy and ESP. Like his father, Viktor believed reality could be controlled by psi energy. Before perestroika and the dissolution of the USSR, Viktor led some of the most ambitious psychic warfare experiments ever conducted—experiments that were still ongoing. The USSR may have dissolved, but the institutions had not. Like the race to put a man on the moon, Russian scientists were working toward being the first to control psi energy, and Viktor was at the helm. He even married a Russian medium, Natalia Burinko, to try and harness her power.
“Raina,” Semele muttered, still in shock.
“My daughter. Your cousin.” Viktor nodded.
5:49 … 5:48 … 5:47 …
He gave her a smile. “She doesn’t know about you. I withheld my knowledge of your existence and the parameters for this experiment—even from my colleagues—in case I failed. My daughter only knew there was a very special manuscript I needed for one last study before I retire. She was most upset with me over your friend’s death.” He waved his hand in the air as if it was not a concern. “You can console each other when I take you to Moscow. I’m afraid there is laboratory work to be done—but first we must survive today.”
He motioned to her mother. “I’ve never risked my life for my work. But what is that silly American saying of yours? ‘Go big or go home’? Now you have five minutes to live.”
Semele looked at the timer, unable to focus. She knelt down, spreading her hands on the ground in defeat.
Theo took several steps forward, trying to reason with Viktor. “You don’t have to be like your father. Let us go.”
“You know I can’t do that, Theo.” Viktor wagged a finger at him. “We must make sense of her power. Harness and control it. Nettie was my father’s legacy never fulfilled because the war stood in his way. Semele will be mine.”
Viktor paused to draw from his oxygen.
“Through her”—he gestured to Semele—“we can learn how the sixth sense functions on the quantum level. We can decipher time, and then one day transcend it—imagine that.” He closed his eyes in exhaustion.
Theo saw his chance and hurried to kneel beside Semele, raising her up. “Semele. Look at me.” He held her face in his hands. “You can do this. Focus on my voice.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, blinded by tears. “Go. Don’t stay here.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Nettie believed in you. Ionna believed in you. I believe in you. Look at me, dammit!”
She raised her head and tried to focus on him.
“Now breathe with me,” he ordered her, taking deep breaths and forcing her to do the same. He was willing all his strength to her with every breath he took.
She stared into his eyes and saw within them the light of his unshakable belief. She breathed with him, feeling their bodies become in sync, their spirits join.
In a single inhale she saw the broad expanse of their lives—the years, the love, the joy. She saw their children. Those seeds were already planted in their future, already growing. A sense of wonder filled her. Like a key in a lock, the vision freed her. Her mind tunneled further until she was no longer in the room.
She entered a new dimension where the past and future stretched in every direction, a vast constellation of knowledge where every moment in time became one. Ionna had known she would break through. She had foretold it in the pages. Theo had read them, and he had drawn on Ionna’s faith to help her get there. Semele could feel Ionna with her, their minds now connected beyond space and time. Ionna had been tasked by Wadjet to be the bridge, to connect her to a deeper antiquity. Semele saw the lives of her ancestors as clearly as Ionna had. Together they formed an unbroken chain leading her to where the Oracle of Wadjet stood waiting—her first grandmother—the world’s first seer and keeper of the record. Her written words had been destroyed by time, but they still lived on in her descendents, and they always would. Wadjet’s power would be carried on forever.
Semele’s awareness returned to the room.
0:20 … 0:19 … 0:18 … 0:17 …
She took the cutters and cut the wire.
The clock stopped.
Theo grabbed Semele and squeezed her tight. “You did it.” There were tears in his eyes as they held each other.
Viktor applauded and let out a chilling laugh. “And so they lived. What a joyous success. Truly, truly, truly!” His arms opened wide in the air with triumph, like a runner crossing the finish line.
Semele could see his eyes glistening with tears and arrogant pride. He was mad, his mind twisted like brambles.
“Now!” he clapped hands together. “Now we can move forward in the light. You made it, Semele. We did it.”
Semele didn’t acknowledge him. Instead she began untangling her mother from the wires. The bomb hadn’t been fully disarmed, and only Semele knew they had three minutes before it detonated. They needed to get out.
Theo could read the panic in her eyes and rushed to help her.
Her hands fumbled with her mother’s bindings. “Hurry,” she whispered under her breath. “It’s still going to explode.”
Viktor continued talking. “It’s amazing the things we do for our parents. I think Nettie and my father would be so proud. My only regret is that you removed pages from the manuscript.” He looked accusingly at Theo. “I must know what Ionna thought about this little ending I’d devised. Or perhaps I should say beginning. Because that’s what I’ve given you, dear girl.” He gave Semele a tired smile. “Just think, maybe in a thousand years you’ll be the myth. You’ll be remembered as a goddess like Wadjet, and our whole struggle to see through the fabric of reality will be ancient lore.”
Semele tried hard not to listen to him as she undid the last binding. Helen fell forward. Theo caught her and helped her to stand.
Semele turned toward Viktor. “Give them to me,” she commanded, motioning to the cards and manuscript.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. These are mine. I quite earned them. Don’t you agree?” He grinned.
“Please,” she begged.
The cards were in his hands. Semele wanted to race across the room and rip them away. But she had run out of time.