Ty woke to hands gripping him, shaking his shoulders, and a voice calling his name. The fluorescent tube lights above buzzed and shone down, draping the personโs face in shadow.
โRise, my son.โ
Ty squinted and saw his father staring down. โIโm up,โ he muttered.
โItโs time.โ
Ty planted his right elbow in the thin mattress and pushed himself into a sitting position. He was still in his clothes, and he had slept on his left hand
โit was dead and awkward. โTime for what?โ
โThe machine. It will be finished shortly.โ Richter leaned over. โDid you read the file?โ
Ty rubbed his hand on his face. โYes. I got the picture. But I donโt understand it. How to use it.โ
โJust keep it with you. Do you have the pills I gave you?โ Ty put a hand on his pocket, felt the bottle, and nodded.
Richter turned to leave, but Ty reached out with his left hand, which was slowly coming back to life. He gripped his fatherโs arm. Richter spun, seeming surprised. The man clearly wasnโt used to someone placing their hands on him unexpectedly. Instantly, his face softened, and Ty saw, for the first time, an outward show of warmth, his guard coming down.
โThank you,โ Ty whispered. โFor what?โ
โSaving me in Zรผrich. The Covenant probably would have caught up with me if you hadnโt.โ
โThatโs what parents do.โ
The words hung in the air for what felt like an eternity, both men staring at each other. Ty thought his father would pull away, but he stayed.
Finally, Ty leaned closer and whispered, โDo you know the codeโfor the radio?โ
โNo.โ
Ty studied his face. He had been sure his father knew. If he didnโt, then Ty was truly at a loss. He sensed, however, that he needed to figure it out quickly.
โI was told,โ Richter said, โa long time ago, that the answer to all of this is written in the stars.โ
*
Richter led Ty to a conference room, where he expected to find his mother and Bishop waiting. Instead, he found Maria Santos pacing in front of a long table, a cup of coffee in her hand. The photos in the file had been from her singing careerโstanding on stage, microphone in hand, airbrushed promo photos, and still-captures of online music videos and social media posts.
Here, in the flesh, Maria still had the same fire in her eyes, but the sockets that held those eyes were more sunken now, with black bags beneath them, as though time and stress had left charred pits.
โMiss Santos, this is my son, Tyson.โ โCall me Ty.โ
โIโm Maria,โ she said cautiously, studying the two men. โWhatโs going on?โ
Richter turned to leave. โIโll leave that to Tyson.โ
When the door closed, Maria said, โYour dad is really not one for explaining things.โ She shrugged. โNo offense.โ
โBelieve me, I knowย exactlyย how you feel. You have no idea.โ Ty took a deep breath. โBut if you give me a few minutes, Iโll try to bring you up to speed.โ
*
By the time Ty had finished briefing Maria, her eyes were wide, and her coffee cup was empty.
โThis is crazy,โ she whispered. โI know. Itโs a lot to take in.โ
โIf I was still on drugs, I probably wouldnโt believe it at all.โ โYeah, itโs a trip.โ
Maria knitted her eyebrows. โYou make dad jokes.โ โI do. Itโsโฆ unfortunate.โ
โAre you a dad?โ
โNo. No, Iโm actually not. And I think that probably makes it worse.โ She laughed. โHey, nobodyโs perfect.โ
The door opened, and Nora and Kato walked in. Ty stood and introduced the three of them.
โWhatโs the latest update?โ Nora asked.
โDr. Brown,โ Bishop said, marching through the doorway, โto answer your question, the latest is that the device is ready.โ
Colonel Travis followed Bishop into the room and set about working the controls for the screen on the wall. A video feed appeared, showing a clean room where three people in white suits stood around a metal table, the quantum radio lying in the center.
Tyโs parents arrived then. Richter paused at the door to allow Helen to enter before him. Ty sensed that they had been talking beforehand.
Through the doorway, he saw uniformed marines, who were carrying rifles, exiting the elevator. There had to be two dozen of them in the outer room now, massed as if for an invasionโor to repel one.
Colonel Travis called to a sergeant outside the conference room, and the man stepped inside, followed by four others, who stood along the wall, eyes fixed on Ty, Nora, Kato, and Maria. They were clearly there in case something happened to the four of them, some transformation that endangered the rest of the room. Was that what they thought was about to happen when they turned the quantum radio on?
On the video, a suited figure in the clean room looked up through a clear helmet, directly at the camera. โWeโre ready to seal the enclosure.โ
Colonel Travis turned to Bishop, who swallowed hard, then eyed Richter. Tyโs father inclined his head slightly. Beside him, Tyโs mother took a deep breath and held it as Colonel Travis pressed a button on the conference speaker on the table and said, โProceed.โ
On the screen, tiny pops and flashes issued at the edges of the device.
Ty felt eyes upon him. Across the table, Nora was staring, a question in her eyes. Even after so many years apart, he knew what she was silently asking him:ย Whatโs going to happen?
With a slight movement of his head, straight across, he told her he didnโt know. He felt as though they were standing on the precipice of something incredible.
Beside Nora, Kato was as still as a redwood tree, towering in the face of whatever was coming.
Maria was chewing one of her fingernails as she squinted at the screen. The man in the clean room spoke again, โWeโre sealed.โ
โStand by,โ Travis said into the speaker phone.
The room fell into an uneasy silence, everyone waiting. Ty could feel the marines scanning him and the others, watching for changes. He wondered what their orders were.
Richter reached into his pocket. Ty could see him holding something, working his fingers. Was it a gun?
Bishop looked up at Ty. โWe need that sequence to activate it. Right now.โ
โI donโt know it.โ
โThen weโre going to start guessing.โ โYou canโt be serious,โ Richter said.
Bishop drew a slip of paper out of his pocket, then held a finger down on the conference speaker. โDepress the fourth symbol.โ
Helen turned to Richter and whispered, โMake them stop.โ
โStop this, Sandy,โ Richter said, taking a step forward, hand still in his coat pocket.
On the screen, the view focused on the quantum radio, which sat face up on the silver-metal table. A finger came into the view and pressed the fourth symbol on the device. Behind the symbol, a yellow-orange glow emerged for a fraction of a second, then faded quickly.
The suited manโs voice came over the speaker. โMomentary lighting on the keypad and slight vibration as the key was depressedโlikely a haptic feedback mechanism. No other change here.โ
โWhy the fourth symbol?โ Nora asked, eyebrows bunched.
โFour genomes,โ Bishop said, studying the page. He pressed the speaker again. โTry one-two-three.โ
Ty threw his hands up. โYouโve got to be kidding me! One-two-three?โ
Bishop eyed him. โItโs the sum of your four ages: thirty-five, thirty-five, twenty-nine, and twenty-four.โ
โSandy,โ Richter said, โyou donโt even know if it operates on a base-ten number system. There are twelve symbols.โ
On the screen, the finger hit the first three symbols in rapid succession.
Once again, the symbols flashed, but nothing happened.
Bishop was studying the page, ignoring Richter.
โSandy,โ Richter said, voice rising. โYouโre playing roulette here.
Entering the wrong sequence could kill us all.โ
Bishop looked up. โIs that what will happen, Gerhard? How do you know?โ
He waited, eying Richter. โYou know what, I think you know a lot more about this device than youโre telling us.โ Bishop spread his hands. โYou put all these pieces in place as though you knew weโd need them. So weโd be ready to build a small collider when the time came. Youโve also kept us a step ahead of the Covenant too. How is that? How do you know so much?โ
โWhat I know, at this moment, is that it is dangerous to operate this device until we understand it.โ
Bishop shook his head. โWell, it looks like the only way to understand it is to experimentโand thatโs what Iโve been instructed to do. By the President of the United States. He wants an operational quantum radioโby any means necessary and at any cost.โ
At any cost.
Ty wondered what the cost of typing the wrong code into the radio would be. His father feared that. And this was the first time he had seen him scared.
An idea occurred to Ty then. A possible code. One thing he knew: it was better than Bishopโs guesses. And he needed to buy time to think it over more.
โI know the code,โ Ty said quietly. Every head in the room turned to him. Bishop spoke first. โOkay. Go ahead.โ โI need to key it in myself.โ
โWhy?โ
โI believe it has a built-in security measureโto ensure one of the four of us has to be in possession of the radio to operate it.โ
Bishop squinted at Ty. โYouโre guessing.โ
โYes. Iโm guessing about that part. But it doesnโt mean Iโm wrong.โ โTell me the code.โ
โNo. Iโll only type it in myself.โ
โItโs a quantum device, Ty. It could operate from anywhere in the universe.โ
โThat may be, but why would they supply our genomes? Whatโs the harm in me typing it in? The device is a floor away. If there is a security countermeasure against anyone other than us typing in the code, it could be catastrophic. Do you really want to take that risk?โ
Bishop shook his head and looked at Ty, his mother, and then his father. โYou people are going to be the death of me.โ
He motioned to Colonel Travis, who held a hand out to the marines. They broke formation and exited, joining the other troops in the outer room, massing at the elevator.
Ty stepped across the threshold and looked back at Nora, Kato, and Maria. โCome on.โ
โNo,โ Bishop said. โThey stay.โ โTheyโre coming with us.โ
โNo.ย They stay. There isnโt a lot of extra space in the lab, and we need security around you four in case you change.โ
โChange how?โ Nora asked, concern evident on her face. โWhatโs he talking about?โ Maria said.
โWeโre a team,โ Ty said to Bishop.
The older man snorted. โThey are not your team.โ
โI never said they wereย myย team. I saidย weโre a team. Four corners of something important.โ
โWell, thereโs just not room for security and theย team.โ
โMake room, Bishop. You want the code, thatโs the deal. Besides, they may need to be close by to even activate the device.โ
Bishop seemed to think for a minute, then shook his head. โFine. You want to bring the quantum village people along? So be it.โ
He took a phone from his pocket and began tapping on it. โWhat are you doing?โ Richter asked.
โSending an update.โ โTo whom?โ
โThe people we work for, Gerhard.โ
Bishop motioned to the door. โLetโs go.โ
Nora turned her gaze to Ty, silently asking,ย Is this going to be okay?
He put on a reassuring smile, but he knew her well enough to know she saw through it. They were about to roll the dice on the biggest scientific experiment in human history.