Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Never Died
Evelyn stared at the screen until the image disappeared.
"No."
Nathan stepped toward it.
"Bring it back."
Nothing happened.
"Bring it back!"
His fist struck the metal cabinet.
Evelyn grabbed him.
"Stop."
"That was her."
"I saw."
"She's alive."
"I saw."
For twenty years, Evelyn had carried a memory of her mother inside her like a sealed room.
Laura laughing while burning pancakes.
Laura correcting homework at the kitchen table.
Laura pinning Evelyn's hair before a school concert.
Laura's coffin.
Closed.
Nathan had insisted.
The injuries from the crash were too severe.
Evelyn had never seen the body.
She turned slowly toward him.
"You knew."
Nathan looked horrified.
"No."
"You wouldn't let me see her."
"The medical examiner advised—"
"You identified her?"
He stopped.
Evelyn's voice sharpened.
"Did you identify the body?"
Nathan lowered his eyes.
"No."
Hale whispered, "Nathan."
"The body had identification. Dental records matched."
"Who gave you the records?" Evelyn asked.
Nathan looked at Voss.
Voss shook her head.
"Don't look at me. I wasn't involved then."
Evelyn pulled out the secure tablet.
Still no network.
The timer continued on the wall.
02:24.
Hale pointed.
"We have to solve the verification problem first."
Evelyn forced herself to look away from the blank screen.
He was right.
If she let emotion control the next two minutes, thousands of covert identities could be exposed.
She approached the scanner.
"Voss."
"Yes?"
"Remove your credentials."
Voss frowned.
"Why?"
"Because my mother's message named an Aegis insider."
"You think it's me?"
"I think everyone in this corridor is compromised until proven otherwise."
Voss stared at her.
Then removed her badge and sidearm.
Placed both on the floor.
Hale did the same without being asked.
Nathan followed.
Evelyn examined the scanner.
Old casing.
New optical sensor.
She looked behind it.
A thin secondary cable had been added.
"That's not original."
Nathan asked, "What does it connect to?"
"External data capture."
She pulled it free.
The timer jumped.
01:37.
Voss whispered, "You just accelerated it."
"Good."
"Good?"
"If Kane expected me to panic, he built the system around hesitation."
Evelyn pressed her palm against the legitimate plate.
Nothing.
She lifted her hand.
Then remembered the mark.
Physical verification.
Not fingerprint.
She removed her jacket fully.
Nathan looked away, shame crossing his face.
The black mark stretched across her shoulder blades.
At its center, beneath the skin, was a tiny subdermal implant.
She had received it five years ago.
She had never been told its full purpose.
Evelyn backed toward the scanner until the sensor aligned with the mark.
A tone sounded.
IDENTITY 071.
The timer stopped at 00:42.
SECONDARY AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Nathan exhaled.
"Who?"
Another message appeared.
LEGACY ORIGINATOR.
Evelyn stared.
Hale whispered, "Laura."
The system expected Evelyn's mother.
Which meant Aegis Crown still considered Laura alive.
Evelyn looked at Voss.
"You knew."
Voss's face tightened.
"I suspected."
"Since when?"
"Six years."
"The date on the envelope."
Voss nodded.
Evelyn stepped closer.
"You've been receiving messages from her."
"Not directly."
"Then how?"
"Dead drops."
Nathan looked furious.
"You knew my wife might be alive and said nothing?"
"I knew somebody with Laura's codes was active."
"That's not the same thing."
"It was enough to create suspicion, not enough to compromise an operation."
Nathan laughed bitterly.
"Now you sound like my daughter."
Evelyn ignored him.
"What operation?"
Voss looked at the dark monitor.
"Hunting Kane."
Evelyn's pulse steadied.
Finally.
Something logical.
"Laura went underground."
"If it is Laura."
"It was her."
"You saw a face on a screen controlled by our enemy."
That stopped Evelyn.
Voss continued.
"We cannot assume anything Kane shows us is true."
Nathan turned away.
But Evelyn knew Voss was right.
Emotion was evidence only of vulnerability.
Not fact.
The scanner chimed again.
SECONDARY AUTHORIZATION REMOTE ACCESS AVAILABLE.
A connection icon appeared.
Someone was trying to authenticate.
Evelyn raised one hand.
"Nobody touch anything."
The screen displayed:
LEGACY ORIGINATOR CONNECTING.
Nathan whispered, "Laura."
A second code appeared.
L-001.
The scanner turned green.
AUTHORITY VERIFIED.
The lights throughout the corridor returned to normal.
Evelyn's tablet connected.
Hundreds of secure notifications appeared.
She ignored all of them.
One message was pinned at the top.
FROM: L-001.
DO NOT RETURN TO THE CEREMONIAL HALL.
Evelyn opened it.
A map appeared.
A route through the sublevel.
Destination: Parking Sector E.
Nathan moved beside her.
"She's asking us to come to her."
"Maybe."
"You're still doubting it?"
"I'm doing my job."
He stared at her.
Then nodded.
"Good."
The word surprised her.
No criticism.
No command.
Just approval.
They followed the route.
Halfway through the corridor, Evelyn stopped.
A door ahead stood open.
Fresh scratches marked the floor.
Someone had dragged something heavy through it.
Hale looked inside.
"Security room."
They entered.
Two guards lay unconscious.
Alive.
Voss checked them.
"Sedated."
Evelyn examined the console.
Footage from the ceremonial hall filled the monitors.
The officers were being evacuated.
General Mercer was gone.
Daniel Keene was gone.
Admiral Price was back inside, apparently arguing with security.
Nathan pointed toward one feed.
"Look."
A man wearing maintenance coveralls entered the ceremonial hall after everyone else had left.
He walked toward the spot where Nathan had thrown Evelyn's insignia onto the floor.
He picked it up.
Examined it.
Then slid it into a plastic evidence bag.
Evelyn froze the frame.
"Who is he?"
Voss zoomed in.
No match.
Hale leaned closer.
"He isn't maintenance."
Nathan looked at the man's left hand.
A ring.
Black metal.
Engraved with the same intersecting pattern as Evelyn's tattoo.
Evelyn felt cold.
"Orion."
Hale shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"That wasn't Orion's symbol."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Then whose?"
Hale swallowed.
"Laura's."
Before anyone could respond, Evelyn's tablet buzzed.
A live voice channel opened.
A woman spoke.
"Evie."
Evelyn stopped.
No recording.
No distortion.
Live.
"Mom?"
A breath on the other end.
Then:
"I'm sorry."
Evelyn's eyes burned.
"Where are you?"
"Parking Sector E."
"Are you alone?"
"No."
Evelyn's hand tightened around the tablet.
"Who is with you?"
Laura's voice dropped.
"The man your father has been trying to find for twenty years."
Nathan stepped closer.
"Kane?"
Silence.
Then Laura whispered:
"Yes."
Nathan reached for the tablet.
"Laura!"
"Don't come down here, Nathan."
His voice cracked.
"Why?"
"Because you still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"Kane didn't order my death."
Everyone froze.
Nathan stared at the speaker.
Laura continued.
"He tried to stop it."
Evelyn's mind raced.
"Then who did?"
A loud metallic crash came through the connection.
Laura gasped.
"Mom?"
Static.
"Mom!"
The connection returned for one second.
Laura screamed:
"Voss!"
The line died.
Every head turned.
Miriam Voss stood perfectly still.
Then Evelyn heard a click.
May you like
Voss had picked up her pistol from the floor.
And it was pointed directly at Nathan.
