In an instant, I crouched low to the ground. There was no doubt in my mind: two people had walked into the house. Seconds later, I could faintly hear them talking just above me.

  “How did they know where to look, though?” I heard Michael ask.

  It took a moment for the woman to respond, but I instantly recognized her voice as well.

  “They have to have a shard. I don’t know how they got one, but that has to be it. Let’s just hope we’re not too late.”

  “It wouldn’t have been a problem if you didn’t crash the car–ah!” A loud thud, followed by another cry of pain as I heard what must have been Micheal fall to the ground. “Sorry! Sorry, I won’t bring it up again!”

  As Michael remained motionless, I heard the woman’s footsteps heading into the kitchen. Knowing I had limited time, I looked at the computer, noticing the large window showing the information about the previous memory. The progress bar was showing a new memory, compiled and being transferred onto the shard. Sure enough, as I turned my attention to it, the shard was glowing a gentle blue. Keeping my ears tuned for the two people in the house, I moved closer to the computer monitor to see what it had unearthed.

  There was a lot of information, and most of it was things I didn’t understand. Littered across the screen were numbers, symbols, and references to dates, times and storage numbers. After scrolling down the page a bit, I found what we had been trying to find, at long last.

  Date Recorded: June 3rd 1997 04:03GMT

  Coordinates: RA 5h 34m 32s | Dec +22° 0’ 52”

  Velocity Vector: X -0.0003421 Y 0.0000932

  Distance: 0.012LY

  Time of closest encounter: July 12th 2052

  I quickly snatched up the closest piece of paper and pen, writing everything down and making sure it was legible. After I was certain everything was correct, I took one last look at the number I understood most: the date for the closest encounter. That date was only three weeks away from now. Suddenly, I began hearing rummaging upstairs, the sounds of drawers and cupboards being opened steadily growing louder. The two were speaking to each other at a low volume. Time was running out.

  The progress bar finished and the computer switched to a new screen, showing two memories I’d yet to see. The first one must have been what Gav had mentioned to me on the way to SETI, and the other was the one I’d just put together. Without warning, the door to the basement opened. I quickly grabbed the shard out of its slot on the box and quietly scampered over to the elevator Oliver used.

  “Michael!” The woman yelled.

  “What?” Came the faint response from the other side of the house.

  “Search the garage. I’ll look in the basement.” She answered, just as I heard her starting to walk down the stairs.

  Now at the elevator, I knew I had to make my decision quickly. The back door opened and I readied myself. Closing my eyes, I carefully listened to the door. As it started to swing shut, I leapt into the air, gliding through the hole in the floor and landing in the living room. I had timed it just right; the sound of my jump and landing were masked by the loud thud of the back door slamming shut. The woman continued down the stairs, unaware I was just in the same room as her.

  Adopting a four-legged stance, I quietly crawled along the floor, heading to the front door. Hopefully no one would barge in, but I wasn’t about to stick around to find out. Halfway to my goal, I heard the woman speaking again. Her voice was quiet, but firm.

  “Michael, did you find anything in the garage?”

  I heard some sort of faint response, but it was impossible to hear his reply.

  “That’s fine, I think I just found it. If there’s nothing there, just come back in. I’ve got some work to do here.”

  I tried to move faster, but I also didn’t want to alert her to my presence. I was nearly at the door when I saw a flashlight on the other side. Michael was coming back inside the house. As quietly and quickly as I could, I bolted for the stairs, crawling up them as he entered. At the top of the stairs, I heard him ask the woman, “what’d you find?”

  A moment later, I heard a loud crash. It sounded like the woman had slammed a piece of Gav’s computer equipment to the ground. The noise of shattering plastic and clanking metal rang through the house.

  “I’ll take care of this. Just look upstairs for anything else!” She yelled through the second loud crash.

  Darting into the bedroom, I was forced to leave the door partially propped open. The last thing I wanted to do was have him hear the sound of it closing. I moved for the closet and pressed my back against it. The lights were off, but I didn’t have any time to find a better place to hide…not without making noise. Another loud bang came from the basement as more equipment was destroyed. My hearts sank as I realized one of those crashes was likely the box capable of reading the shard.

  “No…” I quietly whispered.

  What little sound had escaped me was whisked away by the debris of destruction. There was no time to find a new spot; the man was already in the upstairs hallway. My eyes squeezed shut as I tried to figure out what to do next. I’d dealt with Michael a few times now, able to overpower him each time. As I thought about it, though, I felt like I’d just gotten lucky. He seemed to know how to stop me, and given our last encounter, he’d be on his guard.

  My eyes opened wide as the door gently swung open and he stepped into the room. He towered over me, easily twice my height. I couldn’t falter, though. If I wanted to, I could overpower him. I’d already done it before. The man looked around the room for a moment before his eyes landed on the closet. Even though I was shrouded in darkness, the way he stopped made me feel as if he could see me. I couldn’t tell, but I knew I had to be ready to fight.

  I could see the faint outline of his flashlight, swinging lazily from his belt. He started to reach his hand toward it. My hearts were pounding as I got ready to attack, but I stopped as I saw him reach into his pocket instead. The man pulled out a cigarette and lit it, the light from the flame illuminating his face. He was looking directly at me.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Just before I could leap out at him, he held up his hand, as if to say ‘stop’. I froze, not wanting to obey his command, but confused about what he was doing. He wasn’t making any move for the flashlight, so I chose to stay still. In a hushed tone, he addressed me.

  “I’m done.”

  It was quiet enough for his partner to not hear him, but I couldn’t mistake what he’d said.

  “I don’t want to do this anymore. I think…it’s in both our interests to just pretend we didn’t see each other.”

  I was confused. He’d found me. All he had to do was tell the woman downstairs and they could get me. Why would he want to stop now? Knowing it was useless to hide in the shadows, I stepped out of my hiding place. The man didn’t flinch, didn’t reach for his flashlight. He just stood there, smoking the cigarette, watching me carefully as I did the same to him.

  “Why?” I asked him, just as quietly as he’d addressed me.

  “Find anything?!” The woman yelled from the basement, still smashing things.

  “Not yet!” Michael yelled back to her, eyes still locked on mine.

  The loud banging resumed downstairs as the man decided to take his time answering me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but it was clear he wasn’t nervous like I was.

  “This isn’t my fight. It never was. I never should have started, and I damn sure shouldn’t have kept going. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know your story. I’m tired of the chasing. More than anything, I just want you to leave. So why should I try and stop you?”

  I was confused. He sounded sincere, very sincere. This declaration didn’t feel like a facade. I really believed he wanted all of this mess to stop. I couldn’t help but feel the same way.

  “Are…are my friends oaky?” I asked.

  He took another hit from the cigarette before responding.

  “Interesting…” He said. I was confused by his answer, but he continued. “They’re fine. The police showed up not long after the accident. They’re both in custody for suspected terrorism.”

  It wasn’t good to hear they were caught by police, but at least they were alive. I still didn’t trust this man, but I appreciated he was willing to talk to me.

  “How…do you know so much about me?” I asked.

  He grinned, looking back to the door, then to me.

  “We’ve always suspected you were here. Honestly though, I don’t know much. I’ve been following directions.” He scoffed. “Look at where that’s gotten me so far. I’ve been shot, my chest caved in, nearly dislocated arm…I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s not my fight. I thought I was helping, but the more I see you, the more I see I’m only hurting people. I’m done.”

  Michael walked to the window, opening it wide and then stepping away from it.

  “Just go. I won’t say you were here.”

  With that promise, he walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

  I stayed rooted in place until I heard him going down the stairs. The loud crashes from the basement continued, so I decided to take his advice and leave. Leaping out of the window and landing on the grass, I took off, away from the house and into the woods. Once I was near the road, I took cover behind some dense trees, allowing me to spy down the street. As I pulled out my phone, I saw headlights approaching me. They looked like the same shape as Oliver’s car, but I couldn’t be certain.

  A moment later, the blinker turned on as the vehicle was about to turn into Gav’s driveway. I leapt out onto the road, waving at him. The car came to a sudden stop next to me, tires squealing as the passenger window lowered.

  “Tess?! What are you doing here?” Oliver asked.

  I didn’t waste any time, jumping right through the window and into the seat.

  “Don’t ask, just go. We need to go.”

  “Okay…where are the others?” He asked, starting up the car again, turning around heading back the way he’d come.

  “They’re…fine. They’re fine. I think they’re in jail, but…we’ll figure something out.”

  “What–” He started to ask.

  “There was an explosion, something…happened. I don’t know. It was a trap. They were expecting us. I got away and they got stuck, but they’re fine, and I’ve got more information.” I answered, more focused on getting away from the two people.

  “Tess, this is a lot.” Oliver answered, trying to keep me focused. “Were they arrested or something? Are you sure they’re fine? I haven’t heard about–”

  “Oliver, Oliver, listen to me. We don’t have time right now. A lot happened, but I think I have what we’re looking for.” I pulled out the paper with the information from the computer readout. “I know where they are, Oliver. They’re close…I think. If this is right, we don’t have much time. We need to go to plan B.”

  “Plan B…you mean the woman Gav was going to reach out to? The director of…Carl…something?”

  I nodded as Oliver continued.

  “I’m pretty sure Gav sent me that…hold on a second.” He pulled onto a side street.

  I looked behind us, but there weren’t any cars approaching us. It was the dead of night and not a soul was around the area. When we came to a stop, Oliver took out his phone and searched through his messages. A minute later, he found the information.

  “Right, he sent me a phone number. What do you think she’ll be able to help with, though? Did you find the coordinates?”

  “I found a lot…I, um…took off the Guardrails.” I admitted. He looked surprised, but I continued. “I’m sorry, but I needed to do it. I didn’t know what else to do, and look,” I held up the paper, “I found it. At least, I think I did. I don’t know how accurate all of it is, but it’s the only info I have. If anyone could help, it would be her, I think.”

  “So what do we do, then? Just call her up and see if she answers?” He asked.

  “I think so, yeah.” I answered.

  “It’s super late, though. She’s probably asleep.” Oliver pointed out.

  There was a good chance she was, a better than even chance, but still… “Let’s just try it and see what happens.”

  He nodded, taking a moment to type the number into his phone before hitting the call button. The sound from his phone rang over the car speakers, letting both of us hear the buzzing. Biting my lip, I expected each ring to be the last before the answering machine came through. To our surprise, though, someone picked up the phone.

  “Hello, yes, for the last time, I’m on my way.” A woman answered with a thick French accent, sounding exhausted.

  “Uh…h-hello?” Oliver spluttered, trying to find the right words. “Miss Nathalie, sorry to bother you so late, but, um…”

  “Who is this?” She answered, taking a moment before she continued. “I don’t recognize this number. Who’s calling me?”

  “Sorry, um, this is Oliver. Hello, I just wanted to ask you about, uh…” He looked at me, unsure of how to finish the sentence before saying, “...something…” in an unconvincing tone.

  “Oliver? Oliver who? I don’t know any Olivers. Are you with the press? Look, if you're looking for a quote or something, you need to speak to the police that are already there. I know very little about what happened. I’m on my way down now and I’ll be there in a few hours. Honestly, you probably know more than I do right now.”

  “Sorry, no…I’m not with the press. I just wanted to reach out and–”

  She didn’t let Oliver finish. “–then why are you calling me? Please don’t call this number again and just follow the news like everyone else.” The woman answered.

  I knew she was about to end the call, and the odds of her answering his number again were slim to none. With no other choice, I decided on a last ditch attempt.

  “We’re trying to reach out to LIfeboat 7.” I said, half yelling to make sure my voice would get through to her.

  What followed was an uncomfortably long silence. She seemed to stop what she was doing, considering how to proceed.

  “Seven…is gone…” She said in a slow, focused voice. “Did you mean you needed to reach out to eight?”