Chapter 45 - THE OTHER CHILD
Alex picked up the faded photograph once again.
Two boys stood beneath bright sunlight.
One was Ethan.
The other was Noah.
For several moments he simply studied Noah's face.
Then he noticed something he had overlooked before.
Around Noah's neck hung a small silver pendant.
His own hand instinctively reached beneath his shirt.
Everyone watched.
Alex slowly pulled out a worn chain he had worn for as long as he could remember.
Attached to it was a small silver pendant.
Exactly the same design.
Daniel stared.
"You've always worn that?"
Alex nodded.
"My grandfather gave it to me."
"He said never to lose it."
Arthur stepped closer.
"May I see it?"
Alex handed it over.
Arthur turned the pendant over.
His hands began trembling.
"There..."
He pointed toward the back.
Almost invisible beneath years of scratches was a tiny engraving.
N-2.
Arthur looked at the photograph again.
Noah's pendant.
Alex's pendant.
Identical.
Except for one difference.
The engraving in the photograph appeared to read...
N-1.
Daniel looked confused.
"What does N stand for?"
Arthur whispered,
"Not Noah."
"Then what?"
Arthur slowly closed his hand around the pendant.
"It stands for Nexus."
Voss nodded almost imperceptibly.
"The final stage of Orion."
Nobody spoke.
Arthur looked directly at Alex.
"Donovan never told you because he hoped you'd never need to know."
Alex's voice was barely audible.
"What is Nexus?"
Arthur hesitated for the first time.
Then, with visible reluctance, he answered.
"It wasn't a place."
"It wasn't a machine."
"It was a pair."
Alex looked down at the photograph.
Two boys.
Standing shoulder to shoulder.
Arthur's next words seemed to drain the warmth from the entire room.
"Ethan and Noah were never meant to survive separately."
Before anyone could react, a loud metallic impact echoed somewhere far above them.
Daniel immediately looked toward the ceiling.
Another impact followed.
Then another.
Bennett checked the security monitor mounted near the courtyard entrance.
A live camera feed appeared automatically.
Dozens of armed personnel dressed in black tactical uniforms were descending through the elevator shaft toward Level C.
None of them carried company insignia.
None wore police markings.
Across the back of every uniform was the same white emblem.
May you like
A single circle...
...crossed by a vertical line.
