As much as he loved the little bubble he now inhabited with Nora, Sam wondered what the date was. He knew Absolom could only send matter to the past. How far back had the machine sent them when it transported them to the island? A week? A month?
There had been no contact with the outside world. If it had been a week, then Adeline, Elliott, and Hiro were just now getting to the point where they were fighting to control the Absolom Two prototype in the lab. He wasn’t sure how long it would take them to wind down their affairs in the US and make their way to the island, but he hoped they didn’t hurry. More time with Nora on the island was just fine with him.
For now, they had everything they needed here. The pantries in the cottages were full of meals ready to eat, or MREs. Clean water flowed from the taps. There were even new clothes hanging in the closet.
Sam was especially thankful for that. Upon arriving, the first thing he had done was strip off the Absolom prison uniform and take a hot shower. He had soaked in the tub after that, and Nora had joined him, using a washcloth to clean the wound on his back.
“How did you get this?” she had asked.
“It’s… a long story.”
“Dinosaur attack?”
“Prison fight.”
Nora laughed. Then stopped. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“I am. Like I said: it’s a long story. But it’s in the past. All I care about now is the future.” He turned in the tub. “Back there, in Pangea, I thought about what I would do if I ever got home. I thought about all my regrets. One was you. Not committing. Not taking the next step with us. I want that. I want to start over—to focus on the future. If you want to.”
“I do. But Sam, what kind of life can we have here? I’m technically dead. So are you.”
“If you think about it, it’s perfect. Remember what you said in London?”
Nora squinted. “About feeling like a fraud.”
“Yes. You felt like confessing. You hated the way the world saw you.”
“I did.”
“Well, nobody here is going to look at you like that. This is a new beginning. For all of us. And you were right about what you said in that hotel in London. There is a larger process at work here. This is what it was all about: the work we’re going to do here.”
Sam took her hands in his. “From here, we can go anywhere in the world. Anywhere in time. Our future is written in the past, and it’s the adventure of a lifetime.”
SEVENTY-FIVE
In the lab, Hiro programmed the Absolom Two prototype for the day Nora died.
“I need to arrive in the early afternoon,” Adeline said. “In the toilet compartment of the master bathroom. And by the way, your targeting is still off by a few feet—vertically. I almost broke my ankle when I arrived at Nora’s.”
“My parents always told me to aim high.”
“Hiro, was that an Absolom dad joke?”
He shrugged. “I’m at that age.”
Adeline laughed and stepped into the machine.
When she arrived inside Nora’s home, her feet were indeed closer to the floor this time. She landed with barely a sound.
She set the note on the floor, knowing Nora would find it and go searching for the cameras. She marveled at the revelation that she was actually the person who had sabotaged her own grand plan to see what had happened inside Nora’s home that night.
She activated her recall ring, musing to herself at how strange time and causality was.
*
The next morning, Adeline stood in the kitchen of her home, staring down at a tablet, where a livestream of a news reporter was playing.
In a surprise move today, Absolom Sciences announced it would no longer operate its namesake technology and that it would cease all future development of related quantum technology at its Nevada headquarters. Its government clients have entered into a perpetual license and will now operate the Nevada facilities through an international consortium.
In what looks like related news, the UN and nations around the world have formally recognized the newly created Pacific Island republic of Absolom…
The doorbell rang, and Adeline turned the tablet off and walked to the front door, where Hana Kim was waiting. Once again, they met in the study, and this time there was no hidden listening device. Adeline had instructed her security team to sweep the entire house. She didn’t want anyone to hear what was about to be said.
“Thank you for providing the replica of Dr. Thomas.”
“Of course,” Hana said. “Out of curiosity, what was it for? A second memorial service?”
“No,” Adeline said slowly, “it was for the first service, a few months ago.”
Hana squinted at her, clearly confused.
Adeline walked to the window and gazed out at the street. “I’m going to tell you something that only five people in the entire world know: what really happened to Nora Thomas.”
When Adeline had finished the story, Hana was silent for almost a minute. “Can I ask why you told me?”
“Do you know why I invested in Syntran all those years ago?”
“Because of the potential of what we’re doing.”
“Half right,” Adeline said. “The other half is that I saw myself in you—someone who had lost their father tragically, someone who was working to make sure that never happened to anyone else like you. There’s something very special about people who truly want to leave the world better than they found it. A lot of people talk about it. Far fewer actually do it. What I didn’t know then is that what you were building was the key to saving someone I cared deeply about: Nora. And that what I was creating was the key to giving you what you’ve always wanted: a way to save your father. A second chance to actually get to know him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I want to tell you about a place called Absolom Island. It’s a place where we’re going to rescue people who are lost in time. People who died tragic deaths, who deserve a chance at a full life. There’s just one thing we need: bodies to replace the people we take from the past. We need a Syntran lab we can operate. When it’s operational, I promise you that your father will be the second person we rescue from the island. And once we have him back, thanks to Syntran, you can give him that life-saving transplant.”
SEVENTY-SIX
Working methodically, Adeline, Elliott, and Hiro shut down the Absolom labs in Nevada. The employees were given generous severances. Ceasing development on the Absolom technology made the government inquest about the unauthorized Absolom departures easier to get rid of.
At home, Adeline faced a far greater challenge.
After school on Tuesday afternoon, she led Ryan into the family room, where he sat on the couch and Adeline perched on the edge of a club chair.
“I told you that Adeline went back to college.”
Ryan nodded, eying her, concern deepening by the second.
“I know she hasn’t responded to your texts or emails.”
“How did you—”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
He swallowed but didn’t look away.
“It’s something I said to you a few months ago. And twenty years ago.”
Ryan bunched his eyebrows.
“It’s over and we’re going home and Dad is waiting there for us.”
“He is? Wait. What?”
Adeline pressed on. She knew the words that would convince him, knew she had to get through them—the quicker the better.
“When you were eight, I was volunteering at Noah’s House, a non-profit shelter for kids who had been removed from their homes by social services. There was this big box of LEGOs in the garage. They were yours. I thought you didn’t want them anymore. You hadn’t played with them in years. I donated them to Noah’s House. When you found out I got rid of them, you lost it. You were so angry with me. Screaming and balling up your fists. And then when I told you who I had donated them to, you didn’t say another word. You were really conflicted. Still so angry, but you knew you weren’t playing with them anymore. And that they were doing more good at the shelter. You got a truck load of LEGOs that Christmas. They were stacked around the tree so high you could barely see the other presents.”