Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 38: It's (Almost) Over

Chapter 38: It's (Almost) Over

They all heard the knock but weren't sure if they should answer.

"The Director said she'd contact us. We have the devices she gave us, so this can't be her," said Astrid Fujita.

"Don't be so sure," responded Professor Bell.

Alex Smithson rolled his eyes. "Will one of you just answer the bloody door already? Scratch that, I'll do it myself." He proceeded to the door, checked the old school peephole. As suspected, it was Maddy Wilheim...with a young man by her side. Opening the door, he said, "Director."

"Hello, Alex."

Maddy and Lee stepped inside the small apartment which, on occasion, had been used by the Institute to accommodate visiting scientists. Tonight, it served as a temporary safe house for some of the Institute's best scientific minds.

"I'm glad to see you've all settled in safely." Maddy met the gaze of each member of her science team. Then alarm struck her. "Wait, where's Amita?"

"Don't worry, Director," Alex quickly assured her. "She and Professor Karak made it out and are on their way. Both should be here within the hour."

"Thank goodness. The last time I saw her, well...it wasn't good." Maddy let out a deep sigh of relief. "OK then... Unfortunately, we have very little time together so I'll get straight to it. Obviously, the world as we knew it has radically changed in a very short amount of time. The Ministry is in disarray and we've successfully altered our timeline such that it will soon resemble the alternate reality we targeted. That's the good news. As you also know, with sudden societal upheaval we must also expect uncertainty, a fair amount of chaos, and other types of unfortunate collateral damage. Tonight we saw, first hand, how such chaos can lead to terrible loss. Your previous life will be no more."

She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, individual tears rolling down her cheeks. As she wiped them away, she saw she wasn't the only one. There wasn't a dry eye to be found in the room. Without a word, Astrid approached her, grabbed both her hands then hugged her for dear life. Maddy could tell she was petrified. After a moment, Astrid pulled away but Maddy held onto her right hand.

Maddy inhaled deeply, breaking the silence enveloping the room. "I feel your pain. The senseless loss sickens me. Still, we must remain resolute and focused. You must also believe that we do have a future, and know that it's bright. It just will no longer be here at the Institute, or in the United States for that matter. But believe me when I tell you that it does indeed exist. For good reason, I don't want to give you too much information yet, except that as a group, no, as a planet, we have great hope ahead of us. However, for us to reach that potential you have a journey ahead of you that you must complete."

The Director handed the coordinates to the Next Generation compound in Iceland to Astrid, who, after a few seconds, passed the piece of paper to Smithson who was standing next to her. Within a few minutes, each of the scientists had seen the coordinates.

"Please commit that location to memory," Maddy said, as she took back the note from Astrid, balled it up, and swallowed it. "You all must leave tonight and get there as quickly as possible."

Maddy looked over her shoulder at Lee, who was quietly standing near the small foyer. "My apologies for the delayed introduction. Everyone, this is Lee Marquel. Lee may very well have saved my life tonight. I want you to take him with you on your upcoming journey. However, I must insist that you do not share the coordinates with him directly. There's too much risk for him if you do. Speaking of risk, I'll also need each of you, except for Lee, to ready your self-termination pills for quick activation should the situation call for it. Now that you have the location of our future home, you must be prepared to protect that information with your lives."