CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Father in the Archive
The applause continued.
Slow.
Measured.
Almost amused.
Gila stood frozen before the screen.
Her father's face remained illuminated in the darkness.
Older than she remembered.
But unmistakable.
She had spent years believing he was dead.
Now she was staring at a photograph of him standing at the center of everything they had been fighting.
The Dominion.
The Circle.
The river.
The secrets.
Her own missing memories.
Her mother whispered:
"Don't listen to him."
Gila turned.
"You knew."
Her mother looked away.
"You knew my father was alive."
"I knew he survived."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
Her voice broke.
"I was afraid of what you would do if you found out."
"What would I do?"
"Go looking for him."
Gila looked back at the screen.
"Of course I would."
Rymus stepped toward the console.
"Who is he?"
Gila's mother answered.
"His name is Gabriel."
Rymus went completely still.
"Gabriel?"
"You know him?"
Rymus stared at the screen.
"I thought he died twenty years ago."
"He wanted you to think that."
Thelma looked between them.
"Who is Gabriel?"
Rymus's voice was quiet.
"The man who built the original network."
Gila's mother shook her head.
"He didn't build it alone."
"But he led it."
"Yes."
Gila stared at the photograph.
"Why did he leave us?"
Her mother closed her eyes.
"Because he believed the Dominion needed to survive."
"And I wasn't part of that survival?"
"You were supposed to be his successor."
Gila's expression changed.
"What?"
"Gabriel believed you would inherit everything."
Gila laughed bitterly.
"I was a child."
"That didn't matter to him."
The archive doors suddenly shook.
Someone was trying to force them open.
Rymus immediately raised his weapon.
"We have to move."
Gila looked at the files.
"What about all this?"
"We take what we can."
The professor moved to a central terminal.
"I can transfer the archive."
"How long?"
"Twenty minutes."
Rymus looked toward the door.
"We don't have twenty minutes."
The professor looked at Gila.
"Then we need another option."
Gila remembered the map.
Seven routes.
Seven memories.
Seven hidden locations.
She looked at the archive.
"The archive isn't only here."
Everyone turned toward her.
"What do you mean?" Thelma asked.
Gila pointed at the screen.
"These aren't files."
"What?"
"They're coordinates."
The professor stared.
Gila continued.
"The seven memories weren't just memories. They were instructions."
Her mother stepped closer.
"You remember?"
"I remember enough."
Gila pointed toward the map.
"Each location contains part of the archive."
The professor's eyes widened.
"Of course."
Rymus understood.
"The central archive is only the index."
"Exactly."
Gila looked at him.
"The real evidence is spread across the Amazon."
The archive door shook again.
This time, the metal bent inward.
"They'll destroy this place," Gila said.
"Yes."
"Then let them."
Rymus looked at her.
"What?"
"We don't need to save this room."
Gila looked at the map.
"We need to save the information."
The professor smiled.
"Now you understand."
He connected a small device to the console.
The screen changed.
Seven locations appeared.
Six were marked in green.
One was red.
Gila stared at the red marker.
"What's that?"
Her mother stepped closer.
"The first station."
"The place where you disappeared."
"Yes."
Rymus looked at the coordinates.
"We have to go there."
Gila nodded.
"But not yet."
She pointed at the six green markers.
"We need to recover the others first."
A loud crash came from the archive entrance.
The door began to open.
Rymus looked at the others.
"Time's up."
The professor grabbed a small drive from the terminal.
"Then we run."
They moved.
Rymus fired toward the doorway.
The others escaped through a secondary passage.
Gila ran beside her mother.
Behind them, the archive erupted with gunfire.
They reached a narrow tunnel.
Rymus slammed the door behind them.
"Keep moving!"
The tunnel led downward.
Water covered the floor.
They moved through it in darkness.
After several minutes, they emerged beside the river.
A boat waited.
Gila looked back at the station.
Smoke was rising from the building.
The archive was burning.
Everything they had found could have been lost.
But Gila held the drive.
The professor held the map.
And the seven memories were inside her.
They had not lost everything.
They had lost only the place where the truth had been hidden.
The truth itself was still alive.
They climbed into the boat.
Rymus started the engine.
As they moved away, Gila looked toward the burning station.
She thought about her father.
Gabriel.
The man she had spent her life mourning.
The man who had apparently been watching her from the shadows.
"Where is he?" she asked.
Nobody answered.
Then the professor spoke.
"Somewhere in the Amazon."
Gila turned.
"How do you know?"
The professor looked at the drive.
"Because he sent the message."
"What message?"
The professor showed her the screen.
A single sentence appeared.
brING HER TO ME.
Gila stared at it.
Her mother grabbed her hand.
"No."
Gila looked at her.
"I have to."
"You don't know what he'll do."
"I know."
"Then why?"
Gila looked toward the river.
"Because he's my father."
Her mother closed her eyes.
"And that's exactly what he wants you to remember."