Lost Contact (The Bridge Sequence Book One), Nathan Hystad [primary phonics books .TXT] 📗

me for leaving her out there alone. She’d just admitted she was scared of this place, and I’d run off.

I counted the ticks on the map. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. I walked as gracefully as I could over the plots, trying to be respectful, until I reached the proper markings. Clayton M. Belvedere. It was a simple stone. My heart hammered in my chest as I spotted the symbol. It was almost like a P overlapping over a capital T. The tattoo. My dad and Clay each had the marks on them, and the very same image was inked on my chest.

There were dates, and I crouched, noticing something else etched over the surface near the bottom left.

“Rex, what the hell are you doing?” Bev asked. I’d been so enthralled that I hadn’t heard her approaching.

“Give me a minute,” I said.

The digits weren’t painted in; rather, they were carvings less than a quarter-inch high. I yanked the phone from my pocket and snapped a couple of shots, zooming to see if I’d captured it well. I didn’t.

“Bev, do you have a pencil in there?” I asked.

“Pencil? Let’s get out of here… wait, is that Clayton’s?” she asked, the anger vanquished from her voice.

“Pencil. Do you have a pen? Something to write with?” I held a palm out, and she rifled through her purse. I’d seen the inside of my sister’s bag before, and it carried enough survival equipment to make it through an apocalypse.

“No pen, but I have lipstick,” she told me, holding out a golden tube.

“It’ll do.” I popped the top, twisting the base, and used the map in my other hand, flipping it over so I was looking at the blank side. I ran the lipstick across it aggressively, ultimately ruining the tube. “I’ll buy you another one.”

Bev was beside me, resting fingers on my back. “What are you doing?”

“Taking a rubbing. Usually, I’d use charcoal and a better-quality paper, but this’ll have to work.” I finished, and scanned the stone for any other markings. When I was convinced there were no more, I stood back, looking at the image I’d recorded.

It was a series of numbers. From a quick glance, they didn’t make sense. Maybe they were coordinates, but something was off about them. This was Marcus’ area of expertise, and I needed to share this with him.

“What are you hoping to find?” Bev asked me, her expression exhausted.

“I don’t know, but aren’t you curious what really happened?”

She started walking away. “I thought I could have a normal holiday with my brother. We’d catch up, you could spend some time with the kids and bond with Fred over a football game. And here you are, up to your old games.”

“My career isn’t a game.”

“It sure seems like it. Give me the keys, I’ll be at the car.”

I glanced at the paper before folding it evenly, making sure the lipstick didn’t smudge, and set it into my breast pocket. “Let’s get some lunch.” Whatever I’d just discovered could wait. It already had, for thirty-five years.

4

I said my goodbyes with mixed feelings about leaving. The past few days had been great once I’d let go and immersed myself into visiting with my family. I was stuffed, having eaten more in four days than I usually did in two weeks. Bev seemed better as she stood on our childhood home’s front step with her lovely family, waving as I drove off. I had the box of Dad’s belongings in the back seat, along with the rubbing from Clayton’s grave, and I dialed Marcus the moment I was out of Bev’s range.

I peered through the rear view mirror, noticing a dark-tinted BMW emerge from across the street, failing to signal as it ran a stop sign.

Marcus answered on the second ring. “Rex, you have to be thinking what I am, right?”

I laughed, imagining his goofy expression. From the tone in his voice, it was obvious he was excited, probably pacing around his small apartment. “About what?”

“The object near Pluto. This is it.”

“I’ve been off the grid for a couple days. You’re going to have to fill me in.” I drove from town, happy to be on my way home. It had been nice to reconnect with my sister, but I was on the brink of a major breakthrough. I was sure of it.

“It’s doubled. There are two of them.”

“Two? How is that possible?”

“No idea. They split like a cell. Like mitosis.”

“More likely, there were always two sections, stacked together to appear as one. It’s too far out to see clear enough,” I guessed.

“Maybe. You’re going home?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah, be there in a couple of hours. I need you to come over.”

“I already was. Remember, you invited me for dinner. Said there’d be pie,” Marcus reminded me.

“Sorry, buddy. Forgot the pie, but we can order take-out. Even from that crappy noodle place you keep mentioning.” I wanted to share the news about what I’d discovered, but held back. My foot pressed firmly to the pedal, and I had to ease off. The state troopers were out on the Sunday after a holiday, waiting for low-hanging fruit.

“You must have something really good, then. I’ll be there.” Marcus paused, and I could sense more coming. “Rex. What if they are heading for Earth?”

“The objects near Pluto?”

“Sure. What if they’ve decided now’s the time?”

I prided myself in the evidence of facts, and I’d never openly admitted my belief in aliens in a professional setting. I’d followed the careers of some of the top people in my field, and anyone that remotely accepted the role of extraterrestrials in the shaping of our ancient cultures was quickly lambasted and kicked out of all social circles.

There may not have been enough actual proof for me to straight-up say without a shred of uncertainty that I knew aliens had visited us. On the other hand, I was certain my father, Dirk Walker, had believed, and that kept me open-minded.

Traffic was heavier, and I glanced in the