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

stayed at the helicopter, her hands clasped tightly together. “I’ll be okay. With any luck, I’ll be right back.” I placed a palm on her stacked grip. “I’m sorry about everything.”

She didn’t respond. The shock was sinking in.

I peered around the area, and despite the adrenaline racing through me, I admired the view. The ocean was twenty or so miles away, but we could see the stars reflecting from it as the clouds parted under us. There were a few sparse trees, but mostly rock at this high point in the hillsides.

Marcus used his black light again, scouring the rocky area, and called me over. An arrow was drawn, pointing to a spot in the cliffside. “This is it! Hunter did mark it for us.”

Thousands of stars gleamed above us. I’d seen a lot of night skies in the middle of nowhere, far from the light pollution of a populated metropolis, but this was special. I was drawn to it. Hunter’s riddle described it well. Where the water flows, the pathway glows. Seek a star’s flight on a cloudy night. I listened, catching the sound of the trickling water running along the fissure at the base of the peak.

The moon was a half-crescent, reminding me of one of the Tokens, and I basked in the radiance for a moment. Veronica helped me as we walked for the rocky hillside, and Marcus located another arrow. We amended our direction, and when we were twenty feet from the entrance, it jumped out at us.

I slowed and Tripp dropped the bag, pulling the Case out.

Saul walked toward me, but Tripp stepped in his path. “I don’t think so.”

“I just want to see it again. It’s been years,” he said.

“Why didn’t my dad ever mention you in any of his journals?” I asked.

“We had the idea to send me to the Believers. It was tougher than you’d think to breach, but I did it.” His chest puffed up a bit at his self-praise. “Did you ever see Dirk mention an ‘S’ in his excerpts?”

I thought about it, and did recall him referencing someone named S on occasion. “I think so.”

“That was me. He couldn’t know who would end up with the journals, after all, and I didn’t want to be detected by the Believers,” Saul told me.

I had the Case in my hands, with the solo Token in my pocket. I showed Saul, and he let out a high whistle. “Your father would be proud of you, kid.”

“It’s been a while since anyone’s called me ‘kid’,” I advised him.

“Get to be my age and see what I’ve seen, even your elders seem like kids. Well, on with it. Don’t forget this.” Saul pulled a gun, flipping it around deftly, and passed it to me.

“What do you think we’re going to find?” I asked him.

“We never did figure that out. We could only hope”—he patted his chest over the tattoo—“that it led to the promised land.”

“Let’s do this, Rex.” Veronica took my hand and walked with me. The air was thin, and with my reinjured bullet wound, I was struggling to stand properly. I fought the urge to bend over protectively and kept my spine straight, limping for the cavern entrance.

We paused before ambling in, and Veronica smiled at me. “I never told you my secret.”

It seemed like an odd time to bring it up. “Can you wait until after we find out if we’re alone in the universe?”

We stood a foot apart, and I felt the stares from everyone on my back. “It can wait.”

“Would you two hurry up?” Tripp called from behind us.

I’d forgotten anyone was watching and stepped into the room. Our flashlights shone around, discovering etchings on the walls and unlit torches set into metal holders. “Anyone have a lighter?” I asked, and Saul jogged over, passing me one. His eyes were huge as he stared past me.

“Stay here,” I warned him, and Veronica and I walked through the cavern, lighting the four torches. They lit easily, and soon the room was inviting in its orange glow. “Look.” I pointed at a life-size carving of an alien being on the cave’s wall beside Veronica.

“My dad stood here. He held this.” I lifted the Case. “He saw this depiction.” The figure was human-like, resembling many ancient cultures’ take on a god from the stars. Elongated forehead, stretched limbs.

This was all I’d ever wanted, to end up where my father had disappeared. Now I was attempting to travel to the same place. Would I share his fate? “You should go,” I whispered to Veronica as I hesitantly stepped up to the stone podium. The surface was flat and polished, and I drew my gaze upward to the opening in the cavern ceiling. The stars shone brightly above.

“You know I can’t,” she said.

“Why?” I didn’t quite understand why someone who’d just started this adventure a few weeks ago would be so invested in the Bridge. “It’s not worth your life.”

“Is it worth yours?”

I didn’t answer and set the Case on the table. The Token fell from my weakened grip, clattering to the ground. Veronica retrieved it, returning the hexagon to me. “Do you think this was what it was like for them?”

“Dirk and Clay?”

She nodded.

“I don’t know. I can only imagine it was similar.” I glanced upwards again. “Are you ready?” The room was stuffy, and wind howled from above us, sending a light layer of dust across the table.

She picked up a bag of supplies and draped it on her shoulder. If we were heading somewhere far away, we’d brought provisions. Suddenly, I felt like a fool. What if the Bridge brought us to space, and we died in the terrible freezing vacuum? What if we couldn’t breathe the air on the other world? What if the Case did nothing, and we’d been chasing our imaginations?

“I’m ready,” she finally said, and I judged she was running through her own series of reservations.

The last Token slid into its designated holder, and I released the