Professor Reed was having a bad day. His subjects kept inexplicably dying, his most senior employee was growing increasingly insolent, and he was having trouble procuring a rare synthetic compound. He logged onto his computer, sifting through investment accounts and bank statements until something stopped him cold in his tracks.
Mackenzie, David and Jennifer. The names had appeared on a long forgotten automated search, materializing like ghosts from the far distant past. He scanned the information with a dry mouth, reading an obituary notice posted in a small town newspaper. He picked up the phone and dialed it with shaking hands.
“I need you in the office immediately,” he said.
Within minutes a hulking man in a black suit appeared, taking a seat opposite him.
The professor leaned forward in his chair. “Maximillion, I need you to drop everything and retrieve some information for me immediately.”
The big man frowned. “Listen, doc. I have a little problem to dispose of, if you know what I mean. Two more of ’em dropped dead this morning and–”
“It can wait. This is a matter of the utmost urgency.”
“It’s your call,” Max shrugged.
“Someone crucial to this entire project has surfaced, and I need you to locate her at once.” Reed’s voice was vibrating with excitement, making the big man sit up and take notice. “There’s a substantial bonus in it for you if you get me her location within the hour.”
Max had never seen Reed so agitated, and he used it to his advantage. “It’ll cost you double my fee.”
The professor nodded, showing Max the obituary. He pointed out the line that mentioned the couple was survived by a daughter. “Find the girl,” he ordered. Max got up, leaving Professor Reed to his thoughts.
The old man stared off into space, a faraway look in his eyes. How incredibly fortuitous, he mused, to have such a gift fall right into his lap just when things were looking so bleak. It must be a sign that all his hard work would soon be paying off, and all of his sacrifices would prove to be worthwhile.
He was stunned to know that David and Jennifer had not only survived all this time, but that they had eluded his efforts to find them. Somehow they had slipped through the electronic dragnet that he’d monitored for years.
And there was a daughter! He had always assumed that they’d succumbed to the madness that had engulfed the others of the first generation, never imagining that they might be capable of raising a child.
He mustn’t get his hopes up, he thought. There was a possibility that the child wasn’t theirs, or perhaps some cretin at the small town newspaper had gotten the facts wrong. Still, the timeline was about right, and if it was true …
He remembered Jenny and David fondly, saddened that he didn’t get a chance to perform their autopsies. They truly were amazing, he thought, among the brightest of his little family of research students. He would have liked to have seen the condition of their brains after all these years.
He leaned back in his chair, fingertips together. The child would be, what … sixteen, seventeen years old. If his hypothesis was correct, she would be in possession of powerful second generation abilities. With both parents in the first generation she could have double the Athena effect; she would truly be a one-of-a-kind specimen. He cursed the fact he’d been denied the opportunity to raise her as his own.
He must have her at all costs.
Max came back into the office within the hour, unbuttoning his suit coat and taking a chair with an air of satisfaction. The professor looked up eagerly. “Well?”
“The kid is in Santa Rosa, living with her aunt, one Angela Jenkins. The aunt has custody until she turns eighteen in October. Kid’s name’s Cal-ah-do-ni-a,” he said slowly. “That’s weird.”
“It’s lovely,” smiled the professor. “Ah, yes, I met with Angela once when David and Jenny first went missing. It makes perfect sense. So she has guardianship?”
“Yep.” He slid a piece of paper over to the professor. “The address and phone.”
Professor Reed smiled, “I’ll have to call and offer my condolences.”
“My bonus?” Max asked.
“I’ll have it deposited immediately. I’m going to need a driver. We’ll be leaving to retrieve the girl as soon as possible.”
Max got up to leave, pausing at the door. “What if she doesn’t want to come?”
“We’ll make the aunt an offer.”
“What if she won’t take it?”
The professor was irritated by his questions, but he wasn’t going to let the big oaf’s doubts ruin his glorious day. He waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll take Layla with me. That should do the trick.”
“Whatever you say,” Max shrugged, turning to leave.
The professor’s brow knit together, thinking he really couldn’t afford to take a chance. “Wait … I’d like you to assemble a team and be ready to go, just in case.”
When the door clicked shut he sat back in his chair with an excited smile. Jenny and David’s child–nearly within his grasp. And a girl to boot! It was almost too good to be true. Surely the offspring of two such brilliant minds would be extraordinary. He got up to pace, unable to contain his excitement as he considered the possibilities.
A door may have closed, but a window had just opened.