Hector’s hands shook. A tremor ran down his spine. He needed rest, but his face indicated that slowing down was the furthest thing from his mind. Sleep wouldn’t bring the peace of mind Hector sought.
Taylor’s door slid open. The colonel looked distracted.
“I’d like a word, sir,” said Hector.
“Jessica’s in trouble. Make it quick.”
“I’d like permission to find my sister.”
“You don’t know that she’s your sister,” said Taylor. “She was four the last time you saw her.”
“I’ll work overtime. I’ll do whatever else needs to be done–”
Taylor grabbed his datapad and strode toward the control room. Hector followed.
“Even if I thought it was a good idea—which I don’t—there aren’t enough available resources. I need you here.”
Hector stopped in front of the control room. His hand clamped down on Taylor’s upper arm.
“I’ve never asked for a favor before, sir.”
Taylor pulled away. “Jessica’s in trouble. We’ll talk later. Get some rest.”
Greg Sims, the station operative, rushed up. “We think there’s been a second molecular transfer!”
“Think?”
“We’re not sure, sir,” Greg stammered. “The board is—acting strange. It only gave a date. February 3rd, 1971. That’s–”
“I need the rest of that information!” The colonel barked.
Greg sprinted back. Hector gave chase and caught him in the hallway.
“Greg! The location—what are you getting?”
“Nothing. It’s just scrambled—like it doesn’t exist.”
Hector stared at the wall. Gears ground together in his head. Los Alamos. Rahul Banerjee. Cloaking technology.
“They built a cloaking device,” he whispered. His eyes darted to Greg. “Crosscheck two locations: Florida and the moon. The location that comes up scrambled is the one they transferred to.”
Greg gave him a puzzled look. “What? That’s not possible.”
“They figured out how to cloak something bigger than a person.”
“A location? No, that’s…impossible!”
“Not anymore,” said Hector. Greg looked confused, but didn’t object. He turned and took off at a jog. Just before Greg disappeared around a corner, Hector’s head popped back up. “Greg! Do we know who transferred?”
“No idea.”
