Page 214 of Broken Oath

Madow.

The person inside the fourth SUV.

Any of them might possess that kind of power.

Fathom opened another recovered archive.

Encrypted text filled the screen.

Rows of numbers.

Coordinates.

Occupancy codes.

Then a current system header appeared.

WARDEN TRANSFER NETWORK

Below it sat a list of operational sites.

Most were marked inactive.

One remained active.

BLACK SITE THETA

Sarah stopped breathing.

Fathom opened the occupancy register.

A name appeared.

SUBJECT: W. PARKER

STATUS: ACTIVE

LAST VERIFICATION: ELEVEN DAYS AGO

For one impossible second, nobody moved.

Rook read the date again.

Eleven days.

Not five years.

Not a historical record.

Eleven days ago, someone inside Black Site Theta confirmed that W. Parker remained alive.

Sarah gripped the table.

“Is it real?”

Fathom checked the authentication string.

Then checked it again.