Page 138 of Silent Target

“You defeated one of my finest marksmen.”

“You murdered him.”

“No. He fulfilled his purpose.”

Evie’s face hardens.

The Chairman continues.

“And while he occupied you, Walter completed his work.”

The six drives stop flashing.

For one second, I believe we’ve lost everything.

Then every indicator turns green.

Fathom stares at them.

“The purge stopped.”

“Did we save the files?” Evie asks.

“Yes. But something else was transmitted.”

The Chairman’s voice fills the tunnel.

“The First Circle no longer needs to hide.”

Every light above us turns white.

At the far end of the track, a door begins to open.

Beyond it waits a room filled from floor to ceiling with files.

The Chairman didn’t destroy the archive.

He opened it for us.

29

EVIE

The archive stretches farther than my flashlight can reach.

Floor-to-ceiling shelves divide the enormous room into narrow aisles. Leather-bound ledgers sit beside boxes of photographs, microfilm reels, and sealed government files.

No computers.

No network terminals.

Nothing Fathom can access remotely.

The First Circle preserved its true history on paper.

Dust floats through the air.

I step across the threshold.