Chapter 11: The Secret

Professor Cole closed the laboratory door behind him.

"Sonia, put the folder back where you found it."

I didn't move.

"Why?"

He stared at me for several seconds before finally sighing.

"Because you're not supposed to know about Project Horizon yet."

"Yet?"

That single word made his expression change.

I stepped closer and held up the photograph.

"Why am I in this picture?"

Professor Cole looked at the photograph and then at me.

"That's what I've been trying to understand."

My heart began pounding.

"You mean you've seen this before?"

"Yes."

He pulled a chair toward the desk.

"Sit down, Sonia. There's something you need to know."

I sat.

He opened the Horizon folder and removed several documents.

"Fifteen years ago, this university started an experimental aerospace research program. The goal was to develop a new generation of propulsion systems."

He placed a photograph in front of me.

"The project was extremely promising, but it was terminated after a critical test failure."

"What happened?"

"The prototype was destroyed. Several years of research disappeared with it."

I looked at the photograph again.

"And I was involved?"

Professor Cole shook his head.

"Not at that time. You were a high school student."

I frowned.

"Then why am I in the photograph?"

He didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he turned the photograph over.

There was another handwritten note on the back.

"She will come back when she realizes what she gave up."

My breathing stopped.

"That's my handwriting."

"I know."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"How?"

"Because I've compared it to the handwriting on your current research notes."

I couldn't speak.

Professor Cole leaned back in his chair.

"I don't know how you became connected to Horizon. I only know that someone has been sending information about the project to people connected with it."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

I remembered the anonymous email.

"Someone sent me a photograph."

Professor Cole's face tightened.

"When?"

"A few days ago."

"Did they send anything else?"

"No."

He was silent for a moment.

"Then they're watching you."

A chill ran down my spine.

I thought about the video from my future self.

Someone had known exactly what my life would become.

Someone knew about Silas.

Someone knew about aerospace.

And now someone was sending me clues about Project Horizon.

"Professor, was the project really abandoned?"

He looked toward the window.

"Officially, yes."

"And unofficially?"

He gave me a tired smile.

"Unofficially, some of us never stopped working on it."

I stared at him.

"You mean Project Horizon still exists?"

"Parts of it do."

He opened another drawer and removed a small metal identification badge.

The same HRI logo was engraved on it.

"This program is highly restricted," he said. "If you want to know more, you'll have to prove you're ready."

"How?"

"By finishing the propulsion project you're working on."

I looked at the badge.

"And if I succeed?"

"Then I'll tell you why your future self wanted you here."

My entire body went still.

"You know about the video?"

Professor Cole nodded.

"I've known about it longer than you have."

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then he pushed the badge toward me.

"Take it."

I hesitated before picking it up.

"What does this mean?"

"It means your life is no longer following the future you were warned about."

I looked down at the badge in my palm.

For years, I'd believed my future had been stolen because of Silas and Rachel.

Now I realized that wasn't the whole story.

The choices I'd made because of them had only been the beginning.

There was something much bigger waiting beyond them.

Something connected to me.

Something connected to the woman in the video.

And somehow, Professor Cole already knew about it.

I stood up and slipped the badge into my pocket.

"Then I'll finish the project."

Professor Cole smiled.

"I knew you would."