Chapter 5 - The Surrogate's Lie
It took three days of driving stolen cars and sleeping in abandoned motels to reach the Nevada border.
Ava sat in the driver's seat of a rusted pickup truck, reviewing Ethan’s journal.
She found a folded piece of paper tucked in the back cover. It was a printed transcript of an audio log.
Holloway wants to weaponize the technology, Ethan's transcript read. He thinks the coin is just a power source. He doesn't realize it's a hive-mind interface. If he plugs it into the ship's mainframe, it won't power the weapons. It will wake the sleepers.
Ava frowned. The sleepers.
I broke into the lab today, the text continued. I took the coin back. Holloway caught me. I told him 'She's not ready yet.' I meant you, Ava. You aren't ready to know what you are. But if you are reading this, I am dead, and Holloway is coming for the key.
She looked at the coin resting on the dashboard.
It wasn't just her origin. It was the ignition key to a dormant alien vessel.
May you like
A military convoy sped past her on the highway, heading in the opposite direction. Holloway was mobilizing.
She put the truck in gear and drove off the asphalt, heading deep into the unforgiving desert dirt.
