“Why would you need to get outside?” Phil replied, with an expression of badly feigned shock. “I’m just talking hypothetically. I hope you understand that if I did anything to help you, Kevin, I could get into a lot of trouble.”
“I… think I understand,” Kevin said, with a slight frown, because he wasn’t quite sure that he did. Seriously, why didn’t people say what they meant?
“Oh,” Phil said, “I just remembered, I was supposed to help fix a security problem with the cameras in front of the doors.”
“What security problem?” Kevin asked with a frown.
“The one that’s going to happen in about two minutes.
Kevin looked over at him. “What do you need?”
Phil took out what looked very much like a keycard. “Professor Brewster dropped this. Would you mind returning it to him when you see him? I’m sure he’ll be along to demand answers from you at some point.”
Kevin took it. “I will,” he said. “And Phil… thank you.”
“For what?” the researcher asked. “I didn’t do anything. Actually, it’s quite important to remember that part.”
“I will,” Kevin promised.
As Phil walked away, Kevin forced himself to wait, counting the seconds under his breath. He saw the lights on the cameras by the door go dim, and quickly swiped the card in the door.
He walked out from the building, feeling strange being out in the open air for the first time in days. The air in the facility was so pristine, so carefully filtered, that it felt almost stale next to this. It felt strange to be walking like this too, when he’d spent so much time sitting or lying down, doing nothing but relaying the contents of that golden thread of information. He kept walking, then ran, as he heard a shout behind him. He glanced back to see a security guard there, looking unsure what to do next and speaking into a radio.
Kevin kept going for the fence, not sure how much more time he would have.
Professor Brewster was somewhere behind him now, yelling for him to come back. Kevin smiled at that. It would only make it more likely that people would believe what he was going to do next. It might mean that people
He ran up to the fence and stopped, looking at the people there, looking at the cameras. Some were from local news stations. At least a couple seemed to be from national ones. Faced with that, Kevin swallowed nervously. He didn’t know what to say.
“Um… hi, I’m Kevin. You’ve probably heard some of the rumors about what’s been going on here? Well, they’re true.”
CHAPTER NINE
Kevin sat in Professor Brewster’s office, getting the feeling that the scientist would love to shout at him, if only he had enough time. He certainly looked angry enough to do it. Frankly, right then, he looked just about angry enough to explode. He
“Yes sir. Yes, I’m sure it is. Yes, it’s true that the boy seems to be… yes, yes, of course. But sir, it’s our project and… yes sir, of course I’m aware of the implications.” He put the phone down. “That was the director of NASA. Can you understand how difficult this is, Kevin? How complicated this is about to—”
He picked up the phone again as it rang.
“Hello? Who? No, I’m sorry. No.
He put the phone down.
“This is only the start of it,” he said. He looked over to Kevin. “Do you understand, Kevin, that part of the reason I wanted to keep this a secret was because I knew how some people would react? News of alien life is a big thing for this country, for the world. I wanted to protect you from all the different people who would want to try to control part of that.”
Kevin stared at the older man. He hadn’t thought that Professor Brewster was interested in much beyond the success of his institute. It was strange to think that he might have been trying to look out for him. Adults, he decided, were far too complicated.
The phone rang again.
“The CIA? But we’re on American… Yes, I accept that space is beyond American borders, but…”
While they were busy arguing about it, Dr. Levin put a hand on his shoulder.
“How about we take you back to your room, Kevin?” she suggested. “I’m sure they’ll be arguing for a while yet.”
Kevin nodded, and they slipped off. He wasn’t sure if Professor Brewster noticed, he was that busy fielding calls. Briefly, he wondered what would happen if he just walked out of the facility again and kept walking, not coming back. Would the scientist do anything to stop him? Would he be able to?