“Well, we began by using the lat/long of the sites we thought we could identify to try to determine if this list was in a specific order. Turns out it is. These points on the map are in order from west to east around the globe.” Ward pointed to a translated list of names Hannah had written down from the book
“Okay—so the portal opens in directional order?” Cadence asked.
“No,” Ward said, shaking his head. “At first we thought so. But then clever Christian here thought of something remarkable that never entered my mind at all until he suggested it.”
Cadence wasn’t surprised to hear Christian had come up with something, though the fact that he’d told other people was a new development. “What is it?”
“I pulled the cell phone records from Dax’s phone and pinpointed the initial contact between his texts and a cell tower, and I think we can trace a general idea of where the portal has been opening to those locations. This information has led us to believe that, while the list is west to east, the opening is south to north.”
“It’s still a little bit of a problem because we don’t know where all of the locations are, but we can figure out what some of them are based on the description, and where we are on the globe, based on where they were last.” Christian’s countenance had changed since the last time Cadence had been in the room. He actually seemed as if he were attempting to atone for his sins. “Based on what we’ve been able to figure out so far, the opening at noon should’ve been somewhere in outer space.”
“The book says, ‘solas na grèine,’ and translation is, ‘light of the sun,’” Ward explained.
“Do you think that’s why no messages went in or out with the last opening?” Cadence asked, stepping closer to the table but not daring get too near for fear she’d mess something up.
“It’s possible,” Ward replied with a nod. “If the portal opening was too far away from a cell tower, there’d be nothing to accept the signal. Fannie confirmed that must be what is happening.” Cadence nodded, glad Fannie and Emma had found something.
“These are the locations where we actually did get a signal.” Christian gestured at several points on a map, and Cadence could see how the portal was shifting further north. “So we think the next opening should be somewhere in this vicinity.” He traced an area in the Atlantic Ocean. “But... if the list is correct, the opening to the portal will actually be high up in the air, like the last one, and we may not get a signal that way either.”
“If I’ve deciphered the list and matched the names with what we’ve figured out from the cell phone data and the latitude and longitude, the next opening should be, ‘drochaid sgòthan,’ or ‘bridge of clouds.” He pointed with his index finger at the list. “I’m guessing that will be another difficult opening, and we may not be able to send or receive messages then either.”
“After that, it looks like it should be nearer to the ground, and possibly dry land,” Hannah said, gesturing at the list she was looking at. “Maybe at midnight our time, we’ll be able to reach them again.”
“Where do you think the midnight opening will be?” Cadence asked.
“The Colosseum,” Christian replied. He continued without noticing all of the color draining from Cadence’s face. “After that, it’s hard to say for the next three openings, though Ward’s trying to work them out. But the fourth one, we’ve got it figured out for sure, though. We can get to them by then and put our plan into place for a rescue.” He suddenly noticed her disposition. “What’s the matter?”
“One of Holland’s planes just landed in Rome. She must’ve somehow figured this out, too. But I don’t know how. Hopefully, we can get a message to the Guardians at the 6:00 PM opening to tell them not to get out there, or else who knows what she might be planning.”
“She can’t kill them,” Hannah reminded Cadence.
“No, I know, but that doesn’t mean she won’t have something planned for them.”
“We’ll send in everyone we have, just in case, and beat her at her own game. It’ll be fine.” Ward came around the table and put a comforting hand on Cadence’s shoulder.
She swallowed hard and nodded, hoping he was right. “Let’s try to concentrate on getting everything together for tomorrow evening, then. Hopefully, they’ll all stay put until then, though I can’t imagine they won’t try to get out if they can. Where’s the opening you’ve identified for tomorrow?”
“Stonehenge,” the three of them said at the same time, and Cadence nodded—not a surprise at all to hear that location was on the list.
“And if we miss that somehow?” She hoped that wasn’t the case, but she needed to take every precaution she could in her planning.
“After that, we are slightly confused,” Ward admitted. “It seems by the description like it could be the Cliffs of Moher, but the lat/long of that sight is just slightly north of Stonehenge, and everything else has been shifting by leaps and bounds.”
“We are thinking it could be someplace in Iceland instead. And then... after that, it’s back to the sky for a while, we’re guessing,” Christian continued.
“So... we’ll plan on getting them at Stonehenge tomorrow,” Cadence said with a nod. “If we know that Stonehenge is on the list, and Holland has sent her troops to Rome, chances are she knows both locations, too. We need to be ready for anything.”
“May I suggest we don’t let everyone on the team know where we are going at this point? Let’s just keep it amongst ourselves. That way, if Holland is able to reach anyone’s thoughts, her choices will be limited.” Ward spoke as if he’d been brought up to date on everything that was going on recently.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Cadence agreed. “All right. I’m off to see Dr. Stewart. How did it go with you Christian?” She assumed he’d already spoken to the Vampire, as she’d directed.
He shrugged. “I think I may have scared him a little, but he seemed like he’s got nothing left to lose.”
Cadence nodded. That wasn’t surprising. “Keep working on the other locations. Nice work, guys.” She looked at each of them but held Christian’s gaze a little bit longer. She hoped he realized how much she appreciated him being upfront with her this time. It was a lot easier to make plans when she could trust her own teammates, and for the first time in a while, she felt like maybe she could.
