The God Codex

18. Billie

BOOK OF BILLY: 2049

Chapter 18: Billie

THREE DAYS LATER

My heart pounds against my throat as I peer over the Lieutenant's shoulder at the images on the screen. Night vision goggles show a giant underground reservoir in an eerie green hue. The men rush down a set of steps as fast as debris would allow.

"Alpha team entering the primary reservoir now. Beta team on standby."

The moment stretches as the team sweeps the vast cave for signs of life. "Anybody still alive down here? This is Captain Greens. Can anyone hear me?"

His voice echoes to us through the speakers. "Turning infrared on now. Stand by."

I close my eyes for the inevitable. There is no one down there, no one alive anyway and Alisha had the wrong piece of information.

"We're picking up a weak head signature 200 meters ahead. Confirming it now."

On the screen, two elite soldiers scurry on ahead towards the heat signature we cannot see.

"They're here!" one calls out from the dark, and the Captain with his head-mounted camera approaches what looks like a huddle of bodies. My stomach lurches. I don't think I want to see this.

~ ~ ~

I knock gently on the closed door in my best suit. My hair combed neatly for the first time in years. More nervous than I had been when I asked Alisha out on a proper date, terrified she'd say no. I even have a fake rose in my lapel.

I don't think they heard me, so I knock again. I hear voices chattering away inside. It is Josie who opens the door for me.

"Dr Amour."

"Josie," I nod courteously. "You two ready?"

Behind her, an almost spitting image of Alisha steps forth, dressed in a summer dress a little too big for her fifteen-year-old self. Her expression reflects mine perfectly. She is as nervous as I am.

"I'm almost ready," Josie volunteers. "But Billie... is."

The young woman nods quietly and joins me out in the corridor.

While we wait for Josie, I turn to the girl. "Thank you." She meets my gaze questioningly. "Your mother," I begin, so nervous my throat is dry. "Your mother is the only woman I've ever loved."

She stares at me as I fumble for words the grown-ass man that I am. I don't even know what I'm trying to say, so I take the velvet ring box from my pocket and hold it out to her. She takes it and eyes the diamond ring inside.

"I've had it since before she left," I say quietly.

The kid looks up at me, shocked. "You were going to ask her to marry you?"

I nod.

"Then why didn't you?"

I suppose I don't really know the answer to that. "I was young and foolish I suppose and thought I had time."