Chapter 14 - The Doctor Who Never Had a Name)
Richard refused to discuss the Doctor on the phone.
That alone told David enough.
They regrouped forty-eight hours later at a protected federal property in Vermont.
Maya was stronger.
Liam had gained weight.
David held his son for nearly an hour before speaking to anyone.
The tiny life against his chest brought something simple back into a world that had become impossibly complicated.
Whatever his name had once been.
Whatever experiment had happened.
Whatever family blood moved through him.
He was Liam’s father.
That identity had not been assigned.
It had been chosen.
Maya sat beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
David looked at her.
She smiled faintly.
“If you said yes, I’d worry.”
He kissed her.
Then entered the main room.
Richard sat beside Eleanor.
They had barely spoken since reuniting.
Chloe stood near Mark.
He had arrived under federal escort and surrendered voluntarily.
Hall brought files.
“Talk.”
Richard began.
“The Doctor never gave us a name.”
“Appearance?”
“Male. Forties back then.”
“So seventies now.”
“Probably.”
“American?”
“Accent changed.”
David frowned.
“What?”
“He could sound American, British, German.”
Eleanor added, “He enjoyed making people uncertain.”
“What did he do?”
“Designed the identity protocols.”
David sat.
“Did he work for the government?”
Richard laughed once.
“Governments.”
“Plural?”
“American money. European scientists. Private contractors.”
Hall looked disturbed.
“And children disappeared into this?”
“Yes.”
Mark spoke.
“Northstar inherited part of the infrastructure.”
David looked at him.
“Daniel took control.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I thought to destroy it.”
“You thought?”
Mark looked exhausted.
“Daniel and I worked together for years.”
“You knew my brother?”
“Yes.”
“Personally?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever talk about me?”
“All the time.”
David’s chest tightened.
“What did he say?”
“That you were the lucky one.”
Silence.
Mark continued.
“You got out young enough to build a real identity.”
“A fake identity.”
“No.”
Mark shook his head.
“David Carter is more real than Daniel Mercer ever was.”
David absorbed that.
“Where is my brother now?”
“I lost contact six months ago.”
“Why?”
“He discovered Continuation.”
“What is it?”
Mark looked toward Richard.
“Not a program.”
“Then?”
“A network.”
Hall leaned forward.
“Explain.”
“The original researchers placed children into families. Some of those children grew up and entered government, corporations, law enforcement, medicine.”
David felt cold.
“Sleeping agents?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
“People with hidden histories. Compromising records. Psychological triggers.”
Chloe whispered, “Blackmail.”
“Yes.”
Mark continued.
“Continuation tracks them.”
“For control?”
“For influence.”
David thought of the scale.
Children taken decades earlier.
Now adults.
Judges.
Executives.
Officials.
Maybe military officers.
“The Doctor built a network out of traumatized children.”
Mark nodded.
“And Daniel found the list.”
David looked at him.
“The third case?”
“No.”
Mark’s answer was quiet.
“The third case contains the original seven.”
“Then what list?”
“All of them.”
“How many?”
Mark hesitated.
“Four hundred and twelve.”
No one spoke.
David felt sick.
“Alive?”
“Unknown.”
“Where is the list?”
“Daniel had it.”
“Had?”
Mark looked directly at him.
“Until eleven days ago.”
David’s pulse changed.
“What happened eleven days ago?”
“Daniel sent me a message.”
“What message?”
Mark took out a secured phone.
Displayed one line.
THE BABY CHANGES EVERYTHING.
David looked toward Liam.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Mark showed a second message.
IF THEY TOUCH MY BROTHER’S SON, RELEASE NORTHSTAR.
David stared.
“Release what?”
“Evidence.”
Hall asked, “Where?”
“Every major newspaper, federal agency, European regulator.”
David looked at Mark.
“Did you release it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel sent another instruction.”
“What?”
Mark opened it.
WAIT FOR DAVID TO REMEMBER THE RED DOOR.
David felt something inside his mind move.
Red paint.
Concrete.
A brass handle.
A child’s hand.
Blood on the floor.
He stood abruptly.
Maya came closer.
“What is it?”
David pressed fingers to his temple.
“I remember a door.”
Richard’s face changed.
“What door?”
“Red.”
Eleanor whispered, “No.”
David looked at her.
“You know.”
“There was no red door in Stamford.”
“Then where?”
Eleanor began shaking.
Richard stared at her.
“You took him there?”
She closed her eyes.
“I had no choice.”
“Where?”
David demanded.
Eleanor whispered:
“Pennsylvania.”
Hall immediately pulled up maps.
“What property?”
“I don’t know the address.”
“What was there?”
Eleanor looked at David with tears in her eyes.
“The place they took Daniel after Jonathan died.”
“My brother?”
“Yes.”
“Was I there?”
“Once.”
“Why?”
“To test whether you still recognized each other.”
David felt nausea.
“What happened?”
Eleanor whispered:
“You did.”
He stared.
“You recognized Daniel immediately.”
“And?”
“That terrified the Doctor.”
“Why?”
“Because they had spent months teaching you that you were Daniel.”
Richard looked horrified.
Eleanor continued.
“But when they put your real brother in front of you, you pointed at him and said…”
She stopped.
David’s voice came quietly.
“I remember.”
Everyone looked at him.
David saw the room.
Two boys.
Same face.
One bruised.
One crying.
A red door behind them.
And his own child’s voice saying:
“That’s Daniel.”
Maya took his hand.
David’s eyes filled.
“I knew I wasn’t him.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Yes.”
“What did the Doctor do?”
“He separated you permanently.”
Richard asked, “Where was Daniel sent?”
“I never knew.”
David closed his eyes.
Then remembered something else.
The Doctor kneeling before him.
A silver ring.
An emblem.
Three intersecting circles.
And a sentence.
One day, Nathan, your brother will come back for your name.
David opened his eyes.
Mark’s secure phone began ringing.
Everyone froze.
Only one person had the number.
Mark answered.
No one spoke first.
Then a man’s voice came through.
Identical to David’s.
Not similar.
Identical.
“Hello, Nathan.”
David could not breathe.
May you like
The voice continued.
“You finally remembered.”
