Darkness swallowed the corridor.<\/p>\n
I heard Viktor move toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A metallic sound came from somewhere to our left.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Doors locking.<\/p>\n
One after another.<\/p>\n
Clara whispered, \u201cThey're here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emergency lights flickered on.<\/p>\n
Red illumination washed over the corridor.<\/p>\n
Clara grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis way.\u201d<\/p>\n
We ran.<\/p>\n
Viktor followed.<\/p>\n
We passed the observation room and entered a stairwell.<\/p>\n
Footsteps echoed above us.<\/p>\n
Clara moved quickly despite the years she had spent hidden.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you hide?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral places.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho helped you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found the records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't he tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you were the reason they couldn't kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn't understand your role.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat role?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe translations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor caught up.<\/p>\n
\u201cClara, explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n
We descended another flight.<\/p>\n
A door opened below.<\/p>\n
Clara pulled us into a storage room.<\/p>\n
We waited.<\/p>\n
Two men passed outside.<\/p>\n
Their voices were muffled.<\/p>\n
One spoke German.<\/p>\n
The other answered in English.<\/p>\n
I recognized the German accent.<\/p>\n
Viktor heard it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople using his identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The realization made my stomach turn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey've been using dead people's names.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe aliases.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Rainer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot an alias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara looked at Viktor.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words confused me.<\/p>\n
She opened a hidden panel behind a shelf.<\/p>\n
Inside was a narrow passage.<\/p>\n
We entered.<\/p>\n
The passage led beneath the facility.<\/p>\n
There were pipes overhead and old electrical cables along the walls.<\/p>\n
After several minutes, Clara stopped.<\/p>\n
She turned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father left instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat if you came here with Viktor, I should tell you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Viktor.<\/p>\n
He seemed as surprised as I was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat truth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara reached into her coat.<\/p>\n
She removed a small envelope.<\/p>\n
My name was written across it in my father's handwriting.<\/p>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
My hands shook.<\/p>\n
Inside was a single page.<\/p>\n
Anna,<\/p>\n
If you're reading this, I failed to keep you outside the story.<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Clara looked away.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
You were never chosen because you were useful.<\/p>\n
You were chosen because you were the only person who could hear the difference.<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
The next sentence explained it.<\/p>\n
The altered translations contained a pattern.<\/p>\n
Every seventh sentence carried a second meaning.<\/p>\n
Only someone translating naturally between languages could recognize it.<\/p>\n
I read the page twice.<\/p>\n
My father had been using my work as a detection system.<\/p>\n
I had unknowingly identified the altered records.<\/p>\n
But there was more.<\/p>\n
He wrote that the people behind the program had realized what was happening.<\/p>\n
They had begun searching for the translator.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
I lowered the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why they used my photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey needed to identify you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Viktor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was searching for the same people.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Viktor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn't find me by accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found my photograph first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you brought me into this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know how deep it went.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither did he.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is running it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then said:<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Rainer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was listed as dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was listed that way because he needed to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor's face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is the man who has been directing everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accidents?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father's kidnapping?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe messages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkus?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cControlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour disappearance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did he keep you alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara's eyes became distant.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I knew the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew the records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Anna?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows the languages.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the pieces lock together.<\/p>\n
Three people.<\/p>\n
Three forms of knowledge.<\/p>\n
Clara understood the science.<\/p>\n
My father understood the records.<\/p>\n
I understood the translations.<\/p>\n
Together, we could expose the entire network.<\/p>\n
Separately, we were vulnerable.<\/p>\n
A noise echoed from the tunnel.<\/p>\n
Clara's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
We hurried toward the end of the passage.<\/p>\n
A ladder led to an old maintenance room.<\/p>\n
Clara opened the hatch.<\/p>\n
We emerged behind the abandoned warehouse.<\/p>\n
Rain had begun falling.<\/p>\n
Viktor looked toward the road.<\/p>\n
A black SUV was parked nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward the warehouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
We entered through a side door.<\/p>\n
Inside was dark.<\/p>\n
But there were fresh footprints.<\/p>\n
They led toward the center.<\/p>\n
A single light was on.<\/p>\n
Under it stood a chair.<\/p>\n
Someone was sitting in it.<\/p>\n
My father.<\/p>\n
I ran forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad!\u201d<\/p>\n
He lifted his head.<\/p>\n
His wrists were tied.<\/p>\n
His face was bruised.<\/p>\n
But he was alive.<\/p>\n
I reached him.<\/p>\n
He pulled me close.<\/p>\n
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered into my ear.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn't have come.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held him tighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
His eyes landed on Clara.<\/p>\n
Then Viktor.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there isn't much time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor cut the restraints.<\/p>\n
My father struggled to stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho brought you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked toward the far end of the warehouse.<\/p>\n
A man stepped from the shadows.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
Gray-haired.<\/p>\n
Calm.<\/p>\n
I recognized him from the photograph.<\/p>\n
Michael Rainer.<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
His gaze moved from my father to Clara.<\/p>\n
Then Viktor.<\/p>\n
Then me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll four pieces are finally in the same room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darkness swallowed the corridor. I heard Viktor move toward me. \u201cStay behind me.\u201d A metallic sound came from somewhere to our left. Then another. Doors locking. One after another. Clara … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5567,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5555\/revisions\/5567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}