Chapter 22
Sydney immediately felt rather ill. "Ew. We're related to Sloane?"
"Only distantly," Irina said. "According to this, Rambaldi had three children, and your father, Sloane, and I are each descended from one of them." She paused for a moment. "If I had deciphered this years ago, I would have known that Tatiana couldn't have died."
"How's that?" Jack said.
"Rambaldi predicted that two of his heirs would marry and have two daughters seven years apart." She looked at Sydney, then at Tatiana. "His 'greatest work'-I believe he's referring to Il Dire-requires the two of you to activate it, although it's not clear on how exactly that's supposed to happen."
"He doesn't, by chance, refer to us as 'the activators', does he?" Tatiana asked. Irina nodded. "Now what I've been deciphering makes slightly more sense. He says that 'the activators' are bound together by unbreakable ties but won't meet until they're adults. Also that they won't recognize each other when they do meet. But here's the weird part: he said that 'the destroyer' would bring us together earlier but that we wouldn't remember it."
"Well, there's plenty that I don't remember," Sydney said. "We could have met during my missing two years."
"Have you had any missing time in the last two years, Tatiana?" Irina asked.
"I was in a coma for three weeks about a year and a half ago. I got stabbed and lost a lot of blood."
"Do you remember getting stabbed?" Jack asked.
Tatiana thought for a moment. "I didn't remember when I first woke up. I started thinking later that I remembered, but it might just have been because Sergei described it to me."
"Where did you get stabbed?" Sydney asked. Tatiana pointed to her left lower abdomen. Sydney's eyes widened as she pointed to the same spot on her right side.
"I think we should compare these scars," Tatiana said. She started to unbutton her jeans, and Sydney followed suit. Jack turned slightly red and turned his back.
"You can turn back around, Dad, we're not showing anything," Sydney said as they stood next to each other and looked down at the mirror image scars. "These look pretty darn similar."
As they zipped up their jeans again, Tatiana said, "So where is this machine now?"
"The NSC has it," Jack said. "Sloane turned it in when he negotiated his pardon."
"And we all know how good the NSC is at keeping track of things," Irina said wryly.
"We do?" Tatiana looked confused.
Jack and Irina shared a smile. "Sloane and I have both been quite successful at stealing Rambaldi artifacts from the NSC," Irina said.
"So do you think the machine is activated?" Sydney said. "And if it is, why would Sloane turn it in?"
"I don't know," Irina said.
"I don't think it's activated," Tatiana said. "The manuscript says that the destroyer will gain the goodwill of the world before Rambaldi's weapon is activated."
"Hmm. And it would be rather difficult for him to gain the world's goodwill without turning over the machine.he must have some plan to get it back," Jack said.
The others nodded. "Well, that's all I've decoded so far," Tatiana said after a moment. "And I'm ready for a break."
Irina nodded. "Probably a good idea."
Sydney immediately felt rather ill. "Ew. We're related to Sloane?"
"Only distantly," Irina said. "According to this, Rambaldi had three children, and your father, Sloane, and I are each descended from one of them." She paused for a moment. "If I had deciphered this years ago, I would have known that Tatiana couldn't have died."
"How's that?" Jack said.
"Rambaldi predicted that two of his heirs would marry and have two daughters seven years apart." She looked at Sydney, then at Tatiana. "His 'greatest work'-I believe he's referring to Il Dire-requires the two of you to activate it, although it's not clear on how exactly that's supposed to happen."
"He doesn't, by chance, refer to us as 'the activators', does he?" Tatiana asked. Irina nodded. "Now what I've been deciphering makes slightly more sense. He says that 'the activators' are bound together by unbreakable ties but won't meet until they're adults. Also that they won't recognize each other when they do meet. But here's the weird part: he said that 'the destroyer' would bring us together earlier but that we wouldn't remember it."
"Well, there's plenty that I don't remember," Sydney said. "We could have met during my missing two years."
"Have you had any missing time in the last two years, Tatiana?" Irina asked.
"I was in a coma for three weeks about a year and a half ago. I got stabbed and lost a lot of blood."
"Do you remember getting stabbed?" Jack asked.
Tatiana thought for a moment. "I didn't remember when I first woke up. I started thinking later that I remembered, but it might just have been because Sergei described it to me."
"Where did you get stabbed?" Sydney asked. Tatiana pointed to her left lower abdomen. Sydney's eyes widened as she pointed to the same spot on her right side.
"I think we should compare these scars," Tatiana said. She started to unbutton her jeans, and Sydney followed suit. Jack turned slightly red and turned his back.
"You can turn back around, Dad, we're not showing anything," Sydney said as they stood next to each other and looked down at the mirror image scars. "These look pretty darn similar."
As they zipped up their jeans again, Tatiana said, "So where is this machine now?"
"The NSC has it," Jack said. "Sloane turned it in when he negotiated his pardon."
"And we all know how good the NSC is at keeping track of things," Irina said wryly.
"We do?" Tatiana looked confused.
Jack and Irina shared a smile. "Sloane and I have both been quite successful at stealing Rambaldi artifacts from the NSC," Irina said.
"So do you think the machine is activated?" Sydney said. "And if it is, why would Sloane turn it in?"
"I don't know," Irina said.
"I don't think it's activated," Tatiana said. "The manuscript says that the destroyer will gain the goodwill of the world before Rambaldi's weapon is activated."
"Hmm. And it would be rather difficult for him to gain the world's goodwill without turning over the machine.he must have some plan to get it back," Jack said.
The others nodded. "Well, that's all I've decoded so far," Tatiana said after a moment. "And I'm ready for a break."
Irina nodded. "Probably a good idea."