Code Name Flood. Laura Martin

Sky’s dad found out about all this.”

      I smiled wryly. “So you really think he’s a hero?”

      “I’d say he qualifies,” Chaz said.

      “The thing is,” I confessed, “I’m a little disappointed.” But even as I said it, I knew disappointed wasn’t the right word. It didn’t encompass the dark emptiness I felt inside, the sense of loss that I wasn’t sure I’d ever shake.

      “Because you’re stuck in an underwater lab, and they won’t give you the passcodes to get out?” Todd asked.

      “Because the world as we know it might be ending in the not-so-distant future?” Shawn added.

      “No.” I sighed. “Because part of me still believed that my dad might be here.”

      “But, Sky,” Todd said hesitantly, shooting a worried look at Shawn. “You heard that General Kennedy guy; he said your dad was dead.”

      I thought back to that moment in the woods where Kennedy had explained without remorse that he had murdered my father within hours of his escape, and shivered.

      “I know what he said. But I’m still not sure if I believe it.” I saw the look of pity on their faces and flapped a hand at them. “Don’t look at me like that. I haven’t lost my mind. I just, I don’t know, I feel like I’d know in my gut if he was gone.”

      “Well, my gut says waiting around down here for some council to vote on a plan is suicide,” Todd grumbled.