“I want to go below and see where the Prime Frequency originates.”

He stared at Ellie in silence a moment. As did I. What was she talking about?

“You know about that?”

She nodded. “It’s among the many things I’ve learned.”

He offered a lopsided smile. “Have you heard the expression, ‘You can’t get there from here’?”

“Maybe others can’t,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone, “but I can.”

He shook his head. “The passage is closed, I’m afraid.”

“It will open for me.”

Another long stare, then, “You know, for some strange reason, I believe it will.”

“Can we go now?”

He shrugged. “Don’t see why not. We’ll have to take the freight elevator. Wait here while I get the keys.”

He returned a minute later and the three of us rode the elevator back down to the lobby. He led us to a rear corner and was unlocking a door there when Simón called out from the entrance.

“Mister Hill? This lady here is in a big rush to meet Burbank.”

We turned to see a short Indian woman striding purposefully across the lobby.

HARI

Hari took a Lyft from Newark Airport straight to the Allard.

She felt content and calm. Good sex did that for her. And the sex had been very good. Donny proved to be a skilled and considerate lover, as anxious to please her as she was to be pleased. She hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long, long time. Too long.

And as a bonus, for a while she’d been able to forget about the sun rising late.

Despite her cajoling and even the application of some of the Kama Sutra techniques she’d learned, she could not convince him to return to New York with her. He was planning something. He kept saying he didn’t have a plan yet but she didn’t buy that. For some reason he didn’t want to tell her what it was. Which meant it was either foolish or dangerous or both.

But Hari had her own plan, which involved learning more about the signals. According to Donny, the last report from [email protected] said all the signals had synchronized their frequencies. A few hours after that, the sun rose late. Coincidence? Hari didn’t think so. And as far as she could see, if anyone had info on the signals, this Burbank character was the man.

She hopped out of her Lyft and headed straight for the doorman.

“Somebody named Burbank live here?”

The doorman nodded. “He’s busy right now. If you want to leave your—”

“I’m one of his subscribers.” Well, Donny had been reading his emails—close enough. “I need to speak to him ay-sap. It’s important. What can you do for me?”

He turned and called out to a tall man and two women in a far corner of the lobby. “Mister Hill? This lady here is in a big rush to meet Burbank.”

The man had ruddy skin and strong features. She didn’t get the “Mister Hill” bit, but the way the guy had turned said he had to be Burbank. She made a beeline for him.