Holden

"She was there."

Static filled the monitor screens, none of which held any more hidden images. But Siena had been right in front of him, reaching toward Holden before the noise buried her.

"What do you mean, she was there?" Angel stepped up next to him to scrutinize the monitors. "Like, there on the screen? There there?"

"Yes! Dr. Dupont stood right there." Holden swung back toward the rest of the group.

Zaid sat at his laptop as he worked to get the drone back online, so frazzled he looked like he was about to cry.

Frank sat closer to the monitors, his eyebrow raised as he scratched Francis's head. "I saw nothing."

Holden turned to Maidei in desperation. She frowned. "I didn't see her. I'm sorry."

Had they really not seen a person on the ground reaching up toward the drone? Static had overridden most of the image, but she'd been so close that Holden had distinguished her slight features and wide eyes. Definitely Dr. Dupont. Well, either Dupont or his ex, and Becca wasn't a hiker. Angel was right. They looked freakishly similar.

"Zaid, can you replay the footage?" Holden asked.

Zaid gritted his teeth. "I'm a little busy."

Everyone else stared at Holden like he was on something.

Holden spun back toward the monitors. "I know what I saw."

You were there. Standing right there, reaching toward me, scared. Why can't we find you?

What's happening to you, Siena?

He didn't want to believe in divine purpose. And yet, he'd been the one to stumble upon a set of recordings from the future, pack his bags, and travel all this way. He'd been the one to see Dupont through a haze of static when no one else had.

If divine purpose didn't exist, then why the hell, out of all the people in the world, was Siena Dupont wielding some kind of cosmic intervention to call to him for help?

Maybe everyone else will give up.

He stepped as close as he could to a screen and stretched his hand upward, tracing the patterns of noise. Siena Dupont didn't reappear, but she didn't need to.

He'd seen her. And he knew now that he couldn't leave this place and go back home.

Divine purpose or not, Holden had to find her.

"I'm doomed," Zaid whispered.

"Maybe not." Holden glanced back at the scientist, who clutched his head between his hands. "How much backpacking gear you got, and what's your shoe size?"

Zaid released his head, his hands smacking against the table. "Why?"

"Oh no," Angel muttered. "Holden... Holden. Don't be stupid, Holden."

"I need to borrow a few things," Holden said. "And maybe some boots."