Page 33 of The Fall of Five (Lorien Legacies 4)

“We’ll want to get that as soon as possible,” John says.

Five nods eagerly. “Yeah, of course. I remember exactly where I put it. ”

“The Chests are imperative,” my dad blurts out. He pinches the bridge of his nose, which I’ve noticed he’s started doing whenever he’s struggling to remember something. “Each of the Chests contains something—I’m not sure exactly what, or how it works—but there are items in those Chests that will help you reconnect with Lorien when the time comes. ”

Everyone’s staring raptly at him now.

“How do you know that?” John asks.

“I—I just remembered,” my dad replies.

Nine looks over at me, then back to my dad. “Uh, what?”

“I suppose it’s time for my story now,” he says, staring at all the expectant faces. “I should warn you that there are gaps in my memories. The Mogadorians did something to me. They tried to tear what I knew out of my brain. Things are coming back to me now, in pieces. I’ll tell you what I can. ”

“But how did you find that out in the first place?” Eight asks. “We don’t even really understand what’s in our Chests. ”

My dad pauses, looking around at the group.

“I know because Pittacus Lore told me. ”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP.

John is the first to speak. “How did he tell you? What do you mean?”

“He told me in person,” my dad replies.

“You’re telling us you met Pittacus Lore?” exclaims a skeptical Nine.

“How is that possible?” Marina asks.

“We found a skeleton in your workshop wearing a Loric pendant . . . ” John swallows hard before continuing. “Was that him?”

My dad lowers his gaze. “I’m afraid so. When he arrived, his wounds were so grievous that there was nothing I could do for him. ”

Now the questions come on in a rush.

“What did he tell you?”

“How did he get to Earth?”

“Why did he pick you?”

“Did you know Johnny thinks he’s Pittacus resurrected?”

My dad motions downward with his hands, like a conductor would when he’s trying to quiet a noisy orchestra. He looks exhilarated by all the questions, and simultaneously like he’s struggling to remember the answers.

“I don’t know why I was chosen out of all of Earth’s population,” my dad explains. “I was an astronomer. My particular area of interest was in deep space, specifically with trying to make contact with alien life forms. I believed that there were signs here on Earth of visitation from aliens, which didn’t exactly make me popular with some of my less imaginative colleagues. ”

“You were right, though,” says Eight. “The Loralite is here. Those cave paintings we found in India. ”

“Exactly,” continues my dad. “Most of my peers in the scientific community dismissed me as a madman. I suppose I must have seemed like one, ranting on about extraterrestrial visitors. ” He glances around. “And yet, here you are. ”

“Thanks for the résumé,” interrupts Nine, “but can we get to the Pittacus part?”

My dad smiles. “I’d begun sending communication bursts into space from my laboratory using radio waves. I believed I was on to something. This was on my own time. I’d been—ah, dismissed, I suppose, from my position at the university. ”

“I kinda remember that,” I say. “Mom was pissed. ”

“I don’t know what I was expecting from my experiments. A response, certainly. Perhaps a burst of alien music or images of a strange galaxy. ” My dad snorts, shaking his head at how unprepared he was. “I got more than I bargained for. One night, a man showed up at my door. He was wounded and rambling—at first I mistook him for a crackpot or a vagrant. And then, before my very eyes, he grew. ”

“Taller?” Six asks, an eyebrow raised.

My dad chuckles. “Indeed. It doesn’t seem like much now, considering all I’ve seen, but it was the first time I’d seen a Legacy at work. I wish I could say that I reacted with proper scientific curiosity, but instead I think I did a fair bit of screaming. ”

I nod. Sounds like the Goode way.

“A Garde on Earth,” breathes Marina. “Who was he?”

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