CHAPTER 21
Michael watched the Matthews woman until she disappeared through the hotel lobby, then walked back across Ramsay Lake Road to his car in the Science North parking lot. He felt like when he’d tried out for a softball team as a kid: even though he’d never be really good at the game, he’d known that he was hooked on it. He’d struck out with Sakiko Matthews, but he very much hoped he’d get another chance to persuade her.
Her rejection didn’t make him feel any worse—that was hardly possible after the night he’d discovered Nicole’s car in Jay’s driveway, gone insane, and triggered a signal that would alter the course of human history. The night an alien machine had betrayed him.
Afterward, he’d collapsed on the rocky shore of the lake, sobbing, and lay there in naked anguish until
