## Chapter 4: Deep Contacts

The university library was technically closed, but the 24-hour graduate study room had separate swipe card access. David's hands were shaking as he swiped his ID. The reader blinked green.

Rebecca was waiting inside, her dark hair pulled back, wearing an MIT Robotics hoodie. Her laptop was already open, multiple screens of code reflecting in her glasses.

"You look like hell," she said by way of greeting.

"Your mom know you're here?"

"Mom doesn't know a lot of things." She gestured to a chair. "Like why she was questioned by federal agents this afternoon about your father's research."

David's stomach dropped. "What did they want?"

"Official story? Routine audit of university research grants. Unofficial story?" She turned her laptop to show him a complex network diagram. "Someone's very interested in your dad's deep-sea surveys. They've been accessing the university's marine lab servers for months, using mom's credentials."

"It wasn't her?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Mom's good with research, but she can barely check her email. Someone hacked her account. I've been tracking them."

"Why help me?" David asked. Their breakup hadn't been pleasant.

"Because two days after your dad died, someone tried to delete all his research data from the university servers. I managed to save some of it." She paused. "And because he was right."

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David pulled out the USB drive. "About what?"

Rebecca's fingers flew over the keyboard as she accessed the files. "There's something down there. Something big. The military's known about it since the '80s, but they couldn't reach it. The pressure at that depth kept destroying their equipment."

"Until now?"

"Until your dad figured out why their equipment kept failing." She pulled up a technical diagram. "He discovered that the structure – whatever it is – generates its own electromagnetic field. It interferes with standard sonar and pressure sensors. But if you know the field's frequency..."

"You can calibrate equipment to work within it," David finished. "That's what he was working on."

"And what got him killed." Rebecca's voice was soft. "David, this isn't just some scientific discovery. Think about it – an artificial structure, thousands of years old, with active energy readings? This would change everything we think we know about human history."

A notification popped up on her screen. Her face went pale.

"What?" David asked.

"Someone's accessing the library's security cameras. They know we're here." She started packing up her laptop. "We need to go. Now."

"Where?"

"I know somewhere safe. But first..." She pulled out a small device and attached it to his phone. "Untraceable now. You'll need it."

They took the emergency stairs down to the basement level. Rebecca led them through a maintenance tunnel that connected to the adjacent science building.

"Dad's notebook mentioned someone called 'K'," David said as they walked. "Any idea who that is?"

Rebecca stopped so suddenly he almost ran into her. "Katherine. Dr. Katherine Morrison. She runs the Advanced Maritime Research Division at Woods Hole. And she's been trying to contact me about your father's research."

"Can we trust her?"

"I don't know. But she might be the only person with enough resources to help us verify what's down there." Rebecca checked her phone. "She's in Woods Hole now. Four hours drive."

"They'll be watching the roads."

A slight smile crossed Rebecca's face. "They'll be watching the roads out of Boston." She led him to a storage room and unlocked it with a key card. Inside was a small electric maintenance cart. "But they might not be watching the coastal maintenance tunnels. Not many people know they connect all the way to Woods Hole."

David stared at her. "How do you know about this?"

"Let's just say my robotics research sometimes requires... creative testing locations." She jumped into the driver's seat. "Coming?"

David looked back the way they'd come, then at the drive in his hand. His father had died trying to uncover this truth.

He got in the cart.