Princess Leia's words rattle through my head: "You are our only hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi." Only, now it's Director Anderson kneeling at my mother's feet, the hem of her white lab coat tickling his bald head. "Save us, Doctor Harrison . . ."
A wave of hope washes over me. Now I will be able to uncover the cause of her accident. These notes will tell me what she was working on, the things she had discovered, the methods and premises of her experiments.
I look across the page and see ΛCDM. I squint to make out her scribbles, worse than any doctor's prescription.
Cold Dark Matter. The words send another shiver across my neck.
Dylan squats on the driveway and points at the array of pine needles formed into a perfect lambda. His smile lights up his face-and my heart. "Mom," he says, his green eyes twinkling under a wisp of wheat-colored hair.
In this moment I know without a doubt our mother is alive.