The Mother Code

by Carole Stivers

  “No, at this point the code is set. The location is unalterable. But maybe that’s for the best. The bots have thwarted every attempt by the Hopi scouts to communicate with the children. Scouts have been injured. If the bots went to the mesas now, God knows what those machines might do.”

  Rudy appeared in the doorway beside Kendra. His once sturdy arms and hands limp at his sides, it was as though he’d aged thirty years in the eleven since Misha’s birth—since the births of whatever Gen5 children might still be alive. “I agree with Kendra,” he said, his voice a hoarse rasp. “It is our only choice.” Lightly, Kendra placed a supportive hand on Rudy’s arm.

  James closed his eyes. They were waiting for his agreement. “What does the general say?”

  “All systems go, of course.”

  “And where is Misha?”

  “At the mesas, visiting with William’s grandkids,” Kendra said.

  “Good,” James said. “I’d rather she not know about this until we get it done.”

  Kendra flashed him a knowing look. “She might have a brother or sister out there.”

  “Yes. And she’ll be told, but only if and when that child is located. So, let’s go over the details.”

  * * *

  THEY HUDDLED OVER Kendra’s computer, reviewing Rose McBride’s program notes. “Rick told William about a phone call he received from Rose on the night we think she died,” Kendra said. “The call was all broken up. But she said one thing clearly. She said something about a special protocol. She said, ‘Tell Kendra.’ I used our secure key to convert the words ‘PLEASE AND THANK YOU’ into binary code. And when I used that code to search the Gen5 code, I finally found what I’ve been looking for. A series of instructions, the first of which is the geographic coordinates for the Presidio base.”

  James sat down next to Kendra. “So, we can transmit this code to them? They’ll receive it? They’ll act on it?”

  “They’re equipped with radio receivers, and we can use satellite transmission to send the code. We can send repeatedly, so we should be able to cut through any interference offered by the dust storms. And once initiated, these special commands are designed to circumvent any defenses installed elsewhere in the bot’s code.”

  “Then what will happen?”

  “Once they arrive at the Presidio, the Mothers will go through a shutdown and reboot. As part of the reboot, some systems will be taken off-line. They’ll no longer provide cocoon support systems to the children, or fly them anywhere except under extreme threat . . .”

  “Why did Dr. McBride think that this was necessary?” Rudy asked.

  “Flight itself is a rather dangerous affair. And the idea is to get the kids to stay outside their bots, to stay close to one another, to mingle more.”

  “Socialization,” James said.

  “Yes. Rose set up a building there with cooking supplies and so on, where the kids can live together. And a storage building with other supplies.”

  James rubbed his chin. “Is the Presidio ready for them?” he asked.

  “William assures me he can make it ready.”

  “How about water?”

  “There’s a fog collection tower near the Main Post, erected as a demonstration of water reclamation technology by a nonprofit looking for funding back in the ’20s. As it happens, the tower was designed by the same company that New Dawn used for the desert units. And it’s much larger. William says he’ll need to drain it, clean it out, and allow it to refill fresh. In the misty environment at the Presidio, the refill shouldn’t take more than a few days. With their Mothers’ help, the kids will probably have more to eat and drink than they ever had before.”

  “So, do you anticipate any problems?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. Security.”

  “But I thought this was all about keeping the kids safe.”

  “Yes, they should be very safe. Even from us.”

  “From us?”

  “First order of business, the Mothers will secure the perimeter—”

  “Secure the perimeter?” James stood up, kneading his palms.

  “You have to remember, Rose was operating under the tenets of Code Black. The supposition is that Langley is gone. Los Alamos is gone. An enemy is believed to have intel leading them to the bots. The bots alone are desirable pieces of military hardware. And of course, anything that compromises the bots will compromise the children. ‘Securing the perimeter’ is all about keeping that enemy off the base.”

  “So, we still won’t be able to make contact with the children . . .”

  “William will leave the Fort Scott headquarters unlocked, and Rose’s computer is still online. And he’s leaving a few satellite phones in Building 100. But we’d need to be careful . . . the Mothers will interpret any communications from the outside world as a threat.” Kendra turned to him. “We’ll just have to accept it. Assuming we can get them to the Presidio, these children will be guarded by an army of the most powerful soldiers ever built.”

  28

  A THIN GRAY light penetrated Rosie’s hatch window. Kai could still hear the drone of the small fan beneath her console, cycling air through her filtration system. Pulling his blanket away from his mouth, he took in a slow breath. The air inside his cocoon smelled like the wind once had before a rainstorm, but the odor was mixed with the stale scent of his own sweat.

  He shook his head, trying to clear it. Days had passed since the first dust storm had hit them—though it was difficult sometimes to tell day from night. The storms were coming in waves now, each one stronger than the last. “Where’s Sela? Did she come back yet?”

  “There is one child in close proximity to our current position.”

  Kai reached for the latch. “Can I . . . ?”

  “Wind speed 9 kilometers per hour. Visibility 30 kilometers. PM10 count remains high out of specification. Please wear your particle mask.”

  Kai reached under his seat to draw out the mask. Strapping it over his nose and mouth, he pushed lightly on the door. Matted cakes of dust slithered down the hatch surface as he slipped through the opening and onto Rosie’s treads. The same talc-like material blanketed the clearing all around him, gathering in drifts against the rocks. He could barely discern between the gray of the land and the pale, translucent white of the sky. He climbed up onto Beta’s treads to tap lightly, swiping his hand along the window to clear a small area. Kamal looked out at him, dazed, then donned his own mask before opening the hatch.

  “Has Sela returned?” Kamal asked.

  Kai scanned the clearing. Still no sign. “I’m sure she’s okay,” he assured Kamal. “Just hiding out somewhere . . .” Though he was still trying to put on a brave face, Sela’s continued absence had begun to forge a hole in the pit of his empty stomach.

  “Is Rosie still operational?” Kamal asked. “Except for her air filter and basic communications, Beta has disabled most of her functions.”

  Kai turned to look at Rosie, barely recognizable in her cloak of dust. “It’s just a precaution. To avoid an accidental spark, Rosie said. But there’s something strange about the way she talks to me now. Like she’s busy . . .” He shook his head. There was no point in letting his fears get the best of him. They’d get through this, just as they’d gotten through everything else. “Let’s get more water. I’m almost out.”

  From their holds, they gathered up the three water bottles that each had been allotted. Then they hurried along the narrow path leading up to the spring.

  Kai squinted. Just ahead—that might be the pile of small rocks they’d left there as a marker. But he could barely see the path . . . Coming to a halt at a damp patch of dust, he dug frantically into the ground with his heel. His heartbeat hard in his ears, he bent down to scoop clots of silt to either side. “It’s here,” he muttered. “I know it’s here.” But it wasn’t. He stood up, his hands dripping clumps of wet mud
.

  Suddenly he sensed Rosie’s ping. Turning to glance up toward the road, he caught sight of the ominous black edge of the next front.

  “We need to reboard!” Kamal said. Without waiting for an answer, he locked his near-empty bottles back under his arm and loped down the path to scale his Mother’s treads.

  Kai was hot on his heels. “Are your systems okay?” he telegraphed Rosie.

  But there was no answer. His heart sank as the new onslaught began.

  * * *

  BETWEEN SIPS OF water and bites of raw, gritty cactus, Kai slipped in and out of a fitful sleep. His mind drifted between nightmares and the reassuring echo of Rosie’s voice. Each time he awoke, his legs ached and his head throbbed.

  Then he felt something—a rumbling jostle. Sheets of dirt slid down the window in front of him. Was it a dream? No. They were moving. Rosie was rolling away from the shelter of the cave opening, making her way toward the flat, clear area at the center of the depression. A short distance away, Beta maneuvered alongside them.

  “What’s happening?” he telegraphed his Mother.

  “Leaving.”

  “Why?”

  “Signal.”

  “Signal? From where?”

  But there was no reply, only a silence in his mind. He swiveled in his seat, straining to make out Beta, to make sure that Kamal was still close by. But now he couldn’t see him. And where on earth was Sela?

  “No!” he cried. “We can’t!” Again there was no reply. He grabbed for the latch.

  “Please remain in your seat and secure your restraints,” Rosie said. He felt his seat swinging forward as she tilted down, readying for takeoff.

  “We can’t leave Sela!” he cried.

  But they were already high in the air, Rosie’s hull washed clean by the force of the wind. Within moments, a hopeful sun glimmered off her flanks as she tore through the upper reaches of the dust cloud. Cupping his hands against the window, Kai strained to see outside. Beta was there, flying in tandem with Rosie. And off in the distance, he made out one, two, maybe three other objects: great bumblebee forms, rising from the desert.

  * * *

  KAI’S EYES FLEW open. Wedged deep in his seat, he was buckled into his restraints, his forehead resting against the cool surface of Rosie’s side hatch cover. Vaguely, he remembered the steady hum of her engine, the glare of morning sunlight through her hatch . . .

  From outside, a pair of brown eyes peered at him. “Hello?” a voice cried, muffled. Tap, tap. “Are you okay?”

  Kai uncoupled his safety restraints and opened the hatch door, extending a leg out over the lip of the opening. But his bare foot scudded along the unexpectedly slick surface of Rosie’s tread and he slid awkwardly down her side to land in a heap on the ground. As his fingers dug into fat green foliage and prickly brush, tiny shards of scrub stuck to his hands, piercing the skin of his palms.

  “I am sorry. I should have warned you,” Kamal said, climbing carefully down to the ground. “It is very wet here . . .”

  Kai got to his feet. The air smelled of salt and of something dead. The chill wind sent a shiver up his spine. Screeching white birds careened overhead. At a short distance, deep green waves churned onto a pebbly shore. He remembered the photo that Sela had given him, the one of the little girl in the red dress . . . the ocean.

  “As Beta readied to land,” Kamal said, “I worried that perhaps we had been separated. But she assured me that these were the correct coordinates.”

  “The correct coordinates . . .” Kai repeated. “For what?”

  Kamal stared at him, befuddled. “She did not say more.”

  Kai looked at his Mother. Beside him she was still, moisture running down her flanks like beads of sweat. “Your name is Kai,” she’d once told him. “It means ‘ocean.’” Had she brought him home? He listened for her answer. But in his mind, he could hear only a soft tapping sound, like the steady drip of water on rock—the sound she made when she was thinking.

  “Why is Rosie so quiet?” he asked.

  “Beta has been silent since our arrival,” Kamal said, casting a glance at his Mother. “I can no longer hear her thoughts . . .”

  Kai turned in a slow circle, trying to catch his bearings. His mind felt as foggy as the air here. Foggy, and . . . empty. He wondered where Rosie had gone. And where was Sela? He’d seen others, he was sure of it . . .

  He squinted, searching the beach. Nothing. Then he caught sight of something in the sky—two tiny dots. They resembled the hawks he’d seen in the desert, circling in the updrafts. But as they lowered, they each grew steadily in magnitude, their outlines more distinct. “Are those . . . ?” The drone of their engines was barely audible above the whistle of the wind and the crash of the waves. But as they prepared to land, the roar of their ducted fans was unmistakable. Kai dropped to his knees, hands over his head to fend off sheets of whipping sand.

  When he looked up, Kamal was already well down the beach, his thin legs carrying him toward a small girl whose tangle of blond curls all but hid her face. Drawing near, Kai could barely hear the girl’s voice. But he could see her shy smile, the revelation of a chipped front tooth. “My Mother calls me Meg,” the girl murmured.

  Uphill, a burly boy with straw-colored hair stood scratching his head next to another steaming bot. “Zak,” the boy said, introducing himself. His gaze shifted up and down the beach as Kai approached. “There was someone else with me . . .”

  “They’ll be here soon,” Kai assured him, hoping he was right. All around them, bots were landing in twos and threes now, hatches popping open and children emerging like the newborn birds in Rosie’s nature videos. But none of them was Sela.

  Beside him, Zak only glared in a way that made him feel strangely uncomfortable. “Sure hope so,” he said. “This whole thing just doesn’t seem right.”

  Through the mist down by the shoreline, Kai spotted a lone form hovering in the sky. Alpha-C? He made off at a trot, tracking the bot as she soared out over the water and then back toward him. Suddenly he felt his legs go out from under him. His left foot ensnared in the ropy tendrils of a slimy greenish-brown plant, he went sprawling. He barely had time to raise his head before the bot crashed to earth close by.

  Pushing himself up on his elbows, he caught sight of a pair of naked feet, kicking at the sand. “Gosh, Mama!” The girl shook her hair, releasing a cloud of dust. “Did you have to come down so hard? I know it’s been a while since you ran a diagnostic on your landing routine . . .”

  Kai sat up. And despite himself, he laughed for sheer joy. “What kept you?” he called.

  Sela rewarded him with a toothy grin. “You okay? Alpha almost crushed you!” Kai felt Sela’s welcome grip as she helped him back to his feet. “Sorry I ran off like that. I knew right away it was wrong. And after all that, we had to leave the bike behind.”

  Kai couldn’t stop laughing. Just like Sela to worry about that crazy bike. But they were here. Sela was safe. And there were others—lots of others.

  Suddenly Kamal was bearing down on them, the new girl, Meg, close on his heels. “Thank the gods!” Kamal cried, his white teeth gleaming as he wrapped his arms around Sela.

  “Rosie told me she received some kind of signal,” Kai said. “Did Alpha say anything?”

  “Nothing,” Sela said. “We just took off. No explanation at all . . .” Beside them, Alpha-C had settled down on her haunches. Her arms relaxed, her soft inner palms exposed, she was uncharacteristically still. “What’s she doing now?” Sela asked, running her palm along her Mother’s retracted wing.

  “We don’t know,” said Kai. “But whatever it is, they all seem to be doing it.”

  His brow furrowed, Kamal reached down to sift handfuls of coarse sand between his long fingers. “I hope my Mother comes back soon.”

  Sela peered through the now-thinning mist. “Where a
re we?”

  “The ocean? West? That’s all I can figure.” From his pocket Kai drew out his compass, the present from Sela. Staring down at it, he watched its needle drift toward the letters “NW.” In that direction, a towering rust-brown structure arced out over the ocean, disappearing into the dense white of a fog bank. A bridge—he’d seen it once, in a picture on Rosie’s screen. But where? To the south, he scanned the length of a cracked and rutted roadway. Close to the road was a water tower of the same sort he’d encountered at the desert campsites. But this one was much bigger, its giant orange bottle shape standing as high as one of the nearby trees. Beyond the tower stood a cluster of buildings. A few small wooden structures, their glass windows broken out and shards of paint drooping from their outer walls, seemed poised to fall into total ruin. But the larger buildings, some constructed of red brick and others of white stone blocks, stood stalwart in the face of the onshore wind.

  The most amazing view was to the east. There, a large white dome perched atop an immense stone structure. Behind and to the left of this, a small expanse of still, blue water glistened. And in the distance, buildings—large and small, pointed and flat—paraded across a gradual slope. It was a city—though it looked more like a mirage or a painting, its three dimensions flattened by distance.

  For an instant, Kai was enthralled. But in the next moment he imagined himself face-to-face with the city’s former inhabitants, the husks of bodies ravaged by the Epidemic. The Epidemic had been everywhere, and far more people had lived in cities than in the desert . . . The familiar fear twisted in his gut. His mind called out for his Mother, but she wasn’t there.

  Then . . . what was that? He felt the ground below him rumbling and turned to find Rosie trundling toward him. “I think she’s back,” he murmured, and his heartbeat slowed at the reassurance.

  Beside him Kamal cocked his head. “My Mother also.”