by Pond, Simone
After the tea was cold, Adyar poured some into a canvas canteen. She leaned over Christian and tilted his head back, bringing the spout to his lips. He gurgled a little and then woke up, screaming. Grace lifted him out of the water and swayed back and forth to calm him down. But he continued wailing, getting hotter by the second.
“Please, Christian. Please. We’re trying to help you. Just drink some tea. Just a little bit.” Grace pressed the spout up to his lips and squeezed the bag, getting some tea into his mouth.
He cried, tea spilling down his chin. Grace refused to let panic override her, and remained steady and strong. She walked closer to the door, letting the icy air cool him down. She shivered as the cold air soothed Christian. Once he was calm enough, she was able to get some of the tea down. His body relaxed a little and he smiled, grabbing for Grace’s hand. “Mama,” he whispered, then closed his eyes. The words imprinted on her heart.
Adyar sighed with relief. “He needs sleep. No food. Press a cold cloth to his head throughout the night. In the morning, I’ll bring over some ginger tea.”
“Thank you, Adyar.” Grace’s voice trembled.
“You must be strong for him. Sickness will feed on your fear, so fight back.”
At Cari’s, Grace moved her mat closer to the door and placed Christian on top of it. Freezing, she wrapped up in blankets and huddled next to him, praying for his fever to break by morning.
The rain stopped and the overcast sky grew lighter as the sun came up somewhere in the east, but Christian’s fever hadn’t broken. Adyar arrived with some ginger tea, but they couldn’t get him to drink. He screeched and kicked, getting hotter. The only solution was the one Grace dreaded the most.
“I have to take him back to the city center,” she said.
Nobody spoke as Grace gathered her belongings. Going back to the city center would be dangerous, but it was the only way to help Christian. The vision had shown her the truth––nothing could separate a mother’s love from her child. Not Faraday, not the council, and especially not fear. Not even the possibility of being placed in containment for her crimes. She vowed to accept her fate when the time came. For now, she needed to get Christian to the nursery for medical treatment.
Adyar helped put Christian into a sling around the front of Grace’s body, making sure he wasn’t too warm. Cari placed her forehead against Grace’s to say goodbye.
“I’ll miss you both,” Cari said softly.
“We’ll be back.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Grace didn’t want to argue. She left the village and headed into the woods.
7
Before Grace started her course to the Seattle City Center, she alerted her friend Blythe, who had been assigned to oversee security in the Administrative Building. She briefly explained the emergency situation and begged for help getting back into the city. Blythe warned her of the risks, but Grace didn’t care. Christian needed medical attention before it was too late.
She entered through the top panels of the city center and landed the hovercraft on the roof of Administrative Building. Stepping out of the craft, she had a flashback of running across the same roof over a year ago, during the mission to find her mother.
Blythe’s icy blue eyes honed in on Grace and she marched over wearing an Officer’s uniform. She had her jet-black hair pulled back, giving her an air of maturity and professionalism. Grace felt a twinge of regret and embarrassment; if she had finished the training program, she’d also be wearing an Officer’s uniform. “Figures you’d get yourself into a twist.” Blythe smacked the side of Grace’s head. “And you stink. When’s the last time you bathed, Pit Rot?”
Just like Blythe to start in with the shitty nicknames. Grace tried to stay tough, but her voice got shaky and weird. “I just wanted to … help him,” she mumbled.
“Come on, Trashcan, let’s get you inside before any guards try to overstep my authority.” Blythe escorted Grace and Christian across the roof.
“So you decided to stay?” Grace made small talk, the best method when dealing with Blythe.
“I wanted to be close to your mom and work on some mainframe searches. The “experts” they hired are a bunch of expert idiots. They don’t know jackshit.”
Blythe hadn’t changed a bit; she was still the same cocky bullheaded know-it-all that Grace had learned to appreciate. She didn’t hold back a single thing, and if anyone could locate her mother’s identity matrix, it’d probably be Blythe.
“I’m in deep, huh?” Grace followed Blythe down the stairs.
“I can protect you for a little while, but once Faraday gets wind, you’re a cooked goose.” Blythe turned around and grinned.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? My ass getting handed to me?”
Blythe laughed. “Nah, but I am pissed you just disappeared with no goodbye. Just poof and gonzo.”
“Didn’t think you were the sentimental type.”
“Yeah, but you are. Mushy as mashed potatoes, Squish.”
“Not true!”
“See. And now look at you. Got all attached to some kid. What the hell happened to the sword flinging warrior I used to know?”
“I’m still the same. I was protecting this kid. I didn’t want Faraday to put him in that lame soldier program.”
“The Grace I knew wouldn’t have run away. She would’ve taken a stand and bagged up that elitist wet burp.”
“Who says I won’t?”
Blythe typed in her access code and pressed her finger against the keypad.
“You have a chip now?” Grace asked.
“Yeah, all Officers and guards get chips. Gotta keep records of shit.”
“I get it, but seems a little reminiscent of the all-seeing Morray days.”
They walked down the corridor to the nursery. Grace had spent a lot of time on this floor with Christian––feeding and changing him, swaddling and walking him, and reading the old journals when he couldn’t sleep. They were grueling and exhausting days with sleepless nights, but she loved every minute. Taking care of a child was different from the art of combat; it was the art of being selfless.
She touched Christian’s boiling forehead. “We have to hurry, he’s really sick.”
“Cool your jets, Mother Mary. We’re here.”
Blythe opened the nursery door. The room seemed so strange with the rows of cradles empty. It was way too serene compared to the months right after Inception Day. Grace removed Christian from the sling and placed him gently into one of the cribs.
“The head nurse is on her way,” Blythe said.
“Ruth?”
“There’s only one head nurse.”
Grace nervously scanned the empty room and the dim corridor. “Does anyone else know I’m here?”
“This whole operation is covert. The second your transmission came in, I firewalled that shit and took over.”
“You’re a good person, Blythe.”
“I’ve been waitin’ for you. Knew you’d be back. Seeing that you didn’t get very far.”
“How do you know?”
“I had a tracker on your digi-pad.”
“You knew where I was this whole time?”
“Yeah. You can’t hide from me, Squish.”
“Stop calling me that!” Grace nudged Blythe’s shoulder, then smiled. “Seriously, though, it’s good to know you care about me.”
Blythe jokingly shoved Grace. “Don’t get all spongy on me.”
She appreciated Blythe’s loyalty, whether or not Blythe wanted to acknowledge it.
“Why didn’t you come get me?” Grace asked.
“I knew you’d eventually turn your ass around. You got too much fight in you to stay away. Once a warrior, always a warrior.”
Ruth, a tall slender woman with sharp features, entered the nursery and dashed over to the crib. She reached down and touched Christian’s forehead and checked his pulse.
“How long has he been like this?” she asked G
race.
“Since last night. We tried some angelica root and a warm bath, but this morning he was still hot and wouldn’t take anything.”
Ruth went to the medical supply cabinet and returned with a syringe and antibacterial cleanser. She wiped down his chubby thigh, sterilizing the area, and inserted the needle. He let out a scream that punctured the quiet nursery.
Grace wanted to pick him up and console him, but Ruth held up her hand. “First of all, you’re filthy. Second of all, you need to give him some breathing room. I’m going to bring down the fever and get some antibacterial air into his lungs.”
Ruth put him into the hyperbaric chamber, and placed his tiny hand against the control panel to initiate his internal chip. Like all humans bred by Dickson and Morray, Christian had a chip implant. She entered some information into the monitor and the system calculated the proper medical treatment. The glass panels closed over Christian, syncing him into the system. Grace didn’t like seeing him that way, but it was for his own good. He cried and squirmed around for a couple of minutes, until a mist filled the chamber. His motions decelerated and his eyes fluttered, then closed. Grace sighed, feeling relief for the first time in hours.
“Thank you, Ruth,” she said.
“I want you to know that I do not approve of your actions. I think what you did was wrong—putting this child at risk. Look what happened.”
“This isn’t my fault. Babies get sick all the time.”
“Grace, if you ever want to adopt this boy, you need to take responsibility. I know you’d like to keep your return from the council, but I’m not sure I agree.”
“Please, Ruth. I only took him because I didn’t want Faraday to put him in that soldier program. He deserves a choice. Don’t you think? I’m not ready to face the council yet. I need a little time to build my case.”
“You’ve had plenty of time.” Ruth sneered.
Blythe stepped up. “Easy there, Nurse Lady. You both want the same thing: To protect the kid from that jerk-bag Faraday. Right?”
Grace and Ruth looked at each other and nodded.
Ruth eased back and checked the monitor. “His fever is going down.”
Grace hugged Blythe, who shoved her off, then she turned to Ruth. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be back in a few hours to see how he’s doing. As for you, Grace, I hope you’ll do the right thing.”
“I love him,” Grace said.
“I warned you about getting attached.” Ruth sighed and exited the room.
Grace turned away from Blythe so she wouldn’t see the tears. Maybe she really had become a softy.
“Eh, screw that rule-abiding stiff. You’ll be okay. I’ll take you back to your place so you can shower and get some rest. You look like shit.”
“I wanna stay with Christian.”
“Well, I wanna be the Director of Digital Communications for the West Coast, but that’s not happening today. If your presence is detected, you’re toast. And so am I. Get your bag and let’s go.”
“What about …”
“He’s safe for now. I’ll put the room on lockdown and only give access to Nurse Starchy Ass.”
They took the nearest transporter to Grace’s cottage at the end of town. She walked down the cobblestone pathway, exhaustion sifting through her body like sand. At the door, she turned back to Blythe.
“You coming in?”
“For what? A slumber party? I gotta stay plugged in, make sure nobody’s transmitting messages they shouldn’t be.”
“You’ll keep me posted, right?” Grace asked.
“Stay put till I come back. And don’t turn on your digi-pad or your house unit.”
“But I won’t be able to turn on the lights.”
“You’ve been living in the wilderness for the last three months, you’ll be okay.” Blythe saluted and returned to the transporter station.
Grace stepped into the cottage and inhaled the faint scent of rosewood. It was nice to be home again. She opened the double doors to the garden, letting in some fresh air—or as fresh as city center air could be considered. Sitting in her favorite overstuffed chair, she watched the dust scatter in the afternoon sunlight, spreading across the dark wood floors. Dust existed even inside the pristine city center.
The overgrown garden needed some trimming, but it was still charming and gave her a sense of solace that everything would be okay. Christian was in good hands and his health would be back to normal soon. She needed a plan on how to deal with Faraday and the council. First, Grace needed to gain the council’s trust. Her love for the child wouldn’t be enough to stand on; she needed to address the bigger picture. She started practicing her speech.
“The child is too young to enter the academy program. These are his formative years and he needs a mother, not a training program. I’m not suggesting that I’m the perfect candidate, although you already know my stance on the matter. There is a larger issue at hand. Ever since William Morray’s fall over seventeen years ago, we’ve advanced as a society. Putting this child into a program before he’s old enough to make his own choice will set us back decades. We no longer operate from a place of pre-destined roles in society. If we allow Faraday to do this, we’re opening the doors for other leaders to do the same.”
Her criminal actions might’ve overshadowed her argument, but she had a valid point. They had moved beyond the controlled system of societal structure. Most of the council members would agree since they had fought to remove those laws. Faraday would fight back, but the truth would outshine his agenda. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, listening to the afternoon breeze rustling through the trees.
*
When Grace woke up, twilight had settled over the garden and the solar lights illuminated the pathways, giving the place an enchanted aura. She remembered her last night with Lucas, eating by candlelight and dancing under the stars. He sure loved dancing when nobody else was around. She blushed, picturing the scene: the way he held her close and guided her to the bedroom without missing a beat, and how they stayed under the covers until the next morning.
She got up and ambled around the kitchen, searching the cabinets for something to eat. A lone box of protein bars remained on the otherwise empty shelves. She grabbed one and tore open the wrapper, eating the thing in two bites. Starting on her second bar, the front door blasted open and a team of guards barreled into the cottage.
“Hands up!” a man yelled.
Grace dropped the protein bar and lifted her arms. Who sold her out? Probably that busy body, Ruth. A buff guard with a shaved head came over and bound Grace’s wrists with containment bands. She tried twisting her hands. There was no getting out of those steel traps. The group of men moved in and surrounded her, aiming their weapons.
“Eight guards against one girl?”
“Step aside.” A man’s voice came from the shadows. It had a familiar tone. The guards made room as he approached. “We didn’t want to take any chances, knowing your family’s history with great escapes.” The light from the garden backlit him, illuminating his silver hair and matching beard.
“Faraday,” she chided.
“Welcome back, Miss Strader. Too bad it’s not under better circumstances,” he said.
“For who? You or me?”
The smug director raised his bushy brows, causing deep wrinkles to line his forehead. “I can see you haven’t changed much. Still a rebellious troublemaker.”
He wasn’t entirely wrong about that statement. She was planning to cause a lot of trouble.
8
Ava woke up to find Morray sitting a few feet away. He had removed his suit jacket and looked oddly casual with his white, untucked shirt.
“I don’t understand how this works. Why do I keep falling asleep? It’s not like I need rest,” she said.
“Though these are phantom bodies, our conscious mind still needs rest.”
“Did you sleep?”
“No, but I rarely do anyway.”
“Nightm
ares?” she asked.
“You could say that.” He fidgeted with his handkerchief, looking miserable and uncomfortable.
“If you’re trying to make me feel sorry for you, it won’t work.”
“I don’t want your pity. But I deserve your rage and resentment. Every last bit of it. I’ve wronged many people and this is my penalty. What I don’t understand is why you’re being punished for my crimes.”
His tone oozed genuine regret so she eased back a bit. No need to increase their suffering. It’s not like he was the one controlling the program.
“Dickson,” she said.
He quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“We’re here because of Dickson. He set up this prison.”
“No. No. Dickson is loyal to me.” His head slowly rattled from side to side. “He wouldn’t do this.”
“Maybe he was trying to save you? You weren’t supposed to enter the program in the first place. Remember? That’s why you originally sent me to retrieve Phoenix. When you followed Grace into the program, something with the coding changed. Dickson must have transferred you to this location to keep you safe. I suppose because we were together, I came along for the ride.”
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah, lucky me. What I can’t figure out is why he’d keep you in here.”
“Something must have happened. He’d never leave me trapped inside the mainframe like this.”
She glanced at Morray. “Maybe he finally got tired of being your second? It has been over three hundred years.”
Morray shook his head defensively. “No, he wouldn’t betray me like this. Something happened.”
