Suddenly she heard Alex speaking to Theodore, Morg’s crewman, outside the suite.
“I lost my Personal Com,” Alex said. “Can you help me find it?”
“Sure. Let me drop off Morg’s computer first.”
Celine could hear Alex making small talk with Theodore, obviously loud enough for her to hear. Where can I hide? Right! The toilet area, the only place with a door! Celine tiptoed quickly to Morg’s private toilet area; its sliding door was open. She stepped into the compact area, shut the door, and held her breath.
Theodore entered the quarters just as Celine slid the door closed. He paused, as if he had heard something.
Celine was thankful when she realized Alex was rushing Theodore to leave Morg’s suite. “Theodore! Let’s go. I need my Personal Com. I’m expecting a call from my dad,” he said.
“You’re just like your dad—impatient,” Theodore mumbled as he laid Morg’s computer on his desk and left hurriedly.
Celine slid down to the floor. Her knees were like water gel, and her lungs ached. She held back the tears. For you, Dad. With trembling hands, she willed herself to slide the door back and peer out. Morg’s suite was empty and quiet. That was close. I’ve got to work fast.
She rushed to the chair in front of Morg’s computer. As soon as she sat down, the screen lit up to a password prompt. “What would Morg possibly use as a password?” Celine whispered. She swiped across the empty password box. “I am sure it’s left a data phantom.”
She pulled up her mom’s website, entered her mom’s password and clicked on the tools to began her search for the Phantom Inspector, an application her mom jokingly called the PI for Privacy Invasion. Celine smirked. She pasted the copied invisible password into the tool.
“Darn it.” I can read the numbers 3, 6, 4, 5, and the sign #, and the letter M clearly, but what are these characters? “Is this an O or a zero?” she mumbled. “I’m going with O. She typed in the letter O with her tensed index finger. If she put in a wrong letter or number, the computer would shut down immediately, and she’d have to wait thirty minutes to try again. Time was of the essence. Great. The screen is still active. She directed her attention to the lower-case L—or is it a number 1? If I were Morg, what would I choose? “Well, Morg would think he’s number one, no doubt.” She typed the number 1, and the screen remained active. Great, but is this last letter a T, or is it a plus? T for tall, perhaps? Morg’s seriously tall, six feet six. Or could it be a plus? He always wants more—so greedy.
Celine held her finger over the letter T and then the plus sign. She held her breath as she tapped the plus sign that represented greed. She blinked to moisten her dry eyes. She wiped her clammy hands on her pants.
“Welcome, Morg.” The feminine voice on his computer announced, startling Celine and nearly making her knock the computer shut. It worked! She held back a laugh. She had actually figured out the password.
Her nimble fingers began the search through Morg’s Roster files. She typed in her dad’s name, but it was not among the lists of colonists. She then came across a file labeled “Complications.” She opened it. There’s Dad’s code. Mr. Taikei’s. Hannah’s? Mom’s? That doesn’t make sense. Why would Morg consider Hannah and Mom “complications?”
She rubbed her forearm. She couldn’t feel the chip that had been under her skin since birth. Morg will know I’ve been here. I better not stay here too long. Focus. I need to do what I came here for. She inserted her Memchip into Morg’s computer and downloaded her dad’s life code. She also quickly added her mom’s and Hannah’s. “Just in case,” Alex would say.
“Download complete,” blurted the feminine voice on the computer.
“Quiet,” Celine whispered. Then she threw her hand over her mouth and looked around to make sure she was still alone.
She removed the Memchip and placed it in her jumpsuit pocket.
Then she saw a file labeled “Military.” Everyone on the colony knew Morg had served time in the military. She clicked on it, and the file went into Hide Mode. I don’t have enough time to figure out how to get into it. Besides, I have what I came for.
Now that she had completed the task she set out to do, thoughts flooded her brain of what she might tell Morg if he were to ask about her unauthorized visit to his suite. She had a strong feeling he would ask.
She practiced her mocked conversation with Morg over and over in her head like an actress.
Why was I in your suite? Alex couldn’t find his Personal Com, and I was looking for it.
How did I get in? Oh, I just used the security badge you gave me! I thought it would be expired, but it worked. You want it back? Sorry, I don’t have it. I put it in the disposal in the commons.
Yes. That’ll work.
She logged out of Morg’s computer, pushed the door lock to exit and ran right into Theodore.
“What were you doing in Morg’s suite, Celine?”
For a moment she froze, and then, like a recording, she began spilling out the lines she had rehearsed moments ago. “I was looking for Alex’s Personal Com.”
“I was just helping Alex search for it. Did you find it?” he asked.
“No, sir,” she replied, being overly polite, as she continued walking away toward the commons. When she was finally out of view, she took off running.
Alex was waiting for Celine next to the movie marquee. He could see she was shaken.
“What happened? I tried to call you,” Alex said.
“No, you didn’t. It was so quiet in there, I would have heard it.”
“Celine, I called, and you didn’t answer.”
“Let me see your Com.” She snatched up Alex’s arm to look at his Personal Com, then dropped his wrist, letting his arm flop to his side.
“Do you see a Personal Com on my arm? No! That’s because I don’t have one! You were calling my home. Why didn’t you call Morg’s Com in suite two, like I told you?”
“Chill, Celine. You should have made it clearer. Besides I kept Theodore away from Morg’s quarters. Maybe you should have worked faster.”
“Seriously, Alex,” Celine cried. “Theodore is going to log my encounter with him in his report and tell Morg. I know he will ask me about it.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure out what to do before Morg returns.”
“You said ‘we.’”
“We’re in this together now.”
“Thanks.” Celine beamed and reached to hug Alex, but he stepped back out of her reach.
“Got the code?” he asked.
“Yes! Got it!” Theodore had flustered Celine so badly that she had forgotten how excited she was to have her dad’s life signature code in her possession. Now the excitement was back, and she was ready to continue their plans.
“Let’s go, Alex. I want to see what that Navi can do.”
Celine and Alex headed back to Admin’s quarters. Celine avoided the other colonists, fearing they would read her guilt in her body language. She had never invaded someone’s privacy. Colonists don’t do that. But she had to push the envelope if she was going to find her dad.
Alex had set up his own computer in Admin’s guest room; the two entered and closed the door. He downloaded Mr. Red Cloud’s code from Celine’s Memchip on to his computer, which was connected to his Navi.
“I’m not getting a location,” he said as he looked at the map on his computer screen. Alex checked the locator’s preferences. “What the heck? Why would someone turn off the locator?” Alex corrected the system with the locator’s code, and a beeping dot appeared on the screen.
“Wait, I see it! There! He’s there!” Celine pointed to the blinking blue dot on the map. It was the Red Hills in the Chaos Region. Don’t worry, Dad. We’re coming to save you! “Hurry, Alex.” Celine stood over Alex, wringing her hands as he downloaded the location from his computer to his Navi.
Then suddenly, exactly what she was afraid of happened—the blinking dot disappeared. Could Morg have intercepted Dad’s signa
l? Had some wild animal attacked him? Celine’s stomach was in knots. “Oh no. It’s gone.” Her throat was so tight that she could barely get the words out.
Alex checked his Navi. It was flat and rectangular like a primitive cell phone, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. “Celine, I have it. I got the coordinates before the signature disappeared.”
“Are you sure?” The idea that her father’s location was so easily obtained seemed impossible.
“The Locator Satellite is on, but we’re not getting the signal now. I have no idea why. But according to the Navi, he’s about one hundred seven kilometers from here.”
“Jeez, I thought he’d be a lot closer.”
Alex recalculated the distance on the Navi. “It’s accurate. Besides it’s all we have. That will have to be good enough. We need to pack our gear. I’ll put aside enough food to last a week.”
“A week? You think we’ll be on the surface for a week?” Celine had never spent a night on the surface, and she wasn’t comfortable with that idea.
“What’s wrong? You didn’t think we could find your dad in a day and get back before nightfall, did you?”
“I guess I hadn’t thought about it…” Celine said nervously. “I’ve never spent a night on the surface.”
“We’ll have my body-heat tent.”
“Mr. Albolino had a body-heat tent, and his collapsed. He almost died. His skin was gray like a boulder, and he had ice in his eyelashes!” Celine shivered. “Can you imagine? His eyes were almost frozen!”
“Calm down, Celine. My tent’s not going to collapse.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“Celine, we’ll be fine. This tent is one of the best on the market—it’s out of this world, for that matter.” Alex chucked.
Celine did not find Alex’s jokes funny.
“Why are you so paranoid?” Alex shook his head. “How many kilometers do you think you could cover in a day? I can cover about forty-eight kilometers. If you can keep up with that, we’ll reach him in three days.”
“Oh, you and your dad were in the Iron Man Competition on Earth when you did that, right? I saw that episode.” Celine giggled.
“Celine.” Alex folded his arms across his chest, cocked his head to one side, and gave Celine a stern look.
“Sure, I can do it.” She’d agree to anything at this point.
“Great! I’ll get the climbing gear and tent. You gather the food and water,” Alex said. Alex seemed to have had second thoughts. “I’ll bring some food too…and a Travel Bottle.” The Travel Bottle was one of the latest water bottle innovations. It had a small, powerful battery that could send an electric current through gases taken from the surroundings and create a bottle of water a day. “We won’t have to worry about running out of water.”
“I’ll bring some water gel packs just in ca—”
“Fine, whatever. What about O2 pills? Do you have any?”
“I’d thought we’d take oxygen canisters.”
“No, I hate those things. They’re heavy and will slow us down. I only carry them if it’s absolutely necessary.”
“I have two O2 pills in my drawer with my outdoor wear.”
“Can you get more from the infirmary?”
“I don’t want to go to the infirmary. How would I explain myself?”
“You’re right.” Alex rubbed his chin for a moment. “I’ll get some from Dad’s entourage’s supply. They have so many; they won’t miss them. Besides Dad paid credits for them.”
Celine only half-listened to Alex’s rambling. She couldn’t believe she was finally going to search for her dad. She didn’t like the idea of staying on the surface after sunset, but she knew it was something she had to do. Every time it crossed her mind, she covered her eyes with her palms until she could feel the warmth radiating from them, reassuring her that she would not let her eyes get cold enough to freeze.
“Alex, there’re a few things I need to tell you before we leave.” Celine hesitated. She hadn’t told Alex that her dad’s assistant had been found dead with parts of his body chewed away. She didn’t want to spook him with stories of wild animals. She knew they were out there, but she had never seen them. They’re probably just scavengers anyway.
“What?” Alex leaned in to listen.
Celine hesitated. “Oh, it’s nothing. You already know I’ve never spent a night on the surface. I’m nervous.”
“Well, neither have I, but I won’t let anything happen to us. Trust me, I wouldn’t go out there if I didn’t think it was safe.”
Just as I thought. I’d better keep all of my secrets to myself. Even so, she felt guilty she had not told him about the wild animals, or the strange things that had been happening to her.
“You’re taking your ray gun with you?” Celine asked.
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Her mom had told her that only giving half of the truth is practically telling a lie. But she had also told her that sometimes the victory outweighs the means. Celine decided to cling to the latter. “You know all that you need to know for now.”
Alex sucked his teeth. “We have everything we need but the right time.”
“I could pretend to show you my rock collection. That would take hours, and no one would know we had left.”
“No, we need something bigger than that, and besides, we need to take out the drone.”
“And how are you going to do that? The drone won’t let you get near it. When I was younger, it was my playmate. But if I ever got close enough to touch it, it would—”
“I know about drones,” Alex interrupted. “I’ll think of something.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Celine returned to her quarters to find her mom waiting for her.
“Morg has been helping me plan your birthday celebration,” Abbie said.
“Mom. If I hear that name again, I will play Dad’s flute nonstop for twenty-four hours!” Please! Celine’s response came out much sharper than she had intended.
Abbie opened her mouth in surprise and then chuckled. “Dr. Baylor wants to know if you want your Brain Booster before or after your birthday celebration.”
“Mom, you know how I feel about that,” Celine said. “Actually, I’d rather not have it at all. And why isn’t Dr. Duke giving me my injection?”
Abbie’s mouth formed the word “Morg” and then closed. “I think Dr. Baylor would be better for you.”
Celine frowned. Why is Mom listening to Morg? “Mom, why would you…” Celine noticed a small red mark on her mother’s wrist. “What’s that?”
“Oh, honey. I forgot to tell you. Dr. Baylor gave me a new implant for tension headaches. Where is your Memchip? Dr. Baylor said I should put my new code in it.”
“You had surgery without even mentioning it to me?”
“It was minor. I’m wearing it for a week, so I didn’t want you to worry. Now hand me your Memchip.”
Mom would never have a procedure done without telling me first. And when did we start putting codes in Memchips? Celine patted her pocket flat so the imprint of her Memchip would not show.
“Mom, I left it in Admin’s quarters. Alex was giving me new photos of him.”
“You and Alex have been spending an awful lot of time together, and you usually wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to leave your Memchip somewhere. Maybe you need to cut back on all the time you spend with him.”
“Mom, no! You can’t do that,” she whimpered.
“You really like him?”
“Yes! I do! Plus, he’s the only friend I’ve ever had. Mom, please.”
Her mom raised a brow. “The two of you spend a lot of time together, Celine.”
“It’s not like I have other friends my age,” Celine retaliated.
“Well, you get that Memchip from him first thing in the morning.”
“Yes, Mother.” Celine knew she would have to leave the Compound to find her dad soon. Morg knows we ha
ve information about Dad, and he’s trying to stop us. But how does he know?
“You’re not neglecting your studies?” Abbie interrupted Celine’s thoughts.
“No, Mother. I am on level fifteen in every single lesson.”
“Good. But I’ll be watching you two more closely. I don’t want you getting into situations you shouldn’t be.” Abbie pinched Celine’s cheeks as if she were a chubby-cheeked baby.
Mom would never do that. Celine backed away from her and reached for her tablet on her desk.
“Look, Mom,” she said and handed her the tablet.
Abbie started at it, dumbfounded.
“It’s the stack of books,” Celine said.
Abbie clicked the icon of the stack of books.
“See, Mom. All of my assignments are current.” Why hasn’t she checked with Uji?
Abbie looked at her competed assignments. “Ocean Colony Design Project? Sounds exciting.”
Celine reached for the tablet. “Mom, you helped me with this last week.”
Abbie sat at her desk. “I seem to be forgetting a lot lately.” Then, like a humanoid on cue, she smiled and said, “Getting back to your celebration. We’re having the cook bring out some vegetables from the garden. He’s making your favorite: tomato bisque.”
“Great. I can’t wait.” I know we’ve had this conversation before, a week ago to be exact.
Abbie rambled. “I haven’t been feeling well. Tension headaches. Dr. Baylor thought I should wear this for a few days.” She patted the implant in her arm. “That was a week ago, I think. That’s odd. I really should know.”
“Do you know if Hannah’s gotten one?”
“What, dear?”
“A new implant?”
“I don’t know. Is that something I should know?”
Lost in the Red Hills of Mars Page 7
