Girl of Stone (The Expulsion Project Book 2)

by Norma Hinkens

  Dr. Petrop slumps into a chair, a dazed look on her ordinarily composed face. Velkan steps toward her and lays a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him and takes his face in her shaking hands. “My son!” Her voice breaks and she collapses into his arms. “You shouldn’t have come back for me,” she sobs.

  It’s a long time before she pulls herself together. “So strong, like your father.” She runs the back of her finger gently over Velkan’s cheek. “He passed away when you were just a baby.” She presses Velkan’s hand to her lips. “He loved you so much.”

  “You built the flaw into Preeminence, didn’t you?” I ask.

  She gets to her feet and wipes her eyes on her sleeve. “Were you the one who discovered it?” she asks, her tone all business once again.

  I shake my head. “Ayma’s the computer expert. She was able to exploit the flaw and worm her way through the neural network. She’s the whole reason we found Mhakerta to begin with. She managed to reactivate her bracelet and unlocked the coordinates that were coded inside it.”

  I don’t miss the troubled look that passes between my father and Dr. Petrop. Somehow I don’t think it’s because they disapprove of her hacking acumen.

  A feeling of apprehension comes over me. “Where are Ayma’s parents?” I ask.

  Dr. Petrop softens her gaze before answering. “Her father, Nooran, passed away a few months ago. Her mother, Dinah, is ... in the processing plant.”

  A horrified gasp escapes me. Grotesque images of the glass exhibits and tubular tanks flash to mind.

  “What’s her condition?” Velkan asks, a taut expression on his face.

  “She didn’t respond well to the protein extraction process,” Dr. Lodowskow explains. “We found a way around protocol to terminate her procedure early, but it was too late for her.” His shoulders hunch like they did when he walked across the processing plant. Only this time he isn’t acting.

  I swallow the hard lump in my throat. After everything Ayma risked to get us here, how can I tell her that we’re too late to save her mother?

  “You need to contact Ayma right away,” Dr. Petrop says. “Tell her not to penetrate any farther until I link to her configuration breach. We’ll need to evacuate the facility first. Preeminence has programmed itself to destroy NeuroOne and the processing plant if its neural core is tampered with.”

  Before I can activate my MicroComm, a simultaneous alert flashes over our CipherSyncs indicating that the morning shifts are about to begin.

  “We must return to our stations and go about business as usual until we are ready to act,” Dr. Lodowskow says. “Once the evacuation is safely underway, Ayma can disable the application.” He presses his lips tightly together. “Maybe then I will have a chance to speak with my son.”

  I grimace at the thought of returning to NeuroOne and being forced to interact with Lira and Tova. I’d rather not set eyes on either one of them again after what they did. But I can play the game if that’s what it takes to get Dinah, and the other subjects in the processing plant, out safely.

  I glance at the military robots clustered around the wall. “What about them?” I ask. “Won’t they report us?”

  “This division is under my control,” Dr. Petrop says. “They are no longer connected to the neural network. They will aid us with the evacuation.”

  “Ayma can shut down the rest of the military robots once we are ready to make our move,” Velkan says, a reassuring arm resting on his mother’s shoulder.

  Dr. Petrop rubs a hand over her brow. “We have to ensure no one comes to harm in the process. That means staging an evacuation without triggering annihilation by Preeminence.”

  “Then we need to give Preeminence a legitimate reason to order an evacuation through its own deductive reasoning,” I say. “That way it won’t register the incident as an anomaly.”

  Velkan frowns. “Do you mean something like starting a fire?”

  “Too risky with so many lives at stake. Fire moves quickly.” I clench my fists, remembering again the stagnant water and the swamps around us. “I’m thinking more along the lines of a controlled flood.”

  Dr. Petrop arches a brow at me.

  “This place should already be under water by rights,” I say. “The water must be contained by a dam somewhere nearby.”

  Dr. Petrop nods. “About a mile from here.”

  “So where are the water valves for the drainage system?” I ask.

  “In the basement next to the mechanical room.”

  “Where will everyone be relocated to once Preeminence issues the evacuation order?” Velkan asks.

  “To the collective,” Dr. Petrop replies. “Once we are safely underway, Ayma can overwrite the final code. Preeminence will self-destruct to protect its neural secrets.”

  Dr. Petrop consults her CipherSync. “Time to go. Do not under any circumstances deviate from your schedule or arouse any suspicion. I will notify you once I’ve made all the necessary arrangements for the evacuation. I have several scientists in the processing plant whom I can trust.”

  We take a few more precious seconds to exchange fierce hugs, desperate attempts to make up for missing years while covering all the bases by wishing each other good luck and saying goodbye, in case things don’t go according to plan. Although none of us voice our fears, there’s a huge risk that everything will fall apart and that this will be the last time we see each other. Phin may never get to meet the father who looks and acts so much like him, and Ayma may never have the chance to hold her mother in her arms. The next few hours will be critical in determining whether we can pull off the unthinkable and topple Preeminence.

  One by one, we exit the cave and follow the robots under Dr. Petrop’s control through a twisting underground tunnel to a secret sliding door into the basement, before taking the elevachute back to our housing units.

  I don’t sit with Velkan at breakfast in the cafeteria. We can’t afford to give Lira and Tova anything to become suspicious about in the next few hours. I chew my food, but barely taste it as it goes down. Every sense and nerve in my body is focused on one thing, and one thing only, waiting for the signal that will put everything in motion. Once I have the green light, there will be no time to waste getting down to the basement and turning on the water valves.

  When I begin my shift, Dr. Petrop eyes me with what I now know is a practiced cold demeanor for the benefit of the cameras. She fires off an assignment list to my CipherSync and then dismisses me, poring over the screen on her desk, to all intents and purposes, absorbed in her work. I study the assignments—mundane chores to keep me occupied while she finalizes the coding errors in the operating system that will link to Ayma’s configuration breach.

  I head down the corridor to retrieve the wire gauze and filter paper Dr. Petrop requested from the supply room. The familiar tromping sound of robot feet draws my attention. My heartbeat quickens as a squad of robots passes by heading in the direction of Dr. Petrop’s office. She’s moving quickly, dispatching her division to prepare for the evacuation. Ayma must be in strike position.

  I rummage around in the supply closet and pull together the requested items before making my way back down the hallway. Blood drains from my head when the military robots march Dr. Petrop out of her office, arms pinned to her sides.

  29

  My arms shake so hard I almost drop the cartons of wire gauze and filter paper. Those weren’t Dr. Petrop’s robots that went by after all. Without as much as a flicker of her eyelashes, Dr. Petrop cuts a look my way that tells me Preeminence has discovered her treachery. My heart slugs against my ribs. If the application has found Dr. Petrop’s loophole in the network configuration, the trail will lead straight to Ayma. She and Phin are in grave danger. I have to warn them. And then I’ll do what I can do to help Dr. Petrop.

  As soon as the robots disappear around the corner, I head for CortexImaging to find Velkan. He looks up with a strained expression when I push open the door. “They arrested Dr. Lodowskow too,” he
mutters, before I can say anything.

  My skin prickles. Everything’s starting to unravel. I need to stay calm. “I’ll let the appropriate parties know,” I say in a monotone, setting the supplies in my arms down on the desk. Velkan gives a curt nod and continues on with his work for the benefit of the cameras as I retreat out the door.

  I detour into the bathroom and frantically activate my MicroComm.

  “Ayma, we’re in trouble.”

  “I’m already on it,” she says. “I just countered a probe from Preeminence with a false algorithm that should divert it from my point of entry for a couple more hours.”

  “It’s searching for you. It’s following the trail,” I say in an urgent whisper. “Get out of the neural network right away. Preeminence will destroy the stealth fighter if it locks on to your location.”

  “I won’t give it that opportunity,” Ayma says. “We’re airborne and the cloaking technology is holding. We are impossible to pinpoint or trace through any means. I’m only a few keystrokes away from corrupting the autonomous knowledge core which will shut Preeminence down for good.”

  I let out a shaky breath, only half-convinced that Ayma and Phin are safe from the reach of the treacherous application—I’ll just have to trust that the cloaking technology holds as long as we need it to. “There’s no time to flood the basement. The military robots arrested Dr. Petrop and Dr. Lodowskow, probably my father too. We’ll have to go with the riskier plan of starting a fire to force an evacuation.”

  After a long pause Ayma asks. “Did you … find my parents?”

  I bite down hard on my lip until the coppery taste of blood fills my mouth. I squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve been dreading this moment. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her, and I especially didn’t want to have to tell her like this. Face to face, I could at least offer her some comfort, give her a hug or something.

  “Trattora,” Ayma urges. “What is it?”

  “Your father’s dead,” I say. The words come out more abruptly than I want them to. Maybe I’m stupidly hoping the shock will deter her from asking about her mother. A sickening feeling squirms in my gut as I wait for the inevitable follow-up question.

  “And my mother?”

  “She’s in the processing plant,” I croak out. My throat feels raw from voicing the ugly truth. It hangs like a fetid smell in the air between us, worse than the stagnant marsh air that blankets NeuroOne. “You don’t want to know any more, Ayma,” I add.

  “I’ve seen the footage.” Her voice is remarkably calm.

  I swallow hard. “I wish I had better news.”

  “We can still save the others,” Ayma replies. “Find a way to start that fire.”

  “Can you assign me a shift in the processing plant?” I say.

  “Give me a few minutes. I’ll send the order through on your CipherSync.”

  “Send one to Velkan too,” I add. “We need to stick together.”

  My palms begin to sweat as time ticks by.

  “Done!” Ayma announces, at the exact moment my CipherSync lights up with the assignment. “Good luck, Trattora.”

  “See you at the collective,” I say. “I’m counting on you and Phin picking us up in the stealth fighter.”

  She gives a laugh that rings hollow. We both know there’s a very real chance we’ll never see each other again, and it weighs heavy on us.

  Heart drumming loudly, I exit the bathroom and walk back down the corridor to CortexImaging. Velkan’s broad frame fills the doorway before I even knock. I tap my CipherSync and he gives a curt nod. “I found a magnesium rod and a striker to start a fire,” he says. He must have already received the assignment from Ayma. We take the elevachute down to the ground floor without exchanging a word, half-afraid Preeminence might have put additional feelers everywhere looking for collaborators now that it’s unearthed Dr. Petrop’s treachery.

  Our footsteps echo loudly in my ears as we walk across NeuroOne’s cold, marble foyer. The eye of Preeminence observes us from every flag as we pass by, its intensity burning a hole in me like it can see straight through to our deception. My heart hovers at the back of my throat. With every passing second, I grow more certain that robotic limbs will extend like the bars of a prison and block our way. But we walk undisturbed up to the same fat-lipped guard who was manning the entry booth last night. He glances at our CipherSync clearances and waves us through with a bored motion.

  I take a shallow breath, dizzy from adrenalin, as Velkan and I exit NeuroOne and proceed side by side toward the processing plant. Military robots pass us in both directions—an increased presence that indicates Preeminence is taking no chances. I keep my eyes fixed forward. To all outward appearances Velkan and I are going about our duties as Preeminence dictates, but our hearts pound one rebellious chord, united in purpose, shaping up to strike a blow at the insidious root of the monstrous application that took everything from us once, and is threatening to do it again.

  I don’t know if the scientists Dr. Petrop said she can trust were able to put any of the preparations to help facilitate a swift evacuation in place before her arrest. Setting a fire will necessitate a quicker evacuation than a controlled flood would have. It’s an enormous risk, but we’re out of options and we need to act now.

  Velkan and I pass through the guard station without incident and head into the macabre observation gallery. I don’t allow my eyes to flick to the left or the right where wretched faces are pressed to the glass blankly watching us go by. I especially don’t want to see anyone who looks like she might be Ayma’s mother. Not now when I need to stay focused on the task at hand and hold it together. My stomach twists at the thought of the anguish that Ayma will face when she finally meets her mother.

  Velkan and I move at a steady pace through the warehouses of tubular tanks, trying to avoid looking at the tiny, bloated faces of the children. Despite my best efforts, I can’t stop darting frantic glances around at the other clusters of tubes, terrified I will spot our parents submerged in the strange blue-tinged liquid, their shriveled fingertips reaching in vain to the walls of their see-through prison, even though I know it’s illogical as they’ve only just been arrested.

  We follow the directions Ayma sent us on our CipherSyncs down a long corridor until we come to a steel door marked Supply Room.

  “Zero, gamma,” I mutter under my breath. “Redirect the cameras, Ayma.”

  “All clear,” she responds within seconds.

  I deactivate my MicroComm, push open the door and step inside. A flammable materials shelf at the back of the room catches my eye right away.

  “Ayma’s good at her job,” I say, with a wry grin.

  “And Phin’s doing a heck of a job nursing that cloaking technology along,” Velkan replies. “The rest is up to us.”

  I reach for a can of flammable liquid and hand another one to Velkan. We work efficiently to empty them, thoroughly dousing the rest of the supplies in the room, and then trailing the contents of a few more cans down the hallway leading to the warehouse before stashing the empties in a shadowy recess.

  “Ready?” I say to Velkan.

  He gives a curt nod and ignites the liquid with the magnesium rod and striker. I open the door leading into the warehouse and we slip through, letting the heavy steel door swing shut behind us. I follow Velkan back through the tubes of gently floating subjects, my face tuned to neutral. We don’t even make it halfway across the warehouse before the fire alarm begins to blare. I flinch, the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. All around us, scientists look up from their stations. Several pairs of eyes lock with mine and I shiver inwardly, wondering how much they know—if they are with us or if they will alert Preeminence to the traitors in their midst.

  The scientists move swiftly and seamlessly, flipping levers to drain the tubes, pulling limp bodies out and laying them on gurneys, and then lining them up in the corridor where military robots wheel them outside. Velkan and I help push the gurneys to the door, all the whil
e keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of our parents.

  Transport vehicles have already been moved into position outside the processing plant and another squad of military robots begins loading up the subjects.

  The door leading to the hallway where we started the fire has been sealed off by a steel plate that dropped from the ceiling seconds after the fire alarm went off. Only the faintest trace of smoke seeps under the door, but there’s every chance the supply room will explode at any minute.

  The scientists have moved to the observation gallery now and are shooing the bewildered subjects down the hallway to the waiting transport vehicles. The subjects move slowly, ambling, some in confused circles, needing to be guided back to the group. My heart is ravaged watching them. Somewhere in there is Ayma’s mother, a once brilliant scientist, robbed of all her dignity by an insidious application that overreached its purpose.

  One of the subjects stumbles, and a military robot moves in and hauls him unceremoniously back to his feet, throws him under its arm and carries him out the door. My gut recoils at the rough treatment, but I tell myself we need to focus on saving everyone from the fire for now. Some wrongs will have to wait to be righted when we’re not in crisis mode.

  When everyone has been evacuated, Velkan and I climb in to one of the waiting transports with the other scientists. The doors slide closed on the wailing alarm, bringing a blissful peace to my ears. Out of the window, I crane my neck to watch the scientists filing out of NeuroOne, escorted by military robots, and onto another waiting transport. I don’t see our parents, but maybe they’re already on board.

  Smoke rises in an ominous plume from the back of the processing plant as we pull away. My heartbeat thunders in my chest. Did we succeed? Will Ayma be able to force Preeminence to abort, or will we arrive at the collective only to discover that the regime has resorted to a secret backup drive to perpetuate its venomous agenda.

  I don’t wait long for an answer. Minutes into our journey, the specks that were the processing plant and NeuroOne implode in a white-blue flash of light like a bolt of lightning, leaving only a pockmarked, smoking marsh where the flags displaying the glittering eye of Preeminence once flew.