Dome Nine
Page 51
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The train cars were only designed to seat two adults each, but the Three managed to squeeze into the second car. Emerald and I rode together in the first. The train piloted itself, and there was nothing but blackness outside the windows, so we sat back in our seats and talked.
I immediately asked about the train itself.
Emerald seemed amused by my curiosity. “It’s just a Maglev train, like the bullet trains that run to the Arctic. All your father did was scale down the design.”
“Maglev?”
“An old idea, short for magnetic levitation. This train has no wheels to propel it. It never even touches the track. Everything’s done through electromagnetism.”
“There’s no feeling of motion inside the car.”
“I know. It’s very odd.”
We fell silent for a moment. I knew I couldn’t ask Emerald to reveal Cassius’s identity, even the original Cassius. I decided, though, that there was nothing wrong with guessing.
I said, “The second complex wasn’t intended for Cassius.”
“That’s right. It was designed for research and development. President Timberlake knew that the next president would dismantle every program he put in place. He and your father wanted to do something that couldn’t be undone.”
“What sort of research?”
“It was all related to climate change. There was only so much President Timberlake could do about global warming, politically. But he found a way to throw a huge amount of money at the problem in secret, through the Pentagon budget. The equipment in the second complex was state of the art.”
“And who was doing this research?”
Emerald frowned apologetically. “I’m sorry, Teo. I’m not at liberty to answer that.”
“You don’t have to. It was my mother, Lena Clay. My sister, Jules, lived there with her, too. That’s where she grew up. They were the only ones there, except when my father managed to visit.”
Emerald blinked in astonishment. “How could you know that? Even Gutenberg didn’t know.”
“It’s the only scenario that makes sense. But I don’t know the first thing about my mother. She must have been as brilliant as my father.”
“In her own field, yes, although she was never recognized for her greatest achievement.”
“The blue vegetation.”
Emerald stared at me, amazed and annoyed. “How do you know all this?”
“I might ask the same of you.”
“I just learned it all a few days ago!”
“From whom?”
She shook her head. “I can’t answer that.”
“Okay, how about this. My father was suspected of killing Lena and Jules, but that was all part of his plan, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Apparently, he referred to it as the ‘rope-a-dope.’ I don’t know why.”
“But he didn’t fake their deaths until 2065. Why did it take so long to finish the complex?”
“It wasn’t supposed to. You can imagine his frustration. By the time it was ready to go, Trip Savage had already taken office.”
“What held it up?”
“The Philadelphia Zoo.”
“Pardon me?”
“The Philadelphia Zoo. Needless to say, President Timberlake had to construct the complex in secret. The zoo was about to go under, so he ordered the National Park Service to buy it. His team put in the complex first, well below ground. Then the Park Service came in rebuilt the zoo right over it. They didn’t even know it was there.”
“And that took a long time?”
“No, that part went quickly. The delays happened before that. All the animals had to be moved offsite and they were all endangered species. It took forever to relocate them.”
“Was there a way down to the complex from the zoo?”
Emerald shook her head. “They couldn’t risk it.”
“So when my father visited, he still had to go through the White House.”
“Yes. That’s why he stayed on in the Savage Administration.”
“But visiting was a big risk. He couldn’t have gone very often.”
“Only about once a year, at least up until the Crash. But he did spend a month there in 2067.”
“Why?”
“Word reached your father that China had begun constructing its own information network. He wanted to link into it while it was still in its infancy. He got in so early on, his connection became part of the DataStream’s structure.”
“That’s why Cassius has complete access.”
“It’s more than just access. He can see what the GR sees, hear what they hear. He can fly any drone, stop any train, loot any shipment. That’s how he gets hold of all the medical devices and VaporFlasks and Glorbs.”
“And yet my father couldn’t have been the original Cassius. He turned himself in during the Invasion.”
“I’m sorry, Teo, there are things I just can’t talk about.”
“Fine. But he created Cassius in the second complex, after the Crash, and went to DC to set up the hologram. Right?”
“Yes.”
“Then he came back and finished constructing me, right there as well, with my mother and sister looking on. That’s why he had to wipe my earliest memories.”
She sighed. “I won’t deny any of that, but can we please drop the subject?”
“All right. Just confirm one more thing. Jules would be about 110 years old now. Is she still alive?”
Emerald shook her head.
“So there’s a third Cassius.”
She nodded.
“Anything else you can add?”
“Yes. We’re about fifteen minutes away. When we get there, all your questions will be answered.”
Emerald turned to the window, gazing out at the blackness. We rode in silence for the rest of the trip.