“Thanks for coming, Ginger Mae.” Abby smiled as she pulled out a chair. Ginger Mae’s finger rose to rub at her temples, feeling the sporadic aura she sometimes felt, heralding the presence of Baby or Echo. Peering behind Netty’s skirts, she located a lurking Baby whose larger frame and more solemn demeanor made him easier to distinguish than Echo.
“Hello, Baby. Are you trying to talk to me?” Ginger Mae squatted down to Baby’s level, only to have the enigmatic creature turn his head away in indifference.
“Humm.” She rose from the floor, miffed and curious about the rejection. Maybe Baby was jealous of the attention Echo had received over a week ago during Scotty’s birthday.
“Don’t be concerned, Ginger Mae. If Baby didn’t like you he would never cast his aura to you. He just isn’t ready to engage fully yet.”
Ginger Mae sat in the proffered chair. Netty and Abby exchanged unreadable glances.
“What’s this all about, ladies?” She remained perplexed as she tried to interpret their expressions. Netty took the lead with a subtle nod from Abby. Reaching out to Ginger Mae, she covered her hand with her own and leaned in, her voice soft and oddly beseeching.
“My dear, I hope you understand how fond of Daisy we all are. She is an exceptional child and it has been a pleasure to work with her.”
Ginger Mae felt the first stirrings of alarm. “Daisy? What do you mean work with her? She’s just fooling around in the library. What’s this about, Netty?” Her head bobbed from Netty to Abby, unnerved by their silence. “Do you mind telling me exactly what’s going on here? She is my child after all.” The resentment she thought had long gone regarding Daisy’s attachment to Abby, resurfaced now.
Abby spoke up. “Yes, of course she is. That’s why we’re here. We need your consent.”
Slowly, as the feeling in the pit of her stomach accelerated, she responded firmly, “My consent for what?”
Abby looked down at the table, not meeting Ginger Mae’s eyes.
“Okay, just what the heck is going on here?” Ginger Mae felt a spasm of fear. Sending her chair careening backward, she stood abruptly and turned to leave. Catching her arm, Netty forced her back gently into her righted chair.
“Okay . . . I’m going to give it to you straight. Daisy is fine, by the way.” Taking a deep breath she began. “We became aware of Daisy and her special capabilities when you visited Peter’s home in Sarasota.”
“You were there?” Ginger Mae frowned.
“No, actually we were able to see you through Abby. Anything she viewed, touched, smelled or felt was transmitted to us. We had the capability to interpret the data in such a manner that we actually saw into Daisy. You remember Abby’s implants?”
Ginger Mae nodded her agreement.
Continuing, Netty dipped her head in time with her speech, a smile of deep pleasure possessing her features. “The Womb had never encountered a child such as Daisy. Her mind is . . .” Netty swept her arm, her gesture wide and encompassing. “Remarkable.”
Ginger Mae relaxed, but stayed on her guard, speaking defensively. “We all know that. She reads well beyond her years. Beyond my years.”
Abby chimed in very softly, “Beyond all of our years.”
Ginger Mae felt the fear return with the look of awe on Abby’s face.
Netty reached out again. “My dear, Daisy has not been ‘fooling around’ as you put it. She has been studying.”
“Well, yeah, I assumed she was doing some studying around all those books. She loves books.”
“She has been studying more than books. Or should I say books written by man.” Netty ignored the puzzlement on Ginger Mae’s face and continued. “She has been studying the language of different cultures.”
Ginger Mae’s confusion turned to annoyance. “What’s the big deal? Yeah, she’s an extraordinarily bright child. I think it’s nice she’s learning other languages. She can practice her Spanish right here with the Diaz clan.”
Netty and Abby exchanged pregnant glances. Trying again, Netty changed the subject. “What kind of future do you think your daughter has, Ginger Mae? Let me give you a glimpse into her future as you now know the facts.
“Eventually, you will all leave the Hive. You will be forced to start your lives on unfamiliar territory with new and unfamiliar creatures. You will all be required to scrabble for shelter, locate water, and find food. You will need to farm just as we do here. My seeds will be of a great help to you, of course, but there will be no doctors, no drug stores, no automobiles, and no electricity for quite some time. It may be years until you figure it out. And what of a mate for your daughter? Her choices are limited, not that she won’t have choices. But will she be fulfilled with them? Where will she find an equal? A mind is a great thing to waste. Is that not an expression in our formerly civilized world? Yes, formerly. How long do you think you can rely on the benevolent nature of your fellow survivors? There will be conflicts. There will be an absence of law.” She paused for breath. “Is that what you plan to bring this extraordinary and fragile child into?”
Ginger Mae listened, overwhelmed by the canvas Netty painted. She responded slowly, “I’m well aware of the difficulties we may encounter. But what choice will we have? I’m just happy enough we’re all still alive.”
Netty resumed, nodding her head. “Has it occurred to you that the life you may encounter will come from other planets?”
Silence.
“Well, why in the world would that be?”
Netty’s glowing eyes turned frigid. “Well, what do you expect to happen to this planet after the poisons of man are gone? Will the Womb just turn it back over to man? The Womb made plans for this Earth long before you survivors came into the picture. You will not recognize your planet in a century. Someone will be needed to communicate with other life. We will have no more conflict. We must guarantee that you survivors will adapt peacefully . . . through communication. Or the planet can do without you.”
Ginger Mae felt a stirring of emotions. Is that a threat? “Well, that’s all very interesting. So we’ll learn to do all those things and adapt.”
“No, Ginger Mae, you don’t understand. Daisy is learning to understand. She is learning to communicate beyond what you know and are . . .” Netty paused, searching for a word, “. . .comfortable with.”
“Okay . . . I still don’t know what you’re asking of me. Or of Daisy.” Ginger Mae squirmed, uncomfortable with the conversation. Changing direction, Netty and Abby passed a signal between themselves, rising together. They each took a hand, prompting Ginger Mae to rise. She felt a tug at her hem. Glancing down, she discovered Baby holding his hands out to be lifted up. Holding his hands out to her. Disengaging from Netty and Abby, she raised him up to sit on her hip. Netty suppressed a smile.
“Come with us, Ginger Mae. Let us show you something.” The three women left the kitchen after Abby handed off the elderly monkey to Emma, who was still holed up moodily with Queenie at the fireplace.
Out in the corridor, Ginger Mae asked, “Where are we going?”
They answered together.
“To the library.”
Ginger Mae had been very curious about the library for a long time. Many of the survivors had worked there, taking their turn at cleaning up what had been reported as a shambles. The dirty, messy part had stopped just a few months ago as she noticed Daisy no longer returned for dinner covered in filth. How and why in the world would anyone put a library down here? Ginger Mae kept her mouth shut.
As if reading her mind, Netty said, “This library was brought here by the Womb. It was accomplished at the last minute after becoming aware of the number of people Abby planned to bring here.” She turned to smile at Ginger Mae. “How can you begin a new foundation for a fledgling community without books? They were my most treasured possessions when I was a child. I remember my mama . . .” Sighing, Netty shook her head, forcing herself out of her reverie.
They walked for about forty minutes, the monotonous corrido
r walls the same as the rest of the Hive, vaguely organic with sinuous membranes everywhere. As they cleared a sharp bend, Ginger Mae noted the sudden absence of membranes, the corridor widening and spreading out. From the far side of the expanding space, she could see dark wood paneling.
As they crossed the wide, open room, the three women found themselves dwarfed by a magnificent rosewood Renaissance revival banquette polished to a deep luster. Abby ran her hands over the top of the gargantuan and valuable piece of furniture, her face prideful, stroking her finger over the round red, white and blue seal that hung down the front.
“We worked so hard repairing this. But it was an absolute imperative.” She turned back to the other two women, her eyes shining brighter. “You can see that, can’t you Ginger Mae? It’s the only treasure we have left intact from our old past.”
Ginger Mae approached the magnificent library piece. Bending down, she squatted with Baby in her lap. Her hand caressed the seal reverently. Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “But how did it get here? I mean you can’t just . . .”
Abby spoke with pride as she announced the simple truth. “Yes, the Womb can. If it can be reached anywhere on this planet from underground, the Womb can obtain it.” She quickly sobered. “But no more. Everything is dust. Ruined.” She shook her head as if to erase memories. “Come, let’s go in and find Daisy.”
As they passed the relic from their past, Ginger Mae gave one more sad, fleeting glance to the once proud seal of The United States of America, Library of Congress.
*
It took the three women an hour to find Daisy. Abby’s apprehension grew as they passed through the racks and racks of no-longer dusty or dirty books from the Library of Congress. The air filled with the flat fragrance of old paper. She studied Ginger Mae, weighing her reaction, as they strolled around the stacks they had worked so hard to organize. The job had been monotonous and not difficult; if you discounted the enormity of the task.
Abby recalled the time she had first absorbed the shock after laying eyes on the mess: books and boulders everywhere. She had never been able to get a straight answer out of Netty or Wil about how the contents of the library had arrived here. But she knew it had something to do with the massive hole in the back of the library.
Jose had taken a few minutes to investigate it when it had been discovered by one of the truckers who had helped with the initial debris removal. Tucker had come to them covered in fine ash and dirt. They’d just been sorting the important fictional classics from the eclectic mix of zombie/vampire/sci-fi/romance that everybody and their mother’s dog had decided to pen at the beginning of the e-book revolution in 2005. Unfortunately, any electronically published books were lost to history unless the authors had taken the time and huge amounts of money to create what had been known as paperbacks. Eventually, with the advances in electronic devices for reading, over the decades the little gems called paperbacks had ceased to exist. Abby had praised the Lord rather ruefully as she’d eyeballed the enormity of the mound of books left to sort. Conversely, they may not be important now but, over time, the survivors might be grateful to have access to such satisfying entertainment.
“You two want to take a look at something?” Tucker had been breathing heavily and rivulets of sweat had left clear tracks down his flushed face and scrawny neck. Following him to the back of the cavern, they had stared, stupefied, at an enormous hole.
“After clearing enough books and debris to make it back here, this is what I found.”
The hole had been as wide as one of the Mack trucks that had delivered them to Lily Pond Road. Rocks and books had lain strewn everywhere as if left behind as an afterthought. They’d approached the opening; a faint hint of sulfur in the air. Abby had wrinkled her nose as she’d touched the hard, almost burnt wall of the hole.
“It looks like it was man-made.”
“Why do you say that, Jose?”
“It’s too regular. The walls have been compacted under some kind of extreme pressure.” Jose had stood with Abby as they’d taken a step into the dark hole.
A curious feeling of fright had overcome Abby. “No, let’s not go in there. It’s obvious the library came in this way.” She had scanned the debris behind them. “It looks almost like the books were pushed by some ungodly giant and just dumped here. I don’t like the looks of this tunnel and we need to get back to work.” Pulling on Jose’s wing, she had nodded to Tucker and gone back to the job at hand. “If I see Wil, I’m going to ask him for an explanation. Why don’t you come help us, Tucker? Let’s stay away from here until we know what it is.”
Abby never did get a chance to ask Wil about the massive hole, for Netty had sought her out the next day at breakfast as they’d prepared to head back to the library, changing everything.
“Would you mind working on a special project with me, my dear?”
Abby had glowed brighter. “I’d be honored, Netty.”
Netty’s satisfied expression had held an exciting note of wonder. “It’s time we begin to teach you a few things. After all, once we are free from the Hive, you need to be ready.”
Abby’s nerves had quickened as she’d felt a fateful turn in her life was upon her with Netty’s ambiguous words.
Surprisingly, Netty had led her back to the back of the library where they’d discovered the huge hole. She’d quaked with astonishment as Netty had indicated a spotless iron wall with a human-sized door offering a thick glass window into the hole. As Abby had approached the window, she’d detected a glow that had thrown off a pastel pink radiance behind the door.
“But . . . Netty, this can’t be. This wasn’t here yesterday. We . . .”
Netty’s finger had risen to her lips, eyes glowing richly, and with a strange smile tinged with a faint hint of sadness.
“Shhh, I’m going to show you. This is just the beginning for you.” With that, Netty had taken a large, dull key from around her neck, inserted it in the door and swung it open to be confronted with the visage of Baby waiting for them inside what was clearly no longer a tunnel.
That had been months ago, and progress on their project had been slow but fruitful. Thanks to Daisy. Now, without Ginger Mae’s consent, they might be forced to accept that no further progress would be possible. Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Abby quickened after the other two women.
As they approached the back of the library with Ginger Mae, Baby slipped down off her hip, scuttling away. Ginger Mae asked, “So where’s Daisy?”
Netty stopped, turning to face Daisy’s mother. “I want you to know, I would never, ever put your remarkable child in any kind of danger. Do you trust me?”
Abby watched a panoply of emotions play across Ginger Mae’s face: surprise, distrust, confusion and terror. She reached out quickly to grasp Ginger Mae’s hands for reassurance.
“I don’t think I like the sound of what you just said, Netty.”
Abby could feel Ginger Mae’s hand tighten and tremble with tension. “Please keep an open mind, Ginger Mae. This is important.”
“My daughter is always important to me.”
As she trembled, they pulled Ginger Mae around to the back side of the library to face the steel door and watched as her face drained of color.
“What . . . what’s going on here? Where’s my daughter?” Ginger Mae’s voice slid out in whispers. “What is this?”
Netty took a key from around her neck to insert in the door. “This is where your daughter works. This is where she studies.” Netty stepped aside to let her enter.
The three women stood together after crossing the threshold. They gave Ginger Mae plenty of time to digest the incomprehensible vignettes of artifacts collected from around the cosmos. All were protected by sheets of shimmering laser light of rose and amber that emanated from devices attached to the walls. Around the devices flowed a thick coasting of the viscous substance that lined their cavern walls. But this material flowed thickly; ever moving and undulating. Encouraging Ginger Mae close
r, Abby directed her to inspect the displays.
Objects of various unidentifiable composition sat on sphere-shaped supports, rising from the rocky ground to be enshrined in the light. Abby still knew very little about where the objects were from, but she knew full well what their awesome purpose was. The objects ranged from tiny to enormous. Some appeared to be transparent, some impervious, some exhibiting movement with flickering characters appearing on the sheets of colored light.
With a smile, Abby beckoned Ginger Mae forward toward one of the flickering objects. Netty stayed off to the side, anxiously searching Ginger Mae’s face as she reacted to the foreign objects.
“What is this place? What are these . . . things? Are they for us?”
Abby nodded gravely. “Yes, Ginger Mae. These things are for us. Some of us.”
Ginger Mae glanced up at the change in Abby’s tone. “What do you mean some of us? And where’s Daisy? You said she’d be here.”
“She is here. She’s studying.”
Ginger Mae’s eyes narrowed as she pursed her lips. “Pretty strange place for Daisy to be studying. Why does she need to be locked up with all of this stuff? Why don’t we go get her, now?”
Abby sensed the impatience in Ginger Mae’s voice. They couldn’t risk alienating her right off the bat, so she turned back to the exhibits. “Here, look.” Abby stepped up to an exhibit. Tugging on Ginger Mae, she prompted her forward.
Behind the colored sheet of laser light, there was a tube that protruded from the wall with a wide end facing them. The tube end swirled with red and blue colors with black squiggles. The wall was thick with undulating membrane.
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