The Hidden Code

by P. J. Hoover

  Ethan says something, but his voice catches in his throat, and then Mr. Oliver grabs his son in a giant hug.

  “Please tell your mother that I love her,” Mr. Oliver says. “And know that I love you, too. I’ve always been proud of you, even though you may never have felt that way. I’ll miss not seeing you grow up.”

  “The Code of Enoch will keep you young,” Mom says, seeing that their conversation is coming to an end. “Nearly immortal.”

  Mr. Oliver runs a hand through his thinning hair. “I wondered why you didn’t look any older than you had the last time I saw you.”

  Mom nods. “It’s why the flood heroes were rumored to have such long lives.”

  “They say Noah lived until he was over nine hundred,” I say.

  “And that was before he brought the Code here,” Mom says. “It’s kept us young, nourished, healthy.”

  “I’ll be younger than you someday, Ethan,” Mr. Oliver says.

  “We’ll come back and visit,” Ethan says.

  I know he’s joking, but both Mom and Mr. Oliver shake their heads.

  “No one can ever come back here,” Mom says. “When we get back, we have to hide the pieces of the Deluge Segment. Better this time.”

  We retrieve our stolen copy of the map from Scott’s backpack along with Mr. Oliver’s copy. We also make sure we have the map we decoded from the scrolls. Once we’re out of here, we’ll destroy everything.

  “I found the copy of the Deluge Segment you hid in the Canopic jar,” I say.

  Mom puts her hand to her head. “Why did I ever make that copy?”

  “Because this had to happen,” I say. Fate has brought all this together.

  “Amy will hide our piece,” Mr. Oliver says. “And please, Ethan, bring our families together again. Your mother and Hannah’s mother used to be best friends. I know Amy misses her terribly. She never got over everything that happened.”

  Mom and I say our final goodbyes and then we leave the tree, giving Ethan and his father a few more minutes before we start back. And though there are a million things I want to talk to Mom about, I find, in those moments that pass, all I want to do is have her wrap her arms around me and tell me that she loves me.

  Ethan, Mom, and I walk away from the massive olive tree, back through the clearing where we’ve buried Dad. Mom pauses, only briefly, and says a few words over his grave, and then we continue on, into the meadow by the ocean.

  “Your father and I loved this place so much,” she says as we walk through the flowers. “We spent weeks out here. We sailed on the ocean. We communed with the animals. We created new species, testing the limits of the Code. It was everything we’d ever worked for. Truly unbelievable.”

  “It’s almost a shame, isn’t it?” I say because even though I can logically see that it can never be in our world, being a scientist, it’s also hard to let it go.

  Mom sighs deeply. “A tragic shame, but we have no choice. We have to leave it behind.”

  And that’s exactly what we do. We have enough supplies from the extra packs such that we are ready for the journey, or at least as ready as we’ll ever be. We head back through the tunnel, away from the light of this impossible world. We cross the river and pull the circular center artifact from where we placed it. The stones in the river separate, once again making the river impossible to cross. The Bridge of Noah vanishes. Then we find our way back.

  We tell Mom about the room with the scrolls, but we all agree that there is no point in returning to it. We’re not going to pilfer from it. The stories need to remain where they are. Bringing them to light will only keep the mystery of the Code of Enoch alive. Even though we plan to hide the map pieces, the rumors of the Code itself may always exist. And we all know that as technology improves, with radar and sonar and underground mapping, this place could still be discovered.

  Mom is quiet at first, and I realize it’s because she’s containing her sorrow at losing Dad. My heart aches when I think about him. I loved him, and I miss him—even more now that I’ve seen him. His death has left a hole that will never be filled. And yet, even with his death, I’ve gained a parent this day, something I never thought would happen as long as I lived. I am going to make the most of the happiness that thought brings me and not dwell on what cannot be anymore.

  Having Mom along definitely puts a crimp in any romantic moments between Ethan and me. But one evening, after we’ve settled, Mom heads down the tunnel to fill our water bottles. I’m alone in the dark with Ethan, and almost like our minds are working together toward one goal, he presses me up against the rock wall of the cavern. My lips find his, and the next thing I know, we’re kissing. Every wonderful emotion I’ve ever felt explodes through me. I trace my hands under the back of his shirt, feeling his muscles harden at my touch. His hands run through my hair, down my side. He kisses the nape of my neck, sending chills through my entire body. I pull him so close that there isn’t any space between us because I have to feel him against me. To know that he is real, and that he is not going away.

  “Hannah, I—,” he starts saying as he’s kissing me, but I press my mouth against his to stop any words he might say because even the thought of what the words might be scares me. I’m not ready to move too fast. I don’t want to ruin anything we might have ahead of us. But, that said, I also have no intention of letting him go anywhere.

  Our kisses stop at the sound of Mom clearing her throat … loudly. Her flashlight points on the ground in front of her but lights up the room enough that I’m sure she saw us.

  Ethan and I step apart.

  “Did you find water?” I ask as I try to calm my heart, which is wild and beating out of control.

  Mom smiles, though sadness pulls at the sides of her eyes. “Yeah, I found water. I filled all three canteens. I double checked our supplies. I tried to spend as much time away as I could. But you’ll have to remember that I’m still your mom. I couldn’t stay away any longer.”

  How much I love her in that moment. And how happy I am to have a mom who cares.

  CHAPTER 33

  IT TAKES TEN DAYS, ALL UPHILL INCLUDING THE ENDLESS DAYS OF STEPS. MY legs have become so strong that they make me think my flesh has dissolved and been replaced by steel cables running under my skin. The steps keep going even though multiple times I’m sure we’ve reached the end. I’m convinced it will never come. That we’re on some kind of stair-stepper to nowhere. But finally we reach the top.

  “Are we ready for the real world?” Mom asks.

  Popcorn. Chocolate. Lucas. He’s going to think I fell off the face of the earth.

  “Totally ready,” I say, squeezing Ethan’s hand.

  Ethan and I align the four symbols, and the world splits in half above us. Mom and I hoist Ethan out first who helps Mom up next and then me. Then we rotate the symbols apart so they are no longer lined up. The crack in the cavern floor rejoins, the small lake refills with water, and the underground world is sealed away forever.

  We rest there for the evening because all of our heads are still spinning from the endless staircase. But the next day we head on, and it’s not long before we hear voices other than our own for the first time in days.

  Four spelunkers have set up camp and sit around in a circle talking a language which I’m guessing Ethan knows because he walks up and starts talking to them and laughing like they’re all having a good old time while Mom and I stand there watching.

  Ethan keeps motioning back in the direction we’ve come from, and the cavers, two guys and two girls, are shaking their heads in confusion. Finally, Ethan comes back over to us.

  “They’re Ukrainian,” Ethan says. “They said they were sent on a search mission. That some spelunkers disappeared a little over three weeks ago and nobody who’d been this way since had seen them.”

  “So what did you tell them?” I ask. We haven’t thought this far. The last thing we want is people exploring Krubera, looking for missing cavers.

  Ethan shakes his head. “
I couldn’t say that my dad was dead, Hannah. I know maybe I should, but I can’t bring myself to do it. So I told them that the three of us were fine. That we descended together. And that we hadn’t seen anyone else.”

  “It’s okay, Ethan,” Mom says. “The secret will be safe. You’re the only one who would go looking for your father, and you already know he’s okay. Some people may look for Scott. People will buzz about the story for a couple months. Maybe a year. They’ll send scouting parties. But pretty soon that will stop. They’ll start coming up with stories to explain why they can’t find them. Someone will say that they saw them exit the cave. That they aren’t lost. And then all but legends will fade away.”

  Like the legends of my parents and their descent. They’d disappeared into the cave and moved from reality into myth.

  Ethan speaks with the Ukrainian spelunkers for a while longer who offer to phone Adgur and Daur for us because they’ve wired a phone line. Then we continue on, moving uphill, toward our destination. Gradually our eyes begin to adjust to the dark again as we reach the point where light seeps in to the cave. After two more days, we finally reach the wide opening at the bottom of the descent shaft.

  Mom breaths deep, smelling the air of the world above her. “It’s been so long …” Her words trail off, as if there is no real way to express what she wants to say.

  According to my watch, it’s late afternoon, but the Ukrainians had promised to call ahead. Still there is no sign of Adgur and Daur. I’m getting ready to insist that we hook ourselves to the ropes and begin climbing because I don’t want to spend one more minute in this cave than I have to when a rope drops for us along with a note from Adgur and Daur written in spotty but readable English.

  We come for you. Hook to rope and we pull you up.

  —Adgur and Daur

  The Ukrainian spelunkers had gotten our message through!

  I hook myself to the line, double securing it and also grabbing the safety rope just in the event this one fails, and then I ascend the shaft. The sun is so bright and warm, it nearly blinds me. I close my eyes and soak it in as I near the top. Adgur and Daur begin chatting excitedly as I come into view, though I have no clue what they’re saying. I open my eyelids just barely into slits to protect my eyes as the brothers reach out and help pull me up the final way, lifting me out of the small crack in the earth. One of them, Adgur maybe, slips sunglasses over my eyes. I hug him and his brother because I’m so happy to see them. So happy to be back, ready to continue my life.

  But Adgur doesn’t return the hug. He’s tense. And as my eyes adjust to the brightness, I see why.

  Doctor Bingham, President and CEO of Amino Corp stands there on the precipice of Krubera Cave. Surrounding him are four guards, all with guns pointed directly at me. Our eyes meet, and dread fills my body. This can’t be happening. Not now. Not after everything we’ve been through. Everything we’ve lost.

  “Hannah Hawkins,” Doctor Bingham says. “I can’t wait to hear about your adventure.”

  CHAPTER 34

  I WANT TO SCREAM OUT TO ETHAN AND MOM TO WARN THEM, BUT THEY’RE too far below. They have no reason not to hook themselves to the rope and begin the ascent.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask Doctor Bingham, trying not to think about the guns aimed at me. It’s way easier said than done. All the guards have to do is pull the trigger.

  Adgur and Daur eye him and the guards warily. They can’t have helped these criminals … unless Doctor Bingham paid them off. Or threatened them.

  “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been working to get the Code of Enoch?” Doctor Bingham says. “Do you have any idea what this means to me?”

  I have to stall. It’s my only option until I come up with a plan.

  “What does it mean to you?” I ask slowly, trying to keep my breathing under control.

  Doctor Bingham laughs. “It means my life. It means my job. It means everything.”

  “There is no Code of Enoch,” I say.

  “But there is,” Doctor Bingham says. “And when I bring it back to Amino Corp, there is no way they’ll be able to fire me.”

  This is something I can latch on to.

  “They were going to fire you?” I ask, hoping I sound like I haven’t heard this rumor.

  He nods. “The Board of Directors. They said I was ruining the company. They had the nerve to say that I never would have gotten the job in the first place if it weren’t for nepotism. Then they gave me a month. That’s when I knew that I had to renew my search for the Code. It would be the answer to everything. I’d bring it back to them, show them its power, and they’d beg me to stay.”

  Oh my god. Doctor Bingham has completely gone rogue. Amino Corp isn’t behind this. It’s been him, alone, this entire time. And with someone like him running Amino Corp, it’s no wonder they want to get rid of him. But even if he is rogue and out of control, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m in the middle of nowhere with four guns pointed at me. I have to get him to stand down.

  “We don’t have the Code,” I say. “It doesn’t exist. It’s just a rumor. It’s not real.”

  Doctor Bingham smiles at me like I’m a silly little girl. “But I know that’s a lie. I’ve been in close contact with Stephen Oliver. He always wanted the Code. He was the perfect person to pull over to my side to help me. When I originally got the idea, I remembered how much he’d wanted it before. So I mentioned it to him and said I had a lead. You should have seen him. His eyes lit up like I’d offered him a billion dollars. He was more than eager to help.

  “We had two pieces of the map. We only needed the final piece and the location to start the journey. Once I realized that you had it, I had your copy of the piece stolen. Then we tracked Ethan’s credit card usage. It was so simple. As soon as we figured out where you two were, I put Stephen on a private jet straight here to go after you. He hired the guide, and they set off. We stayed in touch constantly until a couple of weeks ago.”

  My hands are shaking, but I can’t let him know that I’m scared. I put on my best you’re-full-of-crap look. “There’s no cell signal in the cave. You’re lying.” Unless Ethan’s dad had a signal booster also. My stomach turns at the thought.

  Even as we speak, Adgur and Daur are already pulling on the rope, helping bring up either Mom or Ethan. I want to scream at them to stop.

  “He had a signal booster, just like you did.”

  It confirms my worst fears. But even if this is true, Doctor Bingham still has no concrete proof of the Code. He would have lost signal the same time we did.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what happened after I lost contact with him?” Doctor Bingham says.

  He wants to pretend he knows everything, but he’s still not sure. He needs me to corroborate the story.

  “He’s dead,” I say quickly before I have time to think out the entire story. “We found his body, washed up next to an underground river. We think he fell in and the current killed him.”

  Doctor Bingham doesn’t buy it for a second. That much is clear. Before I have time to add any more to it, though, Adgur and Daur haul Mom out from Krubera Cave. She closes her eyes because they have to adjust just like mine did.

  Doctor Bingham sees her, and his mouth opens in complete disbelief. “Laura Hawkins?”

  I realize that my story has a major hole in it that I haven’t thought out: the presence of Mom here, now, after being missing for so many years. I hadn’t bothered to think up anything since I hadn’t expected anyone to notice or care.

  “Doctor Bingham?” Mom says, squinting at him. She raises her hand to block her eyes from the blinding sun.

  Adgur and Daur lower the rope once more. At least Ethan isn’t going to be stranded down there. What isn’t so good is that two of the guards point their guns at Mom.

  “Now this is a surprise,” Doctor Bingham says. “How is it that you are here, now, when no one has heard from you in eleven years?”

  I think fast because Mom has no i
dea what I’ve already said. “She’s been living in Gagra. We reconnected with her there, and we went looking for the Code of Enoch together. But like I already told you, we didn’t find it. It doesn’t exist.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Doctor Bingham says. “But it doesn’t matter. This is perfect. Your mother will tell me everything she knows, won’t you, Laura? Especially if her daughter’s life is on the line.”

  Mom’s eyes, now adjusted, meet mine. I telepathically plead with her not to say anything. Her eyes confirm what I already know. She won’t give away the secret. She’s lost her husband, given up eleven years of her life to protect the Code. She knows that she has to continue that protection no matter the cost.

  “It doesn’t exist,” Mom says. “What Hannah said is the truth. I’ve been living in Gagra for the last ten years, researching the cave, trying to unearth the secrets. I explored it a multitude of times. Robert died on one of our trips. But it’s all been futile. There is no Code.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Doctor Bingham says.

  As we all watch, Adgur and Daur help Ethan from the cave.

  “Where is your father, Ethan?” Doctor Bingham says before either Mom or I can say anything.

  “Don’t tell him anything,” I call out.

  I hear one of the guns click, like it’s being cocked. My blood freezes.

  “Another word and you won’t like how this all turns out,” Doctor Bingham says. “Now tell me, Ethan, where is your father?”

  Ethan’s eyes haven’t even had time to adjust. They’re open barely to slits. But he’s not an idiot. He catches on to the fact that things are definitely not as they should be.

  “I haven’t seen him,” Ethan says, which, though a solid lie, does not in any way corroborate my story.

  One of the guards points his gun at Ethan.

  “Hannah told me he died,” Doctor Bingham says. “In the cave. She also told me that you found the Code of Enoch.”