Before Alex could say another word, Celine had unfastened her backpack and allowed it to slide down her arms and onto the floor. “It’s too heavy,” she whined.
“You need to get used to the weight.”
“Not today, Alex,” she said and began removing gear from her overstuffed pack.
Alex was furious. “Do you want my help or not?”
“Of course. Why would you even ask that?”
“Then do what I tell you,” he said. “All of these things,” he said, pointing to the gear Celine had spread across the ground and then waving his arms over his head in frustration, “are needed to survive the hills. I’m not taking you to the red hills and then carrying you over the mountains.”
“You make it seem so easy on your show.”
“Well, it’s not easy. It’s hard work, and if you’re not prepared, you could literally die. Do you understand?”
“We need all of this?” Celine said as she looked at the gear on the floor.
“Yeah, and possibly more. So what are you going to do?” Alex waved his pointed finger in Celine’s face.
Celine sighed and began gathering her gear into a small pile and shoving it back into her backpack.
“Stop!” Alex said impatiently. “Everything has a special place.” He sat on the floor next to her and began putting the small metal gadgets into the inside pockets. He rolled a rope and placed it next to him. “All done,” he said when they had finished repacking, and he once again helped her put on her backpack.
He picked up the coiled rope and said, “Let me attach this to your harness.” He fastened the rope onto a shiny carabineer that hung from Celine’s harness, then pulled on it to check for slack. “That’s tight enough. Wouldn’t want you falling through,” he said. Then he fastened the other end of the rope to the belaying tool that was attached to his harness.
“First, we are climbing to the top of this small hill,” he told Celine. “That should be easy enough. Ready?”
Celine nodded nervously.
The hill was covered in what appeared to be hard-packed snow, and moving wheels behind the simulation screen gave the illusion of a never-ending climb.
Alex led the way, and Celine came up behind him. “You’re a pretty good climber,” he said when he noticed how agile she was and how quickly she followed him.
After Alex had pulled Celine to a ridge, where they briefly rested, he was ready to ascend to the next one. He screwed an ice screw into the hillside, and it made a realistic crunch. Then he rammed the pointy aluminum crampons positioned over his boots into the ice like he was stabbing the hill with his toes. After he belayed the rope around the edge of the higher ridge, he pulled himself up. Then he maneuvered and pulled on the rope line until Celine was pulled up by his side. He was in the zone, feeling as though he’d already climbed hundreds of feet.
He thought Celine was moving along nicely—that is, until they reached the third ridge. When he pulled her up next to him, she appeared spacy, preoccupied in thought. “Focus,” he demanded. But Celine didn’t appear to hear him. “What’s wrong with you?” For a moment he thought he saw a yellow glow coming from her eyes, but she closed them so quickly he wasn’t certain. “Open your eyes, dude. Have you lost your mind?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” she muttered sarcastically without looking at him, clearly agitated.
“Well, we’ll finish this hill and call it quits, all right?” Alex threw the rope over the next ledge and began slowly pulling himself up. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled back. Celine had slipped and was pulling him down with her.
“Stop! You’re going to pull me off the hill!” Alex yelled. Quickly he pulled his cutter from a carabineer attached to his harness and then cut the tether that attached him to Celine. She fell with a thump to the padded floor.
“That’s it!” he said when he was finally able to steady himself. “I can’t help you. You’d get one of us killed. Mission aborted.”
Alex was so shaken that he hardly noticed Celine paid him no attention. She didn’t even look at him but kicked off her boots. “Watch it!” Alex shouted as one boot narrowly missed his face. He watched as she scrambled to her feet and unfastened her backpack and harness, allowing them to fall to the floor. Then she stepped out of the climbing suit and bolted from the room not even looking back or apologizing. “Celine, hold on!” he called and bolted to the door after her. But when he opened it and looked down the corridors, she was gone.
◆ ◆ ◆
Celine ran down the hall and did not stop until she was safe in her quarters. As she had ran past her neighbors, she could see hazy glows of different colors surrounding each of them.
He saw my eyes, Celine thought as she remembered the expression on Alex’s face. That’s what scared him. Now he’s not going to help me. I’m right back where I started. I have no one to help me find Dad.
She was exhausted. She flopped into the chair next to her computer, and her motion-sensitive computer came on instantly. “Restart last call,” she said into her Com, and a signal was sent through space to her grandmother’s com. Celine studied her face in the metal mirror, examining her eyes from every angle, while she waited for the call to go through. They’re not glowing now…Maybe Alex didn’t see them.
Twenty minutes later, her Uji chimed, “Incoming Com,” and her grandmother’s concerned face appeared on the computer screen.
“Celine, how are you?” she said.
“Something’s wrong with me, Enisi. I’m changing.” Celine took a deep breath. “Into an alien or something…”
Enisi’s eyes widened. “Why do you say that, child?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, Enisi. I just know I am changing.”
For a moment, Enisi did not say anything. She rubbed her wrinkled chin and appeared to be in deep thought. Then she said, “Do you see mirages? Faint images around others?”
“Yes, Enisi. Like colored outlines around their bodies. It happened today when I was climbing with Alex. I had to run out of the exercise room. I left him standing there, calling my name. I don’t understand what’s happening to me. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. If I tell Mom, she’ll tell Dr. Baylor. And I can’t stand her. Of course Morg likes her.” She scoffed.
Enisi listened quietly, almost as if she were in a trance. Then she locked eyes with Celine for what appeared to be moments, and Celine felt as if a surge of energy had rushed over her from head to toe.
“Oh!” Celine startled after twenty minutes and then batted her eyes. “That was strange,” she muttered.
Celine did not know Enisi’s spirit had traveled through time and space. When Enisi’s spirit reached Celine, it hovered above her before commingling with Celine’s spirit until it could comprehend Celine’s vibrational tone. Then Enisi’s spirit returned to her motionless body on Earth.
“Are you OK, Enisi?” Celine asked when she noticed her grandmother’s lifeless eyes.
Enisi closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she appeared refreshed, happy almost. “You are like your grandfather,” Enisi said.
“How am I like him, Enisi? The only thing Dad ever said is he worked for the military, but he didn’t want to.”
“That is true. The military misused his talents. That is why you must tell no one about your changes.”
“Not even Mom?” Celine swallowed.
“Your mother knows you are changing, but she does not understand the ways of our family. Tell no one.” Enisi continued in Cherokee. “Skina gesvi ganayegi!”
Celine understood the warning: “To tell others would be dangerous.”
Few people knew Cherokee. Celine’s dad had taught her. His mother had taught him. To speak in Cherokee was to speak in code.
“It can only be discussed in person,” Enisi said. “I can say no more about it.”
“Mom is making me take my Brain Booster, but I don’t want the shots anymore.” Celine continued the conversation in Cherokee.
“You
do not have to. I have not, nor has your father,” Enisi said.
“Mom said Dad did.”
“I am his mother. I know the truth. You do not need a Brain Booster to increase your intelligence.”
“Can you tell Mom that?”
“I have told her, child. It is not her ways. You are Waya! Do not be afraid of being Waya.”
“I’m not. I’m proud to be of the wolf clan.” Celine chuckled, lifting her head high, holding her shoulders back as her father had taught her. “I am afraid of what’s happening to me though.”
“You will understand the meaning of my words in due time. Let us not speak of it now.”
Celine’s eyes widened. She had never seen fear in her grandmother, but it was there. Enisi’s chin was held high, but her lips trembled and her eyes were tightly shut. When she reopened them, her quiet strength had returned. “We must not be afraid,” Enisi said. “We are Waya. You must decide if you want to be less. Your dad will help you understand. I cannot. There are too many eyes. Too many ears.”
The monitor screen went white.
“Solar flares! Not again!” Celine cried out. She tried several times, without success, to reconnect with her grandma. “Oh what’s the use? She already said she can’t help me. I have to find Dad. But how can I get Alex to help me now?”
◆ ◆ ◆
Back in the exercise room, Alex thought, Celine’s a weirdo. She looked at me like she saw a ghost and then closed her eyes. Who in their right mind closes their eyes while climbing? Alex shook his head as he put the last bit of climbing gear into his backpack.
If she wants my help, she’s got to be able to handle herself out there. Alex sucked his teeth. And I thought she was doing so well. What caused the holdup? Maybe the air was too thin. I tried to do too much, too soon. We’re going back to square one. I am teaching her to climb. I’ll help her get up her strength, and then we’re going to find those coordinates.
◆ ◆ ◆
To Celine’s surprise, Alex came to her cell. He waited next to the intercom for her to let him in. She glanced at herself in the mirror. “Come in,” she said softly.
Alex stepped into the doorway. “How are you?”
“I’m better. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry,” they both said in unison.
“Why are you sorry? I almost got you killed,” Celine said.
“I’m sorry for putting you through…” Alex appeared to be searching for the right words. “For putting you through…”
“The entire thing?” Celine finished for him. “And you cut me loose!”
“You closed your eyes! What kind of idiot closes their eyes while climbing?”
Celine squeezed her lips together. She knew Alex was right, but she wasn’t ready to concede.
“Maybe the simulation was too difficult for you. I mean, it was for experienced climbers. I have a beginner’s version,” Alex said.
Celine was surprised. Experienced climbers? I didn’t do too badly after all.
“You were saying you’re sorry,” Alex continued.
“If we had been on the surface, would you have cut me loose?”
Alex rubbed the few hairs on his chin.
“I honestly don’t know,” he whispered.
Celine studied his pained face. “I’m sorry, Alex. If this had been a real climb, I could have gotten both of us killed.”
“Yeah, I know. What were you thinking?”
“I’m dealing with stuff, all right? But I know what I have to do now.” Celine emphasized the word “have.” I have to learn how to control the Waya.
◆ ◆ ◆
Every day for weeks, Alex and Celine trained in the exercise room. She had convinced him to continue using the experienced climbers’ version, and she had not had another episode since their first climb.
Together they climbed miles of hills until their legs ached; she noticed her body becoming more muscular and toned. She was able to pull herself up to the ridges right next to Alex. And she could tell, though he never said it, that Alex was pleased with her progress. Finally, one day after a grueling session, he said, “You’re ready. “You’ve become a real mountaineer.”
With one hand, she slung her backpack to the floor. Her toned arms were drenched in sweat. She ran her fingers through her soggy hair, slid down to the floor next to her backpack, and buried her head into it. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry. She squeezed her eyes together tightly. “At last,” she mumbled. Then she looked up at Alex. “So, you’re helping me find my dad?”
“I am.”
Celine held her hand over her lips and began crying and laughing simultaneously.
“There is one small problem.”
“Oh?” she asked, but at this point a “small problem” could not crush her happiness.
“I need you to do one more thing first.”
Celine waited patiently for Alex to speak.
“We need the code to your dad’s life signal. Do you know who keeps it?”
“Morg has it.”
“Morg?”
“Yes. Dr. Baylor gave it to him when he was out looking for my dad.”
“Did you call me, Celine? Is everything OK?” Morg poked his huge head through the doorway. “I thought I heard my name.”
“Morg! Yes! We’re fine,” Celine said startled, nearly choking on her words.
“It sounded like you were crying.” Morg’s eyes held Alex’s for a moment.
“I was laughing so hard. Alex is just so funny, I couldn’t help myself.”
Morg raised an eyebrow. “You kids sure have been using this exercise room a lot. Remember there are other folks who want to use it too.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Morg,” Alex said. “We were just leaving.”
“Let’s go to your quarters,” Alex told Celine after Morg closed the door.
The two of them raced through the commons, down the corridor to cell 10. “Do you think he heard us?” Celine said after she locked the door to her quarters.
“Hard to tell. We’re just gonna have to start being a little more careful.”
“I was so loud, Alex…”
“Yeah, you were, but we can’t do anything about it now. Anyway, Morg has your dad’s code?”
“Yes, Dr. Baylor gave it to him.”
Alex mulled over an idea for a moment, then said, “You’ll have to get it. Get the code, and we can find your dad. Simple. I’ll use my Navi to get his exact location.”
“No one has a Navi for Mars.”
“OK, but I do. Well…My dad does. I can get it though. You just need to get that code, and we’ll have everything we need to find him.”
CHAPTER 4
Brain Waves
◆ ◆ ◆
When Celine wanted to take short breaks between school lessons, she’d play her dad’s flute. For some reason, it made her feel at ease. She had heard that teenagers on Earth listened to music created from their brain waves. Perhaps the vibrations of the Cherokee melodies were similar to those of her own brain waves. Regardless, the buzzer suddenly interrupted her music.
“Enter,” she said, expecting her visitor to be Alex. They had trained together for weeks and seen each other daily.
Alex stepped in wearing a set of white indoor wear. “School lessons again?” he inquired.
“No, but don’t you ever have any?” she replied. “Nice jumpsuit by the way. You wear a different one every day…How many do you have?”
“Hundreds actually, but I only brought ten. And no, I don’t have school assignments when I am on vacation. Don’t you ever get free-range play?”
“Free-range?”
“It’s when—Ah, forget it. Do you still have the copies of the clearance badge?”
“Yes.” Celine laid down the flue and then muted Uji.
“Well, today you get a chance to use it.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, feeling hesitant about using the forged security badge that Alex had copied on Admin Rittenhouse’s 3
-D printer. The badges they used during the initial tour had expired, but Alex had updated them. “Having clearance to go anywhere might come in handy,” he had said.
“Morg is taking my dad and his entourage to view Olympus Mons. They’ll be gone all day. This is your chance to get into Morg’s computer and get your dad’s life signature code.”
“I don’t know if I can do it. Just because my mom’s a computer expert doesn’t automatically mean I am.”
“You said you could.”
“What if I get caught?” Celine exhaled. Then she noticed the frown on Alex’s face. “Fine, I’ll do it.” She said it quickly, not allowing herself the chance to change her mind. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. What would my mom say if she knew I was hacking into Morg’s computer?”
“I taught you well?”
“That’s not funny, Alex.”
“You’re always so serious,” Alex groaned. “You’ve been around grown-ups too much.”
“You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“That’s what friends are for. Now hurry and get those badges.”
Celine opened her dad’s drawer and reached under his indoor wear where she had hidden the badges. I’m doing this for you, Dad. She took a deep breath. “Let’s go. I’ll go down the suites corridor. You come later and wait for me near the marquee. Use your Com to let me know if you see a protector coming my way. Morg’s suite number is two.”
“Good idea,” Alex said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Celine grimaced.
She went through the commons and saw that everyone was busy as usual. No one paid her any attention as she headed down the corridor of suites where Morg lived. His suite was at the end of the hall across from Admin’s. After what seemed like an eternity, she was finally standing in front of his door. Is this really happening? She checked around to make sure she was alone in the corridor, and then she eased the security badge from her right sleeve and waved it once in front of the lock. “Shhh,” she whispered as the door slid open. She slipped inside and stood motionless like a robot without an energy pack, not daring to even take a breath until she heard the door slide closed behind her. She breathed heavily like she was just learning to climb a tall hill in the exercise room. Her eyes began frantically searching the room for the computer. She had seen it on Morg’s desk when she and her mom had visited, but it was gone. Where is it? Celine dug her fingernails into her palms. “It’s got to be in here,” she whispered.
Lost in the Red Hills of Mars Page 6