by A. Bernette
“It’s not a social experiment and it’s not for class. This is real. What you do will impact society but at the same time you will learn from it,” Canson answered trying not to feel offended by Marco’s accusation.
“Wait. Back up. You said ‘we’. Who is ‘we’? Are there more Keepers?” Alexis’s voice broke in again.
“I did say ‘we’. ‘We’ is hard to explain but there are more Keepers. You know Mave already, Stephen and Stella. You will meet the others, in time. I’m sorry if I’m leaving you confused. I sense there are many more questions and they will be answered but there is a process for understanding,” Canson said. He offered nothing else as they waited.
“Darn right we have more questions, Mr. Pritchard,” Alexis said hoping he heard her clearly. “And if we are so involved, we deserve answers,” she argued.
“In time. You’ll get answers in time.”
Canson had ripped the lid off the box and there was no putting it back on. He hoped it wasn’t too soon for them to be getting this hurried intro. He hoped they’d trust him and what they were already feeling enough to follow along.
“And keep working on that file. I believe it’s important too,” Canson encouraged them before returning his attention to Alexis. “About what you said before Alexis - I am sure you have met other Connecteds. We are all Connecteds. Stella and Stephen, Mave is assigned to you two as well as Ren. I’m assigned to Alexis and Marco with a connection to Stephen to connect those dots. The two who are in Southern Liberty have another Keeper.”
“How are we all Connecteds? I’ve never heard of anything like that?” Alexis questioned further.
“Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I need to go but I will be in touch. Stephen and Marco, I’ll see you both in class next week. The room is yours. Oh, you cannot speak of this to anyone who does not first speak of it to you. Good night.” Canson was gone.
The group was silent for a moment. “I call B.S.!” Marco said forcefully. “What do you think his game is?” he added.
The others were quietly trying to process the unusual and surreal exchange.
“Do you think he’s trying to get the information we have on the files without getting in trouble?” asked Alexis.
“It’s possible. Can you find out who else he works for or who his connections are, Alexis?” Stephen asked.
“Are you all really asking that question? You do realize he said Mave was our Keeper, assigned to us? Isn’t that weird? And he is assigned to Marco and Alexis?! Doesn’t it bother you that we have…stalkers?” Stella said with concern. “And we aren’t supposed to speak to anyone about it? Doesn’t that sound strange too?” she added, waving her hands in the air for effect.
“Yeah, it does sound strange, but I trust Mave. She’s always been there for us Stella. Even when mom couldn’t be,” Stephen said defensively.
“I think it’s all fine and good we’ve got some really important mission to do, but right now we have to open up these files, Marco and I have a small project to do, and Summer break won’t be here for another month and a half. So, we have other things we need to worry about, right now,” Alexis told them. “We really don’t have time to waste.”
“You’re correct, Alexis. Marco, I need that information as soon as possible. My mom and her staff are having an important meeting here in the next week or so with the people who pay for this research center to be here. I need to know if there is something in those files that can help us make our case. If we don’t...” Stephen stopped in the middle of his sentence. He didn’t want to even think about what would happen if they couldn’t make the case.
“Can you do it?” Stephen finished.
Marco’s project with Alexis needed his attention too, but after hearing the problem from Stephen he thought they might be related.
“Alexis, I think you can help with this and it might help with what we are working on too. Stephen needs to get into some files that are protected. When you see the data there is a folder called Noah. He can access some of the files but there are a lot that are protected and he can’t get into them. I know if anyone can get into them, it’s you.” Marco was betting on Alexis not being able to resist a challenge like that.
Alexis thought about it for a moment. “If you think it’ll help us figure out what we have going on from the other project, I’ll help. Send me what you have Stephen,” she said, almost happily.
“It’ll be easier for you to get it from Marco. He has it. Once you get in, send it back using a scrambled source,” Stephen instructed.
Alexis rolled her eyes at Stephen’s request. “I know. Do you think I’m stupid?” she asked rhetorically.
“No. Not at all. You wouldn’t already be in university if you were stupid,” he answered seriously.
“Guys, we gotta go. Thanks for helping, Alexis and Marco. It was good seeing you, Alexis. We’ll talk soon.” Stella broke the connection and looked at Stephen. “Not every question deserves an answer.”
“I know you are special Stella, but there isn’t anything particularly special about me?” Stephen said still considering why he was a part of the chosen group.
“What do you mean. Of course there is. That brain of yours and I need you to go ahead and turn it on for me. Help me make some connections and figure out what this is all about,” Stella said, smiling at Stephen as she tried to cheer him up.
Stephen turned everything off, double-checking that he wasn’t connected to anything. He then rolled his chair away from his desk so he could face Stella. She sat perched on the edge of her bed, hands on her chin, leaning forward expectantly. He’d already been making connections in his head. He didn’t think the same way most people did and it sometimes made it hard to tell others what he was thinking, including Stella.
“Stephen, what if there are no accidents, no random coincidences? Like Mr. Pritchard said about us all being connected somehow. What if it’s planned and we are just players in a game?”
Stephen was curious about where Stella was going with this. “Yes. I’m listening,” he said, willing to listen to her.
“So if there are no accidents or random coincidences, then it must be on purpose and ordered coincidences,” she added. “Stephen, what if it’s no accident we are brother and sister? That mom is our mom, dad is our dad? That we were born on this big block of ice or that our parents head up the ARC? Or that Mave has always been around? Even before we were born. What if none of that is an accident or random coincidence?” Stella said curiously, her brain busy.
“That’s a lot of ifs and that would take a great deal of planning that probably goes back a few lifetimes or generations. On the other hand, it could be an accident and a series of random coincidences and we just happened to wind up together at the right place at the right time with the right parents,” Stephen said not completely convinced himself it was coincidental.
Stella considered that possibility too. “What about Mave? Mr. Pritchard said she was our Keeper,” she asked.
“She could have been made our Keeper after we were born or once they knew she was going to work on the ARC,” Stephen tried to reason.
“But who is ‘they’?” Stella then retorted.
Stephen pondered the question for a moment.
“Come on Stephen. You are the one who can see all these probabilities. What’s the probability of all these ifs?” she asked Stephen.
“I don’t know. Those are past not future probabilities. Those things were in process before you and I were born.”
“True. Maybe we should talk to Mave. I’m sure if she is our Keeper she won’t mind,” Stella suggested.
“Good idea. Should we go now?” Stephen asked.
“It’s too late tonight and in the morning they’ll be dealing with that report. We should probably wait until things settle down and she has time to talk,” Stella suggested.
The sound of a light tap on the door made Stephen quickly disconnect from everything. He rolled back from
Stella’s desk towards her bed where she sat with the plate of cookies, one in her hand.
“Come in,” Stella said, taking a bite casually.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sent
Antarctic Research Center
Zura rolled over reluctantly and looked at the time on her nightstand through blurry eyes. The time, 5:00 a.m., looked back at her in a glowing blue light. She had barely slept since she finally crawled into bed beside Johan at one o’clock in the morning. She’d been tossing and turning throughout the few hours she’d forced herself to lay in bed. The same dream kept waking her up and she couldn’t shake it.
She managed to find the floor with her feet and shimmy her tired and worn body off the bed. She slipped on her plush white robe and her slipper boots and opened the bedroom door. She shuffled through the bedroom door trying not to disturb Johan who she’d left sleeping on his back, one arm on his stomach the other on the night stand. Everything happening now would eventually fall on them. Zura hated the idea that they might have failed these two innocents, and everyone else.
After the night he’d had, Zura knew Johan wouldn’t want to wake a moment earlier than he absolutely had to. He would want to get the extra hour and a half until his alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. She’d asked her core team to meet her at 7 a.m. in the science center to finish prepping for what she was certain would be coming later in the morning.
Zura walked across the living area to the hall where Stella and Stephen slept to check on them before they woke for the day. As she passed through their living quarters on the ARC she was reminded of when it was being built and how her husband had taken time to help design their unit to her specifications.
Her children’s bedrooms were next door to each other and just on the other side of the family room and kitchen. The design of the overall ARC, similar to a honeycomb meant going around to the other side of their bedroom to Stephen and Stella’s hall.
As she approached the first door, she naturally began to tiptoe. She didn’t want to wake her children. As she got nearer to the door she slowly turned the handle to peak in on her sleeping son. She couldn’t believe they’d be sixteen in what amounted now to just days. She hadn’t even finished plans for the birthday celebration they were expecting, and this was a big one.
She turned the handle on Stephen’s door and quietly pushed it open. Stephen nearly fell out of his chair, hitting the bottom of the desk with his knees as he stumbled backwards.
“Mom!?” Stephen gasped.
“Stephen, what the heck are you doing up at five o’clock in the morning?” Zura demanded.
Stephen scrambled to close his screen while stuttering something incoherent.
“I said, what are you doing up at 5:30 in the morning Stephen?” she asked again.
“Umm, I couldn’t sleep and wanted to get some work done. Why, why are you up?” he asked back.
“I’m asking the questions. What are you working on and why are you in such a hurry to hide it? You know I don’t like secrets or sneaking,” Zura warned.
“I was just working mom. I wanted to get a jump start on a project that is due when I get back. It’s an important class, the online science class. I couldn’t sleep and figured I’d just do some stuff on it, that’s all,” Stephen tried to reassure his skeptical mom.
Zura looked at her son. He was a terrible liar and she knew he was lying. His eye twitched against his will, under her probing gaze but she wouldn’t press him this morning. It was too early and he rarely lied. If something was keeping him up at this time of morning she didn’t want to press him and make him lie about it more.
She mostly trusted him, but she’d have Rupert check both the incoming and outgoing communications and systems that were accessed that morning, as soon as she had time. Trust but verify was her motto. It was one of the reasons she was where she was.
“Turn it off and get some rest for the next hour, okay? You aren’t going to be any good to us if you are falling over asleep.” She waited for him to lie back in his bed. “I’ll see you soon,” Zura whispered and closed the door.
She hoped Stella was sleeping. She turned Stella’s handle to find her asleep on her bed. Her head was hanging almost over the side and her arms were dangling. She figured she’d be lucky to see Stella before noon. She gently closed the door and walked back down their hall and to the small family kitchen.
Zura needed to feel normal this morning before everything went to hell. She made herself toast and coffee and ate in silence taking in the view from the windows above her. The sky was still light. She had to admit she loved that it was never really dark during the months they were there. It made her feel like she had all day to get things done. When she finally got back home to Northern Allegiance she would crash and sleep for a couple of days, but while here, she couldn’t spare any time.
She finished her toast and carried her coffee back to her room. She needed to send the report out before her funders were awake. It would be there mixed in with the slew of other late night and early morning messages when they checked. It might help it be a bit more buried and buy them some more time.
She’d already crafted the message and attached the file. Zura tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach as she sent it all off to her contacts at the science divisions of UniCorps and the World Consensus. Once done, she walked in circles rethinking through everything. There was nothing left for her to do before her team’s morning meeting at seven.
Zura went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She looked tired. She felt old even if the years didn’t show it. She was in her late forties and suddenly wondered if she’d somehow made a mistake with the past twenty plus years of her life. It had been eighteen years with the ARC project and even more preparing for this role she considered to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Zura stepped into the hygiene closet and hung her robe on the hook just outside the closet door. She stood in the middle of the small sanctuary, exposed, as she stared at the little holes in the walls. She pressed the small red button to start the sanitizer, letting it do its work as she rested her forehead against the wall in front of her. After years of having to be strong this was the only place she ever let herself cry anymore. She slid down to the cool floor with her hands on her knees and her head down as the foam covered what it could reach.
Alone in that room that somehow made everything clean again, she wept. The sanitizer session ended. Instead of coming out she reached up to the red button, pressing it again to let it start another round. She had to be on and ready when she stepped out. She stood up and let the lasers do their job.
Zura lifted her arms up and placed them against the wall and just let go for a moment. All she could do now was breathe deeply. When it beeped telling her it was over this time, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. She reached for her soft robe and put it back around her, hoping for a little more comfort.
Zura could hear the alarm going off and was sure Johan would be coming in soon. She’d be able to go in the room to dress without worrying about waking him. Zura could hear him hit the snooze button and she rolled her eyes.
She walked into the bedroom and got her uniform from the closet, not bothering with any attempt to be quiet. Coming out of the clothes closet she noticed her dress from the night before draped over a chair in the bedroom. It had been a tolerable evening that lasted too long.
“Johan, time to get up. You’ve got less than twenty minutes now to be in the science center,” she nudged him once she had her uniform on. Looking at the time that now read 6:42, she bristled at the thought that he’d already hit the snooze once and that she’d spent more time in the restroom than she’d thought.
“And after your night you are gonna need some coffee before you show your face in there.”
He rolled over and moaned. “Ughhhh. I’m getting up. Why the hell did you call a 7 a.m. meeting today, of all days?” he complained.
“Because, we are gonna have UniCorps an
d the World Consensus crawling all up our backsides in a few hours and I refuse to not be ready. See you there. There’s still some coffee in the kitchen.” He could see Zura set something down beside him before she grabbed a folder and walked out of the room, leaving him just barely sitting up in bed now.
His head throbbed and he lay back down on the pillow for just a moment to help ease the pounding and keep the light from the bathroom from making it worse. He shot up as he heard the sound of the alarm beginning to go off again. Crap! 6:50. He noticed Zura had left him a tiny tablet to take for the headache. He hit the clock repeatedly trying to turn off the annoying sound before finally dragging himself out of bed and to the bathroom. “What a crappy way to start a day that is already going to be crappy,” Johan thought.
The headache was already starting to go away but the throbbing hadn’t subsided. He knew Zura wasn’t happy he’d had a few too many drinks, especially with what was happening and who would be coming that morning.
The wife in her let him sleep until his alarm went off and gave him something for the headache. The boss in her expected him to be there on time and ready to work. If he wasn’t, he’d pay for it with both the wife and the boss.
Johan was grateful the sink had running water. He splashed his face with cold water and walked into the small room to be sanitized. A couple of minutes later he was out and dressed. He’d done pretty well getting ready all things considered. He pulled the door open and walked out, letting it close gently behind him.
He’d grab a coffee before heading down and make sure Stephen was out of his room too. He hoped Zura wouldn’t get on him too much for being a minute late. He knew the kids had been up late talking and catching up.
Stephen came past the kitchen, walking quickly, as Johan poured himself a large black coffee. “Good morning, Dad. We’re late,” Stephen said to his dad’s back.
“Morning, Stephen. Wait up. I’m headed that way,” Johan said. “So, did you have fun last night?” Johan asked.