An elevator? “Yeah, because that worked so well for us in Omega City.”
Eric looked traumatized.
“Don’t listen to her, Eric,” Savannah said. “This place is in much better shape than Omega City was. They didn’t carry this chimp down a flight of stairs.”
“Great. So, first things first. Find the elevator.”
“Hoods up,” said Howard. “We have to hide from the infrared.” He unrolled his own hood, and Savannah and I did the same, then helped Eric get his on.
Howard stuck his head out of the chamber, then motioned for us to follow. We hurried back to the front door. I checked inside each chamber as we passed. Every one featured one of those cooling mattresses. How many chimps were they planning on freezing?
“Look!” Savannah pointed in triumph. Inside the front door was posted a diagram of the underground space. We were in the building marked Biostation. A long tunnel stretched in front of us with an arrow marked To Eureka Cove.
That was the direction the guards had taken their truck. It must be the tunnel that went under the water and back to the Guidant campus. There were also three smaller tunnels, one marked Botany, one marked Entomology, and one marked Bacteria.
I pointed at Entomology. “We came through this tunnel. Entomology means the study of bugs.”
Eric shifted uncomfortably. “We aren’t going back that way.”
Behind the biostation was a small square that said To CRC.
“Chimp Research Center,” Savannah said. “Let’s go.”
We circled the outside of the station, our figures casting long, ghostly shadows on the floor of the cavern as we hugged close to its glowing, jellyfish sides.
“You okay?” I said to Eric, who was panting heavily.
“Fine,” he said, in a tone that meant definitely not.
Around back, the cavern continued for another ten yards or so, then ended in a reinforced wall. In the center sat the large silver cage doors of a cargo elevator. We climbed inside, pulled the doors shut, and pressed the button marked Dome.
Howard nudged me, then gestured up to the corner of the ceiling, where there was a camera.
I raised my finger to my visor, as if putting it on my lips. He nodded and we nudged the others. If it wasn’t an infrared camera, we were in real trouble.
A minute later, the elevator screeched to a stop. We hauled open the doors to find ourselves in a nondescript room.
“Where’s the dome?” Eric asked desperately. “I don’t know how much farther I can go.”
“Here! Here!” Savannah danced down to another door. She opened it to reveal the wrecked-out hall of the observation lounge where we’d first met the apes. “Quick.”
We hustled into the hall, where the skeletons of the space chimps stared down at us with menace. The sun had set by now, and the dome was growing dark. I kept a wary eye on the habitat inside the dome, but there was no sign of the other apes, or their poop. Nevertheless, I planned to keep my visor up.
“Help me,” Eric said, standing at the divider separating the lounge from the domed habitat. I climbed over the barrier, then gave him a hand as he stumbled across. Savannah followed.
There was a rustling in the leaves behind me. I braced myself for getting pummeled with poop, but nothing happened.
With Savannah’s help, we loosened the chimp from her bindings and she fell off Eric’s back in a tangled heap.
“Oof,” Savannah said.
Eric dropped to his knees. “I think I broke my back.”
“Just rest for a second.” She got him situated, then turned around to straighten the chimp’s limbs. Howard was still in the observation lounge, keeping watch for any Shepherds.
Savannah bent over the ape, adjusting her limbs and petting her thick black hair like she was tucking her in to bed. The chimp looked relaxed, but I was leaping out of my skin. I clasped my hands together. “We have to get out of here.”
“Gillian,” Eric begged. “I seriously can’t move. Unless you plan to carry me, I need a break.”
I sighed. There was no way I could carry him for more than a few feet. “Okay.” I sat down next to him, inside the dome, our backs to the barrier.
Savannah joined us. “I have no idea how long it will take for her to wake up. I did manage to find a pulse, though. And she’s breathing. Should we wait?”
“We have to wait at least a little,” I said. “Eric needs some time to recover.” I didn’t want to say what I was thinking. Chances were good that by rescuing this chimp, we were giving up our only opportunity to escape. But it was too late to do anything about it now.
Several minutes passed in silence, and I thought about the Shepherds. If Howard was right, they were doing hibernation experiments on the chimps to see how long-term hypothermic torpor would affect human health and mental ability. Just like the original space program had used chimps like Ham and Enos to see if humans could survive the stress of space travel, the Shepherds were testing their descendants to see if they could survive long-term hibernation.
And if those coded messages were right, then the Shepherds were tampering with the data from the Capella project to trick people into thinking there was an asteroid headed to Earth. Anton’s work with the bees had been a bust, so they needed something to cause widespread panic.
And then what? Convince humanity to put all their resources into international space travel? That might work for a little while, but based on what I’d seen on the island, even with all the Shepherds’ work on pygmy sheep and jammy silkworms and frozen monkeys, we weren’t ready to settle down on Mars quite yet. So unless they kept occasionally threatening us with nonexistent asteroids, we’d eventually calm down again. Long before the human race decided to pack up and move out.
So what was this really all about? And why was Dani so frantic about it?
Far above the top of the tree, the sky had turned a deep indigo, and stars were just starting to twinkle to life. Howard joined us, tilting his face upward toward the heavens.
“It looks like Omega City,” he said.
I examined the sky and the broken domed roof. “You’re right. It does a little.”
“I miss it,” he said. “I sometimes dream I’m back there.”
“Me, too,” said Eric. “I call them nightmares.”
I elbowed him.
“Sorry, but it’s true.”
Howard said nothing for a bit. And then, “Do you think he’s up there?” He meant Dr. Underberg.
I stared at the vast, endless expanse of midnight blue. “I don’t know anymore.”
And I didn’t know what Dr. Underberg had been trying to say when he’d sent Howard that book. If he’d wanted to let us know about the Shepherds at Eureka Cove, surely there was a better way than trying to get us to discover and decode their messages ourselves.
That was just like Dr. Underberg, though. First he’d left behind that riddle of a treasure map leading to Omega City, and now his stupid code book. Another test, as if the only thing he really cared about was seeing if we were smart enough to play his game.
But Dani had been right about one thing: this wasn’t a game. And it was way too big for kids like us to play.
I sat up suddenly, remembering what my father had said—why would the Shepherds’ codes be something easy enough for kids like us to break? Kids like us, who’d just gotten our first code-breaking book the night before?
They wouldn’t. It was as simple as that. Just like Dr. Underberg’s treasure map to Omega City, a puzzle that Fiona couldn’t figure out, but that we managed to solve in a single afternoon, because we had all the pieces. He hadn’t made it to be impossible. He’d made it for his friends.
Friends like us.
I thought about the messages we’d decoded.
Shepherds ready to move on target at Eureka Cove.
I agreed with Dad this morning. A Shepherd wouldn’t say something like that to another Shepherd. They’d just say, We are ready to move.
If Dani
hadn’t been sending the messages to other Shepherds, who had she been talking to? Who was the friend her codes were for?
“Howard?” I asked. “Where are the codes we took from the station?”
“Here, let me get them. . . .” Howard dug the papers out of his pockets and handed them to me.
Seagrets accepted invitation to speak at Guidant. Please advise.
Need confirmation of Capella tampering. Expect counterattack.
Infinity Base not secure. Prepare for evacuation—
Savannah clamped a hand down on my arm. “Watch.”
I looked to see the fur shifting on our chimpanzee friend. I wasn’t sure if she was waking, or if a breeze had ruffled her hair.
After a few more minutes, something else stirred. A tiny figure emerged from the shadow of the tree—the baby chimp. It came out a few steps, chittering plaintively.
“Aw,” said Savannah. “It wants its mommy.”
None of us moved a muscle. The mama chimp lay on her sheet, several yards away, and the baby sat halfway between the tree and its mother, clearly too scared to come forward.
At long last, the chimp rolled over. I saw her face the baby and weakly extend an arm. The baby retreated with a little shriek. The mother hooted softly at it, arm still outstretched. For a few seconds, the baby hopped back and forth, undecided. The mother didn’t move, just lay there, repeating her murmured invitation.
We sat there, transfixed. I had no idea how long this went on, the baby, trembling with fear and distrust, as the mama chimp held her arms open, as if she would wait for all eternity.
“Go on,” whispered Savannah.
I swallowed thickly, unable to speak.
Finally, with aching slowness, the chimp crawled forward into the curl of its mother’s arms. She held it close.
The wind wafted around us, bringing the sounds of summer insects, as we watched the chimps together. I had no idea what the future held for them. We hadn’t saved her from the Shepherds. They could just as easily repeat their experiment tomorrow and drag her away again. But for now she was with her child, and that was enough.
Beneath the protection of my visor, my cheeks were wet.
I had just started thinking it was time to get a move on when the sound of footfalls startled us all. The chimp lumbered to her feet and limped off as quickly as her sluggish muscles could carry her, her baby clinging to her fur. We scrambled to our feet and turned to face the intruder.
“Good,” said Dani. This time she was wearing what looked for all the world like an Omega City utility suit. “I’d hoped I’d find you here.” She nodded toward the chimp. “I see you took the bait. I knew you would. Softies.”
“What are you doing to these chimps?” Savannah asked, her tone accusing.
Dani lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “The same things hundreds of companies do to thousands of chimps all over the world. The same thing Howard’s precious NASA did to those skeletons up on the wall. The same thing humans do to every other life form on the planet. Use them for our own purposes. In this case, we were doing a study of the detrimental effects of long-term hypothermic torpor on brain function and body mass.” She shrugged. “Better them than us.”
“I knew it,” I said, indignant.
She gave me a sour glance. “Aren’t you clever.” Dani stepped over the barrier and into the dome. “Well, I’m here with some bad news.”
“What, this time you really have to take us in?”
“No. But I’m afraid I’ll soon have to tender my resignation at Guidant. Unfortunately, thanks to our little adventure back there at the biostation, they’re onto me.”
“Oh, no,” I snapped. “Poor you, going to lose your job if they find out you’re a Shepherd. How does it feel?”
“If they find out I’m a Shepherd?” she echoed. This time, her laugh was real. “Gillian, we’re all Shepherds here.”
“Wait, really?” Eric asked. I expected a jolt of surprise, but all I felt was sick to my stomach as the last shreds of hope vanished. Of course they were. Of course. Dad was never going to be okay. None of us were.
“That’s the whole point of this company. The Arkadia Group had to hide when Underberg went rogue, but it never disappeared. Everyone in a leadership position in Guidant is a Shepherd. Come on. Guidant? Herding? Isn’t it obvious?”
“Ohhh,” Savannah said, thoughtful. “Yeah, now that you put it like that, it is.”
“So Elana Mero is a Shepherd,” I said coldly.
She rolled her eyes. “Elana is at the top of the heap. That’s why I freaked out when you told her about my messages.”
“But you’re a Shepherd, too!” I said, confused.
“Yes,” she said with a shrug. “Pretty much since birth. Kind of came with the territory. But that doesn’t mean I’m not on your side.”
“What side?” Eric asked.
“Aloysius Underberg’s, of course!” Dani replied. “He’s my father.”
21
UNDERBERGS
IT TURNED OUT DANI HAD WANTED TO MEET US IN THE DOME FOR A VERY specific reason.
“This is the only place on the island where we can talk freely,” she said. “Everything is broken here, and they can’t monitor us. With the help of our utility suits, their drones won’t be able to spot us on their infrared cameras, either.”
“Why is this place in ruins if the Shepherds are still doing experiments here?” I asked.
Dani looked pained. “Because it was easy to construct, but not to keep up. Guidant money built this place; then Elana claimed it wasn’t energy efficient to do things out here. It was an easy excuse to shut it down so the Shepherds could take over the facilities with no one noticing. We had our own private tunnels to get in and out, so no outsiders—no one in Eureka Cove who wasn’t involved in our operations—would even notice us coming and going. There are enough Guidant employees who are also Shepherds to keep the whole thing a secret.” She glanced around the ruins of the dome. “We let ivy grow over all the buildings, so on the off chance that someone ended up here or photographed it from above, it would look like what we claimed it was—abandoned.”
“But this chimp habitat is more than abandoned,” Savannah said. “It’s in ruins.”
“That is unfortunate,” Dani agreed. She rooted around in her pockets and pulled out a few packets of astronaut ice cream. “Hungry?”
“Starved!” Eric and Howard snatched the packets out of her hands.
“It’s an old family recipe,” she said with a grin.
I narrowed my eyes. There was no way this pretty young woman was Dr. Underberg’s daughter. He was an old man. And besides, she looked nothing like him.
She caught me glaring. “We’ll get to my story in a minute, Gillian. I promise you, it’s true. Anyway, Savannah, to answer your question, the dome was supposed to be intact. I used to work in this center. But a few years ago we had an accident in one of our facilities. It sent a shock wave through the island and broke the dome. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it repaired. We’d need cranes and all kinds of construction materials, and remember, we were operating in secret, so . . . it ended up going a little wild.”
“But that’s not safe for the chimps,” Savannah insisted. “What about the winters?”
“There’s enough shelter in winter for them to be okay,” she said. “They could always come inside the main building, too.”
“Why didn’t they escape?” asked Eric.
“Escape where? We’re on an island.” Dani opened up a packet of ice cream. “Plus, we made sure they were conditioned not to leave the center.”
“Conditioned?” Savannah looked indignant. “How?”
Dani didn’t even look contrite. “We shocked them if they tried to leave. Ice cream?”
Savannah turned her nose up at the offer. I didn’t blame her. Those poor monkeys hadn’t done anything, and they were left to fend practically for themselves in a ruin. And Dani thought she could make it all better with some powdered t
reats?
“Tell us what you’re doing here,” I said. “I don’t believe you’re really an Underberg.”
“I’m not,” she replied primly. “I’m an Alcestis. My mother was a computer scientist. Once upon a time, she and my father were both Shepherds, but then he lost faith in the group’s mission. The Shepherds don’t take too kindly to people who act against them, as your family discovered. They drummed my father—Dr. Underberg—out of their organization, and gave my mom the choice about whether to join him and go on the run or stay with them.” She looked down. “I was just a baby. The Shepherds offered her security, so she took it. I don’t blame her.”
“She abandoned your father?” Sounded familiar. What was with moms?
“She took care of her child,” Dani corrected. “What was the alternative, hide out in Omega City, get raised underground? No thank you.”
“Makes sense to me,” said Eric.
But I just sniffed. Dr. Underberg had managed it. “So they turned you into a Shepherd.”
“If that’s the way you want to see it. The Shepherds aren’t totally bad, you know. Your precious Dr. Underberg used to be one.”
“Isn’t he your precious Dr. Underberg?” Howard asked. “He is your father.”
“I don’t remember him,” Dani answered. “You all have seen him more than I have. I’ve never even spoken to the man face-to-face. I grew up with my mom and became a scientist like she was. My mother died when I was a teenager, but the Shepherds are like family, if you’re loyal. I took a job as Elana’s assistant, but mostly I did research for the Shepherds and reported back to Elana.”
“What kind of research?”
“Do you know what it is the Shepherds do?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “They destroy people’s lives to further their own goals.” That’s what they’d done to my father. That was what they’d done to hers.
“Sometimes,” she admitted, after a moment. “People need guidance. But Shepherds aren’t in it for themselves. We’re doing our job for the good of the flock. We’re here to save the human race.”
“What about those dead bees? How was that going to save anything?”
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