“I agree, with all that Kitty just said,” Jeff said. “I’ve already given Marcia and the others a full rundown, they’ll know how to direct you as needed. But as with the others, the leaders at Caliente Base can’t know that it’s not really me and Kitty.”
“Yes, Mister President,” Walter said, sounding worried and unsure, but determined to do his best, which was pretty much Walter in a nutshell.
“Walt, you’ve never failed us yet and you won’t this time, either. You guys will figure it out. Ensure that any plans are run by the people in the OSR before they’re put into effect. As long as my mom approves it, you’re good to go.”
“Thanks, kitten. Jeff?”
“What Kitty said, all the way, Angela.”
“Thank you, Mister President.” Mom knew when to make it official. “Now, before we lose you, are you all really alright?” There was just a hint of worry in Mom’s voice, and that meant she was probably really worried. Mom didn’t let anyone see her sweat.
“We are, Mom, I promise. You’ll have the toughest job—lying to Dad.”
She snorted. “Kitten, let’s be realistic—your father’s going to figure it out, regardless of the fact that I’m going to tell him he has to handle the animals since the kids aren’t here and ‘you and Jeff’ are sequestering. He’ll be very busy, but he’s too inquisitive to not guess and he’s trustworthy. We’re going to tell your father what’s going on and let him do his form of a cover-up, just like the rest of us. We’ll handle Alfred and Lucinda as needed but we’re not telling them anything because, as you’ve made so clear, they can’t lie.”
“Love where your head’s at, Mom. And I love you, and Uncle Mort, and everyone else, too.”
“We love you, too, all of you,” Mom said.
“Come home safely,” Marcia said. “All of you. Please.”
“We will,” Jeff said with complete confidence I was pretty sure that he, like the rest of us, didn’t feel.
“You guys hold down the fort and keep the home fires burning, and we’ll go wherever the ship’s taking us, hit reverse, and come on home as fast as we can.”
Would have said more, but Mother came on the line. “The call needs to end now. We’re about to enter warp.” And with that, she disconnected us from my mother, my uncle, my friends, and our tenuous connection with Earth.
CHAPTER 14
“WE CAN’T GO TO warp until we know that everyone on board is safe and uninjured,” I said as firmly as possible. “We need to get everyone safely strapped in so no one is harmed, Mother.”
“We are not going to warp until that has happened,” Mother confirmed. “However, it cannot happen while you are communicating with those on Earth. I was able to determine that your conversation was done and you were all just extending the conversation in good-byes. Therefore, I chose to end the conversation sooner as opposed to later.”
“Wow, she is just like a mother,” Tito said. “Mine had this attitude, too. I can remember my mother hanging up the phone on all of us when she thought we were talking too long.”
“My mother never did that,” Tim said. “Though there’s nothing wrong about it, Mother,” he added hastily.
“I’m not chiming in,” Jeff said. “I want to know where everyone is and get them to whatever form of safety this ship has before Mother does something against all of our will.”
“I am not programmed for your will,” Mother said calmly.
“Clearly,” Jeff muttered.
Chose not to mention that she’d replied to Jeff without my repeating the question. “Why are you going against the programing Drax gave you?”
“Because I was shown that this new programming is more vital. Now, the five of you can leave your posts—I am connected to you organically as well as via the ship, and I know all four adults would like to verify the safety of the others in person.”
“Oh. Good.” Tim took off his helmet. “How do we know if Mother is still talking to us?”
She didn’t reply. Took my helmet off and actively chose not to look at any reflective surfaces. “Mother, are you still talking to us?”
“Yes. To you. And to the others, as needed.”
Wondered if she’d caught that I’d noticed that she’d replied to Jeff. Wondered more if she’d noticed things I was thinking versus saying now that I had the helmet off. Wondered even more if this ship’s AI had gone insane somehow and was leading all of us to our horrific deaths.
Heard nothing from Mother. However, if she was a sneaky AI, and I had the distinct feeling that she was, then she wouldn’t let me know she could read my mind until it was too late. Meaning we were possibly screwed.
Took Charlie from Jeff as he and Tito took their helmets off. “You’re sure this isn’t just some ruse to get us into a position to kill us?” Tito asked.
“I’m getting the HAL feeling again,” Tim said.
“I just want to verify that my daughter, my ward, my family, and all our friends and colleagues are okay,” Jeff said. “After that, we’ll deal with what’s really going on.”
“Mother, can you please direct us where to go to find our daughter, Jamie?”
“Yes.” Mother shared some easy directions and we found the kids in a room actually quite close to the command center, just not via the route Jeff, Tim, and I had taken. And it was all the kids. And all the young adults. And several not as young adults, too—all the adults it was a safe bet had come into the ship to find all the children. They were in a room marked “Nonessential Personnel Station” and were all strapped into comfy bucket seats that clearly were also there to serve as crash couches.
And everyone was asleep.
They were sleeping as deeply as Charlie, who was in my arms, sleeping like he’d never slept before. This could not possibly be natural for my son, let alone for all the others.
Did a fast headcount. Jamie was here, sitting next to Wasim. There was a seat between Jamie and Lizzie, who was next to Christopher. Got the distinct feeling that seat was reserved for Charlie. There were plenty of empty seats, but only because it was a big room. All the kids who were in Sidwell or the Embassy Daycare, meaning every kid Jamie knew and liked or loved, were in here, too, along with their parents, as were Amy—who had JR in her lap and was right next to Becky—Mahin, Naveed, Gadhavi, Kevin and Denise Lewis, Doreen and Irving Coleman-Weisman, Rahmi and Rhee, Mrs. Nancy Maurer and her grandkids, and, I was both shocked and relieved to see, all of Jeff’s Cabinet, other than Nathalie.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but figured the “how in the hell did all these people get here?” question was probably going to have to wait. Besides, there was a far more urgent question, in my opinion as a parent. “Um, Mother? Why and how are they all snoozing?”
“I chose to ensure that all nonessential personnel would be sleeping for takeoff and the beginning of warp.”
The four adults looked at each other. “How did you get them here?” I asked.
“I directed them.”
“We never heard that,” Jeff pointed out.
Mother didn’t reply. Heaved a sigh. “How did you give them directions, Mother? We didn’t hear anything.”
“With visual aids.” Lights on the walls and floors flashed, similar to the ones used in airplanes during emergencies.