CICADA: A Stone Age World Novel (5 page)

“Let’s go see some cool shit,” Max bellowed as he motioned for everyone to head to the exit.

Lisa was the last through the door, when she stopped before the three pictures that hung on the entry foyer’s wall. “I remember your great-grandfather, Russell Thompson, the guy who started Cicada, and of course I’m embarrassed and flattered to see our picture right there beside him, but who is this pretty woman?” She pointed at the smallest picture on the wall.

He knew the picture well, but he looked at it anyway. It was the one surviving photograph of the only woman Max had ever loved—his Fatima, who had died in Kuwait. She was looking up from an empty hospital bed where she worked. It was the very one he had found himself in after passing out in a bar and cracking his head open; when he awoke he was looking up into the same possessing eyes that observed him now.

Her picture, a testament to the epoch moment in his life, was there with the others as reminders of why Cicada was so important to him. That way, he would see these prompts every time he left and returned each day. The few times he stayed here, he imagined Fatima saying things to him like,
Have a great day, honey
when he went to his office in Comms. Or
Welcome home
when he returned.

But now, gazing into those captivating dark pools, he heard different words. This time he heard,
You must protect them!

He reached in front of Lisa and pulled the door shut, nudging both of them outside.

“She was someone special. I’ll tell you about her later.” He locked the door and said, “Come on, let me show you what is probably, at this moment, the most advanced research facility in the world. And right after that, I have something wonderful to show you.”

Magdalena walked in rubbing her eyes, her black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She dressed casual, as normal, wearing a loose muscle tee and shorts, clean and creased. Her step was lively, but her demeanor seemed sad.

“Hey, sleepy head,” Webber said, pulling off his headphones. “Welcome to the land of the living.”

“Thanks for letting me catch some Z’s, Web.” She smiled a shallow smile. “I heard Sampson bought it today from some Squatts trying to break in.”

“Yeah, I wondered if you’d slept through that too… Not too many people knew him.” He paused to see if she wanted to add anything, but she didn’t; instead, she headed for the server room. “You hear who arrived?”

She stopped and mock-glared at him. “Do you really think that little of me? Of course I know who arrived. I’m going to meet up with Max and his friends in a few minutes to show them the Library.” Her smile grew. She twisted the knob to the clean room’s door. “Just have to do my daily check on the Crays.”

“Now that you’re here, I’m going to get a bite to eat. Can you lock up when you leave?” He left without waiting for an answer.

“Sure. I’ll probably see you in the dining… whatever.” She shrugged and headed into the entryway of the clean room. After putting on her anti-static booties and white, full-length lab coat, she strode into what was for her one of the two coolest rooms on earth, both figuratively and literally. Of course, what would compare. Cicada had the only working super-computers anywhere and it was certainly cold from the air conditioning.

She pulled out a drawer, unfolding the Cray’s monitor and keyboard. The screen instantly flashed to life. Almost as quickly, she started to type. In about ten minutes, after running all her tests, she would be done and she could go see Max and meet the people who meant so much to him.

The mole was sure that he had entered the Comms room without being seen. If he was caught, because of his position, he’d at least have a reason for being here. The clean room’s lights were on, and he could see Magdalena inside with her back to him. She was running her tests, so he had enough time to do what he needed and leave before she would possibly look his way. Not that she could see him, as all the lights in the Communications room were off.

After making sure the door was secure, he walked over to the Comms console and sat. Reaching down to the bottom drawer, he inserted his key, unlocked it and slid it open. Inside sat something that would have seemed odd in the high-tech world preceding the Event. After the Event, it seemed odder still. In fact, he was one of only maybe two dozen people on the planet who knew it existed. Grabbing the receiver of the 1970s-style phone, he put his ear to it and depressed the clear plastic buttons for the fifth and sixth lines at the same time. Both lit up bright red, indicating he had a line. His receiver crackled, and then he heard something like a dial tone. Then, it rang. It always reminded him of the ringing sound in Magdalena’s Pink Floyd’s
The Wall
album—a quick double-tone, followed by a pause; another quick double-tone followed by another pause. On the third ring, someone picked it up but said nothing.

“Bios-2, this is Cicada Comms,” he said into his receiver.

The other side, after hearing the correct words in the correct order, asked in a thick German accent, “What do you have to report?”

“Mr. Thompson and his friends, the Kings, arrived today. We also had another attack that badly damaged the north gate, but it is being repaired. The attack hurt Mr. Thompson, though not badly, but it killed Doctor Ronald Sampson. I checked Dr. Sampson’s room and couldn’t find anything incriminating. I will call in again tomorrow. That is all.”

“What is your current scientist count?” asked the German voice.

“I have no update from the last report—minus one, of course.”

“Thank you for the intel.” The German hung up.

He nervously put the phone back into its cradle and shut the drawer.

A clicking alerted him that someone was about to come through the clean room’s door into Comms.
He had to get out right away
!

“Webs, are you still here?” Magdalena thrust her head out the door and saw the Comms door swing shut, as if Webber had just left.

“This is the main research facility, where our scientists make their magic.” They were standing in an empty foyer, in front of an elevator. Max pressed his thumb against a small, rectangular raised plate. A light flashed and the elevator doors opened. “This is a biometric scanner for entry and use of the elevator or the door to the first-floor offices and labs behind us—there’s a stairwell through there.” He waited for them to enter then closed the door.

“Although there are five floors where our scientists are working on various problems, I’m taking you to the top floor.”

“How many scientists are here now?” Sally asked.

“I believe twenty-one.”

“That seems lower than I would have thought,” Lisa said, whose claustrophobia had kicked in almost as soon as the door shut.

“It is. We had planned on a lot more, but many didn’t make it.” He hated where this conversation was going. “Bill, you’ll love Dr. Cockerell’s lab. From what I understand, he’s building some sort of new hovercraft using something called John-Teller metal, although I have no idea what that is.”

The door opened with a
ding
. Quietly, they exited the elevator and walked down a long hallway with many doors to many labs. Max noticed that Lisa and Sally were looking down rather than into the labs like Bill was doing with interest. Seeing Rob Johnson standing in front of a lab door gave him an idea.

“Johnson,” Max called out, “can we borrow you for a moment?”

Johnson hesitated then marched their way, looking distracted. As if on cue, he started to beam.

“Good to see you finally made it, Mr. Thompson,” he gushed, shaking Max’s hand enthusiastically. “We all wondered, since your last call.”

Bill looked at Max curiously.
Call?
Cell phones hadn’t worked since the Event.

After introductions, Max asked Johnson if he would escort them through the labs—especially Dr. Cockerell’s—and then he’d meet them all in front of the Library.

“I’m sorry, but I have one task I must attend to first.” Max excused himself as Johnson and the Kings headed for Cockerell’s lab. When they left the hallway, Max went to Sampson’s lab, door 4G. Interestingly, it was the same door Johnson had been standing in front of when he called him over. Max entered, turned on the lights and immediately started looking for Sampson’s computer terminal, hoping what he was searching for would be near it. This lab was one of the largest, taking up three lab spaces. Immediately in front were several test displays of gray concrete-like blocks stacked on scales. At the far corner, Max found a likely spot for his objective: a lab cabinet with a monitor and desktop PC beside it. Below were multiple shelves and a single, locked drawer. He tried several keys until the lock clicked and the drawer slid open, revealing only two items: a small portable hard drive and a composition notebook with graph-paper pages and lots of mechanical drawings and illegible scribbling. Snatching a satchel on another table, he placed both objects inside. He locked the drawer, turned off the lights and headed to the Library. He would have to investigate those contents later and figure out who had been searching through Sampson’s apartment—and why.

“Okay, now for the real cool stuff.” Max flashed a wide grin.

He had met the Kings—Johnson excused himself, saying he was in a hurry—at the elevator entrance of the Recreational Center and School. They proceeded down one floor.

“All who reside at Cicada have biometric access to where we’re going. I’ll get you into the system tomorrow because you’ll want to come down here… a lot. Also, this floor is only accessible by elevator—there are no stairs like in other buildings.”

The elevator doors opened into an all-concrete hallway. Nondescript neon lights illuminated the small hall and its three doors.

“We excavated this area down three floors. Where we’re going is the biggest open area in all of Cicada, other than the outside. The next floor down is much of our mechanical, electrical, ductwork, ventilation, etc. Below that is power storage.”

Max stopped at a door marked
Library
. “So, here we are at—”

“—the Library,” Sally finished, sounding sarcastic. “And me without my library card.”

“You joke, but get a load of this.” Max pushed on the door and held it open for them.