The Antarcticans (39 page)

Zhu leaned in curiously, his hand on his chin. “Keep going,” he said.

Joshua reached forward to the boy, who had been stepping back from him, letting him have his space to explore his newfound abilities. From his arm, the Ptahs extended toward Zhu, their bodies interlocking to form an extending tentacle, reaching across the space between them. The small Ptahs spun together to form fingers and then a hand, reaching until it was outstretched for a handshake in front of Zhu. The boy put his hand out and shook Joshua’s extension of himself. Joshua felt the smoothness of Zhu’s skin in his hand, as if he were actually touching him. He squeezed, and the Ptahs squeezed. Zhu tried to pull his hand away, but Joshua held on to him. The walls of the room suddenly spun through a cycle of colors like an urban discotheque.

“Let go,” Zhu cried. He leaned back, and the ground beneath the space between Joshua and him rose. The lights were pulsing only red now. A flexible, cylindrical tube emerged and wrapped around Joshua’s extended Ptah arm then lifted the arm high toward the ceiling. The Ptahs flexed, and Joshua adjusted the position of his actual arm until it became uncomfortable and he let go of the boy. A platform underneath Zhu lifted him ten feet into the air. Zhu pointed down at the Ptahs covering Joshua and commanded, “Respect me.”

The Ptahs dropped from his body and coiled next to him in the shape of a tower. Joshua exhaled, relieved they were off him.

“What are those?” he asked, breathless.

“Ptahs,” Zhu said. “They’re the builders of this world.”

“What else can they do?”

“That’s for you to discover. They’re in need of leadership and organization. They previously organized themselves and used their intellectual resources to maintain the world here. But as this world crumbles around us, they‘re beginning to break apart, and their previous assemblage in the form of the god Amun has been unable to manifest. Lucifer thought your gift would allow you to give them order and a hope for Antarctica.”

Zhu stepped back, raised his arms, and made a group of Ptahs circle into the air and form a double helix. “They’re able to make very complex structures. I’ll be back later, but you must continue to practice with them. The goal isn’t physical manipulation—the goal is to capture their minds and lead them, bring order and peace to their disrupted existence.” The platform he was standing on drifted toward the door then lowered so he could exit the room. He turned back to Joshua before he stepped out into the large circular room. “This isn’t a game, Joshua. There’s a race dying here—the Antarcticans—and a homeland being destroyed. If you can’t save this world, we might not have any hope.” He went through the door, and it closed behind him.

“Well, fuck me,” Joshua said to himself.

Cavern four had been turned into living quarters for the Pennings. Noila, Gavin, and Joshua had three bunks stacked on top of one another along with a small private bathroom. Gavin was in the top bunk, reading his Bible, while Noila and Joshua sat on the bottom bunk, talking and eating.

“Mom, are we ever going to live in Florida again? You’re like some kind of celebrity here.” He was shoveling the pinkish-brown nutritional paste they were provided into his mouth. “Man, this stuff is pretty good. It tastes kinda like chocolate.”

Noila shrugged. “I don’t know, honey. We don’t know everything that’s happening, and my work could take years.”

“I don’t think we have years,” Gavin said.

“I agree, which leads me back to my point that I don’t have an answer.” She sighed lightly. “How was training with that boy today?” she asked Joshua.

“I don’t understand what I’m going to be using it for, but what I’m able to do is so cool, and I don’t even really know how I’m doing it,” he said excitedly.

“The purpose will come. Lucifer has a plan.” Noila pulled her legs up underneath her on the bed. “Have you heard any voices?” She squinted as if she were afraid of the answer.

He tapped the side of his head. “Dead silent.”

“Everything feels disjointed.” Gavin jumped down from his bunk and sat between them. “Whatever both of you are doing—and I won’t pretend to understand what that is—be careful.”

“You’re not mad at us?” Joshua asked.

“Mad?” Gavin shook his head. “I’m proud, proud that you’re doing this work, this research.” He looked at Noila. “You guys are going to change the world.” He was beaming.

“Have you heard from your mother?” Noila asked.

Gavin shook his head.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to bring up a bad topic.” She scooped up a spoonful of the paste and gently put it into Gavin’s mouth.

“That goop ain’t bad.” Gavin sighed. “No, she’s out there missing. I’m praying for her, worried, you know. She’s old.” He licked the paste from the corner of his mouth.

Noila pulled in closer to him. “Sorry, G. Let’s all hope for the best.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek then rested her head against his.

“Enough with the mushy stuff, guys,” Joshua said.

They all laughed.

“All right, it’s late. Let’s get to sleep.” Noila kissed each of them on the head then climbed up to the middle bunk. She pulled the small curtain closed as Joshua turned off the lights.

Noila dreamed of Addie, who, in the dream, was her husband. She was searching for him in Chimeruth but couldn’t find him. Joshua dreamed of the Ptahs; they were nuzzling around him in a wide bed made of feathers and silk. Gavin dreamed of the Devil; he was wrestling with him and trying to pull off what he thought was a mask. He wanted to know what was underneath.

Noila greeted the other scientists at the lab when she arrived. They were sullen and moving slower than the day before; someone was standing at her lab station as she approached. It was an Antarctican, rummaging through her experiments. “Hey,” she said loudly. He turned around, and she almost didn’t recognize him. It was Addie, but his formerly strong, healthy body was emaciated; the wispy layer of white hair was dirty and matted; and when he spoke to her, his breath smelled stale and bloody. “Addie, what happened to you?” Her eyes were concerned and searching.

“Our whole world is coming apart. Haven’t you noticed? Florencia said she saw you when you first came back, and you shrugged her off. What are you doing here, Noila?” He was agitated and swatting at things she couldn’t see.

“I’m…I’ve come back to help Lucifer. No, I mean to help you, your people.”

“What can I do to help?” Addie stopped rummaging and set a few pieces of her lab equipment upright.

A couple of other Antarcticans said something to him; it sounded as if they were sneering. They looked healthier than he did and were wearing clean, new clothes.

“Don’t worry about them,” Addie said softly. “They’re skeptical of you. They think you’re a one-hit wonder and we’re all destined to die.”

Noila shook her head. “Well, if we do nothing, we have a zero chance. I came up with a process that holds the ultra-low temperatures found under the glacier in a solution. I think I’ll be able to wrap this solution around the photon programming instructions, which will deliver the material to alter the Antarctican biology. If we inject some Antarcticans with the solution, the mutations should take place here under normal temperatures. Once the first mutation takes place, the Antarcticans’ bodies should be able to replicate it. Do you think we can get some volunteers? They’ll need to be healthy, as we won’t want to make anyone who’s ill any sicker, at least until we can figure out if this works.”

“What’s the risk to them?” Addie asked.

“If the mutations we introduce don’t work, it could be anything from growing some extra hair to death. That’s the bad thing about mutations—they’re unpredictable. But I think I have this under control. I’ve run enough test trials that I’m pretty certain it’ll work.”

Addie gave her a gentle smile. “I think the best way is to have Joshua use the Ptahs to deliver the serum to any volunteers we can round up and take readings of what happens to them. If the results are successful, then you can inject the serum into me as well. The Ptahs can travel quickly through the terrain, and they know how to communicate with everyone. Joshua’s got a way with them. I was watching him in one of his practice sessions yesterday. They adore him. I’ve worked with and watched Ptahs for a considerable time; I can tell when they take to someone. It’s like he’s one of them.”

Addie helped Noila prepare the sample vials with the new solution. Then they walked over to the room where Joshua and Zhu were. Addie sat down next to the scientist who was working the controls outside the room. “Can you ask Joshua to come out for a moment? His mother and I need to ask him something.”

The scientist protested; he was in the middle of something, he said, and they would have to wait.

Addie convinced him to make an exception—these were dire times. Joshua walked to the window and put his hand up in a stationary wave. Noila motioned for him to come out of the room. He shook his head and motioned for her to come through the door. She looked at the scientist, who sarcastically said, “Be my guest.”

The door opened, and Noila went into the room.

“Joshua, I need you to send some of the Ptahs on a mission to deliver this medicine and collect the results. Addie said if they give them this brief message in Antarctican, they’ll know what to do. Do you think you can convince them to help?”

“Yeah, of course. They do almost anything I say lately.” He laughed.

“It’s very important. This is the last step in my research to confirm my findings.”

She walked out to where Addie and the scientist were sitting.

“We’ve got a problem,” Addie said.

“What’s that?” she said.

“Doctor here says the Ptahs in there aren’t real.”

Noila looked around Addie at the scientist, who was nodding.

“So now what?” Noila asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking down at the floor. “Are there any real Ptahs in here?”

“No. He said this is a sealed unit. The only real ones are out there.” He pointed up.

“Well, then we’ll go out there and do this,” Noila said.

“Not so fast. I don’t have the authority to take you out of here. That’ll have to be something Lucifer facilitates.”

“Do we even know where Lucifer is?” She started pacing.

“Don’t worry, Noila. We’ll find a way to do this. I know time is short.”

Addie and Noila tore apart the cavern looking for Lucifer. They looked everywhere and even checked the cavern’s entry-control system to see if he had exited the cavern. There was no record of his having left since they’d arrived several days ago.

“Let’s go through all the rooms one more time,” Addie said. “I have a feeling we missed something. All our underground tunnels and structures have back entrances and utility rooms. Knowing Lucifer, he could be hiding in one of them.”

They started in room one. Noila was familiar with the lab she’d been working in, but she followed Addie’s lead anyway and ran her hands against the walls of the cavern, not assuming that the cabinets or other doors which were visible were the only access points. When they reached cavern two, they did the same thing. It was dark and hard to see anything. Addie started from one side of the room and Noila the other. Noila ran her hands along the smooth projection panels. They fit perfectly together so the seams weren’t visible or able to be felt. Lucifer had described how they worked to her once; each panel contained millions of nanoparticle negotiators and small reserves of the most common elements needed for making practically anything. They could pull and push, reassemble and redistribute them to build any structure. They were perfectly in sync and required constant maintenance to stay that way.

“Addie, where’s the maintenance access for the panels?” Noila called out to the dark room.

“It wouldn’t be in here. There must be another way to the back of the panels. Let’s ask one of the scientists.” They walked out of the room into the main chamber and over to the panels in front of the window of cavern one. The scientist pointed them to the column at the center of the circular room. “Press your hands against any part of it,” she told them.

Addie and Noila ran to the column and pressed their hands as instructed. The hard concrete softened under their palms, and they were able to pass through the material and get to the center of the column. The space inside was much smaller than the column looked from the outside. They spotted a small staircase and ran down it. At the bottom was a small antechamber with six tunnels fanning out from it. They were just big enough for an Antarctican to walk through. Over the entrance to each tunnel, a number was projected in the air in green: one through six.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m curious about number six, since there are only five caverns up there.”

“I’m with you,” Addie said.

They passed under the image of the “6” and slowly entered the curved tunnel. The floor was flat and only wide enough to put one foot in front of the other. The tunnels were illuminated with small bands of green lights embedded in the wall of the tunnel. When Noila and Addie looked down the tunnel, it looked like a psychedelic journey into nowhere. Noila kept her hands against the walls for balance. They were smooth, and she kept feeling little shocks, like when she pulled the laundry apart after forgetting to put a dryer sheet in with the clothes. They turned the corner, and the tunnel came to an end. There was a small glass frame in the center of the wall; Noila reached for it.