‘What is this place?’ I wave my hand in front of the young child’s face. ‘He… or is it a she? Can’t see us.’ The child wears a headset with an attachment that holds a screen, just a few inches in front of its nose. I move to the next row and kneel to take a closer look. The children sit on curved chairs; wires attached to their wrists and ankles, disappear up into darkness. I stand and see more as my eyes adjust. Two rows arranged in a circle face the center. I count the faces, flickering in the glare from the screens: sixty-four.
‘Hey, look at this?’ I turn to see Rebekah in the middle of the room. ‘There’s four screens, the same as those we saw on the upper level. And look,’ she stoops going out of sight, ‘they have a desk beneath with control buttons. There’s one with a square on it,’ she stands coming back into view, ‘just like the one that opened the screen walls.’
I hold up my hand. ‘Don’t touch anything!’
She smiles. ‘Don’t panic. I’ve learned my lesson. But what if we hadn’t pressed the one on The Observation Deck? We’d still be none the wiser.’
I try to return her smile. ‘Perhaps that wouldn’t be a bad thing.’
Rebekah walks back between the rows of chairs. ‘You don’t mean that… do you?’
I sigh. ‘I guess not, but—’
‘These headsets are different to ours.’ Reuben’s hand moves to the clasp of the nearest chair.
‘No!’ Ada stays his hand. Then steps back blushing. ‘Don’t remove it, they get very upset if you do that.’
Reuben bends and peers at the device attached to the head. ‘Don’t worry I won’t. I don’t want to hurt the… little one.’ He lifts the hand of the figure beside him. ‘It’s tiny.’
I glance over. ‘I’ve seen smaller. Solomon called them babies, they come from,’ my face grows hot, ‘well… you know.’
Rebekah looks away. ‘Do you think…? No, it can’t be.’
Reuben lets go of the child’s hand. ‘What?’
Rebekah bits her lip. ‘Is this the Education Level?’
I look at the rows of empty faces. ‘But we sat on mats and played with… stuff.’ I turn to Reuben. ‘We built houses from blocks, didn’t we?’
He nods. ‘Yellow ones. Yes, definitely. This has to be something different.’
‘I remember them being green. But I suppose—’
‘What are you doing in here?’ I spin around. Naomi stands a few feet away. She freezes as she sees my face, her eyes widen, her mouth moves as if to speak, but no words come out – only a scream. She turns to run then stops, clutches her stomach and stumbles to the floor.
Rebekah takes two steps, then looks to me. ‘Don’t let her leave. Say something… anything.’
I duck between two chairs and stop just behind Naomi. She hears my approach and tries to scramble away. ‘Naomi. It’s me… Noah.’
She moans, keeping her face covered with her hands. ‘But you’re dead. Mother said you died… killed by the enemy on the surface.’
I crouch by her side. ‘No. It’s a lie, it’s all lies. We’re—’ I turn to Rebekah. ‘She’s scared stiff. Too early?’ Rebekah nods. I place my hand on Naomi’s shoulder. ‘We didn’t die. There was no enemy. Mother only said that to… to stop you knowing… worrying about what’s... I’ll tell you later.’ Naomi peeps through her fingers. I smile. ‘Look, it really is me. And this is Rebekah, Reuben and Ada.’ She lets her hands drop. I help her to her feet.
Naomi’s face beams. ‘Noah. I thought I’d never—’
‘Dear Moses!’ Reuben gasps. ‘What happened to your belly?’
‘Reuben!’ Rebekah steps in front. ‘This isn’t the time.’
Naomi’s hands go to the large bump. Her eyes find mine. She whispers. ‘We did our duty, Noah.’ She looks to her stomach. ‘We’ve made a baby for Mother.’ My face tingles. Rebekah can’t stop a sharp intake of breath. Naomi smiles and takes my hand. ‘Here, feel him.’ My hand trembles, then softens onto the bump – it’s hard. Naomi rubs my hand. ‘This is New Adam. Mother says he’ll become the next Hero-Worker, after you of course, now you’re back.’
Reuben can’t take his eyes of Naomi’s belly. Rebekah turns away. I jump, jerking my hand away. ‘It moved!’
Reuben steps back. ‘Is… is it coming out?’
Naomi giggles. ‘No, not yet. He’s kicking. He must know you’re here.’
I place my hand back on her stomach. The tension leaves my face and I find I’m smiling. I look to Naomi. ‘When I was in the baby room, one held my finger. It was… tiny, it— Oh,’ I laugh, ‘he’s moving again.’
Naomi strokes my face. ‘I can’t wait to hold him. Mother said he’ll be out in less than two months, then—’ she jumps as a buzzer shatters the silence. ‘Oh… sorry, I have to sort that out or Mother will be angry.’ She turns and hurries to the flashing light on a headset of a child nearby.
A hand clutches my arm and pulls. Rebekah hisses in my ear. ‘We have to get her out.’
I check back to Naomi – she’s out of earshot. ‘Why? She seems safe, and the work doesn’t look difficult.’
She leans closer. ‘You don’t understand. After Mother has taken the baby, she uses some of the… what’s left. Naomi,’ she sighs, ‘Naomi won’t survive.’
I gasp. ‘What?’ Naomi looks up.
Rebekah pulls me back. ‘Shush!’
I whisper. ‘Do you mean she’ll… but what about Mother not harming us?’
She lifts the arm of the young worker beside her and takes its little hand between her fingers. ‘Once a girl has delivered a new life, it appears that she transfers her right to life, to the baby.’ Her eyes flicker. ‘I’ve… seen it, too many times. Once the spiders have taken out the baby, she leaves them to…’ She lets go of the hand and turns away. I move to her side and place my arm around her middle. Rebekah turns, but sees me glance at Naomi. She looks over her shoulder. ‘She’s coming back. Don’t tell her what happens, just… just get her out.’
‘But she’s got two months before—’
‘Did Mother rescue you, Noah?’ Naomi takes my hand. ‘Did she find you so she could bring you back to me?’
‘Err... yes… no, not quite like that.’ She frowns. I try to find the right words. ‘But we did get to the surface and—’
‘So it’s safe? Can we leave?’
‘No, not yet. We need to do something here before we can return.’
Naomi looks from Reuben to me. ‘Are you helping Mother?’
Reuben mutters under his breath. ‘Not exactly.’
Rebekah tries to help. ‘How long have you been working in… what is this place?’
Naomi straightens. ‘This is Education. This is the first stage. Two, three and four are in the next rooms along.’
Reuben can’t hide his disgust. ‘Are they all like this?’
She shakes her head. ‘No, of course not.’
Reuben sighs. ‘That’s a relief, I wouldn’t—’
Naomi laughs. ‘The chairs get bigger. A twelve-year-old couldn’t sit on one of these.’
Reuben’s body sags. ‘So, we spent our first years like this?’
Naomi adjusts the headset on the nearest child. ‘Well… yes. Mother says the young are too unpredictable and require too many…’ her eyes wander across the row to the screens in the center, ‘resources, yes that’s the word, if they’re running all over the place. It’s better this way. Mother says she can shape their minds before they start asking the wrong questions.’
I catch Rebekah’s eye. She plucks one of the wires. ‘And what’s the purpose of these?’
‘Those move their arms and legs to help strengthen their little bodies for the work to come.’
I pull at one. The child’s arm rises as if wanting to ask a question. I let it drop. ‘So how long have you been here?’
She smiles. ‘Since you left to lead the advanced party to the surface. I’m helping Mother to teach the,’ she pauses to form her lips around a new word, ‘toddlers so they’re ready to go to the next stage of their learning.’
Reuben stoops to look at the small screen. ‘Do they sit here all day? Do they sleep?’
Naomi looks at him as if the answer is obvious. ‘Of course they sleep.’
‘Where?’
‘Here. When the day’s finished, the headsets switch to the night story.’
‘But what about eating and… oh, dear Moses.’ Reuben grimaces and stands. He points. ‘Tubes. It’s those tubes again.’
Naomi nods. ‘You see, they’re well looked after. One of my duties is to bring the trolley with the feeding—’
Reuben holds up a hand. ‘I don’t want to know, thanks.’
Rebekah steps beside Naomi but keeps her eyes on me. ‘When did you last see Mother?’
Naomi shakes her head. ‘Not for some time, does it matter?’
‘How many legs did she have?’ I tug at Reuben’s arm. He shrugs. ‘She has to know the truth, we don’t have all day.’ He points up. ‘We have something to do, remember?’
Naomi edges closer and takes my arm. ‘What’s he talking about? What does he mean, how many legs?’
I sigh, looking to Rebekah. ‘He’s right.’ I don’t wait. ‘Mother isn’t well. She’s had to make a few changes.’
Reuben scoffs. ‘Yeah, just a few. And now she’s got eight legs.’
Naomi’s grip tightens. ‘What?’
‘She’s… she was never…’ I look to Rebekah.
She rolls her eyes to the ceiling. She takes a breath and explains. ‘Mother isn’t who we all thought she was. And this place isn’t beneath the Earth.’ Naomi’s fingers dig deeper into the soft flesh on my arm. Rebekah continues. ‘We’re on a ship, deep in space, circling a planet where we’re supposed to be building a new home. Mother is a machine that controls the ship and everything within it, including us. She’s —’
‘Noah?’ Naomi’s hand goes to her open mouth. ‘Is this true?’
I nod. ‘I’m afraid so. And now Mother has made a body for herself but it didn’t go well.’ Reuben snorts. I take Naomi’s hand from my arm and hold it. ‘She’s not a pretty sight, and… she seems to be losing her mind.’
‘Like Mad Enoch?’
‘Yes,’ I recall the streaks of dried blood on the window of the Observation Deck, ‘like poor, Mad Enoch, so we’re not safe. We’re trying to get everyone out, get them on to shuttles and down to the surface, but… we’re not sure how.’
Reuben laughs. ‘So, if you have any ideas?’
Naomi looks from one face to the next. Her arms cradle her stomach, her head drops. ‘But what about Mother’s baby?’ She shakes her head, raising her voice. ‘No. No, I can’t go. He’ll need Mother to look after him. Who’ll feed him, teach him… where will he work? How will—?’
‘You’re his mother.’ I pat her hand. ‘You can do all that for him.’
‘I’m his… what?’ She frowns. ‘I don’t understand. How can I be Mother? I thought… But to feed? Teach?’ A tear brims in her eye. ‘By myself?’
‘No, I’ll be,’ I catch Rebekah’s eye, ‘there’ll be others. We’ll all help. We’ll build a new home, a new life on—’
‘But what about all the toddlers?’ Naomi waves her arm. ‘Who will look after all of these, and the babies, and the older one’s in Education? We can’t leave. They’ll starve. They’ll… we’ll miss Mother.’ She sinks to her knees and sobs.
Reuben sighs. ‘That went well.’
Rebekah steps to my side. ‘She’s right. If we defeat Mother, if we can somehow get all these… little people into the shuttles, then if we can land safely on New Dawn, how are we going to feed them, let alone stop them losing their minds in the big, wide world down there after being stuck in this hole all these years? How are we supposed to…?’ She looks away, covering her face with trembling hands.
I hold her. ‘No one ever said it was going to be easy.’ Reuben and Ada shuffle. I lean over and whisper in Rebekah’s ear. ‘But if anyone can do it, it’s you and me. We’ve got this far.’
She looks up. ‘Far? We’re back to where we started. We’ve achieved nothing, in fact, we’re in a worse position. After all the—’
‘We’ve achieved something. We have friends on New Dawn. They have some control over the function of the ship, and, as Reuben said, Mother’s not in the best of shape, thanks to you.’ I pull her close. ‘Don’t give up, not now.’
Her eyes flick to Naomi. ‘What about her? And her little…’ her upper lip curls, ‘your little hero-worker.’
Naomi sits up. I whisper. ‘I didn’t have a choice, I was only doing my—’
‘Duty?’ She pulls away. ‘Yes, I know.’
I move to take her hand, but another pulls me back. It’s Ada. Her arm shakes as she points to the large screen in the center – it flickers. I grab Ada. ‘Get down. It’s Mother.’ We drop to our knees as her rancid face beams from the screens, filling the room with a yellow light.
‘My children.’ The small screens lift and many pairs of eyes look up; a smile forms on their lips as if they cannot see what we can. Mother smiles. ‘I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you all.’ I flinch as she clears her throat. ‘Naomi?’ Mother sounds concerned. ‘Where are you? I can’t see your pretty face.’
‘Here, Mother.’ Naomi stands. I stop breathing. She gasps and twists away from the screen. ‘Mother! What’s happened to you?’
‘Don’t be afraid. I have many battles to fight to keep you safe. I’ve had to make sacrifices. Now, please face me, Naomi.’
Naomi’s eyes reluctantly return to Mother. She straightens and takes a deep breath.
Mother swallows. ‘Good. Now tell me, how is my little hero-worker today?’
I peer between the two children in front, to see Naomi’s hand go to her bump. ‘He’s fine thank you, Mother. He’s been kicking again.’ She glances in our direction but I wave my hand, getting her to focus only on Mother, willing her to be brave.
‘That is good news. I can’t wait to see him. In fact, I believe we might be able to bring him into this world earlier than planned.’
Naomi edges back towards me. ‘But I thought you said it—’
‘We can’t wait. Times are difficult. We face a new challenge from Outsiders. We need a new hero for inspiration. He’s ready. My incubators will accelerate New Adam’s growth much faster than your primitive womb.’ Rebekah clutches my arm.
Naomi stutters. ‘W… when will you...?’
‘I have begun preparations. A maker is on its way. It will escort you to my laboratory where the procedure will be performed tomorrow.’