The Gardener

  Mom cleared her throat. “Mason, I know you care about Laila, so think about this. If you were to call someone, the FBI, even Health and Human Services, what would they do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Mom gestured toward the door. “The kids. What would they do with the kids? Think about it.”

  There had been stories on the news before, compounds full of religious freaks who married off young girls to grown men. Law enforcement had gone in and taken care of it. “They’d make sure they were okay, wouldn’t they? Find them foster homes or something?”

  Solomon’s voice was ragged when he said, “These children cannot just be sent to foster homes. Law enforcement would not understand. They’d rip the children out of here with no clue how to care for them. They’d separate them all, try to force-feed them when they refuse to eat or drink. In effect, Mason? They’d all be dead before anyone figured out what was wrong with them.”

  No, it wouldn’t go down that way. “The TroDyn scientists would tell them what to do!”

  Mom said, “From jail? Sweetie, they’d throw everyone, including me, in the slammer and throw away the key.”

  My eyes widened. “Why you?”

  “Come on.” She tilted her head and laughed a little. “I knew about this and took care of those kids in the Haven of Peace for years. TroDyn has been making automatic deposits into an account in my name for fifteen years. If nothing else, I’m an accessory. And with me in jail, even if it’s only for a little while, you’d be in the foster care system so fast your head would spin.”

  The thought of losing my mom, my home, maybe my entire way of life, made me ill. I dropped onto a chair. “So what do we do?”

  Solomon spoke up. “First we need to quash whatever plans Eve has. We need to let the other scientists, the other parents, know what her plans are for their children. Let them understand that the project here is in danger if she takes over.”

  The alarm suddenly stopped.

  I stood up.

  Mom asked, “Where are you going?”

  “To the Greenhouse. I’ve got to protect Laila.”

  Solomon shook his head. “You can’t go there right now. We need to plan this out. I must deal with Eve myself.”

  I grabbed the fire axe and bolted from the room as Mom yelled for me to come back. I couldn’t stay there, knowing something might be happening to Laila. Fortunately the orange powder was still in the corners, plus the route seemed more familiar than the last time. Three quick blasts of the alarm sounded as I neared the Greenhouse. I slowed to a jog, stopping at the last corner, before shoving open the door and stepping inside.

  Eve stood near Laila with a couple of green suits. She turned to me. “You finally found it.”

  She thought I’d been running around all that time, looking for the Greenhouse. I nodded as I walked to them, keeping an eye on them as I tightened my grip on the axe.

  Both green suits eyed the axe and brandished their Tasers.

  “Can we dispense with the showing of weapons, please?” Eve pointed at Laila. “Say your good-byes, then you can beoff.”

  What good-byes? I had no intention of leaving Laila. But Eve’s tone was more ominous than the situation, no matter how unknown it was, called for. “What are you talking about?”

  Eve said, “You had your chance.” She turned to Laila. “‘If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,’ said his mother, ‘I will become a gardener and I will find you.’”

  Laila’s eyes dulled and her chin dipped down onto her chest.

  I glared at Eve. Did she think I was an idiot? I quickly said, “‘If you become a mountain climber,’ said the little bunny, ‘I will be a crocus in a hidden garden.’”

  Laila’s head raised and she looked around.

  Eve rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She said something in a language that sounded like French, and Laila’s eyes dulled once more, and her head tipped forward. Eve said, “She knows it in seven languages. Do you?”

  God, I was an idiot. Holding out the axe, I crossed in front of them to sit beside Laila. I set down the axe and reached out a hand to hold Laila’s head up.

  “Just leave her. She’s better off here now anyway.” Eve straightened up, a faint smile on her face. “This project is about to come under new leadership.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Solomon won’t let you.”

  Her eyes flashed. “Solomon has been holding us back.”

  She had no idea Solomon was still alive. And the longer she was in the dark about that, the better chance we had of stopping her. “Holding you back from what?”

  Eve started to pace a little in the aisle. “TroDyn has power and money, yes. But who has more of each?”

  I shrugged as I moved closer to Laila and let her head rest on my chest. At that point, I didn’t care about whatever Eve had to say.

  Eve stopped moving. “The military. With their power and financial backing, this project could go leaps and bounds beyond what Solomon, what any of us, ever dreamed.”

  To me, military involvement equaled point of no return, and I found myself caring again, fairly quickly. “But why would the military want to spend money to end starvation?”

  Eve laughed so hard that a few tears came down her face. “That is priceless.” She held her stomach, trying to stop laughing. “Oh my god, they couldn’t care less about ending starvation.” She pointed at me. “Don’t you see the practical implications of this project? What military on Earth wouldn’t give anything to have soldiers that require no food or water?”

  It was one thing to hear Solomon talking about the possibility of what would happen if the military became involved. But Eve’s reasoning made it sound like she had already cut a deal with them. “But what about Solomon? What he said about famine. Even the military will have to deal with famine.”

  Still smiling, Eve said, “Solomon was worried about the wrong horseman. We need to worry about the one with the sword. War is going to end this planet long before famine does. I plan to be on the winning side.” She nodded at Laila. “And I plan for my daughter to be on the winning side.”

  Although I’d known him for less than an hour, I was pretty certain of one thing. “Solomon will never allow it.”

  “Solomon, Solomon, Solomon.” Eve crossed her arms. “Do you know how tired I am of hearing about Solomon? How innovative he is? How smart he is? Well, I’m done with that.” She looked at the two green suits, then glared at me. “Plenty of us are done with that.”

  The double doors slammed open. Several people in white shirts and khaki pants walked in.

  Eve waved a hand at them. “Didn’t you hear the lockdown? You should all be in your quarters.” She looked a little unnerved. Was it because she thought they might find Solomon? Find him and save him, like I hoped I had done?

  A tall red-haired man stepped forward. He said, “The all-clear sounded a few minutes ago.”

  That must have been the three blasts of the alarm I’d heard.

  Eve said, “Why are you all here?”

  The red-haired man looked at the woman next to him, then turned back to Eve with a frown. “This is the first place we come after the lockdown drill.” He held a hand out to his side. “To see how they are.”

  Eve shook her head slightly. “I knew that.”

  A man with a gray beard asked, “It was a drill, wasn’t it?”

  “Of course it was a drill.” Eve stood up straighter. “And I’d hoped you would all come here, actually. Please, gather round. I have an announcement.”

  Eve stepped forward, away from the row where we sat, and the green suits angled themselves in the aisle so they hid Laila’s row, and me, from view. I had no desire to reveal myself at that point, because I had no idea what any of those people would do if they saw me. And I had no plan, either for waking Laila up or getting her out of there, or even getting myself out. So it was better to just lay low as long as possible.

  Eve’s voice was filled with emotion as she said, “Solomon is dead.” br />
  Several people gasped, and one of the women burst into tears. Murmurs of “How? When? What happens now?” grew louder.

  I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but I knew that those people thinking Solomon was dead would be dangerous to everyone.

  So, taking a deep breath, I stood up, revealing myself to the group.

  TWENTY

  AS THEIR MURMURS DIED DOWN, I WALKED TO THE AISLE, brandishing the axe at the green suits when they turned my way.

  I cleared my throat. “She’s lying.”

  Eve whipped around. “Don’t listen to him.”

  “No!” I yelled. “Don’t listen to her! She’s been poisoning Solomon for months! She ripped out his tubes and left him for dead! I saw him!”

  There were more gasps and murmurs from the crowd. Maybe they were trying to figure out who they should believe. Or maybe just which one of us was less crazy. And I kind of figured my yelling and waving the axe around tipped the scale toward me being the loonier one. My bad.

  The man with the gray beard spoke as he pointed at me. “Who is that?”

  A few people shook their heads, as did Eve, who said, “He kidnapped Laila from the Haven of Peace, and nearly killed her before he brought her back.”

  “That’s not true!” As I found myself shaking the axe once again, I realized I had a much stronger weapon at my disposal. “I’m Solomon’s son.”

  The murmurs grew to outright exclamations as most of them stared at me, trying to figure out if I was telling the truth.

  Eve said, “He has no proof.”

  Someone called out, “He doesn’t need any proof.”

  The crowd parted and I heard a squeak as my mom stepped through, pushing Solomon in his wheelchair until they stood before Eve. There were relieved exclamations. While Mom looked directly at Eve, she spoke to the crowd. “He’s my son with Solomon.”

  Then the gray-haired man spoke. “Is it true about Eve?”

  My mom said, “It’s true. Eve attacked him and left him for dead.”

  Eve took a step back. The green suits looked at each other, seemed to evaluate whose side they should be on, and moved away from Eve.

  My mom continued, “But Mason … our son”—she pointed at me—“found him before it was too late. And then he got me.”

  Solomon said, “I’m already feeling stronger.”

  There were a few relieved exclamations, until the gray-haired man turned to Eve. “Why?”

  Eve smiled. “You people have no idea. No idea how important this project is.”

  Mom frowned. “I’m quite certain they do.”

  Eve laughed as she reached down and pulled a knife out of her boot. Green sparkled on the blade. “The deal is done. Once I took care of Solomon…” She glared. “Let me rephrase. Once I thought I took care of Solomon, I called my contact with the military. They’ll be here in twenty-four hours.”

  Gasps turned into shouts.

  Eve knelt down to the closest child and sliced through one of his silver hoses. A green, viscous liquid spurted into the air as the child moaned. The others around him joined in, launching what sounded like a mourning medieval chorus.

  Someone screamed. “I need you all back there,” Eve said. With her head, she nodded toward the far back corner. “All of you, back there.”

  Slowly, we all moved to the back as Eve continued to hold the knife, standing slowly. “Make a move, and someone will die.”

  As Eve headed to the front, Solomon called out, “Eve!”

  She turned as she backed toward the double door. “I’ll lock you all in here until tomorrow.”

  The red-haired man yelled, “There are more of us out there!”

  Eve smiled. “I’ll simply tell them Solomon is dead. Or I’ll tell them whatever I need to in order to stall them until tomorrow. When the military arrives, they’ll be welcomed with open arms.”

  She pushed on the double door, still facing us as she paused once more. She started to say something, but just as her mouth opened, I saw a flash of red as a fire extinguisher hit her in the back, knocking her down. I ran with a couple of the men to the front. They restrained Eve as I looked to see who had delivered the blow.

  Dr. Emerson held the fire extinguisher and shrugged when I raised my eyebrows. I said, “I’m sorry I said you suck.”

  With a clank, the extinguisher slipped out of her hand. She said, “You were right.”

  “Not anymore.”

  She smiled.

  As people noticed her, they approached and greeted her. There must not have been any hard feelings about her leaving, because they all seemed pretty happy to see her. Even Solomon reached out to hug her.

  A few people rushed to the side of the moaning child, as everyone gathered around, the gray-haired man clapping for our silence. “Solomon wants to speak.”

  Everyone went silent. Solomon said, “This isn’t over.”

  I looked at Eve on the floor, surrounded by two green suits and three men in white and khaki. It seemed over to me.

  Solomon continued. “I have no idea who Eve contacted, no idea how to stop the military from coming here. There’s only one thing we can do.”

  People started to whisper.

  The gray-haired man called out, “Project X?”

  Solomon nodded.

  A few people groaned; one of the women started to cry.

  I asked Dr. Emerson, “What does that mean?”

  She said, “I think it means they’re moving.”

  “Moving what?”

  She said, “You mean moving who.…” She waved a hand out at the kids. “Project X stands for Project Exodus. They’re moving the Greenhouse.”

  “They can’t!”

  My mom came over to me. “Mason, they have to. Solomon cannot risk the children.”

  “But where? Where will they take them? How can they make another Greenhouse so fast?”

  Dr. Emerson and my mom looked at each other. Dr. Emerson said, “Mason, this isn’t the only Greenhouse.”

  “What?” And then I thought about it. The books in the green room, the books that each represented one child. There were thousands of books in that room. “How many Greenhouses are there?”

  Solomon spoke up. “We have ten in the United States.”

  I stumbled. “You have some in other countries?”

  Solomon nodded. “All seven continents.”

  Seven? How? My mind reeled. And then I remembered Laila. “Oh my god.” As I ran to her, I called out, “I need somebody who speaks French!”

  A kind woman with wire-rim glasses and blond hair spoke the French words as I told them to her in English. Laila blinked her eyes and looked up at me. “Mason?”

  Holding her face in my hands, I planted my lips on her forehead, then held her, not ever wanting to let go.

  Mom knelt beside me. “Mason, they have work to do. We have to go.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not leaving her.”

  Mom scratched her head. “You have to.”

  “I’ll take her with me.”

  “You already know what that would do to her.” Mom set a hand on my shoulder.

  I leaned back, looking at Laila. Then I thought of something. “What will happen to Eve?”

  Mom said, “She’ll go with the others. They’ll keep an eye on her, but I’m sure she’ll keep doing her work. You know the saying, keep your friends close…”

  “And your enemies closer.”

  “Exactly.” She shrugged. “There is no other recourse. They can’t just call the police and turn her in.”

  Laila said, “Where are they taking us?”

  Mom shook her head. “That, I don’t know. But you’ll be safe.”

  Laila looked at me. “I want to stay with you.”

  I smiled. “I’d like that.”

  She put her arms around my neck and pulled me so close I felt her breath on my face. “Then let’s do it. I don’t care if I only live a little while. I want to spend my time with you.”

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nbsp; I pressed my forehead against hers. I wanted so badly to say yes, to rip out her tubes and carry her out of there. Live all we could for as long as we could. For as long as she could.

  Instead, as I felt my eyes tear up, I whispered, “Maybe they’ll figure out a way for you to survive off the machine, by yourself.”

  Her arms tightened around my neck. “No. They won’t. Take me with you.”

  My hands went up to her face and I leaned back. Tears started to spill out of her eyes as I felt my own start to slide down my cheeks. “I can’t. I want to. But I can’t.”

  “No.” Her face crumpled as her eyes squeezed shut, and her head went from side to side in my hands. “No.” She held me tighter. “Please. Mason, please.”

  “Listen, listen.” Sobs reached my throat and I struggled to gulp them back down. “It will happen. They’ll figure it out. And you can come to me.”

  Her brown eyes were filled with tears. “Where?”

  Where would I be? Dr. Emerson said there was a chance of stabilizing the organics once the kids stopped growing. So maybe when Laila was eighteen? Nineteen? I would be out of high school. But where? “Stanford. I’ll be at Stanford. You’ll find me there.” Oh, how stupid. She had no idea about Stanford. I reached into my pocket and thrust my phone into her hand. “I’ll find you,” I said. “I’ll find you.”

  Before she could say anything, or before I could start bawling like a two-year-old, I tightened my grip on her face and leaned forward, touching my lips briefly to hers. When I drew back, her eyes were shut, her sparkly cheeks wet from tears. She opened her eyes and set both her hands on mine. Then she leaned forward and put her lips on my cheek, the one with the scar. She stayed there until I knew I had to move or I never would.

  I whispered, “See you.” Her hands clung to mine a few more seconds, then she let go, watching me. I stepped away and didn’t look back. I couldn’t. If I had, I never could have left without her.

  As I walked toward the double doors, the entire place was in chaos. Many more people had come in, and no one even glanced my way.

  My mom was with Solomon, who held out a hand to me. I took it. His skin was warm. “Mason,” he said, “I’m glad I finally met you.”