Then he was there. Rangan let go of Tim’s hand, fished out Holtzmann’s badge, swiped it against the evil red eye of the scanner, and waited. And waited.

The red eye blinked at him, stayed red. Nothing happened.

Fuck!

Rangan swiped the badge again. And again. He jammed it up against the reader, swiveling it around.

“Come on, you piece of shit!”

Then abruptly the red eye was green. Rangan turned his head. Slowly, slowly, the gate was swinging itself open.

He shoved the badge back into his pocket, grabbed Tim’s hand, and dragged the boys through the widening crack, not waiting for it to open fully. They ran out across a road, into more trees, through the trees. Jose was heavy but Rangan kept the boy on his shoulder, kept moving, kept consulting Holtzmann’s map in his mind.

Then they were out of the trees, climbing an embankment up to a road. And there was a beat-up old white van there, and a man was jumping out of it, reaching his hand down to Rangan, to help him up, to take him and the boys away to safety.

Chapter 73: Mother, Mother

73

MOTHER, MOTHER

Friday November 2nd

Ling’s bruises healed. Her burns covered themselves in a thin white protective layer which then sloughed off, revealing fresh, healthy skin below. No scar remained. She was her mother’s child, and her mother had given her every genetic advantage possible at the time of her creation.

She lived like a wild thing that week, like an animal, hiding in her den, venturing out when it was safe to scavenge food. She placed orders for groceries, used her father’s credentials, had them delivered while he was out, stocked into the pantry and refrigerator by the kitchen bot. If her father noticed or cared it didn’t show.

She missed Feng. Feng who was brave and strong and had always bounced her on his shoulders when she was little. Feng who could crush her father and take her away from here.

She missed Kade. Kade who was clever and would help her find some way…

Feng! she called out. FENG!

Kade! she tried. KADE!

Nothing. Nothing for days now. They were dead, or gone, or off the net. She was alone.

How long can I live like this? Ling wondered.

As long as I have to, until I get to Mother.

Everything changed on Friday, on the fourteenth day since she’d tried to free Mother.

The call came in a few minutes before midnight. Chen jumped as he saw the name. Sun Liu! The Minister of Science and Technology was calling him here!

He rushed into his bedroom, tapped the panel beside the door to seal the room, flicked to a different screen on the room control, and activated the privacy filter.

Then he took a deep breath and accepted the call.

“Chen.” Sun Liu’s voice was strained.