Chapter 60: The Call

Zariah

The phone kept ringing.

No one in the bunker moved. After everything that had happened, the sound felt almost unnatural. It wasn’t loud, yet it echoed through the room louder than the alarms ever had. Every pair of eyes settled on the old satellite phone sitting by itself on the metal desk, its screen glowing softly in the dim emergency lights.

ALICIA BROOKS

I stared at the name until the letters began to blur.

My mother.

It couldn’t be.

Every logical part of my brain told me it was impossible. The call could be fake. It could be another trap. Adrian had already shown us how carefully people manipulated information inside Genesis. A phone displaying my mother’s name wasn’t enough to convince me she was actually on the other end.

And yet…

My feet moved before I realized I had taken a step.

“Don’t.”

Gabriel’s voice stopped me.

I looked at him.

His face had gone pale again, but this time it wasn’t from exhaustion. It was fear.

“Why?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked at the phone with the same expression someone might use when staring at a loaded weapon.

“Because they know how to make us hope.”

His words settled heavily in my chest.

For years I had hoped my mother was alive.

Tonight I had learned she was.

Now her name was glowing on a phone only minutes after Adrian confirmed the archive had lived inside me all along.

Nothing about that felt like coincidence.

The phone rang again.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Malik walked toward the desk before anyone else could move. His eyes never left the screen as he studied the device from every angle. He didn’t reach for it. He simply watched it, looking for anything that seemed out of place.

“Darius.”

“I’m already checking.”

Darius pulled a small handheld scanner from one of the supply shelves and swept it over the phone. A series of green lights flashed across the screen before settling into a steady tone.

“No explosives.”

“Signal?”

“Encrypted.”

He frowned at the scanner.

“Very encrypted.”

Evelyn slowly approached the desk, her expression unreadable.

“I’ve seen this protocol before.”

Everyone turned toward her.

“It was Alicia’s.”

The room became completely still.

“You mean…” I began.

Evelyn nodded.

“She designed it herself.”

Hope rose inside me before I could stop it.

If the encryption belonged to my mother…

Maybe the call really was from her.

Gabriel must have seen the thought cross my face because he stepped between me and the desk.

“I said don’t answer it.”

His voice wasn’t angry.

It was desperate.

“You don’t know who’s calling.”

“And neither do you.”

The words left my mouth before I had time to soften them.

His shoulders fell slightly.

“No.”

He looked at the phone again.

“I don’t.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

The only sound was the steady ringing filling the bunker.

I looked at Malik.

He hadn’t said a word since the phone started ringing. His attention remained fixed on the screen, but I could almost see his mind working through every possibility. Trust the call. Ignore the call. Trace the signal. Destroy the phone.

Every option carried risk.

Finally, he looked at me.

“If that’s really your mother…”

He didn’t finish.

He didn’t have to.

I understood.

If it really was my mother, ignoring the call could mean losing the only chance I’d ever have to speak with her again.

My heart felt like it was trying to break through my ribs.

“I have to know.”

Malik studied my face for several long seconds. I could see the conflict in his eyes. Every instinct he possessed told him to protect me from another trap.

Every instinct I possessed told me I couldn’t walk away.

Finally…

He nodded once.

“If anything feels wrong, you hang up.”

“I will.”

“I mean immediately.”

“I know.”

He picked up the satellite phone and looked at the screen one last time before placing it gently into my hands.

It felt surprisingly warm.

As though someone had been holding it only moments earlier.

I swallowed hard.

Then pressed the answer button.

For several seconds…

Nothing.

No voice.

No static.

Only silence.

I wondered if the connection had failed.

Then I heard breathing.

Soft.

Uneven.

Almost hesitant.

Tears immediately filled my eyes.

“Hello?”

My own voice barely sounded like mine.

The silence lasted another heartbeat.

Then…

Very quietly…

A woman spoke.

“Zariah…”

The world stopped.

I knew that voice.

Not because I remembered hearing it recently.

Because some part of me had never forgotten it.

A tear rolled down my cheek.

“…Mom?”

On the other end of the line…

I heard her crying too.