The Mother of All Read online

  “Yes, now don't tell him I told you and please act surprised. I just don’t want you going to sleep with a broken heart, sweetie. Now try and get some rest, you will have a busy few days ahead of you,” she said as she kissed my forehead.

  “I love you so much, mama,” I said.

  “I love you too, Layka, now get to bed,” said my mother as she exited my bedroom.

  Chapter 2

  The L.R.R. Main Campus

  The green waves of trees and vegetation that made up the Latin Research Resurgence have been all I have ever known. The morning mist and sounds of birds and other animals appealed to my senses. I knew I was extremely fortunate to be born into my current situation; it kept me humble. I often thought of the young children that were born into poverty or those that were dealing with wars in or near their home countries. These disturbing thoughts always made me feel helpless.

  Living in the heart of the L.R.R. Campus, I have had the luxury of peace, security, and education. I grew up wanting to be a diplomat and advocate against war and violence, but it was only a pipe dream. My passion for science and chemistry, along with access to the campus’ vast resources, made it an easy decision for me to pursue a future in some field of science for the Latin Research Resurgence.

  The L.R.R. was first established through the Global Research Conservation Act dozens of years ago. The act included 75% of the countries on planet earth. The countries that formerly made up Latin America were now known as the Latin Research Resurgence or The L.R.R.

  C.O.C.A. 's manufacturing during their wars led to an extraordinary increase in carbon emissions, triggering catastrophic events. Many of the earth's oceans were becoming polluted. Deforestation led to a series of catastrophic events, as well. Many countries where deforestation was taking place saw a decline in the quality of water and air. The lack of trees contributed to the lack of absorption of greenhouse gases. Plant and animal species were rapidly disappearing at an alarming rate. One of the biggest factors that contributed to the Global Research Conservation Act was the disappearance of the Indigenous tribes that resided in the jungles, some of whom had no contact with the outside world. Droids and cameras had not been able to locate any of those tribes. Mankind assumed the worst. This broke the hearts of the entire world, for it was the first-time mankind realized the cancer it had become to planet earth.

  In a last-ditch effort, the world's top scientists, including many of the C.O.C.A. regime, worked together to tackle carbon emissions, extinction, oxygen, and our oceans. This included creating many man-made islands and coral reefs throughout the globe. C.O.C.A. engineered aquatic drones that were capable of cleansing Earths’ oceans of garbage.

  The large majority of the rainforest movement was funded by The Campaign Of Continental Alignment or C.O.C.A., but was left in the care of the L.R.R. This movement was the reason my grandparents came to the L.R.R. fresh out of college.

  My grandfather was an aquatic biogeochemist and an ecologist. My grandmother was an immunologist with a background in agriculture. They were both global experts in their respective fields. Together my grandparents were responsible for developing the campus, cultivating and breeding animals to provide adequate food, and to explore the jungle for plants that could be used for medicinal purposes or placed in seed banks.

  At the beginning of my grandparents’ development of the Latin Research Resurgence, only 5% of the jungle was left on planet earth. Accompanied with careful guidance and advances in science, botany, agriculture, and biochemistry, my grandparents were able to help revive the jungles of Latin America. The jungle of Latin America grew by 75%. What was formerly the Amazon expanded into much of what was formerly Honduras and grew as far south to what was once Uruguay. The growth of the jungle was aided by a genetic mutation to a lignin molecule that caused the jungle to grow tremendously.

  Due to the Global Conservation Act, many of the citizens that lived in what was formerly Latin America were forced to move in order for the restoration of the jungles to take place. In exchange, these people were given excellent benefits for their troubles.

  There were four provinces that eventually became homes to many of those who were forced out of their Latin American countries. The North Province, which was based in much of what was formerly Mexico and Guatemala, was the most populated of the four provinces. The Southern Province was made up of what was formerly Chile and Argentina. The East province was made up of a man-made island off the coast of what was formerly Rio De Janeiro. The stories I heard of the Eastern Province were shocking. I heard the beaches and layout of the island were absolutely beautiful. The Western Province was another man-made island off the coast of Peru. Together these four provinces were home to many of the citizens that were required to relocate after the conservation act.

  Although my grandparents were able to aid in conservation, natural disasters of all sorts were occurring far too frequently. Whether it was storms or tremors from the tectonic plates, all corners of the earth seemed to be affected. Mild earthquakes seemed to be happening every few weeks in places that never experienced them before. Research and conservation still needed to be done and through The Global Research Conservation Act, this was made possible. Many of the innovators of renewable energy and technology resided in Latin America. Much of this energy was used to power the Latin Research Resurgence and the surrounding provinces.

  The L.R.R. Campus was founded when my grandparents were young adults. At that point, there were only a few buildings on campus. With an increase in funding from C.O.C.A., the campus grew as quickly as the jungle. Since it was established, the campus has experienced growth and quite a bit of remodeling. We now have access to the best technological equipment in research and medicine.

  C.O.C.A. 's funding allowed them to have a final say in much of what happened on campus. Walls were built around the borders of the L.R.R.; C.O.C.A. felt this aided in data control of the jungle. The walls were identical to those that C.O.C.A. had around their countries’ borders.

  Even with the responsibilities of the campus, I was thankful that my grandparents found a way to give birth to my father, Cragio. I often thought that it would have been understandable if my grandparents never decided to have children, due to their busy schedules.

  My father was an ordinary man -- or so he’d claim. He was just over 6 feet tall with an athletic build. His full name was Dr. Craigio Matthews. My father was an astrophysicist and stem cell scientist; he was beyond fascinated with space and science. He would always tell me how thankful he was to live on the campus of the L.R.R.; apparently, the stars and the cosmos were more visible here. The admiration I had for my father was endless. A lot of it was due to the fact that he was always thinking of others. He always put his family first, even when some of their opinions about politics seemed to clash. My father would always tell me that one person could make the world a better place with positive energy alone.

  My mother, Lina, grew up in Spain. She first came to the L.R.R. as an intern under my grandfather. This is how she met my father. My mother was fascinated with botany and spent the majority of her life studying the plants of the jungle. My mother’s hard work and dedication aided in the discoveries of new vaccines and medicine. Once my mother married my father, her parents insisted that she stay in the L.R.R.

  My mother would tell me stories about how her parents would cry and beg her to go to the L.R.R. because it was a long way away from ground zero of C.O.C.A. and the wars. Some of my best memories of my childhood were when my grandparents came to visit from Spain. They would bring me candy and an assortment of gifts. Seeing both sides of my family filled my heart. It usually seemed like a month-long fiesta.

  I have never left the L.R.R. I always wanted to visit my friend Jenna in America or my grandparents in Spain, but my parents said it was too dangerous for me to fly anywhere. It all made sense after my grandparents on my mother's side went missing. They were both surgeons and would travel much of Europe to do surgery at no cost on victims of the wa
r. Everyone in our family believed that it was C.O.C.A that abducted or killed them. Truthfully, we may never know. It has been at least seven years since anyone has heard from them. My entire family was still hopeful that they were both alive.

  Chapter 3

  The Team

  I woke up to Àna scratching my bedroom door. She either needed to go outside or wanted some breakfast. I rushed to the door to let her out and to see if my father had left without me for the research towers. It was still dark outside.

  “Good morning, beautiful, what's the rush?” I heard my father say from the kitchen as he drank his morning coffee.

  “Nothing, I thought I was late for school, but I just remembered mama saying that Dr. Gruver canceled work and classes for the rest of the week,” I said a bit startled.

  “What do you have planned for the weekend, sweetie?” asked my father.

  “Nothing much. My homework is done, and I really have nothing to do. How about yourself?” I answered.

  My father took a deep breath.

  “Well, I am glad you asked. Abdi, myself and a handful of the team are going to go and do maintenance on all seven of the research towers, if you'd like to join. It is going to take the entire rest of the week, as you can imagine. We all just want to tidy everything up in case C.O.C.A. sends one of its officials to inspect the campus. Olga and C.O.C.A. are just so unpredictable and we all would like to be ready and be able to present any data she may ask for.”

  “I understand, papa. Well, if you have an extra seat, I would love to join.” I said attempting to hold back my excitement.

  “Yes, of course, sweetie. I already budgeted you into all our calculations. I was hoping I would get the chance to spend the weekend with you. I really think your mother could use a weekend to herself as well. Your mother has a lot on her plate as of late and I just want her to be able to relax. If you would though, sweetheart, I told Abdi that you would stop by to get in for your Jiu jitsu class this morning since classes were canceled for the rest of the week. We are all shooting for an 11:00 take off. Abdi also could use your help loading up some random supplies,” said my father as he finished his coffee.

  “Yeah, of course, papa. I will grab my gym bag and head over to Abdi’s now. I love you,” I said as I cracked a smile unable to control my excitement.

  Abdi was my parent’s colleague and neighbor. He was the campus’ physical therapist, personal trainer, and dietician. He was a tall man, around 6’ 4” with a thick black beard and little body fat. He was always so energetic and lively. He was fascinated with martial arts and was also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu. Abdi taught the martial art to anyone on campus who wanted to learn. Abdi originally came to the L.R.R. from the East with his wife and daughter before the war. His wife was a zoologist who worked for the campus.

  Abdi was more of an uncle to me, especially since his wife and daughter died nearly three years ago in the jungle. They were attacked by a group of Ngabe otters, which were a subspecies of the giant otter. The Ngabe otters were larger and much more aggressive than the giant otter; they resembled more of a sea leopard than an otter. The Ngabe otters were stealth hunters in both the jungle and the water.

  Abdi’s wife and daughter were killed when their canoe tipped over in one of the rivers. Abdi never really liked to talk about his family, and no one blamed him. The campus just tried their best to make him feel welcome and at home, doing everything they could to take him under their wing.

  As I made my way across the road to Abdi’s house, the sun had just started to rise. I could see that Abdi’s garage door was open a crack. The garage is where Abdi held his Jiu jitsu classes. Inside the garage were punching bags, wrestling dummies, weights, and mats. His garage, however, was more of a warehouse. As I opened the garage door, I saw Abdi crouching down on a yoga mat appearing to kiss the floor. He had his headphones on and was unaware I had arrived. I lightly tapped him on his back. He quickly removed his headphones.

  “Forgive me, Layka, I wasn't expecting you this early,” said Abdi with a smile on his face.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” I said as I grabbed my gym bag in case he wanted me to leave.

  “Oh no, don't be silly, Layka. I was just doing some yoga. It keeps my muscles loose and just helps with my internal energy. I try to stretch at least five times a day,” said Abdi as he greeted me with a fist bump.

  “I just decided to come over early because my father said you would be awake.’’

  “So, what have you been drilling lately?” Abdi asked.

  “Takedowns and arm bars,” I said, eager to workout.

  “Great, let’s drill the GEO-RADILLO choke for an hour or maybe 45 minutes. Then you can help me load all the supplies when we’re finished,” Abdi said in a soft-spoken voice.

  “Sounds great!” I said as he and I exchanged a fist bump.

  We trained hard for just over an hour. I was completely drenched in sweat.

  “That was great. Thanks, Uncle Abdi! Should we load the truck now?” I asked, exhausted from the workout.

  “Sure. I will meet you out by the storage area, just let me throw on some dry shorts,” said Abdi.

  As Abdi made his way inside his house, I walked to the storage area. It was almost a replica of the warehouse-looking garage that Abdi had his gym in. As I waited for Abdi, I gazed towards the jungle. I couldn't really see the first tower in the entourage; it seemed to be covered by the fog. The combination of wind and fog made it look as if the jungle was breathing. Typical for this time of the day, it always seemed like little breaths of smoke were coming from the tops of the trees.

  “It never gets old,” said Abdi as he closed the garage door, with two drinks in his hand.

  “It sure is hard to imagine the jungle being as small as it once was,” I said.

  “It sure is, Layka, thanks be to research and science...and your grandparents, of course. Real trailblazers, they were,” Abdi said in a soft voice. “I made you a post-workout shake, Layka. Has everything you want from the four basic food groups. I am packing some along for the long weekend, as well,” said Abdi as he clinked his cup with mine.

  “Cheers! It’s delicious. So, what do we have left to pack?” I asked Abdi, licking my lips to not miss any of the delicious assortment of flavors from the shake.

  “Not too much, just a few first aid kits, water waiters, nets to protect us from the insects...oh and the solar powered generator. That's the main thing I needed a hand with, in case we lose power or the solar panels aren't working for some reason,” said Abdi as he pulled on a pair of brown leather work gloves that resemble those that hockey players wear.

  I grabbed the checklist that was in the helicopter and began taking inventory. I started to better organize what supplies were already in the helicopter. Abdi had just thrown everything in the back. It was a mess…or perhaps just looked messy to me. Once it was organized better, I helped Abdi place the generator and the rest of the supplies in the rear of the helicopter.

  “That should do it, Layka, why don’t you run home and shower. Tell your father that we are ahead of schedule and that if he wanted to, we could leave a little earlier.”

  “Sounds good Abdi, we will see you soon!” I said as I quickly finished my shake.

  I rushed home, full of excitement. This was the first time I was going to see all of the towers in at least three years. I think I enjoyed visiting the towers more than I enjoyed going to the beaches of the L.R.R.

  Doing maintenance on the towers allowed me to get deeper into the jungle and to get up close and personal with a lot of the plants and animals. A lot of the maintenance included equipment checks, machine checks, gathering samples, camera checks and checking animal traps.

  I usually was stuck with homework or would spend the weekends with my mother, painting our nails, working out, hiking, or doing our hair. As I walked in the house, I could tell my father was fully caffeinated and ready to go. He was pretending to be playing futbol with Àna in the l
iving room. He had all of his bags by the door.

  “Abdi wanted me to tell you he is ready to go, papa. I will go shower quickly and will be ready as well.”

  “Sounds great, but no rush, sweetie,” said my father as he continued to pretend he was some futbol legend of the past.

  I showered quickly and began to gather my belongings. I always seemed to wait until the last minute to pack my things; it was more exciting that way. As I circled around my room, grabbing everything from clothes to electronics, I couldn't help but get a little emotional about leaving my mother. I knew I was only going to be gone for five days but not being around her for some reason saddened me. I knew she and I would still have live video conversations while I was away, but I still wished she would come along.

  Once I finished packing, I made my way towards the living room. I saw my parents in the kitchen wrapped in each other’s arms as if they were dancing intimately.

  “Hey, papa, and good morning, mama,” I said adoring their dancing. They both then opened their arms welcoming me in for a group hug. I gladly accepted.

  “My little girl and husband are abandoning me,” said my mother as she pretended to cry as she kissed my forehead.

  “Why don’t you come along, mama?” I asked.

  “Oh, sweetheart. I would love to. I just have to finish up a few things around the house and need to finish a paper I am writing. I promise I will come along next time,” said my mother. Her hug tightened before she released her arms from around my father and I.

  “Well, Layka, if you're ready, we can go ahead and set sail. I will shoot everyone a text and have them meet us over at Abdi’s.”

  As my father and I made our way towards the door, my mother came to see us off.

  “Take care of your father and don't let him overwork himself. I love you, Layka,” said my mother as she gave me a hug and kiss.

  “I love you too, mama. Have a good weekend and don't forget to give Àna plenty of snacks while I am gone,” I said as I made my way outside.