Mother Chapter 12-14

WARNING:

This is a story of friendship, commitment, love and trust. It is not a sex story. However, this story deals with love between male teenagers. If you are offended by stories involving love between two teenage boys, please do not read this story. There may be some sex scenes in this story; however, sex is not the main theme. If you are under age 18 or 21 or it is illegal to read this story where you live, don't read it. Reproducing this story for distribution without the owner's permission is a violation of that copyright.

Sam Lakes

samlakes86 at yahoo

M.a.i.n.e. Frame PC

AKA

Mother

by Sam Lakes

Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved

Chapter Tweleve

Colt felt like he was in a dark tunnel then suddenly he saw a room. The room was like a big living room. It was sparsely decorated with bare varnished log walls and a moose’s head mounted above an empty fire place. He drifted off in a dreamlike state. A door slammed and he saw Keith. He was sitting tied in a chair while some big man tortured him with a cattle prod. Another vague image drifted by of an evil emperor who looked at Colt and said something then the face of the evil emperor morphed into a slimy worm like creature. Colt was fighting to wake up, but he couldn’t somehow he was trapped in this dreamlike state and he sensed Keith was in danger. “Keith!” he screamed, but nobody heard.

A syringe dropped to the floor as Keith’s body convulsed before him. “Keith!” he cried out in vain. Again he struggled to wake. Keith was dead. He screamed, but still he couldn’t wake himself. He felt the vast emptiness in his life and he cried until it seemed hours past and he drifted off unconscious and asleep, however he was some what vaguely aware of a phone ringing somewhere. He wished it would stop ringing it was annoying him. He was tired. It stopped and he slept some more.

Dr. Ruth Maine was nearly asleep after a grueling day at the conference. She missed her boys and she missed her husband. Suddenly, she felt the sudden loss of her husband and was wide awake. She called home to speak to him, but no one answered. Panic began to sink in as she knew something was terribly wrong. She tried calling again, but with the same results. She began to weep. She knew Keith was no longer with her.

It was twelve o’clock when Officer Carterra tried calling the Maine residence again.

Two minutes before his call Colt staggered to the bathroom still half asleep He was in serious need of taking a pee. As he staggered back to bed he heard the phone ringing. Slowly, he navigated his body down the stairs to answer the phone.

“Hello” the sleepy boy’s voice said.

“Could I speak to Mrs. Maine?” asked Officer Carterra.

“She’s not here. Who is this?” asked Colt trying to wake himself out the drugged state he was in.

“Do you know where I can contact her?” he asked.

“She’s in Detroit at the airport Marriott, I think. What’s this all about? Do you want to talk with Keith?” asked Colt.

“Keith who?”

“Dr. Keith Maine, Ruthie’s husband. Who is this?” Colt asked again.

“Are you their son?” asked the officer.

“No. They’re my guardians. Arbor is here, but he’s sleeping. Do you want to talk with Arbor?”

“No. How old are you?”

“Why? I don’t know you. Is this a prank call?” Colt asked getting a bit annoyed at being kept awake.

“No, son. I’m Officer Carterra. Look you go back to bed.”

“Something’s wrong…Keith!” called Colt “KEITH! WAKE UP AND COME TO THE PHONE!”

There was no response.

“What’s your name young man?” asked the officer in a quiet tone.

“Colt, Colt Smith. I’ve got to wake up Keith he must be asleep”

“Colt, look Keith is not at home, I have to speak with your guardian, Ruth Maine, and then I’ll be over to see you and Arbor. Okay?” he said.

“No! I want to know what’s going on!” Colt felt panic stricken. The vagueness of the dream hit him and he cried “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Look, Colt…”

The reality hit.

“No! NO! TELL ME HE’S OKAY!” Colt screamed hysterically “TELL ME!”

“Colt!” Officer Carterra started to say something and Colt slammed the phone on the hook.

Colt ran upstairs to his room. “ARB! WAKE UP!” he cried as he shook Arbor shoulder “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!”

Gradually Arbor came to “Colt, I’m tired. Leave me alone. Go away.”

“HE’s DEAD!” Colt managed to blurt out before he burst into uncontrollable sobs.

“Colt, come on you’ve just had a bad dream.” Arbor felt like someone punched him in the gut. He wanted to cry out. Colt was out of control. He had to be the big brother he had to suppress the pain he felt because of the loss.

The phone rang and he ran down the stairs to answer it leaving Colt lying on his bed sobbing.

“Hello”

“Arbor, it’s Mom” she was crying “I’ve just spoken with a policeman. They found you father in his car – he -had a heart attack. He died.”

“NO!” screamed Arbor as the reality hit him. He bit his lip to keep from crying. But it didn’t work the tears rush down his face.

“Arbor, I need you to be strong right now. The officer is on his way over, I’ll call Maureen and ask her to come over and stay with you. The officer was concerned about Colt, he said he became hysterical. Arbor, I need you to take care of him and try to get him calmed down. Can you do this for me?”

“Yes. Are you coming home?” he asked. He felt numb

“Yes. I'll be home as soon as I can. I love you. Be brave” she said.

“Okay. Bye.”

As he hung up a knock came at the door.

“Hello, are you Colt Smith?” Carter asked.

Arbor wiped the tears from his eyes “No. I’m Arbor Maine. I just spoke with my mom. Colt’s upstairs crying. I have to go see to him. You can come in if you want. My mom is calling a friend to come over and stay with us until she gets home.”

“Thanks. I’ll just stay here until she arrives. I’m very sorry about your father.”

Arbor just nodded. He let the officer in and then went up to see Colt.

Colt was still sobbing. He went over and put his hand on Colt’s shoulder. Colt sat up and he tried to get control, but he was fighting a loosing battle with his emotions and the pain of the loss of someone so close to him was almost unbearable.

Arbor sat down next to him and took his friend in his arms and just held him. He was trying to remain brave, but he too felt the pain. “It’s okay to cry” he said quietly to Colt as his own tears ran down his face.

After ten minutes Arbor said “Colt, you have to get control of yourself, Dad would want you to. Remember he used to tell us he never wanted anyone to cry over his death. Come on. I’m here for you and so is mom.”

It seemed to work a bit as Colt remembered the conversation they had. “It just hurts so much. I told him not to go. I told him. He promised he wouldn’t go and he did…”

“I know” Arbor said.

“If I hadn’t taken the sleeping pill I wouldn’t have let him leave. I wouldn’t have.”

“I know. I wouldn’t have let him leave, either. But he did and there’s nothing we can do about it now. He doesn’t want us to be upset. He wants us to be brave and take care of each other. I know that. I just know it. He wants us to remember the happy times.” They both sat their in each others arms trying to confront the pain of the loss.

After a few more minutes when each had managed to get control of their emotions.

Arbor said “I’ve had a lifetime of happy times with my Dad and mom and you. I remember the time I got my one and only spanking from him for giving you a haircut. It was your entire fault.” Arbor forced himself to smile.

“Yeah, right! Arb, I was five years old” Colt said as he forced a vague smile to appear on his face.

“The spanking wasn’t so hot, however, afterwards he apologized and when I told him why he laughed. Dad had a great laugh.”

“Yeah, he did. He had the best laugh of anybody” Colt said “Why did you cut my hair, anyway?”

“Because I got tired of people saying what a cute sister I had” Arbor laughed “It’s true! Everyone used to say I had the cutest little sister with blond curls.”

Colt smiled and then laughed “Do you remember when I put super glue in your shoes and you had to wear your best dress shoes for a week? Keith was so pissed with me, but he ended up laughing about it. It was pretty funny.”

The two laughed.

They reminisced for a while longer now sitting apart each remembering the good times. It was the way Keith wanted it to be. No tears. Just happy memories.

Officer Carterra appeared at the door.

“Hi, guys” he smiled relieve to see the two in a happier state “Mrs. Kidner is here so I’m going to leave now.”

“Thanks for staying” said Arbor.

“Yeah, thanks” repeated Colt.

The two boys went down to see Maureen. She hugged the two and expressed her condolences. She could tell that both boys had been crying as their eyes were still red.

“Your mom has caught a special flight home and she should be here in a few hours. Until then I’ll stay with you.”

“Where’s Alex?” questioned Arbor.

“At home sleeping. He is almost impossible to wake and if he was wake he’d be extremely grouchy.”

“You mean he’d be a ‘bitch’?” Colt smiled.

“Well, yes.”

Maureen decided to change the subject “So, Arbor, what grade are you in?”

“I’m not sure. Most of my classes are high school senior, but I’m also doing some special classes at the U three days a week. Not quite as smart as the geekoid here, but above average.”

“Bitch fucker!” responded Colt automatically.

Maureen looked with surprise at Colt.

“Oops!” he said then he laughed

“Would you like some coffee?” asked Colt.

“Oh! Would I? Yes!” said Arbor.

“I wasn’t asking you, I was asking Maureen”

“Yes, Colt, I would love some” she replied.

“Good, Arb make some coffee!” giggled Colt “Just joking, I’ll make it.”

Chapter Thirteen

Ruth arrived home at four a.m. thanks to Colt’s father making arrangement for a private jet to fly her directly home. The two boys were fast asleep on the couch and Maureen was reading a book in the kitchen and drinking coffee.

Maureen listened while Ruth cried and talked about Keith. Arbor woke and came into the kitchen. He hugged his mother and then the flood gates opened again and he cried. She held him and comforted him as best she could under the circumstances. He told her that Colt was all right now. He told her of the warning the two had given Keith and of the fear they had both felt.

She looked at her son. He seemed so innocent, yet so grown up. He’d always been able to handle Colt. He seemed to understand him better than her or Keith. Keith had always had such patience with Colt. Keith had been so much closer with Colt than his own son. But it had never bothered Arbor. He’d never been jealous of their relationship. He loved his Dad and he loved Colt. He always quick to defend either of them if the situation warranted it.

She ran her fingers through his hair which like his father he always loved. “You know you’re right. Your dad made me promise never to be sad faced about his death. He said just think of the happy times and that sometime we’ll meet again. He always said he was sure he must have known me in some past life we had together and that it must have been a good time cause this life time was the greatest. I knew the moment he died. I know he thought of me and was sorry he had to leave.” Another tear rolled down her soft cheek.

Colt walked in. She could see he was trying not to cry.

“Hi.”

“Hi” she replied.

Colt just stood there and his lower lips began to quiver as the tears welled up in his eyes. Arbor got up so his friend could replace him in his mother’s arms. But Colt just stood there a few moments and then ran out of the room.

“Mom, he was always closer to Dad than me. It’s a lot harder on him. He feels so alone right now like there’s this huge emptiness. I know it’s weird, however, Colt and I always know what the other is feeling. He needs you right now. He needs to know that you love him and that you want him to stay. He’s afraid of being alone.”

She kissed her son and followed her ‘other boy’ as she called him. He was lying on his bed sobbing again.

“Colt. Hey, sweetheart,” she said lovingly as she got him to turn over and then she held him in her arms.

“I’m going to miss him too, very much. And I know the pain hurts, but I’m here for you. I will always be here for you, even when you’re old and gray. Colt, I love you. I always have, from the day I first saw you in Sarah’s arms. You were so pretty, just like her. I know sometimes I can be a bitch and sometimes I don’t show you how much I really love you, but I do love you. I always let Keith be the closest to you. You two were always close to each other and I was always closer to Arbie. Well, Keith is gone now and so I just want you to know that I’ll never be able to replace him totally, but I’m going to try.”

Colt stopped his sobbing and just held on to her. There was a vague thought or memory which was trying to surface. Some thought had been suppressed. Something he felt important to say. As he held her close he began to feel safe and he could feel her love for him. The thought emerged somewhat unpleasant it was the images of the dream he’d had that night. They had killed Keith in his dream.

“They killed him. They gave him a shot and he had the heart attack. I saw it in my dream. I tried to wake up, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t help.” A cold chill ran through Ruth when she heard what Colt had said. She said nothing, she just held him close.

Over the ensuing months Colts friendship with Alex waned as Alex found other boys usually older than himself.

Chapter Fourteen

Two years after Keith’s death with Arbor’s help Colt completed MaineFrame PC II. They lead everyone to believe that it was a second model which Keith had been working on just before his death. Inherent in the new Mother was an un-crackable, unbypassable security program which only allowed access and use by Arbor or Colt. It was keyed to their individual DNA structures. The new Mother’s memory and storage was measured in petabytes and her speed in terahertz. The new PC was hundreds of times better than the first. They tended not to brag about it, except to each other.

Colt’s work on his doctorate was completed and this time backed up. Occasionally, they would double date when Colt wasn’t totally involved with research and making improvements to Mother. Arbor questioned Colt about why he didn’t apply for his doctorate and Colt’s reply was simply “Hel-lo, this is my friend Dr. Colt Smith, Ph.D., he’s sixteen and would you like to go out on a date with him. Duh, I don’t think so.”

They continued to mountain bike occasionally with Alan. In fact, they had planned to go on a three month trek down the Continental Divide, but somehow never quiet seemed to get around to it.

Alan walked into the Computer Lab.

“Hi, Arb! Where’s Wonder Boy?”

“Hi, Alan, I have no idea. He’s been real edgy lately. I’m working on my thesis. It’s due in two weeks, but I think after that we really need to take that biking trip.”

God! I love this computer!” said Arb.

“Wow! Nice laptop! Whose is it?” asked Alan.

“Huh?”

“Who is the owner of the computer?”

“Uh, Colt and me.Oh, uh, it was one of Dad’s like Mother 1. You know the one you thought you could break the security on. The one Colt had all his Doctorate material on.” Arb smiled “The one you killed. This one is way better though. This one operates differently. It’s faster and Colt’s added some awesome features to it. Like well just watch this download.” Arb clicked on the start button and thirty seconds later a message appeared ‘Mother has successfully downloaded sixty gigs of data from 23 sources.’

“Sixty gigs! No way!” exclaimed Alan “That’s two gigs a second! No way!”

“Way. Way cool!”

“Come on Arb, pull the other leg! It’s not even hooked into the network.”

“Well, actually it is.”

“Yeah, right!”

“It’s called proximity…Shit!” said Arbor.

“What?”

Arb looked at Alan for a few moments. “Nothing. Look, I’m really busy. I hate to be rude, but I have got to review this data. And you’re right, I was pulling your leg”

Arb forced a laugh.

“Alright, buddy. I’ll leave you be. If you see Colt, tell him to call me on my cell phone.”

Alan left the lab and continued his search for Colt. He walked into the Ops Room where Fatman Spiney was busily looking at line probe readout.

“Hey, Fatman, you seen Colt?” asked Alan.

“No. I wish he was here I’d have him look at this read out. Shit. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“What?”

“Well, every fucking phone line, all the T-1s and T-3s quit for like thirty seconds, but didn’t really. It’s almost like someone cut in on the line sent and received some data and then cut out. Sort of like a high priority transmission to twenty-three different external internet addresses, then a huge amount of data comes back, then everything goes back to normal.”

Alan just shrugged his shoulders and left. He thought about Keith’s death and the incident with Mother I which had occurred just before Keith’s death. Paul had asked him to check out if Keith had been working on anything special just prior to his death. He had forgotten to mention Mother. He’d never really believed that Colt had kept a terabyte of data on Mother, he’d thought he’d just was upset and exaggerating. If Mother I stored a terabyte of data and Keith’s other laptop was even better and faster maybe this was what Paul was after.

That evening he sent an e-mail to Paul “Paul, Keith had been working on a powerful laptop. I was trying to crack it’s security system and it self-destructed. I found out today there’s another model in existence. Please call so we can meet. AlanB”.