Genesis War (Genesis Book 3)

by Eliza Green

  ‘Yes. I volunteered. But don’t revere my father. Deighton was right about one thing. I changed into an Indigene to escape him. He was a...’ Pierre paused. ‘He thought of nobody but himself.’

  Tanya frowned. ‘And your wife was killed—how?’

  ‘It seems Deighton has still not forgiven me for having a better life than him, so he transferred his personality to Anton and used Anton to kill Elise—my wife—on his behalf.’ Pierre’s gaze slid from Tanya to Deighton. ‘I see now you have a lot in common with my father. And if you’re like my father, I assume you need something from us. Why else would you be here?’

  ‘Charles, I’m having trouble understanding this,’ said Tanya. ‘This is before my time. How did we wind up meeting, not only with people from our past, but people from our own board?’

  Deighton tried to soften his expression, but the hatred in his eyes remained. ‘These are all lies, Tanya. Don’t believe these murderers. We must eradicate them. I thought the board would consider plans for alteration, not find ways to co-exist with the enemy. We waste precious time talking to them.’

  ‘The alteration programme was always a long-term strategy, for use once people had settled on Exilon 5. I thought you understood that.’

  Deighton went to speak but Tanya cut him off. ‘Why do you need this change so badly?’

  Bill caught the brief look of shock on Deighton’s face. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Daphne Gilchrist called me the day before she died. She told me about Anton—that you sent him back here with a bomb. You want something.’

  A livid Deighton stepped closer to Tanya but her bodyguards intervened before he could get too close. Tanya waved her hand and the bodyguards backed off.

  ‘Is this why we’re here, to become friends with the freaks?’ Deighton sneered. ‘This is fucking bullshit, Tanya.’ He jabbed a finger at her. ‘The alteration programme is our best plan. If money matters, we can work out how to make it profitable. We don’t need them to do that. Surely we can put our human heads together and come up with a fucking solution.’

  Bill had heard rumours about Deighton’s temper, but seeing it firsthand terrified him.

  To Tanya’s credit, she didn’t flinch. ‘I specifically asked you who the Indigene leader was and you told me that you didn’t know. You’ve lied to me—and not just about that.’

  Deighton stepped back and shook his head. ‘Peter Cantwell wanted higher status personnel as part of the initial alteration programme to control the race from the inside. Andrew volunteered.’

  ‘Not you?’

  ‘He wasn’t suitable for alteration, were you Charles,’ said Pierre.

  ‘See? Nothing but lies coming from his mouth.’ Deighton’s gaze flitted over the group of Indigenes. ‘For God’s sake, say something.’

  At first, Bill couldn’t tell who Deighton addressed. Then Anton stepped forward. ‘Benedict is gone. You no longer control me.’

  Deighton looked confused. ‘But you still have the device in your head.’

  ‘You underestimated us,’ said Stephen.

  The military largely inactive up until now, suddenly pointed their Buzz Guns at the Indigene group. Serena stepped closer, a move that only made them nervous. She appeared to have lost her influence over them.

  ‘Stand down,’ Tanya ordered, but the military remained on full alert.

  Bill turned round and saw what the military had in their sights. The large group of Indigenes waiting at the gate were now inside. Military bodies lay crumpled on the approach road. Others who challenged the Indigenes were no match for them.

  The bodyguards ushered the board members back inside the yellow-stone building, leaving Deighton alone. Deighton came at Pierre, pulling something shiny from his coat pocket as he ran. Before Bill could stop him, he plunged a knife deep into Pierre’s chest.

  Pierre gasped and fell to the ground. Deighton hovered over him and jammed his foot onto Pierre’s chest, which snapped off the handle of the blade.

  Multiple Buzz Guns discharged their deadly electricity into the air. A vulnerable Bill retreated to the toilet block. The military pushed forward, knocking Tanya to the ground. The Indigenes swarmed among the military as Stephen, Leon and Gabriel tried to protect Pierre. The military discharged their weapons again, and the electricity reduced the Indigenes’ movements to a slow walk. While it didn’t incapacitate the Indigenes, it did make them easy targets. With the board members safely back inside the building, three of the bodyguards came back out and finished off the slowest of the Indigenes by snapping their necks with nothing more than their bare hands.

  The electricity in the air multiplied. Without an energy-absorption suit, Bill stayed put and searched for the Indigenes he knew. The military continued to gain the upper hand.

  The firing stopped for a moment and Bill seized his chance.

  ‘Put your guns down.’ He stood at the entrance to the half-finished building and waved his hands at the soldiers. One man turned and fired at him. Bill threw himself back inside the room just as the puff of energy shot through the door opening and hit the wall behind him, leaving a large blackened patch.

  Bill crouched down and peered outside. The military continued to advance, pushing the Indigene mob back towards the city’s entrance gates. The giants swept aside anyone who got in their way; a few fell and the bodyguards thought nothing of trampling them underfoot. This negotiation had turned into a battle. Bill needed to stop it before it became an all-out war.

  The military advanced on the Indigene group protecting Pierre, switching their Buzz Guns for the less deadly Impulse Tasers. Tanya’s orders, possibly, to keep the main group alive. They fired directly at them. Indigenes resisted the worst effects of the electricity, but too much energy in the air thickened their movements. There was no sign of the blue-eyed female.

  When the military advanced on Stephen and Pierre’s location, Bill had an idea. He scrambled over to a pile of discarded building material in the corner of the room and pulled out a length of wood. He took it to the entrance and whacked against the door frame.

  ‘Hey, dickwads. Over here.’

  The banging noise was enough to attract the attention of the military and the bodyguards. The firing stopped for a few seconds, long enough for Bill to talk to Stephen: You’d better do it fast.

  A shot hit the doorway and Bill ducked back inside. The firing picked up again. Bill risked another look outside. Stephen was tossing tasers and Buzz Guns—whatever he could find—back to his group. Bill spoke to Stephen again: Fire at their legs. They’re unprotected.

  Bill covered his ears against the ear-splitting sound of electricity hitting electricity. The military dropped to their knees, surprised by the attack from the Indigenes that aimed at their legs. Slowly the Indigenes outnumbered the military, relieving them of their weapons as each soldier fell. But the shots caused minimal damage to the genetically modified bodyguards.

  You have to kill them, Stephen. They won’t stop unless Tanya gives a command.

  More Indigenes descended on the city, pouring in through the city gates, to help their comrades. Too many arrived for the remaining military to keep at bay. The bodyguards trampled over bodies strewn on the ground. They targeted slow moving Indigenes who they snatched up and snapped their necks before tossing them aside.

  ‘Gabriel. Arianna. Use lethal force,’ shouted Stephen.

  Bill watched as Gabriel and Arianna fired the Buzz Guns at the three bodyguards. But their shots made no difference—the electricity bounced off the bodyguards’ chests.

  Aim for their necks, said Bill. They’re wearing body armour.

  Stephen glanced at Gabriel and Arianna who both raised their guns and aimed. Their shots found the first of the genetically modified men. He fell at their feet and they stared down at his convulsing body.

  Bill crawled out from his hiding place. He picked up a Buzz Gun lying next to a fallen soldier. He removed the soldier’s energy absorption suit and put it on before more fi
ring resumed. His boots glistened red as he traversed the battlegrounds to the group surrounding Pierre.

  New Indigenes arrived and picked up weapons discarded by the military. They kept the military at bay but the remaining two bodyguards just shook off the attacks and kept coming.

  Arianna squeezed one eye shut and aimed high at one of their necks. She was about to fire when Tanya came running from the yellow building. ‘Stop. Please.’

  The advancing bodyguards halted their advance and Arianna lowered her gun. The remaining military men and women turned at the sound of Tanya’s voice, just long enough for the Indigenes to disarm them.

  ‘No more. I surrender.’ Tanya came closer and held her hands up. ‘Please don’t kill any more of my bodyguards.’

  Gabriel helped the Indigenes to manage what remained of the military while Bill, Stephen and Leon tended to Pierre. Bill had no idea how to help as Stephen pushed rhythmically on Pierre’s chest. Anton and Arianna joined the circle of Indigenes that protected Pierre.

  ‘The wound has already closed over.’ Stephen sat back on his heels, his eyes glassy. ‘I can’t get at the blade. It’s still inside him.’

  Bill felt around in the pockets of his borrowed energy absorption suit. He found a wallet, a set of dog tags and a laser scalpel. ‘Here, use this.’ He threw the scalpel to Stephen.

  Stephen reopened the wound and dug his fingers into Pierre’s chest. A second later, he tore the metal blade from his heart. Bill moved in closer to see the wound knitting closed, but Pierre remained still.

  ‘The heart will heal,’ Stephen said to no one in particular.

  Gabriel arrived and pushed on Pierre’s chest—one, two, three—and breathed air into his lungs. Everyone looked on in silence. Bill wished he could do something more than stare.

  ‘Why isn’t he awake?’ said a panicked Stephen.

  With a sigh, Gabriel stopped pushing. The wound in Pierre’s chest had only knitted half closed. He still hadn’t responded to the compressions.

  ‘Why won’t he wake up?’ whispered Stephen.

  Bill touched Stephen’s shoulder; the Indigene shrugged his hand away at first, but Bill persisted. The Indigene body may be strong, Stephen, but it can’t live without the mind.

  Tanya Li stepped forward, her eyes glistening as she stared at her dead bodyguard. ‘I’m sorry, I should never have let it get this far.’

  Bill got to his feet. ‘I warned you about Deighton. You should have controlled him better.’

  ‘I didn’t think he’d go this far.’ She sounded genuine in her belief.

  Bill laughed. ‘He’s a fucking psychopath. What did you expect?’ He had a good look around. ‘Where’s the bastard anyway?’

  Tanya shook her head. ‘He’s not with us.’

  Stephen stood up, shaking and tearful. ‘Why didn’t I see this? I should have seen this coming.’

  ‘There was nothing you could have done,’ said Leon. ‘The electricity incapacitated us. The blade was in Pierre’s heart for too long.’

  ‘No, I meant why didn’t I predict this?’ Stephen looked around. ‘Serena’s presence was acting as a booster to my envisioning ability. Where is she?’

  Bill couldn’t see Serena anywhere.

  Anton noticed them first, on the foot road that snaked to the right of the yellow building. Bill followed Anton’s pointing finger and saw Deighton leaning against a wall. Serena was slumped on the ground beside him. A syringe stuck out of her neck and Deighton’s thumb was on the top, ready to push.

  Stephen and Gabriel raced forward. Bill followed.

  ‘Don’t come any closer,’ Deighton warned. He kept his thumb on the syringe. Stephen slowed his approach.

  Serena had been drugged. That made sense to Bill. Without Serena’s influence, the battle had been easier on the human side.

  ‘Charles, what the hell are you doing?’ said Tanya.

  ‘None of your business. You and that whore Daphne have plotted against me this whole time.’

  ‘This is madness.’ Tanya passed the Indigenes with her arms outstretched. ‘Hand the girl over to me.’

  Deighton pushed on the syringe.

  ‘Stop.’ Stephen’s eyes shifted. ‘What do you want from her?’

  Tears leaked from Deigton’s eyes. ‘I thought that might grab your attention. I don’t just want her. I want you.’ He jabbed a finger at Gabriel.

  Bill looked at Gabriel who asked, ‘What do you need?’

  ‘I want you to change me like that Laura girl. First, inject me with copies of Serena’s code, mutations and all. And if that doesn’t work, then I want whatever is coursing through Laura’s body. I’ve seen Anton’s footage that showed your familiarity with genetics.’

  Bill tried to remain calm at the mention of Laura.

  ‘The alteration programme is just delayed, Charles,’ said Tanya. ‘It isn’t off the table. We’ll revisit it at a later stage.’

  ‘No. I want to be changed now. I need it more than you do.’

  ‘We can arrange that back on Earth.’ Tanya inched forward. ‘Now give me the girl.’

  ‘No, you fucking Asian cow. Alteration doesn’t work on me. I’ve tried it already. I have Parkinson’s. I want them to change me. They’ve already had success with that Laura one.’

  ‘We can change you in the district,’ said Gabriel. ‘You can have anything you want. Without the right equipment, there’s nothing we can do here.’

  Deighton straightened up, pulling a dazed Serena to her feet and holding her close to his chest. He had an arm looped around her neck. Deighton, still with his thumb on the syringe, steered Serena to the front of the yellow building. His steps laboured the more Serena leaned on him. Stephen and Gabriel walked backwards, neither willing to let Deighton and the syringe out of their sight. Bill followed with Tanya, keeping their distance from the unstable man.

  When the group reached Anton, Arianna and Leon with Pierre, Deighton slowed.

  ‘I had your pure genetic code, then they muddied the samples by combining it with human DNA,’ Deighton said to Anton. ‘I had what I needed. If you hadn’t made me kill that doctor, I would never have been forced to come here and...’

  Bill caught the flash of anger in Anton’s eyes.

  ‘But I suppose one good thing came of it,’ Deighton continued. He called Tanya’s name, his shaky thumb still on the syringe. ‘Check the downloaded footage on my DPad. I’ve only glanced at it, but you’ll see Anton causing one hell of an explosion.’ Then he turned to Anton: ‘How did it feel when you wrapped your fingers around the old woman’s neck?’ He shuddered and smiled. ‘Quite the feeling, isn’t it, when you kill someone.’

  Anton growled and ran at Deighton, aiming for his chest. A surprised Deighton dropped Serena and landed hard on his back. Serena crumpled to the ground, the syringe still in her neck. Bill ran over to her and pulled it out, then hauled her to safety.

  Deighton spluttered as he drew in several short breaths. Anton clutched the side of his head as if in pain, causing Deighton to laugh.

  ‘They can’t remove it, can they?’ he said. ‘I put it somewhere tricky, just in case they tried. Thanks to that little device we can watch you any time we like.’

  Anton bellowed and his body shook with rage. Deighton’s smile faded with the noise. Bill stepped back, even though he was out of the firing line.

  Anton stood over a fallen Deighton and jammed his foot into the old man’s exposed throat. Deighton squeezed his eyes shut just as Bill heard the sound of a windpipe cracking. He watched the murderous look in Anton’s eyes fade as fast as the life in Deighton’s did.

  Tanya stared down at Deighton. ‘We’re not all the same,’ she said to Anton. ‘You have nothing to fear from us. We’ll remove the device from your head.’

  ‘No need,’ said Anton.

  Bill’s skin prickled in the same way it had right before he discovered Elise’s body.

  ‘You’ll never watch us again.’ Anton produced a laser scalpel and sliced th
e base of his own skull open.

  ‘Anton—no!’ Leon ran forward.

  Anton dug deep and ripped a small black device from his skull. Then his body spasmed and he collapsed to the ground.

  The military left alive dragged Deighton’s body off the street and into one of the nearby buildings. There was no blood, but his throat was severely crushed and his eyes were still open. A visibly shaken Leon picked up Anton’s body and carried him off, while Gabriel slung Pierre over his shoulder. Others helped the rest of the wounded Indigenes, leaving behind those beyond saving.

  Bill faced a rather subdued Tanya Li; the shock of what had just happened would hit her soon enough.

  ‘You need to go—all of you,’ Bill said to her. ‘If you and the other board members stay here, exposed like this, it will only stir up more trouble.’

  Tanya nodded. ‘I agree. We’ll all convene at HQ in New London. It’s the nearest place to here.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere until I know Laura is okay.’ Bill looked towards the gate as the last of the Indigenes disappeared into the night.

  ‘Mr Taggart, as your superior, I’m ordering you to come with us to HQ in New London,’ said Tanya.

  Bill smiled at her. ‘You have no hold over me. And given everything that has happened—to my wife, to the Indigenes—you have no right to assume you do.’

  The conservative member rallied around their leader. ‘Tensions are too high here, Chair. Let’s regroup at HQ and give the situation some further thought. Mr Taggart can follow when he’s ready.’

  Tanya looked defeated. ‘Fine. Pack everything up. We should be gone in the next twenty minutes.’ She turned to Bill. ‘You will show up for a debriefing, is that understood?’

  ‘I can’t promise anything.’ Bill focused on the gates and the thick black night beyond them. He saw no sign of the Indigenes; he wouldn’t be able to track them even by the light from the double moons.

  ‘Looks like your friends didn’t wait for you.’ Tanya held her chin high.

  Bill ignored her and retrieved his bag from inside the supply room. He began the walk towards the main gate and out into the flatlands, ignoring the hustle of the military men inside the city walls piling up the bodies—for transport or burial, he wasn’t sure. When he’d cleared New Melbourne’s gates, he removed the communication stone from his bag. The blue light was too faint to help him. He turned, about to return to the city to ask for a ride to New London when he heard a noise.