Genesis Variant (Genesis Book 6)

by Eliza Green

  ‘Again!’

  Tanya backed up a second time and charged again.

  The barrier was loosening. Simon could feel it.

  ‘One more time.’

  Serena! Simon heard Stephen shout. We need to do more.

  Tanya charged at the barrier protecting the wall and, with a pop, it gave way. Their motion carried their energy straight to the wall. A hundred tiny tendrils appeared and wove around their joint energy to create a tight lattice.

  Serena and Stephen’s energy sped to their location but an energy field kept them at bay. Behind the energy field, Simon could no longer hear Stephen.

  He felt the beginnings of what Tanya had fought so hard to achieve: transcendence, the conversion of her mind and body into pure energy. The Nexus drew energy from them and added it to its own. He felt his hold on reality slip further away while Tanya’s strengthened.

  ‘This feels amazing,’ said Tanya. ‘I’ve never felt this strong before.’

  The temporary feeling would remain as long as they stayed connected to the Nexus and its power. Simon felt something split their energy into two. His energy, smaller than Tanya’s growing one, dislodged from the wall and landed with a thud on the ledge below it. While the tendrils appeared to feed Tanya’s energy, they drew from his, tightening around his energy and squeezing until he could no longer fight the pressure.

  47

  No matter what they tried, Stephen and Serena could not get near the Nexus wall. It had created a cocoon of energy around the joined energies before weaning off Simon’s weaker energy, until the pair had been separated. The Nexus continued to steal from Simon’s energy while feeding new energy to Tanya.

  ‘What’s it doing, Serena?’

  She was quiet beside him. Her attempts to distract the Nexus had failed. The Nexus always listened to her. If she couldn’t stop it, then how could they stop Tanya?

  ‘It’s killing Simon. We have to stop it,’ he said.

  ‘We can’t, Stephen. What the Nexus does with either of them is out of my control. It ignores my commands.’

  ‘What now? She spends her days in here, trapped?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ She sighed. ‘This has never happened before.’

  ‘We’ll have to quarantine users—’

  A sudden brightening of Tanya’s already dazzling energy cut him off. Then the brightness faded to nothing.

  ‘Where did she go?’ Stephen drifted closer to the wall; the barrier no longer impeded them. There was no sign of her. Simon’s energy was barely a blip. Then it, too, disappeared. ‘What happened?’

  Serena moved closer to the Nexus and pressed her energy to its now calm wall. The organic being communicated only with her.

  ‘I can’t sense her. Maybe the Nexus killed her.’

  ‘What’s it saying?’ said Stephen.

  Serena disconnected from the wall. ‘Nothing at all. It’s calm. Everything feels... normal.’

  ‘So that’s it?’

  ‘I don’t know. But I’m not sensing anything new here. It’s possible the Nexus became too much for her to handle. She was not one of us. She was a foreign entity inside here.’

  Stephen floated to the exit and Serena followed him. ‘We should check on Simon.’

  He disconnected and climbed out of the unit to see Simon still lying on the upper floor. Laura sat on the floor beside him. She wore the neurosensor and had Simon’s head in her lap. Her eyes were wet. Bill had hunkered down opposite her, but kept his distance.

  Laura looked up when Stephen neared.

  ‘How is he?’ he said.

  She shook her head. ‘He died a few minutes ago. I tried to reach him with the neurosensor. I felt everything he did. He fought her for as long as he could. He felt no pain in the end.’

  She placed Simon’s head gently on the floor and tore the neurosensor from her head. She wiped her eyes and went over to where Anton tended to Arianna, Clement and Gabriel. Bill straightened up, looking like he wanted to go with her. He followed, but kept his distance.

  Serena emerged from her unit. Stephen met her halfway and pressed his forehead against hers. You did everything you could.

  I have a connection to the Nexus. I should have been able to stop them.

  A more alert Arianna drew his attention. But in all the commotion, he couldn’t feel Gabriel.

  He strode over to where they lay. Clement was sitting up while Laura tended to a blast wound on his shoulder. Arianna looked up at a relieved and smiling Anton. But Gabriel had a sheet over his head.

  Stephen swallowed back a lump. ‘Is he dead?’

  He already knew.

  ‘Gabriel took the brunt of the hit to save Arianna and Clement. The blast hit his heart. It was instant.’

  ‘But we can heal...’

  Anton shook his head. ‘Not this time.’

  Stephen peeled back the cover and touched Gabriel’s peaceful-looking face.

  ‘We need to tell Margaux.’

  ‘Somehow I think she already knows,’ said Serena.

  Stephen pressed his forehead to the Indigene who had been like a father to him since Pierre’s death. ‘Goodbye, my old friend. This district will never forget what you’ve done for us.’

  48

  Chaos ensued in the core of District Three as the Indigenes rounded up the disarmed Conditioned. Bill ordered his men to watch the Elite, whose hosts wore energy absorption vests, similar to the ones Tanya and the board members had worn in the fight in New Melbourne eight years ago.

  ‘Remove their vests,’ said Bill.

  He fumed at the turn of events, at the blatant disrespect shown for the Indigene’s space and the Nexus. At least only Tanya out of the ten Elite had made it inside. According to Serena and Stephen, her energy had been destroyed along with Simon’s.

  Bill relieved the Elite of their vests while his men pointed the Elite’s own weapons at them. In another corner of the room, the Indigenes pointed Buzz Guns at the Conditioned who didn’t carry hosts. He would need some place more secure than an open core to house the GS humans who were now under his command. The invading numbers and the piled-up bodies told him approximately half of the GS 100 had accompanied the hosted Elite.

  They’d found an extra person, unconscious and just outside the environmental controls. A man with brown hair who had an alliance to Harvey Buchanan.

  Bill left the Elite and walked over to Stephen where he oversaw the Indigenes controlling the Conditioned. Bill placed a hand on his shoulder when it seemed like the Indigene didn’t notice him. Stephen jumped and glared at him. Then his expression softened.

  ‘Bill,’ he said softly. ‘I’m tired of losing friends in this fight.’

  ‘I know,’ said Bill. ‘Gabriel was a good man.’

  ‘As was Simon.’

  ‘He could have walked away from it all. But instead, he did everything he could to stop her.’ Bill paused. ‘I think we should talk.’ He looked around. ‘Privately?’

  Stephen paused and looked around at the chaos. ‘Okay, but let’s keep it brief.’

  They relocated to the Council Chambers. Stephen left the door open, which surprised Bill.

  ‘A return to my policy. I don’t like secrets. They’re too hard to manage.’

  ‘Listen.’ Bill paced the room. ‘We’ve won here today, even though it feels like we haven’t. But I’ll need to round up the remaining GS humans in the caves and contain them. Then I’ll need to figure out what to do with them.’

  ‘You mean kill them?’ said Stephen.

  Bill stopped pacing. ‘It’s not up to me to take anyone’s life.’

  ‘They are parasites, Bill. They don’t deserve life.’

  He stared at his friend. ‘What happened to you? You are usually the moral compass around here. Now I’m the one protecting lives while you’re gung ho about ending them.’

  ‘I’ve seen too much. I’m sick of it all.’ Stephen slumped against the wall. ‘Where does it all end?’

  ‘You can’t think l
ike that. You give those thoughts power and you lose the democracy and trust you’ve worked hard to build here.’

  Stephen waved his hand. In that second, Bill saw Pierre. Other than a brief encounter with him, he hadn’t known much about the elder. According to Stephen he had been a stubborn man, and not easy to convince that change was a good thing.

  ‘I’ve lost trust here already. But the Elite’s attack on us was just one problem. Our focus must shift now to the rogue groups who wish to see the peace treaty torn apart.’

  ‘I’m afraid the issue with the Elite isn’t over.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Bill sighed. ‘The doctors created the Elite and the Conditioned. If we don’t destroy the medical data, what’s to stop them from creating more? In a year, or five, we could be right back where we started.’

  ‘But nothing happened when Tanya entered the Nexus.’ Stephen frowned. ‘It destroyed her energy. The Elite wanted transcendence. If the Nexus, the most powerful energy source on this planet, wouldn’t give it to them, they will never achieve it. If we make that fact public knowledge, the doctors, the Elite, will stop chasing after it.’

  ‘They may stop coming after you, but transcendence can be achieved through artificial means. There’s nothing to stop them from creating an energy source more powerful than the Nexus. This fight isn’t over.’

  Stephen sighed. ‘So what now?’

  ‘Now, you must tend to things here. I need to visit the caves, round up the others before they realise something’s wrong.’

  Bill heard a sound at the door. He turned to see Clement.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Clement said. He raised both hands. ‘I’ll come back later.’

  Bill waved him in. ‘We’re done talking.’

  He prepared to leave but Clement stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  ‘Don’t go. I need to speak with both of you.’

  ‘What’s wrong, Clement?’ said Stephen.

  The Indigene with the blue eyes walked farther into the room.

  In the middle of the room, he stopped and turned. ‘That man we found, just outside the environmental barrier?’

  Bill nodded. ‘One of Harvey’s associates.’

  ‘He’s part of the rogue group I infiltrated. He was my surveillance partner.’

  Stephen shook his head. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Marcus Murphy is his real name, and I told him there were other ways inside the district. He must have followed me to one.’ Clement looked contrite. ‘I led them to the entrance we never thought they’d find. It was my fault Gabriel died.’

  Stephen walked over to him and gripped the side of his neck. ‘You are not to blame for their actions. It was nobody’s fault.’

  Clement nodded while Bill mulled over the name he’d heard from Jenny Waterson: Marcus Murphy. The associate who had run Waverley neighbourhood back on Earth.

  ☼

  Bill left the district with a dozen armed men and women in tow, and drove to the caves using three cars. They parked at the boundary line. Nobody stopped them when they breached the line and entered GS land. They arrived at the caves to find three Conditioned males waiting in the room with a dozen wall monitors on the left-hand wall and a raised platform at the back. His men raised their guns, but the trio lifted their hands in surrender.

  ‘Are they dead?’ asked one.

  Bill assumed he meant the Elite. ‘Just one. We have the others in custody.’

  ‘Tanya?’

  ‘Yes.’

  The males looked relieved. ‘We don’t wish to fight you. Our only fight was with the Elite and what they had planned for us.’

  ‘Are there more of you here?’ The Conditioned nodded. ‘And the original Elite?’

  The Conditioned nodded at the raised platform. ‘Back there. In the first room you come across.’

  Bill jumped up on to the platform and took the right-hand tunnel, which led him to an area with one door on the left. He opened the door and saw a dozen beds inside, their headboards following the curved wall. In the centre of the room was a square, black machine on a table with wires protruding out of it. He assumed this was the mind-mapping machine that Simon had mentioned.

  Ten old and frail Elite lay in repose, one to each bed. He checked two bodies and pressed his fingers to their necks.

  A familiar voice caused him to turn. ‘They’re dead.’

  ‘Harvey, what are you doing here?’

  ‘Same as you. Checking on them.’ He nodded at the dead. ‘They wanted transcendence, did you know that?’

  ‘Not all of them as it turned out. Where can I find the doctors?’

  He needed to confiscate all the medical data they held on the Elite and Conditioned.

  Harvey shook his head. ‘They’re long gone, and so is your data. The labs here have been cleared out.’

  Bill narrowed his eyes at the former geneticist. ‘What do you know?’

  ‘I monitored their movements from the second Simon and the others left here two hours ago. The doctors packed everything up and got the hell out of here.’

  ‘I need that data, Harvey. Can you find them for me?’

  ‘What’s it worth to you?’

  ‘What do you want?’

  Although he already had an idea.

  Harvey smiled as if he’d won. He may just have. ‘Genetic manipulation clinics, three to start. A squeaky-clean record so I can run my business the way I’ve always wanted.’

  ‘Harvey, in case you haven’t noticed, getting one’s face fixed isn’t a high priority here.’

  Harvey stuck his hands in his pockets. ‘Take it or leave it. I want them operational in a week.’

  Bill didn’t see how to make that happen. ‘I can do something in six months... but right now, there’s too much going on.’

  ‘Sorry, Bill, my terms are non-negotiable. The sooner you set it up, the sooner I help you find the doctors.’

  ‘That’s not going to work for me. You help me and I get you your deal.’

  Harvey removed his hands and backed out of the room. ‘I won’t compromise. My clinics come first. I’ll be around, watching. When you change your mind, and you will, come find me on the Wave.’

  Harvey vanished out the door just as one of Bill’s team entered through another door on the opposite side of the room. He let out a low whistle.

  An irritated Bill said, ‘Get the Elite into cryogenic chambers. We may need access to their genetic information. And round up the remaining Conditioned. I haven’t decided what to do with them yet.’

  The officer nodded and Bill rubbed a hand over his tired face. He left his team to organise things in the caves and started the walk back to his vehicle. No matter what way he spun it, he couldn’t do this without Harvey’s help. If the doctors really were gone, Harvey might be the only one capable of reverse-engineering the tests done to the Elite and Conditioned, and deciphering the file Simon had copied.

  But first, he had to talk to Laura.

  49

  Laura sensed Bill before she saw him. Not only did she recognise his familiar heavy stomp, but she heard his erratic thoughts, which sounded like a rumbling train in her mind. She used to say, ‘Penny for your thoughts?’ It still surprised Bill she could read him so well.

  Truth was, she didn’t need a rumbling sound to know when Bill carried too much load. It was his pacing, how he delivered a one-word reply when he was annoyed or distracted. Or how he changed the subject when she got too close to something that bothered him. And she knew his decision to let her go bothered him most.

  She waited in her room—a temporary home away from home. Yet it felt less temporary and more like the place she needed to be. She wasn’t done here; the last twenty-four hours had proven that. The fight against the Elite. Using the neurosensor on Simon. The Nexus. She’d barely scratched the surface of her abilities and this fight had woken up her desire to learn more. Clement had been helping her to understand some things.

  She heard his voic
e, loud and clear, even though he was on the other side of the district. He was with Arianna, asking her how she felt. Laura sensed Arianna’s physical weakness after being hit by a close-range blast of electricity, but at least she was improving. In a short time, Arianna had become a sister to her. Laura wasn’t ready to lose anyone else.

  She stiffened when Arianna told Bill where she was and offered to walk him there. Her heart fluttered in her chest at the thought of seeing him again. It had only been a few days and she’d seen him since, but things had been awkward between them. She didn’t know how to talk to him any more.

  ‘She’s down there.’

  Bill charged past the room, then backtracked and looked inside. His stride had purpose to it, but when he saw her, his energy dissipated, as though the fight had left him.

  ‘Laura.’

  His voice sounded cracked and broken. It nearly broke her heart.

  ‘Bill.’ She stood beside her bed and gestured to it. ‘Please, sit.’

  He did, but looked up at her when she remained standing. ‘Aren’t you going to sit with me?’

  Laura needed a clear head and she couldn’t have that with Bill so close. ‘I’m fine here.’

  She tucked her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall.

  Bill scratched the back of his neck, indicating his discomfort. ‘Eh, how are you?’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Were you injured?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. And Arianna and Clement will both be fine.’ Her heart hurt to remember Gabriel. She had no idea how Margaux would take the news. ‘I’m sorry about Simon.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Bill stared at the floor and blew out a breath. ‘He made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the Indigenes. His sacrifice won’t be forgotten.’

  ‘I’ll make sure everyone here will remember him too.’

  Bill looked up at her. ‘Julie can’t wait for you to get back. You’ll never guess who showed up at the ITF. Ben Watson, looking for a job. I put him to work with Julie. Turns out he’s good—’