“Lieutenant Hill was correct. You are an echolocater. Good. Put on your seatbelt. Driver, you may go.” With that, she faced forward, a haughty expression on her face.
The driver took us to the twelve-foot wall that separated Newhome proper from North End. He was waved through the gates without having his papers checked and he proceeded to the imposing Genetics Laboratory.
“You really live in the lab?” I asked Specialist Madison.
“Yes.”
“And there are others like us?”
“Yes.”
“What will I have to do there?” I wanted to hear it from her, just in case Ryan got it wrong.
“You will serve the Chancellor by keeping the town safe from internal and external threats.” She still refused to look at me as she spoke.
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“We carry out espionage, threat assessments, and interrogations on those deemed to present a clear and present danger to the welfare of Newhome. Our targets typically include insurrectionists, malcontents, and corrupt Custodians and town officials.”
I didn’t have a problem spying on crooked Custodians and town officials, but I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of reporting on simple townsfolk who, like me, were dissatisfied with life in this hole. I knew I told Ryan I’d go along with this, but there was no way I could destroy the lives of innocent civilians who justifiably protested the town’s draconian laws. Maybe I would find a way around this? I felt my temperature rise as I considered the enormity of what I was getting myself into.
We arrived at the Genetics Laboratory in short order. I stepped hesitantly out of the vehicle and stared up at the imposing building with its one-way reflective glass windows that covered every inch of its five floors. I looked at my reflection, but I didn’t see my gaunt face, lifeless hair, or the despondent set of my shoulders. Instead, I pictured the hellish environs that must exist within that vile building – rooms to dissect children and rooms in which they hatched secret, malevolent projects.
Specialist Madison tapped a code into the keypad located beside the front door, and it swished open.
“After you,” she said.
I stepped into the Genetics Laboratory, clenching my fists in a futile attempt to stop my hands shaking. It had taken all my will power to simply step over the threshold. I suddenly wondered if I’d ever step foot out of this building again.
We were in a small foyer, but the reception desk unattended. Everything was immaculate – from the computer screen on the desk to the gleaming one-piece linoleum floor, off-white walls and rows of fluorescent light panels in the ceiling. A security camera in the ceiling swivelled towards us, and I shivered in spite of myself.
Madison led me through a security door and down a long corridor. From there we entered a fully equipped gym filled with top-quality exercise machines, weight machines and free weights that made the gym I went to with Ryan seem like a poor-man’s substitute. One half of the room was taken up by a large exercise mat.
However, it was the inhabitants that caught my attention - eleven girls – all around my age, and every one of them muscular and physically fit. Half used the gym equipment, while the others spared with each other on the exercise mat.
The girls stopped what they were doing when we entered, turning to appraise me with varying expressions. Some looked curious, others suspicious or hostile, and a petite dark-skinned girl examined me with absolutely no emotion whatsoever. It was as though she didn’t even posses a soul. I shuddered in spite of myself.
The only male in the gym, a muscular, middle-aged Asian man, left the exercise mat and came over to us.
“Seon Saeng Nim Cho,” Madison said, bowing her head in respect. He acknowledged her with a nod.
He examined me from head to foot until his eyes finally settling on my face. There was an air of authority about him and a no-nonsense attitude. I figured he was more than a simple gym or martial arts instructor.
“So you're the one who's been turning the town upside down – masquerading as your brother, instigating the breakout, and then remaining behind to save the life of a Custodian.” His voice was deep, powerful.
“That’s right.” My voice wavered as I spoke.
“With the abilities, determination and passion you have displayed, I can see you becoming one of our most valuable assets, Miss Thomas. Shame we didn’t find you earlier, though. We will have to deprogram you from the misconceptions of your upbringing and established behavioural patterns so you can better serve the Chancellor,” he said.
My eyes widened with apprehension, I didn’t like the sound of that at all. Like he planned to divorce me from myself and mould me into someone else entirely. Someone who would do their bidding without a qualm. If so, they were in for a surprise, because I would fight any attempts to reprogram me tooth and nail.
He flashed a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “But don’t let that trouble you. Come, meet your sisters.”
The other girls crowded around, introducing themselves and welcoming me to the family, although in most cases without the slightest sign of affection. All the same, I felt a special connection with each and every one of them. They were all echolocaters like me, all altered in the womb by the same rogue geneticist. I wondered briefly why there weren’t any boys. Maybe they segregated the echolocaters like the rest of Newhome?
The stone-faced Indian girl greeted me last. “Bhagya Singhe. Welcome to the family,” she said, speaking emotionlessly.
I looked at her deadpan expression, and at the suspicion and hostility visible in many of the other girls, and hoped I could find a friend amongst them. Because in this place, I was sure going to need one.
Dear Reader,
I am currently working on the sequel to Impersonator – ‘Specialist.’ If you would like to motivate me to write it faster, please pop a review of Impersonator on Amazon.
Thanks!
Other Books by Peter R Stone
Forager, Book One in the Forager Trilogy, now available on Amazon Kindle.
Twenty-year-old Ethan Jones lives in a post apocalyptic, oppressive society that terminates anyone with mutations caused by nuclear radiation in an effort to keep the human race pure. Because of that, he lives every day in fear for his life, for he has an incredible mutation that gives him an edge when foraging in Melbourne’s ruins. An edge he uses to survive encounters with the vile Skel savages who roam those ruins.
His life becomes complicated when he rescues a mysterious Japanese girl from the Skel and brings her back with him, for she breaks the town’s rigid conventions in her pursuit of him, placing their lives in jeopardy. Her odd behaviour and probing questions baffle him, as does the fact that he understands her when she speaks in Japanese.
Infiltrator, Book Two in the Forager Trilogy, now available on Amazon Kindle.
For Ethan Jones, Nanako, and the surviving members of his foraging team, the trip back to Newhome is a nightmarish journey fraught with danger.
When they do get back to Newhome, Nanako's dreams of a normal life are shattered when Ethan's jilted ex-fiancé makes it her personal goal to turn Nanako's life into a living hell. And as if that isn't enough, she and Ethan fall afoul of a senior officer of the town's draconian Custodian police force.
To complicate matters, more memory fragments from Ethan's missing year surface, bewildering him with their horrific implications - what exactly did he get up to with the Hamamachi Rangers two years ago? Did they - did he - really commit such heinous crimes?
Expatriate, Book Three in the Forager Trilogy – the thrilling and final chapter in the Forager trilogy, now available on Amazon Kindle.
Ethan, Nanako, and the other foragers have fled Newhome after being accused of being terrorists.
However, with Captain Smithson's parting words of "Don't forget us," ringing in their minds, they realise the only way to save Newhome from the Hamamachi Rangers and their Skel allies is to document and expose the Rangers' villainy.
&nbs
p; Yet what sounds like a workable plan is nothing of the sort, for they have to journey into the very heart of Skel territory to obtain the information they need.
Leigh's warning that "nothing ever goes as you want or plan it to," turns out to be prophetic. An assassin, a botched raid, and the Skel and Rangers stopping at nothing to prevent them from revealing the Rangers' activities all complicate matters.
Forager - the Complete Trilogy – grab the complete Forager Trilogy for one low price.
Acknowledgements
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being my refuge and my strength.
Thanks also to:
Dafeenah Jameel at Indie Designz for the most amazing book cover, even featuring the city of Melbourne.
Melissa A. Craven for her wonderful editing, guidance and suggestions for improving the manuscript. Also for the laughs from comparing Australian and American lingo.
Gordon A. Long for his invaluable help and advice, especially in helping me with the book’s conclusion.
Amanda Septer for beta reading the manuscript.
About the Author
Peter R Stone is an award-winning writer, winning the Faithwriters Writing Challenge on three separate occasions, as well as frequently being a Faithwriters Editor's Choice top ten winner. His winning entries include The Medal and Dreams Forsaken.
Peter R Stone, an avid student of history, was reading books on Ancient Greece from the age of four. Periods of interest include the ancient world, medieval era, Napoleonic times, and the Second World War. He still mourns the untimely passing of King Leonidas of Sparta and Field Marshal Michel Ney of France.
A product of the Cold War Generation, Peter Stone studied the ramifications of a nuclear missile strike when he was in his senior year of high school, learning the effects of nuclear fallout and how to (hopefully) survive it. He has ever been drawn to post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels and films, and eagerly devoured The Day of the Triffids and John Christopher's Tripod Trilogy when he was a child. He is also an avid fan of science fiction, and his favorite books include the Lensmen Series by E.E.Doc.Smith, anything by Alastair Reynolds, and the Evergence trilogy by Sean Williams.
Peter Stone graduated from Melbourne School of Ministries Bible College in 1988. He has been teaching Sunday School and playing the keyboard in church for over twenty-five years. His wife is from Japan and they have two wonderful children. He has worked in the same games company for over twenty years, but still does not comprehend why they expect him to work all day instead of playing games.
Forager Online
http://foragertrilogy.blogspot.com.au/
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Other Books by Peter R Stone
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Forager Online
Impersonator (Forager Impersonator - A Post Apocalyptic Trilogy Book 1) Page 29
