Confused by my panicked reaction, Ryan grabbed me by the shoulder. “What’s wrong, Chelsea? You will be safe there, I promise!”
I tried to pull away from him, shaking my head. “No, I won’t! They’ll cut me up so they can study my mutation.”
“Just listen, will you?”
“I won’t be a lab rat – I’d rather die!” I frantically tried to pry his hand off my shoulder, but his grip was like a vice. From the corner of my eye, I saw the woman in the G-Wagon turn to appraise me.
Ryan suddenly put his mouth to my ear and whispered. “You aren’t a mutant or a result of evolution.”
I ceased struggling. “What?”
“Around twenty years ago, one of the senior geneticists carried out illegal genetic experiments on a number of foetuses. You are one of those children.”
I was about to refute his statement as ludicrous, but remembered the elderly Chinese gentleman who warned Brandon and me to hide our abilities when we were five.
I looked up into Ryan’s eyes. “The geneticist who altered us was Chinese, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“Because he warned my brother and me to hide our abilities or we would be dissected by the geneticists.” I always wondered how he knew we were echolocators. Now I knew – he was the geneticist who altered us. He must have kept track of us after we were born. However, learning that Brandon and I were biologically engineered was quite a shock. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or furious that this was done to us without our parents’ permission. Without our permission.
“He really said that?”
“Yes, and that’s why I know they’ll cut me up if you send me there! Please Ryan, don’t do this!”
“I don’t know what that’s all about, but Specialist Madison over there is an echolocator like you, and not the only one either. She told me there is a group of girls like the two of you living in the Genetics Laboratory.”
“Living in the Genetics Laboratory?” Living as in not dissected? I was shocked. Here I was thinking Ryan had betrayed me to my death. Was I wrong? Had I spent my life in fear for naught?
“That’s right.”
The penny dropped. “But working for the Chancellor as spies, right?”
“Something like that.”
“I still won’t do it,” I said.
“There’s something else I need to tell you.” He sent a sidelong glance at the G-Wagon and continued to whisper. “I need you to go there and find out what the geneticists are really up to. And when you uncover what it is, report back to me.”
I looked at him in surprise. “This isn’t exactly above board, is it?”
“What do you think?”
“What are you, Ryan, a double-agent? Who do you really work for?” How many layers deep did this guy go? Just when I thought I finally worked him out, he went and surprised me again.
“I’m just one of several citizens who are very concerned about what’s going on in that lab. You’re our first and probably only chance of getting an agent in there.”
I was mightily tempted to do what he asked, since I considered the geneticists the personification of evil and I would do anything to destroy them.
“I don’t know, Ryan.”
“The need to know what the geneticists are doing in that lab is the reason I wouldn’t leave Newhome with you,” he said.
Another revelation, and one that made more sense than the reasons he gave me earlier. “It means that much to you?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly are you afraid they’re doing?”
“Let’s just say we don’t believe the Founders established this town out of the goodness of their hearts. There’s a lot of things that just don’t add up. Our culture was supposedly designed so we wouldn’t make the same mistakes our ancestors did. But how can that be relevant when there are other inhabited towns dotted all over Australia, none of which adhere to the Founders’ teachings.
I searched his eyes, saw the sincerity in them, and realised I couldn’t deny his request. Not if it meant that much to him. To us all, perhaps.
“Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you, but be real careful, okay? And then, when this is all over and the town is safe–”
“Don’t say it–”
“–I promise nothing can keep me away from you.”
Hearing him declare that he still wanted me in his life caused my heart to race and my face to burn. I saw his determination and wished I could share his enthusiasm that such a future was possible. I just wished we could go back to when I was impersonating Brandon and we spent our days foraging together and evenings working out at the gym.
“Sorry, Ryan, I no longer believe in happy endings,” I said.
“Then I’ll believe for the both of us. I’m sorry, Chelsea, but you really need to go.”
Fearful, and beset with a world of doubts, I nodded and turned towards the waiting vehicle. After a few steps, I looked back at him and memorised every line of his face. I didn’t know when I would see him again, but however long it was, I knew I would miss him dearly.
Chapter Forty-Four
I reached the G-Wagon and the woman gestured for me to climb in and sit beside her. I did so, even though I was shaking like a leaf. I couldn’t believe I was going to the Genetics Laboratory, and that it wouldn’t result in my death.
She was a girl around my age even though she wore a Custodian uniform. Her face was heart shaped and her golden blonde hair was up in a tight bun. As I sat apprehensively beside her, she examined me as though I was something unpleasant she’d stepped on. Then to my astonishment, she sang out with flash sonar, studying my throat.
“Lieutenant Hill was correct. You are an echolocator. 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 s
imply 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 echolocators 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 echolocators 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.
Specialist
Forager Impersonator, Book Two
16th November ‘16
Copyright © 2016 Peter R Stone
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental
Chapter One
Mr. Cho was the only male present in the Genetics Laboratory gymnasium. Twelve girls about my age surrounded him on the rubber exercise mat that covered the floor, all wearing white taekwondo uniforms. Mr. Cho wore a similar outfit, and had eight white stripes on his black belt. From what my brother told me about the martial arts, that meant he was ranked very high, and had been studying the art most of his life.
“Get changed and meet us in the interview room,” he said to Bhagya Singhe, a slim Indian girl. She was the last of the girls to have “welcomed” me to their exclusive world.
The girl nodded and hurried from the gym. The other eleven girls continued to stare at me as though I was something dragged in from the gutter. Considering I spent the past two-plus years in prison, that analogy wasn’t far off the mark.
Studying Mr. Cho as he watched me in return, I had to fight the urge to step away from his imposing presence. He was pushing six-feet, had a square jaw and thick black hair, and appeared to be of Korean descent, like the chancellor and councillors of Newhome. I wondered how highly placed he was in the hierarchy of the town’s leadership.
“Follow me,” he said before striding purposefully from the room. The way he spoke gave me the impression he was not someone to be trifled with.
I rushed after him, almost tripping on my ankle-length prison dress in my haste to keep up. He took me through two long white-walled corridors and finally to a nondescript, windowless room with a table and three metal chairs.
“Sit.” He indicated a chair.
Gathering my beige dress into my hands, I sat as gracefully as I could manage. He sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table. He didn’t speak, just studied me carefully with an invasive stare. I met his gaze without blinking, refusing to be cowed.
After a lifetime living in fear of the Genetics Laboratory, I could scarcely believe I still ended up here. And all because of Ryan Hill, the only person I trusted with the secret that I was the product of genetic engineering. I hadn’t always known that my advanced hearing and ability to use flash sonar, or echolocation, were due to my biological enhancements. I used to think they were mutations caused by nuclear radiation.
My emotions fluctuated wildly at the thought of tall, handsome Ryan, often brooding over past injustices. He was the first to see through my disguise when I masqueraded as my brother in a desperate attempt to earn enough money to put food on the table for my family. He later confessed that he had feelings for me, going so far as to ask his father if he would allow our union. A union I refused to consider because of the rather significant baggage I would bring with me.
It became a moot point, though, when the magistrate handed me a life sentence for my part in instigating a breakout that saw two-dozen foragers and their families escape Newhome.
Refusing to give up on his hope that we could one day be together, Ryan saw an opportunity to get me out of prison when he met Specialist Madison Taylor, a biologically engineered echolocator like me. After she told him that a dozen other such girls lived in the Genetics Laboratory, serving the Chancellor as spies, he told her I was an echolocator too.
From his perspective, it got me out of my life sentence, and perhaps as importantly, into the Genetics Laboratory so I could spy on the geneticists and find out exactly what they were doing. They worked feverishly, day in, day out – on what, no one knew. I always assumed they were developing new strains of vegetables and fowl, but Ryan assured me that could not be the case.
And so, here I was, in the last place on earth I wanted to be, risking my life to find out what the geneticists were really up to.
There was a gentle knock at the door.
“Come,” Mr. Cho barked.
The door opened and Bhagya Singhe slipped in, now wearing a Custodian camo uniform, though with an ankle length skirt in place of trousers. Without even glancing in my direction, she sat stiffly beside the man.
“As you have gathered, my name is Cho,” he said. “You may address me as Sir, Teacher, or Seon Saeng Nim.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“‘Teacher’ in Korean,” he said. “As you have no doubt deduced, I am in charge of the Specialists Program.”
He was Korean, just as I thought. A flash of insig
ht hit me. “Are you one of the councillors, Sir?”
“Just so.”
My eyes widened slightly in fear. I was with one of the handful of men responsible for maintaining Newhome’s oppressive society created by the Founders a century ago. That meant I was in more danger than I had ever been in before. This man could order my execution on a whim.
“The purpose of this interview,” he began, “is to determine if you require deprogramming from the influence of your parent's questionable ethics and exposure to the numerous malcontents and criminals you've met in your...colourful past.”
I was about to protest his opinion about my parents, but then realised that although my mother was an extremely vocal supporter of the Founders’ teachers, my father was not. From the privacy of our home, he had bucked the system whenever and wherever possible.
“Before we begin,” he said, “Let me explain why Miss Singhe is here. She has a unique ability that allows her to determine with one hundred percent accuracy whether someone is lying or telling the truth.”
I looked at Bhagya in alarm as unsettling tendrils of fear curled in the depths of my stomach. If she could tell when I was lying, Mr. Cho might unearth the real reason I was here. How would he react if he discovered that Ryan and I were part of a resistance movement? A movement that sent me here to infiltrate the laboratory to find out what the geneticists were doing.
“Do you revere the Chancellor?” he asked.
“Of course,” I answered, but then jolted as though struck because as soon as I began to speak, Bhagya sang out with short musical notes pitched in the ultrasonic range.
“Miss Singhe?” Mr. Cho asked.
“She’s lying, Sir.”
“Is she now?” He leaned closer. “How do you really view the Chancellor, young lady?”
I sighed. It looked like I would have to forgo my original plan of concealing the way I really felt and go with the truth. “My feelings towards the Chancellor aside, Sir, can I just say that if you want me to spy on corrupt Custodians and dishonest managers and public servants, no problem. I’ll give it my all. But if you want me to ferret out and report on innocent civilians who have issues with the Founders’ teachings and our culture, you may as well send me back to prison. I won’t do it.”
Forager - the Complete Six Book Series (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Series) Page 100
