Genomorph

Chapter 50

Genomorph
by Scott Ramsey

Part 5
edited by Carla Winters and Amelia R.

CHAPTER 50

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

Sun Tzu – The Art of War

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 2005
1800 EST

“We’re going to let them take Melissa,” Brandi repeated, “and then when they demand it, I am going to surrender.”

Brandi wondered if Sun Tzu would be impressed or just laugh. There was certainly plenty of disorder; the problem was it was not feigned. Everyone stared at her for about five seconds to see if she was serious, and then they all started talking at once. Only Melissa remained silent, and Brandi could see that she was trying very hard not to burst into giggles. The fact that she knew Melissa was terrified by what she was proposing and still found the situation funny made her love the girl even more.

Brandi stood there and listened impassively for a few seconds; she had no problem at all following what everyone was saying. She was being reckless; it was too great a risk to Melissa; there was too much at stake for her to go it alone. Finally, she decided it was time to put a stop to it.

“Enough!” she bellowed loudly enough to cut through the cacophony and silence them all.

“I appreciate your concerns, I really do,” she continued once everyone had settled down. “If you will do me the courtesy of listening to the whole plan, I’ll continue.”

Brandi paused just long enough to make sure they were going to listen, and then pressed forward.

“The only way to be sure we get the information we need and stop them from sending the signal to activate their plan is from the inside. The lab complex is a hardened bunker a hundred feet underground. There are only three ways in; the main elevator, the freight elevator and the escape shaft. Of the three, only the escape shaft is even close to viable; the elevators would be suicide.”

Brandi paused again to let her words sink in. It was not like she was telling them anything they did not already know, but they needed to understand that she had considered all the possibilities.

“If I was just trying to go it alone, I could; I could get in there on my own,” she continued. “I could slip into the escape shaft and make it down without them even knowing I was there.”

“Brandi, it’s true you could disrupt the cameras in the shaft,” Susan said, “but surely they would notice when they began malfunctioning one by one.”

“I, um, have sorta learned to do a bit more than that,” Brandi said. “I’ve been practicing. I can make the video signal loop for a few seconds as I pass by.”

“Where did you practice this?” Susan asked, noticing Brandi was very uncomfortable about the subject.

“At the mall,” Melissa said, grinning mischievously.

“Oh Brandi, you didn’t,” Susan said.

“Aww, Mom!” Brandi whined. “Everybody does it. Besides I took it all back.”

Melissa raised her eyebrows and Brandi amended her statement, “Well, most of it anyway. Anything I kept I paid for.”

“How did you pay for clothing you shoplifted?”

“She broke in after the mall was closed and left the receipts and the cash at each of the stores,” Melissa said. She was trying very hard not to laugh at Brandi’s discomfort.

“Broke in is kinda harsh,” Brandi said. “I didn’t damage anything, and I left a really nice tip at each of the stores. I don’t see what the big deal is; it’s not like I robbed a bank.”

“Just a gun store,” Melissa said.

“Brandi!” Susan gasped.

“Perhaps we could get back to the matter at hand?” Admiral Hammerstein said, amusement evident in his eyes despite his stony expression.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Brandi said, turning to stick her tongue out at Melissa.

“We will talk about this later, young lady,” Susan said.

“Yes ma’am,” Brandi said meekly. She turned and winked at Melissa, thankful for the tension breaker, and then continued explaining her plan.

“The point is that even though I could get into the lab, there’s a very good chance I would be spotted. If I had to neutralize any guards, they would be missed quickly. If I was spotted, it would all be over; they would lock down the control complex and send the signal. For the same reason, using the boys to create a diversion won’t work; once the shooting started, they would send the signal. The only certain way to get me inside where I can do what has to be done is for them to take me inside as their prisoner.”

“And the only way they will do that is if they have me to keep Brandi under control,” Melissa said.

“Melissa you know what that means,” Amanda said.

Melissa nodded, “Don’t let my calm exterior fool you; this scares the hell out of me. They will probably use one of those programmer things on me…or worse. I have faith in Brandi though; I know she’ll bring me back.”

“All right, so maybe this is the only way,” Matt said reluctantly. “But just how do you plan on arranging things so they can get to Melissa?”

“Brandi doesn’t have to arrange anything,” Susan said. “They will use me.”

*****
“We should go immediately,” Evan Mitchell urged.

They sat in the Man’s office, now transferred to the lab in Nevada. The entire site was locked down, and a security force of fifty men was in fortified positions on the surface. The men were little more than mercenaries, brought in to augment the regular security detachment, which had been withdrawn into the massive underground complex. If the girl attempted to breach the perimeter, the elevators and stairwell could be locked down, making the lab virtually impregnable.

“I agree, sir. We should activate the sleepers we have in place and go from there,” Reginald Mercer said.

“I think that would be foolish,” Barbara Currant said. “So much has been invested already. The rest of the sleeper programming will be in place by Monday. It will take a day to upload the latest program changes to the satellites after that. If we go on Wednesday night, everything will be in place.”

“That’s five days away,” Mercer said. “The girl is still out there.”

“We are locked down, with no one entering or leaving the complex,” Currant said. The statement was not entirely accurate, as the facility was receiving supply shipments three times a week.

“Even if she tried to force her way in here, we would have plenty of time to send the signal,” Currant continued. “If you’re that concerned, we could always have the Pentagon assign regular troops here to augment the security personnel.”

“What do we tell them?” Evans asked. “A platoon of Navy SEALs and a psychotic Playboy Playmate are going to attack us? The whole reason we have an independent security force is so we don’t have the military looking too closely at this place. My men know the score.”

“If you would use that machine on me and my men,” Mitchell said, “we would be more than a match for her. With those nano things in us we ….”

“Do you choose not to listen, or are you just deaf?” Currant cut in. “The nano-cyborgs are created and introduced by the components on the GMU that create a Genomorph. Those components were damaged when Dr. Covington attempted to reverse the process and restore Brandon Anderson. The best we could do is genetically optimize your bodies.”

“And what does that mean?” Mitchell asked.

“It means you would be a perfect male specimen,” Currant said, holding up her hand to forestall the next question. “It would not make your men faster or stronger; it would make them capable of becoming faster and stronger. Perhaps, after six months to a year of intense training, they could realize that potential.”

“The girl was stronger and faster as soon as she awoke,” Mercer pointed out.

Currant sighed. “Yes, that is because the GMU altered her more radically through the Genomorph components. Also, she has the nano-cyborgs, which constantly repair and tune her body. It may be possible to construct a program that would result in, perhaps, a twenty to thirty percent increase in a subject’s agility and strength immediately upon completion, but I will not make any promises.”

“That is something I would like you to look into, Dr. Currant,” the Man said. “Now, however, we must determine a course of action for dealing with the Genomorph.”

“Use Susan Covington,” Currant said. “We know where they are; her girlfriend too. If we activate Covington, she can grab the girlfriend and bring her to our people. The Genomorph will have to do as we say.”

“Covington wouldn’t stand a chance against her.” Mercer laughed.

“Do you honestly believe she would hurt her ‘mother’?” Currant countered. “She’ll acquiesce, thinking it will buy her time and put her in a position to reverse the programming.”

“Dr. Currant is right,” The Man said. “We will proceed as planned. Have Dr. Covington activated locally. When she makes contact, we’ll give her instructions to secure the Barlowe girl.”

“We have to get a transmitter to Virginia,” Mercer said.

“See to it,” The Man said. “I want the Genomorph in this facility by Tuesday night.”

The Man turned his attention to a stack of papers on his desk, and the others left the office. As Mercer was almost out the door, he was stopped by his superior’s voice.

“Don’t fail me again, Agent Mercer.”

*****

“Who was that, babe?”

Cyndi Fallon set the cordless phone back in its charging stand and looked up at her girlfriend, Renee, her face drawn.

“It was Melissa; they’re all right,” she said.

“Thank God,” Renee sighed. “It took her long enough to call.”

“Pack a bag,” Cyndi said. “Pack enough for a week, and call Amber and tell her to do the same. Melissa and Brandi want us to get out of here, go upstate and find a hotel and lay low until they contact us again … just in case.”

Cyndi walked quickly to the kitchen counter and grabbed a set of keys. As she headed for the door, Renee called out to her.

“Where are you going?”

“Melissa said there’s an envelope in her gig bag in the van,” Cyndi said. “She said to take what’s in there and get out.”

Renee rushed from the living room to their bedroom and began grabbing clothes for both of them and stuffing them into a pair of suitcases. She had hardly started when Cyndi returned from the garage, a thick manila envelope in her hand.

“What is it?” Renee asked.

Cyndi reached into the envelope and pulled out a bundle of hundred dollar bills.

“Five thousand dollars in cash,” she said.

They finished packing and loaded their luggage into Renee’s car; the van was full of the band’s equipment and was too conspicuous anyway. They drove in silence towards Amber’s apartment. Renee knew that Cyndi was struggling with her feelings, and finally broke the silence.

“Are you OK, babe?”

“I don’t know,” Cyndi said. “Do you think Brandi knows I wasn’t really angry with her?”

“She knows,” Renee said. “Melissa and Karen know too.”

“I should have told them a long time ago about that night,” Cyndi said. “I jumped on them about not trusting us, and here I’ve been hiding from the truth for years.”

“Cyndi, you went through hell … we both did,” Renee said. “We’re still dealing with it even now.”

“I know,” Cyndi said. “When this is all over, I’m want to tell them everything.”

Renee reached over and squeezed Cyndi’s hand.

“I’ll be right there by your side when you do.”

*****

Dear Mom,

I’m delaying this email for reasons which will be obvious by the time you get it.

Sometimes I really hate who I am. I’m not talking about the transformation, I’m talking about the person I was born, and I know now beyond a doubt, I still am at the core.

Brandon was a very lonely person. I can say that now because I can look back at his life through new eyes. He had friends; he had romances, but he always held a large part of himself back. He never really opened up to anyone; that’s probably why none of those romances ever worked out. We girls like it when the person we love opens up to us; more than that, we need it.

What made him that way is still in me; it’s why I am who and what I am. It’s that ability to do what has to be done, regardless of the cost to myself, or to those I love. To quote Mr. Spock, ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one”. That is the very epitome of self-sacrifice that is at the very heart of those who serve in the military.

It really sucks.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am proud of what I did as Brandon. I am proud of every man and woman who makes the decision that the well-being and security of society is their personal responsibility. What sucks is that we have to do it at all.

It’s hard being the one who looks at an injustice and has to do something about it. It’s hard to be the one who weighs a situation and says, ‘This is an acceptable sacrifice if it gets the job done’. And now I have to do it again.

I know what has to be done, and I know how to do it. I have to put two people I love so much at terrible risk, and I have to deceive the people I respect the most. I pray when this is all over that they, and you most of all, will be able to forgive me.

Brandi

After the meeting in the parlor, which Brandi had taken to calling the Boudoir of War, everyone had scattered. Matt and the Chief were back in the guest house with the rest of the SEALs. Ryan was busy at his computer, although Brandi had noted that Gretchen was not anywhere to be seen, so maybe Ryan was busy with something else. She smiled at the thought and hoped the two were enjoying each other’s company.

The Admiral and Amanda had informed them that they would be leaving for Washington early Monday morning to try to get some kind of action. They had to be cautious, because anything that alerted the organization could provoke them into sending the signal to activate the sleepers.

Melissa was waiting for her upstairs in the bedroom, but Brandi had something she had to do before she joined her. She found Susan in the office Amanda had provided for her, assembling some documents for Amanda and the Admiral to take with them.

“Mom, are you busy?”

Susan swiveled her chair around and smiled at Brandi. She would never get tired of hearing this beautiful girl call her Mom.

“I’m never too busy for you, sweetheart,” Susan said. “What’s on your mind?”

Brandi opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. She looked very vulnerable and uncertain, and Susan needed no special insight to understand that she wanted to talk about something serious. Rising from the desk chair, she walked over to the sofa in the office and sat down.

“Come here, and tell me about it.”

Brandi sat next to Susan, and they held hands as Susan waited for Brandi to speak.

“A lot is going to happen in the next few days, and when it starts, it will all happen very fast,” Brandi said. “So I wanted to say this to you, because I owe it to you, and I owe it … to Brandon.”

Susan could see that Brandi was struggling to hold back tears, and began to suspect she knew what Brandi wanted to say … what she needed to say.

“Brandon … Brandon loved you,” she said as the floodgates opened and her tears flowed. “He loved you, and he … I was just too wrapped up in my own problems to say it. I am so sorry, Susan … I wasted the time we could have had.”

“Shhh,” Susan soothed, pulling Brandi’s head to her breast and rocking her as she sobbed. “It’s all right, honey, I knew how you felt. I felt the same way and didn’t say anything either; I’m as much to blame as either of us for what might have been.”

Brandi pulled back, shaking her head. “No you’re not. I would have just shut you out. I was such an asshole. I let myself wallow in self pity and blinded myself to what was right there all the time.”

“You had been through a terrible ordeal,” Susan said. “You were still going through it; I understood that. You always downplayed the damage to your … genitals, but I knew better. You couldn’t see yourself as a man anymore.

“Then I came along with the promise of a miracle, and all I succeeded in doing was taking it all away completely.”

“No!” Brandi protested. “Don’t you see you gave me life? Brandon was dead; he died that night in Iraq. Even if I could go back to being a man, I wouldn’t do it now. I wouldn’t trade the life I have to be Brandon again. My only regret is you…I don’t want you to be alone like he was.”

“I’m not alone,” Susan said. “I have so many wonderful people in my life, you most of all. I was not all that different from Brandon, you know; I shut people out of my heart because I was so driven by my work.

“When you came into my life, I saw what I had been missing. The moment you opened your beautiful violet eyes after the transformation, I knew that I would do whatever was necessary to help you adapt to what had been done, no matter what the cost.”

“When this is all over, what do you plan on doing?” Brandi asked.

“I’ll continue to work on whatever the Forerunner project becomes,” Susan said. “I have more reason now than ever to unlock their secrets. But no matter what, I will always be here for you.”

“I know,” Brandi whispered, laying her head on Susan’s shoulder.

~ That’s what makes this so hard ~

*****

Upstairs in the bedroom, Melissa sat at the vanity brushing out her hair. She stopped and regarded the reddish highlights in her once jet black hair, and the next thing she knew she was sobbing. The events of the last week came rushing in on her, and she felt as though she could not breathe. Her body was wracked by her sobs, and she began shaking uncontrollably.

She did not even hear Brandi enter the room, but she did feel it as she was gently lifted from the chair and carried to the bed. Brandi did not say a word; she just held her and rocked her while she let it all out. At last she could cry no more, and she sagged against Brandi.

“It’s OK, love, I’ve been expecting this,” Brandi told her.

“I don’t know what happened,” Melissa said, her body still shaking. “I just started, and I couldn’t stop.”

“It’s called post traumatic shock, sweetie,” Brandi said. “You were almost killed a few days ago, and it’s catching up to you. You’re also facing a challenge that you never expected to face … I’m amazed at how strong you have been.”

“How do you do it?” Melissa asked.

“Melissa, I have eighteen years of training and experience behind me,” Brandi said. “I was twenty-six and had been a SEAL four years before I came under fire for the first time, back in Desert Storm. After the mission, I had the shakes so bad … I even threw up.”

“Was that the first time .…?”

“The first time I took a life,” Brandi nodded. “Yes, it was.”

Melissa started shaking anew, and Brandi pulled her close again.

“Brandi, I killed that agent,” she cried. “I tried to make him drop his gun, but he wouldn’t. I didn’t want to do it ....”

“He made the choice,” Brandi said.

“He said I wouldn’t do it … he said I wasn’t the killer you are.”

Brandi tried not to, but she felt herself stiffen, and Melissa felt it too. She pulled back, pain and sorrow etched in her face.

“I don’t believe what he said,” Melissa told her. “You are not a killer.”

“You aren’t either,” Brandi said. “You did what you had to.”

“Does it get easier?” Melissa asked.

“I hope you never find out, sweetie,” Brandi said. “I hope you never have to do anything like that again.”

“There’s a good chance I will though,” Melissa said. “Especially considering your plan; the real plan.”

Brandi gave her a crooked grin. “I guess this being bonded thing is gonna make it hard to keep secrets.”

“Well, it’s not like I can read your mind,” Melissa said. “I could tell that you were holding things back when you told everyone the plan earlier this evening, and I know you’re very frightened for me. It didn’t take much effort to piece together what you’re planning, based on what Susan told us earlier.”

“Are you sure about this, love?” Brandi asked. “Because I really am not. I mean, I think it’s the only way, but I am so afraid for you. I’m not even sure this will work.”

“It will work,” Melissa said. “Don’t ask me how I know that; I just do.”

Brandi nodded in understanding; she too had that same feeling, despite her misgivings. It had happened many times since her transformation; she would find that some bit of knowledge had opened up within her mind, triggered by some event. She wondered if the nano-cyborgs had carried that information with them to Melissa.

“If this works, Melissa, if we pull this off, there may be no going back.”

“I understand that,” Melissa said. “I won’t lie and say it doesn’t frighten me, but I think it’s the only way too.”

“We’d better get started then,” Brandi said.

“Well, what do we do?” Melissa asked.

Brandi grinned coyly, “Nothing we don’t do almost every night, love.”

*****

Karen was awakened by a loud knocking, and for a moment she looked around the room in confusion. Then she remembered where she was; CTAG headquarters in the basement of the State Department. The tiny room had been her home for the last four days; since the attempt to abduct Brandi and Melissa in Los Angeles. It wasn’t much; a bed, closet, dresser and a tiny bathroom, but at least it gave her a place to sleep. There was a second bed in the room that was being used by Mira Gallo, but she was not in it at the moment. Karen looked at the clock next to her bed and saw that it was only a little after eight PM; she had been asleep for less than an hour, and had only reluctantly agreed to get some rest when Kyle told her she looked like hell.

She got out of the bed and walked to the door, still dressed in the clothes she had been wearing for the past thirty hours. She had been too tired to even think about undressing and had just crashed onto the bed and fallen immediately asleep. She opened the door to find Mira standing there.

“Why didn’t you just come in?” Karen asked.

“Sorry, wasn’t sure if you were decent,” Mira said. “I have something you need to see.”

“What is it?”

“I found the location of the organization’s computers,” Mira said rapidly. She tended to talk very fast when she was excited. “I’d bet anything their hard copy files are there too.”

“Nevada? We already knew that.”

“No they’re right here; well, just over in Arlington actually. I ran a trace to verify the location. At first it did show the location as Nevada, but there was something funny about it, so I did some more digging. I had to write a whole new program to get through all the layers they had established. The security is pretty sophisticated and uses ….”

Karen held up her hand, “Mira, I do well to find the power button; spare me the technical details. Give me a few minutes for a quick shower and to throw on some fresh clothes. I’ll meet you in the computer room.”

As Karen showered and then dressed, her mind was working furiously. She had talked to Brandi and Melissa at length earlier in the evening over a secure line and knew what the plan was. If the evidence they needed was indeed in Arlington and not Nevada, then the whole thing could be ruined. Undoubtedly, once the personnel remaining learned of the assault on the lab, they would destroy all the evidence.

Fifteen minutes later, she was walking into the server room dressed in a pair of navy blue slacks and a white silk top, her hair still wet and dripping. She had not even bothered with makeup, and she knew she looked like she had hardly slept in two days, which of course was true. Mira showed her what she had found, and Karen took a printout of the address and went immediately to Kyle’s office.

“I’d say it looks like your nap did you good, but it would be a lie,” Kyle said. “What do you have?”

Karen handed him the printout and explained what Mira had told her.

“It makes sense,” Kyle said. “They set up the data equivalent of a safe house, someplace that couldn’t easily be traced to the organization and would be missed if they were ever raided.”

“We have to get those files,” Karen said.

“That presents us with several problems,” Kyle said. “For one, we have no field personnel. Even if we did, we have the same legal restrictions on conducting operations within the country as the CIA and other intelligence services.”

“So we bring in the feds,” Karen said. “There has to be an agency we can trust.”

“There may be,” Kyle said. “I need to make some phone calls first and call in a few favors.”

Kyle reached for his phone and then paused, leaning back in his chair.

“You know, Karen, with their ability to program these sleepers, there may be no hard evidence of the plot.”

Karen shook her head vigorously. “No, it’s there; I can feel it. We know from the circumstantial evidence we have uncovered that the plot goes back at least twenty-five years. But Brandi told me that they have only recently been able to actually make use of some of the really hi-tech artifacts – only since our computer technology reached a level where it could interface with the alien tech, even on a limited scale.

“The crystal we got from those agents is obviously Forerunner, but Mira said the circuitry in the mounting is all off the shelf. Before they had the advantage of the alien devices, they had to do it the old fashioned way. That means blackmail and coercion, and there will be records of that.”

“You’re right,” Kyle said, reaching for the phone again. “An old navy buddy of mine is a senior agent with NCIS. I’ll give him a call and see what we can put together.”

“We need to check out the location too,” Karen said.

“And you want to do it,” Kyle said, and then surprised Karen with his next words. “All right, but I’m going to get you some experienced help. Go get yourself presentable, and I’ll get the wheels rolling.”