Genomorph

Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

Three days after he had been pulled from his condo, Ryan entered Amanda Breton’s Virginia estate with an awed look. He had spent two of those days at the safe house the SEALs had in California while they made certain that no one was tracking him, and then he had been flown to Virginia.

The house was not quite what he had expected; it was certainly opulent enough but there was a definite warmth that such mansions often lacked. Many of the walls were decorated with paintings, but rather than pieces from famous artists they looked like something one might find at a local art show. It felt like a home, not a museum, and Ryan’s initial nervousness quickly vanished.

Like many, he knew of the wealthy woman through her work in humanitarian efforts around the world. She was one of the few wealthy people he found truly admirable; always ready to use her influence when it mattered but never flaunting it. Amanda and Susan were waiting in the foyer to greet him, and he was more than a bit surprised when Susan gave him a big hug. He had always liked her, but she had never been a person who went in for emotional displays; at least not before Brandi had come into her life.

“I’m so glad we got you away from that place safely,” Susan said. “Let me introduce you to our benefactor and someone I have come to regard as a close friend, Amanda Breton.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. Breton,” Ryan said as they shook hands.

“Please, call me Amanda. Being called Mrs. Breton makes me feel like an old lady.”

Ryan laughed, knowing that Amanda was well into her seventies, though she did not look a day over fifty. They went into the parlor and Gretchen brought in a tray of refreshments. The pretty blonde gave Ryan an uncharacteristic smile as she served him, and actually blushed when he thanked her.

“Gretchen likes you, Ryan,” Amanda said as the girl left the parlor. “She’s rather shy around men. I’m afraid she had a rather traumatic childhood.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard her speak,” Susan said.

“She is quite fluent in English, as well as her native Dutch and French and German,” Amanda told them. “As I said, she’s very shy.

“I found her five years ago. Her parents had died when she was very young, and when she was twelve the administrator of the orphanage she was in sold her to a wealthy Dutch business man. She was his plaything for six years, until some people I was working with freed her. Her former ‘master’ as well as several members of the orphanage staff were arrested and imprisoned.”

“It sounds like they got off lucky,” Ryan muttered, outraged that someone could do such a thing to human being, not to mention someone as lovely as Gretchen.

“Indeed they did. I brought in counselors and teachers to work with Gretchen. Naturally, after being treated as a sex object for so long that was how she saw herself. She had a long road to travel, and she has made tremendous strides. Of course she will deal with issues arising from her treatment for the rest of her life, but she is a remarkable young woman.”

“She must be incredibly strong,” Susan said.

“I hope she and Brandi can meet,” Amanda said. “In many ways Gretchen has had to deal with programmed behavior of her own.”

“I think that would be wonderful,” Susan agreed. She then turned to Ryan, an apologetic look on her face.

“I’m sorry we had to whisk you away like this, Ryan,” she said. “The situation is far worse than we ever suspected, and we desperately need your help. But first, I need to run a scan on you.”

Susan reached into her bag and took out the Forerunner handheld scanner. The scan revealed that Ryan was free of any mental programming. She quickly explained to him what she had learned about the programming of the sleeper agents and showed him the scan results revealing the programming within her mind.

“I guess they had bigger fish to fry than me,” Ryan said, relief obvious in his voice.

“You’ve only been with the project a little over a year,” Susan said. “From what Amanda has told me, they have been stepping up their efforts to program people in power. They likely reasoned that you would be easy enough to get to once they enact their plan.”

“What do you want to do?” Ryan asked. “I assume you’re after something more than just removing the programming they put in you.”

“Yes I am,” Susan said. “What we need you to do is write a new program, one that will leave their programming in place so that I will know when they activate the sleepers, but still allow me to act under my own free will. I need to know what the programming is trying to make me do.”

“If they had any sense at all it will require you to make contact for instructions,” Ryan said. “It probably includes code words too so they will know you are under their control.”

“Can you do it?” Susan asked. “The only Forerunner computer we have is this hand unit.”

Susan passed the device to Ryan and he examined it for several minutes.

“Yes I can do it with this,” he said. “My laptop has custom interfaces attached that will hook up to this unit. I can use it to enter the data, which will speed up the process. It’s going to take time though.”

“Is there anything else you need?” Amanda asked.

“Lots of coffee and sweets,” Ryan grinned. “I don’t plan on sleeping much until this is done.”

“I’ll have Gretchen keep you supplied,” Amanda said, smiling. It would be good for her to have contact with this charming young man.