Flawed (12 page)

Ellyssa’s gaze drifted over the backyard. Patches of frozen grass poked yellow stalks through the thin layer of snow; a light breeze pushed the bare branches of the trees. Everything seemed peaceful, normal. Completely opposite of the anxiousness building in Ellyssa’s stomach.

She reached inside her pocket and worried the cave pearl.

For the first time in weeks, her hands felt bound. Ellyssa wasn’t accustomed to it. She was a person of action. The majority of her life, she’d trained. For the last couple of months, she’d fled, felt emotions, adopted a new family and lifestyle, and fallen in love. Even when Rein had been captured, Ellyssa had immediately responded. But now, there was nothing left to do but wait…and worry. The more time that passed, the chances of finding anyone grew closer to nil.

The thought drove her crazy. Releasing the round stone, Ellyssa fisted her hands in frustration.

“Ellyssa, what do you think?” Rein asked.

“I told you already, I don’t know,” she snapped.

Rein’s and Woody’s heads snapped up, and Ellyssa widened her eyes in surprise. Although anger was a sensation that was definitely ingrained in her, lying in wait like a snake ready to strike, it wasn’t often her voice held the emotion. As a matter of fact, until recently, her voice had not held any type of inflection at all. Once in a while, it amazed her when she paid attention to the sound or the shifting manner in which she spoke…even the fading of her German accent.

“I’m sorry,” Ellyssa stated, shrugging—her uncomfortable or unsure response. “I’m just feeling…useless.” Inhaling deeply, she walked over to the table. “To answer your question, I don’t know. At first, I would have assumed they would be sent to southern Missouri.” She pointed to an area south of a small town previously known as Waynesville. “It’s the closest. But then again, the police are probably leery of help from contacts because of all that’s happened, which would cross out any of the camps near the Chicago area and around here.” She sighed. “So that leaves basically everywhere else.”

Rubbing his face, Rein leaned back in the chair. “I guess we have no option but to wait to see if Dyllon can find a location.”

“Or,” said Tim, “maybe we’ll hear something from one of the other contacts.”

Thoughtfully, Ellyssa pursed her lips together. “How many are there?”

“Haven’t the slightest, my dear. There could be hundreds, thousands. The farthest we’ve ever ventured is Chicago, and it took us over twenty years or so to establish contact with them.”

“When everyone is hiding, it’s hard to find each other,” Woody said.

“Renegades don’t talk. We don’t know things about each other, like who else our contacts helped…if anybody.” Rein added. He reached up and grasped Ellyssa’s hand, giving it a little squeeze of understanding. “Right, Tim?”

“It’s true. You know I’ve helped others,” Rein nodded at Tim’s words, “but I can’t tell you who or what or why. Most of the time, I don’t even know. For instance,” he said to Ellyssa, “your population was the biggest I knew about, helped with supplies and such for years, and I still didn’t know everyone there. Hell, I didn’t know how many lived there…until recent events.”

Tim stroked his beard. “Unfortunately, it takes a long time for a network to be established. If that has helped us or hindered us, I don’t know. We have to tread carefully, though. So far, we’ve been lucky.”

“Certainly, there are populations bigger than ours. Someone who knows of us, someone you report to?”

Tim shook his head. “No, no one we answer to. We just kind of worked together, learning bits of information here and there. Last night, I asked for any information leading to where new prisoners might have been taken.”

“Who’d you ask?”

“Our contacts in Kansas City. They’re our best source of information for the Resistance…even if it
is
usually outdated.”

Ellyssa frowned. “Not by computer, right? The government keeps close tabs on all activity.”

Tim smiled. “Nope. A radio. A low frequency that so far has not been detected. But we haven’t heard anything from them. The last transmission we received was word about Chicago, and that was three weeks ago. Either the contacts in Kansas City have been discovered, or they are keeping a very low profile.”

A radio? Except for handhelds used by the police during investigations, the out-of-date technology was obsolete. Ellyssa couldn’t believe the technology they used to benefit their group. The only time she’d seen a radio was in a textbook. “You have a radio?”

Tim nodded.

“Aren’t you worried that, if they’ve been captured, any transmission could be intercepted?”

“Nope,” Tim said. “Thanks to Woody, the frequencies are short, and we use a code.”

Woody grinned and tipped his head. “Plus, we change channels for added precaution. Of course, that was when we had Davis to relay the messages.”

An image of a broken man emerged unbidden in Ellyssa’s mind, one that she had retrieved from Woody’s frantic thoughts when he’d escaped from Detective Petersen—when Rein had been captured. Another death that’d happened during her father’s relentless search for her.

“Can I see it?” Ellyssa asked.

“Sure. I’ll show you tonight.”

Ellyssa turned around as the back door opened. Sarah came in, lugging a box, followed by Trista’s giggling.

“What are you four conspiring about?” asked Sarah.

Ellyssa took the box from the older woman and put it on a counter. “A lot of stuff. Mostly the other contacts.”

Sarah washed her hands. “Oh. What about them?”

“I was wondering how big the Resistance was.”

“I couldn’t even begin to imagine,” said Sarah. “We’ve heard so many rumors through the years.”

The older woman went behind Tim and placed her hands on his shoulders. Although Ellyssa had rarely see them touch, the love they shared was evident. She wondered if she and Rein would ever enjoy the luxury of growing old together, peacefully, in a home of their own. If she was ever given an opportunity, she knew she was going to decorate the kitchen with sunflowers.

“Including the rumors about the facilities in Texas, DC, and California,” Tim continued.

Ellyssa’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Facilities?”

“Right before America entered the war, there were rumors milling about how to protect the ideology of freedom. Supposedly, huge underground chambers were built in Texas, DC, and California, each big enough to support the population of a small city. Of course, no evidence existed as to whether that was true or not. Just rumors.”

Woody laughed. “Those are just Renegades’ wishful thinking. Besides, DC is nothing more than a wasteland. The place is uninhabitable.”

What Woody said was true. Washington DC, where the President at one time had resided, where the whole idea of democracy had gone up in a giant mushroom cloud, was nothing more than a field of blackened dirt. All the monuments and the White House lay in utter ruin after Hitler ordered the bombing, August first, nineteen forty-five. The devastation had been astounding, and it was the first and only time a fission bomb was detonated.

Since then, all atomic weapons had been dismantled. Of course, since Hitler had seized power, there had been no use for them. World domination had resulted, along with the mass killings of millions of people to make way for the perfect society.

D.C. was contaminated, and no population lived anywhere within two hundred kilometers. There wasn’t any way a group of Renegades lived there.

Aalexis picked a chunk of plaster off the ground. Although the remnants of The Center were piled into big heaps of twisted metal, concrete and debris, the area was still a disaster. Track tractors and backhoes moved mounds of dirt around, clearing space for the new foundation. Bundles of steel beams were stacked next to the site.

The workers wearing dark brown carpenter pants and thick brown jackets milled around her and Xaver; their tools, dangling from leather belts, clinked together. As the inferiors strolled about, none made eye contact with her or even questioned why two young people were in such a dangerous zone. Rules set forth for regular humans did not apply to Xaver or her. Besides, this was their building now.

Disgusted at the slow rate of rebuilding, Aalexis dropped the piece of plaster. It broke into smaller pieces on impact, and dust plumed.

Ellyssa had ruined everything.

“Come,” said Xaver.

Aalexis walked next to Xaver, his shield in place. Inside his protective cocoon, she could feel him, and his scent was overpowering. They were two things she chose to ignore.

“Where are you taking me?”

“I have something that should please you.”

Please?
Briefly, Aalexis entertained the idea of the sensation she’d felt on the plane as pleasing. Is that what the stirring had been? She quickly disregarded the insanity. She didn’t feel pleasure. She didn’t feel anything except anger…hatred. Those were the emotions that fueled Aalexis’ life.

Xaver stopped at a modular building; the door was marked
Authorized Personnel Only
in bold, black letters. Two huge locks secured the building.

“What?”

“You will see.”

Xaver’s lips twitched, like he was trying to suppress a smile, and he pressed them tight together. He punched in a combination and opened the door to an office with a large metallic desk and a black leather chair. A computer sat on top of the desk. Light from the overhead fluorescents reflected on the polished white tile. The freshly painted walls held no paintings or decorations. The two bookshelves behind the desk were bare. A high-powered compound microscope, petri dishes, nano-sieves and electric field conductors waited on top of two metal tables pushed to the side of the room. The odor of disinfectant scented the air.

Everything was clean, sterile. Home.

Standing at the door, uncomprehending, Aalexis was unsure what her reaction should be. Everything inside her, everything she’d been trained to do, conflicted with a growing warm glow, different from the previous heat in her midsection.

No one had ever given her anything.

Ever.

Aalexis had an overwhelming urge to squeeze Xaver’s hand.

She glanced at her brother; Xaver’s face held no expression, but his eyes seemed alive as he watched her. Something was happening to Aalexis, to Xaver, to both of them.

These alien sensations, swirling and heating her insides, were forbidden. They brought weakness.

And Aalexis was not weak.

As a matter of fact, Aalexis’ ability placed her even above Xaver, and definitely Ellyssa. Her father had instructed Xaver to protect her at all costs, not the other way around. That alone proved her superiority.

Tossing water on the building glow of the emotional barrage, Aalexis stepped into her small lab. Warm air greeted her. “This will suffice for the time being,” she said, careful that her voice held nothing more than flatness.

“I thought it would do for experimental purposes, until we find Ellyssa.” Xaver went behind the desk and flipped on the computer. “I have something else for you, too,” he said, withdrawing a memory stick from his pocket. “
Der Vater’s
notes.”

Aalexis relieved him of the drive and slipped it into the port. “I am glad you were able to extract them from what was left of
der Vater’s
hard drive.” After taking a seat, she clicked on the computer icon, and the files of her father’s livelihood filled the screen.

She highlighted the one marked
Subject 74
, her number, and double-clicked it open. There were several notes starting from the time she’d been born to the most recent experiments—her manipulation of weights, the frame-by-frame of bullets being fired at her, and then the torture of the human subjects, including Rein.

After clicking on Rein’s icon, Aalexis watched as the male her sister seemed to care for writhed on the ground, finding no relief from the pain. She pressed the back button and he disappeared. Files filled the screen again.

Scanning quickly through the notes, she highlighted another subfile titled
Genetic Sequence
. She clicked on it. A movie link opened. Her father’s image came into view, and she felt a tinge of a peculiar sensation. Loss? Anger flared.
Ellyssa will pay for his demise
.

Her father spoke in German as he explained the steps of how he’d isolated the genetic sequence responsible for Aalexis’ ability. His voice sounded just the way she remembered it.

“Yes,” she said, looking at Xaver, “this will be a start.”

“You understand,” he responded, “that we do not need Ellyssa. We can pick up from where
der Vater
stopped. Our abilities and intelligence will produce a more than adequate soldier. We can create the next generation.”

“Yes, but
der Vater
wanted Ellyssa for a reason. We have already lost the abilities of Micah and Ahron’s DNA in the destruction.” She rolled her chair to the side so that he could see his image playing across the screen. “He wanted more than
adequate
. I think we should honor his wishes. Ellyssa needs to be brought home.”

Xaver sat silently as he watched their father’s instructions for the combination of the genes. The simplicity of the procedure was almost ludicrous. As much as Aalexis hated to admit it, her father had had his limitations. His genes were superior compared to society’s, and he was a genius by normal standards, but he was inferior nevertheless.

Of course, if not for his intellect and his visions, Xaver and she would not be. He should be eulogized for that fact alone. Aalexis and Xaver would make sure Dr. Hirch’s legend and vision would be honored next to Hitler’s—founders who had orchestrated the purification of the human model.

After a couple of minutes, Xaver nodded once. “I agree. We will continue where he left off. We are his new evolution of humanity, and we will use our DNA to bring forth the next evolution.”

“This will be appropriate for gene isolation,” she said, waving her hand at the silver tables, “but we will need a full, functioning lab by the end of the month.”

“I will contact the foreman.”

“Make sure he understands the importance of the project.”