Dark Legacy

Prologue:

December 23, 1976 - New York

Her father was in a federal prison awaiting trial.

Katherine Franklin had always been kept in the dark and shielded by other family members from any knowledge of her father. At 12 years of age she has no memories of what kind of man her real father was. The only one in her family that was even close to her father was her older brother Carl..

Her father, Dr Jonathan Franklin, employed by the OSI was a brilliant scientist and a leading pioneer in cybernetic technology along side his rival Dr Rudy Wells who was developing Bionics.

Under the supervision of Oliver Spencer, Franklin made his first break through in a prototype weather control satellite which won overwhelming support from top directors at the OSI. Although Spencer rejected Franklin's proposal for funding his robot soldier project, Franklin's working relationship with the OSI remained fair. Unfortunately, things did take a turn for the worse when Oscar Goldman succeeded Spencer's former position as head of OSI.

Franklin's grandiose delusions about using the weather satellite as a devastating weapon clashed with Goldman's ideas of solving geographical problems such as controlling floods and irrigation of desert climates. Their continuing quarrels eventually led to Franklin termination of employment at OSI and his weather control satellite being shelved .

Not long after that, Franklin split from his wife Caroline for reasons that had been accumulating between the two for several years. Katherine remained with her mother until her mother died a few years later. Her memories of her mother remained strong but her memories of her father were vague as are her memories of her older brother Carl who was 15 years her senior. Although she was very young when her mother died, she can't help but remember sensing that her mother had a fear of her older brother Carl..

Already at the age of 12, Katherine has taken after her father. She has proven to be a gifted student, far ahead of her grade level and has earned a scholarship to The Daystrom Institute for gifted students and resides with her current guardians, her mother's sister and her husband in Manhattan during holidays and Summer vacation .

Katherine has been recently notified that she will be receiving a visit from her older brother Carl whom she barely knows. Her Aunt and Uncle fought with every legal means through the courts to keep Katherine's estranged father and brother away from her. With no luck and further court hearings pending, Carl has been granted visitation rights to visit his younger sister.

Due to the government's cover-up, she has been kept in the dark (as the American public was also) about her father's recent actions. She knows her father has spent the last several months in a federal prison awaiting trial but for what? "What has her father done ?" , she thought to herself many times over. Was he the madman criminal that her Aunt and Uncle made him out to be ?

Katherine's Aunt and Uncle's overprotection and constant shielding only made her more determined to learn the truth about her surviving immediate family members, especially her father. She can only hope that this visit from Carl could shed some light on her father's past.

As she stepped out of the elevator of her Aunt and Uncle's the high rise apartment building , she immediately recognized her brother Carl standing across the lobby. They stood facing each other until Carl finally spoke to break the awkward moment.

"It's good to see you again Kathy." Carl said. "There's a lot that we must discuss."

"How's our father doing?" Katherine asked.

"Not well I'm afraid" Carl replied. "I'm afraid that I bring bad news. Our father is dying and it's only a matter of time."

As the overwhelming sadness consumed Katherine, she finally spoke up while fighting back tears of both pain and anger - pain because she finally had the opportunity to know both her father and her brother only to find out that it will be short lived, and anger she feels towards her Aunt and Uncle, and her mother before them for keeping her from her father and brother. "I want to go see him," Katherine said.

"I've already made arrangements for you to do so," Carl assured her.

"You and I are both destined to playing a key role in carrying out our father's legacy."

Katherine had no idea what her brother meant. "Aunt Ellen and Uncle Michael will never allow me to visit our father," Katherine commented.

"There's nothing they can do about it," Carl told her. "The law will not prevent a dying man from seeing his daughter one last time."

Carl's words were reassuring to Katherine and she wanted to drop everything and run off with her brother but although she was angry at her aunt and uncle for preventing her from ever getting to know her father and brother in the past, she still loved them and didn't want to leave them alone on Christmas.

"I want to go but I can't just leave now," Katherine said.

"I will make the proper arrangements and then come for you next week" Carl replied. "That will still leave you and I enough quality time to spend with our father."

Moments later after saying her goodbye to her brother, Katherine stepped into the elevator leading to the level of her Aunt and Uncle's apartment. The visit from her brother was just the start and she couldn't get nearly enough of what her brother had to tell her. She was looking forward to spending the following week with her brother and visiting her father. Her fascination and curiosity were growing for knowledge of her father, and his work was an like an addictive drug for her. The more she had, the more she wanted. She felt as if a higher calling had reached out to her and she was destined to do something extraordinary.