8
OMEGA: GENESIS
1. Clayton Abernathy was glad for the break, if only for the reason. His younger cousin was graduating a year early from high school, with high honors and a slew of extra credits to her name. KT was 15 years younger, but the bond between the cousins had always been more like that between brother and sister, much to her mother's dismay. Eleanor Raines Abernathy had never been able to understand her only daughter's preference for hiking over golf, fiddling around with radio sets to afternoon teas, and shooting ranges to art galleries. Eleanor often bemoaned the months she'd spent in near-seclusion due to ill health during her only pregnancy, with 'nothing to show for it.' The rest of the family had always been very proud of KT, and showered her with the affection and attention she did not get from her mother.
"So, what's next, KT?" Clayton asked. Graduation was over, and the family was celebrating with a meal at their grandparents' home.
"Kathryn will be attending Wesleyan, of course," Eleanor said coolly. Eleanor was always cool and distant; the Southern Belle trophy wife, transplanted into a northern, well-to-do family.
"No, I won't be," KT shook her head, her voice calm.
"Don't tell us you didn't make the cut," Clayton's father looked at his niece in surprise. "With your grades and extra credits?"
"I didn't apply to Wesleyan," KT shrugged.
"You what?" Eleanor nearly dropped her fork. "We had all the paperwork filled out! You've been dreaming of Wesleyan since you were a little girl! What do you mean, you didn't apply there?"
"I never wanted Wesleyan, Mother. That was your dream," KT pointed out easily. Clayton realized she'd been expecting Eleanor's reaction, and had planned for it. Usually, a confrontation between the two started off heated, and only got worse. "Wesleyan doesn't offer half of what I'm looking for, academically or extra-curricular."
"Your father and I are not paying for you to attend some military clearing house for macho men and dykes!" Eleanor snapped angrily. "And we won't sign off on it, either." It was an old argument; even Clayton knew that. The one thing guaranteed to make Eleanor lose her calm façade. At ten, KT had voiced a desire to follow Clayton's footsteps and attend West Point.
"I am aware of your opinions, Mother," KT remained unruffled. At least, on the surface, she did. Clayton was very proud of her for it, too. "I've been accepted to R.P.I., in New York, into their Electrical Engineering program."
"An excellent school," Grandfather Abernathy said approvingly. "You'll do us proud, KT. I know you will."
"Thanks Pops."
"Hear they've got a great hockey team," Clayton grinned.
"Barbaric!" Eleanor made a face. "And don't think I'll allow my seventeen year old daughter to sign up for any blasted paramilitary club, either!"
"Whatever, Mother," KT shrugged. In another year, it wouldn't matter, except for Eleanor influencing her husband's spending, especially on things like KT's education and allowance.
Four Years Later:
"Mail call, gentlemen!" Alison Hart-Burnett entered the office currently shared by Major Clayton 'Hawk' Abernathy and General Joseph Colton in the newly-finished headquarters of Colton's new, highly specialized team, the Joes. It was a team with a fairly detailed agenda: stop the rise of international terrorist groups with a bent toward world domination, especially the group known as COBRA; and help develop and test weaponry for the US military and their allies. Alison, better known as 'Lady Jaye', wasn't Colton's secretary, she was a big part of the team. She just happened to usually be the first one to collect the mail. "Thinking about going back to college, Hawk? You've got an official-looking letter here from R.P.I.."
"Probably KT's grades and graduation info," Hawk grinned, accepting his mail. "KT doesn't share much with her parents these days, so I've been getting everything since our grandparents passed away."
"R.P.I. is a top school. Her parents can't honestly disapprove of her being there?" Colton commented.
"My uncle, no…but KT's mother runs the roost. She wanted KT to attend Wesleyan for some 'suitably feminine' career," Hawk said ruefully. Jaye snorted. "Yeah, not KT's style. Wesleyan didn't offer half of what she was looking for. She plans to enlist after graduation. She didn't dare, until after college, because her mother would have found a way to pull the financial plug. Eleanor will blow a gasket or five when it happens, regardless. She doesn't have a high opinion of the military to start, and a lower one of women in the Service."
"Joy," Lady Jaye made a face. "Sounds charming."
"You're telling me?" Hawk snorted, opening the envelope. "That's my girl! Top marks across the boards!"
"Electrical Engineering, hu? If she does well in Basic and her primaries, you may want to recruit her for the Joes," Colton suggested. Any other unit wouldn't allow close relations to serve together. The Joes already had one pair of cousins. Colton was more interested in having the best than he was worried about bending regs.
"That would not be a good idea, General," Hawk shook his head regretfully. "At least, not from the personal angle. Eleanor makes family gatherings tense enough as it is! She already blames me for KT's 'hoydenish, unlady-like' behavior. Mostly, because it was me, my father, and our grandfather who taught her how to shoot and drive."
"What is so unlady-like about those things?" Lady Jaye demanded.
"Beats me," Hawk shrugged. "I just know Eleanor has them listed with my sins, as she sees them."
Hawk didn't get to see KT graduate. He was on assignment with the Joes. His mother sent him pictures. KT sent him a picture of herself the first week of Basic, taken on the firing range. She had an M14 carbine in one hand and a target in the other.
"Mail call!" a voice announced. "Judson, come get this care package! Damn thing weighs a ton!"
"Mom's been baking again!" Judson laughed, hurrying forward.
"Thank heaven for Judson's mom!" Someone else cheered.
"Nova; Smith, CW; Corran; Abernathy…"
"Woman's handwriting," Gabrielle Nova handed KT the envelopes with her name on them. "Well, one is. Your mom?"
"My aunt," KT shook her head. "Pigs will fly before my mother writes to me, especially at an army base."
"I can't imagine not hearing from my mother on a regular basis."
"If we'd ever been close, it might bug me," KT shrugged. "Oh, this one's from Clay!"
"You got a boyfriend you didn't mention, Abernathy?" another woman demanded lightly.
"I don't have time for that, Carter. Clay is my cousin, strictly speaking. More like a big brother…"
"A big brother with Rank, who looks pretty fine in his uniform," Gabrielle snickered.
"Cease fire!" the Range Officer ordered. KT automatically opened the breach of the carbine in her hands, and took a step back from the line as the targets started moving toward them. She knew she had a mice group; all in the kill, if a little to the left. She'd have to adjust the scope a bit. "Taylor, I said CEASE FIRE!"
"Sorry Sarge."
"Abernathy, how many rounds did you fire?"
"Thirty, Sarge."
"And this, children, is what it's all about," Sergeant Starr pulled KT's target. "No wasted shots. Being fast is good. Being accurate is better. Being both is what we aim for. Abernathy, where did you learn to handle a gun?"
"Mostly, my cousin, Sarge."
"Military man?"
"Yes sir, Sarge."
"You're doing him proud, missy."
"Thank you, Sarge."
Two days later, they were running a shooting drill under the watchful eyes of Sergeant Starr and the base commander, Major Lynde.
"Those two have damn fine reflexes," Lynde noted, watching KT and Gabrielle run the tandem course. "Get'em on the competition squad, ASAP, Sarge. We might actually start winning a few."
"You ready if someone tries crying one's a ringer, Sir?" Starr inquired.
"A ringer?"
"Abernathy," Starr pointed at KT. "She's already down for sniper school. And electronics, radio telemetry, communications, leadership, and I don't know what else. Some females, we got to start from bare-bones basic before we can let them on a range. This one had a carbine in her hand at twelve or so, under the guidance of her cousin. I checked. Her cousin is Major Clayton Abernathy."
"I don't recall the Major favoring a carbine…"
"This one claims she has better control with one. She is qualified with an M-16 and M-1911A. So is Nova."
"I want both of those women on the squad, Sergeant Starr," Lynde repeated. "It would be nice to have bragging rights over Seacrest, especially with a woman in the top spot."
"Yes sir! Understood," Starr sketched a salute with a grin.
The National competition took place at the original Joe HQ… the only place seen as completely neutral, since it fielded no team. Most of the base was completely off limits to any and all visitors. Teams had field accommodations.
"I never seen so many wet-behind-the-ears mud puppies outside Basic," Gung Ho commented, eyeing the rows of tents, and the mass of humanity milling around. A few of the Joes and a number of Greenshirts had gone to roam around, hoping to make some well-educated bets on the competition. Lady Jaye, who'd spoken to KT on the phone several times, and Keel Haul and Rock-n-Roll, who'd actually met Hawk's 'baby sister', had gone down looking for her.
"I hear Beach Head caught a few jokers messing around on the obstacle course," Leatherneck commented.
"Don't know about that. He was asked if a few could use it, early," Gung Ho shrugged. "Some folks seem gluttons for punishment."
While the competition itself was taking place, every Joe not on duty or off on assignment were on hand to watch.
"This KT Abernathy," Gung Ho looked at Lady Jaye briefly. "Some sort of relation to Hawk?"
"Younger cousin," Lady Jaye nodded. KT's picture sat on Hawk's desk, along with one of his parents, but he didn't actually show it off.
"Followin' Hawk's footsteps, eh?"
"KT went to R.P.I., not West Point, but yeah…in a way. They have a lot in common."
Since the competitions took place in full gear, very little about the competitors could be determined by those watching from the general viewing area, or even the stands set up for the Brass.
"She's good, Hawk," Colton commented, sitting in the stands with Hawk during the tandem competition. "So is her partner."
"Yes, they are," Hawk agreed, pride in his voice.
"Surprised KT is using the carbine instead of the M-16. Those things can kick like a Georgia mule."
"She likes it," Hawk shrugged.
It wasn't until after the final sniper round, which she took first place in, that KT removed both helmet and flak jacket. Her red braid tumbled down her back, and her curves showed without the jacket's suppression.
"KT Abernathy is a girl?" Flint's jaw dropped.
"The correct term is woman, Flint," Lady Jaye rolled her eyes.
"Major Seacrest is looking a bit green," Gung Ho commented.
"Of course he is. His sniper just lost to a female by ten points," Flint smirked.
"Which reminds me," Rock-n-Roll grinned. "Shall we go collect our winnings, Lady Jaye? Before Barkin gets off-base without paying up?"
"Let's," Lady Jaye grinned widely. "He is so not having a good day, is he?"
"That General Colton is an upright man," Gabrielle said to KT on the bus out the following morning. "Serving under someone who chooses his teams for their abilities and not their gender or shock value would be an honor."
"He's pretty much exclusively Joe these days," KT sighed. "Since I can't go Joe, I will never get that chance."
"Why can't you? Hawk's your cousin, not your brother. There are cousins serving together…"
"WWIII would break out in the family. Mother still blames Clay for me going military to start with. She conveniently ignores the fact her own brother is Army, and I am closer to Uncle Matt than I am to her, too," KT explained. "But I've been thinking…"
"You're always thinking, and it usually means more work for both of us," Gabrielle said wryly.
"The Joes are a highly trained special missions unit. They aren't the one, but they are the best, because Colton pulls from all branches of the Service," KT continued. "They get the big jobs, like international terrorist groups threatening world-wide messes…"
"Yeah, so?"
"What about a much smaller team, to handle lesser threats or emergencies that don't call for the Big Guns?"
"Every branch has those."
"How many with any women, let alone all women?
"Now, there is an interesting thought."
"Isn't it, though?"