Year 2315-
Susan Chang walked down the long, white hallway. Her boots clapped their way as she passed many closed doors until she reached the end. One of her hands slipped out from underneath the stack of folders in her arms and swiped her hand over the reader. She stood for a beat as the door opened and she rushed inside. The door closed behind her.
Making her way through the lab, she tightly smiled at a few people who were working at various tables that were lined up down the long room. She turned to the right and her desk was the landing ground for the papers she carried. Pulling out the chair and sitting with a small huff, she opened the first folder. The Delta clan insignia was at the top of the page. The list of all of the infants born in the last month were listed with their date of birth and identification number.
Susan flipped the page and read through each of the families records of all seven of the children. The screen in front of her blinked and she swiped her hand across it. She began to input the data and created new files for each infant and categorized them into the Clan and family. She swiped the screen clean and went to her lab table. Taking a vile of blood she wrote down the name and identification number down on the paper and then began the process of extracting the DNA and genetic profiles of each of the seven vials.
As she set the last vial back in the storage container, she heard someone shuffle behind her. she turned and saw Cabinet member Charles Hoyt standing there. He stood there for a moment as his lips curled into an unsettled grin. "Dr. Chang, always doing good work."
Momentarily stunned, Susie shyly looked away, "I'm just doing my job, sir."
"And you do it so well. You know, since I've been in charge of this operation, I'm not sure I've seen anyone read genetic markers quite like you." When he spoke it was almost oily as he snarled out each word.
"Thank you, sir."
"Now, for the purpose of my visit. Have you been able to determine which of this clan's new little ones have the trait I've been looking for?"
"No, sir. No one in the last few months have had the trait. I'm running tests looking for it on the last seven children born in the quarter."
He tilted his head slightly. "Contact me immediately if any of them have it. I'm growing impatient."
"Yes, sir." She watched as he turned and walked away. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She felt the pressure. She had been tasked to find someone in Cordova with a very particular genetic makeup. Someone had access to a genetic mutation. It had to have come from some person. If this was the case, some newborn could have the same genetic mutation. As far as Susie knew, it was deadly. She wanted to protect the lives of people. People who had already come from those that almost were extinct all those years ago. She went back to her files, she went back to her tedious work.
The Cabinet member went straight to his office. He called in his apprentice. He stood at the back of the office and pulled a book from a shelf. The wall opened and he walked into it with a man following close behind him. They walked down a long dimly lit corridor until it opened up into a room full of screens along the walls. There was a large table in the middle that had a world map with figures sitting around them. "I'm concerned that our plan is going to fail, Andrew. I won't stand for it. It's been over 20 years, I'm growing tired of waiting. We need to find the source of this new medicine of Dr. Isles. Give me an update I can be happy with."
Andrew nodded slightly, "We have successfully penetrated the outside defenses in the Former Asia and Former Europe colonies. As you know there are only three colonies that we know of in Former Asia, we've set up a perimeter around all three of them." He waved at the figurines on the table and moved a few around to get his point across. "We have the virus ready to completely wipe them out. We've released it in small amounts with heavy casualties in one colony, however, Dr. Isles and her group of doctors has kept it from spreading the way we had hoped. The President has called to meet with President Isles to thank her for coordinating efforts."
Hoyt sat in a chair and snarled. "Maybe we need to push a bit more on the ground. I don't want to make it obvious what we're trying to do or she'll bring military presence and the entire operation will be compromised. Have you been gathering those that come back?" Andrew nodded. "Excellent. The problem is that not all are coming back with the traits of a soldier. We need to find this new strain. Tell me more about Former Europe."
"We still have not been able to get to eight colonies. We have two that we have been able to start collections. Our troops are getting restless. We've been encountering more Cordovan troops and turning them to our cause. There are a few calls from the colony leadership that are blaming President Isles." Andrew straightened and grinned. He knew that this would be pleasing to his master.
"Excellent. We have to make it look as though she has her sights on foreign soil. The only problem I can see is if we move too quickly. I've been doing this slowly for the last twenty years. We've already put Former Africa in complete ruin. With that idiot husband of Dr. Isles, completely ignoring that his people are disappearing. Keep sending him women. Keep him distracted. Do not send troops to the other colonies yet. We still need to continue collecting. That reminds me." He stood and grabbed an apron. He opened a door where two people were tied up. He walked in with a crooked grin.
"Ah, the love birds. Sir, you are looking well today." He grabbed a scalpel sitting on the table. He walked over and sliced a thin line along the man's neck. A muffled scream came from the woman. He turned as the crimson blood began to trickle down his neck. "You almost made me miss the best part. Don't you worry. I'll take care of you next. Just sit back and enjoy the show. Don't you agree Andrew?" He looked at the now closed door. Andrew was standing in front of it watching silently. The tall man nodded, not saying a word.
Captain Jane Rizzoli was on watch as she and Dr. Isles walked across the Capitol campus. The long park through the center of the campus was full of people laughing and relaxing. Every so often she slowed her pace to look over at Maura, who was smiling ear to ear. "You know, that you don't have to be so vigilant right now in the middle of the day." Jane smiled sheepishly. "Besides, I would rather walk with you instead of behind you. Although, I don't mind the view."
"Shhh!" Jane hissed looking around into the trees. "You know they are watching and listening." She walked in step with the smaller woman.
"Don't be so paranoid, me making a comment about you isn't for concern. My mother would roll her eyes and tell me that I could look and not touch." Jane blushed. "We are going to be together all of the time, you can't walk around worried someone might find something out."
Jane threw up her hands, "I just. This is my life. You are forbidden. I'm allowed to be a little paranoid."
Maura lifted an eyebrow as they reached their destination. Jane opened the door for her and followed behind. Doris was sitting behind the desk. "Captain Rizzoli!" She said a little too happily. "I guess I'm lucky enough to see you twice in one day. It's too bad about you having to cancel dinner." Jane shifted on her feet.
Maura narrowed her eyes, "Yes, that is too bad isn't it. She'll be having dinner with me from now on."
"Yes, Doctor Isles. I understand." She clicked on the desk and let Constance know that her daughter was present.
Jane looked at the two women and could almost touch the awkwardness in the room. The door swooshed open and Maura began to walk in. "Jane, you are coming with me."
"Oh, I usually stay out here." Maura's stern look seemed like she was about to throw a hammer. "But today, I am coming with you." Jane nodded at Doris and followed behind.
"Darling!" President Isles said as she came around her desk to greet her daughter. "Captain Rizzoli, this is a surprise."
"For me too, President Isles." Maura glared at her.
"Mother, if Captain Rizzoli is going to be with me all the time, she's going to find out sooner or later. I would rather sooner."
"Fair enough. What have you heard from Dean?"
"There is trouble with the Former Asian colonies. The intelligence that we've gathered is that the rebel troops have all three colonies surrounded however the collecting has ceased. They started leaking the virus into the largest group. We've managed to hold them off for now. The antidote is running low." She looked over at Jane.
Jane was standing there confused. What intelligence gathering? Why was she meeting with her mother about military issues? What rebel group? She immediately started to think back to her time with Korsak and see if there were small pieces that she had missed.
"Well," President Isles also looked at Jane. "If she's going to be a part of this, then we should give her the appropriate clearance." Maura nodded.
"Jane, please have a seat." Without question, Jane sat on the nearest chair. Maura began slowly. "For the past twenty years, there has been a rebel group that has been moving through different territories all over the world causing problems. They wear uniforms that are very similar to the one you're wearing now. This has caused our Country a lot of foreign relations problems."
"Cordova has been working like a finely tuned machine, but we've be unable to fight back since we don't really know who we are fighting. I am the commander of a secret group, Code of Promise. Our military regime is the elite of your station. No one in Cordova knows about this. It's necessary for many reasons. You are looking at me as though I just told you that Santa Claus isn't real." Maura clasped her hands together.
"I...uh, I'm just trying to make sense of what you're saying. Why isn't our military fit to handle this issue?"
"We are a people of peace, Captain," President Isles began. "Bringing in military presence any heavier than we already have in place will make us look like bullies. Our relationship with the leaders of the world have been held together with small pieces of string. We can't just barge in and find specific targets when we only have an idea of how pieces are connected to the top. We can't just cut off the head of the beast, we don't know who that is."
"We started an intelligence group that is more secret than anything else in Cordova. They used to be taken as young children and killed. But I found a new purpose that saved these people's lives."
"The unknowns? Tommy!"
"Yes, Captain Rizzoli, your brother is alive and well. He is one of our finest officers. You've seen him before. I put him on your service as soon as I could."
"Oh my God, that's Tommy?" Jane shrieked as she realized that she should have recognized that dark mop of hair on her latest servant. "But he was serving me."
"Yes, that is their day job. If they stay too long in the field, they have a greater chance of being collected by rebels. We've already lost too many."
"That's why they rotate so often. You have them hiding in plain sight." Jane was starting to connect a few dots.
President Isles sat next to Jane, "I know this is a lot to take in. Please know this is of utmost importance that no one ever hears about this. Not even the entire Cabinet is privy to this information."
"Ma'am, you mentioned Dean. What is this virus? Why aren't we making more antidote?"
"Jane," Maura started. "The rebels are attempting to wipe out a colony in Former Asia. The reason we have run out of antidote is because..." She paused and looked at her mother. "Because you haven't had a reason to go to the doctor for a physical and we can't allow anyone to be suspicious. We couldn't let you know what we were doing."
"What does me going to the doctor have to do with anything?"
Maura reached out and grabbed her hands. "Have you ever noticed that you've never been sick?"
"Yeah, I joke around all the time about how healthy I am. I've never had so much as a sniffle."
"When you were in your early teens, Dr. Faulkner realized that as well. He ran tests on your blood."
"Yeah, I had to go in twice a week for a month."
"They found that you have a genetic mutation that cures any virus it comes in contact with. It's immediate. We have been using that blood in very small amounts to medicines. When there is a threat, my team goes out and distributes the medicine to rid various areas of viral outbreaks. The most interesting thing about your blood is that when people die with this virus, they are reanimated. They are empty corpses. But when treated with the concoction created with your blood, they die again."
"You're kidding me right?" Jane looked at the President sitting next to her and then back to Maura. The doctor shook her head.
"But after they are gone, within a week, they are alive. Their brain activity come back, their hearts begin to beat again, air fills their lungs. Their cognitive abilities begin to return, within a year, they are completely back with memories and skills. They are coming back to their lives. We have teams all over the world that help the process of their re-entry. We've found three others that have other genetic mutations that help with the process of memory recovery."
"Who else is involved in this? There are three others like me?"
"Yes." Maura looked at her mother who nodded. "I can not give you their identity. But I will tell you that your friend Frost...is one of the three. He can read minds. He travels now with Korsak to many areas to help people recover."
"You realize that you sound completely insane right now! Frost can't read people's minds!"
"One thing you need to know about me is that I cannot tell a lie. I avoid many situations where my inability to lie could compromise things. I will never lie to you, Jane." President Isles watched her daughter's face.
Jane was shocked by everything that was being said. It was easier to react to this. "You can't tell a lie? Seriously?"
"I go vasovagal...I start getting hives and then I faint. I can omit information, that isn't the same thing."
"So, I have special magic blood that saves people? Why wouldn't anyone tell me that? I want to help." Jane pulled her hands out of Maura's and sat up straighter.
"You have to understand, Captain. You were a small girl. That is too much burden to bear. I made the decision to not inform anyone. It's also a risk because you would have become a target if anyone found out. I was trying to keep you and your family safe. And before you ask, I've never told a civilian what happens to people like your brother before I met your mother. Angela and I have been very close over the years. She is so proud of all three of you."
Jane was suddenly overwhelmed, "Ma knows about Tommy?" President Isles nodded. She closed her eyes, "Thank you. What can I do now?" She looked back to Maura. "Maur, whatever you need, I'll do it." The formality of the situation escaped her momentarily. Maura blushed at the new pet name.
"Well, first I think that you and I need to have a long discussion. I have always wanted you on my squadron. Frankie has been a good soldier for us and I knew you'd be an even better one. After we really talk, where it's safe, we can decide if we can figure out a way to meet with Dr. Faulkner without anyone knowing."
"Captain Rizzoli, I am glad that you are now a part of this. I need not remind you the importance of keeping this new information to yourself. Please step outside while I have a private word with my daughter." Jane nodded and walked out to where Doris was sitting.
"Daughter, you are playing with fire." Constance said as soon as the door swooshed shut. "She is a beautiful woman, but you can't be with her. What will happen when she finds out that you are already married?"
"You call that a marriage? You married me off when I was 17 to a man I have never even met besides the one night."
"It was necessary at the time and you agreed with me."
"I know I did. But I will not pretend that I am not attracted to Jane. You know that I have been since I first met her."
"Maura, attraction and love are not the same things."
"I don't have love with my husband. I can't even pronounce his name. He is over in Former Africa with his hundreds of concubines. What is the difference if I had Jane?"
"It's purely political. That is why you are forbidden as far as Cordova is concerned. If you sleep with this woman you..."
"I...what? Will have a uprising on my head? I am the Queen of 3 of his tribes. I am the Commander of the Code of Promise. I am the head physician for our nation. When can I just be allowed to be Maura and love her?"
"Oh Darling, if it were that simple. You've already been with her haven't you?" Maura looked away and slowly nodded. "Then, you'd better keep it hidden better than you did with me today. You make her understand the severity of this situation and you act cold towards her when you are not in the privacy of your own home."
Maura took a deep breath. "Yes, mother." With that, she turned and walked out of the office.