Broken Wings - V -

"Five..." Said the voice over an intercom.

It was accompanied by the flashing of a red spotlight and the word five on the wall.

The boy squatted in a defensive stance.

"Four..."

His hands came up to his chest slightly apart and one above the other.

"Three..."

He swiveled his upper body to the left.

"Two..."

His arms blocked as a his left leg swung in a practice kick broke the air.

"One..."

His body came off the ground and his feet connected with the punching bag in front of him.

The lights flashed as the numbers appeared on the wall again, this time in a faster sequence. Once again, the routine was repeated. After a few repetitions, each quicker than the last one, Renfro spoke into a microphone and the bag was replaced by a soldier taking a defensive position.

"Five...Four...Three...Two...One..."

Jun's small body seemed to fly in the air as his foot connected with the man's chest. In response to the kick, the soldier's body soared backwards and tumbled over a chair ten feet away.

Renfro smiled. This boy was the key. They were still working on charting all of his abilities but they were getting closer every day. At the age that most children would be going through their toddler stage, his fighting capabilities already surpassed some adults. She looked at the chart in front of her. His language skills had declined since the hearing loss but they would come back once the implant was in place. What had surprised them was his reading comprehension. He had begun reading a year ago and hadn't stopped since. Once he saw something, he could visualize it and bring it up over and over again. The only problem with this was that they weren't always able to tell what he was visualizing. There were times when he would just stare into space and talk. She made a mental note to have someone look into that aspect of Jun further. There was no way she was going to one thing get in the way of the big picture.

The big picture. She thought about it as she headed to her office. Outside she remained calm at all times but inside she was anxious to get to the new facility. The training grounds, the meeting rooms, and her new office, her dream office away from the squalor of the United States. It had been designed to precise specifications and it would cater to all of her needs. The colors would be plain and crisp to denote her firm and unyielding position on things. Everyone, including the chauvinistic males who were her backers would know whose office it was. They would know who was in charge. It would be her.

Before she could get to that point, she had to make sure things were taken care of over here. There would be no Lydecker-like loose ends to come back and haunt her. She would do things right the first time. That meant that she needed to clean up his mess and get the other TX child. Not only could it be a valuable asset to her, it would be a liability if left out in the open. If the child, a female, was left out there, she would cause attention and questions, and one day, even breed. She did not want to think of that possibility but it was real. In that case, backer's would learn that they did not need Renfro's project and that other avenues were open to them. They must not learn that.

Arriving at her office, she leaned back in her black leather chair and looked around her thoughtfully. The question was, how to find her. What was it that would make her stand out enough to be traceable. She rubbed her hand along the side of her neck thoughtfully. There must be something. Her finger grazed the edge of her ear and her eyes widened in realization. She did not have to find them. They would have to find her. If the geneticists were right, the girl would have a hearing problem too. It would only be a matter of time until they realized it and needed to find a solution. Unfortunately for them, she had the one doctor in her custody that knew what to do.

A sly smile creased her lips as she pressed the intercom button. "Lieutenant Briggs, come in here. We have some work to do."