i) Thanks to Nancy, gemini006007, Miss Dynamite, Staceysedge, and Sabrina for letting me know what you think (and being so nice about it too!) Hope you keep on reading.
ii) 'Panic is blue, so is the truth' (Starsailor, Could You Be Mine?)
Chapter Six
Miss Parker watched happily as the boy cleared his plate, it was her first attempt at cooking for some time. There had never seemed a reason to bother before, when it was just herself. Her refrigerator usually consisted of sour milk, limp salad and stale bread - jetting around the country at a moments notice had an adverse effect on the contents. When he had finished the boy sat back in contentment and Miss Parker took this as a sign that her culinary skills had not abandoned her.
He rubbed his stomach absent mindedly, dessert was going to be ice cream - something he had discovered not long ago - but her feared he may have eaten too much. Miss Parker's soft chuckle caused him to look up at her.
"Shall we save the ice cream for later?"
He grinned at her and once again reflected on his sudden good fortune, the change in his life that the woman sat opposite had instigated. "What's your first name?" The question was partly curiousity about her and partly a way to broach the subject of his own dilemma.
Miss Parker sat back in her chair and contemplated the boy for a moment or two. An image from over twenty years ago popped into her mind, of a secret whispered - one that had never been betrayed. Everyone knew her as Miss Parker; at school, at college, and especially at The Centre. Even Thomas had not been entrusted with that secret, despite his best efforts. Keeping it a secret was a way of shutting people out, never letting them in entirely. As she told the boy her secret, initiating him into a very select group, she realised how much he had enamoured himself to her. And she found she didn't mind at all.
"That's a pretty name." He had been studying the book of names that she had given him for some time but was no closer to choosing one for himself. It had not escaped his notice that most people received their names from their parents at birth but he'd never had that chance. His genetic parents had been unaware of his existence.
"Have you chosen a name yet?"
"No, there are so many I can't decide." He dropped his eyes and played nervously with his fork as he spoke, it was only a half lie but still...
"Is that all it is?" Miss Parker prodded a little further, something told her it was more than that. He finally lifted his gaze back to her and she stared deep into those familar pools of brown, but didn't see Jarod there. She suddenly grasped his hesitation. "Well I need to call you something don't I?" She smiled as she spoke, she had previously relied upon catching the boy's attention through eye contact but he needed a name. He needed to be an individual.
The boy nodded his head.
"Okay." She looked him over from head to toe as if deciding, though she had a name in mind already. "I'm going to call you Matthew. When, or if, you decide on something better let me know."
He rolled the word over his tongue a couple of times - he liked it, though he knew she could have chosen any name and he would still have liked it because she had given it to him. "Okay."
"Good. So are you going to give me a hand with these dishes Matthew?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarod sighed heavily and closed the laptop down. He was no closer to finding Miss Parker and the boy and he was beginning to get frustrated. He imagined Miss Parker must have been even more so after three years of this but at least she had the occassional clue, knew where he had been. He didn't even know if they were both okay. He was a pretender, a genius who had helped to put many families together yet he couldn't even find his own family. Bumping into the Major had been a complete fluke, and though one person had been returned to his life, he had lost another two from it.
"No luck?" Charles cautiously approached his son already knowing the answer. He had duly followed his son all over the country trying to locate Miss Parker and the boy knowing how much it meant to Jarod. Jarod's growing frustration had begun to unsettle him however and his obsession with finding them bordered on the unhealthy. And more importantly there were other people to be found too. His wife and daughter, Jarod's mother and sister, were out there somewhere - and just as important to their lives, surely?
Jarod rubbed his eyes wearily, "No."
Charles decided that it was time to make his feelings known, he had enjoyed the time spent with his son, getting to know him all over again. But his wife and daughter played on his mind heavily, he felt torn between his family once again. But he hoped that flushed with the success of finding his son that maybe he would have success in other areas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney tried to focus on his paperwork, despite the late hour, but found his attention wandered back to the same problem. He worried about Miss Parker even though he knew she could take care of herself, but how was she coping with the boy? He knew that she had managed with Broots' daughter but this was for a longer period of time and with a boy who looked like Jarod. And despite her protestations he knew she struggled with her feelings for Jarod; would being with the boy drag all those feelings to the surface? Was that why she had taken the boy? Sydney couldn't decide if that would be a good thing or not. And there had been no contact from Jarod. No direct contact anyway, he had sent a few clues to his 'supposed' whereabouts but these had led to nothing.
There were more pressing matters closer to home - Angelo had appeared in his office the other day somewhat distraught. Sydney was unable to coax out of the other man exactly what had upset him so, Angelo would only repeat one word over and over again, 'Bad'. It took some time before Sydney could calm him down, but Angelo remained silent after this. Sydney had found himself pleading with the younger man to show him what he meant, he knew Angelo understood more of the world around him than other people assumed. But to his dismay Angelo had then scuttled off into the recesses of The Centre.
Sydney was also spending more time trying to calm an increasingly nervous Broots. There were several rumours doing the rounds concerning The Centre's, and its employees, future and none of them were particulary favourable. Unless you were Mtumbo. The African had been assessing many of The Centre's current projects as well as reviewing some of its previous endeavours. Despite his soothing to Broots, Sydney was under no illusions. Having spent the majority of his life at The Centre he knew how things worked, and he had begun to make preparations for those he felt deserved a future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brigette raised her glass to signal the waiter.
"Don't you think you should cut back? Dad wouldn't be pleased if anything happened to the baby."
Brigette smiled at Lyle but held the glass aloft until the waiter came by and refilled it for her. "He's very concerned about the baby, so are you." Brigette took a sip from the glass but held onto it in defiance.
"He's already lost one child, he would be distraught to lose another." Lyle reached over and took the glass from her hand, and was surprised she relented so easily.
Brigette smirked at this. "Who's to say it's his child?" She leant over and stroked his hand.
Lyle's smile faded. "What are you saying?" He knew exactly what she was suggesting but it couldn't be true. She couldn't concieve naturally, he had seen her medical files.
"We were very close, weren't we?" Brigette toyed with him. What had begun as an attempt to get at Lyle's paternal attitude towards the baby of late, was taking a very interesting turn. He seemed very protective of the baby but horrified of the prospect that it just may be his.
"Nice try but you can't have children that way, hence the IVF." Lyle retorted smugly. He didn't like where this conversation was heading. His plans were built around this baby, it couldn't be his.
"I know love, but your face was priceless." Brigette laughed and Lyle smiled back at her. She noted he seemed somewhat relieved at the confirmation. A thought crossed her mind and she decided to look into it further, or have Broots look into it - it was safer that way, for her anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarod waved his father off at dawn before retreating back into the motel. They had spoken at length the night before about the best course of action to take, each man pressing for their side of the search. Jarod had understood his father's need to find Margaret and Emily; it was his desire to find them too, he just thought it was more important to find Miss Parker and the boy, they were in more danger from The Centre right now, his mother and sister had managed to evade capture for so long they had virtually disapeared. He wanted to find Miss Parker before she had chance to do the same.
He was thankful that his father had understood this. Both men could see the other's point of view and a deal was struck; they would part for now but keep in regular contact, Charles would concentrate on finding Margaret and Emily, Jarod on finding Miss Parker and the boy. It was only now that his father had left that Jarod's attention returned to the backpack, the one he had filled with files when he was at Donoterase. He had been so focussed on other matters he had overlooked it.
Jarod settled down on the bed and proceeded to read through the files. Some contained information about the boy, about the problems that had been encountered whilst trying to clone the pretender. His mind flashed back to the specimens he had seen at Donoterase and Jarod's anger began to rise at the blase attitude of The Centre. And how once again they had used his work to further themselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Broots sat nervously at his computer. He had thought about not turning up for work that morning, just taking Debbie and leaving instead, never looking back. He wished he had now.
Brigette walked behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, "I need you to do something for me."
He should have just gone with his gut and took Debbie. It would have worked out somehow, he'd have made it work. "With what?", he whispered as he felt Brigette's fingernail trail along the back of his neck.
Brigette leant closer in and whispered in his ear. "I need you to find out about a project at Donoterase."
"Gemini?" Broots wondered if this was another attempt to wrangle the truth from him again so remained cautious. He felt Brigette shake her head.
"Something else was going on there, I need to know what." Now that there was no Miss Parker it would be easier to manipulate the balding technician, though admittedly not so much fun.
"Um. What do you want me to do?"
Brigette smiled and looked at Broots in the reflection of the computer screen. "Whatever it was that you did for Miss Parker. She always seemed to know more than she should have."
Broots squirmed under her scrutiny. He couldn't exactly refuse. "Okay."
Brigette straightened, satisfied with his response. "This stays between us. And just us, okay?" When Broots nodded she continued, "This project started some time after Gemini, it's got something to do with the genetic research that was begun. I need to know about Project Silence."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarod threw the file across the room causing the contents to spill out as it hit the wall. He shouldn't have been surprised by his findings but it never ceased to amaze him how The Centre played God. He was only just coming to terms with the fact that they had cloned him and now... He stood and begun to gather the files together, his mind trying to establish the next course of action, his stomach in knots. He could contact Angelo, his old friend had a knack of knowing what was going on in The Centre. He needed to know what progress had been made in Project Silence.
ii) 'Panic is blue, so is the truth' (Starsailor, Could You Be Mine?)
Chapter Six
Miss Parker watched happily as the boy cleared his plate, it was her first attempt at cooking for some time. There had never seemed a reason to bother before, when it was just herself. Her refrigerator usually consisted of sour milk, limp salad and stale bread - jetting around the country at a moments notice had an adverse effect on the contents. When he had finished the boy sat back in contentment and Miss Parker took this as a sign that her culinary skills had not abandoned her.
He rubbed his stomach absent mindedly, dessert was going to be ice cream - something he had discovered not long ago - but her feared he may have eaten too much. Miss Parker's soft chuckle caused him to look up at her.
"Shall we save the ice cream for later?"
He grinned at her and once again reflected on his sudden good fortune, the change in his life that the woman sat opposite had instigated. "What's your first name?" The question was partly curiousity about her and partly a way to broach the subject of his own dilemma.
Miss Parker sat back in her chair and contemplated the boy for a moment or two. An image from over twenty years ago popped into her mind, of a secret whispered - one that had never been betrayed. Everyone knew her as Miss Parker; at school, at college, and especially at The Centre. Even Thomas had not been entrusted with that secret, despite his best efforts. Keeping it a secret was a way of shutting people out, never letting them in entirely. As she told the boy her secret, initiating him into a very select group, she realised how much he had enamoured himself to her. And she found she didn't mind at all.
"That's a pretty name." He had been studying the book of names that she had given him for some time but was no closer to choosing one for himself. It had not escaped his notice that most people received their names from their parents at birth but he'd never had that chance. His genetic parents had been unaware of his existence.
"Have you chosen a name yet?"
"No, there are so many I can't decide." He dropped his eyes and played nervously with his fork as he spoke, it was only a half lie but still...
"Is that all it is?" Miss Parker prodded a little further, something told her it was more than that. He finally lifted his gaze back to her and she stared deep into those familar pools of brown, but didn't see Jarod there. She suddenly grasped his hesitation. "Well I need to call you something don't I?" She smiled as she spoke, she had previously relied upon catching the boy's attention through eye contact but he needed a name. He needed to be an individual.
The boy nodded his head.
"Okay." She looked him over from head to toe as if deciding, though she had a name in mind already. "I'm going to call you Matthew. When, or if, you decide on something better let me know."
He rolled the word over his tongue a couple of times - he liked it, though he knew she could have chosen any name and he would still have liked it because she had given it to him. "Okay."
"Good. So are you going to give me a hand with these dishes Matthew?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarod sighed heavily and closed the laptop down. He was no closer to finding Miss Parker and the boy and he was beginning to get frustrated. He imagined Miss Parker must have been even more so after three years of this but at least she had the occassional clue, knew where he had been. He didn't even know if they were both okay. He was a pretender, a genius who had helped to put many families together yet he couldn't even find his own family. Bumping into the Major had been a complete fluke, and though one person had been returned to his life, he had lost another two from it.
"No luck?" Charles cautiously approached his son already knowing the answer. He had duly followed his son all over the country trying to locate Miss Parker and the boy knowing how much it meant to Jarod. Jarod's growing frustration had begun to unsettle him however and his obsession with finding them bordered on the unhealthy. And more importantly there were other people to be found too. His wife and daughter, Jarod's mother and sister, were out there somewhere - and just as important to their lives, surely?
Jarod rubbed his eyes wearily, "No."
Charles decided that it was time to make his feelings known, he had enjoyed the time spent with his son, getting to know him all over again. But his wife and daughter played on his mind heavily, he felt torn between his family once again. But he hoped that flushed with the success of finding his son that maybe he would have success in other areas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney tried to focus on his paperwork, despite the late hour, but found his attention wandered back to the same problem. He worried about Miss Parker even though he knew she could take care of herself, but how was she coping with the boy? He knew that she had managed with Broots' daughter but this was for a longer period of time and with a boy who looked like Jarod. And despite her protestations he knew she struggled with her feelings for Jarod; would being with the boy drag all those feelings to the surface? Was that why she had taken the boy? Sydney couldn't decide if that would be a good thing or not. And there had been no contact from Jarod. No direct contact anyway, he had sent a few clues to his 'supposed' whereabouts but these had led to nothing.
There were more pressing matters closer to home - Angelo had appeared in his office the other day somewhat distraught. Sydney was unable to coax out of the other man exactly what had upset him so, Angelo would only repeat one word over and over again, 'Bad'. It took some time before Sydney could calm him down, but Angelo remained silent after this. Sydney had found himself pleading with the younger man to show him what he meant, he knew Angelo understood more of the world around him than other people assumed. But to his dismay Angelo had then scuttled off into the recesses of The Centre.
Sydney was also spending more time trying to calm an increasingly nervous Broots. There were several rumours doing the rounds concerning The Centre's, and its employees, future and none of them were particulary favourable. Unless you were Mtumbo. The African had been assessing many of The Centre's current projects as well as reviewing some of its previous endeavours. Despite his soothing to Broots, Sydney was under no illusions. Having spent the majority of his life at The Centre he knew how things worked, and he had begun to make preparations for those he felt deserved a future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brigette raised her glass to signal the waiter.
"Don't you think you should cut back? Dad wouldn't be pleased if anything happened to the baby."
Brigette smiled at Lyle but held the glass aloft until the waiter came by and refilled it for her. "He's very concerned about the baby, so are you." Brigette took a sip from the glass but held onto it in defiance.
"He's already lost one child, he would be distraught to lose another." Lyle reached over and took the glass from her hand, and was surprised she relented so easily.
Brigette smirked at this. "Who's to say it's his child?" She leant over and stroked his hand.
Lyle's smile faded. "What are you saying?" He knew exactly what she was suggesting but it couldn't be true. She couldn't concieve naturally, he had seen her medical files.
"We were very close, weren't we?" Brigette toyed with him. What had begun as an attempt to get at Lyle's paternal attitude towards the baby of late, was taking a very interesting turn. He seemed very protective of the baby but horrified of the prospect that it just may be his.
"Nice try but you can't have children that way, hence the IVF." Lyle retorted smugly. He didn't like where this conversation was heading. His plans were built around this baby, it couldn't be his.
"I know love, but your face was priceless." Brigette laughed and Lyle smiled back at her. She noted he seemed somewhat relieved at the confirmation. A thought crossed her mind and she decided to look into it further, or have Broots look into it - it was safer that way, for her anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarod waved his father off at dawn before retreating back into the motel. They had spoken at length the night before about the best course of action to take, each man pressing for their side of the search. Jarod had understood his father's need to find Margaret and Emily; it was his desire to find them too, he just thought it was more important to find Miss Parker and the boy, they were in more danger from The Centre right now, his mother and sister had managed to evade capture for so long they had virtually disapeared. He wanted to find Miss Parker before she had chance to do the same.
He was thankful that his father had understood this. Both men could see the other's point of view and a deal was struck; they would part for now but keep in regular contact, Charles would concentrate on finding Margaret and Emily, Jarod on finding Miss Parker and the boy. It was only now that his father had left that Jarod's attention returned to the backpack, the one he had filled with files when he was at Donoterase. He had been so focussed on other matters he had overlooked it.
Jarod settled down on the bed and proceeded to read through the files. Some contained information about the boy, about the problems that had been encountered whilst trying to clone the pretender. His mind flashed back to the specimens he had seen at Donoterase and Jarod's anger began to rise at the blase attitude of The Centre. And how once again they had used his work to further themselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Broots sat nervously at his computer. He had thought about not turning up for work that morning, just taking Debbie and leaving instead, never looking back. He wished he had now.
Brigette walked behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, "I need you to do something for me."
He should have just gone with his gut and took Debbie. It would have worked out somehow, he'd have made it work. "With what?", he whispered as he felt Brigette's fingernail trail along the back of his neck.
Brigette leant closer in and whispered in his ear. "I need you to find out about a project at Donoterase."
"Gemini?" Broots wondered if this was another attempt to wrangle the truth from him again so remained cautious. He felt Brigette shake her head.
"Something else was going on there, I need to know what." Now that there was no Miss Parker it would be easier to manipulate the balding technician, though admittedly not so much fun.
"Um. What do you want me to do?"
Brigette smiled and looked at Broots in the reflection of the computer screen. "Whatever it was that you did for Miss Parker. She always seemed to know more than she should have."
Broots squirmed under her scrutiny. He couldn't exactly refuse. "Okay."
Brigette straightened, satisfied with his response. "This stays between us. And just us, okay?" When Broots nodded she continued, "This project started some time after Gemini, it's got something to do with the genetic research that was begun. I need to know about Project Silence."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarod threw the file across the room causing the contents to spill out as it hit the wall. He shouldn't have been surprised by his findings but it never ceased to amaze him how The Centre played God. He was only just coming to terms with the fact that they had cloned him and now... He stood and begun to gather the files together, his mind trying to establish the next course of action, his stomach in knots. He could contact Angelo, his old friend had a knack of knowing what was going on in The Centre. He needed to know what progress had been made in Project Silence.