CHAPTER FOURTEEN
April 1 2001
Mr. Lyle sat in his office, enjoying a cup of coffee, watching the video of his sister with Jarod at the Centre house. If he was a kinder man, he would have felt sorry for Jarod, but—Lyle thought, I won't He forwarded the tape, stopping only at the appropriate spots and taking it out, put in another, this one in his sister's house.
As far as the Pretender was concerned, Mr. Lyle regarded him as a possession of the Centre, and if he had him in his clutches, Jarod would watch handcuffed while Lyle took one of his girlfriends for his special kind of torture as well as do all his menial and heavy work.. That of course, did not include having Jarod do the simulations. In fact, it was remarkable how the thing just went through the motions. Sydney never told me that, thought Lyle, I always assumed he just played with models and was in that glass bubble.
Lyle and his father knew how to deal with Pretenders. They needed trainers or handlers, much as a horse needed one. They had no original ideas of their own (Lyle conveniently forgot that this was a result of inserting Neogenesis into their Nutritional Supplement). They needed isolation to keep from contamination by the outside world. The best place for them was in the sublevels with only their trainer who would guide the Pretender and permit certain punishments with a cattle prod or similar device if the Pretender became errant in his or her duties or rather its duties.
The Centre first considered Pretenders and Humans incompatible and that their chance of having an issue was slim to none, so they kept them separate. Any spawn produced by such unions were, not human because of the Pretender gene and best kept confined below.
However, the Pretender and Miss Parker actually produced spawn. Mr. Parker had the first one implanted in a New Jersey girl's womb and before he went to the Island, actually tried to locate the creature that would have been born in July. (There might have been others. A rumor went around that Pretenders had multiple births, but that was only a rumor. ) There was no reports of a human looking man or woman born about that time, showing animalistic tendencies, so either the Centre was wrong about the Pretenders or the thing had already perished.
Lyle read his notes on what Miss Parker had told him or what he insisted after she said, "We kissed, or rather I kissed long and hard," and did not believe it for a second.
Every nuance of her attack was on another video tape, stashed somewhere in the Centre file. There was another tape of an attack by a stranger on a paid employee of the Centre as well as on a Pretender. No one found the bodies of the two women rapists and neither showed signs of pregnancy. The paid employee had had a vasectomy that explained his good fortune. As for the Pretender, well, he was a Pretender and the woman was, human.
This Pretender had the same fear Jarod used to have when Miss Parker and the sweepers spotted him. It was so satisfying that Raines arranged for the leader of the Barbie Gang to get on Centre grounds. He was sure that if Doris, the head of the Barbie Gang captured a Pretender, that a good sum of money would keep her from killing it. He made a mental note to find a suitable candidate.
He took out the DSA of Miss Parker's first encounter with Jarod and read the accompanying file. Mr. Parker had his doctor do an examination of his daughter and the tests revealed she was pregnant. Since he had already sent his "daughter" to the Renewal Wing, she did not remember anything after she kissed the Pretender.
After implanting the embryo into the womb of a surrogate, Mr. Parker arranged for a baby broker from an illegal adoption ring to approach the girl and to notify him when she was in delivery. However, the girl died in childbirth before the cleaners arrived and the "nurse" told him that a couple had already taken the child.
Lyle needing to see the information on his newly discovered nephew and niece, Frederick and Margaret, looked for the DSA, but the girl who brought the box containing his copies had a rather creative way of filing, that is, not according to date, but according to the date when the Centre purchased the discs.
Lyle went through all the drawers, all the secret spots in his office, and finally went to the bottom drawer, going on his hands and knees, pulling out any discs, CDs, DVDS, etc. in an effort to locate them.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a man with dark auburn hair eying him
"Problems Mr. Lyle?" he asked with a snicker.
"No, Mr. Lambourni!" said Lyle and then slammed the door. He had never felt so embarrassed and to have that ambulance chaser witness his humiliation.
He picked up a DSA with the title "Miss Parker and Jarod's Third Encounter." He then breathed with relief. Only three times, three children with Pretender genes, or rather one adult either a male or female and two children, a boy and a girl, he thought. Both had the Pretender gene and both had disappeared from the Centre. He read the notes concerning those experiments. .
Raines and Mr. Parker said they planned to send Frederick and Margaret to the nearest University. When they returned to the Centre, they would be running the offices along with Lyle and that would stop the rumors of Pretenders caged so many sublevels below.
However, Lyle did not want to share the Centre with anyone let alone Jarod's spawn He did not have to worry about Frederick, he would probably wind up in prison and as for Margaret, she was too busy pretending to be the next Heidi Skok. He did have to worry about the others, those not recorded, those that happened when Miss Parker went out alone, those now locked in the Inner Sanctum. .
A light came from under the door to Lambourni's office
That lawyer's always watching me.
Lyle had no evidence that Lambourni who along with several others, the Centre had hired a year ago, was actually spying on him, but that man gave him the shivers. He turned to a large masculine woman in a nurse's uniform. "I've a headache coming on. Get my pills, Batlowsky."
"Of course, Mr. Lyle. The usual?"
"Yes," he said, seeing Lambourni peer through the door, "I have a headache," Lyle held his head in his hands. "Signor Lambourni. leave me alone." .
"For now Mr. Lyle," said the lawyer, "I'm still waiting for that new motor for my Jacuzzi."
"It'll be coming next week, Mr. Lambourni..They had to reorder. Wrong size."
As soon as Lambourni left and closed the door of his office, Lyle got on the intercom to Raines. "Success!"
"Good Mr. Lyle," said Raines's voice, "my idea of a rape worked. Soon, Jarod'll hate her and he'll be dedicated to the Centre. It's a good thing I found that certificate and legal document that my brother wanted to hold over Jarod's head to get his cooperation years ago. It's a good thing I persuaded him not to. This way was more useful."
"And what of the others?"
"I've already closed one branch of the Inner Sanctum, the other one will soon follow as soon as I find other employment for our staff and then that'll be sealed off as well. Don't want to waste bullets and the letter from Cox should be on the way." There was an audible click and the light went out.
Lyle leaned back in evil satisfaction, thinking about the hold he and Raines had on Cox. Raines had made a tape of the two particular incidents. Lyle took it out and inserted it into the tape recorder. What he learned shocked him. Apparently, Miss Parker had sex with the Pretender two other times during her so-called pursuit of him. .
e
Abour three or four years ago Miss Parker, took a powerful sedative from the medicine cabinet, came upon Jarod, and stuck the needle in his arms. The poor slob slept through the whole thing, thought Lyle with a smile, too bad she could not do that for our ah simulation, but we wanted him awake and suffering.
Raines wiped all evidence of the encounter from her memory. When a few weeks later, an examination by the obstetrician proved Miss Parker pregnant, the obstetrician removed the embryos, implanting them in a surrogate mother. When Raines heard that the doctor had saved the embryos, he decided there would be no next time.
About six months later, the surrogate started to have severe pains. They rushed her to the Centre infirmary, but she died. They did save the infants, however and Raines took them. Where they were, no one knew.
The next time Miss Parker just walked out the door, saying she had to meet one of her lovers, but Willie followed her and saw the familiar black jacket of the Pretender. However, the noonday crowds prevented him from going any further. He told Raines of his suspicions, who as before hypnotized Miss Parker and arranged to examine her without any inference from an obstetrician fresh from Harvard called Cox who worked part time in the Centre infirmary.
However, unknown to him, Cox had bugged his office and returned to the Centre. The Grim Reaper called Miss Parker into his office, a quick injection, she was under, and he removed the embryos. Miss Parker remembered none of this.
Cox sent one surrogate to live with the family she was supposedly to give her infant to. Of course, The Centre soon found where she was.
The headline read "Psycho Killer hacks family to death, Kids killed while they sleep, Pregnant woman ripped apart. Dogs used to look for fetuses!" The confession of the fall guy that he was innocent, no one believed and he was knifed to death in the prison shower.
Lyle had no time to reflect as Miss Batlowsky was entering the room.
"Here's your pills Mr. Lyle," she said, "You no attended 'Official Joining' of Frederick and Carla."
"He could have just had sex with her, not ah married her." He took off his jacket and a copy of the Dominant Book fell on the floor. He bent and picked it up.
So that's the scientific definition of untreated Pretenders, Homo Dominant, what a joke!
"Now we've lost a chance of confining Carla's children. In case my sister gets pregnant, I want to make sure that there are no Dominants in the area to inform her of this custom. I want Jarod's children down below as soon as they're ready."
"No good. Children be like Frederick. Frederick teach them, 'kill uncle.'"
"Then we have to make sure they're kept separate," said Mr. Lyle turning back to the video, surprised first to see Rachel with the three toddlers as well as Frederick and Margaret.. "Miss Burke is a profiler who got herself pregnant and the younger ones are her kids. It seems they reinstated her, Miss Batlowsky."
She glared at him. "They no fire women pregnant today, Mr. Lyle—who boy and girl?"
"Frederick and Margaret. My niece and nephew by adoption," he lied, "both troubled. Mr. Parker sent them off to California on a ruse after they killed some guards and ran off. Turn back to the bedroom."
Batlowsky looked with an analytical eye. "If you want someone feel they used, you produce them with information on real love, like young couple in park, like groom with bride, so they feel degraded, but you no let man know — now she kiss him. Looks like he want on top, like handsome soldier with girl. Maybe he drink Vodka afterwards, no bottle on desk." The scene went black and then shifted back to the living room. "Look his face!"
"What do you see? I studied this matter. Usually after repeated assaults, a woman performs whenever he demands or lies there like a statue. It's the same with men: they either act like satyrs or just wait."
"He's act like normal for him. But sir, take look at his eyes!"
Lyle rewound the tape, focusing on Jarod's face. He turned off the video. "He's a Pretender. The Centre did several simulations with him, but I don't recall one involving rape. Wait here, the expression reminds of something we have on file. There's something I want to show you." He removed the tape and inserted another one. "This occurred around '98 regarding a new scientific announcement." They looked at the face of Walter Attwood announcing the discovery of a new species of mankind. "A Centre employee was in the crowd and took a picture of this couple." It was of Lisa Lars and Lewis. "You're right. Jarod has almost that same look. We suspected there was something about the Pretender gene and my niece and nephew."
"You said they adopted."
"I lied. Their father is a Pretender. They were being looked after in the Main Area."
"Ironic Mr. Parker named the girl after mother of Jarod. Quite an honor, him slave."
"I thought it had a touch of irony. What he created and what he cannot have. As for the other word, he said no such thing, although it does have a certain doomed possibility to it. He does belong to the Centre."
"Mr. Lyle, you Americans have saying. If it walks like duck and talks like duck, it duck. Could I see a copy of Jarod's paycheck? No I not think you had one and they killed guards? Sooner later, they'll find your sister and Jarod are parents, yes? Miss Parker be good head of Centre when you gone." She ran her finger across her throat.
"She's soft just like her father, oh her uncle. He wanted the Centre to benefit mankind. Raines and I have better plans for it. What do you mean, Miss Bratlowsky?"
"You make sure that Miss Parker treated nice and Raines no hurt babies."
He turned on the Intercom. "Barry, do you still have that tape on Frederick and Margaret, the day they left for California? Bring it up." He smiled at the nurse. "I have something to show you that might change your mind. Both children are violent."
But when Lyle ran through the tape, he noticed something was not right. He slowed it down and then gasped. "Batlowsky, it wasn't a violent attack after all. They didn't jump the guards. See, I'll rewind it once more They lured him over He went to his death willingly. The Pretenders are —"
"1.6rs also known as Homo Dominants," said Miss Parker as she entered the office.
"And why isn't he here in handcuffs?"
"Oh he's with Rachel Burke, but he'll return. I just slacked off on the rope a bit." She turned to the nurse and spoke to her in perfect Russian to which the nurse replied and left.
"By the way," said her brother, "the workers have started on your-ah-dungeon. I might say you're putting a bit more amenities than I would have."
"Surely the Centre sweepers were intelligent enough to track him down, not if they needed help in finding someone who didn't even know what toilet paper was used for. I thought moss went out with the American Revolution."
Mr. Lyle took out the tape of the murder and went back to the one of Walter Attwood that told of the new species need to dominate, that the human race was in peril, and would stop at nothing. "That's all speculative and I'm afraid Jarod is too dangerous for you. I'll take him off your hands. What did you say to her?"
"I asked her that we need some precious time together." She waited until the nurse headed down the hallway and whispered harshly. "He's mine!"
"Jarod had the Pretender gene which I learned in its full stages becomes the Dominant DNA. The Centre kept it from developing, but once the medicine was out of his system, his true nature came out. Remember the guards? He snapped their necks although they were armed. Didn't Jarod snatch your gun away once? I don't want him to decapitate you."
She sneered. "Well maybe if Raines hadn't ordered the staff to insert Neogenesis in Jarod and the other Pretenders's food, this would not have happened! They would have been an excellent defense against attack."
"I'm going to get you a pregnancy test and then we'll see what to do."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Suddenly she screamed at him. "You can't kill my babies!" and in a calmer voice. "What did I just say?" She felt nauseous for a moment. "Must be my nerves."
"Sure sis. Had a bad night?"
"Yes. Couldn't sleep." She gave Lyle her most wicked smile. "Speaking of the Pretender, when I was laid up in that hell hole of a hospital, what did you do to him?"
"Not what you think. Tortured him, shocked him, the usual and I did get him to contribute to the Centre population—got the sample in the freezer. All I need to do is to find a willing donor. Why?"
Miss Parker almost gagged, but remained calm. "Okay what did you threaten to do to him if he didn't?"
"Off it comes. I couldn't stand him anyway."
"Well thanks to you, I might be pregnant."
"You said it was your nerves."
"I don't know" she lied, "but if I was, he or she'd be half Parker. Think of it, with the Pretender gene and who do you think is going be the heir, not our little brother." She sneered. "Guess you better hold onto your position, with my insight and Jarod's brains. As soon as I know and the baby's well enough to survive, I'm going to talk to Raines in front of Dr. Cox "
She left the Centre, exhaling sharp little breaths and hoping no one noticed. She owned Jarod, but why was she having these guilt feelings? Perhaps her Roman Catholic background was stronger than she felt. She did not want anyone to call her children bastards nor did she want them imprisoned in the Centre. How could she protect them without freeing Jarod?
An hour later, she made a decision and dialed her cell phone. "Hello Father, this is Miss Parker from the Centre. I have two problems and I think you can solve it for me. Is it all right for me to come to see you tonight?" She waited for the answer, her mind going through turmoil. Maybe she thought, the Father will help me out.
…