CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

Dec 2 2001

Cox sat on his couch, showing the four Angela children, a child's book on Doctors. Geraldo, Ethan, and the boy they called Irish were watching them intently. They looked like wolves. The doctor wondered how such could appear late in humanity's progress, but remembered the countless infants perfect in body and brain, who perished in the womb or never made it to light. Were these the reasons why? When those Allied scientists did their experiments, which included allowing only the healthiest sperm to fertilize only the ova, and re implanted them back into their mothers' wombs, were they creating something that best left alone? Perhaps if he got the children interested in something benevolent, perhaps he could reduce the damage they would cause.

"This is an operating room." He portrayed his nice self, the one he used when delivering babies at the hospital as he showed them the doctor in the mask, the nurse besides him, and the metal table with the various instruments around.

It was a chapter about a very careless boy, starting with his mother telling Jack (that was his name) to not go to Warsford Lake as someone had driven their lorry into it and the police were looking for it. (There had been a previous chapter about evil skin divers who robbed the bank and put all the money in the lorry and were planning to retrieve it.) As it were, the boy disregarded the warning,

The previous pictures showed a sign that said "danger" and a stern bobby telling the boy not to jump into the lake below. The next pictures leading up to the operation showed the boy jumping, and breaking his leg, going in the ambulance, and the events leading up to the doctors fixing his leg.

The end of the book showed Jack and his friends getting a handshake from the chief constable for finding the money and helping capturing the evil skin divers, but Cox had not got to that yet. Since it was a child's book, the crooks were portrayed as bumbling idiots who begged to be sent to gaol and the mother was so sweetness and nice and the father just harrumphed and smoked a pipe. Cox had to explain that gaol meant jail, and a lorry was a truck.

"Mask," said Jarvis, pointing to the surgeon.

"He has to wear that so no one can get sick afterwards."

"Coff coff, "said Olivia.

Cox was not surprised at their vocabulary or that they were not the innocents humans thought they would be. When they were two years old, the Dominant children talked in full sentences and comprehended ideas By the age of eight, they were equivalent to sixteen year olds in mental processes He questioned his other three "guests."

"Will that Mr. Lyle come after me, now that I blamed him for Liza's shooting?" he asked and got rather too enthusiastic nods from them.

Cox and Liza' s children were doing some homework, writing the letters very carefully, and asking each other questions that one would expect from an older student.

The bullets had come dangerously close to Liza's heart and even though the Medicals had removed them, she could not move as well as she used to, so she was probably glad the three were there. .She did not feel well, having not eaten all day and her stomach still ached.

"I will have to get a sonograph to see if the babies are still there," said Cox.

"They are. It's common among us," said Geraldo seeing Jarod and Miss Parker coming up the walk. "Where is the created one?"

"Oh, you mean the one I helped to deliver. You certainly have a peculiar way of talking about Brigitte and Mr. Parker's son." If it were not for the children here, he would have told the visitors the truth and how he felt. He did not appreciate these Geniuses—or should he call them what they really were—probing into his business and his affairs.

"We will have to search the Centre sub areas and take him out, before that is sealed forever.""Do you not know where he is?" asked Ethan.

Whatever diet, the Centre had given him or suggested through a clinic to his foster parents was gone now. There was no concern in his voice, just a coolness common to all Dominants. Cox figured he had better talk to him as to an equal, although by the way Ethan concurred to the two boys, he certainly was not. "He was in the Centre nursery for a while. I know because Raines treated him for a lung blockage I assume from the Parker side. However, I did not know whether it was natural or whether Raines caused it so he could treat the infant and claim victory."

"The Council heard from sources that the child was very healthy in Lady Angela, I mean Miss Parker's arms."

"All women, that is, most women, are good with children and can nurture them, even Miss Parker. I saw that movie Gloria. Miss Parker's like her. You plan to search the lower levels, don't you?"

"My mother very cool, almost unfeeling, she said she couldn't stand children and yet she'd worry about me," said the Grim Reaper. "That's why I felt uncomfortable around the vivacious type."

"She should have been one of us. We need a map," said Geraldo, leaning with menacing closeness to the doctor. "The Centre is not the best place for the child. They cannot give the proper education for one of his caliber."

Cox moved away. "It worked on Jarod."

"But Jarod did not come into the Centre until he knew a bit about his former life, from what I heard."

"From who?"

Geraldo shrugged. "It's on the files. My father showed it to me."

"So he was thinking of perhaps getting you employed in the Centre when you were old enough— smart move for Mr. Lambourni." Cox's face then lost its smile. "I know only of certain areas in the Centre. You can ask Miss Parker, perhaps Broots or Sydney."

"What about Jarod?"

"The Centre isolated him in a limited area so it took him until in his late twenties or early thirties to escape." He walked over to a lamp stand, took a map out of the drawer, and handed it to Geraldo. "All the areas I know about are in red. I could have found more ways, but when I bought this house, I was occupied with other matters and as you can see the other places are blank."

Geraldo motioned to Irish and Ethan "The map is drawn according to their measurements. One of us will question the others or all of us. With their input, we will find the created one." He looked at Cox's children. "They will need more advanced knowledge to be Medicals than this human can give them." He went towards the door.

Jarod and Miss Parker were not surprised to see Cox and his family still alive and the trio there. "What's going on?" asked The Pretender..

"Come in," said their half brother, "we were just discussing that son of Mr. Parker and Brigitte."

"We mean the created one no harm," said Geraldo, seeing the concern on Miss Parker's face and a shadow crossing the countenance of The Pretender, "I and Irish could not be at the Ceremony of the Column for I still feel the loss of my female."

"You probably have to be at least sixteen to participate in the torture," said Jarod, "and it takes the strength of a man to pound the Column into the earth at this time of year. They were very forceful about it and I thought I heard someone screaming."

Geraldo smiled. "I remember nothing of my initiation but. I should question Lewison about what goes on."

Jarod did not want to tell him of the girls nor about the children watching with their adults. He gathered it was to show them the strength the Dominants had over homo sapiens as well as an object lesson on what could happen to interlopers.

Miss Parker," said Cox, "We've made a map of the Centre, the part I knew about which I gave to Geraldo. If you can insert the parts you know about and Jarod's as well. We plan to rescue your little brother."

"I don't understand you, Mr. Cox," she said, taking a fine felt pen from Geraldo and drawing the route to Sublevel 27. "This is where they turned Tim into Angelo. Yes I know, trying to make that place appear benevolent." She moved her pen away. "Jarod it's your turn."

"Ah yes, the escape routes," he said and took the pen from Miss Parker. "This is the ventilation system, the lab, and the cells they kept me and Irish's father. Another Pretender, excuse me,
Dominant was with me, but it's best to not speak of him. He killed his own family."

"His own children?" asked Irish, with a touch of emotion.

"I would assume as much."

"Irish remembers what his father told him, before his murder, of his enslavement," said Geraldo and took the map, "By the way, I'd like to know who is in charge of the Centre."

"Raines, Miss Parker, or Lyle" said Jarod, "but there is a woman, a Miss Margaret, who is on the board as well, a different person from my mother. Margaret is a common name."

"I thought the Triumvirate ruled," said Gerald as he took out a Pocket PC like device and wrote Miss Margaret, not Jarod's mother, next person due for elimination' or something of a similar vein.

"No, they didn't," said Miss Parker, "we did give them the scroll for a time after we got it back from these Japanese and German scientists who were having a bit of a financial difficulty with their company. We did borrow some money from the Triumvirate, but we never signed over the rights to The Centre and Mr. Parker told them that using the scroll's power compensated payment and the effect continues when it is returned."

"You can give me the location if that company later. By the way, The Council already approved the names Constance, Daniela, Linda Antonio, Enrique, and Vito because of our ancestors and I heard you have a sister, Jarod. Why was she not marked?"

"She was born at home, from what I heard and she works as an actress."

"My father dabbles in that profession and Emily is one of our approved names."

Miss Parker was about to say something like, "I guess Antonio'd play the corpse," but did not voice that opinion. Even though the boy looked around twelve, he had cold eyes. "What parts does he play? Lawyers?"

"No. It was in one of your operas. As I told you, we don't have the emotional range so to accomplish takes quite an effort. My father, to alter the subject, says you have certain books about notorious characters—not Mr. Lyle or Mr. Raines's biography, I assume." He followed her to the door while Jarod gathered the children.

Once in her house, she gave Geraldo a couple of books about the Third Reich, as well as one about Cambodia, and a recent book comparing various dictatorships to democracies that Sydney had gotten it for her when she expressed a desire to go to the Chinese Mainland to see an old boyfriend. Naturally, after reading it, she declined, although it was more to do with pursuing Jarod than seeing the Beijing tourist attractions.

:"Jarod, when we were on the Island, I noticed that your mother asked who you were. Were you changing then?"

"I have no idea. I can move pretty fast though. Why Miss Parker? Oh since it concerns my mother. I'll have to consult the book." He made a gesture as it were some sort of religious edict. It had no impression on Miss Parker. "From what I know, most of us keep together. We could see how Cox would react to the children when they mature, but that'd take too long —Lambourni!"

"My father is of no concern of yours," said Geraldo.

"No, but homo sapiens raised him. What about those of whose one parent was one of us, and the other like Miss Parker? In the latter case, what would be the reaction, say when the child became an adult?"

"I have not reached my fifteenth ascension so I have no idea of the reaction. I heard of a certain Kevin who killed his father, but it was his stepfather, not one of us, so that did not count."

"Since most of the Dominants here are like me, it would have to be someone from the outside who knows."

"The Mentors.are trained for such things." He took something from his pocket. "I will consult him. My father will be unavailable. I have a female true sibling who trifled with what is forbidden to
her."

Charles Lewison came over. Dominants were like that. It was disconcerting, having someone show up on your doorstep without an appointment. Of course, the Ceremony completed, he would be congratulating the new Chosen, and no doubt, taking one under his wing. He was not alone.

The girl with him was one of the new Chosen and by the look of her, seemed to have sprouted into an adult over night that meant they already erased memories of her childhood, just as the Centre done to Jarod.

There was a difference in her manner, however. She acted like Geraldo, cool and polite. She did not ask questions and was rather self-assured. There was none of the questionings about seeing her parents, none of the whys. She was not like Jarod when he was a boy.

Lewison listened to Jarod tell of his mother's reaction. The principal had seen it when a human female mated with a Dominant and found out her own children acted different It was like she was raising alien beings and Margaret would have sensed that tall man who had shouted "Mom!" was such and it would have frightened her.

"So I frightened her?" asked Jarod.

"When our species are separated, we go after the other one, what you humans would call stalking. It is an instinct to as you say to bond with the other. It is a matter of survival. We can understand it, but the lesser intelligent humans would not."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," said Miss Parker, "he just waved and hollered mom!'"

"She was almost one of you, Miss Parker while Jarod was almost back to his origin. A Dominant female would go towards her offspring, even adult ones. We do not use emotions unless we are in danger. When she saw you, from what you said, she did not know who you were, meaning she did not know what branch of the homo you represented. A normal human male when seeing his mother would not react in such a way. He would show anger or approach quietly and ask if you were a Mrs. So and so, not wishing embarrassment." Lewison paused for a moment. "Oh for your imput, we have located your Angelo and will restore his former self."

"Angelo? He'll be Tim, but he'll no longer be empathic."

"Empathy is a human trait. Turning him into an intelligent savant for such purposes was not to the greater purpose. The operation, one only we can do, will restore what he lost and yet keep his
abilities. Miss Parker, I might add, you might lose yours."

"What do you mean? It saved my life and that of my father."

´I talked to Father Illuminae who is my half brother, a weak child. He claims that such are the tools of the devil. Have you had any visions, second sight since then?"

"No, but I ascribed it to my pregnancy .and what about Ethan? The same?"

"Ethan like all Dominants has is an increased hearing of someone two hundred yards away, an aura, similar to what predatory animals have. Homo Sapiens are sometimes given what is natural in us. Your senses go inside, what is known as a bad feeling, a hunch, a cold chill. You do have dreams, which may tell of a future event, but only after you sleep, not during the day."

Miss Parker shivered The Dominants had the intelligence of humans but with the instincts of animals. No wonder the Centre was after them.