CHAPTER FIFTY- THREE

Dec. 19 to Dec 26, 2001

Mr. Parker snorted as he watched the reaction. Who was this person to whom most of the Centre property acted as if he were an Emperor by nodding, bowing slightly, or from the waist depending on their station and the former head of the Centre noticed the triumphant look of superiority among them.

Jarod nudged Miss Parker. "He's Tom Daniels, the Supreme Chosen, the head of the Homo Dominants. You can curtsey if you like."

"I'd prefer not to and I certainly hope he doesn't want to kiss my hand."

"Not if he wants to keep it. His wife appears the jealous type," he replaced as someone shoved them aside and they turned to see Ethan along with two boys, carrying a cardboard box from which a dry mist ascended, to the Supreme Chosen who remained impassive as he thanked the three for this gift.

"I wonder what's in it," inquired Miss Parker.

"No one told me about this," said The Pretender, "It is close to Christmas, but I would expect that no one would think of giving a present in The Centre."

"You never knew there was a Christmas and if there was a party, you would not have been invited anyway. Besides do these people actually celebrate it?"

"I presume that they learned about the sacred holidays from their parents and since they came from Mexico, they knew of the customs of the local population. It could be that Mr. Daniels might have to return to California and this might be a general gift on appreciation of his visit— perhaps a rare vintage wine perhaps."

Miss Parker agreed that this might be the only responsible explanation as they watched Tom Daniels receive the box.

The Supreme Chosen remained impassive, thanking the three for this gift. Mr. Parker, wanting to make a good impression, held out his right hand and gave a slight bow as he looked at the box, "Good morning, and welcome to the Cen…"

A smile crossed Mr. Parker's face as in apprehension he watched The Chosen open the box slowly, a smile that gradually faded and was replaced with horror, and then as the chairman of The Centre felt a great weight crushing his chest and the pain extended to his arms. At the same time, he felt as his stomach trying to disgorge its contents, but unable to do so and his heart gradually began beating slower and slower until at last there were no more pulses, and he fell, bumping his head against his desk.

"Get back," yelled The Centre doctor, as he kneeled down to take Mr. Parker's pulse, and then he looked up, shaking his head. "He just had a massive coronary. It's too late."

"Dead?" asked Miss Parker and the question became an echo in the crowd, as various groups whispered, passing the information from mouth to ear until at last it reached Major Charles, Zoe, Emily, and the Clone who were with Harold Lewison.

"He deserved a much horrible fate," said the Major.

This information was received with much elation by
Frederick, Guiseppe, and their females who soon found some of the best Centre wine, opening the cork, and sharing the bottle between themselves, and doing a little dance, but then they were young and could deserve to.

"I should have expected it. He was advised to take it easy, but he thought work more important," said the Centre doctor.

"I wonder what is in that box to affect Daddy so much," said Miss Parker.

"Do you want me to have a look?" asked Jarod who had his hands full with the Parker child.

"Okay come on young man," Miss Parker to her 'baby brother' with a nervous smile and then told Jarod, "I'll talk to Miss Burke about the quadruplets. They're starting to get into things like the knife drawer, for instance."

The little boy seemed rather apprehensive at first, and then his eyes narrowed ever so slightly and soon followed Miss Parker who then engaged in a hush-hush conversation with the Profiler.

They were just about to talk about when Rachel's children started to walk when Jarod raised his right hand, finger pointed toward him, and they rushed over.

"I think you'd better look at this," he said, indicating the box that now was on Mr. Parker's cleared desk.

The two women quickly rushed over with the children close behind, but when the adults saw what was in it, Rachel shielded the youngsters and Miss Parker saw Jarod smile for just a moment, before he recovered.

"Well," said Miss Parker, "at least Raines won't rise from the dead in that state unless they apply a mechanical body, but even the Centre is not that far along."

They did not have more time to reflect on Raines's demise when Lady M moved forward, accompanied by some of the most loyal Centre goons. "You made a mistake, Miss Parker and you Jarod orchestrating this coup. I am now the head of the Centre. The only way I can rectify this is to dispatch of the problem."

Miss Parker saw the guns facing her and Jarod, knowing that they did not stand a chance or did they?

Something flew through the air, striking one of the goons in the back. Lady M turned her eyes off Jarod and Miss Parker for a moment. The elegant dressed women now saw the murderous eyes of a score of Dominants and that Tom Daniels now taking a revolver from his jacket, pointing it at her.

"We will have none of that," he said.

"The situation is too dangerous," said Lambourni, "we have to finish this once and for all."

At that, it changed into a fight, the goons and those of the Centre loyal to Mr. Parker, fleeing for their lives as the Dominants, including those held by the Centre as Pretenders, hunted them down.

"You'd better make up your minds, quickly," Jarod whispered to Broots and Sydney who both saw a rather threatening Ted heading their way.

They both drew their weapons, firing on the men that surrounded Lady M. Two fell, clutching their hearts. The others shot back, but Jarod whisked them away, firing his weapon. Now no longer restrained by the fear of hurting someone he had as a homo sapien, his aim was deadly.

Now the visitors of the Triumvirate, being men who were not easily intimidated, or rather those who intimidated, ordered the Dominants to Stop or Else" along with the appropriate glare and low resonating voice. However, this time it did not work.

Someone, a boy, hiding in one of the vents, jumped on one of the Triumvirate men, and before the others could react, snapped his neck. The remainder tried to grab him, but he was too fast. They drew their revolvers, but now they faced the angry members of the New Species who even Tom Daniels could no longer control and Jarod doubted he would. There was too much hate, too much persecution of those descendants of the Lost Ships.

The body count increased, all of the Centre staff except for Sydney, and Broots, although a few of the Dominants died, John being among them.

At last, it was over, except for one question.

"Where's Cox?" asked Lewison.

Jarod looked around. Yes, he was not there nor was any of his family.

"Look he's a friend of Mr. Parker, and if we have to finish the Centre off, minus Lady Angela of course and her family, he has to die," said the Mentor, "especially on account of the trouble."

"What trouble? Without the Centre, he'd be just an ordinary obstetrician and wouldn't get a job except in a backwoods community, with his record."

"I'm not talking about Cox's trouble. Let's make a scenario. If Raines or whoever it was did not insert that chip in your head, would you have married Miss Parker even though she chased you?"

"Are you saying I suspected something? I'm a member of the New Species like you, Lewison. I can do as much as you can, but no one can teach me to Mask, I have to sneak around and learn from watching. So even though I'm highly intelligent, maybe I'm not for a Dominant." Jarod's eyes became colder.

"When Lambourni was ah sick, he didn't know either. We did some experiments, found out that drug lessens intelligence and suspicions but once it leaves your body you're normal. That's how they caught the Supreme Chosen. But we learned that someone who knew of the drug's effecds called the FBI, and we think he's now in the Witness Protection Program."

"Cox is a doctor and he loves Liza."

"Yes these homo sapiens and love. It does strange things, Jarod," said Lewison seeing Lambourni run the Detector over the child and announce, "He's free and a Dominant as well and since Mr. Parker called him Jarod, o he is your son."

"I would advise Lady Angela to change it," said Lewison as he looked at Geraldo. "We don't want to give credit to another, do we, when we know who is responsible."

It was over, at least as far as Jarod was concerned. He still had that chip in his head, and taking it out would increase the senses in his pain centre before killing him. Lady M had escaped but it would be only a matter of time before the Dominants hunted her down and killed her. He did miss Gino who had gone with Dr. Cox. Seeing his children by Rachel and Zoe made up for this and also knowing that they would be attending the Dominant school in Connecticut ensured that they would get into politics or the military years later, and by then the fiction between Dominants and Homo Sapiens would have ceased.

As for Miss Parker, or Lady Angela, she was busy trying to clean up the mess. She could not stay at the Centre. She and Jarod would go to her house, keep up that investigation business and as for the Pretender being her property, he did not mind, because he was so much in love with her and he thought it was normal for humans to own other humans and even though she did demand quite a bit from him. Still, Miss Parker still fumed when thinking of the evil her ancestor had perpetuated from the time he killed his first family.

They had a quiet Christmas, celebrating it at Lambourni's house, eating goodies that his family had prepared, bacalla along with other fish dishes, cenci biscotti, panetonne, and red wine, along with other delicacies and there were the gifts and services at two Churches. Jarod learned a bit more about his ancestry, but rather than satisfying him, it made him more curious, but that is another story.

As for the Centre, everything seemed a let down the next day. The funeral for Mr. Parker was rather rushed. No one knew of it, there were no dignitaries or business types giving their condolences, just Miss Parker and family were there and when the priest asked her to say a few words at her father's grave, she declined.

Meanwhile in another state, Cox got out of a black car, followed by Liza, his children, and Gino. Behind them was another car driven by a man who had a military bearing.

"Your contact here is Taylor Smith," said the man, "he'll give you your identity papers. Now remember you must not contact anyone from your past. The evidence you gave would put you in great danger. We've closed down most of the Centre satellites and convicted quite a few. We don't know what to do with those other strange people, but in time, they'll be true Americans, it always happens."

"I'll still be a doctor, won't I?"

"Your new identity is Dr. Roger Colby. You just came over from Liverpool, England. I know the hospital here is not as fancy as you're used to, but it's a lot better than you learning another trade like running a gas station."

The humor was rather put on and it did not assure Cox, now Colby, who saw before him a typical small town hospital. It was four stories high with a small parking lot with only two ambulances, and possibly not a high workload of just a few tractor accidents, but by the brochure the Marshall gave him, it had one of the best obstetrics ward in the County.

"By the way, why did you turn states evidence, if I should ask, Dr. Colby?"

Dr. Cox looked at Liza. "They tried to kill my wife."

The END.

The Story "A Pretender Christmas" is an extension of the
Christmas paragraph in this chapter and is in the PG 13 section.

After this comes the hunt for Lady M and where is Dr. Cox?