Changed Circle
by Warringer
Chapter Twenty Nine
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Ryan grit his teeth and growled low as the medic of Air Force One set his shoulder right and placed it in a forcefield cast. Ryan knew that he was fortunate that it had been a shot-through and that the slug hadn't stopped after shattering his shoulder blade. It also could have been that the bullet had changed course a bit more and wrecked havoc with his inner organs or something similar. It all had happened before.
Than he signed as the pain killers set in and he only felt a strange pressing sensation from his shattered shoulder as other forcefields set the shattered bones right without the need of surgery for the healing. Other drugs were injected directly into the would to speed up the knitting of the bone and the healing of muscles and skin.
It all happened while Dukhat watched. Delenn had wanted to be there too, but she and four other members had to stop the Warriors for ripping apart Air Force One.
"I owe you my life."
Ryan nodded as the medic continued to hover around him, absently gazing as the small patch on Dukhat head, where the bullet had gazed him, before smalling into a bulkhead.
"I guess I do," he answered.
Again there was a silence.
"Why?"
"Why I saved your life?"
Dukhat nodded in a surprisingly human gesture.
"I could say that I did it because I want peace," Ryan said and sighed," But that would be a lie."
Dukhat blinked a few times and than gave Ryan a questioning look.
"To tell the truth, I don't really know why I did it. But I guess that my instincts had something to do with it."
"Instincts?"
Ryan nodded.
"I'm a Morph. My instincts are a strong guidance line in my life, just like with any other Morph. More so than other humans."
Again Dukhat blinked.
"I don't understand," he said and leaned forward," You are not human."
Ryan chuckled and than growled low in pain as it caused some movement in his shoulder.
"I am genetically a perfect human being. My genome is that same as that of any other human. It's just that a number of genes, normally inactive are active in the body of a Morph, resulting in the fact that we look like we are part animal. It is like this since about two hundred fifty years ago."
He sighed.
"Back in the last half of the 20th century we detonated a good number of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere of Earth to test them."
Dukhat looked horrified at the thought of that happening.
"It's an acknowledged theory that the radioactivity in the environment caused his, uhm... mutation."
Before Duhkat could say anything more one of the other secret Service Agents entered the med bay and gave Ryan a small letter.
"We found this in Dawson's cabin."
Ryan's eyes narrowed and started to read the letter. Than he looked up.
"It looks like the Centauri tried to prevent peace between us again."
Dukhat's face darkened and Ryan looked at his other bodyguard.
"I want Colonel Jukov to pass a message to Langley. Operation Judas is a go."
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Alfred Bester stood at the large window front of his apartment on Centauri Prime, in one of the buildings of the Terran Union Embassy and looked at the large city.
Every time he stood here, he couldn't shake the impression that the city looked much like Rome had looked during the Roman Empire. Everything in this city looked like it. And it had the same negative things to it as Rome had had.
As Cultural Attaché he knew this much better than anyone else in the Embassy. Well, at least nearly anyone. Things were in motion under the surface and his intelligence contacts painted a clear picture about it.
For a few moments he wondered if the Centauri knew that the Cultural Attaché traditionally was the designation of the highest ranking Intelligence Agent of a nation. But he doubted it. The Centauri may have one of the most effective intelligence networks of the races in Known Space, but it all paled before the humint and elint networks of the Terran Union.
His thoughts went towards the information he had from his agents in House Refa and the bugs planted near Lord Refa himself. Like all bugs planted everywhere on this planet, they were bound to bring the corpses of the Centauri aristocracy to the daylight for the CIA and Mossad. Especially those of Lord Refa.
But it had been a pity that those bugs hadn't been there before the sneak attack on Edding or a few days ago, as they were brand new.
Refa was up to something and Bester would give everything he could if he had something like the telepaths of the other races.
"Al, come to bed," a voice said behind him, breaking him from his thoughts.
A smile played on his face as he slowly turned around to look at his bed and the catgirl inside.
"I think I'll do just that," he said and slowly undressed before slipping into his bed to his wife.
She giggled and pulled the blanket over their heads.
"Have you wicked way with me, you sly racoon."