Genesis Code, (Book 1, Genesis Series)

Chapter 45

Daphne Gilchrist dismissed Shaw and Brett the minute Bill Taggart stepped through the turbo lift door. She relocated to her private office and closed the door behind her. Taking a seat, she addressed the sergeant on her monitor.

'Well?'

'Yes, we have him in custody. We've transferred him to a secured facility in Washington.'

'Good work, Sergeant. Your superiors will hear about your team's efforts today.'

'Thank you, Ms Gilchrist.' The sergeant smiled.

'Tell them I'm on my way. Out.' Daphne severed the connection on her end and sat back in her leather chair.

Taggart hadn't been to blame for the breakdown of the operation on Exilon 5. It was Charles Deighton's idea to keep Special Ops out of matters. Bill was getting closer to the truth about the Indigenes and his wife; the military had been the logical choice to keep their rogue investigator under control.

The real purpose of the mission was to drive the Indigenes out of their hiding places, and that's what Taggart and his team had done.

But neither she nor Deighton had prepared for one of them to travel to Earth.

Within the hour, Daphne arrived in Washington on a specially chartered craft. She crossed the foyer of the World Government headquarters on her way to the restricted-use turbo lift located behind the reception desk.

The lift took seconds to reach the secret levels containing several bunkers. The door opened to reveal three weapon-carrying officers patrolling the bunker security area. While the added firepower wasn't necessary with such top line security, a paranoid Charles Deighton had insisted upon it. Many thought of Deighton as a figurehead for the World Government, but his access to the twelve members, of which he was secretly one, made him more powerful than most realised.

The system scanned both of Daphne's chips and sampled and cross-referenced her DNA against the database copy. The dual referencing protected the facility against facial manipulation—a popular tool among the radicals.

Daphne continued to the door at the end of the corridor. She entered the room to find Charles Deighton waiting inside, along with Tom Billings, the overseer for security matters in the World Government. Ahead of her was a flexible membrane containment unit similar to the ones the doctors used when they'd caught the young Indigene. Except this one held an adult Indigene.

'Ah, Daphne. I see you made it.' Deighton greeted her as if they were old friends, kissing her on both cheeks. 'So good to see you.' The words dripped off the old man's tongue like honey.

'Charles! I hope you haven't started without me.' Daphne performed for her boss. 'What's with all the extra security measures outside?'

'I thought you might comment on that.' He laughed a throaty cackle and nodded towards the unit where the captured Indigene watched the trio in silence. 'Can't be too careful. You never know who's trying to discover our secrets. Daphne, you remember Tom Billings? He's here as a witness to the proceedings.'

'Ms Gilchrist.' Daphne gave him a quick nod, then turned her attention to the Indigene.

'Looks like we've recaptured our most ingenious of creations,' said Deighton. 'Given his young age, he's more likely to be the product of two of our creations.' He smiled; it sent a chill through Daphne. 'This is the perfect time to begin the experiments again. We learned nothing from the child Indigene before it died. Their race has evolved so much since then. Now we must improve our own situation in ways we have yet to try. Billings got here moments before I did. Has he spoken yet?'

'Just single words here and there,' said the security overseer. 'He's refusing to cooperate.'

'No matter. I'm in no hurry,' said Deighton.