Geneticus Book One (COMPLETED)

Chapter IX

Fast forward to the day Pha 'Li ordered his soldiers to kill everyone at the Particle Accelerator's bunker except for Harold and her. It was a definitive show of force initiated simply by her very existence. "I am in command of this military, Madame General, not you!" she imagined he probably said as he signed the orders. The bloated bulbous man always saw her as a threat and rightfully so, however, before that day, he was nothing more than someone in her periphery. Now, he was target number one and was going to be dealt with severely when the opportunity presented itself. Regardless, what he did was simply nothing more than waste good manpower and to create one more piece of evidence demonstrating the abject worthlessness of her damaged soul; a soul too far gone to save.

Browne rolled onto her stomach, buried her face in a pillow, and thought of Josie and Tank. She clutched the fluffy white cushion with her fingers and pressed her face into it. She screamed. Her two lovers worked for the Confederation for years and were completely loyal to it and more importantly, her. They were far from any threat and she could trust them without question and in the world in which they operated, that type of devotion was difficult, if not nearly impossible, to come by. Browne released the soft tear stained object and turned her face to the side taking a deep cool breath. She sniffed and pulled the sheets up over her bruised body, clutching the edge of the silken cloth in front of her.

She shuddered as she thought of her friends. Tears ran from the pools that had formed in the woman's eyes and dripped from the tip of her nose onto the pillow. The trio had been through so many things together and had done so many wonderful things to and with each other. For several years, the three of them infiltrated all manner of urban resistance groups and enclaves, their work enabling the Madame General to find Harold 'Meta' Bouri online; the wonderful hacktivist genius with his fiery disposition and networking skill. He changed everything. It was the two of them that made this world happen. Wendy and her A.I. would be nothing without Harold and herself.

Meta gave her the silver bullet she needed to bring the Confederation to its knees; control of the Regional missile systems. He also gave her something that she had never felt in her entire abused lifetime, love, real love. A strange sensation that went far beyond any kind of sexual activity she had ever experienced even with Josie and Tank. He was kind and loving to a fault. The moment they met, it was as if they had known each other forever. She understood she was a decade older than the young man, but just as was with Josie, age was nothing in their equation.

...

Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria, Regalius, Eastern Sub-Region, Abandoned Eastern Region University Particle Accelerator Facility,

Forty-Three Cenerean Years Ago

Josie's terminal beeped. "What the fuck?" she exclaimed. "Browne? We got somethin' here!"

"Hang on a sec..." the woman said and dropped the box she held in her hands to the floor. "What do you got?" Browne asked with a chuckle, walking across the room to stand behind the bright red head of her electronics officer.

"I mean, we have an active intrusion and whoever it is, they're good! They're a goddamned ghost! I don't know where the fuck they are coming from and I damn well can't stop the brute force entry...shit!"

"What?" Browne asked, the humor now gone from her voice.

Josie took her hands from the virtual keyboard and threw them up into the air. "They just locked me out of my own terminal. The son of a bitch has control over everything. I can't do a damn thing!"

"Hop up, let me sit there," the General commanded.

Josie stood from her chair. "You're not going to be able to do anything," she said moving out of the way.