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I spent part of Labor Day weekend finishing off that fanfic piece I had been working on. And no, it's not an in-betweener, thank goodness - I did swear off from doing anymore of those... but it is different. In one of my PDS "fits" I started thinking in a "what if..." sorta mode. What if this happened instead of that? What could've happened instead? Well, the end result of my "what if" state of mind is this piece I entitled "Crossroads" (attached below). The Prologue and Epilogue are in verse (my lame form of rhymes), and the seven chapters in between are basically a re-write of the beginning of the series. Well, for better or worse, here it is (my experiment) - hope it goes through okay. 
Prologue Choices we make Paths we take Lead us to where we are. At crossroads in life Whether we go left or right Determines where we go and how far. But what if perchance we chose "another".... Different roads Different ways Some kind of "other".....???? Where would we be What would we see In this alternate reality? Do we indeed shape who we become And control what will be - Or is there such a force called "Destiny"....?
Chapter One She knelt beside her son, weeping, begging. Never before had Tom witnessed such a pitiful sight. Intrigued, he watched the female human before him pleading for her son's life. "Please," she sobbed. "He's only a child! He has done you no wrong... please let him go!" Tears were streaming down her face and she trembled as she held her teenage son close to her. "I can't do that," Tom replied coldly. "He must die..." Tom aimed his gun at the young boy's head. He never missed his targets. Never. "Noooo! Please!" the mother wailed. "I'll do anything, anything! Take me instead...please, I'm begging you...kill me instead and let my son go..." her words were barely comprehensible between her sobs and shudders. But Tom heard her cries... and understood them...and he felt the emotions that resonated through the woman's words. "I can't do that," he repeated. "He must die..." He removed the safety from his weapon, cocked the trigger, and prepared to shoot. "I'm begging you..." she wailed. She crawled towards Tom and cried at his feet. "Please, I'm begging you...kill me instead..." She seemed as if she would drown in her own tears. Tom looked at the pathetic creature clinging to his ankles. He stood in awe at the display of desperation, humiliation, the devotion of this woman who was willing to lay down her life for her son. It disgusted him...no....it intrigued him, touched him .... and the rising of emotion from within himself threw him off balance.... "No!" Tom yelled as he kicked the woman away from him. He was beginning to feel pity, empathy, and other emotions that he had been trained to suppress. He had always struggled to contain and bury the vestiges of emotions that were a part of him...but it was different this time.... very different. He was losing control and he knew it. "He must die!" He repeated, once again taking aim of his target. The young boy sat motionless on the floor, paralyzed with fear and shock, but he bravely stared Tom in the face. His mother continued to plead frantically, hysterically, lovingly..... Tom hesitated. He couldn't pull the trigger...he didn't want to pull the trigger...but he had to. He knew he had to. If he yielded to his feelings now he would grow weaker...become increasingly unable to stay in control, to obey, to do what he was told for the survival of his species... "Oh, please," the mother sobbed. "No one has to know... whoever sent you to kill my son won't ever have to know... please, I'll do anything...." Tom lowered his gun. He didn't have to kill this young boy, only a child, brilliant and with such potential....such a threat to his kind...but...what would he tell Lewis...what about their survival ... his orders.... he had to kill him....had to.... "No," Tom said regaining his composure and his sense of purpose. "Now you both must die." Ignoring his own emotions, the pity and empathy that were stirring inside him, he re-aimed his gun. "This is the only way....there is no other..." A blaring tumultous sound echoed through the room as Tom's gun discharged. The teenage boy fell forward on the floor as blood gushed from his forehead. The mother screamed at the sight of her son's body lying lifeless before her, but her screams were quickly silenced by another bullet that tore through her chest - killing her instantly. Tom stood dispassionately in front of the bloody corpses. Seven. The total number of people he had killed had just risen to seven. His job was done. He had hesistated for a moment, having succumbed briefly to emotions that caused him to consider another way, but he had prevailed. He carried out his orders. But he had come too close this time...way too close to failing this assignment...too close to surrendering to his own inchoate emotions....too close to committing an act of disobedience that would have changed his life forever.
Chapter Two He was sitting on a park bench waiting for Lewis. It was late and the park was essentially deserted except for a few pigeons strutting about his feet. Tom sat with his arms crossed around his torso, keeping his black overcoat wrapped tightly around him, and he appeared to be in some kind of trance, a stupor, lost in his own thoughts. The day's events were playing repeatedly through his mind... "kill me instead," she had begged of him. And he had actually hesitated, yielded to feelings.... the mother's, the young boy's, and his own. It was wrong for him to have felt anything, dangerous, and he knew that he had to tell Lewis about it. Maybe he needed "fixing," retraining....something to help him kill once and for all the emotional vein in him that was interfering with his life's mission. But the display of love and desperation he had just witnessed was haunting him, alluring him away from his sense of purpose and tempting him - challenging him to consider other ways and other options. "Tom," a cold and familiar voice spoke from behind him. Tom turned to face his mentor. "Lewis," he replied. "The job's finished." "Good. And I assume that there were no complications?" Lewis sat next to his young pupil on the bench. "But there were," Tom replied. He averted his gaze away from his mentor, somewhat ashamed of what he was about to confess. "Oh?" Lewis sounded intrigued. "I almost didn't go through with it," Tom explained. "I felt pity and fascination at the mother's outpour of emotion." "But you buried these feelings of yours and completed the assignment nonetheless...." "Yes," Tom replied, "but I came too close to failing. Too close to betraying our kind and the master plan...." "Tom," Lewis began. "We all have remnants of emotion in us. We are, afterall, descendants of an emotional species, but as long as we don't submit to the feelings and understand them for what they are - weakness and distractions - then they cease to be problematic." "I've resisted them, but they continue to be a nuisance," Tom said. He stared blankly ahead of him, still avoiding looking into his mentor's eyes. "Continue to resist, to bury them deep within you... to kill what remains of this emotional vein," Lewis spoke with authority. "And you will ultimately succeed in conquering your feelings." "It's getting worse," Tom replied. "I suspect that there are many of our kind who struggle as you, but who refuse to admit it." Lewis said turning to face his young pupil. "There was a time when I, too, struggled such as you, but I proved victorious, strong, and worthy of my calling.... as will you, Tom." He stood up and prepared to leave. "You are one of the best I've ever trained," he continued. "Your sense of purpose, of commitment - coupled with your mind and courage - qualify you as one of our chosen few. I do not doubt that you will conquer the emotional vein within you....just as I and many others have succeeded in doing." Although saying nothing, Tom nodded his head at his mentor signifying that he understood. He waited for Lewis to give him his next task. "Lisa has almost completed her present assignment," Lewis began. "Dr. Coulter will soon be dead. But Coulter has a colleague, a former student, who may be a threat to our existence as well. Her name is Sloan Parker." "Is she my next assignment?" Tom asked. He was tired, and Lewis sensed it. "She was," Lewis answered. "But given your present state, I think it best to assign her to Lisa for now. I want you to return to your dwelling and lay on your resting slab for a full 12 hours." "Twelve hours..." Tom wasn't looking forward to lying on that hard black bed of his, and he never understood why it was necessary. He much preferred the beds humans used - especially the left side. But all chameleons and "chosens" were instructed to rest on those black slabs..... "Yes," Lewis replied. "And be sure not to rise from it until the full 12 hours have lapsed. I assure you - you will be much more like your old self again afterwards - and less troubled by trace emotions." "And what of my assignment?" Tom asked as he prepared to leave. "Lisa will take over for you for now. She'll get close to Dr. Parker and find out exactly what she knows. I'll give you your new orders in a couple days - your services may still be required with Dr. Parker and her associates in that research lab. There are others who work with Coulter who may likewise prove to be a threat to us...and who of course must also die," Lewis instructed. "Understood," Tom replied. For a few moments he watched as his mentor walked away, but then turned and proceeded in the opposite direction. His car was parked a block away, but his dwelling was a few miles south of the park. He was exhausted - and he couldn't stop thinking about the mother and son he had just killed.... whom he had just murdered. It was near midnight by the time he reached his dwelling. He proceeded directly to the sleeping quarters where the resting slab was located, and remembering his orders, he immediately prepared for his 12 hour repose. Reaching underneath the slab Tom depressed a button that activated the black 'bed.' Beams of light, red, white, green, began to emanate from the pattern of holes visible on top of the slab. Tom watched the lights for a moment but then laid down and closed his eyes. The energy that pulsated through his mind and body as he lay on the slab was warm, cleansing - Tom felt his mind clearing, his emotions fading - everything fading into numbness.... into nothingness. Before sleep engulfed him Tom flashed on memories of the young boy he had been "watching" for the last two weeks - the expression on his face just before Tom pulled the trigger - and his mother begging, pleading, crying...... But the memories of the day's events were quickly becoming devoid of emotion and of meaning....only another completed assignment..... And as the energy from the slab continued to pulsate through his mind and body, anesthetizing and cleansing him of vestigial emotions, Tom allowed himself to drift into sleep. "Peace at last," he sighed in his final moments of wakefulness. "Peace for now."
Chapter Three It had been four days since Tom had shot the teenage boy and his mother, and one day since Sloan discovered Ann's body in the Lab. There were no suspects, and although she wanted to believe that it was Randall Lynch who had slaughtered her friend and mentor, she knew that he couldn't have been the guilty one. He was in a high security prison where he belonged - and where she hoped he would die. But the last thing Ann had said to her was haunting her.... "genetic anomaly in his blood..." she had confided. Sloan intuitively knew that what happened to Ann had to be connected somehow with what she discovered about Lynch's blood. She didn't know exactly how the pieces all fit together, but she was determined to find out ... no matter the cost. She owed Ann at least that much. The buzzer at her front door startled her out of her pensiveness. Sluggishly she got up from the sofa to see who was outside her apartment ringing her. She wasn't feeling up for any company that morning, and she was still in her robe. "Yes," Sloan said as she peered at the woman looking up at her through the video camera outside her apartment building. "I'm looking for a Dr. Sloan Parker," the young blond woman responded into the intercom. "My name is Lisa. Ann Coulter was my aunt." "Oh," Sloan said surprised. She remembered Ann telling her about having siblings, but she had never mentioned a niece before. "Come on up." Sloan ran her fingers through her hair hoping that doing so would give her a less disheveled and more presentable appearance. She opened her door and greeted her guest. "Hi, Dr. Parker," Lisa said as she stood facing Sloan. "I came out as soon as I heard what had happened to Aunt Ann." She peered into Sloan's apartment. "May I come in, or is this a bad time?" "I'm sorry," Sloan replied. "I didn't mean to be rude." She stepped aside and motioned Lisa into her home. "It's just that these last twenty-four hours have been so stressful that I really haven't been myself...." "That's quite all right." Lisa set her purse down on Sloan's couch. "I was told by the authorities to contact you, Dr. Parker..." "Sloan...please call me Sloan," she walked to her kitchen and began to prepare some tea. "Can I get you anything?" "No, thank you." She stood at the counter watching Sloan. "Ann never mentioned having a niece," Sloan said attempting a smile. "Are you her sister's or her brother's daughter?" "Her sister's," Lisa replied. She had thoroughly researched Coulter's family history and everything else about the good doctor. It was all part of her assignment - to fully 'know' her subject - inside and out, past and present. She knew that Ann and her sister had had a bitter family feud, a falling out, years ago and that they hadn't spoken with one another for almost 10 years. "I remember Ann telling me about your mother," Sloan began. "But doing so was painful for her - it brought back memories that she preferred to forget." Sloan sat at her dining table sipping her tea. She studied Lisa's face looking for some resemblance to Ann... but she saw none except perhaps in their similar hair color. "Yes, my mother didn't like to talk about my Aunt very much either. All she told me was that they had some bitter fight years ago. They haven't spoken for almost a decade. The last time I saw Aunt Ann was when she came to visit us in Ohio...." she sounded very genuine, very convincing. "When she went out for the Christmas holidays," Sloan continued. She knew the story well. "And that's when they had that horrible fight..." Lisa looked away from her, feigning grief and tears. "I'm sorry about what happened to your aunt," Sloan said softly. "She was a great scientist...and one of my best friends." She felt tears coming. "I wish I could've known her," Lisa whispered. "Could you tell me about her, Sloan?" She walked towards the dining table and stood in front of Sloan. "What was she like? What was her work about? Why would anybody want to kill her?" "I'd like to, but it's just not a good time," Sloan responded. "It's just too soon, too painful for me right now." She was fighting back tears - and there was a very painful lump developing in her throat. "But why would anyone murder her? Did she know something she wasn't supposed to, did her work put her in jeapardy..." Lisa asked probingly. "I don't know," Sloan answered. "She and I were working on different projects. She started to tell me something about her work, but she..." Sloan flashed on the bloody scene she had walked into the evening prior. "But she was killed before she could tell me anything that made any sense." Lisa stared at her intently, saying nothing. She stood motionless in front of Sloan, her steadfast gaze fixed on Sloan's face. She sensed that Sloan was telling her the truth and was truly grieved by the loss of her friend and mentor. "What are you doing here, Lisa?" Sloan asked breaking the silence. "Are you here to make funeral arrangements, to collect Ann's personal belongings...." She was visibly upset. "Both, I suppose," she replied. "My mother sent me in her place. My uncle and his family are out of the country right now and we've had a difficult time contacting him to tell him the horrible news." She sounded sweet and innocent again. "I'd like to help, but right now I really need to be alone," Sloan said wiping tears away from her eyes. "I hope you understand..." "Of course I do," Lisa said with a smile. "I'll take care of everything...don't you worry. I'm just glad that my aunt had a friend who cared so much about her." She grabbed her purse and prepared to leave. "I hope I'll see you again, Sloan?" "Me too," Sloan replied as she walked her guest to the door. "I'm sorry we had to meet under such circumstances." "Goodbye, Sloan," Lisa said as she disappeared down the corridor. Sloan closed the door and lazily plopped herself back down on her sofa. "That was weird," she said aloud. But she had too much on her day's agenda to worry about Ann's niece having appeared from out of the blue. She had to get ready for her trip out to the penitentiary to see Lynch, and she also wanted to retrieve Ann's computer files......
Chapter Four "I think she presently poses no threat to us," Lisa told Tom. "Dr. Parker is much too distraught over losing her friend and mentor and much too emotionally feeble to continue Coulter's work." She and Tom were awaiting Lewis' arrival at the meeting house. "I was led to believe that Dr. Parker's genius was surpassed only by her passion for her work," Tom said coldly. "You're sure she knows nothing?" "Positive," Lisa responded as she eyed Tom from head to toe. They were both chameleons, trained by the same mentor, and they were scheduled to be breeding partners. Chosens were matched based on their genetic attributes - the best with the best - to produce only premium offspring to continue the line of 'chosens.' They had never met until this afternoon. Breeders were purposefully kept apart until the season was right - but she had heard many great things about Tom. Until recently. At first she was satisfied with her scheduled coupling with Tom. He was afterall one of the most brilliant and capable of their kind. But of late appalling rumors were being spread about him - rumors about his cowardice and emotional instability. She herself now sensed these flaws as she stood face to face with him. "Have you overcome your 'difficulties'?" She asked derogatorily. "Yes, I believe so," Tom replied. He looked dispassionately at the woman whom he knew was scheduled to be his breeding partner. He accepted what he was told was his 'fate,' his 'destiny' - but he personally never considered being a father - never really wanted to be one. He yielded to the match only for the sake of the master plan, and for his species' survival. "If you hadn't needed time to repose and to refocus yourself," Lisa began, "we would've proceeded with the original plans. You would've met sweet Sloan yourself at the lab - the day I was to kill her beloved mentor...." her tone was accusing, sarcastic. "I know... I was scheduled to 'bump' into her while I spoke with Dr. Coulter," Tom interrupted. "I was debriefed about the original plan, Lisa .... but plans change...." "Because you were struggling with your feelings...you were unstable ....weak ..." she glared provokingly at Tom. Suddenly she was disgusted at the thought of breeding with him. She planned to protest the match with the elders and demand that they couple her with another more worthy 'chosen.' Tom prepared to lash back at her, to defend himself and prove himself in control and dedicated to their cause - but Lewis walked into the room and glared at the both of them - knowingly. "Well," Lewis began. "I see that I arrived just in time." He eyed both of the young chameleons in the room. Lisa and Tom continued to glare at one another with hostility. "Lisa just informed me that based on her analysis she believes that Dr. Parker poses no threat to us at the present time," Tom said turning away from Lisa and towards Lewis. "She knows nothing about Coulter's work," Lisa added. "That was true up until an hour ago," Lewis corrected. He was sitting at his desk and booting files onto his computer. "My contacts just informed me that Dr. Parker paid a visit to Lynch at the prison this morning and managed to acquire a hair sample. I'm afraid she has discovered the DNA differential between homo sapiens and Lynch." He continued to work at the keyboard of his computer. "She has also requested all of Coulter's files from the authorities." "Has she told anyone about her discovery?" Lisa asked. "We're not sure. Perhaps she has informed her colleague and friend, Dr. Ed Tate." Lewis finally looked up from his computer screen. "You both know what this means, don't you?" "Dr. Parker must be eliminated," Tom responded. "I'll get on her immediately.... she'll be dead in a few days." "Patience, Tom," Lewis replied. "There are things we need to accomplish first. We need to make sure that whatever information Coulter and Parker discovered about Lynch and us dies with them." "What are my orders then?" Tom asked as he walked towards Lewis' desk. He stood behind his mentor and peered over his shoulder to scan the computer screen that showed a rapid downloading of files. "Meet Dr. Parker at the Bureau office. She'll be reviewing her mentor's disks at the Bureau tomorrow afternoon. Coulter's files are being held there, but of course our man inside is keeping a close eye on them and all files on Lynch have already been erased," Lewis responded while continuing to work on his computer. "Tom, you must abduct Dr. Parker as soon as she leaves the Bureau. Bring her to me. We must try to find out exactly what she knows, where she keeps her own data and back-up disks, who she has told....we must break her." "Understood," Tom replied coldly. "And Lisa," Lewis continued. "You must get acquainted with Dr. Tate....find out if he knows anything. With Coulter dead and his friend Sloan soon to be missing, he should prove to be very vulnerable and needful of the comfort that you, Dr. Coulter's long lost niece, will of course provide him..." She nodded and then proceeded to the other room. She cast an angry glance at Tom before she left, however, making it perfectly clear to him that their scheduled coupling would never occur. He was relieved. He returned her cold stare with a sardonic grin. Turning then to Lewis, his countenance reflecting only perfect composure, Tom asked, "How will the authorities be dealt with once I abduct Dr. Parker?" "The police will be led to believe that Dr. Parker's recent attempt at playing sleuth and 'Nancy Drew' has caught the attention of whoever murdered her mentor. The authorities will concentrate on finding Coulter's murderer who they believe will also lead them to Dr. Parker's whereabouts," Lewis replied. He stared proudly at Tom. "They'll work on a conspiracy theory - Coulter's and Parker's work at the Lab leading somehow to their murder and disappearance," Lewis continued. "It should keep the authorities busy for a long time. But these details are not your concern, Tom. Your job for now is to bring the young scientist to me." "She'll be ours by tomorrow evening," Tom said confidently. "I'll make sure that no one sees us together and that we are not followed to the meeting house." "Very good," He eyed his young student intently. "How are you doing these days, Tom?" Lewis asked changing the subject. "Fine," Tom responded without a hint of emotion in his voice. He stared confidently back at his mentor. He was focused and in control - fully prepared to carry out his next assignment - to abduct, interrogate, and then eliminate the threat to their species known as Dr. Sloan Parker.
Chapter Five Their interaction at the Bureau while Sloan reviewed Coulter's files had been brief. Tom, the FBI agent, was in prime form - charming, friendly, sympathetic. He was confident that he had won her trust. He sensed also that she 'liked' him, and that she was generally a 'warm' and caring person. "Good," he thought to himself. "Her weakness is her heart....so sensitive and emotional. She will easily break under interrogation...." He watched her as she left the building. She was visibly disturbed at not having retrieved any information about Lynch from Coulter's files - and she was also unaware that she was being followed. He was a master at this of course - stalking his subjects without their knowledge of it - and he enjoyed it. The hunt, the chase, the final pounce on his prey... exhilarated him, incited him with adrenaline and made him feel alive. But he wasn't supposed to feel anything at all, and he didn't usually. He was taught that feelings and emotions were only frailties and flaws, and he wanted so desperately to believe this - and to believe in his species. Yet feeling nothing, the continual state of numbness he had passively accepted, was like death .... empty, void, barren. Emotions were supposed to be 'defects' in Nature, and not the very essence of life. Confusion and frustration began to penetrate his otherwise controlled and stoic disposition as he followed Sloan out to her car. He was in trouble, he knew that, and no amount of time laying on the resting slab could "fix" him. And he still had his orders to carry out..... "Dr. Parker," he said as he hastened his steps to catch up with her. "Please wait...I need to speak with you." He had called out to her just as she reached her car. As she turned in response to him, he couldn't help but notice how full of life she was - and so beautiful. He liked the way her hair curled at the ends and hung loosely above her shoulders. She smiled as he approached her, and he sensed kindness and an inner strength radiating from her being. "Agent Daniels," she replied as she waited for him in front of her car. "What is it?" "I need to talk to you about the files you were looking for on those disks...the ones on Randall Lynch," he said returning her smile. "How did you know I was looking for information about Lynch?" The tone of her voice became serious as did the expression on her face. "Dr. Coulter was conducting very sensitive genetic research for us," Tom answered, "and I believe it's what got her killed." He waited for her to respond, but she said nothing. "I want to help you get the answers you're looking for, Sloan..." "Why?" she interrupted. "Why do you want to help me?" "I respected Dr. Coulter, and I liked her. She was a good person, and she didn't deserve to die like that." His performance was very convincing, and he knew that she was falling for his act. "How can you help?" Sloan whispered. "What do you know?" "Well, I backed up all of Ann's files on Lynch before the Bureau erased her original disks. I hid the backups in my home. If you follow me there I can show them to you. Maybe together we can find out who killed your mentor and why." He studied her face intently, probingly, making sure that he remained in complete control of the situation. He sensed her curiosity, her trust in him - and some fear. He regretted having to lure her into a trap - about having to kill her once they finished interrogating her. "Lead the way," she replied skeptically. She wasn't usually so trusting of strangers, but this was no 'usual' situation - nothing like she had ever encountered or had to deal with anyway. She had only met Agent Daniels that afternoon at the Bureau, and although he struck her as a bit odd, she felt that she could trust him. There was something beyond his intensely cold stare that drew her to him. Perhaps it was gentleness and naiveté she saw behind those eyes, the kind she witnessed in children who were searching for meaning, for their identity and their place in the world - but who were still so confused.... "I live about 10 miles north," he said. "Can I ride with you? Then you can drop me off back here when we're finished." He was starting to feel anxious, uncertain, and imbalanced. He liked Sloan. In the few minutes he had been interacting with her he sensed how genuinely compassionate, alive and full of spirit she was. And her intelligence was indisputable. Her very being and essence only added to his confusion, intensifying his inner struggle. "She feels so much, and she feels them so deeply," Tom thought to himself as they drove away in Sloan's car. He studied everything about her as she drove towards the meeting house where Lewis was awaiting their arrival. Tom hoped that Sloan would break easily and suffer less as a consequence, but he suspected that she would fight them. She was not weak, he was sure of that, and despite her passion and tender heartedness, she was smart, stubborn, and strong. He envied her for having everything....feelings, intelligence and strength....and he wondered if he could ever be the same way. But it didn't matter - because he would never be allowed to. As soon as they pulled up in front of the meeting house, Tom pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket that had been treated with chloroform. He quickly placed and held the kerchief over her nose and mouth before she removed the keys from the ignition. She didn't struggle - there was no time. Within seconds she had lost consciousness and drifted into a world of dreams where everything was the way it was supposed to be - and Ann, Ed, and she were busily working together in the Lab.....
Chapter Six She awoke in an empty room with stale white walls. She was lying on the floor, her hands and feet bound by chains attached to the wall. She regained consciousness gradually, but she quickly pieced together what had happened - and what was happening to her. Fear engulfed her entire being. In front of her was a man she had never seen before. He was sitting in a chair and eyeing her intently - studying her. He had silver hair, piercing blue eyes much like Agent Daniels', but there was nothing behind them - only emptiness and numbness. His glare sent chills up her spine. "Good morning, Dr. Parker," he said. "Did you enjoy your extended slumber?" His voice was flat, the tone unshifting but menacing. "Who are you?" she managed to say. "Why am I here?" She struggled to sit up and support herself against the wall. Her wrists and ankles were bruised by the chains that bound them. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear," he began. "I ask all the questions, and you answer." He stood from his chair and approached her. Crouching down beside her, his face directly in front of hers and so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek, he whispered, "I was watching you sleep, Sloan. It excited me. Your vulnerability excited me ... especially the thought of how easily I could snap your neck as you slept..." Sloan looked up and met his gaze. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she hurled spit into his face that caused him to draw his head back in reflex. She waited anxiously for his response, fully expecting him to swing his fist at her. "Feisty, aren't you?" he said with a smile as he wiped the spit away. "Tom may have been right - you may be a difficult one." "What do you want?" she asked. He laughed in response, but said nothing. "What do you want?" she repeated. "I thought you were bright, Dr.," he chuckled. "But obviously you don't understand the situation. I ask all the questions, and you answer." His voice was menacing again. She was trembling and more frightened than she had ever been in her life. Tears began to roll down her face. "Now, tell me what you know about Randall Lynch." "I know you're like him...as is Agent Daniels," she replied. She was bluffing. She and Ed had not yet determined whether the DNA differential she had discovered in Lynch was an isolated event or if she indeed had stumbled across a new species of homo sapiens. Ed was supposed to be acquiring other samples from various prisons while she was at the Bureau studying Ann's files. She only suspected that her abductors were like Lynch. There was something in their cold demeanor that they shared in common. "Oh...and what about us did you discover?" He tiltled his head to one side as he continued to glare at her probingly. "That you're not human," she answered. "That you're a new species. Evolution has..." "Very good, Dr. Parker," he interjected. "I was beginning to wonder about the so-called genius of yours that I've heard so much about. It appears that all the rumors about your intelligence are true." "So you're planning to wipe us out, just like we destroyed the Neanderthals...survival of the fittest...." she explained. Tears continued to flow from her eyes, and her voice was shaking. "Being an expert in evolution," he began, "you must also know that you can not win this war...and that our place in this world is inevitable." "We will fight you," she cried. "We'll fight for our survival...." "And you will lose," he said coldly and confidently. "Well. Enough of this small talk. Who have you told?" "No one," she was lying and he knew it. "We both know that's not true Dr. Parker. We can do this the easy way or the hard way - it's up to you. But the hard way will be very painful, Sloan, I assure you." He stood up and approached her again. "Who have you told?" She said nothing and kept her gaze averted from his. She was terrified and he seemed to thrive off of her fear. "We need to know where you keep all of your files as well," he continued. "To ensure that no one else finds out about us before WE decide it's time...." "Go to hell," she replied defiantly. "Very well then - we'll do this the hard way." He walked to the door and called out to someone. "Tom," he said peering out the door. "Dr. Parker is not cooperating." Within seconds Tom appeared in the room carrying a black case resembling a medical doctor's bag - one that they brought with them on home visits. "Do what you must to get her to talk," Lewis said as he prepared to leave the room. Then turning to Sloan he added, "You're acquainted with Agent Daniels, are you not Dr. Parker?" He grinned maliciously at her then left and closed the door behind him. "Tom," Sloan said as soon as they were alone. "Please don't do this." There was a sense of pleading in her voice that reminded Tom of the mother whose son he had killed only several days earlier. "I have no choice," he replied dispassionately as he set down the black bag and opened it. Slowly he began to remove its contents - syringe, bottles containing different colored serum, surgical tools. "Yes, you do," she whimpered looking nervously at the various items Tom was laying out in front of her. "If you cooperate you will suffer less," he said. He didn't look at her - he dared not look her in the eyes . "I can kill you quickly and painlessly if you just tell me what we need to know. If not, you'll suffer. It's up to you." His hands began to shake as he finished removing the last of the black bag's contents. He was losing control again, and feeling empathy, pity....confusion...so much confusion. "Please," Sloan continued. "You're not like them. I know you're not. You're different...I can see it in your eyes... you're different. You're not a killer..." "Oh, but I am," Tom replied. "I am....." He looked at her for the first time since he entered the room. She was crying, tears flowed slowly down her face, and she was frightened. He sensed her fear, her desperation....her hope...ever so precarious...but she had hope. And it was in him..... Immediately he struggled to disconnect, to ignore her emotions that were imprinting on his senses. He had to maintain what control he had left to carry out his orders. "This is the only way, Sloan," he said. "I'm sorry..." His declaration of regret was a confession of weakness on his part, he knew that, but he couldn't refrain from telling her. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "Please, make this easy on yourself...and on me... and tell me what we need to know." "No, Tom," she cried. "There's always another way. You always have choices. Please, help me ...." She noticed how her own emotions seemed to incite a rise in him as well. He was visibly less in control, unstable, and the stoic expression on his face was replaced by pain and frustration. He appeared as desperate and as frightened as she. "Sloan, I..." he struggled for words but found none that could express the melange of emotions flooding his being. He turned away from her trying to refocus. He knew that Lewis had left - wouldn't be back for hours - and he had to deal with the situation himself - but he was failing. "Tom," Sloan cried out. "Tom, please..." "Shut up!" he yelled in desperation. "Just shut up!" He knelt down beside her, his back to her, and buried his face in both his hands. He felt torn - standing before a path that was no longer clear - and existing in a world that ceased to be black and white. He was at a crossroad - left or right, which way to proceed, he didn't know - but he had to choose. He knew he had to choose. "You don't have to do this," Sloan continued. "We can coexist .... murdering people...it's not right. We can work together..." She had stopped crying but was still frantic and scared. "No." Quickly he grabbed the syringe he had carefully set aside and filled it with a blue colored serum. "You will tell us everything we ask of you..." He then grabbed her arm and prepared to inject her. "Tom, please," Sloan said desperately. "Please don't do this. Help me get out of here..." "Are you stupid?" he asked with a shaky voice. "I'm the one who lured you here in the first place!" He held the needle of the syringe directly against her skin, preparing to plunge it and its melliflouos contents into her. "Yes," she cried staring into his face. "But you can fix things...do what's right....stop this....please...." His first mistake at the moment was to look up at her - into her green passionate eyes. Doing so reconnected him - reconnected them - and Tom felt a wave of emotion wash over him... empathy, pity, desperation, hope. Allowing himself to feel - to feel with her, for her and for himself - threw him even more off balance. All control, all sense of purpose, of belonging to a dominant species and to a cause - disintegrated from his consciousness and very being, abandoning him completely. The syringe dropped to the floor. Neither of them moved or spoke. Tom stared blankly at nothing, at no one - trembling. Watching Tom closely, Sloan noticed that his breathing was irregular and labored - his eyes furrowed from the agony and confusion tormenting him. Almost unknowingly she reached out for him with her chained hands. She gently touched his arm and it seemed to pain him more. He looked questioningly at her, obviously perplexed by her gesture, and then placed his hand over hers. "You have to get out of here," he said in a fluster. "Lewis will be back soon. You have to leave before he returns." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. With quivering hands he unlocked the chains that bound her wrists and her ankles. He helped her to her feet and quickly led her to the door. "Your car is parked in the garage. I'll open the garage door and you need to drive away from here as fast as you can...and get as far away as possible." "Thank you," she said as she caressed her bruised wrists. "They'll come after you," he continued as he led her to the garage. "They'll come after you and finish what I failed to accomplish." "Will they come after you?" she asked still holding his hand. "Yes," he replied. "But it's too late for me." He handed her the car keys and opened the garage. "Now get out of here..." "Come with me," she wasn't sure what possessed her to ask him, but she knew she needed him....for information, for help. Humans would need all the help they could get in this pending evolutionary war. They needed someone like him on their side. Strangely, she felt that he needed them...and her...perhaps even more so. "I can't do that," he answered. "Get out of here, Sloan. I've helped you all I can...." "No, Tom... you can't stay here. They'll kill you once they learn of your betrayal...." "I can't go with you," he insisted but he didn't sound very convincing. "You've made a choice that has changed your path, Tom," Sloan said softly. "Now make another that will move you forward on that path...that will save your life..." She didn't know why she cared so much and why she bothered. She suspected she was being foolish allowing herself to trust 'one of them,' but something deep within her - woman's intuition - or a leap of faith - was prompting her, compelling her to hold onto him. She didn't understand but it didn't matter at the moment. She continued to hold his hand tightly in hers. "Tom....come with me....you can help me... you're no longer one of them. Perhaps you never really were ..... " Without saying a word Tom nodded and got into the passenger seat. Sloan smiled in relief and quickly joined him in her car. They sped away from the meeting house, their hearts pounding and their minds racing, and both uncertain about the future. She couldn't believe what was happening to her - what was going to happen to her species.... and he felt alone - so alone - and marked for death.
Chapter Seven Sloan drove directly to the police station, hoping that Detective Ray Petersen was on duty. He was the officer in charge of Ann's case, and although he expressed annoyance at her incessant interference in his investigation, he had been kind and helpful to her. She had to tell him about Lynch - and that man who had held her captive. Tom told her his name was Lewis - a mentor of sorts. She bombarded Tom with questions while they drove hurriedly to the station. He answered her curtly, offering little information if any at all, and he didn't seem to know very much about his own species. Interestingly, he couldn't remember much about his own life and upbringing - and he seemed even more lost and confused than he was when they were at the meeting house. "Are you ok?" Sloan asked him as soon as she pulled up in front of the police station. "I don't know," he replied. "I was supposed to kill you, Sloan. I have never disobeyed an order before - never." He stared blankly out the car window. "Are you sorry?" she asked worriedly. "Do you regret betraying your orders?" "That's what's confusing," he began. "It doesn't feel like betrayal." He turned to look at her. "And no, I'm not sorry." "That's good. Come on. I'm sure there are people looking for me - and I have to tell them about Lynch - if Ed hasn't already." "Announcing your discovery about my species will be a mistake," he said as he stepped out of the car. "My kind will interpret such an act as a direct threat - a challenge to their survival." His comment stopped her in her tracks. She glanced at him standing next to her, his countenance stale and expressionless. "What should I do then?" She asked quietly. "I don't know." He sensed her growing trust in him and he was touched by it. But he also sensed her fear of him - uncertainty and doubt. He didn't blame her. He squeezed her hand gently as if to reassure her, but of what, he wasn't sure. "Sloan!" a voice from behind them resonated causing both Tom and Sloan to turn away from each other and towards the front entrance of the police station. "Sloan...thank God!" A large man came towards them, arms stretched out towards Sloan, and with a sincere look of relief on his face. "Walter," Sloan whispered as she allowed herself to fold into the arms of her friend and colleague. She smiled as she returned his embrace. "Walter, I have so much to tell you." "We were all so worried about you!" he exclaimed. "When you didn't return to the Lab the other day after going to the Bureau, Ed and I searched everywhere for you." He glanced at Tom but quickly returned his attention to Sloan. "We feared that what happened to Ann....Well, I was just speaking with Ray Petersen about you." "I'm all right," Sloan said. "Thanks to Agent Daniels, here, I'm all right." Sloan made sure that proper introductions were carried out without revealing Tom's secret. She briefly explained to Walter and Ray what had happened to her in the last 48 hours, her own Reader's Digest condensed version, but she purposefully left out any mention of the new species. She insisted that she didn't know why she was abducted, only that it must've had something to do with Ann's work...and death. Agent Daniels was abducted with her, since trying to help Sloan at the Bureau office he found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time, but together they managed to escape. What a story she wove... and Tom played right along with her making their lie that much more believable. The only person who looked confused and skeptical was Ray, who despite his respect for Attwood and Parker, couldn't help but think that he wasn't hearing the "whole story." "Ed told me everything, Sloan," Attwood whispered to her when Ray was called away momentarily from his desk. "What exactly did he tell you?" "Everything," he replied. He cast a knowing glance at her that made Sloan uneasy. "And the samples he acquired from the prisons...well, let me put it this way. What you discovered about Lynch was not an isolated event." "Oh, God," Sloan sighed as she looked over at Tom. The secret was out - and it was just a matter of time before the rest of the world was told. But she was going to hide Tom's identity as long as possible. Tom reached over and grabbed her hand, again as if to reassure her. Before she could utter another word, Petersen returned to his desk. "I have some bad news," Ray began. "Randall Lynch just escaped from the Lab where he was being held by your men, Attwood." "What?" Attwood exclaimed. "Was anybody hurt?" "Yes, one of your scientists. But he's recovering. The other doctor, the geneticist you just flew in from New York, he's the one who reported the incident." "A lot has happened since I've been away," Sloan commented. "You had Lynch in a lab?" "Yes," Attwood replied dryly. "I have access to information, too, Sloan...and access to your lab notes and files." "Who's this geneticist you flew in from New York?" she asked. "I was concerned that we had lost you, like we had lost Ann - and the Lab needed all the help it could get, given recent events and discoveries," Attwood began. "So I contacted William McWhirter at the NY Laboratory for Genetic Engineering. You and he are already acquainted, I believe." "Yes, we are," Sloan whispered. Memories of graduate school flashed through her mind, of William and their whirlwind romance. "We were engaged once." Attwood didn't appear surprised. Obviously, he knew more than he was letting on about William and Sloan. "He's at the University Lab right now examining blood samples from Lynch. He's hoping to determine the point of origin..." Attwood stopped and looked at Ray who was listening to their conversation but was visibly confused. "Look, I don't know what's going on here," Ray explained, "and I'm not sure I want to. But my responsibility is to make sure no one else gets hurt by this maniac. With Lynch running around out there, I'm going to have to assign officers to protect all of you - especially Dr. Parker and Dr. Tate." "Fine by me," Sloan said. She glanced over at Tom again who had been sitting very quietly next to her. He still looked dazed albeit more composed - and he was still holding her hand. "I can help protect you," Tom said finally. He squeezed her hand gently. "Ookaay," Ray interjected sarcastically not quite sure about the situation. He knew that Daniels worked for the Feds, but other than what Sloan had told him, he knew nothing else about Tom Daniels. "I'll assign a man to Tate asap...." "Where is Ed anyway?" Sloan asked Attwood. "He was too worried about you to continue his work in the Lab, and too stubborn to leave the sleuthing to the police, " Attwood answered. "He's still out there looking for you. The last I heard from him, which was a few hours ago, they were going to the Bureau office to try and trace your steps...." "They?" Sloan asked worriedly. "Yeah...he and Coulter's niece. Lisa, I think he said her name was. I didn't meet her personally, but..." "Lisa..." Tom interrupted. The expression on his face was grave as was the tone of his voice. "Tom, what's the matter?" Sloan whispered. "I met Lisa myself - she seemed..." "I forgot about Lisa," Tom said almost to himself. "Sloan, she's one of us....."
Epilogue Inextricably linked are we In all that happens In all that will be. One act leads to 'this' or 'that' While another to 'here or 'there' - Our choices can build our most precious dreams Or realize our worst nightmares. So much power have we in what we choose to do. We can alter our paths in life - Prove unfaithful, cowardly Or prove courageous and true. Yet amidst the power of Choice Fate nonetheless maintains a Voice. Some things hold constant - no matter what we choose to be - For there is indeed a force known as Destiny. That which is Inevitable will and must BE - Two hearts bound for each other Two species' struggles with one another - Call it Destiny...... Amidst the power of Choice Fate nonetheless maintains a Voice.... |
The End 
