Designed with a Destiny (8 page)

***

“Her respiratory effort is weak but the
paralysis is receding,” Alisha argues with Bernie Stoddard, who
isn’t giving up easily regarding having Liz transported to the Area
51 medical facility. Alisha managed to stall her for almost two
hours while we worked over Liz, but now the medical team is
pressuring Jason and Alisha to release medical care to them, and
things are getting a little heated when Natalie, Austin and I join
them in the great room, after leaving a competent Claire to stay
with Elizabeth.

“If she dies, you could be charged with
involuntary manslaughter,” Bernie threatens.

“Ahem—that’s not entirely true. Natalie
says, interrupting the two. "In order to be charged with
manslaughter there has to be an element of neglect or failure to
act, neither of which Ms. Salisbury can be accused of. Furthermore,
Ms. Kappel has made it very clear of her wish to remain
here—transporting her against her will could be considered unlawful
detainment." Bernie's head snaps around like a cobra poised to
strike.

“And who exactly are you?” she demands,
clearly annoyed by the interruption. If Natalie is even the least
intimidated, it doesn’t show. She immediately steps forward with
her hand extended, her green eyes dancing with amusement as she is
scrutinized from head to toe by Bernie.

“My name is Natalie Nesbeth. My brother
Austin and I are Designers, and we were invited here to meet those
with similar modifications,” she says so smoothly you’d never know
it’s only partially true—unless of course you’re Bernie
Stoddard.

“You mean you were recruited,” she says
flatly, before turning to Alisha. There are security procedures
that need to be taken in account with everyone who walks through
that door. Do you understand me?”

“Too late for that,” Brandon announces,
strolling into the great room with Sophia Strizich by his side.
“This isn’t a prison, Bernie, and you don’t get to dictate our
friendships,” he says confidently, smiling his signature crooked
smile which softens the sternness of his words without compromising
his standpoint. In any other circumstance, she might argue the
point, but almost immediately her attention is directed to the dark
haired girl by his side, who unlike Natalie squirms and blushes
under her intimidating stare.

“This is my friend Sophia,” he says,
protectively draping his arm around her shoulder which alerts
everyone to the fact that he considers her something more than just
a friend.

“Didn’t you two just meet yesterday?”
Natalie makes a point of asking. It’s obvious by her tone, she
isn’t thrilled about losing his attention to another woman, and I
imagine she’s unaccustomed to being placed on the backburner for
anyone. Sophia’s blush deepens and Brandon just grins ignoring
Natalie’s question altogether. “Sophia is an out of town guest who
will be staying here for a while.”

“
Sophia worked for Harrington. Her sister
was the decoy pilot in Cat’s plane when it crashed, and she has no
idea.”
I inform Alisha, cluing her in before Bernie confronts
us for the truth—she’s already studying Sophia with a look that
says “where do I know you from?” and with the right set of
questions she would easily make the connection.

Bernie’s face softens in response to
Sophia’s growing apprehension. “It’s nice to meet you, Sophia. I’m
a friend of the family as well—just call me Bernie. I’m sorry I
didn’t get your last name…?” she says in a sweet voice, reverting
to the persona of a friendly grandmother type for a gentler, less
obvious, interrogation experience.

“Sophia Strizich,” she answers. The minute
she says her name I see the flash of understanding in Bernie’s
eyes, but to an unsuspecting Sophia, it goes completely
unnoticed.

“Strizich huh?—that name sounds familiar,
are you from around here?” she inquires smoothly putting her arm
around Sophia, and leading her to the couch where she continues to
probe her for more information.

“
Brandon, what the hell are you
doing?”
Alisha hisses in our mental chat room.
“You couldn’t
just keep her in the guest house until Bernie left? Now we’re going
to have to tell her about the Harringtons and your little trip to
Montana. God, what a mess,”
she mutters, pressing her fingers
to her forehead.

“
It makes the most sense for Bernie to
know the truth. Sophia’s considered a key witness—Bernie will
gladly offer her government protection in exchange for a testimony.
The Harringtons won’t be able to touch her,”
he says calmly,
revealing his motive.

“
What makes you think Sophia would ever
testify against Zane Harrington when she could just as easily be
implicated for being his accomplice?”
I question, still not
forgiving her for holding Cat hostage.

“
She did it to protect her family, just
like we destroyed the Keystone Pipeline for your family. There’s
really no difference you know.”
He looks at me when he says
this and I can see he’s dead serious about the comparison. Before I
can fire off a valid comeback, Bernie’s cell phone rings and a
relieved Sophia takes advantage of the interruption to excuse
herself, making a beeline for the back door. Brandon goes right
after her, hurdling over the sofa to catch up.

“Brandon wait, I need to talk to you and the
others for a moment,” Bernie says, stopping him at the door. He
looks disappointed when Sophia heads for the guest house without
him, but Natalie smirks with satisfaction.

“Here it comes,” Alisha mumbles. “Might as
well bring Dr. Emerick out, and get it over with.” I look at her
like she’s lost her mind.

"Are you sure?"

"If she figures out we've been hiding him,
she'll have a hell of a lot more questions."

Lawrence has been patiently waiting
downstairs for the coast to clear, but when I connect with him
telepathically and tell him to come up, he eagerly agrees. Sometime
while we were working on Elizabeth, he had showered and changed
into a set of clean clothes that could only have come from
Brandon’s dad’s closet given the fit. Now clean shaven with his
gray hair neatly combed to the side, he looks nothing like the man
we rescued from the underground bunker. Alisha moves immediately to
his side, hooking her arm around his and leading him directly to
Bernie. It’s clear by her actions that she has a deep reverence for
the man whom she’s only known for a few hours, as I suppose we all
do. After all, if it weren’t for his teachings Liz would almost
certainly be dead by now.

“I’d like you to meet Dr. Emerick. He worked
with Dr. Kappel at CGEM and is a Geneticist and Scientist. He is
partly to credit for some of our genetic engineering,” she says
proudly.

“Hello Bernie, it’s been a long time,” he
says before the final introductions have been made by Alisha.
Bernie’s years of practice in being able to keep a straight face in
any situation, fails her now. She stands staring at him with her
mouth partially open, and the color quickly drains from her
face.

"Lawrence," she manages to get out in a
hoarse whisper. She allows him to take her hand between the two of
his, and when he leans in to kiss her cheek in a customary European
manner, she squeezes her eyes closed as if trying to block out
something painful. Alisha looks questioningly at me, and I shrug my
shoulders.

"Sooooo…you two know each other?" Alisha
asks the question that already has an obvious answer while the rest
of us hold our breath waiting to hear their explanation.

"Oh, Bernie and I go way back to our college
days," Lawrence says, not taking his eyes off of her. "We parted
ways when my scientific view of the world didn't sit well with her
and her parent's religious views," he says candidly, and she
quickly draws her hand from his, shoving it in her blazer.

"So, I take it you kept up your research
after all of these years?" she asks.

"These kids are a direct result of that
research," he says softly. "What about you? Did you follow your
parents' wishes and join the convent?"

She shakes her head. "No. I chose a military
career and am now the Director of National Intelligence. His eyes
go wide with surprise as if she were the last person on earth he
would expect to hold such a title.

"And how does a group of young adults get
the Director of National Intelligence dispatched to their private
home?" he inquires, putting her on the spot.

"If you had a part in their genetic
modifications, than you probably already know how and why I'm here.
With their talents, they are either considered a threat or an ally,
unfortunately there's no in-between, Lawrence," she says
steadily.

"Yes-but I'm surprised Bernie—you used to
condemn any behavior that didn't mold itself to the comfortable
confines of your Judeo-Christian principles. Have you since become
receptive to the idea that there are unseen scientific energy
forces that are responsible for bringing about the events in our
lives?" he challenges. Their eyes lock in a silent transfer of
unspoken words, and the corners of his mouth turn up as he fights
back a smile. She seems saddened more than anything by the
conversation.

"A lot has changed in forty years, Lawrence.
If I only knew then what I know now, I might have made different
choices…been more open to hearing different points of view. I was
afraid—afraid that your ideas would dismantle the very foundation
our family was built on. It’s taken years for me to admit that
maybe my views of the world were incomplete. He nods in agreement,
seemingly pleased that she's come to that conclusion on her
own.

"Um, Bernie can you give the command to send
the medical team back?" Alisha manages to slip in averting a
full-blown debate on the subject. We follow her eyes towards the
large great room window where two military medics stand on the deck
holding a stretcher, and two more stand by holding automatic
weapons. Bernie's brows furrow as she heads for the door, quietly
slipping out on the deck. Automatically, I remote travel,
accompanying her from my mental advantage point. She wastes no time
in confronting the men and threatens them with insubordination for
disobeying her direct orders to stay in the helicopter.

"We have been given direct orders from the
Commander-in-chief to get the girl to Area 51, even if it means
using force," one of the military officers says, rubbing the handle
of his automatic weapon nervously. Bernie pulls her cell phone out
of her pocket and glances nervously through the window at the rest
of us.

"Sir, apparently there's been a mistake.
Elizabeth Kappel is recovering from what was nothing more than a
flu virus," she says, after getting the President of the United
States on the phone. There is a long pause, followed by a string of
yes-sirs, then she quietly says, “You know we can’t force them to
go against their will, Sir.” There’s another long pause before she
delivers a bold warning of her own. "If your men aren’t off this
property within fifteen minutes, I’ll let the kids do what they
need to do to have them removed.”

***

Doing what we need to persuade a team of
military men with automatic weapons to abandon their post turns out
to be more like a circus performance than any sort of battle,
especially with Brandon and Austin in charge. Alisha, Natalie, and
I merely donate our mental energy to the two and they deliver a
series of quite comical telekinetic maneuvers that has the group
racing for the helicopter with a flying stretcher smacking them in
the ass. Bernie stands by quietly watching the scene not nearly as
entertained as the rest of us.

“After twenty-eight years, I never expected
to go out for a bunch of kids,” she murmurs, as the helicopter
disappears over the mountain ridge.

“Does this mean we’ve been terminated from
our positions?” Alisha asks nervously, and suddenly the room falls
silent as even Brandon pauses in celebration to hear Bernie’s
response.

“I don’t know what this means. You kids have
created the biggest quandary the U.S. Government has ever faced.
Let’s just sit back and let the President cool down, and I’ll call
him in a few days. Until then, why don’t we start with a discussion
on how you guys found Sophia and Lawrence.”

***

The ability of Dr. Emerick to communicate
telepathically renders itself worthless now as we sit around the
dining room table trying to decide just how much to tell Bernie
about Cataryn, the tape, and the earthquake.

"Honesty has a higher, faster vibrational
rate than lying,"
he suggests, putting the decision back on us.
Natalie's natural attorney instinct is to advise us to not disclose
anything, but in the end we spill everything except our involvement
with the earthquake. Not even Lawrence could fault us for not
wanting to get her involved in something that could be considered
an act of terrorism.

"So Cat and her twin are Designers after
all," Bernie says, looking at Lawrence with admiration. "Ronan, you
must be thrilled," I hear her say in a voice that sounds like it's
progressively getting further away. It’s Alisha who first keys in
to the fact that I’m not a hundred percent present with the
group.

"Ronan? Ronan?…" she waves her hand in front
of my face trying to regain my attention, which sometime during the
conversation was diverted to an island forest ablaze with fire.
Through some deep innate mechanism, Cat always has a way of
alerting me when she’s in danger, and now only a tiny percentage of
my awareness is left with the group at the dining room table.

"Brandon!" I scream, jumping to my feet. He
appears in the dining room instantly.

"Whoa, Ronan, dude what the hell's the
matter?" he says breathlessly, looking to the others for an
explanation.

"I think he's having a remote travel event,"
Alisha murmurs.