Cheating Time (20 page)

"The genes that will give Carlie a long life
are those that will help him create the eternal youth component of
his ideal race. If he has his way, he'll combine her single egg
with the sperm of at least one man (possibly two or three) in order
to create the first of what will become his new army of Dominant
Soldiers."

Jayden had had enough and rolled his eyes.
"Sir, Dominant Soldiers are a myth told to Surrogates so they will
strive to be the best they can be, with rules so difficult that no
Surrogate Soldier has ever been anointed one."

There was a longing in Jayden's eyes that
made me think he'd been chasing his dream of becoming a Dominant
the way others chase the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Something about the station would do more than give him a leg up on
other Surrogates.

Gran chuckled. "Oh there used to be a cult
of Dominant Soldiers. Make no mistake about that. Their station was
so secretive that only a handful of people in the world knew they
existed and even fewer actually know who the Dominant Soldiers'
members were. Several years ago, every last one of them was hunted
down and killed for no reason other than Barone decided they
weren't perfect enough to be called Dominants."

"All of this sounds so crazy. I've never
heard of a Dominant, and even if I had, why would the president
murder them in cold blood?" I asked quietly.

Jayden was having as much trouble as me
believing Gran, and like me, it wasn't because he thought Gran was
lying. He'd spent enough of his life with Gran to know better than
that. Gran didn't lie. Jayden shook his head.

"They symbolize the unattainable state of
perfection that Surrogates have been ordered to achieve. In our
trainings, we've been told if we want to be Dominant Soldiers, we
can never have relations. The teachings state that the sacrifice of
celibacy is a sign to the world that the position within our
nation's leadership means more to us than our wants, needs, and
desires.

"We have to surrender ourselves to a state
of being dominated. Our president our ultimate master. The name is
not about what we will be, but rather what our president will be to
us. When orders are given, we must act without hesitation, without
moral dilemma, without concern for the ramifications, and without
fear over our health and safety."

Holy hell!

"Giving our minds, bodies, and souls—as
proved though numerous planned but unexpected tests as well as real
life scenarios—to the military is the only way to get a Dominant's
Medal and an invitation to join their Fraternity," Jayden recited
before hesitating, as if he wasn't sure if he should share his next
piece of information. Finally, he added, "And… we have to swear
that if or when the president we surrender to is killed or
overthrown, we will take our own lives, leaving the Fraternity
memberless for the next president."

Holy crap on a
cracker!
"Who came up with these rules? They are archaic
and unnatural," I exclaimed.

Gran intervened before Jayden could
elaborate. "That doesn't matter, little one. The only thing that
matters right now is Barone's plans for you. When you were born and
your longevity analysis was performed, your fate was sealed. I
erased your data and replaced it with something more reasonable,
but Barone always acted as if he knew your numbers had been faked.
I haven't yet figured out how he did it, but six months ago, he ran
a longevity analysis that looked eerily similar to yours. When I
checked into it, I found out it was. I don't know how he got your
DNA, but I know it was yours.

"Now that he knows Carlie offers him
longevity, he can begin fusing sperm, ones embedded with the
strength, intelligence, and charm he's in search of, and create the
perfect cells for fertilizing Carlie's eggs. From that union, the
new breed of Dominant Soldiers will be born."

"
To hell he
will!
" Jayden roared. "He's already made a complete mess
with Surrogates. He's not going to do what he's been doing to
Surrogates with Carlie's kids… He's not going to make them
motherless and fatherless and feed them a bunch of shit about how
they were born to serve. In the Surrogates' case, it's always been
some line about how we were born to serve our nation. With
Dominants, he'll claim they were born to serve him."

Gran nodded, approving of Jayden's message.
"A few days ago, I got a message that Barone was ready to begin his
experiments. I've heard that he plans to go straight to embryotic
experiments, and he will do so without regard to what that embryo
will eventually be. He'll kill any that don't meet his standards.
The last thing he'll do is allow his creations to become Genetic
Anomalies that take more than they give to the nation."

"He promised me he'd leave Carlie alone…
he'd leave Carlie alone
if I'd get
her back to the academy," Jayden blurted before running his hands
through his hair until it was messy and unkempt, a far cry from the
neat and well-groomed style he usually wore.

I caught a quick glimpse of the worry on his
face before he turned and began pacing angrily around the camp,
kicking pinecones, and cursing under his breath.

Gran sighed heavily. "Not to worry,
Surrogate. I have a plan, and it doesn't have the first thing to do
with those damn people from the Safe Passage Network," Gran
swore.

Jayden's unbelieving stare snapped toward
Gran. "You know about them?" he asked.

Gran chuckled. "I'm old. I'm not deaf or
dumb. I've known about this particular network since it was started
by Barone years ago so the DOA would have an easier time picking up
separatists."

What the
hell?
Both my and Jayden's mouths dropped to our
chest.

Gran continued. "I just never thought my
granddaughter and her family would come to live with and rely on
them… come to believe the crock of pooh Barone has ordered them to
spew."

In any other situation, I'd have been
dumbfounded by the more verbose and nearly cursing Gran standing
before me. Not today. Something about the fact that he, under
normal circumstances, only spoke when necessary told me everything
he was telling Jayden and me was important to keeping our family
safe, true despite what I thought I'd known, and essential to my
survival.

Jayden is finally smack
dab in the middle of the survival test he's been training his
entire life for. The difference is that this is for something more
than a solid pat on the back.

"It seems Barone and his flunkies
underestimated this old man when they took to talking about their
plans when Selma, Sam, and the rest of you were out and they
thought I was upstairs napping. By doing nothing more than standing
at the top of the stairs, I learned they intended to kidnap your
mother. If she refused to begin working for Barone again, they were
to take her some place no one would ever find her and end her life,
but only after she'd electronically embedded her DNA segment into
documents that willed the rights to her discoveries and inventions
to a nonprofit organization,
Eternal
Youth
, that is secretly run by Barone. It's the
organization charged with creating the Dominant Soldiers.

"
Humph!
They
might have gotten away with it if I hadn't overheard them. What a
bunch of bumbling idiots," he groused.

I closed the distance between Gran and me.
"Gran… you're exhausted. The fatigue and sleep deprivation is
playing games with your mind."

Agitated, he waved his hand. "Don't make the
mistake they made and condescend me, Carles Enise Enoche," he
warned.

I put my trembling hands up. "Gran, I'd
never do that. I-it's just that all of this seems so out there that
I can't believe it. I mean… I'm supposed to live until I'm at least
two hundred. Does that sound right to you?" I asked.

My voice was high pitched and irritating.
Normally, I'd at least feel guilty for whining, but I was too
shocked and confused to care.

"Not to worry, little one. I have my own
friends, ones who can get you to safety for real and will intervene
and help your parents. First, the Surrogate has to get you to the
academy." Gran bobbed his head toward Jayden. He'd always referred
to him as the Surrogate. He'd never used his real name. Not ever.
"That's where you'll meet Thorne Angleton. I suspect he's the
primary candidate for the sperm geared toward offering superior
intelligence. One of the three Adams to your Eve, Carlie."

Jayden intervened. "Who is Thorne, and why
should we trust him?"

Gran kept his focus on me. "Andrew Angleton,
his father and a genealogist colleague of mine, and I have been in
contact. We're both determined to save our descendants and put an
end to Barone's madness." Gran turned toward Jayden. "That's where
you come in, Surrogate. Thorne and Carlie will need your protection
and experience to get them to the only truly safe underground
shelter in existence. It's one I've been working on since before
Carlie was born. It's been up and running for a while, but I've
been too worried about your parents' ties to Barone to let them
know about it. Like the Coxes, they've underestimated me and the
extents I'll go to make sure my family is safe."

"Gran, you know that Mom would never put
Barone before you. You should have trusted her and told her all of
this," I scolded.

Gran waved me off. "You and Thorne will stay
in the shelter until Andrew and I make our way there. With the
exception of the three of you and the team of people working in the
shelter, Andrew and I will be the only people on the planet who
will know where you are."

"Gran, Mom and Dad'll never agree to this,"
I reasoned.

"You're right, but they're the same people
who've spent years trusting Barone… and months assuming the
farmhouse was what Elle and Mac claimed. They are the reason we are
in the mess we're in. I tried talking to them about the dangers at
the farm. They refused to hear what I had to say. If there is any
hope for you, little one, I have to stop relying on people who are
easily manipulated by Barone. He's a master puppeteer where they're
concerned."

Beside me, Jayden let loose a few curse
words under his breath. I cut my eyes his way, and he closed his
mouth, obviously still thinking every single one of them. Gran
ignored him.

"If I didn't have spies everywhere, they'd
have taken Carlie to the academy, used the MicroPharm to drug her,
turning her into a shell of the person we know and love, and taken
care of her mother so there would be no one left to override their
MicroPharm updates. Underestimating me and my reach has been
Barone's Achilles heel, and I'm taking full advantage of it."

I knew they used those
implants to create mindless zombies, ones who followed the
government's lead no matter how asinine the demand. I just knew
it.

"I'm getting you to safety first. Your
parents will follow when I'm convinced they understand having you
hidden away from Barone is the right thing to do," Gran
explained.

In an instant, a sadness washed over him
that was so profound that I wanted nothing more than to wrap my
arms around his neck and tell him we'd all be okay. I couldn't
because it would have been a lie. At minimum, Tawney was going to
die, and I couldn't make any guarantees about anyone else.

"Sir, Sam'll have me hunted down and killed
if I don't do exactly as he's ordered. Without his permission, I
can't agree to any of this. Both of you need to trust him. All he's
ever done is put his family first." Jayden leveled his stare on
Gran. "If you'd have talked to him about what you were doing and
what you had planned, I think you'd find that the two of you aren't
nearly as different as you seem to believe," he said
reasonably.

There was something unspoken behind his
words, something he wanted to tell us, but the soldier who'd been
ordered to keep Dad's secrets was as tight-lipped as ever. He'd
never go against Dad. Gran and I knew it.

I studied Gran. Then Jayden. Tried to
understand what I was supposed to do. Breaking my heart was the
fact that Gran was standing in front of me and terrified that I
didn't believe him or that I'd refuse to do what he was asking of
me. He was prepared to lose Tawney because he'd been searching for
a cure her entire life and hadn't been able to find one. He was not
naïve enough to believe there were going to be miracles before the
disease claimed her life. My situation was different. He still had
the chance to save me, and he had every intention of doing just
that.

The fact that Mom and Dad hadn't given me
the information Gran had shared and that they weren't around to
make me follow their demands solidified my decision.

I ignored Jayden's insistence and braced
myself for his rage before saying, "Gran, after I've made sure you
and Tawney are safe, and we've had a chance to say our good-byes,
I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"
To hell you
will!
" Jayden yelled.

"What's going on here?" Tawney asked from
the door of her tent.

Gran plastered on his mask of delight and
said, "Nothing, my dear. Nothing. We were simply debating the
course to the safe house. I think the Surrogate here has finally
seen that my way is the quickest. Now, let's take care of our
needs, grab a bite, and pack up camp. We have a lot of miles to
cover today."

In the space of a heartbeat, my meek Gran
had turned into the a formidable leader who would have given Dad,
the Secretary of the Department of Defense, a run for his
money.

Jayden was as angry as I'd ever seen him
when he stormed toward the woods. He and I needed to talk, but now
wasn't the time for that conversation. Not if I wanted it to be
productive.