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  We seem to have found the problem with the serum. The body’s defenses automatically attack cells and DNA that look to be threats. To overcome this response, we’ll have to inject the girls slowly with the serum in a vaccination-type way, allowing the body to get used to it so that when the influx of DNA coding comes in, the new cells will not be attacked—essentially, “antibodies”. The downside (or additional plus) to this would be that the women, in turn, would develop supernatural characteristics, the extent of which cannot be determined at this time. Julie cautions against it but does as she is asked.

  Malcolm underlined that portion. By the time he’d joined George’s arm of the New Government, they were no longer doing this. In fact, he’d had no idea they’d ever done it at all. Not that it had helped. Even with this new system, Numbers Four through Fourteen had died and been burned. They’d stopped the injections, and Malcolm had come aboard.

  The writing became more cryptic then and more intense.

  We’ve found a way down… Side effects of long-term serum injections in the women result in enhanced strength and agility. The drawback is a complete shutdown of the reproductive system.

  Malcolm shrugged. How did George know that? Who had he been testing? Had he been postulating or were his notes dishonest? And who was “we”? George and Julie? And where was “down”?

  At the end of the notebook, there was a complex calculus problem, almost solved, but missing two variables. Malcolm studied it. This was his forte. It appeared George had been theoretically testing the levels of the serum or “antibodies” needed to create the positives while preserving the women’s reproductive systems. But he’d never completed his work. The problem left off right in the middle. The last calculation in the book was clearly an attempt to make these antibodies for men. Again, the equation was incomplete.

  Malcolm shut the notebook and put it in his top drawer. He had to get ready for his “date” with Julie.

  Chapter Six

  Malcolm didn’t look up when Julie walked in. Having left open his door, he called to her when he heard the knock but tried to keep his mind where it was—with Anna.

  The girl was having intense and haunting nightmares that somehow reached Malcolm even without the aid of his security room and tools—at least, he thought they did. Maybe, he was just going crazy.

  “You’re not crazy,” a female voice broke through his thoughts.

  Blearily, he looked up at his visitor, a vision in a long red velvet skirt and fitted top.

  “How did you…?” He let the question trail off, a headache forming at the base of his skull as Anna’s nightmares left him.

  Julie didn’t answer him but instead asked a question of her own. “Where’s the notebook?”

  He blinked. “Okay, seriously, Julie, who are you?”

  She shook her head, with an amused but sad expression on her face. “You really bought into this whole life, didn’t you?” she asked softly. “The New Government, the new world, the wealth and prosperity for all, the benevolent if erratic emperor?”

  He nodded then placed his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes.

  “I was wrong, eh?” He laughed, but it came out more like a croak. “Stupid kid.” Then he raised his gaze to her, now seated on his bed. He struggled to keep his mind on work and off her perfect breasts which rose and fell seductively with each soft breath she took. “So what’s going on, and what does it have to do with me?”

  “George isn’t dead.” Julie’s voice held no emotion. When he didn’t reply, she continued on her own. “He’s down in The Levels, helping the girls organize an army. I need the notebook.”

  That got Malcolm’s attention.

  “What girls? What army? What’s going on?”

  He opened the drawer to his desk and grabbed, George’s notes in his hands then walked over to her. “You’ll get this after you’re done talking.” He appraised her but found her face devoid of any clues. “So, you’d better start.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. Better to get it out of the way now.” Extending her hand in a mock show of manners, she said, “Hi, I’m Number Two. Nice to meet you.”

  Malcolm opened and closed his mouth. “But Number Two—”

  “Burned? Like Numbers Three through Twenty-four?” She laughed. “George instituted that mode of getting rid of the ‘bodies’ so no one would come looking for us when we disappeared.”

  “But the serum, the injections…”

  “When George first started work on this project, he fully believed it would work. He put his heart and soul into it. When the first girl died, he cried for weeks. The fact that he’d missed something so glaring in his calculations and had caused a girl’s death was beyond him. But he soldiered on, perfecting the serum as best as he could, trying it in the lab, going over the results again and again. I’ve no doubt he would have injected the next girl, again sure he was right, had that next girl not been me.” She paused and appeared to have an inner battle. “I clicked with George the way you click with Anna,” she said finally. “He named me, in fact, much as you have now done with Twenty-seven. I heard him in my room, as she hears you. And I wanted to know him. He was like a father to me. I didn’t even know what a man was, really. Just like she doesn’t. We began communicating mentally in the final weeks before my supposed insemination. And when it came time to inject me, he said he just couldn’t. The risk was too great. He loved me too much.” She shrugged. “So he faked my death then insisted the emperor put in place a statute ordering the body placed into the incinerator and burned.”

  “So you were George’s Anna.”

  “I am George’s Anna,” she corrected softly before continuing her story. “After some time had passed, he got me a job working with the Special Ones. It was the one thing I knew best, after all, and this way, I could help him. We hatched a plan.” She shut her eyes and sighed in contentment, a girlish, vulnerable side of her coming to the surface. “Those weeks were short-lived. George had a meeting one afternoon with the emperor, just before we were to inject Number Three. He went early to upgrade me in Michelle’s book from mistress to girlfriend—”

  “Julie, did you…?” Malcolm’s shock and assumption made her laugh though the sound was bitter.

  “No, Malcolm. George is like a father to me. Would you sleep with Anna?”

  “Never.” Malcolm felt ashamed of himself.

  “Anyway, that day, George arrived at the emperor’s private chambers fifteen minutes before his scheduled time. As he sat in the waiting area, he heard shouts coming from within. Teo Mathis was in there discussing a future war to be waged on The Level People.”

  Malcolm felt a shiver of disgust crawl up his spine. He hated Teo with a passion. The man was all angles and steely looks, a true twisted dictator, fixated on power and control. When Malcolm first moved into the palace, he’d witnessed Teo drowning a litter of puppies. He’d asked the general why, his teenage voice cracking, and Teo had responded with a cruel laugh.

  “For sport,” he’d said then spit at the water. His sadistic love of torture and his reputation for inhumane acts had quashed many a rebellious thought before they’d ever hatched into full ideas. The people feared and loathed him, and rightfully so. He was the emperor’s bad cop.

  “As you know,” Julie continued, smoothing the soft material of her skirt over her taut thighs and drawing Malcolm’s thoughts again to where they shouldn’t go, “Terrecina only has a small army, meant for defending our territory, should any outside source become a threat. We’re a small island. We don’t have much military force—”

  “Which would make waging war on anyone for any reason ridiculous,” Malcolm interrupted. “And why would we possibly want to go down there, anyway?”

  “Resources,” she answered, matter-of-factly. “Terrecina, it turns out, is not the new world. It was only meant to be a temporary safe haven from the plagues as the earth crumbled. It was meant to prevent the collapse. The Old Government sent its best scientists, engineers, t
actical technicians and scholars to this bubble where they would be safe from harm. They were to work on a cure or vaccine for the rampant super-diseases wiping out the world below then they were supposed to send it back.”

  “But the Old Government collapsed.”

  Julie nodded. “Before the work was complete, the island lost contact with the Old Government, and the world as they all knew it basically imploded upon itself. The emperor took over.”

  Malcolm whistled. “That fountain of youth program he does really works, eh? But how do you know all this?”

  Julie smiled. “George used to be the emperor’s best friend. They’d studied together at Harvard before the plagues ran amok.”

  “So he’s taken the anti-aging stuff, too?”

  She nodded. “The plan was that the emperor—whose name is Stan, by the way—would step into a leadership role, organizing the survivors here into a cohesive society, so that we could look for ways to expand the world above the world, bring others up into it and create an entirely new system. The first people to be saved, of course, being those in the Old Government, but once Stan took power, he liked it too much. He became pigheaded, unwilling to listen, and began formulating his own plans. He alienated the scientists and funneled money out of their programs, effectively damning himself. Without their help, he had no way to generate the resources we are about to run out of.”

  “But he’s never said anything about running out of resources.”

  “Would you?” she asked. “We’ve got about twenty years left before this island can no longer sustain life. Would you let it be known now when it could cause panic and upheaval? Wouldn’t it be easier to get a suitable army in place to take on the people below? Especially if you’ve made them out to be monsters to your own constituents?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s more politically sound to use panic as a call to battle and channel the insecurity and fear of your people toward something unknown than to advertise it and allow those same people to turn their anger on you.”

  Malcolm nodded. She had a good point. “Okay, so we need their resources. How is he going to get them?”

  “Why do you think there are dozens of Special Ones in this program, Malcolm?” She paused, letting him think. “The emperor doesn’t want one super-heir. He wants a super-army. His original thought was that each girl would be good for five births. Giving him one hundred or more super-children to turn into super-soldiers. That’s what George overheard. That’s when George stopped the program.”

  “But what about the dead girls?”

  “They’re not dead. We snuck them out of the palace, through the incinerator, and placed them in a home in Terrecina’s countryside for a while. The antibody injections he’d given them were having odd effects, and he wanted to monitor them from afar. Of course, none of them got as many as I did.”

  Malcolm sat on the bed beside her and stared into her flecked eyes. “George gave you the shots?”

  “No,” she answered. “I gave them to myself. I didn’t want him testing it on the girls. I loved them and couldn’t bear the thought of something going wrong. George continued to improve the antibodies serum, but before each new strain came out, I tested it on myself, to ensure the girls wouldn’t die.”

  “But if George had stopped the program, why would he need to continue the vaccination against the serum?”

  “Because the vaccination has powers of its own. And if we are to stand any chance against this malicious government and its foolish people, we need some advantages. We have to organize a large group of The Level People and get them to follow us, so that we can win back their rights and their world. Even without Terrecina’s invasion plans, the world down there needs help. They still suffer from the rampant diseases, and Terrecina has the cures. They are hungry, poverty stricken and sick, and Terrecina can help them. But we do not. Instead, we plan on pillaging them for their energy sources. Because of the super vaccinations, I will not contract the plagues. They’ve had added effects, as well, which is why I can sometimes read your mind and why I look as if I’m twenty years old when I’m really almost thirty-five. I’ll never have children, but it’s a small price to pay in the name of science.”

  “Is George living down there now? Is he also immune?”

  “Yes, he’s immune. There’s a general vaccination that was ready for the people years and years ago. Everyone on Terrecina has had the shot. The superhuman injections would have been deadly for George. According to his calculations, it mixes with the XY chromosomes in such a way that it would stop the heart of a man.”

  “But the babies were to be boys!”

  “Yes, attaching the traits to the stem cells was never a problem. It was the mixing with an already adult system that caused the first woman’s death.”

  She flipped through the notebook then pointed at the last page.

  “This is your job,” she said. “You need to finish this equation. It holds the secret for making the superhuman injections possible for males. George ran out of time before he could find the missing variables. But if we’re going to take on the emperor, you and the other men will need it.”

  “So, again, where is George?”

  Julie got up and paced. “When the emperor called for him to be terminated, George took to the countryside. He gathered the girls we’d kept there and descended to The Levels, using the old ships they’d flown up in all those years ago.”

  “The emperor didn’t miss them?”

  Julie shrugged. “They were useless as far as he was concerned. He has bigger and better toys now. I doubt he even remembers where the old ships were kept. It’s been a long time, and the technology is antiquated.”

  “Why didn’t George take you?”

  “He wanted to but said it was too dangerous.” She laughed bitterly. “Too dangerous for me, a full-out superwoman, but not too dangerous for him, a mere mortal.” She shook her head. “Men,” she said under her breath. “But the real reason,” she continued, looking at Malcolm now, “was that there were still several girls in the program who would be killed or carrying the first of the super-spawn army. He needed someone here to oversee the program. He also wanted me to instruct you as I have done—to get you the notebook, to use you as a support, to mobilize and then to descend when everything was ready.”

  “But nothing is ready!”

  “No,” she agreed. “It’s not, but Teo’s been sniffing around, and he’s about to blow the lid on the whole failure process. He doesn’t like waiting, you know. And when the emperor finds out, we’ll all die. Those below will die, too.”

  “So we have to go on what we have.” He exhaled loudly. “Which is nothing.”

  “Correct,” she answered. “So, how soon can you be ready?”

  Seeing the worry spreading across Malcolm’s face softened Julie’s countenance. She felt a need to comfort him, though she had none of the answers they needed. She walked back to him and reached a hand to his knee.

  “Aren’t you ever scared?” he asked. “I mean, not just for you or me, but for everyone? What about all those girls? They could have died at any point. And The Level People? And the people of Terrecina who are just living their lives? How do you know your way is better?”

  “We have to believe,” Julie replied, searching his eyes, seeing doubt clouding them. She shook her head. “Listen, just because things are good for you and me doesn’t mean everyone lives so well. Even the lay people of Terrecina know The Level People are in trouble. They don’t care, but they know. And I feel like they really should care.”

  “And it’s worth people dying?”

  “How many more people will die in a war for resources on the earth? It’s not ideal, no. But it’s what we have to do. At least, I feel that way. And without you aboard, it can’t be done. I need you.”

  Grasping her fingers, he looked up at her with new emotion. His pupils dilated, making his already dark eyes nearly black. His breathing hitched, and she felt herself drawing toward him. “You need me?�
�� he asked on a throaty whisper.

  “Malcolm,” she pleaded, “we don’t have time for this. And George said—”

  “What did George say?” His tone was threatening as he pulled her onto his lap. The pressure of his filling cock against the globes of her buttocks dizzied her.

  “He said…” She paused as Malcolm moved her slowly over his hardened length. She had to keep it together, even as his hands trailed over her shoulders with delicious slowness, unbuttoning her top from the back. “He said not to get involved with you. I told you.”

  “But why, Julie?” he whispered into her ear, his hot breath sending tingles down her spine. “I want to know why. Hell, I need to know why.” He slid the shirt down and pressed his chest to her shoulder blades. She felt the pricks of his taut, male nipples against her now-bare back. “What about this could be so wrong?”

  She bit back a sob, half of lust and half of overwhelming sadness. “He doesn’t want us to fall in love, Malcolm. We are to lead this effort. If we muddy the waters with emotion… Well, what if you have to choose? The revolution or me?” Her voice grew stronger as she spoke, convincing herself.

  He dragged his lips across the nape of her neck, lifting her silky hair to gain better access. The nerve endings there sang, seeking more. She pushed back into him.

  “We can’t get involved.” She hated how unsure her voice sounded.

  “Well.” He straightened, and she felt the loss of his warmth. “What if we didn’t get involved? What if it were just sex?”

  She gave a small smile she knew he couldn’t see. “I should be insulted now, yes?”

  “Julie, do you want me to fall in love with you or do you want to save the world?” He let the question sit for a moment before continuing. “Because I’m sure I could fall in love with you. You’re beautiful, smart, capable and strong. You drive me wild. But love takes time, understanding, trust and openness. We don’t have any of those things. Should we punish ourselves now on the off-chance those feelings will develop? Or can we make a pact right now not to let them, and instead of punishing ourselves, allow ourselves some brief respite from the nightmare of our lives?”