Dr. Vandis Bane was not sure what to make of the situation. In her career she had only ever treated human patients. Now, Zai, last of the Raath was sitting across from her.
“So what can I help you with Mr. Zai?” she asked.
“You may simply call me Zai,” he replied, “my people used very few honorifics. I have not come to you for help. I came here because I want you to know what I know.”
This piqued her interest and she asked, “What is that?”
“I know your secret Vandis Bane. I know that you are a member of the natural human extremist group Purity. The Purity group believes that genetic modification is evil and will lead to the extinction of your species. Some of them even argue that it already has. The Purity group does not operate like most other terrorist organizations. Instead of using bombs and guerilla war to wage your battle you use infiltration. Often posing as enhancile humans members of Purity infiltrate the corporate or government programs they oppose and undermine them from within using sabotage and assassination. Your talents for counseling were such that you did not need to pose as an enhancile to gain access to the Eastern Alliance gene mod soldier program. For years now you have been using your position to influence the program by ever so slowly mentally unbalancing the gene mod soldiers you counsel. I have no doubt you had some kind of long term plan. Then you were selected to be the counselor on the Daedlus.”
Dr. Vandis Bane could not move. Her heart was beating so fast she thought the veins in her neck her going to explode. She could barely breathe. All she could do was blink.
“To be more accurate, I selected you to be this ships counselor. I need to observe someone like you in order to make my judgment of humanity. I wondered how you would behave. You disappoint me Vandis Bane. Instead of putting aside your own political and philosophical agenda for the sake of your species survival, you have actively worked to undermine this mission. You have done so in the name of an ideal meant to save the human species from extinction. And in the process you may very well be contributing to the extinction of your species. That is truly ironic, if I understand the term correctly. The actions you have taken to undermine this mission concern pilot Raddy Volcane. You have been antagonizing him. You have been adding fuel to the fire of his emotions. If Janessa Kepshawn, the only natural human pilot, were to be victimized by an enhancile superior that would certainly be something your organization could use. They would claim that gene mods made Raddy Volcane so inhuman that he did not care about the survival of humanity. They could use Janessa Kepshawn as a symbol of the natural human suffering at the hands of the enhanchile human. Then there are also your attempts to use Janessa Kepshawn to confuse and imbalance Duron Ardiniero. His conflicting emotions for her could very well impair his ability to command. That would also be excellent ammunition for the Purity organization.”
It took Dr. Bane a moment after she opened her mouth to find her voice again and say, “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to stop. I want you to stop undermining this mission and start acting like a real counselor. If you do not stop then I am going to kill you. If any harm comes to Janessa Kepshawn then I am going to kill you.”
Dr. Vandis Bane was terrified. But she was also a trained psychologist and she knew a weakness when she saw one.
“Why Janessa Kepshawn? Why her specifically?”
Zai did not answer. He stood up and pointed his left arm at Dr. Bane. He made a fist and a blade deployed from his arm. It was large and sharp and it split down the middle and opened like scissors. Dr. Bane saw the crackle of green electric currents between the blades before it snapped shut far too close to her face than she was comfortable with.
“I am Raath,” said Zai, “and the closest thing to mercy I am capable of is that your death will be so quick you will not have time to realize it has happened. If that is not enough to deter you then I want you to know this as well. I know you have a lover on this ship. I know who your lover is. If your comrades in the Purity organization found out about this lover of yours they would not be forgiving. It would also have a rather adverse effect on your lover’s reputation if the relationship with you were exposed along with your connection to the Purity organization.”
Zai left Dr. Bane alone in her office. After several minutes she was sure she was having a minor panic attack and took some pills to calm herself down. Just as she felt she was finally regaining her composure, Ryoko Jeagan entered her office.
“How are you today Bane?” said Ryoko pleasantly.
“I have had a far more stressful morning than I anticipated,” replied Dr. Bane.
“Let me help you relieve that stress,” said Ryoko.
The two women embraced each other and began kissing. Then they began undressing and doing more.
No comments:
Post a Comment