Page 18 of Perfection

“Are you all right?” she asked, swallowing her relief that he’d returned.

“Sure. But Dr. Finn’s going to be pissed.”

“Why?”

“Uh, nothing.”

He engaged the air-car and took off in a sharp upward ascent, literally breaking the sound barrier. Her heart shot to her knees and back. At the same time, the automated anti-g system kicked in, normalizing the pressure in the vehicle so she wouldn’t pass out.

When she could breathe again, she gave him a hard glare. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

He grinned. “What’s not to love?” Then his dark eyebrows pinched together. “Except, well…you know.”

She did know. She stared out the window so he wouldn’t see her face. She fought back tears at the thought of the poor girl. Kindra’s father had explained children were meant to live without the threat of illness being part of their lives. Wasn’t that the point of super-antibodies and nanobots and cloning and gene therapy? She inhaled deeply, reining in her emotions.

Her father was right.

Thankfully, the return trip to the lab was much quicker—partly because of the lighter traffic, but mostly because York illegally flew higher than the air traffic. Kindra didn’t want to think about it.

She didn’t want to think about a lot of things—of disappointing Brianna, because now she would have to work late, and especially of tomorrow and the possibility of more kids dying.

Oh, how she longed to center herself with a nice, uplifting, peaceful unity session. The sessions had the ability to take one to a higher plane of existence. Intelligent people knew they could tap into an alternative universe by using the mind and its energy. She thought wistfully of the healing she found there.

The car jerked to a stop at the front entrance of the Seville Genetics Center. “Home, safe and sound,” York said.

Kindra pressed her lips together to keep from reprimanding him about his wild driving. He probably saw himself as above the law.

The thought made her nervous. She choked out a weak, “Thank you. I’ll forward you a report on my findings.”

“No need,” York said. “I’m staying. I need to know what we’re dealing with here.”

* * *

Amanda Richmond paused as she took the clipping shears out of a kitchen drawer and stared over her shoulder at the hover-screen in disbelief. The news they kept repeating on the HS was beyond shocking. The daughter of a prominent health official had been reported dead? Something was terribly wrong. It seemed like yet another genetic interference had gone awry. She shook her head with disgust and sadness. When would the Committee stop playing God?

She strolled to the greenhouse porch to clip fresh herbs for her salad. The HS followed right along. When she heard York’s name, she hesitated in the middle of examining a rosemary plant and looked up to watch her son on the monitor. Pride ran through her at how handsome and distinguished he looked. He handled himself with the command of a leader. She pushed a lock of mahogany hair from her eyes. Too bad she hadn’t convinced him to support her cause of banning genetic manipulation. He had as much anger at the GEI scientists as anyone, but he insisted he couldn’t compromise the integrity of his job to follow her passionate pursuit of ending genetic tampering once and for all.

Just look at that handsome face! The masses would follow him.

No, she wouldn’t give up on trying to persuade him. He might come around.

She spotted Vi behind York. Perhaps Amanda could glean more information from his partner than from her son. She tossed the idea around as she snipped several sprigs of rosemary and basil. Vi was as close to her as a daughter. She’d almost been a daughter-in-law, but sadly, Cal had broken things off. She was miffed that neither of them had ever shared why. Secrets drove her nuts.

Maybe if she were right in the thick of things, York would give her his attention. What’s more, with all the media coverage from the poor child’s death… Well, that could work in favor of the Coder cause. Couldn’t it?

As she returned to the kitchen, the salad she was preparing seemed even more appetizing. It was something she’d grown with her own hands. It was proof that society could return to the natural way of things.

* * *

“Good afternoon, Kindra and Lieutenant Richmond,” Comp Nine said as Kindra slid into her chair behind the central workstation in her lab.

“Greetings, Comp Nine.” Kindra was surprised Lieutenant Richmond still was tagging along. She longed for time alone to contemplate what she’d learned this morning.

“What’s with the Sean Connery accent?” York asked.

“Who?” This was exactly the kind of distraction she didn’t need.

“My circuits are snapping,” Comp Nine said.