The Cost of Being Special (Survival of the Fittest Book 1)

by Shawn Keys

  Stroking Megan’s leg, he grunted as he slipped free of her. He leaned down and kissed her bare leg. “That was amazing, Ms. Clarke.”

  She smiled up at him. “If that’s what you want, you can take it from me anytime, Mr. Hutchings.” Slowly, she rolled to the edge of the island, perching on the edge.

  Laura gave her a saucy grin.

  Danielle was nibbling her lip in arousal.

  Before either of them could speak, Ms. Clarke cut them off. “Ladies, fetch my pants, if you will?”

  Danielle’s lips parted, searching for something to say… something that might be like ‘Laura submitted, but not me!’

  Laura was searching as well, though her face reddened with a blush, knowing she had submitted once and hadn’t intended to make a habit of it.

  Ms. Clarke arched an eyebrow at them both. “Now, ladies.”

  Laura swallowed. She raced to pluck the yoga pants and trapped panties off the ground. Spreading them between her and Danielle, the two helped roll the lycra material up her legs until they got them up near their teacher’s hips and behind.

  Ms. Clarke slipped off the edge, standing on her feet while they finished the last bit of dressing her. She smiled at them, then leaned over to kiss Laura deliberately. The red-head submitted to having her mouth claimed. Turning the other way, Danielle gave a small pout, the fraction of resistance. Ms. Clarke raised that eyebrow again. Danielle whimpered, then leaned in. Ms. Clarke sampled her lips as well with a lingering desire. Then, she whispered, “Soon, we’ll get to know each other better.” She tossed her head. “Go on out. We’ll be there soon.”

  Laura fled the room immediately, obeying.

  Danielle flushed red and glanced at Kyle as if seeking his permission too. He nodded supportively. Realizing both Kyle and Megan were united in what they wanted, she smiled shyly and slipped through the door as well.

  Standing straight again, Megan faced Kyle. “I’ll get these girls in line for you, I promise.”

  Kyle whistled. “That was… well, that was amazing. Not sure Danielle is ready for anything too… aggressive, though.”

  Megan leaned in to him and offered her mouth. Kyle kissed her softly. Then Megan answered in a husky voice, “I know. Not every girl is the same. Laura needs a firm hand, but I think Danielle is a lover-not-a-fighter type. I won’t play the same games.”

  Kyle smiled. “Good.” Was Megan deferring to him? Giving him the right to set his own boundaries that she would follow?

  Megan asked, “Where do you see Dazz in all this?”

  Kyle hadn’t fully expected that. “She’s one of my best friends. And she just lost her family. That means she is part of mine. Whatever happens.”

  Megan arched an eyebrow. “You’ve never wanted her?”

  Kyle blushed a little. “I’ve had my fantasies. If she ever said she wanted to, I’d probably be naked before she finished talking. But it isn’t necessary. If…” He tried to figure out how to say it. “If this is a sort of family we’re building, however it comes about, then she’s a part of it. Sex or not. If you want to do right by me, then help me figure out a way to include her.” He smirked. “Being fugitives from the law is a great start. She’s a rebel through and through. She’s been quiet because her parents died, but she is a fireball inside.”

  Megan nodded. “OK. I think I understand.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. Whatever happens, we’ll care for her as much as anyone else. If she means that much to you, then she is a part of us.” She let out a satisfied smile. “Shall we go in and see what they’ve found?”

  Kyle was reeling, leaning back against the nearby cupboards. This could be possible. It could really all happen. All we have to do… well, all we have to do it care for each other.

  Shaking his head, clearing all that away, he focused on what needed to be done. His libido had been satisfied for the moment, which let him think clearly despite the sizzlingly hot women surrounding him. “Grab the coffee.” He stopped, then chuckled. “Though by the end of this, I think we might need something stronger.” He exhaled slowly, trying to calm his breathing from the whole, intense encounter. I know I will!

  * * *

  Amanda whispered sneakily to her husband, “Steve!”

  None of the small group had gone to any of the bedrooms. They didn’t trust the agents enough to be out of view of each other. Riley and Nathan were curled up on a couch, passed out. Chloe was whispering softly to Steve, talking about some random tidbit of trivia about gardening, a shared hobby they had somehow connected on.

  Amanda sidled up to them. She had been browsing her phone when the text from her son came in. She had gawked at it for a full minute before it really struck home. “Look at this,” she continued to whisper. “Kyle finally sent us something.”

  Steve sucked in a breath. “Really? Can I see?” He was already turning to look.

  Chloe crowded in as well, too curious not to get involved. A second later, she hissed, “He isn’t saying anything! What does he mean ‘be careful’?”

  Amanda pursed her lips. “He’s worried we’re not the only ones seeing this…”

  The door from outside smashed open. Heavy boots treaded on the hardwood coming into the room. Agent Niles appeared, looking grim. Four other unknown agents bracketed her in a show of intimidation. Jack Lawson was nowhere to be seen; he’d been pretending to be the engaging, friendly agent. Niles had been holding back for this moment, to be the ‘heavy’, Amanda guessed.

  Niles’ focus zeroed in on Amanda. “Give me the phone, Mrs. Hutchings.”

  For a second, Amanda didn’t understand.

  Steve did, and he barked at them, “Have you been watching us on camera? You didn’t even give us a chance to show you the text!”

  Ignoring him, Niles stalked in on Amanda. “Hand over the phone, Mrs. Hutchings. This situation is unstable. Information taken out of context will only cause problems. We’ll handle communications with your son.”

  Amanda was ready to fight, winding up to launch into a debate.

  Niles saw it coming. Without offering a single further argument, she slipped her pistol out of its holster. “This discussion will only go one of two ways, Mrs. Hutchings. In both cases, I end up with your phone.”

  That was all.

  But Amanda believed her. She was no hero. Tears stood in her eyes as she pleaded once more, “This is my only way to talk to him! Please, I’ll show you everything he sends!”

  Niles squeezed on the pistol grip, her knuckles whitening. She didn’t even bring it up on aim.

  Amanda snapped it out in front of her. “Fine! Take it!”

  Niles took hold of it, dragging it from Amanda’s tight fingers. She considered the screen, seeing it locked. The agent gave another sigh. “What’s the password, Mrs. Hutchings?’

  Frustrated that her act of locked-screen rebellion wasn’t going to last, Amanda gritted her teeth and spoke through a clenched jaw. “9-7-0-1-2-3.”

  Niles tapped it in, making sure the screen opened. Then, she entered the settings screen and changed the password to her own choice. She nodded in satisfaction. “We appreciate your cooperation. It may not seem like it at the moment, but this is for the best.” Niles turned and left, taking her enforcers with her.

  Amanda collapsed against Steve’s chest. “Oh, honey, what are we going to do?”

  He didn’t have any answers. None of this was making sense to him either.

  Chapter 14

  Kyle strolled back into the living room, doing his best not to look like the lord of all creation who had just ravished the beautiful woman he had idolized for the last year. “Sorry we took so long.”

  Dazz rolled her eyes. “I mean, couldn’t you hold off until we were in bed? I’m all the way downstairs. I could have pulled a pillow over my head and wouldn’t have heard a thing. You know, like last night.” She feigned pure annoyance, but there was significant teasing rolled into it.

  Yvette openly pouted. “Two nights in a row?” She looked ready t
o call Megan greedy again.

  Kyle jumped in, not about to get into the exact details. “All of that is… very complicated.”

  Laura slipped a shy smile toward Megan, then grinned. “Very!”

  Kyle saw things slipping away again. “Dazz, please, what did you find? Anything at all? I mean, like, anything?”

  Dazz let him suffer a few seconds longer, then saved him, “Too much. I might never sleep again.”

  All of them shifted to claim seats, eager to hear the story. Danielle tossed her legs over a lazy-boy chair and asked, “I take it Ms. Laurier was able to do the translation?” Her voice nudged the others.

  Kyle realized what was missing. Introductions “Oh, sorry. Yvette Laurier is the French and Linguistics teacher at the college. Yvette Laurier, we’re all at the school. Not sure how many of us are in your classes, but this is Danielle Nyqvist and Laura Greene.” He didn’t bother introducing Dazz, figuring they had already done so while he was out of the room.

  Yvette passed a friendly wave to the two young women. “I remember. I’ve seen them at the games performing. You’re both very talented.” Her warm smile suggested she might have appreciated them in their uniforms as much as for their acrobatic skills. Leaving them to deal with that, Yvette said to Kyle, “Everything I told you before is being confirmed by every email we translate. Maybe it’s not quite as bad as we thought. Still hard to say. But it isn’t good.”

  Dazz pointed at the screen. “Let’s start with the program. Linking in all the email cross-talk, we don’t need to actually see the program output to know what it does. Once Doctor Erinson woman mapped a man’s genes, she homed in on the markers she needed to ensure the only two things she cared about: if he was fertile, and if he carried any massive genetic disorders that would negate him as helpful to population growth. Normally, that would be it. The file would be archived. Instead, these parasites cooked up software that leverages her work for something totally different. They are checking for all sorts of things: height, eye and hair color, near-or-far sightedness, muscle density… and those are only the things I see them discussing here. There is probably more.”

  Yvette took over smoothly, “Their ‘philosophy’, if you could call it that, is a horrible mix of two things. On one side, it is typical eugenics clap-trap. Making people better. Stripping out undesirable content. Making us taller. Faster. Better. Stronger. You get the idea.” She shrugged. “It would be easy to get onboard with that. Lots of people want to eliminate diseases, and not many people wearing glasses wouldn’t love to cure that, right? Hard to argue against giving your future children advantages.”

  Megan nodded. “History is full of these stories. Typically, that’s how eugenicists win you over: playing on your good intentions.”

  Yvette went on, “Yes. Which leads to the second half. The conversation goes from objective things like taking away disease to subjective ones. Eye color. Skin color. Body type. Need I say more?”

  Danielle shivered. “That’s an endless pit of terrible.”

  It took a moment for them all to absorb that.

  Recovering a little, Kyle leaned in, “Did they make Persterim?”

  Dazz clearly wished she knew. “I’m sorry, Kyle. Nothing we’ve found so far says one way or the other. We aren’t even scratching the surface, but nothing so far.”

  Yvette suggested, “Most of the chatter we can see are people at the same level as these agents. It is possible that only a small ring of important people knows if Persterim was invented. That is sensitive information that not everyone would be happy with, even among their own kind.”

  Dazz added, “Either way, they are obviously taking advantage of it. And that’s not the worst of it.”

  “Oh?”

  Dazz tapped the screen again. “They pretty much own the CDC team working on it. It’s a mixture of positioning their own scientists and strong-arming the others. Over time, I’m sure they’ll all be replaced. They are strangling any effort to find a cure.”

  Kyle hung his head. “Well, crap.”

  Laura spoke up, “I know that sucks, but there is a bit of good news, too.” When the others gawked at her, the red-head proved the cheerleader exterior shouldn’t fool them into thinking she was an idiot. “Well, it means they don’t control everything, right? I mean, if it was the President and the CIA and everybody else, then they wouldn’t have to sneak around so much.”

  Megan supported her, “We can hope. Then again, if this got out, people would go nuts. Even the President wouldn’t admit to being a part of this.”

  Danielle gasped a little. “And people wouldn’t know who to get mad at. There would be riots out of pure frustration. I mean, I don’t even know who to get mad at right now! I mean, other than those uber-agents that are stalking us.”

  Kyle zeroed in on that. “Right. Whoever else knows, these FDPC agents are definitely in on it. Can you tell how far that goes?”

  Dazz said, “Not from just the email addresses. They’re being smart: those email addresses are made up from randomly assigned numbers, not names. Many of them have developed nicknames for each other instead of using the numbers, but they aren’t using actual names.” She shrugged. “If anyone cares, Lawson is known as BigBear, and Niles is Cannon.”

  Yvette took over as she shifted to talking about the conversations themselves rather than the technical elements of the emails. “The FDPC has been widely infiltrated. That much is clear. But the people on this site have stolen a couple terms from other conspiracy movements. They refer to themselves as ‘woke’ and the ones not involved as ‘sleepers’. Obviously, none of them are using percentages or any specifics that we can figure out. But they talk like they are at risk; like they are the minority, or at least not so powerful that if they are discovered, it wouldn’t cause massive trouble.”

  Laura perked up. “So, we can out them?”

  Megan offered the sober second thought she had told Yvette she would. “We have to prove this. Do you know how many conspiracy theories exist? We can’t just phone the district office and explain it flat out. We could be talking to one of these miscreants. And if not, they’d dispatch a padded van to haul us off to the asylum before they would start combing their ranks for eugenicists.”

  Kyle nodded. “True. Too bad we don’t have access to this site. All we have are these screen captures. Some people might be convinced, but others will say we faked it all. We need live access to show the authorities the system running.”

  Dazz shrugged. “Even that might not be enough. Are they going to find their own expert on Ancient Greek to read it all?”

  Yvette sighed. “There are maybe five people in the western U.S. who could do that fluently. Maybe twice that who are at my level. Anyone in Washington state looking for an expert would probably have come to me!”

  Megan sighed. “And now, you’re in on it, so no-one will believe you.”

  Yvette nodded. “They’ll probably suspect I was hired as an expert to help fake it all.”

  Kyle growled. “Everything we do to expose this makes it look more like a scam. I hate this.”

  Silence fell again over the group. The weight of what they were facing was hitting home.

  Laura voiced what they were all thinking. She blew a stray strand of red hair out of her face and asked, “So what do we do now? What can we do now?”

  Kyle pushed off the couch, shaking his head. “We need time to think. It’s damned late. I’m not really thinking straight.” He gave his head a shake. “Let’s take a break. Let the coffee soak in. Maybe something will come to us. If nothing, maybe some sleep.” He paced toward the front door. “I need to check my phone. I’m hoping to see if my parents are OK. They should have texted me by now. Can we put a fork in this for a few hours?”

  Danielle smiled up at him, already looking sleepy cuddled into the arm-chair. “Want company?”

  He stroked her shoulder on his way past. “No, it’s alright. I need the time to think. I won’t be long, but I need to put a li
ttle distance between me and the house. Bad enough I’ll be in the neighborhood if they can trace us. I won’t turn it on for long.”

  Yvette and Dazz were already tucking in against each other to get a better look at the screen. Dazz still looked like she had a bit of a flutter to her breath when the gorgeous French woman leaned too close.

  Megan stood and stretched a little. “Come on, Laura.”

  Laura had been content to lounge in place. Her eyes darted up to the matron of the house. “Hmm?” It came out almost like a squeak.

  Megan said almost matter-of-factly. “I need a bath. You’re going to give me one.” She swayed over to Kyle, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “Enjoy your walk. Don’t get lost, alright?” She strolled up the steps.

  Laura’s mouth gaped open like a startled fish. For a long second, she didn’t move.

  From up the steps, Megan called, “Don’t make me ask twice, Laura!”

  Her eyes darted to Danielle.

  Danielle opened her eyes into slits, giving her a small smile. “You started it with her.” She settled back in.

  Laura glanced to the coffee table.

  Dazz snickered. Nothing more. She kept working.

  Yvette raised an eyebrow. “Best not to keep her waiting. Trust me, I’d know.”

  Swallowing hard, Laura slinked past Kyle. “Come save me later?”

  Kyle smiled at her, drawing her to a stop. He touched his lips to hers, not heavily but in a clear sign of lingering passion. When they parted, he answered with a rumble of desire under his tone, “I’ll come share you later.”

  A flirtatious smile crossed her face. Then, she hurried up the stairs, not about to keep Ms. Clarke waiting any longer.

  Kyle grinned. That was some serious temptation to make his walk as short as possible.

  Grabbing his coat, he cracked the door and walked out into the night. Propping up his collar to cut down the light wind, he meandered out to the street. It was a brisk night, but it helped cool the haze of lust that the women conjured around him. His status as one of the ‘lucky few’ was throwing the whole world out of whack. There was no way he deserved this.