Cheating Time (Longevity, #1)

by T. R. Graves

Chapter 12

  From Dreams to Reality

  Carlie

  Gran put his fingers to his lips. "She was still asleep," he said, insinuating that our big mouths might have awakened her.

  Jayden's face and neck were as red as my cheeks as Gran leveled a knowing stare on the two of us.

  "I'm sorry, sir. I fell asleep," he confessed.

  I stepped around him and toward Gran. "That's not true. Jayden would never do anything like that. This is all my fault. Last night when it began raining the worst, we took refuge in his tent because it was the biggest one. He only agreed to go to sleep if I stood watch… which is exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

  "At some point, I-I fell asleep. I'm the one who fell down on the job. Not Jayden," I confessed.

  Gran's head bobbed. "Not to worry, little one. I've been watching over the camp. The two of you have been doing too much, carrying too much of the weight, expecting too much of yourselves. The best advice I can give is to set realistic expectations of yourselves and each other. While the safe house is the end of the journey for Tawney and me… for now, it is just the beginning for the two of you. I'll tell you more about what I know once we arrive. Right now, you need to know that we'll soon be separated."

  One glance Jayden's way told me this was as much news to him as it was to me.

  "Gran, we're not leaving either of you. We've already had to separate from Mom and Dad. We aren't going to separate our family any more than that," I said, only barely keeping my voice down.

  Patient as ever, Gran smiled. "I understand, little one, but this is something you must do. Tawney and I have our own journey, one that must be taken. After we're at the safe house, the two of you will continue on. There'll be people who'll pick you up and take you down the path you're destined to follow. It's not one Selma or Sam knows about. At least, they don't know yet. In fact, I'm only just learning of these plans myself."

  This time Jayden intervened. "Sir, I'm taking all of you to the safe house just like I was ordered to do. From there, I'm going to wait for additional orders. No one'll leave that safe house until Sam approves it."

  "Surrogate, I know Barone. I've seen his work in action. He's notorious for preying on my kindhearted granddaughter's emotions and my grandson-in-law's soldier loyalty. Barone tells your mother what she wants to hear, gets her to do things she'd never do otherwise, and then uses her hard work to send our nation deeper into the bowels of hell than we've already traveled."

  Bobbing his forehead my way, he continued. "Selma thinks Barone will leave Carlie alone if she resumes her work in his labs. Sam thinks he'll honor his word. The fact is… Barone'll never leave Carlie alone. He has plans for her. Experiments he can't perform with anyone else or on anyone else."

  Jayden shook his head and closed his eyes as if it were up to him to enlighten my grandfather. "Sir, neither Sam nor Selma would let him do that. If they aren't around, I'll prevent it."

  "You'll prevent it." Gran laughed. "You… a Surrogate. The only person a Surrogate has power over is a Genetic Anomaly. If Barone doesn't kill you first, he'll have you chained, shackled, and prisoned. You won't be able to stop him or his plans for my great granddaughter. No one will if you don't do what I tell you to do."

  Neither Jayden nor I had ever seen this side of my great-grandfather. He was unusually cruel in the way he spoke to Jayden and completely determined that we hear his message.

  "She's the original MicroPharm first generation and the only person alive whose life expectancy will top two hundred years. Carlie, in Barone's eyes, is the modern day Eve, the woman from which all future generations will be bred.

  "You have to understand that he's been quoted as a man searching for someone with the genes that will allow him to make this a nation of eternal youth, absolute strength, superior intelligence, and unfathomable riches.

  "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 experimen
ts. 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 go
ing 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.

  Gran pretended as if he'd never said anything about his plans for me. He walked over to Tawney and palmed her cheeks before kissing her forehead. I watched him closely and knew his every move was that of him assessing her. Face to face, he looked into her eyes. With his hands, he felt her skin. With his lips, he checked her temperature.

  After his infinitesimal nod, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Tawney was good for travel today. For that, I was grateful. Before either of them stepped away from each other, I turned around and began taking down the tents.

  Over my shoulder, I issued orders, making sure Tawney's chores were the least taxing and included things like folding sleeping bags and helping me pack everything. She was more than willing to assist.

  Soon, the camp was packed and Jayden was still nowhere around. I pretended as if that was not a problem. The best use of our time would have been that of grabbing something to eat and hydrating. Just when I was about to go foraging in Jayden's pack, Gran stepped in front of us and handed us two foil packs of ready to eat military rations.

  Grinning, Tawney and I looked at each other like we'd just been given Christmas stockings instead of packets filled with honey-glazed granola and freeze-dried strawberries, blueberries, and pineapples.

  In other words, heaven on Earth.

  Before long, the Ohs and Ahs of how wonderful the fruit tasted was too much for Gran. He ripped his own bag open and tested out the fruits we'd been gushed over.

  "These are a lot tastier than I remember," Gran said, grinning, after trying a pineapple.

  At the same time, we all heard a limb creak and turned in the direction from which it came. A miserable Jayden stood staring at us like he thought we'd all lost our minds. Determined to lighten Jayden's mood also, I grabbed one of the granola packs, tore into it, and offered it to him as the only olive branch I had at my disposal.

  He just stared at it. Then he stared at me. Like me, he wanted to talk, but we both knew a private discussion wasn't possible while Tawney and Gran were focused on us and our every word.

  Timid, I smiled, and with it, he softened, took the granola from me, and popped a few clusters into his mouth. When his brows rose, I knew he was as surprised as me that the food was so good.

  "Sir, I didn't realize you had these types of rations," Jayden said to Gran.

  My great-grandfather shrugged. "I paid attention while we spent years' worth of weekends in survival training."

  Suddenly suspicious, Jayden rounded on Gran. "Did you have these every weekend, sir?"

  Gran chuckled. "Surrogate, I tried to endure the wild game and found eggs you and Sam were able to provide, but after about six months, I found out there were better options, ones Sam would never agree to because he wanted us to survive off nature. It was the reason we were out there. I ate tiny portions of the camp meals and used these packs to supplement my diet."

  Jayden smirked. "You know… Sam swore you were doing just that, and I told him you'd never undermine our training like that."

  With a mischievous glint in his eye, Gran shrugged. "Now you know."

  As if seeing my great-grandfather in a new light, Jayden replied, "I've learned all kinds of things about you today, sir. That's for sure." Turning back into the soldier charged with our safety, his eyes landed on Tawney and me. "Now, let's get moving. We've wasted enough of our daylight hours."

  Without a backward glance, Jayden grabbed his pack and headed out. We followed his lead, picking up ours and trailing behind him.