Backlash: Prequel to The Wildblood Series (9 page)

Civilians wouldn't hear the word 'helicopter' from anyone in Security, not concerning this incident.

“Is this the same debriefing Wade got, a year ago?” Mac wondered.

Perro regarded him for a moment.  “Not exactly.  But then, you aren't exactly similar to Capt. Wade, now are you?  Questions.”

Mac shook his head.  “I'm the odd man out, concerning Team Three.”

“No, you aren't.  You're different.”

“Different than you, or different than my team?”

“Both,” Perro confirmed. 

“I'm Gen En,” Mac went defensive.

“Yes, but not like your team.  Not like any other Gen En in The Vista.  Hell, Capt. MacKenzie, you were pretty much an urban legend to us, until you hit puberty.”

Mac wasn't sure what any of that meant.  “Enlighten me, Commander.”

“As best I can.  The things we discuss will be confidential, and I mean between you and Command, not you, Command, and your team.”

Mac nodded.  “I know there are things about us, about the Gen En, Command knows because some members were involved.”

Perro tipped his head, neither denying or confirming.

“Are we human?”

“Yes.”

“Why am I so different?”

“Some corporations experimenting with human genetic manipulation were less cautious than others.  They ignored safeties and control parameters and, well, did what they wanted.  You are the result.  Does this mean anything to you?”

“No, it doesn't,” Mac told him.  The thing was, now that he'd heard it, he could find out.

“We want all three of you in Command, and in time, that will happen.  Each of you will have training that's specific to your abilities.  Said training will be separate from your team members but you will have other Security officers involved.”

“To what end?”  Mac knew there had to be a point to it all.

“Being in Command and current Security Officers, you can carry out missions no one else is qualified for.  Missions Council is uninvolved in.  Our goal, our plan for the next five to ten years is to establish a community, one that will be outside the influence of the Council.”

“Can we do that?”

“Any village or outpost beyond our established boundaries will be under the control of Command,” Perro told him.  “Team Three is perfect for the job, first because of the Gen En, obviously; you're already trained for basic Security, and you're young enough to finish what we start.”

“Again.  Why?”

“That's a simple question with a complicated answer.”  Perro considered how detailed an answer he wanted to reveal at this point.  “You will accept your nomination in to Command?”

“Absolutely,” Mac said without hesitation.

“Just as Command has its secrets, so does the Council.  All of these clandestine activities have their reasons, of course.  Council has hidden things from the general population, since the very inception of The Vista.”

“What sort of things?  Gen En things?” Mac was quick to surmise.

“No.  Again, the genetically enhanced are very little more that rumors from the past, at this point.  Our concern is other cities, other places like The Vista we know are out there but we have no contact with out of fear of what might be.”

Mac absorbed his words, a flurry of complications and implications filling his mind.  “How many cities?  How many people?”  For as long as he could remember, The Vista was the only place in the world, and its four thousand people, the only ones he'd ever know.

“We estimate there could be fifty thousand people within a summer's traveling distance of here.”

A generation ago, there had been over eight billion humans – a number Mac couldn't even fathom.  Fifty thousand he could.  “Fear of what, exactly?”

“Exactly?” Perro repeated, crossing his arms.  MacKenzie might not be the quiet one, but he was just as sharp as Wade and certainly more dangerous.  “Fear that the things causing the war haven't been resolved.  Fear that there will be enemies rather than allies.  Fear that we won't be able to control everything that happens here. This last incident, this attack by forces that may or may not have been military-trained people, it could be backlash from the war itself.  So could the detonation on Missouri Breaks.  We don't know.  These are the reason for our caution and our concern.”

“We've never had control,” Mac said, puzzled by the idea of it.

“No,” Perro agreed.  “And that is precisely why Command wants you.”

Mac didn't see any other choice.

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