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Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
The Tender Side of The Heart
part 6
By Sarah Elizabeth
Broots opened his laptop and checked his messages. No answer yet, but he had found out that Anastasia was one of the best hackers in the world and that no one had ever been able to find any traces of the actual person. She had apparently been under investigation by several agencies but all of the cases had died for lack of information. She was just the type of person to be involved with The Centre.
“Broots!” Miss Parker snapped as she stormed into the tech room. “What’ve you got for me?”
“Well, prodigy two was an attempt to determine the exact genetic connection between natural born pretenders,” Broots said. “They impregnated 50 surrogates with embryos made from Jarod’s sperm. There were 8 with the genetic anomaly present in their blood. The other pregnancies were terminated. Three of the babies died in the womb. The other 5 were born between September and November of 1974. They were kept together in SL-27. The program was run by Mr. Raines. Sarah was the first born. There’s no other information about the others.
“Keep on it!” Miss Parker said as she left the room.
******************************************************************
Sarah dialed Jarod’s number. While she didn’t feel comfortable bringing Sydney in on the operation, her father was one of the best pretenders in the world and right now she could use all the help she could get.
“This is Jarod,” Sarah’s father said.
“Dad,” Sarah said. “Don’t hang up!”
“I’m listening,” Jarod said.
“Meet me at Central Park in New York. 5:00pm,” Sarah said. “I’ll explain everything.”
“I’ll be there,” Jarod answered.
They both hung up and Sarah started packing. She was hoping to be gone before Sydney and Anthony returned.
******************************************************************
“I want to see my mommy!” Paul shouted in Mr. Lyle’s face.
“Mommy’s not here right now,” Lyle answered him. “But it’s okay. I’m your daddy. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“No! I want Grandpa and Mommy.”
Paul looked at Lyle defiantly as if daring him to say another word. Lyle flinched slightly before roughly pulling the toddler into his arms and dropping him into a nearby crib.
The crib had been altered so that an additional set of bars could be pulled up to cover the top and locked down with a padlock. Paul sat in his cage and kicked the bars.
“Just like your mother,” Lyle muttered under his breath. “Always fighting fate. But eventually you’ll give in just like her.”
Lyle left the room. He could hardly wait for Sarah to give into her maternal instincts. Then he would have them both under his control.
******************************************************************
Broots watched the DSA he’d found for the Prodigy 2 project in horror as Miss Parker stood over him. The threat made by Raines to Sarah was not a surprise, but the fact that he ordered a child murdered in front of her despite her compliance gave him a jolt. He put the next one in the machine and watched Sydney appear.
“Seven months since the deaths of the other children,” Sydney was saying. “And Sarah still refuses to cooperate in any way. I fear for her safety. I don’t know what will happen to her if she continues to defy the Triumverate.”
Sydney moved away from the camera and Sarah could be seen throwing a food tray at one of the sweepers. The slimy green mix of wheat grass, tomatoes and bean sprouts could be seen sliding down his suit as Sarah said, “If you want me to eat then bring me real food!”
“Well she’s doesn’t let people push her around,” Miss Parker said proudly. “Jarod told me that I was her mother.”
Broots looked up in surprise and Miss Parker smiled at him with satisfaction having gotten the desired reaction.
“Like mother. Like daughter,” Broots finally mumbled.
******************************************************************
“Are you planning a trip without us?” Sydney asked as he watched Sarah close her suitcase.
“Just some business to take care of,” Sarah answered.
“Business more important than Paul?” Sydney questioned.
“It has to do with my son Sydney, but I have to take care of this myself.”
“I want to help you Sarah,” Sydney said. “But I have to know what’s going on.”
“Hold on,” Sarah said. “I’ll bring you in, but I have to make a call first.”
Sarah quickly dialed the familiar number. “Jason, It’s Sarah. It looks like I’ll be bringing Sydney with me after all, and a child who’s with him. Sydney might need protection. We should be there by morning… Don’t worry I’ll take all of the necessary precautions.”
“What was that about?” Sydney asked.
“Just talking to a friend. That’s all you need know for now,” Sarah answered him. “Let’s go!”
“Where are we going?” Sydney asked.
“Central park to meet Jarod.” Sarah answered.
Just at that moment Sarah’s phone rang. It was Raines. “Where is my son?” Sarah demanded to know.
“Safe,” Mr. Raines replied. “For now.”
“Let me talk to him,” Sarah said. “So I know he’s okay.”
There was a pause and some background noise. “Hi Mommy,” Paul said.
“Hi baby,” Sarah answered as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“Mommy when you coming to get me?” Paul asked.
“Soon baby, Mommy will be there soon,” Sarah answered him. “Be good until I get there.”
“You talked to him,” Raines said.
“I want him back now!” Sarah said.
“The Triumverate ordered this,” Raines said. “I can’t release him. Just come back home and all will be forgiven.”
Suddenly Sarah heard another voice come up from the background. “Is that Lyle with you?” Sarah demanded to know.
“Yes,” Raines said. “Why?”
“Let me talk to him,” she said. There was movement in the background and Lyle came on the line.
“Hello, Sarah,” Lyle said smoothly. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah,” Sarah answered. “Almost three years.”
“Now,” Lyle said. “Be a good girl and come back home and we’ll find a good home for Paul. Hell, I might even take him in.”
“If you lay one hand on my son,” Sarah said. “I’ll see to it that you’re running from the Triumverate for the rest of your life. Wouldn’t they like to know how you’ve been screwing with their projects, literally. I’m not ten years old any more and I’m not a slave anymore, so don’t screw with me or I’ll make your torturous murders look like mercy killings.”
“You’d better watch who you mess with Sarah,” Lyle said. “Or your son could get hurt. Don’t threaten me. And weather or not you belong to The Centre is a difference of opinion.”
“Slavery is a state of mind Lyle,” Sarah answered him. “And if I tell my parents who molested me and got me pregnant five times you’ll experience it right before you die.”
“Even if you knew who your parents were they couldn’t touch me,” Lyle responded.
“But I do know who my parents are and they have been right under your nose for years. Give me back my son, or you will wish you’d never been born.”
Sarah hung up the phone and grabbed her bag. Sydney and Anthony were following close behind.
They drove in silence until Sydney finally spoke. “You know who your parents are?”
“Don’t you?” Sarah asked him.
“No,” Sydney answered. “They just said that your parents died in a car accident.
“They lied,” Sarah responded. “Jarod and Miss Parker are my parents. That’s why the Triumverate never terminated my program. I was a good hostage. Mr. Parker had it done before Miss Parker was sent away to school. I was to ensure her unwavering loyalty.”
“Why aren’t I surprised,” Sydney thought to himself.”
They had arrived at the park entrance and pulled into a parking spot. While Sydney put change into the meter Sarah searched the immediate vicinity for her father hoping that he was not too far from the main entrance. When she didn’t find him she turned around and suddenly he was there.
“Hi Dad,” Sarah said.
“Hello,” Jarod answered. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing an old friend with you.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Sarah explained. “He saw me packing and decided he was going.”
“Where are we going?” Jarod asked.
“To The Refuge,” Sarah said.
“Refuge?” Sydney and Jarod said together.
“Probably the only place in the world,” Sarah told them. “That’s safe from The Centre.” Sarah pulled two black bags out of her purse. “Get in the car and put these on. If you take them off I’ll have to drop you off where we are. I’ll be doing lots of backtracking and taking back roads so it will be a while before we get there.”
“Why the blindfolds,” Jarod asked. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Security policy,” Sarah answered him. “No one knows our location until they have been officially accepted into the organization.”
“Sounds like The Centre,” Jarod mumbled.
“Not quite,” Sarah said. “You’re free to leave at any time, but if you betray us the penalty is death.”
Sarah’s phone rang. “This is Sarah. What? Really!.. That’s great Jason. Tell Chris I really appreciate the news… Assemble a rescue team and send them in. Take volunteers, but don’t make participation an order. They are risking recapture and I won’t order anyone to do that. Not even for Paul. Let me know when he’s safe. We’ll be at headquarters A.S.A.P.”
“One of our inside people has found a way to get a team in and out unnoticed.” Sarah explained to her father and Sydney. “If all goes well, Paul should be waiting for us when we arrive.”
“That’s great Sarah,” Jarod said. “Let’s go.”
******************************************************************
“Miss Parker,” Broots called anxiously. “Look at this.”
Miss Parker looked at the screen and then looked at Broots. “What is it?”
“A Security breach,” Broots answered. “Someone has been instantaneously copying every file that passes through all of The Centre’s computers from the outside. It’s amazing I’ve never seen anything like it. They would have had to set it up from the inside.”
“Great,” Miss Parker responded. “What’s a security breach got to do with Prodigy 2?”
“I think Sarah set it up,” Broots responded. “If she did then she can override Centre security including the cameras and access anything she wants in the system.”
“Find out if the Triumverate knows about this,” Miss Parker said. “If they think Sarah can access everything, they won’t care about keeping me here. They’ll just want Sarah dead.”
“I’m right on it,” Broots said with concern. “And Miss Parker, don’t worry. Sarah’s safe with Jarod.”
Miss Parker exited the room in silence praying that Broots was right.
******************************************************************
Anthony sat half asleep between Jarod and Sydney. Sarah had explained a lot to them in the last several hours. Including the fact that Kyle, Jarod’s brother had actually started the “Refuge” program and built it up to what it was today. Sarah herself had learned to override Centre security after all of her siblings were gone and had been leaving the Centre for days and even weeks at a time since she was fourteen years old. Because she had always had the tendency to disappear into the air shafts, for long periods of time her longer disappearances had not raised much suspicion, especially since she had stopped cooperating long before and every attempt to restrain her had resulted in a full blown escape attempt. That combined with the fact of Miss Parker’s full loyalty at the time had caused those in charge to decide to leave her free to explore the bowels of the Centre with Angelo.
After three Vehicle changes and a plane ride followed by two more vehicle changes, they finally arrived. They had been informed a couple hours before their arrival that the rescue attempt had been successful and that Chris’ cover was still protected.
Jarod and Sydney were led through an open field and down a long flight of steps. At the bottom their blindfolds were removed and Sarah led them towards an elevator. Suddenly the door opened and Paul came running towards them.
“Mommy!” Paul shouted as he ran into Sarah’s arms.
“Hi baby!” Sarah responded as she held him close. “Have you been good while I was gone?”
THE END!!!
part 6
By Sarah Elizabeth
Broots opened his laptop and checked his messages. No answer yet, but he had found out that Anastasia was one of the best hackers in the world and that no one had ever been able to find any traces of the actual person. She had apparently been under investigation by several agencies but all of the cases had died for lack of information. She was just the type of person to be involved with The Centre.
“Broots!” Miss Parker snapped as she stormed into the tech room. “What’ve you got for me?”
“Well, prodigy two was an attempt to determine the exact genetic connection between natural born pretenders,” Broots said. “They impregnated 50 surrogates with embryos made from Jarod’s sperm. There were 8 with the genetic anomaly present in their blood. The other pregnancies were terminated. Three of the babies died in the womb. The other 5 were born between September and November of 1974. They were kept together in SL-27. The program was run by Mr. Raines. Sarah was the first born. There’s no other information about the others.
“Keep on it!” Miss Parker said as she left the room.
******************************************************************
Sarah dialed Jarod’s number. While she didn’t feel comfortable bringing Sydney in on the operation, her father was one of the best pretenders in the world and right now she could use all the help she could get.
“This is Jarod,” Sarah’s father said.
“Dad,” Sarah said. “Don’t hang up!”
“I’m listening,” Jarod said.
“Meet me at Central Park in New York. 5:00pm,” Sarah said. “I’ll explain everything.”
“I’ll be there,” Jarod answered.
They both hung up and Sarah started packing. She was hoping to be gone before Sydney and Anthony returned.
******************************************************************
“I want to see my mommy!” Paul shouted in Mr. Lyle’s face.
“Mommy’s not here right now,” Lyle answered him. “But it’s okay. I’m your daddy. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“No! I want Grandpa and Mommy.”
Paul looked at Lyle defiantly as if daring him to say another word. Lyle flinched slightly before roughly pulling the toddler into his arms and dropping him into a nearby crib.
The crib had been altered so that an additional set of bars could be pulled up to cover the top and locked down with a padlock. Paul sat in his cage and kicked the bars.
“Just like your mother,” Lyle muttered under his breath. “Always fighting fate. But eventually you’ll give in just like her.”
Lyle left the room. He could hardly wait for Sarah to give into her maternal instincts. Then he would have them both under his control.
******************************************************************
Broots watched the DSA he’d found for the Prodigy 2 project in horror as Miss Parker stood over him. The threat made by Raines to Sarah was not a surprise, but the fact that he ordered a child murdered in front of her despite her compliance gave him a jolt. He put the next one in the machine and watched Sydney appear.
“Seven months since the deaths of the other children,” Sydney was saying. “And Sarah still refuses to cooperate in any way. I fear for her safety. I don’t know what will happen to her if she continues to defy the Triumverate.”
Sydney moved away from the camera and Sarah could be seen throwing a food tray at one of the sweepers. The slimy green mix of wheat grass, tomatoes and bean sprouts could be seen sliding down his suit as Sarah said, “If you want me to eat then bring me real food!”
“Well she’s doesn’t let people push her around,” Miss Parker said proudly. “Jarod told me that I was her mother.”
Broots looked up in surprise and Miss Parker smiled at him with satisfaction having gotten the desired reaction.
“Like mother. Like daughter,” Broots finally mumbled.
******************************************************************
“Are you planning a trip without us?” Sydney asked as he watched Sarah close her suitcase.
“Just some business to take care of,” Sarah answered.
“Business more important than Paul?” Sydney questioned.
“It has to do with my son Sydney, but I have to take care of this myself.”
“I want to help you Sarah,” Sydney said. “But I have to know what’s going on.”
“Hold on,” Sarah said. “I’ll bring you in, but I have to make a call first.”
Sarah quickly dialed the familiar number. “Jason, It’s Sarah. It looks like I’ll be bringing Sydney with me after all, and a child who’s with him. Sydney might need protection. We should be there by morning… Don’t worry I’ll take all of the necessary precautions.”
“What was that about?” Sydney asked.
“Just talking to a friend. That’s all you need know for now,” Sarah answered him. “Let’s go!”
“Where are we going?” Sydney asked.
“Central park to meet Jarod.” Sarah answered.
Just at that moment Sarah’s phone rang. It was Raines. “Where is my son?” Sarah demanded to know.
“Safe,” Mr. Raines replied. “For now.”
“Let me talk to him,” Sarah said. “So I know he’s okay.”
There was a pause and some background noise. “Hi Mommy,” Paul said.
“Hi baby,” Sarah answered as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“Mommy when you coming to get me?” Paul asked.
“Soon baby, Mommy will be there soon,” Sarah answered him. “Be good until I get there.”
“You talked to him,” Raines said.
“I want him back now!” Sarah said.
“The Triumverate ordered this,” Raines said. “I can’t release him. Just come back home and all will be forgiven.”
Suddenly Sarah heard another voice come up from the background. “Is that Lyle with you?” Sarah demanded to know.
“Yes,” Raines said. “Why?”
“Let me talk to him,” she said. There was movement in the background and Lyle came on the line.
“Hello, Sarah,” Lyle said smoothly. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah,” Sarah answered. “Almost three years.”
“Now,” Lyle said. “Be a good girl and come back home and we’ll find a good home for Paul. Hell, I might even take him in.”
“If you lay one hand on my son,” Sarah said. “I’ll see to it that you’re running from the Triumverate for the rest of your life. Wouldn’t they like to know how you’ve been screwing with their projects, literally. I’m not ten years old any more and I’m not a slave anymore, so don’t screw with me or I’ll make your torturous murders look like mercy killings.”
“You’d better watch who you mess with Sarah,” Lyle said. “Or your son could get hurt. Don’t threaten me. And weather or not you belong to The Centre is a difference of opinion.”
“Slavery is a state of mind Lyle,” Sarah answered him. “And if I tell my parents who molested me and got me pregnant five times you’ll experience it right before you die.”
“Even if you knew who your parents were they couldn’t touch me,” Lyle responded.
“But I do know who my parents are and they have been right under your nose for years. Give me back my son, or you will wish you’d never been born.”
Sarah hung up the phone and grabbed her bag. Sydney and Anthony were following close behind.
They drove in silence until Sydney finally spoke. “You know who your parents are?”
“Don’t you?” Sarah asked him.
“No,” Sydney answered. “They just said that your parents died in a car accident.
“They lied,” Sarah responded. “Jarod and Miss Parker are my parents. That’s why the Triumverate never terminated my program. I was a good hostage. Mr. Parker had it done before Miss Parker was sent away to school. I was to ensure her unwavering loyalty.”
“Why aren’t I surprised,” Sydney thought to himself.”
They had arrived at the park entrance and pulled into a parking spot. While Sydney put change into the meter Sarah searched the immediate vicinity for her father hoping that he was not too far from the main entrance. When she didn’t find him she turned around and suddenly he was there.
“Hi Dad,” Sarah said.
“Hello,” Jarod answered. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing an old friend with you.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Sarah explained. “He saw me packing and decided he was going.”
“Where are we going?” Jarod asked.
“To The Refuge,” Sarah said.
“Refuge?” Sydney and Jarod said together.
“Probably the only place in the world,” Sarah told them. “That’s safe from The Centre.” Sarah pulled two black bags out of her purse. “Get in the car and put these on. If you take them off I’ll have to drop you off where we are. I’ll be doing lots of backtracking and taking back roads so it will be a while before we get there.”
“Why the blindfolds,” Jarod asked. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Security policy,” Sarah answered him. “No one knows our location until they have been officially accepted into the organization.”
“Sounds like The Centre,” Jarod mumbled.
“Not quite,” Sarah said. “You’re free to leave at any time, but if you betray us the penalty is death.”
Sarah’s phone rang. “This is Sarah. What? Really!.. That’s great Jason. Tell Chris I really appreciate the news… Assemble a rescue team and send them in. Take volunteers, but don’t make participation an order. They are risking recapture and I won’t order anyone to do that. Not even for Paul. Let me know when he’s safe. We’ll be at headquarters A.S.A.P.”
“One of our inside people has found a way to get a team in and out unnoticed.” Sarah explained to her father and Sydney. “If all goes well, Paul should be waiting for us when we arrive.”
“That’s great Sarah,” Jarod said. “Let’s go.”
******************************************************************
“Miss Parker,” Broots called anxiously. “Look at this.”
Miss Parker looked at the screen and then looked at Broots. “What is it?”
“A Security breach,” Broots answered. “Someone has been instantaneously copying every file that passes through all of The Centre’s computers from the outside. It’s amazing I’ve never seen anything like it. They would have had to set it up from the inside.”
“Great,” Miss Parker responded. “What’s a security breach got to do with Prodigy 2?”
“I think Sarah set it up,” Broots responded. “If she did then she can override Centre security including the cameras and access anything she wants in the system.”
“Find out if the Triumverate knows about this,” Miss Parker said. “If they think Sarah can access everything, they won’t care about keeping me here. They’ll just want Sarah dead.”
“I’m right on it,” Broots said with concern. “And Miss Parker, don’t worry. Sarah’s safe with Jarod.”
Miss Parker exited the room in silence praying that Broots was right.
******************************************************************
Anthony sat half asleep between Jarod and Sydney. Sarah had explained a lot to them in the last several hours. Including the fact that Kyle, Jarod’s brother had actually started the “Refuge” program and built it up to what it was today. Sarah herself had learned to override Centre security after all of her siblings were gone and had been leaving the Centre for days and even weeks at a time since she was fourteen years old. Because she had always had the tendency to disappear into the air shafts, for long periods of time her longer disappearances had not raised much suspicion, especially since she had stopped cooperating long before and every attempt to restrain her had resulted in a full blown escape attempt. That combined with the fact of Miss Parker’s full loyalty at the time had caused those in charge to decide to leave her free to explore the bowels of the Centre with Angelo.
After three Vehicle changes and a plane ride followed by two more vehicle changes, they finally arrived. They had been informed a couple hours before their arrival that the rescue attempt had been successful and that Chris’ cover was still protected.
Jarod and Sydney were led through an open field and down a long flight of steps. At the bottom their blindfolds were removed and Sarah led them towards an elevator. Suddenly the door opened and Paul came running towards them.
“Mommy!” Paul shouted as he ran into Sarah’s arms.
“Hi baby!” Sarah responded as she held him close. “Have you been good while I was gone?”
THE END!!!
