Vanished

By Gemini-M

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Author's Note: Thanks to Pretender fan, Nans, Elisa, NYT, Protender, ICD,
phi4858, Sirus183, bloodmary2, Maggy and Airam4u for the very encouraging
reviews. They mean a world to me since I'm pretty new at this and English is not
my native language. Thanks again, and I hope you will like the rest of my
story.

"The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous
formation through choice of action." John Dewey (1859-1952)

The Centre

Miss Parker sat at her desk going over the morning reports when the
glass doors to her office flew open and Broots dashed in coming to a sudden stop
in front of her desk.

"Well, Good Morning Mr. Broots, would you come in please." Miss Parker
greeted her techie with sarcasm.

"M...Miss Parker...some...something happen to... to Syd...Sydney."
Broots stuttered while trying to catch his breath.

"Broots, What are you talking about?" Miss Parker's undivided attention
was instantly on the man before her.

"Uh...My friend Manny, down in Communication, you know the one without
a tongue, the one I lend my Karaoke..."

"BROOTS!"

"OH yes, I'm sorry Miss Parker. Well, Manny told me that Sydney fainted
in the Sim Lab office about half an hour ago and he was rushed
to..."

Before Broots had completed the sentence, Miss Parker sprang from her
seat and ran past Broots out of her office.

"M...Miss Parker wait for me." Broots' screeching voice echoed down the
hall as he hurried behind the tall brunette towards the elevator.

The elevator ride to the infirmary on SL-20 seemed endless. Miss Parker
stared straight ahead at the numbers as they marked their descent to the lower
levels. She felt as if her world was spinning out of control again, but she had
to remain calm and focused. She was a Parker and panic was not part of her
vocabulary. To panic at the Centre meant weakness, failure and doom. A flash of
emotions and images of past events invaded her thoughts in an
instant.

Since her return from Carthis she felt confused and empty, and the
latest revelations about her bloodlines had further darkened her existence. She
knew that she would never accept that emphysema ridden corpse as her father. The
only father she had ever known and loved had jumped into the Atlantic Ocean from
that doomed flight. But now, looking back and facing the truth, that father
never really loved her. Mr. Parker had only shown her betrayal, control,
manipulation and lies. Her whole life had been filled with lies, pain and
disappointments. Even her own mother had lied to her about her death.

For as long as she could remember, the only two people that always
stood by her side and protected her were Jarod and Sydney. She had finally
accepted that Jarod was out of her life. He too had abandoned her, but Sydney
was still at her side and this old friend was her only family. Well there were
others, like Angelo, Broots, Debbie and Sam. These were special friends, who
also had shown her loyalty, respect and kindness. This little group of people
had formed a special alliance and they would protect each other against anything
or anyone. Miss Parker felt the tears welling in her eyes as she remembered all
the frustration and pain she had caused Sydney over the years, but he never gave
up on her. Sydney had to be alright. She could not lose anyone else at this
point in her life.

"Miss Parker, are you alright?" Broots asked nervously, bringing Parker
out of her reverie.

"I'm fine Broots." She hissed as she wiped a stray tear.

"OH, Miss Parker, I almost forgot." Broots fidgeted searching for
something in his pockets. "Here it is. I found Sydney's cell phone on the floor
in his office. Do you want to keep it for him?"

"Do I look like Sydney's personal secretary?" Parker snapped
back.

"OH no...of course not. I'll keep it for him." The nervous little man
placed the device back in his pocket and after a few seconds of tense silence he
asked, "What if...Jarod calls?"

Miss Parker shot Broots a venomous glare, "Don't worry about him. I
think Sydney's little monkey has finally decided to end the game and
vanish."

She looked away trying to control the anger, but Broots could hear the
hurt in her voice. When she looked at him again, he could see the concern and
pain in her eyes.

"Sydney is the only one we should worry about at the moment." Parker
stated as she bit her lower lip nervously.

When the elevator finally reached SL-20, Miss Parker sprang into action
and rushed towards the infirmary with Broots trailing behind. As they entered
the Infirmary wing, they were stopped by an old feeble nurse.

"You cannot enter without a doctor's permission. May I help you?" The
nurse stated with authority.

Miss Parker stared angrily at the old woman but remained calm. She
needed answers from the old hag and diplomacy was the best course of action at
the moment. Parker looked at the woman's name tag and addressed her with a big
fake smile.

"Nurse...Anderson, we are looking for Dr. Sydney Green. We were
informed that he was brought here about half an hour ago. Could you be so kind
and check your records about the status of this patient?"

The old woman put her glasses on and typed the name in question into
her computer. She kept a watchful eye on the two people as she waited for a
response. When the computer beeped with an answer, she looked at her screen and
spoke with a frigid tone, "We have no patient with that name here."

"There must be some mistake." Miss Parker stated with surprise and
concern. "Dr. Green fainted in the Sim Lab on SL-5 and was rushed to the
Infirmary, according to the other technicians."

Parker looked over at Broots for reassurance.

"Yeah, that right. That's what happened...That...that's what they told
me." Broots looked at the nurse timidly.

"Wait here. I'll go ask the doctor on duty." The nurse said with
annoyance as she left her station and walked without haste towards the infirmary
doors. She looked over her shoulder at the two strangers and entered her code on
the security panel before disappearing into infirmary.

"My God, she reminds me of my third grade English teacher, Mrs.
McKinley." Broots whispered. "That woman hated me. One time she threw me out of
her class because I forgot my homework, and another time..."

"BROOTS, this is not the time to go down memory lane with you."

"I... I'm sorry Miss Parker, is just that...I'm really nervous. I mean,
I'm really worried about Sydney."

"I Know Broots, I'm also worried about the old guy, but we have to keep
our heads and think positive. Sydney has to be here and he's going to be
fine."

Parker reached over and squeezed Broots' arm to give him some
reassurance. Surprised by her gesture, Broots looked up into a pair of beautiful
but very sad eyes. She held his eyes for a moment and then gave him a sad smile.
She never ceased to amaze him. Here she was trying to give him some support,
when her own world was in such turmoil.

"Don't worry Miss Parker, I'm sure that this is just a mistake on the
registration or something, and since they just brought him in, he's probably not
in the records yet."

"I hope you're right Broots." Parker said in a somber mood.

At that precise moment, a tall doctor and two sweepers exited the
infirmary and approached a very surprised Miss Parker and Broots. She had never
seen this man before and she knew most of the staff at The Centre. The doctor
was middle-aged, very thin and partly bald. He walked with a limp and his face
was cold and emotionless. The gauntly looking man stopped a few feet from the
awaiting couple and looked at them with scrutiny without saying a single word.

Miss Parker extended her hand and smiled, "I believe we haven't had the
pleasure Dr...?"

Ignoring her extended hand, the man just stared at her and growled,
"WHY ARE YOU HARASSING MY STAFF?"

"We are not harassing anyone." Miss Parker said dryly. "We simply
inquired about a patient, Dr. Sydney Green. We were told he was brought
here."

"Well, you were obviously misinformed Miss Parker." The doctor paused
for a moment enjoying the fury growing in the woman's eyes. "Maybe your shrink
friend decided to go home early and made an excuse about being ill. If you
excuse me, I have more important manners to attend now."

Before Miss Parker was able to object, the man turned his back on them
and walked back into the infirmary followed by the sweepers.

"Miss Parker, who was that creepy guy?" Broots asked shaking.
"What...what about Sydney?"

"I don't know Broots, but I don't like this." She frowned and then
looked at Broots narrowing her eyes. "I didn't tell them that Sydney was my
friend or a shrink."

"Lets go Broots, we have work to do." The techie was taken by surprise
and almost stumbled to the floor when Miss Parker pulled him by the arm and
rushed towards the elevators, while giving him more orders. "Call Sam, tell him
to meet us in my office."

By the time they reached Parker's office, Sam was waiting by the door.
Once inside her office, Sam received all the details about their latest
predicament.

"Sam, I want you to check all the sublevels and I want all the sign out
sheets. If Sydney walked out of here on his own, I want to see the roster with
his signature."

"Right away Miss Parker." Saying that, Sam turned and hurried out of
the office.

"Broots, I want all surveillance tapes for the Sim Lab and the
Infirmary, plus the files on that nurse and the scarecrow we just met." Parker
walked over to her desk and sat down heavily.

"Miss Parker, do you think they had something to do with Sydney's
disappearance?" Broots asked all spooked. "Remember what happen to Mr.
Fenigor."

Miss Parker gave Broots a piercing look. "Lets hope that's not the case
with Sydney."

Parker stood from her desk and walked to where Broots was standing. "I
don't know Broots, but I have a gut feeling that they're hiding something." She
looked at Broots with uncertainty. "Now go and call me if you find something.
I'll go have a little talk with baby brother."

Mr. Lyle's office.

"Mr. Lyle, there is a call for you on line two." The humble accented
voice came across the intercom.

"Thank you Lucy."

"This is Lyle."

There was no response on the other end, but Lyle could hear clicking
sounds on the background.

"Hello, hello... LOOK, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR STUPID GAMES." Lyle
growled.

"Has the transfer been made?" An electronically distorted voice came
through the earpiece.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME HERE." Lyle spat back fuming. After a few
seconds of silence, he regained his composure and continued. "The transfer is
taking place as we speak."

"Good, you will receive another call within 2 hours with further
instructions."

"What about the DSA's and..." The line went dead before Lyle completed
his sentence.

"Damn." Lyle smashed the receiver back on its cradle enraged. Like a
caged animal he began pacing around his office. He hated the idea of following
orders from a Lab rat. Slowly, he removed his black glove and started massaging
his phantom thumb. Somehow, this odd habit always seemed to calm his nerves.

"Patience, soon the Centre will be under a new leadership and things
are going to be very different." He murmured to himself as an evil smile grew on
his lips.

TBC