Tag Archives: fiction

©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025

Allenby’s plane was late and Joss arranged for the chauffeur to pick up Martin and Sandy and take them to the airport. They had packed everything and were both about to get into the waiting car when Sandy’s phone beeped, it was Allenby.

“I’ve arranged another car , I’d like to see you , you can catch a later flight.”

Sandy really wanted to get in the car with Martin and get out of there, but something told her she was not going to be allowed to. Another car appeared in front of them and the driver signalled to Sandy to come with him.

“Oh,Oh” Martin said.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll let you know how I get on. Don’t make a fuss . Kiss me , you’ve got the film . Sandy’s pupils were dilated with fear.”

Martin gazed helplessly as Sandy got into the other car and was whisked away, there was the driver and another man in the front passenger seat. Martin continued through security and the small electronic device that held all the footage that Allenby would not want anyone to see remained undetected.

Martin sighed as the car drove out onto the highway and he hoped Sandy would also be on her way shortly. The filmed evidence would protect her, but he knew she was in a precarious situation. He wanted to go back and get her, but it was impossible. The anti-dote for some of the truth drugs that Allenby could use was on a small crown at the back of her mouth, all she needed to do was bite on it half an hour before the drug was administered. Hard to judge though, he thought ,and suppose it didn’t work. What would Allenby do if he found out what they had done?

Meanwhile when Sandy arrived at one of the interrogation buildings, she immediately sensed something was wrong. The car stopped abruptly and the driver and the other man in the front of the car jumped out and opened Sandy’s door. She was manhandled out of the vehicle with each man taking one of her arms and frog-marching her in through the entrance. There was none of the usual security , everything opened automatically and she realised she was in an “interrogation area” she had never seen.

They came to a reception area and she was literally thrown at one of the chairs. A few minutes later Angela, the make-up artist was wheeled by semi-conscious in a wheel chair. Angela lifted her head to look at Sandy but there was no recognition.

” Angela” Sandy stood up and shouted. ” What have you done to her , she should be on the plane, what the hell is going on?”

Sandy was roughly thrown back and made to sit down by another Security Guard who unbeknown to Sandy had been directly behind her.

“As Angela was wheeled by, Sandy watched as the limp body in the wheelchair almost tipped forward, the orderly who was pushing her frantically grabbed at her and Angela gave a slight whimper .

“You people will pay for this!” Sandy shouted.

The Security Guard hit her viciously in the face. Sandy thought he had broken her jaw, the pain was so intense.

Angela was wheeled through some double doors and disappeared. Sandy was stunned and then Allenby appeared.

“Oh my , my not so rough! ”

Sandy knew that Allenby had been watching all the time and thought perhaps this had all been staged. She wondered what had happened to Martin , was he at the airport, would he make the arranged flights? If he did then the film that he had would be enough to stop Allenby in his tracks. The pain in Sandy’s mouth was intense and she knew her mouth was bleeding.

“My dear Sandy, that is certainly not a good look” Allenby walked up to her and put his hand on her chin and held it up to his gaze….. damaged goods eh?”

“Nurse, clean her up”. A Nurse appeared and wiped the blood from Sandy’s face. Sandy’s lips were beginning to swell.

“You’re a Mad Man Allenby, what the hell is going on , is this how you get your kicks. You pervert””

Sandy’s mouth hurt like hell , but she got her words out. She felt at the back of her mouth for the gel capsule that contained the anti-dote to the truth drug and bit into it. She felt the fluid dissipate and swallowed.

” You won’t kill me Allenby , I’m the Star Presenter, you can’t explain away me disappearing, you need me just as much as I need you.”

” You think so , I’m not so sure . There are worse things than death you know, as your colleague Angela has just found out. She’ll never be the same . Accidents happen , a viral infection , loss of all motor function. We will say we did the best for her that we could . We can say the same for you. It’s awful isn’t it?” Allenby smiled and continued.

“Nothing is ever how it seems, Angela told us everything, I just want you to collaborate her story. This will help.”

The nurse reappeared with the paraphernalia to administer the truth drug, the Security Guard moved to hold Sandy down.

Sandy wanted to delay the drug a bit longer. She jumped out of the chair and ran towards the door and turned directly to look at Allenby.

” Allenby you are mad, do what you want ! You are a mad control freak. Ever think that you might not be the genius you think you are? That you are wrong and everyone else is right!”

Allenby looked as Sandy moved around the room. He signalled to the Security Guard to leave her alone.

“How admirable a journalist to the very end, still asking difficult questions. Well perhaps not really that difficult. According to my peers , I am no genius, but that matters little now. They are nobodies, some have died , some have retired, but look at me , look at my reputation, my honours, my awards , this place. Funny none of my peers thought my work of any value, none of them would work for me. Now , I force people to work for me. It’s not pleasant and I’m not happy about losing Dr King Sit down Sandy.”

” No I will not sit down!” Sandy remonstrated and gesticulated at Allenby, she moved closer to him, even though the movement caused a throbbing pain in her jaw.

Allenby shouted “Guards”

The Guards grabbed Sandy and made her sit down on one of the reception chairs.

Allenby moved towards the now seated Sandy.

” Losing Dr King has very much upset me.”

“Where did he go? He wanted to retire , he said he was looking to complete the project and get the hell out of here. Let’s face it you are running a prison camp here.” Sandy looked up at Allenby.

“Don’t play the innocent with me young lady” Allenby raised his fist and hit Sandy on her right breast. The pain Sandy felt was horrendous and she was severely winded.

” I don’t want to mark that pretty face anymore, I still find it most attractive. ” Allenby held Sandy’s chin in his hand and raised her head to look directly into his eyes. Sandy’s eyes filled with tears. She tried to talk , but all she could do was mumble a few words which were incomprehensible.

“Creep!” was all Allenby heard.

He hit her again , this time on the other breast.

Sandy felt the pain go right through her body, she was very frightened but still wanted to give herself more time. The truth anti-dote had to work, it was her only chance.

“I want Martin!” She cried.

“Martin is on the way to the Airport, he can’t help you!”

“This is crazy, what is it you want? Call him back please?

“What for? The man is an idiot. A useless dolt. Nurses ! ” Allenby raised his voice and the Nurses with a gurney and a trolley with the paraphernalia to inject Sandy arrived . Sandy kicked at the trolley and caused one of the silver kidney dishes containing a syringe to fall on the floor. One of the Nurses , hurriedly left the reception area and came back with a replacement.

” That was stupid Sandy!” Allenby , moved back and the Security Guards held Sandy while the Nurses gave her the first injection.

Within a few minutes Sandy’s body went limp and she was aware that she was lifted onto the gurney trolley and strapped onto it and wheeled into another room. More drugs were administered and the room that she was brought to was brightly lit. Sandy heard an instruction given by Allenby to strip her.

Sandy could no longer struggle but was totally aware of what was said and done to her. After the interrogation which she kept to the story that Ian and Angela were additions to the crew she knew nothing about and that Dr King was chosen because Martin had said , he was an expert in genetics. Sandy did not know who he was.

She remembered, that Allenby had calmed down as she had answered his questions . Sandy remembered that after the initial interrogation Allenby had instructed the other people who were there to leave them alone. Sandy was helpless.

When Sandy regained consciousness, the ties that held her down had been removed , she was still in the interrogation room and Allenby sat in a chair opposite watching her. Sandy was very groggy and all she could feel was the moistness and stickiness between her legs, she could hardly keep her eyes open.

” Ah, Sandy , you are awake. Well it seems that what you were saying was true.”

The sound of Allenby’s voice caused her irritation and gave her the strength to reply.”

“What are you talking about , you Madman?”

” You knew nothing about Dr King’s escape?”

” I don’t understand, what gave you the idea that I did? What have you done?”

“It was just too convenient, you arrive with the crew and Dr King disappears. Your set up was infiltrated.”

“Look , you’ve dragged me into this, where’s Martin, get me Martin. I want nothing to do with you. You’re a dangerous Madman.”

“Oh yes, you’re right, I’m dangerous, but you needn’t worry, we’ll make you all better and we’ll continue with our work.”

” Fuck you” Sandy screamed, she began to feel the pain that was shooting through her body.

” Oh don’t be angry, perhaps I’ll give you some more pain relief. Like a good doctor , I will look after you, I’ll take you to the recovery room , you will need to rest, and I must dispose of this. “

Allenby held up a sample dish. Sandy looked at it , there was blood and bits of tissue in it. Sandy could barely register what he was showing her.

“Yes Sandy, I am the last man to enjoy you and pleasure you. No one else will ever be able to do that now. I’ve taken away all your external genitalia. I just couldn’t help myself. “

Sandy fainted.

Allenby continued talking and rubbed her forehead.

” I shall look after you myself the next few days, my sweet girl. You will be in pain when the anaesthetic wears off and the stiches will take some time to heal. We’ll telephone your office and say you’ve caught a virus and won’t be able to fly for a couple of weeks. Angela unfortunately will not make it as we discussed. I’m sure you understand that this is for the best .

Allenby wheeled the unconscious Sandy into the recovery room.

©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025

When the crew arrived at Washington Dulles, they were forced to wait in order to gather all their equipment and pick up their hired vehicles. Sandy and Martin were however, whisked away in the Regal Electric Bentley by Joss. Sandy couldn’t help but notice that Joss looked very tired. Joss chatted to Martin about his research and explained that Professor Allenby had been away on business for some time and that she would be the point of contact for any information or help that was needed by the crew or Sandy until he returned.

” Will the Professor be available for an interview?” Sandy asked.

” Oh yes , I’m sure , I’ve no firm date when he’s coming back into the Country, things seem to be changing daily. I’ll have to let you know.” Joss smiled.

Martin and Sandy’s accommodation was beautiful. It had it’s own swimming pool and a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.

“I think we’ve had an upgrade , Martin.”

“Wow, impressive”. Martin turned to Sandy and signalled not to say anything. He reached into his pocket and took what looked like a small wi-fi hub out of his pocket and walked into one of the bedrooms. Martin beckoned to Sandy to follow.

He put the device on the bedroom table and plugged it into one of the sockets. It bleeped two or three times and a green light came on.

” Great , now we can talk. The place will be bugged to the hilt and there’ll be hidden cameras everywhere. With this device we can speak for a short while and no one will know what we are saying. It’ll just look like a bad connection. “

” OK, so what other magic tricks have you got up your sleeve , Martin?”

“Just wait and see. We have to be very careful, but some of the kit we have is very impressive. That’s why I was burning the midnight oil before coming away. We are wired for sound or actually we are wired to stop the sound.”

“And camera’s?” Sandy’s mobile phone rang. It was Allenby.

Sandy looked at Martin and signalled that she would move into the other room to take the call.

Martin unplugged the signal blocker and waited to hear from Sandy what Allenby had planned.

When Sandy returned to the living room , Martin could tell her mindset had changed, she squirmed and suggested that they go for a swim, that it was a lovely evening and it would be nice to relax in the pool. When Martin said that he was tired, she again squirmed and said .

” Oh come on Martin, let’s just have a bit of fun, it’s very secluded here. Let’s skinny dip”

They both took their clothes off and went out into the pool, Sandy took the lead and Martin felt that everything that was happening was a performance, Allenby was watching .

Later back in their large double bed , Sandy stretched over and turned on the signal blocker. Quickly she said, ” I’m really sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do. It was what Allenby wanted. The man is a pervert. It’s what he wanted me to do .”

Martin looked at her , they were both exhausted, but Martin couldn’t help but laugh.” I hope I’m not going to be all over the internet when I get back”. Sandy couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Martin said “And now he can listen to the sound of me snoring the git.” He reached over and turned off the signal blocker and went to sleep.

©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025

Sandy’s documentary was nominated for two Industry Awards. She had invites to many functions and requests for interviews which seriously ate into the time that she wanted to spend with the twins never mind the time that she wanted to spend to help Alex.

The main Award Ceremony was in September which she and her now hand picked team would be attending. Gerry told her that he had invited Allenby and that Allenby had accepted. Indeed Allenby in his role of Top Scientific Guru, had been asked to present a prize in the Science Category. Either way they were bound to bump into each other. Until then Sandy was determined to spend quality time with her twins and where possible cut back on engagements.

On one fine Spring day, she had managed to find the time to take the twins to the local Park for a Picnic, the weather promised to be kind, glorious sunshine and warm for a change. Martin unusually was working away and Sandy was pleased to have the twins to herself.

As Sandy began laying the Picnic Blanket on the ground and placing the food on plates while the twins ran off towards the children’s play area. Sandy sensed someone was behind her, as she turned around , she saw it was Maria.

“Hi Sandy, do you mind if I join you , she sat down.”

Maria stretched the rug out a little more and took a seat as she watched Sandy prepare the food for the picnic. The twins noticed the strange woman and ran back to see who it was. Sandy was at first annoyed, but when she saw the way Maria made a fuss of the two children, she thought better of it and decided it was just like an old friend joining her on an outing with her children. They all picked at the food and the children were again enticed away to play on the swings and slide.

“You have a lot going on at the moment , don’t you?” Maria asked as she drank a little orange juice from a beaker.

“You can say that again, too much, I’m finding it hard to focus. I’m not sure anyone or anything is getting my best. I’m spread a little thin at the moment.” Sandy plucked at some grass beside the end of the Picnic Rug and threw it in the air, she continued.

” I hate all this fuss about the documentary, seems like everyone has their opinion and wants me to talk to them about it. Mostly wasting my time. All I want to do is help Alex. He’ll die if I don’t do something won’t he? ” Sandy looked towards the twins playing on the swings and said

” All I want is to see him being a child , doing the things other children do.”

“I’m sorry, Sandy, for all I know Alex may not be alive, I haven’t heard anything for quite a while. It seems that you were right about Allenby, his people are getting a lot closer to us. Our communications are getting tighter and tighter, we are not sure who we can trust anymore. All I have been told is to ask you again to visit Allenby’s Science Park Facility , as soon as possible . I need you to do that.”

Sandy was about to remonstrate with Maria, but suddenly without warning Maria was grabbed from behind by two men who Sandy hadn’t even see approaching. Each man held an arm and they forcefully lifted her off the picnic mat , like a rag doll.

“Maria Seccoy, you are under arrest for violating parole conditions, please come with us now, please don’t make a scene.”

Maria began to struggle.

“Get off me you goons” She cried.

The men’s grip was however too firm and they began to manhandle her away from the site of the picnic.

Sandy watched in horror as Maria was taken away. It all happened so fast that she had no time to do anything. As she watched Maria disappear , suddenly the twins ran up to her.

“Mummy, what has happened to that nice lady.”

“Oh , she had to go home and see someone.”

” But those men…mummy”.

“What men ?”

“The men that were holding on to her , she didn’t look very happy.”

” Oh I don’t know, they just said they had to take her home. I’m sure it’s alright , she’ll be fine. Let’s pack up and go home. We can tell Daddy all about it. ” As she packed her things up, Sandy felt a shiver down her spine.

When she arrived back home with the twins, Sandy was relieved that Martin was there. Sandy didn’t need to explain much about what had happened to Maria , because it was all the twins could talk about. Sandy made her excuses and went upstairs to lie on the bed , she was feeling fearful as if the World was closing down on her. Martin listened to the twins and eventually settled them down in the living room and went upstairs to speak to Sandy.

“They took her , I mean how much do they know. Will they come here?” Sandy pleaded with Martin, her eyes red and glistening with tears. Martin handed her a tissue and she blew her nose.

“Well if they’ve been following Maria, they know she’s been here. Seems odd though that they’d arrest her in the middle of a Park while she was with you, particularly for a Parole Violation. Sounds like a set up to me. They wanted you to know she’d been taken away or captured whatever you want to call it. It could be just for show by her own side. “

Sandy looked up at Martin who continued talking.

“It could be the case, it’s now life or death for the people involved as you’ve seen, but you are in such a high-profile position with your documentary, they cannot touch you. You are the darling PR lady. They need you to spread the message and make it palatable. Maria may have been followed but no one really knows what she wanted to talk to you about. Do they?”

“Well no, those men , it was just Maria, they didn’t ask me anything?”

“It’s definitely a back-burner situation, we don’t know which side those men were on or how much they know about Maria. I’ve got something important to discuss, do you fancy a bite to eat downstairs?”

” Yes, I do , just give me a few minutes and I’ll freshen up in the bathroom, I’ll be down in a minute.” Sandy felt a lot better, she was not so frightened anymore and was intrigued with what Martin wanted to tell her.

As they sat down in the kitchen and began to eat . Martin said.

” I’ve had a look at the boxes that Maria delivered, it’s some very nice kit. I think you need to go back and gather more evidence. I think you and I can do it.”

” What do you mean , you and I? I can hardly bring you with me.”

“Well perhaps you can. I’m an expert in South American Archaeology. I’ve just published a Paper on Aztec Gene Profiling, mind blowing really , but we’ve been profiling Ancient remains and it really has thrown up some interesting data. Some of which, and you won’t believe this The Vatican are interested in. South America , being mainly Catholic still has not taken kindly to Allenby’s Policies, but more importantly , Gerry has suggested to Allenby that I detail my work to him in the hope that they can persuade the Vatican not to be quite so active in lobbying their views to the Governments within the Americas.”

“You’ve been talking to Gerry behind my back.” Sandy looked crossly at Martin.

” Well I thought he’d told you, I mean it’s pretty mundane really, the Paper, and everything.”

Sandy laughed!” Well , I mean who can I trust anymore, not even my own husband! No I’m bloody delighted, you and I can visit Allenby and take this whole thing apart, that’s what you’re saying isn’t it?”

” Well , that is actually the plan.”

She reached over to Martin and gave him a hug.

“Martin, that’s brilliant news, I didn’t want to go back there by myself. I had made up my mind I would return. I think it will be very dangerous but I don’t think Alex will survive if we don’t do something soon. Does this mean that you trust Gerry?”

“I don’t think trust is the word. It’s damage limitation , Sandy” he put his hand to her cheek.” I think Gerry is right though, the South American Gene Profiling really is relevant. There’s a strong lobby also from the Right Wingers for purity in the race, they want to remove the European Spanish Heritage. Potentially it’s a time bomb. You’ve got the Church on one side and Dictators on the other and my evidence putting a spanner in the whole works.” Martin smiled.

” You always were a trouble maker. Where will it end? Remove History, Change History or Cleanse History.” Sandy dipped her fork and played with some peas on her plate.

” Cleanse is a good word. The Catholics are against the whole thing and there could be one gigantic blood bath. I suspect that is what Allenby wants.

“Heaven help us , this is a real nightmare.” One of the peas flew across the table onto the floor.

Later that month it was announced that Sandy and her Crew had won the Best Documentary Award and Best Investigative Reporting at the Award Ceremony in September. It had proved easy to add Martin to her existing team. There was the usual gossip about nepotism, which Sandy thought quite hypocritical; as before she had been judged as highly sexed and working her way through the Executive Board. Now she was helping her husband. She just couldn’t win.

She had overheard a conversation in the Ladies Toilet between two make- up assistants, they were scandalised by her open relationship with Gerry and her promotion of her own “cuckold ” husband onto her show. In the past , Sandy would have confronted both the women and given them a piece of her mind. However, she knew it wasn’t important what they thought and in fact it was very good cover. She decided to let it roll, let them believe what they wanted to believe, she had more important things on her mind.

Allenby was unable to attend the Award Ceremony and had sent his apologies. However, he had suggested that a more in depth documentary be made now with cameras and a full crew. Sandy was invited back to his facility with her crew in what was going to be a two to three week project.

©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025

Sandy’s Documentary was given a prime-time spot on a popular Government Network. The figures that came through were significant and were an excellent demographic. The Documentary had caused a furore of discussion in the Media about three “High Profile” Cure cases which had been included in the documentary, and had led to questions in the English Parliament about Policy towards medically challenged children curiously there was no mention of hereditary causes.

Sandy had never before had a reason to question how serious debate over issues was glossed over. Her final analysis of what had been said was that the Parliamentary Questions were deliberately sterile. Her documentary in the guise of promoting Allenby’s “solution” raised some serious questions about the origins of these conditions and their subsequent “Miracle Cures”. They were simply ignored or not addressed. The overall opinion was how wonderful Medical Science was and how it should be applauded.

Sandy’s main concern, though, was she had not received any texts on her and Martin’s secret mobile for a number of months. She checked every night and had been disappointed. There was no news about Alex and his condition.

Thankfully the night after the Broadcast ,they received a text . Sandy was to place an order with a Computer Equipment manufacturer who would make a delivery to her house. Dutifully Sandy placed the order and the next day the delivery arrived. Maria was the delivery driver, as she explained later, an excellent cover as her work record showed her as a self-employed courier driver. She could work for a number of Companies and deliver across a large Geographic Area without gaining attention. It was working well.

Martin helped Maria unload the boxed equipment and once inside the front door Maria put the boxes down and hugged Sandy. Sandy sensed something was wrong. Maria seemed quiet. After the initial greetings and the offer to sit down Maria quietly said.

” I thought your programme was wonderful. I could read between the lines. Allenby must think you are in his pocket.” Maria looked Sandy in the eye.

” I suppose he must, that was the intention.” Sandy replied.

Martin felt uneasy at the mention of Allenby and moved away to make some drinks for everyone. After a few moments they all sat down at the kitchen table, mugs in hand.

Sandy continued. ” I had to promote Allenby, it’s what he wants, I suppose it’s the next phase of his project, at the same time I hope that it would get people thinking. We’re being led down a very nasty path , there is no discussion or debate. It simply is not allowed. Our eyes have been closed and hence it’s come to this. What’s in the boxes Maria? Have you any news about Alex?”

Maria stood up and began to open them, she did not say anything at first.

” Alex is not a very well , we have had to move him a number of times and I think it has taken it’s toll. I have a letter from him for you and if you want I can take something to give to him from you.” As she opened one box , she took out a letter from among the electronic equipment inside.

Sandy reached out to take the letter and recognised Alex’s child like scrawl. Unlike his previous letter, this one was only one page and on one side and she couldn’t quite read all the words, Alex had obviously struggled writing it. It was still precious. She handed it to Martin who also read it, he also began to survey the electronic paraphernalia on the table.

” Alex’s condition is deteriorating isn’t it?” Martin said to Maria as he picked up one or two items from the table.

” We are doing our best. Sandy’s work has raised moral throughout our organisation, she did an excellent job. We will not stop fighting people like Allenby.” Maria looked up at both of them.

” How is the Organisation doing? According to Allenby it’s very close to being unravelled. Is that true?” Sandy pushed her hair away from her forehead as she looked at Maria for an answer.

“Really?” Maria looked at Sandy.” That is what he thinks, well that’s good if he does. I can’t be certain, we all work on a need to know basis, but there will always be resistance as long as there are people and children to protect.”

“Allenby is killing people, I saw a nurse she was given a cocktail of drugs so she would tell them what she knew, whatever they gave her , she never recovered. She died right in front of me. Allenby watched, he said it was necessary.” Sandy looked at Maria.

” Did you see Dr King?” Maria had a priority and the death of the Nurse was not her concern.

” Yes, I saw him, he was at Allenby’s Science Park and he had been through some sort of interrogation before the Nurse, they were taking him to the recovery room, I expect he is dead now , just like the Nurse.” Sandy answered feeling very depressed.

” I hope not, he was making such inroads and treating so many conditions, he was our best Specialist. It’s why I came to see you. We need to get him back, it’s the only chance we have for a lot of our children. Our treatment success rates have declined . Now we know that he is there, we must try and get him back. We need you to go back to the Science Park and find out if he’s still alive and if we can get him out of there. It’s ours and Alex’s only hope.”

Martin interrupted ” No it’s too dangerous ”

Sandy burst into tears. Maria continued ” We need to try.”

Maria was a zealot .The loss of her own child had made her very focused. It was her life, working to stop the gene pool cleansing projects. She waited while Martin hugged Sandy and comforted her. Maria put her hand on Sandy’s hand. Martin looked at Maria suspiciously , he knew Maria was not going to give in.

“Look Maria, you need to give us some time, we’ve got the twins, Sandy needs to be there for them too, you are asking too much.” Martin pleaded with Maria as he held Sandy.

Sandy howled like a wild animal, she was getting torn in so many directions and she felt she could no longer cope. The twins had almost forgotten what it was like to have a bedtime story read to them by their mum. Sandy was always tired and thinking of other things. Maria knew she wasn’t going to get the answer she wanted tonight, and although time was of the essence, Maria knew she had to back off.

Maria took a deep breath and continued.

“OK , but there are some more pictures of Alex I can show you , some recent video. I might as well leave this equipment here for now. I’ll support you both should you decide you are able to go back to Allenby’s hell-hole.”

Sandy had already made up her mind. Sandy stopped crying and began to calm down.

Maria handed Sandy a small hand held device with video of Alex on it. He was playing, he was so much more slower and thinner than she remembered. He smiled and waved at the camera, but it was obvious he was in pain. His stomach seemed distended.”

” My poor child!” Sandy touched the screen with her fingertips.

“He looks so ill. Martin look!”

Martin knew now there was nothing he could do to change Sandy’s mind. Before Maria left , Sandy and Martin wrote a short note to Alex and gave it to Maria to pass on . Maria said she would make sure he got it and as she went out the door she gave a final glance to Sandy .

“I’ll be in touch ” Maria said.

©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025

Monday morning arrived like a sledgehammer to Sandy and Martin heads. They both went their separate ways, Martin as always handling the child care and Sandy setting off for the office. Just as Sandy stepped into the lift from the Car Park at Sunshine Media , a man rushed in behind her as the doors were about to close. It was one of the young production runners, an ex- County Rugby Player. As he turned around to check what floor he was going to , his lap top bumped against Sandy’s thigh. It was still tender and she squealed.

” Oops sorry , are you OK?” The young man turned around and looked at Sandy.

” Fine thanks, I’m a bit bruised, Kick Boxing Class at the weekend, I need to learn to defend better.”

” Apologies, I’m a clumsy oaf. Really sorry.” He apologised in his accomplished Public Schoolboy accent.

Sandy reached the floor, where she normally gave her expenses to Gerry’s secretary. She moved awkwardly out of the lift. To her surprise Gerry was standing opposite the lift door and greeted her as she got out. He looked tanned and relaxed.

“Sandy, so good to see you!” He made a show of hugging her , not realising why she moved away reluctant to be bumped again.

“Sorry Gerry, I’m a bit tender, I fell down in the garden , I ‘m pretty badly bruised.” She drew away from him and looked at him sceptically.

” You look well, where have you been?” Sandy enquired, noticing Gerry’s concerned look.

“Oh I see, dangerous places garden’s .” Gerry moved backwards away from her. ” Oh the Caribbean , Mills likes it , I was bored as hell, but we combined a bit of work too. New travel programme possibly.”

“Nice.” Sandy began to make her way to where Gerry’s Secretary sat, ready to leave her expenses on her desk. Gerry continued talking to her.

” I need a debrief on your Allenby trip, I’m curious to know what you thought about his facility.”

” Sure Gerry, will we use my office downstairs? It was really interesting stuff. The place is amazing. I’m buzzing with ideas. There’s a hell of a lot going on there.”

“OK, I’ll see you in half an hour, we won’t be interrupted.”

“OK Gerry”. Sandy put her paperwork on the Secretary’s desk and made her way out of the open plan office down to her basement office.

Gerry meanwhile headed to the coffee machine and flattered one of the young Production Assistants who was just getting herself a coffee. As usual his banter worked wonders for the new girl and she left the coffee machine on a high, impressed that one of the “Management Team” had taken the time to speak to her. She felt she had made a good impression. As Gerry pressed the buttons to get his coffee, all he could think about was the welfare of his son. Sandy had not looked at all well.

Half an hour later Gerry and Sandy both sat opposite each other in her basement office. Sandy who had no photographs or even many notes told Gerry what she had seen.

“It’s worse than I even thought….” Sandy looked up at Gerry, she wasn’t sure if she could trust him.

“How do you mean?”

“It’s a Death Camp Gerry. That facility is used to torture people and kill them when they are no longer needed. It’s all very dangerous and very scary. Allenby wants a good PR Job done on it, no accidental leaks apparently there is some sort of Global Agreement that means the people who are captured are basically fair game, he can do what he wants with them. Officially they no longer exist.”

” I cannot believe it has come to this” Gerry looked dismayed, the relaxed demeanour disappeared and a look of despair replaced it.

“Believe it Gerry. Allenby wants to make his actions look that it’s for the benefit of mankind and that what he is doing is to protect our future.” Sandy noticed Gerry looked dismayed.

The man is a monster of the worst kind.” Gerry shook his head.

“Yes, that’s true, but he has a lot of important backers, who supply a massive budget to provide the kind of place he has near Washington. It’s acres, an amazing self-contained Science Park. Allenby’s aim is to close down any sites throughout the World that protect and care for children like Alex. I got very close to him, but he didn’t let his guard down. I did get the most fantastic tour of the place. ” Warts and All” as he liked to say. Gregor is a captive there.

“Gregor? The chap from Norway?”

“Iceland, yes he’s now a convert to the Professor’s beliefs. He’s a statistical genius and he’s now helping Allenby’s team solve the Big Problem of keeping the World Gene Pool clean. Pristine. No more inherited defects, no unpleasant , incurable conditions.”

“No deviants”.

“None of any sort, someone wants perfection, no gentle fall out anymore. The only way to do it is to shut down any Global Resistance, by whatever means possible. I think he is going to “screen” everyone.

“It was bound to happen.”

“Anyone who has the potential to produce progeny”

“Inevitable really , cause and effect. We want perfect humanity , we need to make it perfect.”

“At what cost though? Our own humanity.”

“It’s going to be very difficult , I need time to think things through. Allenby has come very far, he has a very powerful lobby, things are going in the wrong direction very quickly. I can see where this is leading. “

Sandy looked at Gerry and said ” I think he can be broken. I’m sure he can.”

“It’s no good breaking him, there’ll just be another Allenby to replace him.” Gerry replied rapidly.

” I need to think” Gerry continued.” I just don’t know enough about what he is trying to destroy. How many facilities are there like the one Alex was in? Can they be replaced when they are discovered? The people that run them and finance them who are they? they seem to have no profile. You’d think they’ be jumping off the roof tops saying these people are trying to kill us and our children.”

” It’s been going on for years” Sandy said.” Perhaps we are immune to the threat. I wouldn’t know anything about this if it wasn’t for Alex. If he’d been healthy I wouldn’t even be involved. I would be saying the whole thing sounds fantastical. It began with monitoring, then separating and finally killing. Wiping out all traces of deviance from all of Societies throughout the World. The people who are fighting only know because they have been the target, or have been found out because they have passed a defect on.”

“…. and being blackmailed.” Gerry interjected.

” I’m not sorry about that, I’ve changed and I’ve become very hard over the last few months. I don’t trust you Gerry, I need your money that’s true but I’ve no intention of telling you everything I know. Let me know what comes of your thinking and we’ll talk it through. Meanwhile I’m going to hash up a Media Project that put’s Allenby’s Facility in a good light, it’s what he wants Publicity, but Publicity of the right kind.”

Gerry looked Sandy right in the eye, there was no doubt Sandy had changed, she never would have spoken to him like that before. He knew at the moment it was impossible to convince Sandy that he could be trusted, so he nodded.

” I understand, I’ll get in touch when I’ve got some ideas. When Allenby gets in contact with me, which I’ve no doubt he will. I’ll tell him that you’re on the case.”

” You can believe everything that bastard tells you. I played my part to get what I want and I’ve got the bruises to prove it. He strikes me as the type that likes to talk “boys talk”. Tag him along .Vanity might be his downfall. Whatever you do don’t accept any invitation’s from him, he’ll sample you and I have no idea where that would lead.”

Gerry stood up and left the office , he knew Sandy was right to keep mum about what she knew. He was disappointed he couldn’t arrange a visit for himself to see Alex, but that was impossible now. They had nothing else to say to each other for the moment. Gerry closed Sandy’s office door behind him and went back upstairs to his own office where he could think and plan and wait for a call from Allenby.

©geraldinebanksJanuary2025

Sandy and Allenby watched through the one way window as the interrogations began.

Sandy saw a young man being wheeled in on a gurney , he was strapped to it and despite attempting to extricate himself could not move his arms or legs. He was surrounded by people in white lab coats who began to attach monitors to his body. Sandy saw one of them inject what she assumed was a sedative into his arm. Gradually he stopped struggling and seemed to relax and fall asleep. Finally all the monitors were in place and he was given another shot in the arm. He opened his eyes wide as if he was having the most awful nightmare, he began to scream, the monitors began to show crazy readings and the people in the lab coats began to move around him trying to see what was going on. There was blood coming from the young man’s mouth as he had bit his own tongue. Someone rushed to hold his head while they put a cloth in his mouth for him to bite on to. They tried as best they could to clean the blood from his mouth.

“The idiots! Sandy I’m so sorry, this is not what I wanted you to see. This is purely research , experimental, trying to find out what combinations of drugs work best. This is not helpful. ” Allenby stood up in sheer frustration.

Sandy looked at the young man. ” Will he be OK?”

” I don’t know, but this is not what I wanted you to see. This is our research laboratory where we are trying to find the ideal drug combination to get the results that we want. This should not have happened, however, we may as well move on.”

Sandy could see that Allenby was annoyed.

” I’ll let you know tomorrow how the young man is. We may aswell go to the Prison Facility now, I wanted to soften the blow, but in truth this has just made things worse.” He passed his hand over a sensor and the window reverted to it’s normal glass and Sandy could no longer see what was going on in the laboratory.”

Allenby explained that they would have to take his car to the prison facility She followed him down the corridor , trying as best as she could to remember the directions as to where she was going. As yet she hadn’t even taken out her notebook. They reached the Professor’s car and she got in .She could see the Professor was angry and he didn’t say anything, but he sent a brief message on his phone. The Professor relaxed a little as he started driving.

“It’s about a ten minute drive. It’s getting dark which is just as well, this part of the site is not landscaped. Not necessary, literally people are bussed in here and they will never leave.”

Sandy watched the road ahead of her , it was dark and the atmosphere felt dark. The conversation stopped while Allenby parked in a reserved spot. Sandy again tried to memorise the route he had taken.

This building was a characterless, concrete facility whose austerity contrasted with the rest of the site .As they got out of the car, two security guards passed by with their dogs. One of the dogs snarled at Allenby. He quickly moved out of the way.

” Come this way Sandy.” He snapped.

Sandy made her way around the car , avoiding the two dogs. She smiled at the Security men, who just ignored her and kept walking on their patrol.

Again they used their Iris recognitions to gain entrance through a small double door which was in fact at the back of the building, so there was no one there to greet them.

They ascended a short stairwell, and began climbing a flight of stairs. Sandy could just make out the walls as the lighting was minimal. When they reached the top of the stairs there was a walkway which lead to an elevated platform above a quadrangle. About four floors below she could see a lot of people milling around. There were some uniformed security guards , but most of the people below were dressed in civilian clothes, and all looked tired and their clothes were shabby. Sandy could see what looked like cells surrounding the quadrangle on all the floors apart from the one she was on.

“We came in the back way.” Allenby explained. “Gives you a good view of the people down there, these are from all over the World, people who have been working against us.”

” You bring them here, it’s not dealt with locally then?”

” No longer, it just wasn’t working. The local Laws just couldn’t cope, there was always interference. Now , we have control.”

Sandy looked down at all the people milling around and realised it must have been a mealtime, some of them were queueing at a mobile kitchen, some were walking back to benches situated in the middle of the quadrangle with plates of food. No one seemed to be talking to each other, they all seemed very subdued.

“Is this really necessary Professor?” Sandy looked directly at Allenby.

” Yes, we have tried all other means and now we have to resort to this.” Allenby looked down at the quadrangle.

Sandy looked below her , she could see that most of them had the clothes on that they were probably captured in , there was a mixture of medical fatigues and civilian clothes.

” Come on, we have a lot more to see.” Allenby beckoned to Sandy.

Sandy continued to follow the Professor along the walkway Another iris recognition and then they turned left and entered a large reception like area, manned by people in lab coats and what could have been a large waiting room. There were people much like Sandy had just seen below in the quadrangle area waiting on benches, they looked nervous and apprehensive.

Suddenly as Sandy was taking in this new location , a pair of double doors burst open and an unconscious man in a wheel chair was pushed through by two orderlies in white coats. Sandy recognised him immediately it was Dr William King. Being a tall man , he was practically sliding downwards out of the chair, some orderlies appeared and helped the nurses pull his body upwards . They propped him up as best as they could , but again he slid downwards and began to moan. His eyes opened and closed.

” Come on Dr King, we’ll go to the recovery room now.” Dr King was wheeled out through another set of doors and disappeared.

Sandy stayed calm and continued to watch the unfolding situation. Two more orderlies took hold of a woman who was sitting on the bench nearest the door , she struggled as they both took one of her arms and lifted her up and marched her out. They disappeared through the double doors that Dr King had came through.

Sandy sensed the trepidation and disbelief in the people who sat on the benches waiting to see what their fate was. Sandy had mentally prepared herself and she whispered in the ear of the Professor with the appearance of genuine curiousity.

“What is going on?”

” Sandy , this is our torture chamber.” he whispered.

“Modern Torture or Medieval?” Sandy quickly responded.

” Nothing messy” The Professor smiled at her.” Just a lot of questions and drug treatments and some flashing lights.Nothing to be scared of really. We’re trying as hard as we can to get as much information out of these people as we can. Mainly locations and if we are lucky some names.”

“Is this Legal?”

“Not really, but not on record either, officially these people now officially no longer exist. We don’t even know their real names, they will have been captured at one of the locations that our monitoring has unearthed and transported here. We have a lot of support from a Global Point of view. Basically these people now have no status and do not exist. “

Sandy already knew about the secretive web surrounding Alex and this reassured her that despite these extreme efforts, that the Professor was making slow progress.

” I think they are about to begin the next interrogation, it’s an important part of our jigsaw. These are criminals, we need to show them as such. This is an important , if unpalatable part of our story.”

Allenby motioned for Sandy to again follow him , which she did, the doorway to the side where Allenby led her was basically another viewing gallery. Again they could watch through a one- way mirror . Sandy sat down beside another man who was already seated watching the proceedings through the window and making notes. Allenby did not introduce him. Sandy could tell Allenby was tense. The lights dimmed, and Sandy’s eyes adjusted to the view. Allenby remained standing.

Sandy saw a woman strapped to a chair, she wasn’t sure if it was the one that she had seen a few minutes before as her face was contorted and her eyes were wide open. The woman strained to see what the people surrounding her were doing, but her head was held in place by leather straps. The nurses or doctors were putting an intravenous drip into her arm. The woman’s eyes tried to follow everything that was going on around her, she looked like a scared wild animal.

Another injection was put into her arm and the laboratory where she was began to flash with strobe lighting of many colours. The white lab coats increased the intensity of the lights as the orderlies and nurses backed off and the interrogating team came in.

They were dressed in suits and held clip boards. The strobe lights flashed , their speed increasing and the range of colours alternating. The woman reacted to the lights and they obviously made her terrified.”

“What are those drugs?” Sandy asked.

” A mixture of hallucinogens and inhibition suppressants, it’s taking us a while to get the mix right. We’ve had a few problems, we have an infirmary and a long stay facility. I’ll show you later . We have found that by heightening the fear quotient the drugs are more effective , hence all the theatricals with the lights. Completely pointless, except one of the drugs will have made the lady highly sensitive to light. We are not sure what the pain threshold with that is , but obviously when we turn them off , she probably feels relief.”

Sandy kept looking straight ahead at the woman. The strobe lights stopped suddenly and the laboratory was in complete darkness, Sandy heard a click , the Professor had turned on the sound.

” Stop it, Stop it, Please. ” The woman was sobbing and snuffling as she cried out in desperation.

The bright laboratory lights were turned on and the woman in the chair was faced by three interrogators sitting opposite her. The questioning began like a rapid fire machine gun. The woman stared at them, rigid with fear.

“What’s your name?”

“Where do you come from?”

“Where were you educated, do you have a degree?”

“Why are you here?”

“Where are your parents?”

They gave the woman no time to reply and this seemed to agitate her even further. She struggled in the chair and could only move her arms and legs a little. The strobe lights came on , Sandy sensed they were a higher intensity. The questioning continued.

“Who recruited you/?”

” Did you think you were doing the right thing?”

” Where were you born?”

” Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

” When is your birthday?”

Sandy was finding this extremely stressful, the woman in the chair was obviously beginning to lose her mind.

“No I can’t take this let me go! The pain, in my head is unbearable!”

Immediately the lights stopped and the lab was again in darkness. Sandy did not see two of the interrogators leave room , but when the lights came back on only one of them remained seated facing the woman who had now succumbed to uncontrolled sobbing which was painful to hear.

Professor Allenby moved closer to Sandy.

“They don’t usually succumb that quickly , maybe she’s faking it. Oh well , we’ll find out. Ridiculous really, we know all the answers to our questions, we just need to know if she’ll cooperate and I think this one will .” Allenby grabbed the notes of the man sitting beside him and read some details. Allenby pressed the intercom button and spoke. His voice echoed throughout the Laboratory where the woman sat. Allenby’s voice boomed as if it was coming from nowhere.

” Ruth we know all about you, we want you to cooperate now, the drugs will be working through your system . Shortly we can get you to do exactly what we want, but by then it will be too late for you. The effects are irreversible and you really would be of no use to us. Tell us now before it is too late. Tell us now and we’ll put the anti-dote in your system and you will be none the wiser for your experience , you can come and work for us. We need people like you.”

Ruth began to sweat profusely and Sandy began to think that what the Professor was saying was true.

Ruth’s face was pale and she whimpered and looked defeated.

” I know nothing, I was a nurse, I looked after children , it was my job. I don’t know anything about anything. “

” You are on the wrong side Ruth, I don’t believe you . Well if you won’t help us , then that’s it!” Allenby turned off the intercom.

” Absolutely pointless” He passed the notes roughly to the man who was sitting beside him. ” She’ll be of no use to us , I don’t think she knows anything of importance.”

Allenby turned to Sandy.

” I’m sorry you’re going to have to see the next bit, it can be very upsetting.” He put his hand on her shoulder. She felt her stomach churn and her skin crawled.

” I’ll see how much I can stomach”. Sandy looked as Allenby turned and watched the interrogation continue. At first there was a calm period. The woman seemed as if she was recovering. The questioning had stopped and the interrogator that had stayed in the room with her reached forward and touched her hand reassuringly. He was prompting her with questions which she answered, it was almost as if they were having a conversation. Sandy realised how little Ruth knew about her position and how that people like Ruth were protecting her son even now somewhere far away from here.

After about ten minutes of this , however, things changed rapidly. Ruth became irritated and asked for a drink of water, which was not forthcoming.

Allenby whispered to Sandy. ” We’re not being cruel. If we give her a drink now, she’ll drown in her own fluids, and that would not be a pretty sight.”

“I’m not sure I can watch much more.” Sandy shifted in her chair slightly.

“This is all a bit pointless, but it is a life we are destroying and I feel we should at least respect the process and see it until the end.”

Ruth’s pallor changed very quickly and her body began to spasm and the veins in her arms distended. Sandy could see the fear in Ruth’s eyes.

“What’s happening to her now?”

“Awful isn’t it Sandy, but we can’t keep everyone here forever. This is the part of the operation that is very distasteful, I’m not sure if people knew about it that we would be allowed to continue? That’s my dilemma. On one hand if we keep it hidden we’re OK , on the other if people understand and accept that this is necessary than we can do what we need to do much more quickly. “

“I can’t look anymore Professor, I think I’m going to be sick.”

Allenby signalled to someone and the blind came down on the viewing station and a woman in a white lab coat entered carrying a glass of water and a small tablet on a saucer.

Allenby turned to Sandy and said “Here take this.” He took the glass and the saucer from the assistant and passed it to Sandy.

Submissively Sandy took what she was given, she was in shock.

” Out of respect , I normally watch until the very end, I am the one who makes the decision about whether the interrogation will be useful. We have a non-denominational service for the deceased and we have a Garden of Peace. As I have said Sandy we are not animals and these people officially do not exist.”

The Professor continued ” Perhaps you see how important to me you are now. I need your support. Gerry said that you are very supportive of our gene cleansing programme, we know it is important to keep the Public on our side and if this ever got out , well all our work would be ruined. This is the hard but unavoidable end of the process, but we’ve done everything else to stop these people and nothing has worked. We have learned to be hard.”

Sandy listened to Allenby and couldn’t help but wonder how Gerry had convinced Allenby that she was who Allenby needed. Up until a few months ago she was a second rate sports hack, given the jobs that no one else wanted. She realised that she ‘d have to keep her story consistent. She pretended to be annoyed with Gerry.

“I really could kill Gerry at this moment. I just didn’t expect this. Did you tell Gerry you were executing people?” She went on the offensive.

“Well no, for obvious reasons I would not openly discuss this with anyone. I wanted you to see it though with your own eyes. You must remember I’m not now breaking the Law. These people do not exist in their Countries anymore. The decision as to what happens to them now is up to me . However I am well aware that if this ever got out into the Public Domain, then there could be a lot of trouble. So I was hoping you as a journalist could advise us going forward.”

” Advise you on what exactly, am I supposed to say this is OK?”

Allenby continued .”Gerry said that you are a strong individual, independent thinking, I expect you to have reservations. Let’s talk further, hopefully the queasiness has passed and you have an appetite for dinner. I’ll show you the rest of the facility tomorrow. You will meet some of the best people in their field.”

Sandy gathered herself and her things together, the queasiness had passed entirely due to the tablet she had been given.

“Some dinner and a chance to talk would be nice Professor.”

“Call me Ian, Sandy, it’s after 9.00pm.” Allenby winked at her.

“Call me Ian” echoed in her mind as she realised later that Allenby was a serial womaniser as he instigated some very kinky sexual manoeuvres with her in her room later that evening. Sandy did not care, she knew it was for Alex and she would do anything to protect her little boy.

Even in bed Allenby was a total control freak. Sandy knew they were playing a cat and mouse game. He had questioned her about Gregor and she had given Allenby the excuse that she just wanted to make Gerry jealous, he had dumped her for his new baby wife. Nothing had happened between her and Gregor, they had parted ways outside her room. Gregor had suggested a meeting when he was next in London, but she had heard nothing from him, she suspected that Gregor did not support Professor Allenby’s work and that she felt it would have been an angle worth following up. The meeting of course had never happened and now she knew what had happened to Gregor.

Over dinner, they had talked a lot about relationships, with her husband with the people she met in her job. Allenby was forever trying to catch her out. How she felt about Gerry? Did she miss being away from her children? What did her husband think of her working away from home was ? Was Martin successful in his career.

Sandy later thought that Allenby turned what would be normal social chit chat into an interrogation. Sandy, however had kept a cool head and began to realise how well Gerry had prepared the ground for her, unintentionally perhaps. Allenby was beginning to trust her, she also realised that his arrogance was his weakness, the man could never be wrong. He was the Perfect Judge of everything.

©GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

Sandy’s Condo, was beside a lake , it had a stunning view, but not of the mountains. It was all man-made and artificial. There were fountains and a number of three dimensional sculptures made of glass or Perspex that appeared to change shape depending on the angle you looked at them or how the natural light shone through them .

Sandy needed some fresh air and decided to go for a walk around the nearby artificial lake. Gerry would have loved this place she thought to herself. She was surprised he hadn’t made the effort to come.

After her walk Sandy showered and drank a cup of herbal tea. It was nearly six o’clock in the evening and the phone rang, it was Joss, the Professor would like Sandy to start the tour at six thirty, Joss would send the car at six twenty. Was that alright? Sandy agreed and she was ready when the car came to collect her.

The chauffeur driven car again glided along the pristinely grey tarmac and made a sharp turn to the left. Sandy realised that behind the fancy architectural front there were more functional , plain and she thought forbidding buildings hidden . They were well disguised. Smaller and plainer. The car stopped and the driver signalled to her that they had arrived and she stepped out of the car , Allenby was waiting for her.

He stood patiently as she walked towards him. ” I’m pleased to say that you have me all to yourself for the next few hours. I want to show you the heart of what we do here. What we are capable of. I am sure you will find it most interesting. As I have said previously I want you to see the whole operation “Warts and All”. We are fighting some very dangerous people and organisations and we have to use some very harsh techniques to find out the information we need to destroy them. Some of what you will see , you no doubt , will find upsetting. He smiled, his perfect white teeth showed as he parted his thin brownish chiselled lips. Sandy noted they were moist.

Allenby opened the security door and walked briskly in, Sandy followed him at a pace. A long narrow corridor led to the laboratories which Professor Allenby described.

“Here is the low-end research facility, repetitive, but necessary analysis.”

The walls were clinically white, occasionally broken by some windows enabling Sandy to see inside. There was no one about all the workstations were empty. There were rows of microscopes.

” Has everyone finished for the day , it seems a bit quiet?” Sandy asked.

“Yes in this area, there’s no need for 24/7, it’s just routine Science here.” Allenby replied.

” These people still live on Campus though.”

” Yes , they are employed here and we provide them with accommodation. We have a lot of land and we have created a village like atmosphere. It’s mainly for our ancillary workers, they are good facilities and good working conditions. I don’t visit there myself, but we couldn’t function without it. “

” I see, so they live here permanently.”

” Yes, we have everything here for them , schools , gyms , medical facilities and entertainment venues such as a Concert Hall and a Bowling Alley. We attract the best , but sometimes we need the average, so it works for us. “

They reached the end of the corridor and moved into another Security Area, this time Allenby and Sandy both had to go through the Iris Recognition software. It took a few seconds for the door to open and Allenby took Sandy immediately to his office which was at the end of another row of laboratories. Sandy saw there were people working inside of them, however none of them even looked up to acknowledge her or the Professor. The Professor’s office was unassuming in comparison to the opulence she had experienced so far.

” Sit down Sandy” Allenby gestured to a chair . ” What you are about to see , may well shock you to the core, and what I’m going to tell you may find distasteful, but be aware I have the backing of some very powerful people. We need to tell our side of the story . We can no longer continue in the background, we are strong and we must use our strengths.”

Sandy sat and listened.

Allenby pressed a button underneath his desk and a projector screen rose from a hidden cupboard opposite Sandy. The lights in the office dimmed and the Professor began to talk as he began a prepared presentation.

“What you see on the screen Sandy is your DNA Profile. We collected your saliva when you had lunch. Totally illegal of course. In normal circumstances we would have to ask your permission, but these are not normal circumstances. Please forgive us. This shows how quickly we can process the information.”

” There’s nothing to forgive Professor, I mean this is part of the story isn’t it?” The penny dropped why Gerry had not been able to make the visit with her and had made his excuses.

The Professor, pressed his hand held device and more information about Sandy flashed on the screen. Scientific classifications, but basically reflecting your strengths, where you fit in in the general population and any problems that we foresee. Without knowing you personally I can tell that your genetic makeup is one that is beneficial to our future. Country programmes vary, but I assume you are sponsored to have children?”

” Yes, I have twins, glad to say. After my sports career, there were so many incentives, but I didn’t feel pressurised. By then my maternal instincts had kicked in and I had been with Martin a long time, so it was quite natural. Not at all clinical, like your analysis , don’t get me wrong, I think it’s wonderful what you can do , but it’s the old Nature versus Nurture isn’t it? Are we just strands of protein?” Sandy wondered just how much the Professor knew about her history of child bearing.

” Thank you for being so direct, well those strands of protein are very important to our future, the future of our World”

” Well that’s why I’m here, to find out what we can do to help. Promote the cause. I have to admit though I’m a bit scared of what I’m about to find out. I can imagine that your work must be constantly under threat from people who don’t support it”.

” I appreciate that, so let us continue, there is no point in me trying to hide anything .”

A new slide popped onto the screen.

“This presentation shows the Global Picture, the patches of red are where we are experiencing problems, no matter what we do the gene pool gets contaminated. If I show you over the last five years, it changes and moves around and then comes back again and we don’t know why. It can only be subversive forces. I find it extremely frustrating. I don’t think the raw data is as accurate as it needs to be , but we are finding resistance when gathering it, even violence in some instances. Increasingly members of our field staff are being ostracized and prevented from collecting samples.

” I’ve never came across anyone collecting my DNA, you mean like a medical facility, swabbing people , analysing and recording their DNA, perhaps they do it like you’ve just done it to me. Without my knowledge. So the areas that aren’t red , how do they work?”

” Resource mainly and Government Support.”

“That takes money, I suppose”.

“Yes, these Underground Agencies have won historically, they have backers and they have battled successfully. The problem is we just don’t know who they are. We clean one area and a few years later we’re back to square one again to do the same work as some rogue DNA has appeared out of nowhere.”

” So a bit like a virus re-infecting.”

” Well , similar , but scientifically there is no similarity. DNA cannot be transmitted, it’s within us. The only way DNA can be passed on is through Progeny. We know there are people who want to play God and we need to stop them. “

” Perhaps they think you are playing God Professor?” Sandy eyed the Professor, to see how he reacted to being directly challenged.

” Do you think so?”

Sandy wished she had not been so direct, but Allenby continued.

” God doesn’t come into it, I’m an atheist.”

Sandy thought quickly and decided to play Devil’s Advocate. ” I suppose to stop these people we need to think like them.”

” Yes, exactly, we’ve got a lot of data and we know what we think is going on, but up until now we haven’t had the Authority to deal with these people like criminals they are. As of last week, we have a Global, cross border agreement which allows us to hunt these people down. I don’t like wasting valuable scientific resource, some of these miscreants are at the top of their game, so I prefer to use other methods to persuade them that they’ve been pursuing the wrong path.”

” I feel we are getting to the nasty bit , Professor”

” Sandy , unfortunately the situation we are in calls for extreme measures. We can record all the data we want, but now is the time to take action. That is one of the reasons I want the Media in here, I wouldn’t like this information leaked and cause some furore that would get out of hand. I want to present the facts and our arguments for doing what we are doing. I need your input just to keep us straight. So we don’t come out of this looking like the villains .”

” Will I need a strong stomach Professor?”

“No, no we’re not animals, it’s harrowing, but the ends justify the means.” The Professor moved away from the screen and pressed the button under the desk to make it retract.

” OK Professor, I think if you show me what you are doing, I may understand it better and of course we can talk about everything in the best light. I’m intrigued by the change to the the Law and last week. Would I be right in thinking that the ” Criminality ” is going to be a major part of the story?”

“As the Law stands now these men and women are now classed as “Criminals”. They are offered re-education and rehabilitation in some cases but not all. We’ve had some success stories. One of them joined us recently and is now working for us. I believe you met Gregor Lavlet at the Conference in Barcelona.” Allenby waited for Sandy’s reaction.

” Oh yes, Gregor, I met him in Barcelona, but he was at a very successful institution in Iceland. Iceland had totally wiped out all genetic illnesses, screening was 100%. It was definitely not a Country to cause you concern. I did have a long chat with him and yes I would say he expressed some doubts about what was taking place in Iceland. We were going to meet up in London, I still have his business card somewhere…”

Allenby smiled.

” Gregor was captured at a site just outside Berlin. There were three hundred children who were being kept in a secure location.”

” Three hundred children.” Sandy knew she had to be careful and not ask too many questions now.

” My are you confident that he is rehabilitated now?”

” Well he will never leave here, all in all , it’s not a bad place to live, his expertise as a statistician is invaluable. He says he now believes he was wrong, it doesn’t really matter , the main thing is a talented researcher like him is out of the mix working for the opposition, and now can help us with our work. ”

” And what happened to the children?” Sandy asked.

” Oh they would have been relocated at a new facility , that would be dealt with at local level.” Allenby turned off his computer and moved towards the door of his office.

” I’m ready now to show you our facility where we keep those who are resistant to our ideas. The ones who don’t accept that what we are doing is necessary.” He opened the door of the office and led the way into a small room with a large window looking out onto a laboratory. The Professor and Sandy could see out , but the people they were watching could not see in.

Sandy continued talking to the Professor.

” A Life Sentence, is there anything worse? ” Sandy said.

The Professor turned towards her and Sandy looked him straight in the eye. She felt it was expected of her as a hard nosed journalist , but in side her stomach churned with the thought of what she was about to witness. The stakes were high and the means ruthless.

Sandy and the Professor entered the small room and closed the door . They both sat down on a bench from which they could look out the large window onto a laboratory. The Professor continued talking.

“This is the tricky and untidy part.”

Sandy couldn’t help but think that “tricky” and “untidy” were not the adjectives she would have used, she was very concerned about what she might be about to witness.

” It’s still up in the air, for the moment we are trying persuasion. We have many options , some not so palatable, but all now thankfully legal and above board.”

Sandy remembered Alex playing with the other children when she had visited him and looked at the Professor. Sandy would do anything to stop this man. The Professor was sitting almost knee to knee with Sandy and she felt his hand touch her knee. Sandy did not react. In other circumstances she would have turned and made her position quite clear, but the only thing on her mind was Alex and she was going to do anything to protect her little boy from this Monster.

She felt that she had won over the Professor and she realised that her DNA was the perfect cover . Gerry would not have passed Allenby’s analysis and most likely would have been arrested by now. Sandy would be the cuckoo in the nest just like her little boy was to Allenby’s plans. Sandy though had to play her part perfectly. She’d do anything to help the people who would help Alex. Martin would understand.

©GeraldineBanksJanuary2025

The Washington Albany Research Centre was at first sight a very large, well financed University Campus. Once you passed through the first Security Gates and the trees that surrounded the Centre. You could see the large impressive buildings covered in reflective glass. They stood out on the manicured lawns like glistening jewels on the horizon. The foremost building was glass and steel with a long straight driveway leading up to it. The only thing missing were students wandering on the impressive acres of grass. Sandy squinted as the sun caught one of the steely glass spires and shot a high intensity beam in her eye. She immediately reached into her handbag for her sunglasses.

As the car glided up the driveway, they were stopped by a security barrier .Sandy noticed a small Portacabin beside the barrier which was manned by uniformed guards from a Private Security Firm. Their uniforms had badges on them. Sandy noted the Company’s name and intended to write it down when she had the chance. She reflected, however, that for her sake it would be safer to try to remember it. Her notes would probably be checked and why would she need to know the name of the Security Company? She wanted to appear totally supportive of Allenby’s organisation. She felt that he would be adverse to hostile criticism or to anyone digging too deep.

The chauffeur appeared at the passenger door and opened it, Joss beckoned to Sandy to get out of the car to sign in with security. Once inside the cabin Sandy had her photograph taken which included an iris scan . Sandy was given a few forms to sign and one of the guards went out to the car to check with Joss. When he returned he said firmly to the guard doing the inputting on the computer.

” Yes access , all areas”.

Sandy was going to be on site for a couple of days ; she had been given a Condo on “The Bay Area”. As Joss had said the accommodation was near leisure facilities. She was given a map which detailed the weights room, sauna and swimming pool as well as a running and jogging track and trail. The iris recognition would give her access to anywhere she wanted to go.

Sandy was relieved when she picked up her information pack and got back in the car with Joss. She was feeling claustrophobic as if she was entering a spider’s lair. Joss was speaking to Professor Allenby on the phone when she sat back down on the soft leather seats. Sandy couldn’t help but notice that there was some warmth in the relationship and that Joss spoke gently to the Professor.

” OK, we’ll meet you in the Atrium.” she finished her call. ” Sandy, slight change of plan , no time to freshen up yet. One of the Professor’s meetings was cancelled , he wants to meet you for lunch, is that alright?” Joss turned and looked at Sandy.

“You are very honoured, he rarely stops for lunch.” Joss smiled.

” That’s brilliant, to be truthful that’s great, I mean it’s only a short visit , so I can freshen up later.”

The car continued it’s stately journey and glided silently along past the main building, it made a left turn and stopped outside another impressive glass fronted building. As Sandy got out of the car, she gazed at the enormous impressively etched Romanesque Glass door, which featured many colours. As Joss and Sandy approached, the two doors slid apart effortlessly .Joss turned and told the driver to drop off Sandy’s luggage at her condo. The driver nodded and silently departed.

Sandy and Joss walked into the large plant filled space. It was full to the brim of exotic plants and they were displayed at all levels that the eye could see. Joss made small talk to Sandy as they walked towards the elevator along a raised platform which appeared surrounded by an artificial pond. Sandy looked down at her feet ; the impression it gave was that she was walking on water.

Joss raised her hand and pointed to the greenery.” These plants are all grown hydroponically with distilled water and organic nutrients, we grow some rare succulent herbs. The Professor is extremely interested in how we grow our own food and wants the Atrium to be totally self-sufficient. We haven’t quite reached that stage yet there are so many factors, we struggle with getting the nutrient mix right.”

They reached the elevator. As the doors opened automatically water appeared to swish around either side as they got in. Sandy thought her feet were going to get wet, but she remained totally dry.

” The Professor’s sense of humour, it usually makes people jump”. Joss laughed

As the elevator doors closed and the elevator began to go up , the displaced water moved back to it’s original location in the clear Perspex floor. Also as the elevator rose, plumes of water cascade off as they moved through the different floors, the effect was stunning and Joss explained that it also helped maintain the correct humidity as well as being a delightful feature.

On the upper floor ,where the restaurant was, the special effect plumes ceased and Sandy and Joss got out of the elevator. The effect was similar to downstairs, except the water had a sapphire blue hue. Again Sandy couldn’t help but look down at her feet to see if they were wet or stained blue , but they were bone dry.

Sandy remained poised as she saw Professor Allenby walking towards her and Joss, he was with a couple of other smartly dressed men. Allenby appeared to be giving them instructions, they parted ways just before Allenby reached Sandy.

” Ah, Sandy, I’m so pleased that you are able to finally see our site. I know it’s just a whistle stop tour, but thank you for coming. I’m so sorry Gerry couldn’t make it”. Allenby smiled and took Sandy’s hand. The grip was a little too tight and Sandy felt went on longer than she was comfortable with.

She talked as he held her hand.” Hello Professor , this is quite a place. I’m really looking forward to finding out about what you do here. It’s such important work. I hope we can do you justice in just two days. I just didn’t expect this.”

Allenby let go of Sandy’s hand.

” Come on , come on , please let’s have lunch, it’s certainly not your average work’s canteen.” Allenby turned and beckoned Joss and Sandy towards a table.

They all sat down and Sandy noticed that there were probably about thirty covers, all deceptively placed among pots of foliage. There were formally dressed waiters and waitresses moving backwards and forwards across the floor, imperceptibly taking orders, bringing dishes and clearing tables.

Sandy picked up her menu and began to read it. There was water on the table and some long glasses, Joss poured each one of them a glass. Sandy thanked Joss and sipped the water as Allenby and Joss continued to converse politely. When the waiter came Joss checked what everyone wanted and ordered.

The Professor began talking . Sandy listened and took a long sip of water to disguise her surprise when she saw Gregor, the Icelandic Researcher she had met at the Conference in Barcelona, at one of the tables on the opposite side of the “Atrium”. Sandy knew that Allenby had noticed she had spotted Gregor, but Allenby made no comment , he continued talking to her about the work of his Institute and Sandy replied by asking a question about how such a prestigious facility was funded. Allenby was very forthright on that issue, there were major donors , philanthropists who supported the work. They realised that cleansing the Human Genome was the only way to stop disease . You only needed to look at cancer figures, that had been a real success story and had helped him gain support. Cancer had effectively been eradicated. The rest would follow naturally , why stop at cancer. The money to be saved in curative care was enormous and easily funded the preventative measures that Allenby and his supporters were promoting.

“Already the Medical Insurance Companies are on their knees, imagine. There just is no need for intrusive medical care, we have healthy populations and we want to keep them that way.”

Sandy found herself accepting the Professor’s arguments and found that Allenby was being very open and frank. She was impressed by his arguments and it wasn’t until later when she was alone with her own thoughts back at the Condo that she realised what a good promotional job he had done on her.