A Wish the Heart Makes : Fornever in Blue Genes

by: Tigger

 

Chapter 6: How?

The two men simply sat there, watching their friend. "Okay," Matt sighed. "Let’s take it from the top so at least I understand what happened before we figure out how . . . and the why. By the way? Where’s Cat? Not that I don’t trust you guys, but this *is* a major security problem."

"She got a lead on a couple of the people we believe are deeply involved with what has happened to you and took off this morning to run them down. She briefed us, very thoroughly, before she left."

"All right, but I want a full report from her as soon as she gets back," Matt ordered firmly. "Whoever is behind this has to be damned good at what they do because my electronic security and Cat’s physical security arrangements are a great deal better than merely state-of-the-art. That these people were able to get past all Cat’s and my setups and do something like this," his hand swept down his slender female form, "means they are also very advanced technologically and very, VERY dangerous. So, why did they choose to come out of hiding now? What were they after?"

Matt missed the amused look that darted between her two long time friends at her interruption. It was so "pure-Matt" that it relieved just a bit of the anxiety Bob and Adam had felt since discovering that Matt’s wish file was a fake. "Well, Matthew," Adam hesitated, "I think the ‘why’ is fairly well established. What happened after your incident on the moon was a very carefully orchestrated plot to seize control of the company and THE Project."

Matt noticed how Adam stumbled over the strong, masculine name, but for the moment, said nothing about that. She was too stunned by the implications of Adam’s revelation. "Damn, Adam, that makes no sense. Hell, it’s all but impossible. I was unconscious up there for what, . . . 10 hours before I contacted Bob? Robert, how long did it take you to open the wish-file?"

Robert thought for a moment. "About six hours, Matt. I had to review the medical data Castleton sent me first to make sure we had whatever might be needed to keep you alive when you arrived at the spaceport. I called your secretary to stand by and went to talk with the medical technologists. That took longer than I expected, and by the time that meeting broke up, it was after midnight. I . . . ah . . . had to wake Adam up to get him here to open the wish-file."

"So," Matt said, "that means whoever did this had a maximum of what . . . sixteen hours to set this up? That’s awfully fast to set up something this complex, let alone get it to work. How does that correlate to a plot to take over the company, Adam?"

"I agree, but from what we know now, they had the assets in place to pull it off. Shortly after you arrived here at the compound, just after the treatment had been administered, in fact, all of the original documentation that showed your approval and cooperation with the transformation simply disappeared."

"Disappeared? But those records were under high security lockdown, and were redundantly backed up throughout our secure system."

Adam nodded. "Not all that secure, in hindsight, my friend. Digital records that had been put in place to legally change your gender self-erased. Plasfilm that was guaranteed to be non-degradeable disintegrated down to the molecular level. Protected data files were erased and replaced by new ones that indicated your intent to transfer controlling interest in the company to an off-shore consortium fronted for by one of the big corporate law firms. If Robert had not brought me into this as quickly as he did?" Adam shook his head. "If I hadn’t been able to set up an independent, ironclad document trail, you might have had a bitch of time proving your claim to Matthew Sorenson’s life once you woke up."

"So who was behind it? Who showed up trying to take over?"

Adam frowned over his tea. "That’s a big part of our current problem. No one showed up. They were clearly ready to move, but they were tipped off that their falsified record trail had been circumvented. Unfortunately, none of their own records on the off-shore consortium survived once their takeover attempt failed. Same trick on those as for the primary records that fooled us. When we arrived back at the compound after picking you up at the spaceport, I went directly to your office to take up the emergency powers our partnership agreement grants me. I had all the documents that you insisted I keep hard copies of in my safe and the documents Robert and I had prepared to protect your chain of identity. Your secretary was rather . . . surprised to see me."

That was unexpected. Martha Jenkins had been Matthew Sorenson’s executive assistant for ten years and should have known that Adam acted for the president in an emergency. Matt said as much.

"Yes, well, I think there is a pretty clear answer to that question, Matt. Martha was part of whatever group hatched this conspiracy. She challenged my right to be there, saying that I had no legal authority to take charge." Matt’s disbelief was obvious. Adam merely smiled grimly and continued. "Surprised the hell out of me, too. What surprised me the most, however, was the shock - I can’t describe it any other way - on her face when I showed her the authorizing documents and the chain of evidence. But then she apologized, and settled to her work. I thought nothing more of it until she left for lunch. She has not been seen since."

Dazed, Matt simply stared at him. "Martha? She was in on this?"

Robert answered. "She must have been, Matthew. Who else could have somehow gotten past your personal security codes and changed not only the wish-file, but inserted all the other supporting documentation we found in there. Over the years, she must have found a way to access your signature seals on the computer. No one else could have done it. In fact, Martha is the person Cat had a lead on this morning, otherwise she’d have been here for this meeting. Cat was afraid that one of the private companies she hired to help with this investigation might not be above pumping Martha to find out just why BioCybernetics is so interested in catching her. She wanted to be in on the capture to preclude some less-than- scrupulous individual from getting a few of our secrets in return for letting Martha escape again."

For a moment, the mysterious thin cereal she had been eating threatened queasily to make a reappearance, but then the image of Cat tickled at her mind. *Isn’t that just like my Cat*, she mused with a sad half smile. "Nicely paranoid as always." She swallowed hard against the disappointment of Martha’s evident betrayal and gestured for Adam to continue.

"Martha evidently set up the entire false document trail, Matt, because they were carefully filed with your doctored wish-file under that bio-lock. So we thought you made those decisions in full appreciation of the facts. Those secured sealed responses were also confirmed by the psychologist’s reports on your mental and emotional readiness for transition." Robert reached down into an attache and produced a personal datapad which he passed to Matt.

With nerveless fingers, she accessed the files contained on the device and rapidly scanned them. Some she recognized and knew that she had seen them or that she had originated them. The rest, some from Bob, some from Adam, some from a Dr. Hannah Angstrom and some with his old signature on them, she had never seen before in his or her life.

Clearing his throat, Robert continued. "I still couldn’t just "do it" to you, though. I had . . . uhmmm . . . obtained a tissue sample from you during your last physical and used it in culture testing. Fortunately, your cells made successful transition 94.5% of the time, so I was able to proceed without feeling like I was killing my best friend."

"Were those results in THE Project databanks, Robert," she asked, "the specific ones about my chance of survivability?" She thought she already knew the answers, but decided to ask anyway.

Startled and a little confused at the question, Robert used a napkin to wipe his brow. "Why, no. Those tests were . . . personal, not project-related. I saw no need to enter that data into THE Project database, at least not until we completed your transition and it was successful. As of this moment, those results are stored only in that datapad."

As she had expected. She badly wanted something to drink, but knew she would not be able hold a glass steady. "I would say it’s pretty obvious that the security of our entire computer complex has been compromised - not just my personal system. They did not know I had a high probability of surviving when they put the takeover plan in place, then. They only knew that all the random tests indicated that I would have a better than 3 to 1 probability of dying." Her eyes focused in on an unfamiliar name on the final authorization table, the one that gave permission to Robert to take away Matthew Sorenson’s whole idea of self and give him one that *she* did not know. "And who the hell is this Angstrom woman?"

Adam nodded. "Purportedly, and as a matter of record, she was your transition psychologist. You’ll recall that you directed that we could follow all procedures established for non- genetic sexual reassignment before we ever attempted such a transition genetically?" Matthew nodded, feeling dazed. "Well, part of that is a psychological review. Part of the documentation in your file was her approval for transition based upon more than a year of consultation with you. We checked her out, by the way. She had gold plated credentials in the field."

"Then were the hell is she?"

"She is also among the missing. Literally no record of her exists anywhere that we can find since the moment Martha disappeared. Very, very good job of disappearing. As to the subject of our security, that was my conclusion, too. Especially given your response to waking up this morning. As Acting President, I ordered the main project computers isolated from all outside connections, and have disconnected it from all internal networks until further notice. Only two passwords currently work and any attempt to access or use the central core will be recorded and will set off alarms in security."

"Who has the new passwords?" Adam pointed to himself and to Robert. Matt nodded his agreement. "So, for the sake of hypothesis, someone, or someones, decided to get me out of the way in order to take over the company?"

"I think we can be relatively sure that you were not intended to survive the transition. If you somehow survived that, their backup plan was to destroy your identity, and thus tie up the company in litigation muddied by your ‘sex-change’ claims. In the chaos that followed, they would have time to strip the technology plans from the central computers and probably then gone underground with it. We’ve learned the hard way that they are very good at disappearing off the face of the earth."

"So, on top of everything else, we are dealing with attempted murder, not just industrial espionage and dirty tricks." For the first time, an emotion other than stunned disbelief started to bubble up inside Matt. Anger - raw and hot - stiffened her spine as nothing else this day had. "Hell, they DID murder me. The Matthew Sorenson that I spent a half century being is gone forever. Their misfortune is that they did not take it all. They will regret that. I swear that they will regret that mistake with their last rational thought."

Robert looked at Adam, concern written on his round face. Adam simply grinned. "I would not say you were all the way gone, my friend. I would recognize that response anywhere. Welcome back, Matthew," he said.

"Thank you, I guess." Then, another thought surfaced. "Adam, you said that every person who can be linked to the particulars of my situation has disappeared?"

Adam gave an affirmative grunt. "Yes. Your secretary, the psychologist and the stock broker who fronted for the hidden consortium and their legal firm. All of them are no where to be found. And with all our resources, that’s more than just a little amazing."

"Then, it is wise to assume that I still may be a target? That I still might be at risk from them?" Adam’s face darkened angrily. He had not thought of that one. "I can see that you agree. For now, I need to be protected and I need to learn to protect myself. What’s Cat doing about all this? You said she briefed you."

Adam shook his head. "Obviously, we needed her to get into the locked file, and she knew you had to have a THE Project treatment to have any chance at all of a normal life again. However, as we told you earlier, we didn’t tell her about the female thing because the false records in your wish-file asked us not to, and she never asked. Nor did she ever go into the lab while you were actually in transition."

"No surprise in that," Bob interjected with a wicked smile. "You know how squeamish she became when she saw the live animal tests in their transitional states. A woman who can and has killed in the line of duty, but show her a little basic protoplasm and she heads for the nearest restroom at a trot."

"Not that you ever dared to tease her about it, West," Matt said with a grin. *Lord, that was Cat down to the ground*, Matt thought. *Just when you think you have her all figured out, she throws you a curve. HA! And what curves she had to throw!*

Matt thought back to when he’d first met the Big Cat. She’d seemed the consummate professional woman when she’d walked into the company conference room for her job interview wearing that tight-skirted power suit. Tall, slender, but definitely not skinny. Hair in a severe braid and just enough cosmetics to make her dark eyes arrestingly luminous and her lips lushly full. In her combat suit, as part of her skills testing, he’d seen the sinuous flow of muscular power that would have named her "Cat" regardless of her given name. And all those curves, Matt mused again. That skin-tight combat suit hadn’t hidden anything, not that Cat had anything that needed hiding.

But it had been the first time Matt had seen her in her "off- duty" plumage that had knocked all his preconceptions about Cat Donovan into orbit. They’d run into each other at the local theater and he’d damned near not recognized her. Her dark hair had hung soft and loose down around her shoulders - not really long, but not what Matt had expected from the combat tight cap or braids she wore at work. The gown she’d worn to that performance was sleek, and left not the slightest doubt of her womanly figure, but the delicate lace at her throat, the soft billows of the sheer sleeves and the glittering earrings that unnecessarily called attention to the beauty of her face were unexpected, intensely feminine touches. Touches which proclaimed loudly that Cat was as sensual as a woman as she was effective as a killer. Matt Sorenson had fallen in love with Cat Donovan that evening, in the short few minutes they had spoken before taking their seats.

She was so . . . strong - hell, Matt had always thought she was almost invincible, and yet, parts of her were so . . . so soft, too. He fondly remembered her reaction to finding a dozen roses from a "secret admirer" (spelled M-A-T-T) on her desk. She’d tried to be suspicious, like any good professional security officer would be, but womanly appreciation of the flowers’ color and scent had quickly elbowed her suspicions out of the way.

So many hidden facets - so many lovely little surprises and mysteries all combined together making up the tall, powerful and sometimes intimidating package that was Cat Donovan. *Gorgeous*, Matt smiled inwardly, *just gorgeous. The woman would have made a perfect model for a statue of Venus, Goddess of Beauty.* Then Matt thought to amend, *When she wasn’t working as Diana, Goddess of the Hunt in her job, of course.*

"Do I look crazy?" Robert retorted, calling Matt’s attention back to his two friends.

Adam interrupted to bring them back to the topic at hand. "Anyway, for whatever reason, Cat does not actually know the full scope of your . . . changes. She knew where you were and personally headed up the security detail that protected you during transition, and she mobilized the cops and about a dozen private security companies to try and track down the people behind the moon attack. She’s been one very busy lady."

"But she does know about me, now, right? I mean, what happened to me? What I became? errr . . . Am?" Matthew asked.

Adam shook his head. "She knows that your wish file was tampered with, and that you are not what you wanted to become. Of course we had to tell her about all that this morning when you first woke up and it became painfully obvious what had happened. She would have come charging right in here immediately, but Bob had just sedated you. Besides, that was when the lead on our disappearing secretary came in," he chuckled. "She was *not* pleased, to put it mildly. She is going to make someone pay for this, and I almost feel sorry for them when Cat Donovan catches up with them."

"I don’t feel sorry for them in the least," Matt growled. "Brief Cat in - completely," she directed. "We need to take the offensive in this mess and Cat can’t do that if she doesn’t know all the facts about what we are up against and why. I want her covering my back and I want her to know that the back she is covering is mine. She is also probably the best person to teach me how to defend this body. How soon can I start working on that, Bob?" she slanted a look at Robert.

"Physically? As soon as you have had a half hour or so to digest that bowl of mush you inhaled at breakfast." She sniffed petulantly in response to his gentle jibe. It had tasted strangely wonderful and besides, she’d been *very* hungry. "Anytime you are ready, old friend. The exercise will probably do you good. I will insist that the restraint bands and the emotion blocks stay on until you are more settled, though."

"I agree to that, Robert." But without warning, fatigue enfolded her and she reeled drunkenly. "I guess I am still recovering from the transition."

"It will take a while, Matt. That transition put a hell of a strain on your body’s resources. Take a short nap. Cat will be here when you wake up."

He really had no choice. Teri helped him out of the robe and into bed. Her last thought as sleep enfolded him was that the silky nightgown felt marvelous on her skin. Sensations like that would not be all *that* hard to get used to.

Interlude:

She looked around her apartment living room at the three dimensional projections of her fellow conspirators. She did not know where their bodies actually were, and she did not want to know. The less she knew the better. The better for her, the better for the Cause.

She had opened the meeting with a concise account of the latest repercussions of their abortive attempt to gain control of BioCybernetics. While the entire organization was "there" in the room, only a select few, the leaders and the forward contingent, would have anything to contribute to this meeting.

A faceless shape moved to the center of the throng. All other conversation in the room ceased as the person known to the group only as the Leader spoke. "We have heard Florence’s report. Sorenson is alive and apparently well, having beaten the overwhelming odds that he should have died in the transition."

"Died?" the conspiracy’s second in command spoke up. Only she would dare, Florence thought, and then wondered if even she knew what the Leader really looked like. "Hell, Leader, that’s the least of our problems. Florence reports that he is now nearly super human from both a physical and a mental perspective. Matthew Sorenson was a formidable, driven man before this transition - a man possessed of incredible determination and force of will. I shudder to think of how that focus will be directed now. He poses an unacceptably great risk to us and to our Cause."

The faceless holograph turned to acknowledge the speaker. "I agree, Freuda. Your psychiatric analysis of him was one reason we originally decided to eliminate him when this opportunity presented itself. It would appear we may have tried to be too subtle in our approach to that goal. Admin, you worked for and with him for years, what is your assessment?"

The projection of Matthew’s former secretary shuddered visibly. "He and his staff will know all about Freuda’s and my roles in this operation. The law offices that fronted for our abortive takeover attempt will be rolled over fairly easily when they are really pressed by the company’s security people. Although I did follow our contingency plans to the letter, those plans assumed that Sorenson wouldn’t survive the sex change."

"What has that to do with anything?" snapped Freuda.

"Simply this, Freuda. The reason that Sorenson was called in to consult on the moon is that he is a genius at computers and data systems. I cannot guarantee that the manipulation of the BioCybernetics’ computer systems did not leave some evidence behind someone as brilliant as Sorenson cannot find and exploit. He won’t rest until he knows who we are and why we did it. He has nearly unlimited resources and some very formidable people at his disposal. Exactly what he will do once he finds those things out is unpredictable, other than the obvious fact that it is unlikely to be good for us."

The Leader’s holo turned back to the first speaker. "Florence, you said you had to restrain him at one point today. You did not indicate the circumstances. Why?"

"He had a bad emotional reaction to finding out he is likely to be very responsive, sexually, with men as well as women, and that he is also fertile. Apparently human physical perfection includes a high degree of sexual sensitivity. After the patient fell asleep, the Doctor told me to expect that she would regularly become sexually aroused in the course of her therapy."

The Leader became silent for a few moments, considering that. "So, Ms. Sorenson is potentially an easy lay, eh? That may work to our advantage. As a minimum, using her sexuality to distract her may provide us with needed breathing space while we implement our contingency plans. Freuda?"

"She did not actually undergo any preparatory therapy or training prior to the transition. Case in point, look at how difficult simply moving about was for her. Her body is alien to her. The implications of a drastically altered hormonal chemistry balance are issues we can safely assume that he, I mean she, is totally unprepared to deal with."

"Very well." The Leader turned back to Florence. "Florence, you said she responded to you, became aroused by you when you dressed her?"

"Yes, she did. Quite strongly, in fact. Part of that was her reaction to being dressed in very silky, overtly feminine attire. Still, I know that she was at least moderately aroused by close proximity to me. Her body language is still masculine and I got definite signals of masculine attraction."

"Excellent. Use your position to encourage her sexual development. See if you can light the fuse of that sex bomb she is so worried about. I want her so enthralled with her new sexuality that her mind is on nothing else."

"Yes, Leader," she responded.

"Very well." The Leader turned to face the rest of the assembled group. "This has been a very disappointing period for our movement. The test of the computer bio-virus on the moon installation has been defeated and is a failure since even now, less dangerous methods to isolate the biological infection are being tested at several companies. The attack on Sorenson and the attempt to take over his company has also failed, costing us two intelligence assets of inestimable value when both Admin and Freuda had to be pulled out of their deep cover identities. If we are to succeed in stopping the masculine resurgence on this planet, we must not fail again. The rest of you, continue with Contingency Plan A. Freuda, I need a new psych profile on our adversary. Work with Florence to get the data you need. We will meet here again in one week."

Therese Richards RN, code named Florence (for Nightingale), watched the holographic images dissolve. Well, she mused to herself, at least this time her subject was cute. She would enjoy breaking in a virgin. With that thought, she switched off the lights, and headed for her bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day.

 

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© 1996 by Tigger. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.