Sequel: The Fifth World 2

The Fifth World

Genetic Engineering

Bo: "I do not trust him," Janine says to me.

We have put Cynric into the bedroom that I was sleeping in. I am now in the lounge, sitting by the fireplace with Felicity, Janine and Nancy. Wood covers the floor in here, a smell of smoke fills the room, not overly but it can get sickening at times. But I like that it is cosy and warm in here. Across the room is the kitchen that is fitted with an enormous refrigerator, beautiful cupboards, benches and essential kitchenware. I wonder how much money it would have taken Calhoun to build this place. "He likes to drink," Janine says and folds her arms. He has been living here for who knows how long and has somehow survived without going insane - well, not that we know of.

"He does," Felicity says, "but he saved our lives today. I think the least we could do is give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he is a great ancestor of yours, Janine."

Nancy sighs and runs her hands through her dirty hair, "I feel disgusting."

"You were amazing today," I say to her as I lift my feet up onto the couch, "the way you fought - it was perfect. Teach me to fight like that and teach me to control time traveling."

Nancy sighs, "time traveling is not something I can teach you, Bo. You have the Academy for that."

"I don't have the Academy anymore. I can never go back there. None of us can. You are all I have at the moment."

We all stop to hear Calhoun's voice from across the room, he is standing at the end of the hallway that leads off to the many bedrooms, "that may not be the case."

"What makes you say that?" Nancy asks.

Calhoun smiles, it is a small smile, "I am not the only person the government has screwed. In fact, I know many people just like myself. All of them can help us."

"How many are we talking about?" Felicity demands. "She only needs one, one who knows exactly what to do."

"Hush, child," he says and holds a hand out, Felicity does not appreciate that, "do you honestly think a mentor is all we need? We just slaughtered thirty servants of parliament and we have a hybrid among us - this is war."

Janine stands up angrily and clears her throat, "I believe you slaughtered thirty servants of parliament! We are simply on the run and I am quite sure that we did not ask for your help."

Calhoun scoffs loudly, "running won't get you anywhere. Eventually you will be found and killed. The only way to stop all of this is to fight. Also - how many did you kill today, sister? Do not lie to me and say that you simply injured someone. Be assured that does not make you a killer, it just makes you a fighter-"

"I am not a fighter and I am not going to go to war with my own people!"

I notice Calhoun's spine stiffen, his face turn pink almost, he may not appear old but I can see he is exhausted. Immortality to him used to be a gift - a life forever with the people he loves. Now they are dead. To him, immortality is a curse. He hates his own kind and the people - the government - that have structured society.

"They are not your people anymore!" He growls. "They have betrayed you your entire life. Each and every one of them are liars. What makes you think they deserve life? For hundreds of years I have lived down here, kept myself hidden and for what? Just so I can be away from the government, just so they can never find me - just so I can live? They will kill me if they knew I were here. They killed my family! My wife! My daughter! Who knows how many they have killed just to protect their reputation."

Janine stands up angrily, pushes her long red hair to the side and grimaces, "And you are willing to go to war with them? What makes you think we can actually defeat them? I am not prepared for a coup d'etat, I just want to help Bo and Cynric survive."

I instantly look up at her and deep inside of me I feel warmth for Janine and appreciation. Maybe she isn't so bad.

"It will not be coup d'etat. It will be a revolution," Calhoun says and then proceeds through the living room and towards a door that none of us have walked through yet.

We all follow him. He leads us down a dark stairwell which we have come to realise is his cellar or basement. I wonder how long it took him to carve his home through the rock. His house is in a mountain, carefully dug out, fitted with walls and ceilings. It is hidden, secured. It is a perfect hiding place.
I am tempted to ask Calhoun answers, I need information on myself. Surely I can't be that dangerous. Yes, I have an Angelican power and yes, I am half Time Jumper, half Angelican... but I'm not exactly that different.

"What is this?" Felicity asks.

I follow her gaze towards the centre of the large basement. The room is enormous and in the very centre of it is a single light. Everything else is in darkness. The only lamp sits on a table that is covered in what appears to be a chemistry set. Files are scattered everywhere.

"Have you ever heard of genetic engineering?" he asks Felicity and begins to flick through pages and pages of information. I notice how Janine becomes quite fascinated with his different experiments and test tubes that are lying around.

"Of course," Janine replies, her previous argument with Calhoun completely forgotten.

"I learnt about it a little back at school in London," Felicity adds.

"For the last fifty years Angelicans have been going missing, vanishing into thin air, without a trace of evidence to suggest their whereabouts. Your precious government has kept these facts away from you. The Angelicans that have disappeared are not just Angelicans, they possess wonderful powers, powers that can be used for great things."

"Like what?" Felicity demands. Nancy stands beside me, she listens to Calhoun carefully but by her facial expression I can tell that she is questioning his sanity.

"Jeremiah Beasley," he says and points to an image of a very small size on a piece of paper, the picture of this man is surrounded by information, he is youthful, obviously an Angelican and obviously good looking, blond hair, blue eyes, "male Angelican of forty-nine years of age. Disappeared two years ago in the city of Hargon. His Angelican gift? Mind torturing. He inflicts no pain physically but he inflicts it mentally. Some say the worst pain in the world is child birth, think of that or of your body ripping to pieces - now times it by a thousand. He can do that by simply looking at you although it is all in his victims head." Calhoun says.

"I don't understand," Janine says to him and begins to look at his files, "what does he have to do with genetic engineering?"

Calhoun shrugs casually, "for the last fifty years, a group of Thornes have been conducting experiments. For the last ten years many have been a success. They have mixed genes from different Angelicans, such as Jeremiah Beasley, and have combined them with genes of Thornes..."

Janine begins to speak and finishes his sentence, "...to create a super Thorne. A Thorne that carries the characteristics of Angelicans. A hybrid?"

He shakes his head, "not exactly a Hybrid, although with an egg and sperm it is possible. For the last ten years there has been a boom in the Thorne population. Children are everywhere, they are beginning to outnumber the adults. In ten years many of them will be fully grown and perfect for combat. They will have the brain of an Angelican, an Angelican gift and the body of a Thorne. I fear that it will only get worse, once they have the powerful genes of Angelicans they will probably abduct Shape Shifters and Time Jumpers but then again, maybe they already have."

"Impossible," Nancy says, "how do you know this?"

Calhoun shoots a look at Nancy and then he proceeds to the other side of the room and disappears into the darkness. We can hear him shuffling around and then we hear a flick of a light. The basement lights up perfectly, everything in clear sight. A large map rests on one of the walls, Calhoun stands before it and lets his finger touch a certain point. "This is where we are," he says and then moves his finger a few centimetres up the map, "at the bottom of this mountain there is a deep forest. In the very centre of that forest is a town called Seabrooke. There are Angelicans, Time Jumpers, Shape Shifters and Thornes. All of which have either left Hargon or other cities voluntarily or have escaped the government after breaking a certain law or defaming their reputation. Like me," he swallows, "they research. There are Thornes in Seabrooke that work as our spies, they go into the mountains, live with their own kind for a few weeks and return to inform us of everything that is going on." I notice his eyes flicker to Felicity, "Some Thornes can be trustworthy, apparently."