The Infant Conspiracy

The Infant Conspiracy Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kai Dante Oberllyn hid in the deep construction ditch by the road as he decided what to do next. He hadn't expected there to be quite so many enforcers out at this time of day. There were too many police, too many black vans and all of them seeming to be stopping to ask him where he was off to, as if it should bother them that he was out walking with a fishing pole, a pack and a dog. Oh, and this parrot-can't forget the parrot-has to be some city injunction or rule about walking around with an African grey on your shoulder... He'd been walking for an hour, gotten not even to the edge of the city, and he really wanted to be out by nightfall.

It was now dusk; there was at least 8 miles to go until he would feel like he could breathe. I just can't believe this has happened. I thought we were safe. We had the all clear for the baby, and my work for the government ought to have kept this from happening.

Just this morning he'd had a feeling something was going to not be good today-no reason he could see, so he'd shaken it off, told Zyanya to be careful, call him at lunch, he'd see her and they'd go for their usual bike ride. When she hadn't called at noon, he had come home early from work and realized something was terribly wrong. His wife wasn't home: since her fifth month, she'd been home. Nowadays, the law said pregnant women had to quit work in their fourth month to ensure the health of the child. He and Zyanya had been out on vacation during her fourth month, so when they returned, she was told to go home. It wasn't unusual at all: but Zyanya had hoped her pregnancy hadn't been reported yet so they'd be able to save more of a financial buffer. However, she'd been greeted on her first day back with a smile, a congratulations and a staff party telling her to enjoy her time off; they'd see her in six months and they all wanted to see pics just as she was delivered. She was a little miffed about it but had spent the time getting the nursery ready.

Zyanya was a fanatic about her house being clean but the place looked as though it had been turned upside down. He knew she had been taken. So many women were taken now; generally in their second trimester for mercy delivery and then were returned, told their child had had defects and been terminated. However her last appointment had just been last week: the baby was normal, there was no reason for his child to be taken. He remembered at Christmas when they'd told mom and dad about the baby and mom had wanted her to stay with them. Mom said she felt something bad was coming down, she wouldn't elaborate, just said living in the city wasn't going to be safe soon. He'd laughed it off, told her they'd be back when spring came. After all, he had to work to support three now.

"Son, it's getting bad, try to get out before she has to quit work. We have room for you both at Sanctuary," mom began.

"Mom, I want Zyanya to be close to good doctors. That old retreat center you inherited from Aimee is miles out in the country. We could get stranded out there."

"Kai, promise me that if you get even a whiff of trouble, you'll leave at once. Just lock the doors and come. We'll have a place waiting for you."

Kai promised just to make mom happy. Now he was not so sure he shouldn't have stayed. Zyanya might still be safe at Sanctuary had he gone then. Second guessing will kill me yet...

He watched as a car passed: he wanted to get out of city limits before dark. It seemed clear so he stood up and headed out of Euclid.

As he'd gone through his home looking for clues, he pondered the last few days. His security rank at the lab was high enough that he was seldom questioned about anything. He'd created so many patents for the company and the grants he'd gotten for the University that he thought they couldn't be touched. Obviously he was wrong. Somehow, this didn't seem like an average harvest of a mutant child. They'd been looking for something. None of his guns or knife collection were touched: Zyanya's jewelry was all there so it wasn't a robbery. He'd methodically went over his house, top to bottom. Zyanya would have left something for him to find: the first hint was some of her clothes were gone. He found her wedding band on the bed and paused - she never took it off. He picked it up. He'd found her cell on the dresser, and her wallet with her identity card in it. She legally couldn't go anywhere without those, yet here they were. Going into the nursery, he'd noticed Zyanya had had time to rearrange the changing table. She'd been allowed to take some baby things with her, yet she'd rolled up two baby blankets into a circle with a line through it-she wanted to make sure he got the message. She'd been taken, and he was not to come.

He'd sat down and considered his options. Normally, he and Zyanya biked everywhere, using the car rarely as he knew it had a readable GPS chip in it. It was too traceable. If he hiked, he could make it to his folks in four days. He had no doubt he was being watched. There was no real privacy these days. He had no idea why Zyanya might have been taken. Perhaps this was the government's way of making him take on the genetics project he was being pressured into, or just as likely to get him not to take it on.

What surprised him was the suddenness of Zyanya's disappearance. He'd kissed her good bye this morning, told her not to overdo anything, suggested they'd go to Charlie's for supper. She'd intended to go to the fabric store and buy some fabric for another baby quilt. She'd designed it last night and nothing in that monster stash of hers was the right color. It had to be perfect for this first baby. And when he got home, she was gone, and the house was by her standards, a mess.

He'd went to the closet where he and Zyanya had put their hiking packs - they had them stashed in case another riot started like the one last year - with dried food, water tablets, basic survival things but Zyanya's was gone. His was emptied but nothing taken. He repacked it and found a note from Zyanya.

"Go home. Red situation. Three."

They had a saying-he'd say three-for three little words-she'd say "2" for me, too. They had codes at work; a code blue meant something not legal going down, like someone getting into confidential files. Code green; bad but not dangerous. Code red-unknown danger, get out of the line of fire...what could have made a Code Red in his house?

He'd looked over the land line and found the bug almost immediately. He'd looked over his pack and found another one. He'd went through the pack and found a third. He'd repacked it yet again, added some portable weaponry and his hunting and fishing license. He'd added a fishing pole and some water bottles and went outside.

His neighbor was in the yard, working in his flower beds.

"You going fishing, Kai?"

"Got a couple days off work, Erick, thought I'd see if I could catch some Erie cats."

"Sounds good-catch one for me. Want me to watch your dog?"

"I'll put her on her outside run and the food on the back porch, if you could be sure she has water?"

"Why not I just bring her over here? She'd be safer at night inside."

"If it's not a bother..."

"Zyanya meeting you?"

"Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

"Saw her get into a black van today with a couple other ladies, carrying a suitcase. It wasn't a mercy van. It wasn't marked except it had government plates. Is everything ok?"

"She'd have called me if it wasn't. I left her a note. Let me get the dog food."

He went inside and got Bear's food dish and a Ziploc of kibble. Bear was a happy, noisy pom and he hesitated about taking him along. He didn't really know how long he'd be gone. He put Grey, the African grey parrot, in his harness and put him on his shoulder. He thought about it, and checked

Bear's collar: sure enough, another bug. He'd taken it off and went outside with some cat food. The old stray tabby that haunted the neighborhood showed up and purred while he clipped the bug to a flea collar on her neck. He went in, locked up and put the dry kibble in his pack. He'd added some Nutriberries and pellets for Grey and went outside, locking the front door.

"I decided to take Bear along, he'd like a good walk. Thanks for offering. When Zyanya gets back, can you tell her I went fishing by the sanctuary lighthouse and will be back in a couple of days? I suspect she just went shopping with friends."

"Going north then to fish? Sure enough, I'll keep an eye out for her."

Kai didn't know if could actually trust his neighbors. The old man seemed nice enough but always seemed to be outside when they went out and he wasn't family and he wasn't tribal. Kai went to the end of the street, crossed the road and cut down south. He ought to be home in 4 days. He'd have to stick to side roads-interstates could be dangerous. He prayed his wife would be safe wherever she was. He prayed for his unborn son, and he prayed for a safe journey. He lengthened his stride into the long lope that ate up the miles when he and Zyanya went hiking. It was 97 miles to Mt. Vernon and then he'd have to locate his folks. He'd never actually been out to the retreat center. Once he cleared Euclid, he was less cautious and hid less and he made better time.