The Selfless Gene

Chapter 34

"Let's go."

Paimona confidently strides out the back of her building, followed by a five-person tactical support team all dressed in black combat gear. Paimona is dressed the same, but with a zip stopping shortly under her chin. It skims her outline, making her look younger than the years she chose to show. Attached to her belt are three blades, a Fairbairn-Sykes & Ari B'Lilah to the left and a Katana to the right. On her back is a pack with built-in freezing capabilities, while her big combat boots hold a final hidden knife for emergencies. Her long grey hair is tied up top and pulled back out of the way of the action that'll soon be upon them.

Her and her team get in the back of an old blue van and set off. Two of them pull down the internal sides of the truck and remove laptops. They boot up and start their hacking process. The two other members of the team in the back start doing gun and ammunition checks so that they are prepared on arrival. Three large cases of explosives are also lined up at the back of the door. Paimon, however, just sits quietly, closing her eyes and meditating to a state of calm. She feels her heartbeat slow, her breath lengthen and her shoulders come down. They were to be invisible in the shadows with her, one more beast hidden in the world of men.

The van eventually stops and they look to her. She opens her eyes and kicks off the operation.

"Begin the system takeover. Lights first but keep the power going. We go into the front together and rush the three guards there. Then Alpha team with me, Beta team go and set the charges at the previously agreed points."

"Affirmative." The team say in unison. They all put on masks with night vision to conceal their identities.

"Ready, lights to go in the whole area in three, two, one."

They get out of the back of the van, an instant black descending on The Intern's facility and nearby shops and street lights. Paimona and the Alpha team, which included the driver, sneak around past the cafe Thame previously sat in and then right angle towards the entry. The three security guards panic but with lead tied to their feet. From a distance, the Beta team take calm shots from their static position. All men are instantly taken down with bullets through the heart. The Alpha team sweep the entry and Beta follow with the explosives.

In the early hours of morning, security wasn't high around the outskirts of the facility and the teams filter quickly in. Paimona leads them to an entry point and the door automatically unlocks, thanks to her team still inside the van. They sweep inside the facility, two members of the Beta team peeling off to lay explosives at different parts of the building. Paimona and the remaining team arch around and head directly for the main part of the lab and Lohikaarme's army. At last they reach a main door, behind which people are working. The team look around to each and wait for Beta group to return. After three minutes the teams are reunited and Paimona reaches out to the van on her radio.

"In position."

"Affirmative." As the team innact the next protocol, an alarm sounds inside the main laboratory.

"Power down. You have ninety seconds before the back-up kicks in." Paimona opens the door and is first in, her people fanning out around her as they sweep the facility. The muted quick release of air sounds out as the Alpha team's silenced automatic weapons take down scientists and security. Paimona's sword is out and she slices through two workers who step in her way. The Beta team set up more explosives as Paimona heads up to an atrium, the heart of the facility. She enters the control room and closes the door, quickly localising the screams of the three people remaining there as the power comes back up. She makes quick work of them with her katana. Paimona has secured Lohikaarme's failed army experiment, using just a small tactical team.

"The vault please."

"Affirmative." As they hack deeper into the core systems, Paimona waits for a code to enter into the cryo safe that held Lohikaarme's blood and sperm.

"Ma'am. Seventy five. Eighty one. Thirty five. And then you'll need a retina scan."

Paimona grabs the body of one of the people she cut down and takes off their head with her Katana. The ancient blade, still as sharp as it was the day it was made, slices cleanly through. She grabs the female head and holds it by the hair as she enters the code. She uses her fingers to hold open the eyelids and scans the eyes. System error. Paimona sighs and goes to another in the room and repeats the process. System error. She throws the head against the wall with such force that it deflates like a punctured football and slides down the wall. She goes to the last person and repeats the process. System Unlocked.

Satisfied, Paimona opens her backpack. Slowly and carefully, she removes the last of his blood and DNA from the safe and places it inside. The three pints of blood sit perfectly in her rigid pack. She didn't trust anyone else with her boy's life. She takes the final bags of blood and remaining semen and secures it along with the others. Zipping up, she hoists the backpack on again.

"Set the charges and let's go."

"Affirmative."

They stride out the way they came, the team in the van putting locks on all the doors behind them to keep in the devastation. Slowly, in formation, they leave the building, past the dead security guards and back around the cafe to the van. Once in, they waste no time in driving away. In the back, Paimona delicately removes her spoils and places them in a sturdy large cryo safe of her own that would withstand any accidents.

"Let there be light." She says to her tech team. They type away and, simultaneously, the charges go off in the facility and the area once again has power. As the lights flicker on, they reveal the devastation outside. Devastation that is soon engulfed by flames from the facility as it completely blows up. The dust of destroyed brick, glass and steel push out like pond ripples, covering everything around it. Inside, the burgeoning but failing army is burnt to a cinder joining the other dead bodies Paimona left behind. Now she alone has Lohikaarme's future in her hands. The only hands that could be trusted with it.