Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:40:55 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Vengeance - Chapter 20 Message-ID: Chapter 20 Genine closed her door and locked it hurriedly. *What the hell is the matter with you, Commander?* she told herself. *Are you trying to break your cover or are you just plain stupid? How can you actually still have any good feelings for that bastard? He just tried to rape you!* She sat on her bed with exhaustion. "You had to go and kiss Harry, didn't you?" she said aloud. "What the hell possessed you to do such a thing? He's a mercenary, for crying out loud!" *And you're a spy*, she reminded herself. *You're both well-trained fighting people. The only difference between you and him is which side you're fighting for. Besides, Harry really seems to care about you. Al certainly doesn't; he just wants to get into your pants.* She shook her head. "This was a mistake. I should have never come here." There was a knock on the door. Genine looked at the door with trepidation. "Who is it?" "It's Colonel Stewart, Major," came the response. "Your two volunteers are waiting for you in your office." Genine stood, walked to the door, and opened it. "Thank you, sir," she told Stewart respectfully. "I appreciate you informing me." Stewart gave her a slight nod before starting away from her. "Oh," he said as if he just remembered something. He turned and looked at Genine. "Please inform Ensign Stark to report to the General after you have finished briefing him." "Yes, sir," Genine answered after a moment. She greatly feared what Burke would do to Harry, especially after the torture the General had already done to him. Stewart nodded yet again before he left the area. Genine exhaled. She had a very bad feeling about the whole situation. When Gushie had come out of the Imaging Chamber, Verbina Beeks gave him the most distressed look he had seen all day. "What is it?" he questioned. "There's a phone call for you," she told him. Her voice lowered slightly. "It's General Burke." Gushie frowned strongly. "How did he get this number?" Verbina shrugged helplessly. Gushie gulped nervously. "Put it on the speakers," he told her. Verbina looked at him with concern. "Are you sure you want to take it?" Gushie nodded slightly. "I don't know what else to do." Verbina took a breath and nodded slightly. "On speakers, Ziggy," she ordered. Gushie hesitated. "Yes?" he said towards the ceiling. There was a low evil cackle. "Why, Dr. Conelf! You sound absolutely petrified! How quite delightful! How is your lovely wife?" Gushie gulped nervously and looked at Verbina. She nodded slightly, urging him on. "General Burke, how... unexpected," he finally said. "Finally got the nerve to say something, I see," Burke replied, his baritone voice echoing in the Control Room. "What do you want?" Gushie asked with a bit of fear. "I want you to relay a message to Dr. Beckett. Tell him that I have Admiral Calavicci. He's quite dead." "Oh, gawd! No!" came a shocked whisper. Gushie and Verbina looked towards the door. Burke laughed slightly. "Is that Dr. Calavicci's voice I hear? How excellent! No doubt being comforted by the feisty Dr. Beeks as we speak." Verbina had indeed immediately hurried to Beth and hugged her gently. She glared towards the speakers with hatred as Burke spoke. "So, Dr. Conelf," Burke continued, "since you are probably the one in contact with Dr. Beckett at the moment, will you relay my message?" Gushie hesitated. "I'll tell him," he finally said quietly. "Good," Burke commented. "Do mention my name." He paused. "Oh, and just so you know, you can find the Admiral at the address from which I am calling. I'm sure that your computer by now has tracked it down." "You are at a pay-viewphone in downtown Albuquerque," Ziggy put in slowly. Burke laughed. "Just as I thought." He took a breath loudly. "You can find him in the alley beside the phone. Kind of appropriate, isn't it? A man born in the slums of one city dies in the slums of another. Full circle." Beth lurched towards the center of the room, glaring at the ceiling with rage and grief. "You bastard!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Calm yourself, Doctor," Burke said with obvious glee in her grief. "We wouldn't want you to join your husband just yet." Beth collapsed to her knees, unable to hold her own weight anymore. Verbina knelt beside her and took her hands gently. She then gently took her into her arms to allow both of them the chance to cry into each other's shoulders. "End of transmission," Ziggy informed them quietly. "I have already dispatched a security team to the location indicated by General Burke." "Thank you, Ziggy," Gushie replied in a near whisper. He closed his eyes in deep sorrow. When he opened them, he saw Verbina gently leading Beth out of the Control Room. "I am truly sorry, Dr. Conelf," Ziggy expressed as Gushie found himself alone in the Control Room. "I shall miss him." Gushie exhaled slowly. "As will we all." When Genine entered her office, Sam and Dan snapped to attention and waited for her to invite them to be seated. A moment later, all three of them were seated, Genine behind her desk. "Well, gentlemen," Genine said, focusing her attention mostly on Dan, so as to avoid looking into Sam's eyes. "The duty is quite simple. There will be four shifts a day, two people each shift. Your shift will begin in three hours. You will relieve the current shift at the main gate after which you will patrol the grounds for six hours. After that, you have the rest of the day to yourselves, as long as you remain on the grounds. Any questions?" Both answered in the negative. Genine nodded. "Like I said. Simple. Lt. Carroll, why don't you grab yourself some breakfast? Ensign Stark, could you stay for a moment?" "Yes, ma'am," Sam answered as Dan stood up and left the office, giving Sam a wink of support before he did so. Genine waited until Dan was gone before she stood up and walked over to Sam. "Harry, I'd like to apologize for my behavior this morning. I know it was completely unexpected and uncalled for." Sam frowned, shaking his head. "You have no need to apologize, Major." He hesitated. "The truth is I've been wanting to kiss you ever since I saw you." *At least, Harry did.* Genine looked very frightened by Sam's response. "Please, don't say that, Harry," she begged. "You really don't mean it." Sam was more confused than ever. "I don't understand," he told her. "I mean, by the way you kissed me, I assumed that you..." "Your assumption was wrong," Genine said quickly and nervously. Sam instantly noticed the nervousness. He slowly stood up and gently touched Genine's shoulders. "Genine," he asked gently. "What's wrong?" Genine looked into his eyes. It was a mistake. She was about to tell him that nothing was wrong but the sight of Harry's brown eyes, which were made more intense by Sam's gaze, stopped her. How could she not answer honestly when eyes so honest and beautiful were looking at her so? She took a shaky breath. "The General saw me kissing you in the yard," she said quietly. "He was jealous. He tried to rape me." She lowered her head. "He's ordered you to report to his office after you leave mine." She took a slow breath. "I'm afraid, Harry. After seeing what he did to you before, I'm afraid of what he'll do this time." She hugged Sam. "I don't want anything to happen to you." Sam returned Genine's hug. "Everything's going to be okay. Nothing's going to happen to me." Genine took a deep breath. She hesitated. "I should have told you this before but... You know when you said you've wanted to kiss me since you first saw me?" She paused. "To be honest, the same can be said for me but, for some strange reason, I was more attracted to Burke." Sam looked at her gently, some questioning in his eyes. She released her hold on Sam and took a step back. "For some reason, I've always been attracted to men with power of any kind. I once had this fling going with this leader of a rock band. He was heavy into drugs and I fell in line with him. I became addicted to opium. When he died of an overdose, I realized what an idiot I was and I put myself into a rehab clinic." She looked at Sam. "And now it's starting all over again with Burke, only with him it's cruelty. I see myself getting more and more cruel while I grow more and more attracted to him. I don't want to be cruel, Harry. I've worked hard to accomplish what I have in the past ten years and I don't want to throw it all away, especially after meeting you." She took a breath. "Harry, I love you and I don't want to lose you." She touched his face gently. "I know you have to go to Burke's office but please be careful. He's not in a congenial mood right now." Sam took a breath. *So, Genine and Harry feel the same way about each other, even though Genine was a little confused about her feelings. Now that I've made her realize that she loves Harry and not Burke, she won't marry him and I should be leaping soon.* Mentally, he shook his head. *But I still have to keep Burke from killing Harry.* "I'll be careful," Sam assured her. "I promise." Genine kissed him gently. Sam reciprocated for Harry's (and, he had to admit, his own) sake. "Come to me tonight," she begged him. Sam hesitated. "I can't. It wouldn't be right." He looked into her eyes. "Not now, anyway. Trust me, though. When the time comes, Harry Stark will be here for you." He took a breath. "I have to go. Burke is probably ready to storm this office in search of me." "I'm coming with you," Genine said. "I don't think that's a good idea." Genine smiled gently. "Harry, this problem belongs to both of us, not just you. Both of us have to show Burke that he can't rule over our emotions. Besides, there's a less likelihood of you being killed if I'm there." Sam wanted to argue with her but, for some reason, he didn't. What she said seemed to make sense. "Okay," he finally said. He smiled slightly at her. "We'll do this together."