Nineteen 22.

©Copyright to Beverly Guinevere Taff June 2020

List of Characters.
Terry Harrington. Fugitive boy marked for compulsory transitioning.
Samantha, (Sam) First transitioned kid Terry meets on the streets.
Theodora (Dora) Leader of the transitioned kid gang.
Jessica. (Jessie) The only natal girl in Dora’s gang.
Charlie Member of the transitioned gang.
Jan Another member of the transitioned gang.
Ron Café owner who lost his daughter to egg-snatchers.
Doctor McTavish. Female paediatrician
Doctor Cummins Professorial Consultant Paediatrician
Sarah. Senior Midwife at the maternity unit
Dawn Very young trainee nurse.
Eleanor Jessica’s mother.
Diana Terri’s mother.
Marek. Refugee from ISIS terrorists in Syria.
George. Clever Insightful lab tech.
Jamal Marek’s female 1st cousin.
Sarah Female Bodyguard.

Chapter 21.

After Sarah and the other guards had reassured Jessica and Terri that they would be doubling the security, Jessica and Terri settled down to a quiet night with a ‘chick-flick’ Knowing where the cameras were did little for their comfort but if their exposure for a few days meant that the agents were caught, then the pair were prepared to run the risk.

Naturally, Terri was a lot more circumspect during her bathroom visits and always double checked that the bathroom guest towel was blocking the camera. The main problem was knowing that they were being closely watched and the agents would know when Jessica was alone in the flat, Terri was now compelled to upgrade his subterfuge by reinforcing the image of Terri being a close female friend of Jessica’s whilst having a job somewhere. This meant she had to stay most of the time at Ron’s café and sleep overnight in the other spare ‘box-room’ down the landing from Dora’s bedroom.

The ploy didn’t work for the agents were well trained and skilled in surveillance. In the week that it took the security guards to locate their base, the agents were close to realising that there was more to Jessica’s female friend (lover?) than met the eye.

Plans were set up to capture the ‘girl’ and find out what was going on.

Two days after the cameras were discovered, Terri was leaving Jessica to maintain the subterfuge and she failed to notice the ‘tail’ that boarded the bus behind her. When Terri alighted, the tail did not follow but simply noted the location as the bus sped on. Thus by patiently staging the pursuit the agents eventually determined that Terri lived in a row of houses that backed onto the same lane as Ron’s café. Unfortunately for Terri, the quiet seclusion of the lane also assisted the agents in their kidnap.

One wet, windy night as Terri was fumbling with the key to Ron’s yard she was suddenly taken just as she was returning her door-key to her handbag. The kidnappers attacked as Terri was opening the door to the rear yard. They quickly grabbed her arms in a powerful embrace. This was of course to immobilise her while the second kidnapper smothered her mouth. Having seemingly immobilising her the attackers dragged her to their waiting van and eventually bundled her in.

Fortunately for Terri, while she had been replacing her key in her bag, it was next to her ‘tracer alarm, that was monitored by the security forces. The moment she was attacked, she activated the tracer as she struggled valiantly to delay her kidnap as long as possible.

Once captured, she followed all the rules she had been taught and it was fully five minutes of violent struggle before the kidnappers managed to get her into the van. Five minutes was all the security force needed to be on the road and locating Terri’s tracer-alarm.

In the unlit rear of the locked van, Terri managed to locate the tracer again by rummaging cautiously in her hand-bag and eventually she inserted the tracer into her rectum.

“Thank god for micro-skirts and skimpy knickers.” She congratulated herself, as the task proved easy despite the handcuffs.

As the kidnaper’s van picked its way through the rain it eventually pulled into a small yard off Baldwin street in the city centre.

“Out bitch!” One of the kidnappers commanded.

Terri made a show of struggling to get to her feet and hopefully creating as much delay as possible. Her efforts however, only incensed the kidnappers and they yanked her violently out of the van.

“Ouch. Fuck you, you bastards that hurt!”

“Through that door bitch!”

Terri followed their instructions and eventually found herself in a seedy apartment as the kidnappers checked for followers.
“Looks like we’re in the clear.” One of them opined.

“Not ‘til we’re out of town.” The leader declared as he turned to Terri.

“Right bitch. What’s your relationship to the girl with the twins?”

“You should know if you’ve decided to kidnap me.”

He slapped Terri hard across the face as he replied.

“Don’t try playin’ games bitch! We’re serious.”

“What d‘ you think it is. I’m her friend of bloody course!”

“Do you know where her boyfriend lives?”

“Of course I bloody don’t. He keeps himself well hidden.”

“Yer lyin’ bitch. We’ve seen you deliverin’ the blood. How do you get it?”

“We have a pre-arranged delivery system.” Terri lied.

“Where and when.”

“Different times, different places; each and every time.”

“How’d ‘you organise it?”

“On my mobile.”

“Where is it?”

“Where you idiots left it; in my handbag, in the van!”

One of the kidnappers cursed and immediately left the room. Terri hoped the security guards might be onsite by now and that they would tackle him when they saw him get into the van, then she cursed as she realised the security guys would not know the van. He returned a few minutes later with her mobile in his hand.

“It’s security locked bitch! What’s the password?”

She had a coded message to contact the security forces. Instead of giving them her personal password, she gave them the extended alternative ‘dial-up’ password that simultaneously connected the phone immediately to the security guards who were now able to eavesdrop on her conversations..

“It’s ‘Allsausagesturncold!2000’

He tapped eagerly on the keys and gave a wolfish grin as her phone lit up and he quickly went to messages. What he didn’t know was that now, the security guards were actually eves-dropping on Terri’s conversation. As he searched the messages he frowned angrily.

“What are all these numbers?” He demanded.

“Coded locations.” Terri replied. “Places where I can meet him and collect the blood.”

“Oh fuck this. Just tell us when you’re next meeting him and once we’ve got him, you can bloody go.”

“I don’t tell him. He tells me.” Terri lied.

“Fuck! When next is he likely to call?”

“Every day, it’ll be tomorrow morning now. If he’s got blood, he’ll just text a number.”

“I don’t see any previous texts here,” the lead kidnapper accused her.

“Of course not. I delete them the moment I’ve got the number. Can’t be too careful, can I?”

He cursed again then shrugged as he instructed the other kidnappers.

“Lock her in the small bedroom. We’ll see what happens in the morning. Organise yourselves into watches, I’ll go and get some food.”

As they locked her in the smallest bedroom, Terri was relieved to learn that they were not gratuitously violent. Still handcuffed she settled on the bed to await the morning.
ooo000ooo

Dawn arrived and Terri kicked at the door demanding a lavatory break. They uncuffed her and obliged her. Whilst attending to her needs, she extracted the tracer from her rectum and switched it on and off two times. This was a message to confirm she still carried the tracer and she was okay. When she emerged, the leader presented her with her phone.

“Put the password in again. We switched it off overnight.”

“And you forgot to memorise the password!” Terri scorned them.

“Just do it!”

Terri obliged and waited for the number to be texted by the security forces.

It came within ten minutes when Terri was eating some bread for breakfast. The simple two digit number confirmed the rendezvous and she advised the gang leader.

“It’s in the suburbs out Bedminster way.”

“Where?”

She named the pub and explained that the blood would be located inside some ivy behind the boundary wall to the pub garden..

“Where will he be?”

“He’ll be gone.”

“Tell him to wait.”

“He never waits. He’s cagier than a snow leopard.”

“What! You never see him?”

“Only if he chooses to remain. If he wants to see me. He simply watches the pickup location and double checks to see if I’m being tailed.”

“How can he tell that you’re being tailed? We could use any vehicle.”

“I always have to use the bus. If he wants to meet me he watches the bus stop and checks to see if I’m being followed. If he has any doubts, he simply doesn’t present himself to me. As I said, he’s cagier than all hell.”

“Fuck!”

Stuck with such a dilemma, the agents realised they were forced to use the bus system again little realising that it was a pre-arranged system that Terri and the security forces had evolved for exactly this sort of scenario. Terri could hear the muffled arguments through the door and eventually the door opened. She decided to try and take the initiative.

“You’re late. He’ll normally be long gone by now, but the blood will be in the ivy covering the wall. If he want’s to see me he’ll be waiting nearby. I usually hang around the location for five minutes to see if he appears.”

The agents glared thoughtfully, but could see no way past the impasse at such short notice. They shoved Terri out of the door into the yard and straight into a carefully prepared trap.

As the group emerged from the building, Terri recognised one of the security team seemingly taking a black plastic bag of rubbish towards a rubbish bin near the gateway to the yard. Having recognised the man, Terri then spotted the security team’s van and immediately did what the team had practiced several times. Even as the gang escorted her towards their own van, Terri waited until she was walking close by the security team’s van. Suddenly she dropped to the floor. There were three quick, silenced shots at head height and three agents fell to the floor. The side door of the van slid open and Terri was bundled into the van while the dead bodies quickly followed.

Within twenty seconds of Terri having emerged from the building, the loaded van was departing the yard.

In the van, Terri recovered her nerves and turned to Sarah.

You left that a bit late. I was getting worried.

“It was the best location.”

“What about the last one, Mr big?”

Sarah handed her phone that was still recording the contents of Terri’s mobile.

“Have a listen. He’s not a happy bunny.”

“Will I get my phone back?”

“Of course. We’re not interested in your private life.”

“Yeah. Pull the other one.”

“Seriously Terri. I’ll get it back to you as soon as.”

Terri turned to study the bodies.

“What are they, middle eastern or central Asian?”

“One is a central Asian, we know him but we don’t know the leader or these other two.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll find out.”

“Our job’s to protect you. It’s up to the government to find out who’s after you.”

“They only want me to lead them to the blood donor –“

“And the sperm donor.” Sarah added sotto voice.

Terri put her finger to her lips and frowned.

“Well, after this debacle, he might drop out of sight.”

“R’ you serious?” Sarah whispered.

“It’s getting too dangerous,” Terri whispered back. “Ah, here we are; back at the clinic.”

“Out you get. I’ll escort you back to Jessica’s”

“What about these three?”

“Leave that to us.”

Terri shrugged, took a deep calming breath and stepped out. Within minutes she was in Jessica’s arms before slumping into an armchair. Jessica clung like a limpet while Sarah changed her mental gears and switched the kettle on.

“How can you be so calm?” Terri asked her.

“Part of the job.” Sarah replied as she took out her phone to check on the where-abouts of the gang leader.

Terri raised inquisitive eyebrows to which Sarah replied.

“He’s seen his chums and realises we mean business. We’ve already got some answers.

“Well, I’ve still got to make the blood appointment.” Terri reminded Sarah.

“The cat’s pretty much out of the bag babes.” Jessica interjected.

Terri paled slightly.

“How.”
The blood clinic was running tests in the hope of finding any markers on your DNA that might point to any other possible donors. Some bright young thing from the sperm clinic ran stuff over his or her computer and the computer picked up on the DNA. He or she took her information to the director and he couldn’t deny it. He tried to tell him or her to keep it a secret and well, - you know the old saying; a secret’s only a secret as long as only one person knows it. The staff at the clinic now know that Mr Blood donor is Mr sperm donor.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Terri cursed. “So that means everybody knows.”

Jessica nodded her head despondently.

“It won’t be long before the other bit becomes common knowledge and then -.”

“Bye, bye Terri.” Terri replied.

“What d’ you mean?” Sarah frowned.

She didn’t like secrets that might compromise her operations.

“Can’t say.” Jessica declared.

“You’re not making my job any easier.” Sarah charged irritably.

“We’re going to have to let her in on the secret.” Terri sighed. “It’s not fair on them. They’ve just gone through an incident this morning that says it all.”

“You’d better talk to Professor Cummins and the team first.” Jessica cautioned.

“Speaking of the Devil. They’re crossing the courtyard now, him and Dr McTavish.” Sarah observed.

“I’ll bet it’s to do with the blood donor also being the sperm donor.” Jessica opined. “There’s been a fluttering in the dovecotes since the news broke.”

“Has that bloody kettle boiled yet.” Terri demanded.

“Calm down babes, nobody but a few know who the blood donor is yet and even less know who the sperm donor is.. The only public bit is that they’re the same person.”

Terri sat slumped on the armchair as Professor Cummins and Dr McTavish arrived.”

“Well I’m glad and relieved that you’re safe!” The prof declared. “You’re not harmed I see?”

“Only my nerves Prof.”
“Good. Well there’s good news and bad news.”

“Go on.” Terri sagged again.

“We’ve made a breakthrough with the vaccine.”

“How so?” Terri pressed.

“They’ve developed a more sophisticated procedure using viral RNA instead of your DNA. It’s faster but less predictable so it needs some more testing.”

“How much more testing?” Jessica demanded.

“The virologist was explaining it to me last night. About three months and at least five thousand volunteers.”

“What sort of volunteers?” Terri asked again.

“The first ones should be young people, mid to late teens up to mid-twenties.”

“So it’ll be schools, universities and – what else?”

“Army.” The proff replied, well, - armed forces to be precise. Definitely no young medical staff, they’re too precious.”

“Yeah. That makes sense Terri was forced to agree. “Is it dangerous? – The testing I mean.”

“We don’t think so but the clinical tests will confirm it - we’re certain.”

“Good luck with that professor. I for one, am going to catch up on some sleep.”

ooo000ooo