Bacchus

Bron stepped back and, as instructed, ignored the questions being screamed at him. Pietr's press secretary took the podium and was saying something, but Bron's attention was caught by an out-of-place motion in the crowd before them. His vantage point of being on the stage and being at least a head taller than anyone else allowed him to spot some odd movements in the crowd. He saw bodies moving aside for three people who were slowly forcing their way forward.

Bron glanced over at the Security team in the riot gear, but they were no longer facing the crowd for some reason. He looked back into the mass of people and watched the three. He finally spotted the one in the center coming straight on. The man was wearing a hooded jacket, but when the man's eyes locked on his, Bron knew the three incoming men were trouble. He glanced back the way they came and saw it was clear. As he glanced back, he saw the center most man raising something. Bron instantly moved. As he was still beside Pietr, he spun in place and threw his arm around the man's chest, and pulled him to his side as he was already sprinting to scoop up Angelina. He held her against the other side of his chest as he leaped off the stage. Automatic weapon fire ripped through the podium where they had been standing only a fraction of a second before. By the time the assassins had aimed their weapons at Bron's retreating back, it was too late to catch him. The police drones moved in.

After the dust settled, the media had their story, but two of their own paid for it with their lives.

Chapter 7

Bron sat back in the plush cushions of the couch and relaxed for the first time in hours. Seated in the living room of Pietr Rykov's ranch-style home with security patrols keeping constant guard on the grounds, Pietr let him know they were as secure as they could be on the planet. With this assurance, Bron allowed his muscles to stretch out and go lax. His arms along the back of the couch and his head resting back against the wall, he was asleep within seconds.

Pietr looked over at the big man, then at Angelina sitting next to him. He shared a small smile with his daughter. Bron had saved both of their lives that day. While he had a stiff neck from the sudden acceleration from the stage and down the hallway, that was far preferable to being perforated by hypersonic metal slugs. A detective sat with them in the living room and kept them abreast of the investigation's initial findings.

Several things happened immediately after Bron leaped from the stage with his charges held tight under his arms. The gunmen let loose with customized mini rail guns, which launched chunks of metal at extreme velocities. Luckily, they were unfamiliar with the weapons and mostly just ripped up the airport terminal stage and walls. Two members of the press standing before the men were killed, and Pietr's press secretary on the stage was nicked in the calf by one of the metal shards. He would be in the hospital for a week. The man had already contacted Pietr to say he was thrilled by the polls' initial results since the attack. Pietr threatened to fire the man if he didn't at least try to relax and recuperate.

Once the gunmen opened fire, the police drones set off a suppression pulse, a subsonic shock wave that typically disorients and knocks down bystanders and, hopefully, the criminals. In this case, the gunmen were wearing ear protection, so they remained on their feet while the surrounding press tumbled to the floor. Now that their targets were clearly exposed, the drones used their shock weapons and lit up the three men. Surprisingly, two of the men exploded, causing shrapnel injuries to those around them. The third survived and was currently being questioned. Surprised and angry at the gruesome deaths of his colleagues, he was apparently willing to talk. The 'bullet-proof vest' he'd been supplied with at the airport failed to ignite the plastic explosives the padding had been replaced with.

Coincidentally, one of Pietr's chief opponents was caught attempting to board a flight off-planet thirty minutes after the incident and was detained until the investigation could conclude.

The gunmen were identified as members of an ultra-conservative racial purity group. The weapons had been brought into the airport by parties not yet determined, but the security team members who tried to flee the planet were being interviewed.

The police were confident that the threat was over, but the security detail would remain for the next few days at least.

While the house appeared to be a modest but sprawling ranch-style bungalow, it was actually an armored fortress. There were several safe rooms throughout the house, and the walls and windows could withstand a direct hit from an RPG. The life of a senior-level politician was not without its dangers.

The detective left them with final assurances that they were in excellent hands. Then they were alone.

Pietr sank into a chair opposite Bron and Angelina. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Sitting forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and looked at his daughter.

"I am so very sorry to put your life in danger like this!" he said.

"Papa! Do not apologize! This just means you are doing something right! You have them frightened and willing to do stupid things. You must be willing to see it through to the end! I will support you all the way. As will Bron."

At the mention of his name, he became instantly alert and scanned the room for threats.

"Shhh! Easy, my hero. There is no danger. Go back to sleep," Angelina soothed. She tucked herself back on the couch to rest under Bron's arm.

Pietr squirmed a little as his daughter made herself comfortable against the sleeping man.

"Papa, I want you to know that I will do nothing to jeopardize your position in the government. Doctor Ryan was right. If I were to publicly show my affection for... our friend here, it would ruin your chances at re-election and ruin Walla's only chance at the best leadership it could have. For all the trouble I've given you in the past, I've always believed you were the best chance for Walla's future."

Pietr was touched by his daughter's words. "Thank you, Angelina."

"You should also know that I am in love with this man. The doctor claims it is just the result of my trauma. That it will fade as I heal. Maybe, maybe not. What my heart holds for him right now seems immeasurably strong, so I will take it day by day, and I know he is patient. While we will act as only good friends, for now, I will make it my mission to see he is given citizenship rights. His life should NOT be a daily coin toss. Once his future is secure, and if my love has not faded as the doctor claims it will, we will readdress my relationship with him. In the meantime, though, for his sake, you must release your restriction on him for having sex with others. It is not fair to him. He must be able to choose partners for discreet relations. I must keep up appearances, return to my lifestyle, and date the stupid little players in the clubs. He must be seen with others when he is not guarding me. This will throw the tabloids off any scent of impropriety."

Pietr was amazed at this display of his daughter's cunning. He knew she was smarter than she acted, but sometimes the trouble she presented him with made him wonder where that brilliant little girl had gone. It was obvious to him now that she'd never left. He grinned in delight. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. I will let him know."

He eyed his daughter critically. "Your task of making him a citizen is likely to fail, though. He is clearly a genetically engineered being. There can be no disputing this fact. The laws we have established so far on Walla were defined from the laws the rest of the Confederation are working with. Creating Genies is illegal on most of the worlds of the Confederacy. Owning them is quickly following suit. On the planet where these laws go into effect, Genies are being euthanized. I don't know how long we will have with... our friend, but I do not expect it to be for long."

He expected his daughter to have tears in her eyes by this point, but she sat on the couch leaning against the big Genie with a fierce twinkle in her one uncovered eye.

"Papa, what defines being human?" she asked softly.

"Well, to be human is to be born of human parents," he said.

"What if the mother was injured and was unable to carry the child to term, and they used a birthing machine to keep the fetus alive until it could come to full term? Would that baby be considered human?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, of course, the child would be human. The parents had relations to bring the sperm to the egg, and the child formed in the mother's uterus," he replied, starting to see his daughter's argument and already preparing for her disappointment.

"Hmmm, but sometimes the father cannot perform sexually, and sometimes the egg must be fertilized in vitro. Children of these methods are considered human, yes?" she said.

"Yes, the mechanics of the fertilization are not truly the measure of what it means to be human. To move this conversation along a little more quickly, I will also agree that some limited genetic modification is allowable in the specific circumstances of treatable genetic diseases. But the human mind must NOT be tampered with. Personality matrixes are NOT human minds. They are simply highly complex rule sets to make obedient, willing workers with pre-defined skill sets. Our friend-" Pietr froze.

Angelina's twinkle was almost radiant as she saw the gears working in her father's mind. She knew he'd get to it, eventually.

"His matrix wasn't coded. It was mapped from multiple living minds in real-time. I've read his data pack three times, and I glossed over that section each time. He's not just a Genie. He's a clone," he said in shock. He pulled out his comm and quickly looked up a detail in the file.

"TSBR0N33-EM12.01. The characters after the hyphen indicate the matrix creation sequence. Normally the first two characters would be CM for Coding Matrix. EM stands for Enriched Mapping, an illegal and banned method. The number after the EM indicates how many human minds were connected in parallel during the Enriched Mapping. In his case, there were twelve minds which is three times the usual number. Considering the illegal and desperate measures they took, it's likely the twelve volunteers were the genetic engineering team themselves. The decimal indicates he was the first of the Genies in his team to receive the mapping. The danger of Enriched Mapping is that it's very taxing on the source minds, which introduces brittleness in the matrixes they record. They must have thought adding extra minds solved that, but the evidence of the Genie team's mental dissolution proves that it didn't work. Well, other than for the first one. I would love to speak with the engineers from this project, but so would the authorities."

They both looked at the innocent face of their sleeping friend.

"Angelina, this doesn't mean his future is by any means secure. Cloning is an even older social taboo than Genies, but there are precedents our lawyers may be able to use to at least delay his demise," he said grimly.

"It is a good foundation. We will build from that," she said firmly.

Pietr looked at his daughter with new respect, and she beamed back.

Chapter 8

Within days of the shooting at the airport, public opinion did a dramatic flip for Pietr Rykov. Once branded as an elitist and slaver, he was now seen as a protector and savior of the oppressed, someone looking out for the least powerful members of society. He made several appearances on talk shows and always presented himself openly and honestly. He took the opportunity to press his message of personal integrity, responsibility, and transparency--government for the people of Walla. The public ate it up.

Angelina re-entered the nightlife with the usual suspects plus one. To be part of her group, Bron was outfitted with several finely tailored, sharp-looking suits as arriving at the clubs naked wasn't really an option regardless of how he kept his goodies tucked away in a secret compartment.

There was one more adjustment to Bron's wardrobe Angelina insisted on. The discipline collar had to go. Pietr was initially reluctant, but he saw the wisdom of showing his faith in the big Genie's gentle nature. Bron was very grateful.

Angelina's entourage included five ladies, some from high school and some from University, plus three she'd befriended on her nightly prowl through the clubs.

Her school friends began with her oldest friend Rhonda, who went through men and hairstyles on a weekly basis. Black and beautiful, lushly curved yet petite in stature, sexually aggressive and opinionated, her hunt for the ideal man and her intolerance for bullshit was the stuff of legends. She loved talking about her flings almost as much as having them.

Vicki was a high-energy flash of wild red hair, white teeth in a perpetual lopsided grin, a dazzling array of pin-up tattoos, and a lean runner's body. She was prone to dancing the night away. Smart as hell, she glided through school. When she graduated, she took a job in a fitness club teaching dance aerobics as it paid the bills and let her do what she loved.

Sasha was the first friend Angelina made in University. She had short-cropped white-blond hair, a hard athletic body, an often reckless disregard for danger, and a laugh that could cut through the loudest club music. Even though she flunked out after three months and ended up working in a mechanic's shop, she kept in touch with Angelina, and they'd been inseparable since.

Stephie was almost the polar opposite to Sasha. Fair-skinned from her Irish ancestry, she was quiet and sometimes painfully shy. Also, from her Irish genes, she had shoulder-length wavy raven hair, soft curves bordering on carrying just a little too much weight, and an infectious giggle.

The last member to join her group in her University years had been Bailley, who was almost too pretty. While she had bonded deep and hard with the girls in the group, she was also the most reserved, remaining aloof with everyone else as a defense mechanism. She was all smooth mocha skin, high cheekbones, almond-shaped dark brown eyes, and long, straight ebony hair. She drew men to the entourage like bees to flowers. Tall with toned limbs and gentle curves, she moved with a grace that attracted the eye. Angelina knew of all of her school friends Bailley was the loneliest because of her trust issues. She wasn't sure what had happened in her friend's childhood, but it must have been bad.

Sasha, as her nature demanded, had drawn the group into a rather rough bar one night. There the ladies met Asami, a petite Japanese beauty with a modestly curved figure who had been drinking alone at the bar. Some unpleasantly aggressive men decided the ladies needed their attentions and quickly had them encircled at the bar. Little Asami had challenged the men to a drinking contest. If she could out-drink two of their strongest men, the ladies would leave unmolested. Otherwise, they'd be their willing partners for the night. The ladies had been terrified but saw they had no other choice. Asami gave Angelina a wink and drank two hugely muscled braggarts into unconsciousness. They left the bar without so much as a nasty word from the men and had immediately taken Asami into their tight-knit group.

Rachel and Sarah were twin sisters from war-torn Barrett's World. At the ripe age of fourteen, they joined the army to get away from their overbearing father. They fought in and survived three brief but bloody wars on their planet. They retired from the military after ten years. Their father had passed away in the intervening years and had left them with a tidy sum as an inheritance. With that, the sale of the family home and property, and their earnings from their years in the army, they had enough money to emigrate to Walla and enjoy the rest of their lives in modest comfort. The twins were strong and hard from their years in the army, but both had been gifted with generous bosoms from their mother's genes. Their large blue eyes, olive complexions, full lips, and strong noses were from their father. Once they'd had crew cuts, they now wore their curly black hair in cascades to their shoulders to soften their look. They'd been trying to fit in, but their often direct personalities frightened people. New to the planet and looking to make some friends, they were drawn to the loud laughter from Angelina's group one night in a dance club. Angelina immediately connected with their almost brutal honesty, and the rest of the group eventually warmed up to them, Bailley being the last.

Boyfriends and male suitors came and went, but her group was loyal to the core and free to be more than a little wild. They were well known in all the clubs and were welcomed because they kept the energy levels up and the drinks flowing. They also drew the men into the clubs with their money.

Initially, the ladies weren't sure what to make of Bron. He was the only male member of the group. Sasha immediately saw the potential for chaos in the big guy, so she was happy. Stephie was all giggles around Bron, and that made him giggle as well. When he couldn't figure out why he was giggling, that made the others laugh and relax. Vicki asked him if he knew how to dance, and he asked her for a demonstration. She busted a few moves, and he did a fair job of replicating her movements, so Vicki saw in him a dance partner who just might keep up with her.

What surprised Angelina most was Bailley. During their second outing, Bron sat with the woman for most of the night, and the two just talked. She'd never seen her friend open up to anyone so quickly. At the end of the night, they shared a warm, full-body hug. Though Angelina peppered Bron with questions all the way home, he wouldn't divulge any details of his private conversation.

The nightclub bouncers found Bron to be respectful and attentive to their instructions regarding security measures in their clubs, so he was given back a little slice of that respect. By the second week, they exchanged nods when they arrived or were going so far as teaching him secret fist bump handshakes.

True to her nature, Rhonda was the first to ask if Bron was available for a casual affair. She was rather taken by the tall, dark, and mysterious guardian. Angelina gave all of her friends her blessings to pursue the gentle giant. Not being the daughters of politicians, corporate executives, or the social elites, there was far less stigma to the attention they gave to Bron. Angelina was never seen looking jealous, angry, or even the slightest bit upset when one of her ladies ended up sitting on Bron's lap for extended periods. However, he certainly looked a little flustered by the attention. His naïve innocence and gentle nature just made him even more appealing to the women.

Instead of drama, there was laughter and the usual wild behavior, typically just shy of being illegal. The tabloids were disappointed by the lack of scandal.

At the height of his new popularity, Pietr was asked to be a guest on Walla Night Now, which had an enormous audience and a host known for his ultra-conservative views. Ronnie Brown was a media superstar known for his vicious destruction of many political hopefuls. Ronnie was obviously out to derail the Rykov popularity train, but there was no other option for Pietr than to show up when he was publicly invited. Ronnie invited him to bring along Angelina and Bron, who could have front row seats to the spectacle. They graciously accepted as well.

The first few questions Ronnie threw his way had been relatively soft. Then Ronnie got that look in his eye, and the smirk surfaced.