The Demon's Ballerina

Ch 2 - Dr. McAllister

I got to my office around eight thirty. Commander was already waiting for me, the only sign in the darkness was the red glow at the end of his cigarette from his usual spot on the bench by the back door. When I walked around the front of my car, he threw the butt on the ground and ground it with the toe of his boot.

"We've got a problem." That was never a good sign, hearing those words from him. "And we've got a few options if we act now."

"What-"

"Zane hasn't established contact with his intended target. He's had ten hours." I frowned, crossing my arms to ward off the chill in the air. "But he is showing signs of having locked on and is already in the first phase of his conditioning. I have someone on his trail, searching for any numbers from the List that he may have come in contact with-" It hit me like a sack of bricks.

"My stepdaughter." He was suddenly very silent.

"You married one of our-"

"I didn't know she was part of Operation Valhalla until after we'd gotten married. Her daughter was twelve, thirteen, and Zane was already gone. I'd already picked him out a nice little blonde-"

"Good insight on your part there, McAllister. He took one look at the picture of his target in the folder, tossed it back onto my desk and asked for another deployment." Sarcasm heavy in his tone, I realized I'd fucked up. Zane's high school girlfriend had been a petite blonde, preacher's daughter. So, I'd gone with that when I'd chosen his number from the List. It had been the safest option at the time. "I knew then we'd have a problem. He's locked, Doc. There's nothing we can do at this point except let it play out. Reprograming does not work on him, so it's that or we take him out now."

My little brother had been a problem from the start – he showed results after a mere week of receiving his first shots. He broke every record set before him, displayed gifts not previously recorded. He also had a way of overriding his Viking counterpart and bend it to his will. With the man in charge of the Viking, the possibilities were endless. They wanted to study him, understand how he did it and then incorporate those things into the next batch. They'd be unstoppable, and no longer on a kill list the second things took a turn for the worst. But he was my brother. The last six years had taken their toll on my mother. I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye at his funeral, or any day after.

"Let it play out."

"He's going to fight her, Doc. He's wired for the blonde – we made sure of that. But there's something far stronger calling to him, and with how in control he is, he very well may be strong enough to answer it."

When I got home, Charlie was up doing an exam. She'd made a pot of coffee, and judging by how engrossed she was, hadn't realized it was finished.

"Hey, kid." She glanced away from the screen and smiled before going back to work. "I'll make you a cup if you remember when you're rich and famous that I was the old man making your coffee when you were too busy taking those exams." She chuckled quietly, flipping me off without even taking her eyes off the screen.

"Mom's in bed. She tried to wait up for you but I caught her dozing on the couch. Convinced her the baby would probably rest better if she was." I stirred in her sugar and creamer, tears in my eyes. She was a wonderful kid. Hardworking, resilient. She talked about going away for college, exploring the world. It had been easy, until now, to pretend she wouldn't have part of her life robbed once she was assigned to a Viking. I thought I still had time. "You look beat, Dad. You should head to bed too." She muttered when I set the cup of coffee beside her notebook.

"After that exam, you should head to bed too." She shrugged, and I figured she'd still be up in two hours working on something.

I was glad Liz was already asleep when I slidinto bed ten minutes later. I didn't have the energy to lie to her if she askedme if anything was wrong.