Phase 5

By Heather Mar-Gerrison

“Do you think that maybe you’re, you know, like, from...” Josh gazed out of the window towards the rapidly moving clouds and whispered, “...Out there?”
My gaze followed his; I shrugged. I had no idea and I didn’t much care anymore, truth be known. I’d wondered for years if I was some kind of super-human like Superman – dumped on this planet because I wasn’t quite as super as I should have been... “I don’t know where I’m from,” I said with a sigh, “– just like you were, I was dumped by my real parents and adopted. You’re my family as far as I’m concerned; you and Mum and Dad.”
Kelsey and Josh are adoptive brothers - both with gifts beyond the usual human and both confused and trying to come to terms with their super-human abilities. When they start university at Marlborough Mews they realise they are not alone... but another group of individuals - the guys in suits - also seem to realise they're something special. As more and more students seem to be dropping out - who can they trust? And what's happening to those who have disappeared?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Heather Mar-Gerrison
• Release date: May 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311457325

Heather Mar-Gerrison

I love to write M/M romance and as a sucker for a HEA, you're guaranteed one in my books. #happyheatherafters

Book preview

Prologue

Molly Stanley

It had been five years since I first looked into Stan’s glorious black eyes.

Five years had neither dimmed his beauty, nor my feelings for him.

Five years had however, changed this planet beyond recognition for us. It hadn’t physically changed – of course it hadn’t. It was still perfectly habitable and a perfectly normal place to live for most humans. In fact, I doubt they’d noticed any changes at all since they were quite the most unobservant species. I wasn’t saying humans weren’t intelligent – of course they were and some were just as observant as we were; it was just that they wouldn’t have noticed anything that wasn’t affecting them directly. In fact, save for the enhanced technology that kept on making advances – newer versions of stuff, changes in politics, news reports getting increasingly more depressing – I’d be amazed if they’d noticed any differences at all…

Most of the population were continuing their lives in perfect oblivion to the war that was raging around them. No. The changes that we’d noticed were entirely to do with people like us – hybrids.

In the beginning it seemed like there was only Stan and I. We soon caught on to the fact that there were a few others; Amie of course and Milo, our closest friends, and Saffron.

Dad had told me there would likely be more of them and he and some other like-minded scientists, who wanted us kept out of the spot-light had set up a project to find any others that may be living out their lives on Earth.

No one, however, had any idea of the numbers we were dealing with; but all the evidence we had gathered over the last few years pointed to the numbers being in the thousands.

This wouldn’t usually be a problem, but we also had overwhelming evidence that a very small number of the hybrids had gone rogue – it was a race against time to save the innocent – and to bring the activities of the guilty to an end…. But of course, this was just the beginning…

Yes, things had changed beyond all recognition – Phase Five, it would seem, had seen to that…

*

Hey Dad, I grinned as I walked into his office. He looked up at me his eyes tired. Creases of worry making him look older, What’s up?

Dad sighed, Nothing baby-cakes. Don’t worry.

I frowned. You’re hiding something from me, Dad, I said, I don’t want to have to resort to reading your mind – but I will if you refuse to share your worries.

He grinned and shook his head, Traitor. He joked, You’re as bad as Kopi! Okay, but I don’t want you freaking out – everything is under control… he scratched his head, frowning, Well, kind of…

I felt my heart beat quicken at his uncertainty. Okay…

Dad sighed. Well, as you know, we’ve been working on this program to find and protect our Earth-born hybrids for the last few years.

I nodded. Yes, you started that just after the twins were born.

That’s right, he agreed, just after Agent Francisco was sent down and Agent Minter ‘allegedly’ got his perspective back. He smiled wryly, I’m still not absolutely convinced about that – but putting him in Paul’s team was really a stroke of genius. He’s doing alright now.

I grinned back at him. We’d always been a little suspicious of his involvement in Agent Francisco’s madness. Still, if anyone could keep him on the straight and narrow it was Paul Staveley. He was really good at his job and his team had great respect for him. He kind of demanded it.

Anyway, it would seem that someone else is also searching out all the hybrids – and doing a far better job of it than we are. He grimaced, some of them have disappeared from our radar altogether – it’s almost as if they’re being... he trailed off.

I frowned as I saw what he was thinking, Kidnapped?

He shrugged. Maybe, he nodded, or recruited perhaps…

Recruited? I asked incredulously, For what?

He threw his hands up in a gesture of despair. God only knows – but nothing good, you can bet your life on that. He scratched his neck. I’m getting too old for all this drama. He grumbled.

I grinned. Are you kidding me? Come on Dad – you’re still a spring chicken!

He smiled. I don’t know about that, He laughed, A middle-aged turkey, maybe…

I chuckled, So – what do you think they’re being recruited for?

Dad sighed. I think some of the hybrids have gone…

Bad? I read his thoughts again.

He nodded, Earth is a dark place for a lot of people. He said, let’s suppose for a moment that you had nothing – except, of course, powers far beyond those around you. Wouldn’t you be tempted to use that power to make things better for yourself?

I shrugged. I guess so…

It’s human nature, Molly. He smiled, "And for all intents and purposes – these people are human. He shrugged. I doubt some of them have any idea that their powers are from being cross-bred with creatures from outer-space. Let’s face it, who the hell would believe them?"

I laughed. Very few, I should think, I agreed, but, okay – let’s run with this theory of yours for a moment. I was a half-breed for all those years. I never knew – but neither did I realise anything was different about me until I met Stan. So, how are these people’s gifts showing up?

He shrugged. I don’t know, He said, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that someone from the inside was telling them.

Someone like Francisco, you mean?

He nodded. It’s not impossible – there’s always been good and bad – no matter if the inhabitants of the planet are subdued or full of emotions…

I nodded. So, what’s the plan now?

He looked up at me, his expression guarded. We need to actively go and find them. He said.

I narrowed my eyes, How? I asked.

Dad bit his lip and regarded me silently for a moment, That’s the tricky bit, he finally said, but we think there are a couple of young guys that were adopted around fifteen years ago that might well have been hybrids.

I frowned, How so?

Most of the ones we’ve found have been either adopted out or are in foster homes. He grimaced at the thought.

I frowned at him, Why?

He smiled sadly back at me, "Why do you think that might be, Molly?" He asked me softly.

I thought about my two beautiful children and I had to smile as I realised what Dad was getting at, Challenging behaviour? I asked.

Dad nodded, a small smile of understanding on his face, Communicating at a very early age – walking way before they’re one year old; picking up a pen and writing a story at six months old might seem challenging to you. It would completely freak out most humans – and that’s basically what happened with these kids. Their parents didn’t want to acknowledge that they’d got a child that was different.

I shook my head in wonder, But how could they not know?

Phase Five. said Dad quietly.

Phase Five? I looked at him blankly, What the hell is Phase Five? I thought Stan and I were the products of Phase One?

Dad shook his head and chuckled softly, We were so naïve, he said.

I stared at him, Naïve? I asked, puzzled, Naïve, how?

Well, up until very recently we all believed that you and Stan were the first generation of hybrids.

My jaw dropped, Uh, huh, I nodded, That’s what we thought, too. So, what are you saying? That we weren’t?

He shook his head, Oh God no, he said with a groan, there were at least five or six attempts before it was completely abandoned and then your program was the re-introduction – and that one went pear-shaped, too. He rolled his eyes, haven’t you noticed that everything humans do is a disaster?

I laughed and nodded, Pretty much, I agreed. Let’s face it, humans had been destroying Earth for years – it had only been in recent years they had actually noticed and were attempting to put it right again – but it was slow progress.

Dad sighed, Well, anyway, Phases One to Four were all a complete and utter failure – not one baby was born that we were aware of, but then Phase Five was started. Well, it was an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. It went completely wrong – over a thousand gorevan males signed up for the program, which was unprecedented and really got the scientists excited – only they hadn’t signed up for anything other than escaping Gore. So, once they got here, they all disappeared – well, who could blame them?

My jaw dropped, Really? Why?

Dad pulled a face at me, Oh, come on Molly – don’t be so naïve. Why do you think?

I blushed and nodded; Stan hadn’t exactly been backward at coming forward on the physical side of our relationship... Well, okay, I agreed, "but how did so many of them know?"

Dad grinned, People talk when they’ve got great news to impart – even people with suppressed emotions. And so the news travelled – fast!

I chuckled and nodded, Yeah, I guess so – but well, what happened to them?

Dad shrugged, They’re still here, I guess. He said, living their lives pretty quietly I should think – but it’s their off-spring. You can’t deny you and Stan are pretty special people with your gifts. You were both part of a far more controlled Phase of course…

I glanced at him; it wasn’t that well-controlled. Neither of us had been conceived the way we were supposed to be. Both of us were conceived naturally – but between a gorevan and a human. It had been very painful for my father to come to terms with the fact that his wife had gotten involved with a gorevan male and he’d been very suspicious of Stan when he arrived from Gore.

A lot of water had gone under the bridge since then, though – and since Stan had helped Kopi to save his life – with a blood transfusion from a gorevan, no less, they were a lot closer than they used to be.

Dad smiled at me; he was married again now to a wonderful woman. She was gorevan and they had children together too, we naively thought you were Phase One but quite clearly you weren’t. There are literally thousands of hybrids on earth, now – and then of course there are the second-generation hybrids. Well, you know how powerful that makes you – look at you and Stan and look at your two beautiful children. The powers just keep on increasing. Things were far better controlled back then… Well, no they weren’t, not really… he frowned.

I sighed. Dad, of course, wasn’t my real dad. My real dad is a lovely man called Surt. He prefers to live on Gore where his emotions are a little easier to deal with. He and my natural mother – Dad’s first wife – got a little too friendly when an earlier Phase was being developed. My mother got pregnant by Surt and I was the product.

I put my hand on his arm, Let’s not dwell on that, huh? I smiled. Dad smiled back at me. I was silent for a moment but then curiosity got the better of me, So how far back do these Phases go? How many generations of hybrid do you think we have on earth now, then? I asked.

Dad shrugged, I should think we’re coming up to the fourth. I guess it depends on the age of the individuals when they met and had kids.

I nodded, Wow, I murmured.

Dad nodded too, Well, anyway – what we now know as Phase Five was a complete and utter failure as far as integration went. Like I said, all the male volunteers went AWOL and since then, we’ve had reports of unsolvable crimes that seem to have been committed by super-human activity. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, We’ve tried to see the positives in hybrids, but it really only leaves one conclusion – and that is that some of the hybrids have gone bad – and it’s they who are involved. It’s the only logical explanation. That’s what Paul’s section is investigating at the moment.

I frowned. That wasn’t good. If the general public got wind of us super-humans being any kind of threat to their existence, we were going to be hunted down like dogs and disposed of…. And your section? I really hoped Dad was doing all he could to help them rather than criminalise them…

Dad grinned knowingly at me. I swear sometimes he could read minds too. We’re doing everything we can to stop the bad guys that Paul’s tracking down from getting to the good guys like you and Stan – and all the other youngsters that are out there – vulnerable, freakishly intelligent and gifted beyond their wildest dreams…

Chapter 1 – Kelsey Johnson

Data held by GP Solutions:

Name: Kelsey Johnson (name before adoption Kelsey Hammersmith)

D.O.B. 25 February 1995

Natural Father: Jurd Kifilin (Name changed to Hammersmith by his father upon deflection from Phase Five Program) Whereabouts unknown.

Natural mother: Stacey Pemberton, whereabouts unknown.

Kelsey

Five years ago, I realised that I was not quite as human as I first appear, I was fourteen and things had been a little weird for a while – so when I say I realised five years ago – well, that was more when I started to really come to terms with it…

It occurred to me that even though my brother Joshua often got colds and other childhood diseases; I did not. If I fell out of a tree I kind of bounced and got back up again, completely unhurt. Joshua broke an arm or a wrist or at least had bruises and cuts.

I never thought about it and neither did anyone else. That all ended when I got my hand trapped in the safe door. It was all Josh’s fault. We were messing around and he slammed it to as I was putting in Dad’s takings.

It wedged my hand at a bit of an angle. It would surely be broken if it was Josh’s hand trapped, and not mine.

I looked at Josh, frustration at his stupidity all over my face, Now look what you’ve done. Come and open it again. I can’t move!

The look of revulsion on his face that I wasn’t screaming in agony should have been my first clue that this was no accident…

What he did to me next, however, left me in no doubt. He put all of his body weight against the door until blood was running down my arm towards my elbow and dripping in a pool at my feet.

What the hell are you doing? I asked him, panic in my voice now. This wasn’t normal behaviour – even for him.

Josh is my brother and I love him, but he’s a difficult kid to live with sometimes. He’s not exactly what you might call a team player; he’s rude, selfish, downright cruel sometimes and generally deemed to be a bit of a bad lot by most of our school mates – or rather my schoolmates, since Josh doesn’t really have any. He’s far too ready to get into fights and I’m always the one who has to go wading in to save his sorry arse…

There’s something about you that isn’t quite right. He said, somewhat coldly, staring at me with his dark eyes.

I stared back, completely bewildered by his behaviour. I’d always thought we got on pretty well but now… Yeah, I agreed with a grimace, I’d call it multiple compound fractures. I’d replied as calmly as I could; my mind was working over-time, wondering if he’d found out – and what he was thinking about me – and what he was going to do to me next…

And you still don’t feel any pain? he asked, beginning to look more horrified at me than fascinated.

I stared back at him. Was he completely nuts? It was excruciatingly painful, It’s absolute agony, actually, I gasped, fighting to remain conscious, your point?

You’re not screaming. He said, his voice beginning to show that he was panicking now, too.

"And you’re not bothered in the slightest! I yelled, who’s worse?" I stared at him, my chest heaving.

He suddenly seemed to realise what he was doing. Shit. He muttered and pulled the door open again. His face was one of revulsion and shock – but I got the feeling it was aimed all inside at himself for what he’d just done, rather than the mess that was left of my hand… Shit! He repeated, only a little louder this time, "Oh, God, what am I doing? I’m so sorry man…" His face had gone white and he looked close to tears.

I pulled my mangled hand out and looked at the damage. I sucked in a breath. This was really going to take some explaining to Mum and Dad if they walked in now. Get me a tea-towel or something. I said in a low voice, trying to block out the pain while I concentrated on trying to heal myself.

"A tea-towel?" he asked incredulously, looking at me as if I’d completely lost it, Never mind a freaking tea-towel. We need to get you to A and E. His voice was rising in panic at the mess he’d made of me.

I looked at him with one eyebrow raised, I think we both know that isn’t necessary, I said, and let’s face it – you’d be facing charges… This wasn’t the first time Josh had been in trouble. Like I said, he wasn’t a particularly well-behaved individual.

Josh glanced at my face; the look of self-loathing was still there. I grimaced at him. My hand was throbbing with pain. I’d managed to shut most of it out, but the healing process is somewhat more painful than the injury itself, as I can’t really block out the pain when I have to concentrate on the healing, I think I need to lie down for a minute. I said.

Josh nodded. He dived forward and caught me; then half-supported, half-dragged me up the stairs and into our shared bedroom.

I lay down on my bed and concentrated. I felt the bones snap back into place