I haven’t been updating as much as I like to. For a good chunk of this year, I’ve been talking about the next book in the Corrupted Genes series and that it will be coming out relatively soon.
I promise it is a real book. I just need to take time to sit down and edit the whole thing…again…for the third time…
So, how about a sneak peek into the story?
This is the unedited version of the prologue to The Foreigners. If you have read the first book, The Visitor, you’ll know the context to this. For everyone else, not knowing the context won’t detract from the story.
Warning: This is for a mature audience due to language and violence.
The Foreigners will be released next year for sure.
Prologue
I can’t fail.
No!
I won’t fail!
They will not get away. They will be captured. I will bring them to justice. And I will kill that Susan!
Crouched behind a patrol car, Daniel’s hands shake with rage. His legs urge him to leave cover and fire at the fleeing fugitives but he knows can’t aim properly if he doesn’t calm down. There isn’t a lot of time to steady his nerves. Before long, his prey will be out of reach. His pride as Jefferson City’s special investigator can’t let that happen.
He takes a few, long drawn-out breaths. This has to be it. He may not be able to stop the two renegade Nusans from escaping but he will stop that Susan devil. The two Nusans probably won’t survive in that hostile country alone without the Susan. That would be sufficient punishment enough for their crimes. Although, Daniel would rather have met out the punishment himself.
One final deep breath and he stands up. Beyond the spent bullet casings, the wounded deporters, the pockmocked patrol cars and the one patrol car on its side, Daniel spots the fugitives near the border. They’re too close to escape.
“SHOOT THEM DOWN! THEY CAN’T ESCAPE!” he orders his force.
The deporters continue firing at the fleeing trio but nothing hits. Daniel aims at the darkest member of the escapees and fires hastily. Another miss. His nerves are still enraged. The fugitives are crossing the border. The deporters shout at each other for missing their marks. Daniel’s lips twitch into a snarl.
He takes aim again. His hands steady. His breathing is measured. He doesn’t feel the volatility of his rage anymore. It rushes into his gun as the sights line up on the Susan. This next shot will be the most devastating and deadly one ever fired.
I won’t miss this time! That fucking ape dies!
His snarl relaxes into a sneer. He pulls the trigger.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK CLICK CLICK.
“MOTHERFUCKER!”
Daniel hurls his traitorous gun to the ground. His wild, icy blue eyes watch his targets vanish beyond the border. “UNBELIEVABLE!” he barks at his force. The other deporters cease fire and look at each other. No one wants to face Daniel. “HOW THE FUCK DID THEY GET AWAY? WHO TRAINED YOU TO SHOOT? ARE YOU ALL SUSAN SYMPATHIZERS?”
No one answers him. They tilt their head down in shame, hoping he doesn’t call on them by name. No one wants to be the target of the special investigator’s anger. Daniel reads his force’s hesitancy to respond to him. He closes his eyes, throws his head back and sucks in a lung full of crisp autumn night air.
“Hendriks,” he calls out firmly. “Come here. Everyone else, start processing the scene.”
A shaved-head deporter wearing a brass colored badge looks up, expecting the worst. He quietly walks to Daniel’s position behind a patrol car. Daniel knows his force is terrified of him. He composes himself enough to alleviate some of their fear.
“You’re no rookie, Hendriks. No need to act like a blank badge.”
“Yes, sir,” Hendriks responds, uncertain if his boss is actually calm or luring him into a trap.
“Tell me Hendriks, and I want the full truth, why do you think no one hit the fugitives?”
Hendriks lips clamp. Daniel lets out an exasperated sigh. “If stepping back a couple feet will make you feel better then take those steps.”
Relief wash over the deporter’s face. His body moves to step back.
“But,” Daniel interrupts the movement, “know that you will be demoted to a copper badge if you do. We are deporters, Hendriks. Not cowards and if you cannot face your superiors to deliver an assessment then you do not deserve that brass badge.”
Hendriks freezes. His knees wobble as he forces his body still. Daniel’s eyes bore down on his subordinate, waiting to see if his feet will falter. One foot struggles. Fear dictates that it must step back. Hendriks hunches his body forward, forcing his leg back into its place, firmly planted on the ground.
“Good. If you see this case through with me, there may be a silver badge in your future,” Daniel places his hand on the deporter’s shoulder before pulling it back. “Now, answer.”
Hendriks’s eyebrows furrow while the eyes drift from one side to the other. “Sir, I think we’re all shaken up.”
“Shaken up?” Daniel cuts in, causing Hendriks to stiffen. Daniel sighs. “Continue.”
“W, w, well, sir. We…” the nervous deporter recomposes himself, “We didn’t think the assignment would be this bad.”
Daniel narrows his eyes but remains silent.
“We knew that the Susan and the Nusan woman were dangerous. We knew that they were armed. We knew that they would kill. But, I know this will sound crazy, but I’m not sure if that Susan is a Susan. I mean, how else can anyone dodge that many bullets? We were fighting one man, and losing. Hell, even one of our cars got flipped over! With all due respect, what kind of person single-handedly flips a car over?”
Daniel surveys the scene again. A few deporters are tending to the wounded comrades while others walk around photographing the chaotic aftermath. A couple of them with gloves follow the photographers. Bright lights flash from the cameras. The photographer nods to the gloved deporters who then lift the fallen and move them to the side.
“I think,” Hendriks continues, “we were all too shaken up to hit our marks. And, with all due respect sir, I don’t think even you have experienced this before.”
Daniel snaps his head back at Hendriks who shirks back a little though he dares not to move his feet. The special investigator’s hand wants to lash out but Daniel holds back. Hendriks is right. No one, not even Daniel, has ever encountered a Susan like this. He can’t fault the deporter for speaking the truth.
“Very well. Go help the others,” Daniel instructs Hendriks. The deporter salutes and scurries off.
A Susan that is not a Susan.
Daniel mulls the thought over. He has encountered all types of Susans in his line of work. Has killed many of them too, with only a handful ever fighting back. He remembers one fight with a Susan that was especially troublesome.
A giant of a Susan who could take several punches to the face and hit like semi-truck. The Susan had ambushed Daniel, catching him alone. He was fierce and if Daniel hadn’t managed to get his gun to the Susan’s head, he wouldn’t have lived to see his promotion to special investigator. It was his first Susan kill. From that day forward, he has yearned for more opportunities to rid society of the Susan menace. To kill or torture with no reprimand.
Itches.
And his itch needs a really good scratch now.
A smile plays on his lips as he fantasizes what he would do if he ever got his hands on the Susan and the two traitors.
For the Susan, he wouldn’t kill outright. He would start slow. Have the black man tied up and used as a punching bag. He would beat him until the Susan could barely breath. Afterwards, he would get the best doctors the city has to nurse him back to health and force feed him if he tries to starve to death. Once the man is recovered, Daniel will repeat the process until he gets bored. Then he will move on to cutting his human torture bag. Only non-lethal slices will do. Doctors will be nearby to make sure his victim continues to breathe. After that becomes boring, bone breaking. He won’t care how the bones heal. Or if they even heal. He wants to hear then Susan snap and scream. One day, there will be no bones left to break and Daniel will practice shooting, placing the poor, broken Susan next to a target. He will hit the target a few times, watching his broken toy flinch with every fire until his aim “slips”. The black man will slump over with a bullet in the head and Daniel will have his men handle cleanup.
For the Nusan woman, Sasha Deen, he has a different plan. He’ll see to it that she is in the best of health and lock her up naked in solitary confinement. He will instruct everyone to not give her anything she can use as a weapon. Her food will be anything she can eat without utensils. Once proper pre-cautions are in place, he and any deporter interested will enter her cell and lock the door behind them. He will force himself on top of her, pinning her down. She will fight back, of course, but he can order the other deporters to help hold her down. He will undo his trousers and force his way into her. He can hit her if he wants. After all, she is a traitor. But even a beautiful traitor has uses, he muses. When he has had his fill, the other deporters will have their turn, violating her body incessantly. Beating her into submission. They would repeat this for days, maybe weeks. When he no longer has a use for her, he’ll rape her one last time before snapping her neck and dumping her body somewhere it can’t be found.
For the Nusan man, Peter Weekly, Daniel has a plan he is most looking forward to. He won’t allow anyone to hit Peter. In fact, he will detain the Nusan in a comfortable prison cell. Give him nice, hot meals and treat him well in the prison walls. Well enough, anyway. Daniel will visit him everyday and talk about the events of the day. He would gleefully tell Peter how he tortured and raped his friends. Maybe show pictures? Yes! Pictures and videos are now a must! While Daniel forces Peter to watch the horrors, he would tell the poor man how he was too weak and pathetic to save his friends. He would say that Peter can save them if he makes the right choice. This will be a lie. Daniel is going to enjoy watching Peter lament every choice that fails because they all will. To add to Peter’s misery, Daniel will have him paraded around town so patriotic Nusans can shout insults at the traitor. Unlike his friends though, Daniel will not kill Peter. He wants him to live a long, sufferable life.
His plans for torture and murder warm him heart.
First, protocol.
He must report the situation to his station. They won’t be happy. Traitors have never escaped from the country alive. Let alone a Susan. He doesn’t know how he is going to convince them that his force was overpowered by one Susan. He wouldn’t blame them if they believed that he was making excuses for his failure. If he was in their position, he would do the same.
He turns his focus back on the overturned vehicle and dead officers. No matter how nonsensical it sounds, even his gold badge superiors can’t deny photo evidence of this mayhem. This is not normal. That Susan is not normal.
He fishes his phone out of his pocket. He touches his ear to confirm the ear piece is in. He nods in approval and dials the station. The phone rings briefly before projecting a silhouette of a man. Must be using muted lighting.
“This is special investigator Daniel Suthers of Jefferson City reporting at the Nusan border, sir.”
“That’s ma’am,” the voice warns sternly.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Daniel apologizes. Maybe if you did not mute the lighting I could have known.
“What is the situation?” the commanding officer demands.
“Unfortunately the two traitors and the Susan managed to escape into Susa.”
“Managed to escape?”
Little unnerves Daniel but he knows what her voice really asked him. Did he cause trouble?
Nusan slogan number two: “Trouble destroys society. Nusans don’t cause trouble.”
Nusan slogan number four: “Imperfections aren’t desirable. Nusans are perfect.”
No! I am perfect! I did not cause trouble!
“Yes,” Daniel answers finally. “They managed to escape.”
The other side is silent.
“I would like to request paperwork to extend our operations into Susa,” Daniel tells her. “It is my belief–”
“Is the black one wounded?” the woman’s voice cuts him off. This is an odd question. Does it matter?
“As far as I can determine, no.”
The answer stings. It’s bad enough that the Susan is still alive but it’s an insult that he is alive with no injuries.
“I see,” the woman begins. “Clean the area, gather your force and return as quickly as you can. We will expedite your request to operate in Susa. But before you and your team tear Susa apart, we need to share some information about that black one with you.”
“Information?”
“Yes,” she pauses. “Our research team found something…unsettling.”
Louvie G Tucker - Author 