Commander by Phil Geusz Read Free Book Online Page B

never heard the truth about myself, then just maybe I perhaps might’ve been able to love another doe. But even then… Most likely I’d have gone through a whole series of miserable relationships with girls who couldn’t ever measure up to an impossible ideal. Even worse, neither they nor I would’ve ever been able to figure out what was wrong. It would’ve been miserable, not just for me but for who knows how many others.” I sighed. “Better this way. Far better. Even though I yearn for her more than I suspect you can ever know.” 
     
    He nodded. “You’ve written several letters to House Security, trying to find her. The search was costly enough that they requested my approval before proceeding.” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry to have intruded, in that sense. But they were following standing orders. At any rate I authorized the expenditures and… Well, the negative reports you got back were accurate. We’ll keep trying, son. I have to say, though, that you'd be a fool to hold out much hope. Most likely she’s an ag-slave somewhere. And…”
     
    He didn’t have to finish. “I know, Uncle,” I replied, balling my fists. Ag-slaves didn’t often last long, or at least they didn’t under Imperial overseers. “But… She’s a lot like me, isn’t she? I mean, she’d sort of have to be, one would think.”
     
    His eyebrows rose. “Perhaps. I’ve never considered the matter before.”
     
    “And… I mean… With all due respect, I think I’d find a way to survive. Even there.”
     
    “Perhaps,” Uncle Robert allowed. Then he smiled. “Or get yourself killed rebelling, more likely.”
     
    I smiled back. If I rebelled, well… A good few smug, holier-than-thou masters might just find themselves dead long before me. Though I’d never say such a thing aloud to a human, especially one who’d been so kind and generous.
     
    But Uncle Robert read my expression perfectly. “Hah!” he replied with a grin. “That’s my David, the one I’m so proud of!” Then his face softened again. “In all seriousness, son… You’re sure you’ll never get over her? That only she can be the one?”
     
    I bowed my head. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”
     
    He sighed. “Don’t be sorry—this situation is our fault, not yours. Indeed, I’m the one who should apologize on behalf of the House—you’d think that by now we’d have learned not to monkey around with the natural order of things. It so rarely comes out well in the long run, you see.” Then he leaned his chair back and closed his eyes in concentration for a moment. “I’m going to send you to see someone who might be able to help,” he said eventually. “They’ll be instructed to be frank with you in every way and to withhold nothing. In return, I’ll have to request that you be discreet. Some House secrets are better kept House secrets, and it might for the best if you asked no more questions than you absolutely need answered. That which you don’t know you can’t share, even against your will.”
     
    I nodded. “Of course, sir.”
     
    “Excellent, then!” he agreed. Then he pulled out a card, scribbled on it, and added an imprint from his signet ring. “Take this to the Marcus Institute of Genetic Research,” he said, handing it to me. “And show it to Dr. Linda Cunningham. If she leaves a single question unanswered, then call me again and we’ll see what we can do about it. She can be a bit… well, difficult at times.”
     

10
     
    “Difficult” was indeed a good word to describe Dr. Cunningham. Not only did the woman keep me waiting twenty minutes in her untidy anteroom, but she insisted on talking down to me as if I were a child. At first this enraged me so much that I nearly snapped back at her. Then I saw her do the same to a human and I realized that she perceived e veryone around her as mentally deficient, not just us Rabbits. All in all the gengineer was one of the most unpleasant individuals I’d ever