Read Online Genesis by Michael McCarthy - Free Book Online Page A

purse.
    “Problem?” Dr. Cooper asked.
    “I’m getting a headache.”
    Ilsa eventually pulled out a small bottle
of aspirin, but she hid the pills she dumps into her hand and sorted them, shielding
her actions from both William and Cooper, eventually selecting one, and taking
it.
    There was silence in the room for a few
moments, all except the sound of the ticking clock on the mantel, whose
presence in the room is always known, ticking, ticking, ticking away.
    “So, what’s his story?” Isla asked,
motioning to the chained William on the floor.
    “Do you want the long version or the short
one?” Cooper asks in return.
    “You tell me; you’re the one paying.”
    Cooper is very reflective for a moment.
“Indeed I am.”
    “Well, if he’s not a United States Marshal,
then who is he?”
    “Well, at first I thought he was a variable,”
Cooper replied.
    “A what?” Ilsa looked confused.
    “A variable. You know, a value that may
change within the scope of a given problem or set of operations. It’s the
opposite of a constant. Think of it sort of like a side effect if it helps. But
then, I think to myself, he has this badge, and all these lies that go with it.
And he knows my name. He has to be Agency.”
    “Agency?” She frowned.
    “Office of Strategic Services, CIA,
Homeland Security, Graywater, United Fruit Company, does it really matter what
they are calling themselves these days?”
    “Who is he then?”
    “It doesn’t matter who he is. All that
matters is that he is not who he says he is.”
    Ilsa asked the most obvious question next:
“Ok, but if you have U.S. Marshals protecting you, then why is it so hard to
believe that they might send this guy to bring you someplace safe?”
    “Because I have a special arrangement with
the United States Attorneys’ Office. I know all of the Marshals that are
assigned to me because I hand pick each and every one of them. I review and
approve the file of every person that gets to see my case. It is a verbal
clause, special and unique to my particular case. They are never, under any
circumstances, to send anyone to this residence without my prior knowledge and
approval.” Cooper turned directly to William. “They never have, and they never
would.”
    “You don’t know me because I am not
assigned to you. I told you, it’s a mess out there. Many of the agents are not
reporting in. They are heading home to be with their own families. Most
everyone has given up. I was just the closest agent when the request went out
to pick you up.” William tried to explain.
    Cooper cut him off. “That request is
something that would never happen. You are a very convincing liar, whoever you are.”
    “I don’t know Coop, it sorta seems legit to
me. It really is a mess out there. Maybe we should un-cuff him before we get
into trouble,” Isla reasoned.
    “Before we get into trouble? Are you
fucking for real? You are trapped on a small round rock hurtling through the
vacuum of space with a growing cancer on it that views you as its primary food
source. Oh yeah, and you are seven weeks pregnant. An event perfectly timed to
coincide with the end of the industrial world and civilization in general. For
fuck’s sake Ilsa, I don’t know how the rest of your days normally go, but take
it from me, you’re already in fucking trouble!” Cooper turns his rant to
William. “And so are you! I know factually that you are not a U.S. Marshal, and
showing up here pretending to be one can only mean one thing!”
    “I’m telling you the truth,” William
pleaded.
    “Sorry, son. I happen to know otherwise.”
    “Ok, so let’s pretend he is not a U.S.
Marshal,” said Ilsa. “So then, what are you going to do with him?”
    “We don’t have to pretend. If anyone
arrives on my property without my advance knowledge, I am to do two things. The
first is to push this.” Cooper revealed a small panic button on a necklace
hidden under his shirt. “Done. Quite some time ago.”
    “What