Hypergeniture Bk. 01 Pt. 06

Back in the present, that meant we would have the unconditional support of their government. Our meeting ended as servers brought in food and we started to eat. There was opportunity for socialising, but also opportunity for work. On the latter, the English-speaking man to the left of the president did all the talking.

"Sardonis always had access to resources. We thought he could help us bypass certain sanctions in exchange for safe harbour, but greed was his defining characteristic. While he was here, he did deals with some truly horrible criminals, without consideration for their ideology. As a result, he undermined our authority. He also ended up stealing from us, so we sent a platoon to remove him from our island paradise."

"Remove?!" Felix laughed. "He means 'kill,' Oliver. We tried to kill the man and failed -- sent a small army after him and he still escaped. Apologies, if such words are inelegant in front of ladies, but I know you like direct language."

I nodded, appreciating my friend's ability to cut through and get to the point.

The left man continued, "Sardonis is alive and still at it. He moves from one host to the next, leeching off them in return for access to his skills. Still, he's not made any major moves... Until the attempt to eliminate you. Clearly, the man is frightened of you."

All I could do was laugh. "Ha! Why?! I didn't even know he existed until he tried to have me killed."

"It must be the same reason he had your father killed. You must have something in your possession that could harm him."

Felix presented a theory of his own. "I think he had a deal with Elizabeth Wharry. That she broke that deal by leaving her fortune to you."

Shrugging, I might as well have accepted the very speculative assertion. "Okay, but how does that mark me for death?"

With everyone turning quiet, we resumed eating in relative silence. One theory was only as good as the next. I looked over at my sisters, seeing their faces and how they tried to hide their shock as the scale of the threat became clear. They were learning -- far too early -- that the world was infinitely more complicated than it seemed.

Much like the CIA man had said on my plane, "This isn't one big conspiracy; it's hundreds of small ones wrapped together."

Or something like that...

I never wanted the girls to feel unsafe, but the world was a scarier place than I'd ever imagined.

• • •

After lunch, I got a chance to catch-up with my old friend. For a minute, we talked about Edward Sardonis, but we could also afford to chat like it was the old days.

Felix kept a hand on my back as we walked through the palace gardens. "My father likes your blonde friend. He says he's never seen a woman like her in all his life!"

"I saw he was chatting to her at lunch," I remarked, having noted the attention Skylar got from the elder statesman. "He shouldn't hassle her--"

"He would never dream of it," my friend assured. "Contrary to popular belief, El Presidente is a softie. Like you."

I smiled. "Me? What makes you say that?"

"You always put other people first, my friend."

"I didn't have a choice," I retorted.

"We always have a choice. You were insufferable at school because everything you did was about those two," Felix pointed to my sisters.

The girls were standing on the other side of the garden. They were talking to Alicia, having grown to see her as an older sister, or at least a friend.

As Elle shot me a smile, I told Felix, "I'm all they have."

"That burden defines you," he replied. "It makes you a bit of a softie. Then again, I'd hate to be the man who ever tries to hurt the ones you love."

"Like Edward Sardonis?"

Felix nodded. "Don't worry, you'll take him out before he thinks of attacking again. So far, he hasn't been able to achieve his goals thanks to that woman who watches over you... Alicia?"

"Yes."

"Her father... Her father was a friend and an enemy of my father. Back when people could still be both at once."

I wasn't surprised. Alicia's father seemed like the type of schemer who played all sides. Part of me was curious for more information, but more of me wanted to steer things into sunnier territory.

"You know, I've been living the life of an international playboy," I boasted. "In fact, there's this hot blonde on the plane--"

Felix laughed, giving me a hearty slap on the back as he interrupted. "Yeah? Tell me... Does this hot blonde share the bed with you and the twins?"

"What the fuck are you implying?!" I bristled, immediately going on the defensive.

My friend held on to my arm to make sure I calmed enough to see the care in his eyes. He wasn't calling me out -- he was simply pointing out the facts. "It doesn't take a leap of the imagination, Oliver. I would only urge you to be careful, but as long as no one gets hurt... Have at it."

"How did you know?"

Felix reminded me that we spent three years as roommates and that he knows me better than most. With that in mind, he wanted to find out if I was okay. "I always knew you'd be rich and successful, but I didn't think it would be thrust on you like this."

"Like I said, I've been enjoying it..."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. I even snorted some cocaine the other night. Had a threesome with a pornstar... No, that's a lie. It was a foursome, not a threesome."

I elicited a belly-laugh from my old friend and it felt like the old days. It took ages for his laughter to subside as we found a place in the gardens, overlooking the sea and the capital of his nation.

"Interesting," he remarked; not letting his eyes wander from the horizon. "You've always been interesting, Oliver... But, utterly predictable."

"How is anything I just said predictable?" I asked.

"You're a hopeless romantic and because men are frightened of being called such names, you pretend to be a philanderer instead!" Felix asserted, taking my shoulder and walking me back to the girls. "El Presidente would like to make his beach villa available to you and your people. Don't worry, this is not a trick. I simply want to do a favour for a friend and my father is willing. While you're there, you can plan the rest of your around-the-world trip, and spend some time thinking about the future."

"I think I've got the future figured out," I said proudly, smiling at the girls as we approached them.

My friend clarified, "Only a hopeless romantic would reduce his future to the women he loves. A realist would think about the multinational corporation he owns and the mother--"

"My mother is out of the equation."

"Not because you want her to be," Felix correctly estimated.

I sighed in a way that showed agreement and we met with the twins. After giving Felix a bear-hug, we parted ways on the promise we'd keep in touch.

"And, will you be taking up the offer of the villa?"

Looking to the girls, I could see the excitement behind their eyes. Eyes that practically vibrated with delight at the prospect of a beach holiday and early honeymoon.

How could I say no?

57 • Eternity

An old Soviet chopper arrived at the airport to take us to the president's villa. The militaristic design was unlike the luxurious VIP transports I'd grown used to, and I worried the thing might fall from the sky at any moment.

To underscore the point, only two headsets worked. By pure happenstance, this meant Amanda and I were the only passengers who could communicate. As she looked down at the world below, the perky cheerleader quizzed me about our new life.

"So, is this a regular thing for you?"

"Flying in helicopters?"

"Making deals with dictators." Amanda answered, looking at me with genuine rage.

I shook my head. "You should talk to Felix... It isn't as black and white as you think. In any case, what do you care about politics?"

"You may think I'm dumb, but I care about America's place in the world. And our enemies."

"You aren't American," I reminded.

Sensing that their friend was getting angry, Tec put a hand on Mandy's lap and gave me an ice-cold look. We couldn't hear her over the sound of the rotors, but she didn't have to say a word. The signal was clear: simmer-down, she seemed to say.

As we crossed into more rural parts of the island nation, Amanda told me about her chats with the twins. "Apparently they both have boyfriends now."

"They do," I smiled. "Nice guys... I get along well with them."

Frowning, Amanda seemed disappointed that I liked these fictional boyfriends. "You never approved of me, so I can't imagine you'd approve of any guys."

Lying, I tried to convince Amanda that I never disapproved, but she wasn't buying it. The realisation that my disdain had been obvious all these years made me blush... I felt bad about being so transparent with my prejudice. I resolved to make a little effort at convincing Amanda that I'm on her side -- that I may not ever be her friend, but that I don't openly dislike her.

For a minute, I casually looked at her. My intention was to see something I hadn't seen before, and to look past her exterior. What I saw was curiosity as she scanned the machinery of the helicopter and looked down at the world below.

"Do you like flying?" I asked.

Amanda nodded, actually cracking a smile. "I wanted to become a pilot. Well, either a pilot or a cheerleader."

"Quite a choice," I remarked. "Why pick cheerleader?"

"Why not?"

With those two words, our conversation ended and Amanda withdrew from the world. It wasn't sombre or sad, and she wore the same look as my sisters; intrigued by our next adventure, excited, and happy to be in paradise.

And paradise it was as we landed on a large stretch of lawn out the back of the presidential retreat. The building was painted an eggshell white with all the marks of a luxury Caribbean hotel, with eight bedrooms laid out over a relatively compact two storeys. The architecture was simple and elegant, which made the modest-size home feel much larger, with dramatic arches dominating the back; leading to an Olympic-size swimming pool and uninterrupted views of the ocean.

I expected an armoury or torture room -- perhaps a filing cabinet containing Kennedy secrets, or something like that. But there was none of that.

It was a pretty ordinary, albeit luxurious, home on the beach.

The foliage around us was dense enough to keep out prying eyes, and we were well guarded. There was a whole battalion dedicated to protecting us. Again, the government had chosen only female soldiers for the task. Still, our people wanted control and control is what they got as we saw the soldiers make space for our team. They would keep a wide perimeter, giving us much needed privacy.

If possible, I wanted to make right what had gone wrong in Vegas...

Though the villa wasn't massive, it was large enough that we could strategically reserve one wing of the house for our sibling affair. It was risky with Amanda hanging out nearby, but we picked three bedrooms -- one for me and two for my sisters -- that existed almost separately from the rest of the house; served by their own lounge and kitchenette. As I settled into the largest of the three, the twins snuck in to see me. They were bikini-clad and ready to enjoy the beach.

Tec tackled me onto the large canopy bed with Elle soon joining as we struck a familiar pose: them at either side of me, our bodies tangling.

"You're friends with a fucking dictator!" Tec declared, looking at me with wide-eyed amazement. "What the hell did you do to make that happen?!"

"I gave his son a teddy bear."

Snorting, my sister made it clear she wasn't buying my story, even though it was the plain truth. After all, fact seemed so much stranger than fiction nowadays.

Enjoying the feeling of the girls' half-naked bodies, I was beginning to hope for a snug nap, but it wasn't meant to be. "We're going to go play with Amanda," Elle explained, rolling away from our love-nest and getting onto her feet.

I raised an eyebrow. "Play?"

"Ugh, you know what we mean. We're gonna splash around in the pool and stuff."

"Oh, really?" I quizzed, feeling a little cheeky. "What about the story Tecla told? The one about your birthday?"

Elle made sure to shoot her sister a dirty look before putting her hands on her hips and mounting a rebuttal. "We played a stupid party game and Mandy tried to kiss me. I ran away because I'm not a lesbo."

Now, Tecla rolled away; also eager to go spend time with their friend in the villa's massive seaside swimming pool. Though, she seemed to want a private moment with me, and she watched as her sister left before sitting back down on the bed for a one-on-one chat.

"What's up, darling?" I asked.

Tec enjoyed the pet-name and spun around to plant a kiss on my lips. "Mmm... I want to talk to you about something important."

"Yeah?"

"It's about Amanda," my sister explained. "You should try to find a place for her."

I was puzzled. "A place? Like, as part of our whole deal?"

Shaking her head, Tec realised she hadn't been specific enough. "Don't get me wrong, Elle is like a cat that wants to kill a mouse and bring it to her owner... I mean, she wants to pull Amanda by the hair and throw her to the wolves. In that way, I think you two are similar -- you think Amanda is lower on the food chain. For you, that means you can judge her. For Elle, it means she can use her as a toy."

"Don't be silly," I defended. "No one here thinks about Amanda in that way... Elle adores her, and I'm happy you two have such a close friend."

Tecla smiled. "Why do you judge a cheerleader's choices more harshly than those of a pornstar? Is it because there's a word for someone like Kylie Lane: that she's a whore. So, she can do whatever she wants and be whoever she wants, but Amanda has to live up to a higher standard."

I reminded, "You're the one who kept using that word to describe Kylie. I never--"

"Said it," Tecla interjected. "You never said it, but that doesn't mean you never thought it."

My sister's insight gave me food for thought. Much like her twin, she had a way of confronting who I was -- the best and the worst -- in a way that actually made me evaluate my positions. It was a rare thing, being able to talk to someone who could cause a change of mind.

I didn't judge the pornstar for being a pornstar. To me, it was a matter of who and what she was. So, I hadn't even considered that her profession came about as the result of her choices, but rather that she was simply a different animal from the rest of us.

When it came to Amanda, I saw only her choices, ambitions, and abilities. Ignorantly, I failed to consider her individuality.

"You're right," I confessed.

Giving me a kiss on the cheek, my sister was happy to have made her point. "Don't worry, I feel the same... Kylie is a different creature compared to Amanda, but you are a little harsh on our friend. Does cheerleading serve some noble purpose? Probably not, but she's doing what she loves."

"It's hard operating in a world where both fate and consequence hold equal sway."

Tecla agreed. "Which is why I don't dabble in pop-philosophy or religion..."

"Same thing," I teased. "Now... What's this about Elle treating the poor girl as a 'toy?'"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Tec assured. "It's just girls being girls -- sister-wives doing what sister-wives do for their rich and powerful men."

Raising an eyebrow, I watched as Tecla beamed the most beautiful smile; full of mischief. She got to her feet, doing a spin that saw her long black hair fall wildly down her back, finally ready to go join her sister and their friend. Before she left, though, there was one thing I absolutely had to arrange.

"You're not my sister wives, yet," I grinned. "Put on your pretty white dresses and meet me on the beach before dawn... I spotted a private space from the chopper."

"A beach wedding!" my little sister cheered. "I can't wait!"

• • •

The crest of the sun was hardly over the horizon, creating the most incredible natural light. With the rich blue waters kissing the coast and the fresh tropical breeze, the slight darkness seemed more purple than grey -- bathing the world beneath the sky in a royal colour.

I walked along the beach, barefoot in a black suit, forgoing a tie in favour of a popped collar. It was a hard walk; probably a mile from the door of my bedroom to our meeting place. Still, I'd walk five-times the distance if it meant I got to see what I saw that morning...

Tecla and Elle were sitting on the rocks, looking out over the sea. As they saw me, I was greeted by the most amazing smiles, and the sight of them in their knee-length white dresses. The same dresses they would've worn in America -- non-traditional, quirky, stunning, and sensational from the first letter to the last.

Soon, my angels were in my arms and I kissed each sister as the sea breeze rushed against our skin and the water splashed against the rocks.

We could have stayed like that forever; surrendering ourselves to nature and to each other. But even the best of moments need to relent, if only for better ones to take their place.

Letting each other go, we moved a little inland to where four plain brown paper gift bags stood waiting, along with a black picnic blanket where we could sit. As we did, Tecla passed around the bags.

"So, I'll go first," she declared, always happy to take the lead.

Tec produced a large leather-bound book from her bag. It was luxurious and sturdy, and she held it to her chest as she explained what it was.

"It's a journal for all three of us... Whenever we want to remember something, or share something, we can write it down, and we'll all have the memory forever."

I smiled, reaching out a hand to pull my sister closer for a kiss. She was such a romantic -- and such a lover of words. Her gift was perfect, and the way we locked lips completed its exchange. Then, as it ended, I was surprised to see Elle come closer to leave a kiss of her own on her twin's cheek. It was chaste and familial, but startlingly romantic and lovely in every sense of the word.

They'd planned this beforehand; knowing that they weren't just marrying their fates to mine, but to each other's.

Next, it was Elle's turn to reach for her gift. She produced an ornate wooden box, opening it to reveal the beginnings of a time capsule. There was a wine label from Cape Town, a cigarette from the time Tec smoked in Singapore, a tennis ball from Australia, and a casino-chip from Vegas.

"To fill up as we go through the year," she explained. "Then, we can bury it... Leaving for a decade or more -- opening it once we've grown a little older, together."

My heart sang. "This is so lovely, Elle."

My little sister blushed, edging into my arms so that I could hold her and kiss her tenderly. She allowed Tecla to do the same, except their kiss was on the cheek; again, chaste and sisterly.

Now, it was my turn to produce something, and I reached for the final symbol of commitment. Unlike the girls, mine was less a physical object and more a sheet of paper... A title deed.

"There's a piece of land in Colorado. It's huge, secluded, private... I started hunting down a place a while ago, but I didn't think I'd find anything so perfect, so soon. We're going to build a house there -- our house -- and we'll have all the freedom we could possibly want; living together, forever.

I don't believe there was a dry eye among us as the girls snuggled up against me on those white sands. Each gave me a kiss and reached for one of my hands, and we felt so warm against each other.

We'd picked the perfect signifiers of love, each carrying a trace of ourselves and our commitment. It wasn't a traditional wedding. No, it could never have been. But it was beyond perfect and more than a mere marriage. It was the culmination of life itself; the will of fate or destiny or the universe... What some people call divine and others call simple gravity.