Sarah and Jill had been cultivating their intimate partnership for over a week now and had become close friends. They often shared their meals and quarters. Tonight, they were enjoying an aperitif.
In contrast to their first night, Sarah was now the one wearing casual fall colors: red T-shirt, brown jacket and loose skirt with tennis shoes. Jill had donned a button-down blouse, suit jacket and black fitted skirt with matching high heels. Sarah thought momentarily of how frustrated Jill would be if she tried to put on a pair of pantyhose, but her mind couldn't stray for long.
Jill was speaking to her. "We can't conquer the facility by force. We're outgunned, and you'd never organize a large group of GELFs before the human officers caught wind of the assembly and mobilized a superior force to stop you."
"I think we ought to go to the news media. They'll make a firestorm out of this: furries in our midst, created from volunteers to a genetic engineering experiment and conscripted to fight in our wars. They're adorable, fuzzy killing machines and every one of them on Earth is living on this remote training ground surrounded by MPs. People will be dying, perhaps literally, to get the inside scoop on that story. The public's attention will inevitably be drawn to the earlier experiments the government pretended to fix. Hippie protesters would gather around the facility. Ahriman would be forced to slow and then halt the whole shebang, or else reveal their true colors by gunning down their own citizens en masse. They don't want to look bad."
"We might still be assassinated."
"If you're not willing to risk it, we'll break off our relationship and pretend it was nothing more than a privileged executive enjoying the perks of wealth and status. I'll blow the whistle alone if I have to."
"No. I agree with you about the media and I trust your judgment about what Ahriman will do after the exposé is published. I don't think the risk is too great, but we need to move quickly."
"That's why I filled out a bunch of requisition forms declaring you transferred personnel, cleared that transfer with Human Resources, and then convinced my pilots that you're my Christmas bonus. The jet's waiting on the airfield right now. Shall I text them and tell them to warm up the engines?"
"Yeah. Let's skip dinner. I've already packed, so let me go back to my quarters and grab the suitcase and I'll meet you at the airstrip."
The jet was ready to fly by the time they were aboard. Sarah informed Jill that the destination was one of ADI's private airfields. After Jill had stowed her luggage in the overhead compartment (a challenge for the tiny ferret-girl) and taken her seat, Sarah needed to address a major concern.
"Jill, you know the procedure changed you. Those changes were as though your mind had been surgically altered, because, for all intents and purposes, it was. They took your conscience away, trained you to be a killer. Due to that fact, I can't exactly trust you around my daughter -"
"I think you mentioned her last week. What's her name, again?"
"Jennifer. So, I'm worried that letting you stay at my house would endanger my daughter. We're going to be traveling to my vacation home, which will be empty except for the two of us."
"Alright. I wouldn't have done anything to harm her, anyway, but you're only taking a sensible precaution and I defer to your judgment."
"As for the media: I will contact them during the flight, and we will meet them at the house. When we do, I want you to explain how you came to be involved in Ahriman's operation, just like you did the night we met. I'd also like you to tell them that you had second thoughts, and why. Finally, I will tell them that there are hundreds of GELFs at the training facility and where it is located. Neither of us will be anonymous."
"Got it. What about my documentation? I still have my driver's license and passport from before I was altered, but of course they look nothing like me anymore. And I have very little money."
