Blood Relative by James Swallow Page A

talents in other areas. All those mixed messages she gave off around him... It had to be confusing for the piteous Kapten.
    Volks glanced at her, then to the room's other occupant. The second man was tall, wide across the shoulders but surprisingly slender in build. Schrader saw the close-cropped hair framing his blunt skull and the dark battle coat he wore ostentatiously over his tailored chem-suit. The general had his back to her, watching the play of clouds and light through the window.
    "Ah," he began. "So good of you to join us, Madam Director. At last."
    "The pleasure is mine, general. Welcome to Domain Delta," she answered with obviously false politeness. Schrader had already mapped the course of this meeting in her mind, so she saw no reason to pretend at courtesy. She settled into a chair and laid the sample case on the table before her. "I was detained by an important experiment on the sub-levels," she said airily. "I'm sure you understand."
    Volks, seeing he had missed a cue, became animated. "General Rössa, may I present Kolonel-Doktor Lisle Schrader, base director-"
    Rössa waved him into silence. "I know who she is," he turned to give her his full attention, "and she knows why I am here."
    Schrader held his gaze for a calculated moment, then looked away. "The loss of the material." Beyond the window, she could see the trio of parked flyers that had brought the general and his retinue to them. Rössa's personal guard stood around them in a loose ring, stances casual and bored. Sloppy, she thought.
    "The material," Rössa repeated. "I marvel at the way your kind shake your test tubes and come up with these little words to minimise your gargantuan errors!" He flicked derisively at his beard. "You allowed a live test subject to escape, Schrader! You let it go free to run halfway around the planet!"
    Volks swallowed hard. "Sir, it was never expected to survive that long. The gene-markers were designed to begin a process of breakdown the moment it left the sealed environment-"
    "I did not address you, Kapten!" Rössa snapped. "Your part in this debacle is well documented and you will be seen to account for all your mistakes!" He glowered at the younger officer. "It is clear to me now why you were reassigned from the Kashar Legion to such a backwater posting as this, Volks. I can barely conscience how an officer so inept could have served Nordland for so long!"
    Schrader gave a theatrical yawn. "Oh, General, please. You have blown this entire incident completely out of proportion."
    Rössa's face reddened. "I beg to differ, Kolonel-Doktor! Quite frankly, my colleagues and I have never understood High Command's dogged interest in this freakish circus you have out here..." he gestured at the dome with an angry flick of the wrist. "But your cavalier attitude towards protocol has come to an end!" The general produced a digi-pad from his pocket and tossed it on to the table before Schrader. "Endless requests for extra funding, prisoner transfers for unspecified experimental testing, requisitions for weapons and hardware - and yet with all this you find it nearly impossible to submit satisfactory progress reports on your research!" He took a step closer to her. "Domain Delta is not your private little kingdom, woman! You are a servant of the Nordland people!"
    She sighed. "I admit the escape of the test subject was slightly problematic, but it is dead now, isn't it? Volks assured me that it had been captured and scheduled for execution."
    Rössa sneered. "No thanks to you. You have made your last error, Schrader. By my order, Domain Delta is to cease operations and close down." He gave a harsh smile. "This sick little project of yours has no place in a man's war. It is a waste of time and valuable resources."
    "General, thank you for confirming my diagnosis that you are a gutless, short-sighted imbecile. You have no comprehension of the scope of my work. I am unlocking the genetic potential of super humanity; superior