CHAPTER THREE

January, 2044

Tracy Kay Donovan was freaking out.

She had heard the mayday her son, Winter, had sent, and feared the worst: that her father didn't survive being shot.

She worried that Joe and/or Winter, or a member of the Danica Antonia's crew were also injured. She stood at the window in her office waiting nervously for the boat to appear. However, the first thing she saw when she and her sister, Tara, went to the dock was an ambulance. Then Tracy lost it.

"Tara, it's true! Daddy's gone! I need to see Joey! I need to see Winter! I need to see someone who can tell me what the hell went on out there!"

"Tracy Kay!" Tara Pembrooke-Cash said sharply; "You getting all upset isn't going to provide you with the answers you're looking for! Calm the hell down, girl, would you?"

But Tracy was beyond that. She wouldn't calm down until she saw her father, husband and son. In that order. She would soon get her wish.

The boat pulled into its berth and Winter jumped out to secure it to the dock. He hadn't seen his mother and aunt yet, instead concentrating on tying up the boat, and not the fact that his grandfather's body lay on the deck. He was trying, and failing, to reconcile the fact that someone had ordered that his father be eliminated, and that his grandpa gave his life to save him. Willingly, without a thought to his own safety.

The paramedics came on board to get Grandpa Frank's body, and to check to see if Joe would be okay. Winter heard his father say, "My father in law was just murdered, I am NOT okay, got that?"

Winter went to go look for his mother, and saw her and Aunt Tara standing near the office. He broke into a run toward them, calling, "Mom! Auntie Tara!"

Tracy looked up and saw her older son sprinting toward her. She heaved a sigh of relief. At least Winter was okay, she thought.

As he got closer to her, however, Tracy saw that Winter was anything but "okay".

"Mom..." he said as he got to where Tracy and her sister stood. Tracy noticed the odd catch in her son's voice. That told her everything she needed to know: her father was gone, her husband and son were hurting. And that it would be she who would make the arrangements for her father's burial.

"Mom," Winter began, "Grandpa Frank, he's gone!" He then broke down, and his mother took him into her embrace, despite the fact that at just a shade over six-foot-seven, he dwarfed her.

When he had composed himself, Tracy asked what happened out on the boat. Winter told her everything, even the fact that it was he who killed the two men who had shot at the boat,  intending to kill his father, but got his grandpa instead.

"You did what you were trained to do, Winter," Tracy said; "You protected the family and the business. Your grandfather... he protected you and your dad."

"I will find the bastards who ordered a hit on Dad," Winter said; "And if I have to break the law to do it, then I will."

"Winter, don't talk like that," his mother said; "Let the police do that."

"I won't let Grandpa be collateral damage, Mom," said Winter. "The police will investigate then it'll be dropped and Grandpa Frank will be forgotten."

Tracy didn't push the issue, deciding that when Winter was calmer, she and Joe would talk to him about his plan for revenge.

But Winter Donovan would not be denied.

===

"Senator Donovan, there's a call for you on line two," said Nik's secretary Jessikah Massengill.

Jeremiah turned around and asked, "From whom?"

"Your brother, sir," Jessikah said.

"Jess, you know I'm just Jere when it's just the two of us, right?"

"Yes," Jessikah said; "But you never know who's listening. They're not going to care that you're my cousin."

"True," Jeremiah said; "So, did Joe say what he needed?"

"He told me that there's been an incident in Kittery that you may want to be aware of," Jessikah said. "He didn't go into details."

"Okay, Jess," said Jeremiah, "I'll take it in here. Thanks for telling me."

"Anytime, Cuz!" laughed Jessikah as she left Jeremiah's office.

Punching line two, Jeremiah said, "Joe, what's up? You told Jess that it's something I may need to be aware of."

"Jere," Joe began, "Frank was murdered this morning by someone whose intentions were to kill me. Winter took them out."

"Wait, someone killed your father in law? And meant to kill you? And Winter killed them?" Jeremiah said in disbelief.

"Yes, Jere, and I think it has to do with your decision to run for President," Joe said. "Winter's talking crazy about revenge."

"I think the idea is to target people close to me so I'll drop my bid for the Presidency," Jeremiah said; "And you know I won't do that. Frank wouldn't want me to. If anything, he's probably the reason why I'm going to go through with it. I will NOT be intimidated!"

"I know you won't, but if they  were willing to try and kill me, what makes us certain they won't try for you, or Jasmine, or one of your kids?"

Jeremiah sighed. He knew this was coming. He hated knowing that Frank Pembrooke gave his life for what he believed in. He knew that Joe and his family were hurting now. And Danica just had a new baby, he thought. How is this going to affect her?

"Joe, I can't leave Washington right now, but I am so sorry that Frank is gone. I liked him and his salty Mainer seadog personality. Please extend mine and Jasmine's condolences to Tracy and the kids. And let me know when the funeral is, because I will be there!"

"Thanks, Jere," Joe said. "Tracy's making the arrangements, and I just got off the phone with Kendree. She's devastated as you might expect. She and Carter are making plans to come up from Boston. She is going to call Danica, but you know that she had her baby girl a couple of days ago."

"I'll call Julia and let her know," Jeremiah said; "She'll tell David and Jordan, I'm sure."

"I know who else Julia will tell," Joe said; "God help anyone who gets in JT Collins-Ross' way, even if he IS the fucking director of the CIA!"

"You know, we used to be so scared of Morbus when we were kids," Jeremiah said; "But you know, JT scares me even more as an adult. All that power he has at his disposal," Jeremiah sighed, then continued, "including my youngest daughter."

"Jere, Aaliyah scares me more than Morbus ever did," Joe said; "Her and Rachel."

"I know that's the God's honest truth!"

===

"Sir, we killed the wrong guy."

"Excuse me?"

"We didn't get Joseph Donovan. The old man pushed him to the deck of the boat and took the bullet. He's dead, as is our assassins. Donovan's son took them out."

"Donovan has a son? I thought he just had daughters."

"Donovan and his wife adopted two brothers eleven years ago. Winter Matthew and Wyatt Charles; ages 16 and 14. Winter is the older of the two. This kid is huge! He's nearly half a foot taller than his father."

"Send me information about the Donovan brothers, especially this Winter kid. What do we already know about them?"

"Mixed race, stands over six-seven; born December 21, 2027 in Haverhill, Massachusetts to Renda and Matthew Rodgers. They were eliminated twelve years ago, and the brothers were placed in a children's group home. Not a very good one at that. Older kids terrorized the Rodgers boys, often in violent ways."

"When did the Donovans become aware of them?"

"Mrs. Donovan couldn't have any more children, and they wanted a son. IVF  didn't work for them, so they looked to adopt. They registered as foster parents and the Rodgers brothers were placed with them. When the group home wanted to separate the brothers, the Donovans insisted on adopting both of them."

"Find out about Winter particularly, because I'm sure the boss would like to know what he is up against with this kid."

"Will do. You know the bossman isn't going to be happy that Joseph Donovan is still alive. He'll probably have us target another member of his family."

"Donovan's oldest daughter just had a baby. She will be vulnerable."

"We'll work on it."

===

"What do you mean Grandpa Frank died?" Briana Costner asked her mother.

"It was sudden and couldn't be helped, Briana," Danica said. "It happens sometimes. I might not be able to go to Kittery for the funeral because Kendra is a new baby, so you and Daddy will have to go."

"What if I don't want to go, Mama?"

"I don't think Daddy should go alone, do you?" Danica asked the seven year old. "Grandpa Joe and Gramma Tracy will be there. Uncle Winter and Uncle Wyatt will be, too."

"Oh," Briana said; she paused then asked, "I won't have to look at a dead person, do I?"

"No, Briana," Danica said; "I don't think Gramma Tracy and Auntie Tara would let that happen."

"Okay," Briana said, and left the room. Danica just stared after her.

She couldn't believe that her grandfather was gone. He lived a long  life, she thought; still on the boat at 81 years old. He saved Dad and Winter's lives!

She teared up and thought of all the good times she spent with Grandpa Frank. The summer that she and Sandy spent with him  where Sandy got sunburned...

"I have to tell Sandy," Danica said aloud to no one but Kendra, who slept away unaware of the drama that thrust itself in to their lives.

===

"Rachel," Aaliyah said to her cousin and best friend on the phone, "Grandpa Frank died this morning."

"What?" Rachel asked, not believing it; "From what? He's strong as an ox!"

"Dad said he had been shot on the boat saving Uncle Joe's life!"

"Who would shoot a gentle man like him?" Rachel asked.

"Someone who doesn't want Dad to run for President, that's who!" said Aaliyah.

"I got a feeling that 'Toni Cantrell' is going to have something to say about that," Rachel said.

"Fucking right I am!" Aaliyah said. "That is, if Winter doesn't beat me to it. He killed the people who shot Grandpa Frank!"

"Wow!" Rachel said; "We might have to recruit him. I had heard he was good, but damn!"

"He's a year and a half younger than we are, so we're just going to have to wait on that, I think," Aaliyah said.

"Yeah, but we could use someome like him,"  Rachel said; "And I've always liked both Winter and Wyatt. Wyatt's shy like Uncle Joe is."

"Right now, Uncle Joe is one pissed off dude."

"I wonder if Mom knows yet," Rachel said.

"Probably," Aaliyah replied; "And she's not happy about it."

"Oh I know she's not," Rachel said; "And Uncle CIA Director won't be, either."

Aaliyah laughed; "Rach, you know that Uncle JT isn't going to like that little moniker you've given him, but that's between us."

"Blame Zach for that," Rachel said, laughing as well; "That was his doing, after all!"

"Sounds like a very Zach thing to do," Aaliyah said.

===

"A.R.M." Julia said.

It was the answer to the question that her stepfather asked about who might be responsible for the death of Joe's father in law.

"Why do you think it's them?" David asked.

"Because intimidation and elimination are their stock in trade, just like the Illegal Government was when I was a kid," Julia said. "They can't stand the fact that a qualified Mixed race man is running for President."

"Haven't they been under the radar for years now, though?"

"That's what they want you to think," Julia said; "They're in survival mode. Once their numbers are up, they'll be back to make life a living hell. That's not going to happen if I have any say in it."

"Stay out of it, Julia," David said. "Let the younger generation you helped train take care of it."

"Fat chance of that, David," Julia said. "Especially if they mess with one of my kids."

"Julia, your kids are some of the most highly trained weapons handlers in the country, if not the world," said David, knowing his words were falling on deaf ears. Just like your mother, you are, he thought. "And your half-brother IS the CIA Director, after all."

"True on both counts, but I can still wield weapons with the best of them, and you know that. I never stopped training, even now," Julia said. "When I'm not at the hospital or sleeping, I am training. If you don't use it, you lose it, and Peter trained me better than that. I took on a lifelong committment to it when I was just a child. Just like medicine in a way."

"You're going to turn into your father if you don't watch it," David warned. Good God, a female Morbus is all this country needs! he thought.

"Is that such a bad thing?" asked Julia; "He saved your ass more times than you can count, if memory serves."

"Touche," was all David said in reply. "By the way," he continued, changing the subject, "your mother really likes the portable massager you gave her for Christmas. She's sleeping better now than she has in years."

"Is she feeling better overall?" asked Julia.

"She has her moments," David said; "but her illness really took a toll on her health."

"I should come down to Austin and give her a check up," Julia said thoughtfully; "I'm glad that I'm now able to practice medicine in Texas, too. Is she there?"

"She's sleeping right now," David said, thinking about the woman who had been his wife for the better part of thirty years. Jordan's cancer was in remission, but he still worried. It was the same cancer that took three of her four brothers from her. She often asked her husband why she survived lung cancer and John, Luke and Mark did not. He never had a good answer for her.

"Maybe it's best that she rests, then," Julia said. "Have her call me when she's up to it, okay?"

"Will do," said David; "Will you be going to Frank Pembrooke's funeral?"

"I plan to," Julia said; "Joe and Tracy are going to need all the support they can get. They still have the boys at home."

"I didn't get to know Frank well," David said; "but he was a decent man with strong values. I am sorry that he had to leave this world in such a violent manner."

"Well, I understand that Joe's son Winter is vowing revenge."

"I hope his parents are going to talk him out of that line of thinking," David said; "He's still just a teenager."

"Only a year and a half younger than Rachel," Julia said.

===

Hmm, he thought as he read the news that Jeremiah Donovan would not be intimidated into quitting the race for the Presidency due to the death of his brother's father in law.

"The recent murder of my brother, Joseph's, father in law will NOT make me quit the race for the White House," Jeremiah had been quoted by the newspaper that he worked for as a journalist prior to his running for the Senate out of Illinois; "Whoever is behind this heinous act will be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, not only for murder but for candidate intimidation. All qualified candidates should be allowed to run for office without reservation or fear of retaliation for doing so. This is not a third world country and we are not a dictatorship..."

You talk a good game, Senator, but you'll never find the people responsible. Your nephew killed them.

Richard Pike had the perfect cover. No one would believe that he was the one who hired the men who killed an old man. A senator putting hits out on those who obscure his path? Preposterous!

He just wanted Jeremiah Donovan out of the race.

His thoughts then turned to a certain redhead of his acquaintance, and the things he had planned for her. He grew hard with his sick lust. Even though she wasn't what he usually fancied, he'd been following her for years, and his lust for her was stronger than ever. He didn't care that she was now married and had a child. When the time was right, Jameson Summers Walters would be his.

And she would have no say in the matter whatsoever.

===
 

CHAPTER TWO

January, 2044

"Aren't you a precious little girl?" Bryan Costner said to his newborn daughter, Kendra, as her mother nursed her for the first time. He ran his fingers through the baby's sparse hair lovingly.

"How do you think Briana will act once we bring her home?" Danica asked her husband.

"She'll probably ask when she'll be big enough to play with," Bryan said.

"That wouldn't surprise me at all, honestly," Danica replied as she lifted Kendra up to burp her. "You got a burp for me, little girl?" she then asked her baby daughter. Kendra complied and her mother offered the other breast to her. Kendra latched on without incident.

"We should call your folks and tell them Kendra is finally here," Bryan said.

"We  will," Danica said; "I want a little alone time with Kendra before the grandparents, uncles, and Great Grandpa Frank come down to meet her. I'll be one exhausted girl with all of them and Briana, too!"

"Just before they brought you two in here," Bryan said, "I got a text from Alex. Briana is behaving herself and she and Lexie are having a grand time. Sandy says the shop is under control."

"That's good," Danica said as she started to burp the now sleeping newborn; "I'm so glad that Sandy and Alex could take Briana. The girls are probably having one big sleepover."

"That's probably true," said Bryan as he took Kendra from Danica and put her back in the isolette.

"I'm going to sack out for a while, Bryan," Danica said between yawns; "You can stay if you want, but I know that you probably want to get home to peace and quiet while Briana is gone."

"You've always been able to read my thoughts, Danica," Bryan said as he kissed her forehead. "I'll be back this afternoon, I promise."

"Okay," Danica said as she closed her eyes. No sooner had she done that that she was asleep. Bryan leaned over the isolette and kissed his daughter's cheek, then headed home.

None of them knew that Great Grandpa Frank would never get to meet his newest great-grandchild.

===

On any other day, Winter Donovan would be sleeping at four in the morning.

But because it was Saturday, he was up helping his dad and grandpa get the boat ready for the day's work. Winter would accompany them and the crew out to the deepest water to catch the lobsters that were the family's livelihood.

At 16 and standing nearly a head taller than his father, Joe, Winter Donovan was an imposing presence. He had the brute strength of his father, and thensome. Even Grandpa Frank thought that Winter would be taking over the business eventually.

Everyday, Winter thanked God that the Donovans rescued him and his younger brother, Wyatt, from the awful children's home they were living in when they were little boys. Winter had no idea who his real parents were. The Donovans were the only parents he and Wyatt knew. He was proud to be their son, and proud to be the brother of Danica and Kendree.

He worried about Wyatt everyday. Wyatt never did talk much. He was very intelligent and got along with everyone. Winter wondered if Wyatt was negatively affected by their time in the children's home. Wyatt was three and Winter five when the Donovans adopted them. It was because of Wyatt that their father got them on the boat at the ages of five and seven. Wyatt liked being on the water, but lobster fishing wasn't his thing and Joe saw that early. Wyatt loved to draw and paint, and many of his works were hung in their home. Winter often wished for that kind of talent.

His talent, however, did not lay in artistic pursuits. It lay in weapons handling and in business. His father made sure that both boys got weapons training as soon as they were old enough to hold a gun. Winter excelled at it. Wyatt was good, but only wanted to use it to hunt.

Winter had no problem with killing anyone who threatened the family's way of life. He knew that there were people out there who saw him and his family as "Undesireables", and that sometimes, these people weren't above murder to achieve some misguided directive, all because his family was mixed race.

Winter had heard from his mother that his and Wyatt's biological parents were mixed race. "That's a big reason we chose you and Wyatt," Tracy Donovan told her son; "because you were mixed. Another reason is that it was plain to see you needed to get out of there. They tried to separate you two, but Dad and I put our foot down- we wanted both of you because brothers shouldn't be separated. It didn't hurt that your Uncle Jere was a journalist. He'd have made a big stink out of it."

Uncle Jere later became a Senator, and now was making a big push for the Presidency, which Winter thought was cool.

"You got those pots in place, Winter?" his father asked.

"All set, Dad."

"Let's get going, then," Joe Donovan said; "Grandpa Frank is getting antsy."

Winter only smiled.

But Winter had a gut feeling that something this day was going to happen, and it wouldn't be good.

===

"God, I just love making speeches!" Senator Jeremiah Donovan said sarcastically. "Said no one, ever!"

"Coulda fooled me," said his brother-by-chance Nik San Marco; "You're just like David, whipping the people into a frenzy."

"True that, brother," Jere said, "but that doesn't mean I actually like it. I don't think David liked it that much either when he was the 'Voice of the Resistance' or whatever the lame title was bestowed upon him was."

"That's probably true as well," Nik said; "The ability to make a speech does not a politician make, and David knew that. You, on the other hand, Jere, are a politician whether you like it or not."

"Yippee." Jere shot back with a grin on his face. "But I want to lead this country and finally get it back to where there aren't any losers trying to start a second Occupation. I think the people like what I'm saying."

"I know they do," Nik said; "Nobody wants a second Occupation. Except maybe people like Rick Pike, though he'd be the last to admit it."

"Rick's an all right guy," Jere said; "He just has ideas that his advisors didn't research thouroghly enough to be plausible. I honestly don't think he wants a second Occupation any more than you and I do. He lived through that shit, too, remember?"

"There's just something about him I don't trust," Nik said; "What, I don't know."

Jere felt that way about the man as well, but would never give voice to those feelings. Not even to his own brother. There were some things that Jere Donovan kept to himself. Possibly the only person he shared those thoughts and feelings with was his wife, Jasmine.

He and Jasmine had been together a long time, and had grown children. Their oldest grandchildren were in elementary school. He knew it was not easy to be Jeremiah Donovan's grandchild, nor was it easy being their parents. His oldest daughter, Adriana, for example, hated to be approached by other parents at her daughter's school with their displeasure with how the government was working. Some even criticized Jeremiah to his daughter's face, to which she always replied, "If you don't think he's doing a good job, then don't vote for him."

Jeremiah, to his amazement, found he was good at politics. Maybe it was his journalistic training, but he saw the path for him to make a difference in the country was to run for office. Jasmine was skeptical of anything remotely political, as she saw during the Occupation that unchecked, the line between politics and personal beliefs often became blurred. It's what took Jeremiah's biological parents and sister from him. He and his brother Joe were eventually reunited with their sister, but their parents were both dead. That lead to the brothers being raised by Peter and Kiera San Marco. They themselves were murdered by New Army troops when Jeremiah was 15.

Now a group of neo-Occupationists wanted to bring back those policies that divided a nation into "Desireables" and "Undesireables". They had people calling and harrassing everyone they deemed inferior to themselves, and Joe's father in law was one of those who received the calls. Often, the calls threatened Joe and his family with harm.

Jeremiah wouldn't stand by and watch a second Occupation happen. He had to get in there and lead the country on the right path. He remembered the past, and he would not allow it to be repeated.

One event in his life would make him work harder than ever to become President. It would occur early the next morning.

But as he sat in his office with his brother Nik San Marco, he had no idea how much it would change his life, or the lives of those he was close to.

And turn his youngest daughter and his niece into cold, calculating assassins.

===

Winter saw the boat in the mist before his father and grandfather did. It did not look like any of the boats that were out in the harbor that Winter was familiar with, and that raised his suspicions.

"I ain't never seen that boat before," Frank said in his Mainer accent, which to Winter was nearly indecipherable. Winter had been born in Massachsetts two years before Wyatt was born in Maine. Frank Pembrooke's accent was hard for outsiders to understand. Winter had simply gotten used to it.

"I don't like the looks of it, Frank," Joe said; "It's just too shiny and new to be a fishing vessel."

"Always suspicious, ain't ya, Joey?" Frank said; "Guess that's a good thing to be, knowing yer background and all."

"Dad, I don't like it either," Winter said. "Something's not right about that boat."

"Sixth sense kicking in," Joe told his son; "Always listen to it. It can save your life."

"I'm going below to get my rifle," Winter said as he disappeared below decks to get his high powered hunting rifle, a gift from Joe for his fifteenth birthday.

Sure that Winter was out of earshot, Joe said to Frank, "Is this why you're out here at your age? Because of threats to me  or Winter?"

"No," Frank lied; "I'm out here because this is still my business and I intend to protect it from the competition."

"So this isn't about those phone calls you've been getting over the last several months, since Jere announced his intentions to run for President?" asked Joe, knowing his father in law was lying through his teeth.

"Joey, I love you like a son, but please don't pry into my affairs," Frank said, and let the subject drop.

Joe knew not to mention it again. He didn't know he wouldn't get a chance to.

===

A man on the other boat was watching the goings on aboard the Danica Antonia, and knew it was almost time to take out the target, and his father in law and son if need be. He couldn't hear what was going on, but got a general idea.

He then saw the teenager return to the deck with something in his hand. He just couldn't see what. You think you're such a smart kid, the man thought; let's see how smart you are when I kill your father.

"Is Donovan in your sights yet?" the man asked his companion.

"Yes, boss," was the reply. "Just give me a signal when you want me to shoot."

"Now."

The other man raised his rifle and fired.

What he saw next surprised him enough to put the gun down. It would be a fatal mistake.

===

Frank heard a gun discharge, and pushed Joe out of the way. Joe, not expecting the move, fell to the deck. Not five seconds later, Frank joined him. Then Joe saw blood on the older man's chest and knew Frank had taken a bullet.

"What the fuck, Frank?!" he exclaimed.

"They're going to kill you, Joey," Frank said, feeling his life slip away. Soon, he would be with his beloved Anna Jane.

Just then, Joe heard another shot. Then a second.

They were not being fired at the boat. They were being fired from the boat.

He then saw Winter crouched behind the side of the boat with his rifle trained on the boat they had all been suspicious of.

"Report, Winter!" Joe demanded.

"Two men, armed, guns trained on the boat," Winter said seriously; "I took them out, and am waiting to see if there are others."

"Your grandpa's been shot," Joe said; "Call in a mayday."

Winter grabbed the portable radio; "Mayday, mayday, assistance needed on the Danica Antonia out of Kittery. This is an emergency. There are injuries. Mayday, mayday..."

Soon there was a reply, "State your location, Danica Antonia, and the nature of any injuries."

"Twenty-five miles off Kittery Point," Winter replied; "My grandfather's been shot."

"We're sending Coast Guard for your grandpa, Winter," the voice on the other end of the transmission said. "Your dad okay?"

Winter looked over at his father, who was trying to treat his grandfather's injury as best he could. "Dad's okay, not injured. Grandpa's lost a lot of blood. Please hurry!"

Meanwhile, Frank knew he was dying, and he had to tell Joe something important.

"Joey," he gasped, "I love and respect you as if you  were my own blood, but my time is coming. Anna Jane waits for me. Take care of my little girl as you've always done. All this is yours now. Pass it on to Winter when he's ready. I know it will be in good hands."

"Frank..." Joe said, but he knew that Frank was right. He heard the Coast Guard ship approaching, but by the time they got to Frank, he had gone to meet up with his Anna Jane. Nothing more could be done.

"Dad,  is grandpa..." asked Winter.

"I'm afraid so, son."
      
Winter hated knowing that this was to be the result. The hardest part of all this would be telling his mother, sisters, and Wyatt.

Something changed deep inside Winter Matthew Donovan that day. He wouldn't realize it until years later.

===

CHAPTER ONE

January, 2044


The weather had cleared up enough for the Danica Antonia to make its run that morning.

Joe Donovan was securing the pots, the cages that held the lobsters the boat caught that day, to the deck in preparation to sail out into the deep waters where their catch would be waiting. His father in law, Frank Pembrooke, was accompanying Joe and his crew that morning, as he had every morning for the last six months. Joe found it strange at first that after being retired for the last ten years, that Frank wanted to get back on the boat. "It's in my blood, son," was all Frank offered for explanation at the time. But Frank had an ulterior motive for accompanying the Danica Antonia and her crew.

It was to keep his son in law safe from the people he was sure wanted to kill Joey.

It's not that Joe couldn't take care of himself. In his teenage years, he had been a highly trained marksman. He still knew his way around any weapon he laid his hands on, but having been a lobster fisherman since he was 17 years old, Joe had no real chance to use the skills he still practised, and was teaching his adopted teenage sons, Winter, who was 16 and his younger brother, Wyatt, 14. They were good skills to have, and on this day, that knowledge would be needed by the now 44 year old captain of the Danica Antonia.

Joe always kept a gun in his quarters on the boat. Today was no exception. Frank knew this and approved. Knowing the younger man's background, it was a wise decision.

To Frank, Joe was a good lobsterman; he had brute strength and could handle anything that came his way. But, Joe was also gentle and soft spoken. He had no trouble speaking his mind, especially where his family and his beliefs were concerned. Frank didn't have any problem with Joe being younger than his daughter, Tracy Kay. He was mature and wise beyond his years. Becoming a father shortly before his 18th birthday showed everyone who ever doubted the young mixed race man that he was unlike most men that age.

After a period of working, Joe decided after his daughter, Danica, was born that he wanted to go on to college. He got his Bachelor's in Oceanography in three years, and had the opportunity to obtain a Master's, but by that time, there was another daughter to take care of, so Joe shelved his plans for graduate school and got back on the boat.

Frank didn't know that there were plans he was unaware of to try and eliminate Joe by the people who had been making the constant calls threatening extermination of all those deemed "Undesirable". One of the two men would not make it back to shore that afternoon.

Neither would the would-be assassin.

===


Danica Donovan-Costner just rolled her eyes while listening to the mother of the bride on the phone. This woman is fuckin' insane, she thought as Mrs. Gabel complained about everything Danica and her cousin and business partner Sandy San Marco-Springer were trying to do for her daughter's wedding. It didn't help that Danica was eight months pregnant with her second child and her patience with Mrs. Gabel was wearing seriously thin.

"Danica, Ginger Gabel is in Sandy's office and she is totally frustrated with her mother's interference," said Vixen Vincent, Danica and Sandy's 22 year old cousin. "And Nikky is at the florists changing back the flowers that Mrs. Gabel changed without Ginger's okay."

By this time, Mrs. Gabel was on hold, and Danica only sighed. She said, "This is why we called our business 'It's Your Day' and not 'It's Your Mom's Day', Vix. Mrs. Gabel doesn't seem to grasp the concept of your daughter hired us to plan her wedding, not you. I've been listening to her bitch for half an hour now, mostly about how Sandy won't call her back the moment she calls in. I think she thinks I'm the hired help."

"I'm the hired help until I go into training in June," Vixen said, laughing.

"You'll be taking over my job until after my maternity leave, Vix. I trust you with the business just as I trust Sandy," Danica said. "And if I were not as big as a house, I'd go kick Mrs. Gabel's ass."

"Are you sure you're having another girl, and not a boy, Danica?"

"Positive," Danica said. "Bryan is thrilled to have another girl! I wanted a boy. Sometimes I feel like I got one with Briana."

"About Mrs. Gabel, Danica," Vixen said, getting back on track with the original subject, "I'll take over the call. She needs to be slapped down a little and Nikky is too blunt. I can do it so she won't realize it until after she hangs up."

"If you wouldn't mind, Vix, I'd appreciate it," Danica said. "That woman makes my blood pressure go up. I feel so bad for Ginger Gabel. It must've been hell growing up with that bitch of a mother. I hope she and her groom move as far away as possible, or Mom will be telling them how to have sex."

"Ew, Danica," Vixen said. "That visual is not a pleasant one." Vixen said, making a face. "Let me get the call and you go lay down in the back room with all the flowers. If Mrs. Gabel calls me 'Viki' again, I may just go kick her ass."

Vixen then  pressed the button on the phone and took over the call saying, "Mrs. Gabel, this is Viktoria Vincent, Mrs. Costner's assistant... you're aware that she's pregnant and tires easily...I am more than qualified to handle your questions ma'am. Yes, ma'am, I understand your concerns, but your daughter hired us to take care of her wedding plans. We answer to her, and not you... no, I'm not being snotty, I'm just telling you the facts. Your daughter is here, very upset that you're taking over everything. Please let us do the job SHE hired us to do. Yes, I'll pass along your concerns to Mrs. Springer, but she is going to be out most of the day on business..."

Danica headed to the back room and lay down on the futon that Nikky, Vixen's twin brother, rescued from the thrift store. Lord, I'm going to miss Vixen when she goes to CIA training in June, she thought, but she'll make one hell of an assassin.

Just then, she heard Vixen groan, and knew that Mrs. Gabel had called her Viki again.

===

"Liyah, I am soooo bored!" Rachel Summers complained to her cousin, Aaliyah Donovan. "School is stupid. All this crap I already know!"

"No one told you to go to the Academy, Rach," Aaliyah said; "You could have just gotten a full time job until Cole graduates from high school in May."

"I'd be even more bored at a traditional job," Rachel said; "I want to do what you're doing."

"Being a paramedic?" asked Aaliyah.

"No, the other thing. I know I'm good at that."

"You wanted to wait for Cole, Rach," said Aaliyah. "You got the same offer I did. You turned it down."

"I wish I hadn't now," Rachel said. "Not to change the subject, but how's your love life? You still dating that guy at school?"

"Robby?" Aaliyah asked; "Yeah, I am. I know it's not easy being my boyfriend, with my father being a Senator and all. Robby gets ribbed about it constantly. Now that Dad's running for President, I have to deal with the Secret Service, too. Kinda hard to date, work, go to school, do anything really with all those suits around. And you know what? I don't need them. I can defend myself with force if necessary."

"How does Robby feel about that?" asked Rachel.

"Well he hasn't run yet, so I guess he's okay with it," said Aaliyah. "I really should ask him about that. Maybe he's just doing it to make me happy."

"Doing what? Dating a Senator's daughter, or you being an assassin for the CIA?"

Aaliyah thought about that; Rachel had a valid point. She really didn't know how Robert Crandall thought about who her father was, or her side job with the CIA.

"I think I may have to give Robby an out if he wants it," Aaliyah said sadly. "I don't know how he feels about my side project for your Uncle JT."

"Maybe you should talk to him," Rachel suggested. "Mom said she had to do that with Dad when they first met. She gave Dad an out, and he didn't take it."

"I hope Robby cares about me enough to do the same," Aaliyah said. 


===

Robert Crandall knew exactly what he had gotten into when he got involved with Aaliyah Donovan.

And he didn't care.

She was smart, funny, took her studies and her job as a paramedic seriously, and just happened to be the daughter of a man running for President of the United States.

He didn't even care about that side job of hers that she rarely talked about, but suspected it had to do with the weapons training she had while growing up. She definitely could take care of herself if the need arose.

But Robby wanted to take care of Aaliyah. She needed someone to talk to about her unique life, and Robby thought he was man enough to keep up with her.

Robby Crandall knew he was hopelessly in love with the caramel colored girl he'd met in Basic Anatomy II back in the fall.

When he brought Aaliyah home at Thanksgiving to meet his family, their reaction was mixed; his parents knew who Jeremiah Donovan was, and had voted for him when he ran for the Senate seat that had been vacated by the death of the previous occupant of that office.

They were concerned because though Aaliyah was a nice girl from a good family who was part of the Resistance during the Occupation, they didn't think she was right for their youngest son.

Robby and his parents argued about it after Aaliyah went home to Chicago to spend some time with her own family.

"Robert," his father had said, "Aaliyah is a nice girl, but do you really want to get mixed up with one of the daughters of Jeremiah Donovan? One of the Triad?"

"She's not her father," Robby said; "She's a completely different person who just happens to be the man's daughter. I think you and Mom have a problem with her make up and not who her family is."

"Robert! That's not fair!" his mother said;  "We don't care if Aaliyah is Mixed or not. You know what her father and his siblings did during the Occupation; if there's another one,  God forbid, she might do the same with her siblings and cousins."

"And the problem lies where?" Robby asked. He had tired quickly of this conversation. "Aaliyah is everything I ever wanted in a girlfriend, and you have a problem with something her family did before she and I were born? That's pretty shallow of both of you, if you ask me."


Now, though, Robby had to deal with "the Suits", as Aaliyah called them. The Secret Service detail that all Presidential candidates are provided with had two agents following Robby around, undoubtedly to get background information about the boyfriend of one of Donovan's daughters.

"Why don't you just ask me yourselves, instead of following me around?" he asked aloud. "Or is following me your way of trying to find out if I'm suitable to be involved with her?"

He couldn't worry about them right now. He had an Anatomy test to study for while Liyah was doing her paramedic thing. He was almost jealous of the live lessons she got on the job.

Maybe I should ask her to move in, he thought as he got out his books and notes. I wonder if her family would approve?


===


"Dad, I can't find my green and yellow socks," Lexie Springer said as her father, Alex, was trying to get the six year old ready for soccer practice.

"They're in your sock drawer where they belong, Alexandra," her father said; "They don't belong on the floor, under your bed, or in the box with your cleats."

"But if they're in the box with my cleats, I know where they are," Lexie said.

"And they don't get washed, do they?"

Lexie knew her dad was right. She sighed as only a first grader could sigh.

"Lexie, I need to pick up your brothers from daycare, and you're holding things up," Alex said. "Mom will be home soon and I still have more errands to run after I drop you off at practice. Briana's dad will bring you home, okay?"

Lexie had found her socks where her father said they would be and put them on. She loved soccer, and wanted to do well at it. That's why she went to winter practices at the high school on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.

"Dad, what's for dinner?"

"I think Mom said that chicken and rice was on the menu, Lexie," Alex said; "Now go hop in the car so we can get you to practice on time."

As his daughter get into the family's All-Purpose Utility Vehile, Alex Springer thought that he wouldn't give up this time with his kids for anything. All too soon, it would be back to training and the life that made his family possible.

He and Sandy had a beautiful family. I am blessed, he thought. If only Sandy didn't work such long hours.

Sandy Springer had been running a wedding planner service with her cousin Danica Costner since they were 18 years old. Business was good, and the income from it made Alex's decision to stay in the Army easier. Sandy often made more money on one wedding than he did in an entire month. He knew the long hours are what made the business so successful. And with Danica going on maternity leave soon, the long hours will pay off.

They always did. The girls always took care of each other, their families, and their business.

When one of them went on maternity leave (so far, twice for each of them; Sandy for Lexie and their twin sons;  Danica for her oldest daughter, now seven, and the baby due within the month), they took on no new clients. They worked the clients they had, which often were 30-40 brides to be at any given time, and when all those weddings were done, they closed up shop until the maternity leave period was over. That happened all of the three previous times, and expected it this fourth time as well.

Alex was proud of his wife and how she and Danica ran their business. It was the envy of the entire D.C. Metro.

"All strapped in, Lexie?" Alex asked now.

"Yep!" replied Lexie.

"Then let's get you to practice, okay, princess?"

And off to the high school they went.


===

The boat went out at dawn. They knew their target had been on the water since four, and wouldn't return until nearly four that afternoon.

The occupants of the boat knew their assignment: to kill one Joseph Donovan. He was  their enemy. His brother was their enemy, and hoped that by eliminating Joseph Donovan, it would force his brother to drop out of the race for President of the United States.

Neither occupant knew that they would not make it back to shore alive. They either didn't know, or were not told, that Joseph Donovan, despite being a lobsterman for nearly three decades, had deadly aim when it came to firearms.

They didn't know that the old man who was on the boat with Donovan would sacrifice himself to save his son in law.

When they spotted the Danica Antonia in the distance, they knew their time had come to eliminate an Undesirable.

===

PROLOGUE

August, 2043


The phone rang incessantly, and Frank Pembrooke was quite frankly sick of it. He knew who was calling before he even looked at the Caller Identify screen.

He grabbed the receiver off the phone and barked into it, "I thought I told you people last time you called that I will support whomever I please for President!"

"Even if your son-in-law's life was at stake?" the caller asked condescendingly.

"You leave Joey out of this!" Pembrooke said angrily; "He's a good man who doesn't need the likes of you dictating his very existance!"

"But he's Undesirable, as is your whole family, Mr. Pembrooke," the caller said; "We will succeed with our plans for a One Race, One Faith state. And you'll either be dead or in prison for your support of a Mixed presidential candidate."

"I'm hanging up now," Pembrooke said; "Do not call this number again. We are not interested in your sick plans for the United States."

"Long Live the Republic of America!"  the called cried as Pembrooke hung up on him.

Pembrooke slammed the receiver back on the phone, not caring at that moment if it broke. "Sons of bitches," he muttered as he stalked up the hall; "Living in the fucking dark ages for shit like that!"

Tracy Donovan looked out of her office as her father walked by, and hearing his mutterings, knew who had been on the phone.

She wondered, again, if the threat of a second Occupation would come to pass. She wondered if her grown daughters were getting the same calls; she wondered if her adopted sons were being harassed at school because of the family's position on the maintenance of the current government.

Most of all, she worried about her husband, who was of mixed race parentage. Was he an early target for elimination that the Occupationists favored?

All because he was the brother of a Mixed man running for President.

===
"Antonia Cantrell reporting for service as requested," the tall and curvaceous young mixed race woman before him said.

"Miss Cantrell," he said; "I trust your studies are going well."

"Sir?" Cantrell asked; "I'm sure you did not bring me here to ask after my studies."

"No, Toni, I didn't," the new Director of the CIA said; "I have an assignment for you. You're aware of threatening phone calls going out to supporters of Undesirable presidential candidates?"

"Yes, sir," Cantrell said; "My grandfather gets one or two a week, according to my Aunt Tracy."

"We know who is funding the group making those calls," the Director said. "Your assignment is to eliminate that individual. It can be done in a few hours because he is currently in Washington. After that, you can go back to Loyola and take your Anatomy exam."

"Begging the Director's pardon," said Cantrell, "but I hate that you know more about my exam schedule than I do."

"It's my job to know everything about what you and Miss Summers do," the Director said; "After all, Rachel is my niece biologically. I have to know what my top assassins are upto at all times."

"Then you know that I have two eight hour shifts with my Paramedic unit this weekend," Cantrell said.

"Indeed I do," the Director said; "And I know that Rachel and Cole have a date Friday night. I'm  trying to let you live your lives as normal as possible, Aaliyah. Now, take out this asshat making the threatening calls and go back to your normal 17 year old college student life."

Cantrell rolled her eyes. If the Director were anyone other than JT Collins-Ross, she'd be freaked out about how much he knew about her life. Instead, she replied,

"There has never been anything about my life, or Rachel's, or Zach's for that matter,  that could be construed as quote-unquote normal from the moment we were born. You know who our parents are."

The Director only nodded and dismissed Antonia Cantrell to carry out her assignment. After that was completed, she could go back to being Aaliyah Donovan and living that so called "normal" life.

Normal for her, her siblings, and her cousins, that is.

===

"Un cookie, mamma?" fifteen month old Aida Schuykill asked her mother.

"No, Aida, non ora," Rina d'Alessandro-Schuykill told her daughter. "It's almost time for little girls to go to bed."

Rina and Jeremy's little girl was growing up faster than they would have liked. But at least they did not have to hire a nanny to take care of her. Rina had started her software business with the blessing of Julia Summers, the owner and CEO of Summers Tech Systems, for whom Rina started working with just after her daughter was born. She would still be on STS's payroll, but with a little one at home and another on the way, it was easier for Rina to work from home.

Rina had also been named Contessa d'Alessandro on her 21st birthday just two months before. The title meant nothing to her, but the monetary inheritance would help with her familly's savings until Jeremy finished his Bachelor's degree in Tech and Mainframe Systems.

She and Jeremy had taken over the rent payments of the house that she, Helene DeWitt-Bastova, and Jaime Summers-Walters had rented from Jaime's aunt the awful summer after their freshman year of college.

The summer that Rina almost died.

Helene and her husband, Alexei had moved to Chicago, as both danced with Chicago Ballet. They'd had a little girl four months ago they named Kathryn Courage. Helene had just landed a new role in a new ballet that was making its national debut in November. Alexei was the choreographer for the ballet, titled "Courage". It was not from the ballet that the Bastovs got their daughter's middle name. It had a more personal meaning, especially to Helene.

Jaime and Jared Walters, and their daughter, had moved back to Belvidere so that he could take over management of the Summers Ranch after his grandfather was incapacitated by a stroke. Ben Walters was recovering well, but realized that he was not up to the day to day tasks of running the ranch. His wife, Sara, still took care of the ranch's books, and kept the house in order.

The futures of all three women,  and their families, would hang on the perverted whims of one sick man.

===

Jeremiah hated giving speeches. It started when he was still a young boy, and his guardian Kiera San Marco had the older kids prepare speeches on some of the things they had learned during the learning cycle. Then, he only had to convince Kiera, her husband Peter, and sometimes David Draiman, the Voice of the Resistance of the former Occupational government.

Now he had to convince the entire nation he was the right man for the job.

Jeremiah’s speech, as usual, was on point. He wanted to continue the policies started by the current occupant of the White House, but also advocated reforms so that an Occupational type government would never happen again.

But plans were in motion to make a second Occupation not only a possibility, but a reality that no one, not even the man who wanted to make it so, ever expected.

It would take several young adults to thwart those plans. Including the long forgotten daughter of the man who wanted to run it all.

===