Southern Cross by Windstar

If the General was going to be so good as to answer her questions, Julie was going to do her
damndest to find out what was going on. That and if she could keep the lunatic talking she'd give
Emily more time to find her.
The lunatic in question regarded her calmly through pale gray eyes which she had an unnerving
suspicion understood exactly what she was trying to do. Either she was wrong or he didn't care,
for after a moment he spoke once more.
"Of course it was, Ms. McGrath, do you think I would be so foolish as to leave that much
information out where Betty could find it? I am many things, but sloppy is not one of them."
There was just the barest hint of annoyance in that quiet voice, the first hint of emotion she'd
heard from him so far. There was a sharp looking steak knife on the table top, set next to the
plate in front of her. If she could manage to swipe it without him noticing, and hide it on her
somewhere, she'd be armed, after a fashion.
Keeping her mind focused on ways to deal with the situation was keeping the fear at bay, but she
could still feel it. Lurking at the edge of her subconscious, waiting for a foothold.
"I don't understand why you spent all that money on the human genome project though. You
didn't need all that information just to make a virus did you?"
The fact that the General was answering her questions so easily was starting to worry Julie.
Something was going on that was seriously out of whack, and she didn't have any clue what it
was.
General Whittecker, for his part, calmly poured himself a glassful of the amber-colored liquid
and uncovered the dish set before him. Calmly he took a sip of the liquid, acting almost like a
wine connoisseur, before answering her question.
"What do you remember of your parents?"
That had not been an answer she had expected, and green eyes narrowed as she wondered what
he was talking about.
"They were killed when I was younger, you know that as well as anyone. Why?"
Memories of her parents swirled through her mind, vague and unfocused. They were little more
than blurs of color and shape to her, like an often looked at picture. The quiet voice of the
General brushed the memories back into their corners.
"We used the genetic data provided by the human genome project for some interesting things."
A hint of a smile crossed his thin face, while the sensation of being out of control continued to
build inside of her. A cyclone of fear at what he was talking about whirling inside of her.