This story is a bit wordy and fairly long, so if you are looking for immediate gratification, you might want to look elsewhere.
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The following story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between actual persons, living or dead (or just confused) is entirely coincidental. Please do not copy/redistribute the story, in part or in total, without the author's permission.
This story takes place in the fictional city of Springfield, California several hundred years in the future, so don't go looking for it on a map. Over the course the series, I will borrow quite a bit from my "Dead Man's World" series, so it might help (but isn't a requirement) if you read those stories. And in my little fictional world, there are no unwanted pregnancies or STD's, except as plot driving devices. The author encourages the practice of safe-sex.
This story also contains lesbian sexual activity.
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"Dust to Dust" Ch. 02
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"They hit five targets. Two companies in the United States, including yours, as well as one in Spain, one in Russia and one in South Africa. Simultaneous hits, and all 'warning shots.' A half-dozen fatalities, mostly personnel, and the secretary of one company president. Then, there was a blitz on every infostream and all were heavily encrypted. Looks like we've got a new punch calling themselves The Purity." Agent Jones shook his head.
The three of them were sitting in Dr. Trendenfall's study at his house. They had talked to the authorities and then Jon had been whisked home. He had called his security company, and he now had roving security guards outside, and he had sent out secure data feeds to all his employees. Security at the lab would be tripled, but he wasn't going to blame anyone if they wanted to take some time away.
"Are these the same guys as before?" McBride asked.
"Nope." Jones had a headache. He knew this was going to get messy before it got better. "Hybrid Security pretty much wiped those guys out. These guys are just picking up the moniker for name recognition. They sent out a communication claiming that anyone seeking to 'toy with the fabric of creation' or 'play God' are the enemies of Heaven itself. These guys aren't going to try to challenge us up front like the last Purity movement did. They're going to fight us guerilla style, and that's a lot trickier to deal with. And unfortunately, they've got cult support on Terra . . . there were some attacks there within the last few hours. Apparently, there are some magic snobs who don't thing that magic is something that SHOULD be explained."
"I should bring Dusty home," Jon murmured, looking towards the communication orb. "She's not safe -- "
"She's probably just as safe where she is. Let her know what's going on, but don't draw attention to her," Jones said.
"But all she's got is ONE bodyguard!" McBride chimed in.
"Who has never failed in a mission," Jones reminded him. "And we can all agree that there's probably more to that woman than we could guess."
Dr. Trendenfall shook his head. "Can you imagine what would happen if the 'Purity" found out about her? A surviving child of the Chimera Project? Magical ability imbued into a non-magical being? She'd be as much of a target as anyone."
"You've at least alerted her, haven't you?"
Jon nodded. "As soon as I could. She has some kind of messaging system set up where she can get info streams even on Terra. She's got the hook up with some serious technology." He started running his hands over his desk nervously. "I'm worried," he said. "I hope Ash can protect my girl until I can figure out what to do."
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A few weeks later . . .
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Dusty had been a nervous wreck since she got the communication from her father. She had immediately wanted to come home, but he had forbid it, telling her she was safer where she was. She knew he was just trying to protect her.
"I'm not a baby anymore," she muttered absently.
[[ Good to hear, ]] came a feminine voice from the front of the room, [[ but the question was, 'How can the arrangement of air particles be altered to create a non-lethal substance?' I'm afraid your denial of chronological regression doesn't quite fit the bill, ]] Dr. Martha VanHouten was grinning.
Dusty blushed. She had been caught absent-minded in the middle of her Quasi-Chemistry and Transformation course, and now her classmates were getting a good chuckle. Dusty looked down the row at the comely professor. Ms. VanHouten was one of the most popular teachers in school, but not all of it was her knowledge of chemistry. Her classes were often swamped with young men who wanted to get a semester's glimpses of her slim body, elvish face, silky black hair and that long, luscious neck. Dusty didn't blame them. it was the primary reason that she was here as well.
[[ I'm sorry, ]] she muttered. [[ I'm out of it today.]]
Dr. VanHouten was aware of the happening back on Earth, so she cut the girl some slack. She was human herself, so she had some definite interests in recent happenings. She and her parents had moved to Terra as soon as her considerable magical aptitude had surfaced, and she had been the first human sorceress to teach at a Terran academy. [[ It's alright, Ms. Trendenfall. But if you could stay after class, I'd like to have a word with you. ]]
A few of the other students snickered . . . some things were consistent across dimensions. When you were caught daydreaming by the teacher, it was cause to be mocked.
[[ Yes ma'am. ]] Dusty was blushing even more. She tried to get her head back in the game and pay attention. She didn't want to disappoint Dr. VanHouten again.
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In the teacher's office . . .