Ranger Danger - Chapter 3

 RANGER DANGER

Sam had been changing into her civilian clothes in the high-tech coed dorm when she noticed two on-duty rangers sneering at her. Their disdain was palpable.

“Wallace had to save Sam from herself-- again,” the woman ranger whispered to her companion, loud enough for Sam to hear. “How much more of this crap are they going to allow?”

“Forget it. She’s the General’s pet,” the man ranger replied with a smirk.

“Pet freak is more like it.”

“Easy. We’re still on the same team.”

“Same team, my ass. Sam is going to get someone killed. Maybe then they’ll tell her to fuck off.”

Sam slammed her locker shut with a loud bang, drawing their attention. “If you think I’m sitting still for some asinine rookie hazing crap, you’re a noob. You got something you want to say, don’t mumble.”

The woman ranger, who towered over Sam in height and muscle, stepped forward aggressively. “You’re reckless. Stubborn. And you’re a DNA hack job. A freaking genepunk.”

Without hesitation, Sam stomped on the woman's instep, grabbed her belt and collar, and shoved her towards the balcony overlooking the parking lot, three stories below.

“How about I hurl us over the edge and see which of us shows up at the company picnic on Saturday?” Sam’s voice was calm, almost taunting.

The woman ranger struggled to hide her panic. “I’m not afraid of you, freak.”

“Let’s just get it done then.” Sam yanked the ranger closer to the edge, and the woman let out a terrified yell.

“That's enough, rookie!” a commanding voice boomed.

Sam released the ranger, and both rangers immediately stood at attention. The General strolled in, his expression one of grim indifference. Despite the decade since anyone last saw him, he remained as formidable and powerful as ever.

“Hit the streets. Wright? My office. Five minutes.” He turned sharply and marched out.

Sam watched him go, peeking sadly over the patio edge. "Fearlessness and a hot temper have gotten you in trouble again, Sam," she muttered.

Sam entered the General's office, which looked more like the sleek workspace of a tech company president, and saluted. The General looked at her sternly.

“Nine times out of ten, when I threaten my officers with a court-martial, they break out into a sweat. It’s how I know they understand my point. Fear,” he said.

“With all due respect, sir, I couldn’t give that to you even if I wanted to,” Sam replied.

“No kidding. You’ve got a smart mouth and a quick temper. You don’t have to be a genius to know when to walk away from a fight or end a foot pursuit.”

“Yes, sir, but to walk away, you have to be afraid of the consequences of not walking away.”

The General's expression softened as he walked around his desk. “What am I going to do with you, Samantha? I have a son-of-a-bitch of a difficult mission: rid our society of Rebos. Rebel Biohackers. By any means necessary. It’s a war, and you are a unique weapon in this war.”

“Because I’m a Genepunk, sir?”

“Yes. Accept it, Sam. You are the best thing to come out of the Gene Wars and fifty years of indiscriminate government-sponsored DNA hacking. You are not the product of a misguided group of biohackers with back-alley medical degrees in genetics. You’re the real deal. Accept it! Once you do, stunts like your near cliff-diving incident will be a thing of the past.”

He dropped a picture of a computer chip on the desk. “Biohackers have stolen a Level 20 computer chip.”

“The Icosahedrons’ AI processor? With this, they’ll be able to run re-sequencing applications faster than—”

“Faster than we can,” the General interrupted, dropping a silver star badge on the desk. “Training is over, rookie. Tomorrow, you’ll report to Wallace. He’s taking over D.E.D. Get a good night’s sleep.”

Sam reached for the badge, feeling surprisingly downhearted.

Later that evening, Sam strolled through the large home she shared with her parents, clad in a bathrobe. Her bedroom was a cyberpunk playground of med-tech propaganda, pop culture paraphernalia, and computers. On her bed lay a copy of *Gene Weekly* magazine, touting recent advancements in in-home gene splicing.

Gayle, her mother, approached with a large cup of hot chocolate. Sam's eyes lit up. “Hot chocolate! What’s the occasion?”

“Your promotion.”

“It’s not a promotion. More like an assignment.” Sam took the cup, hungrily eyeing the marshmallows, shaved chocolate, and cinnamon sprinkles. “You made me hot chocolate like what? Six times since junior high school.”

“The sugar always made you so high-strung. One sip and your father and I wouldn’t know what to expect next: a temper tantrum, a broken leg, a dog bite, an insensitive comment, or a charred pinky-toe.”

They shared a laugh, remembering. 

“Fire-walking across the barbecue pit seemed like a good idea at the time,” Sam admitted.

“I’m sure all your ideas seemed good at the time.”

Sam impulsively took her mother’s hands. “Thanks, Mom, for never giving up on me. I know it hasn’t been easy.”

“No, it hasn’t. Some of the things that have come out of your mouth, wow! No filter! But we knew a long time ago that you would be special. Pretty soon, you’ll see things the same way.” Gayle grabbed a hidden USB flash drive labeled Gray Hat. Sam bristled at the sight of her secret, now exposed.

“It’s okay to be a curious child. Now you’re a woman who’s mature enough to know what questions she shouldn’t ask.” Gayle handed Sam the drive, who quickly stuffed it under her pillow. Gayle pressed the keyboard to wake the laptop, revealing a screen that read: *Can Manipulated DNA be Reversed?*

“Mom! You’re worse than the General.”

“Do you realize what trouble you could be if a ranger saw this?”

“I’m routed through seventeen servers across the globe. No one can trace it back here.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You can’t fix what’s not broken.”

“DNA re-sequencing apps are everywhere. All you need is a strong processor and the right med-tech.”

Her father, Barry, stood stoic in the doorway, wearing a ranger uniform. “You’ve forgotten two essential elements--”

“Hi, Dad. How was work?”

“I survived the embarrassing pestering about your incident this morning. But I returned the favor with news that my baby is officially with D.E.D!” He grabbed Sam in a bear hug. “Congratulations, kiddo.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Now, no more talk about reversing anything. Get rid of this contraband.”

“Dad, I’m an adult. A ranger. I’m twenty-one—”

“Barely. And I’m still your father. The technology mentioned in these flash books is fairy tale nonsense.”

“Some day, you’ll understand. I promise,” Gayle said. “Until then, the Civil-Military Party has been good to us.”

“Yeah, we made a lot of money with me being a lab rat.”

“Can we talk about something positive, please?” Barry interjected. “Tomorrow is your first day with the DNA Enforcement Division. I want you to go in there with a mind to learn. Keep your head down. Let them do the hard work.”

Sam nodded, but it was unconvincing. Her mind was elsewhere, and it showed.

“Dammit, rookie, get back in formation!” Wallace’s voice echoed in her mind.

Sam's eyes widened with surprise.