The Protectors

Troy sat at the conference table in his office with Tom, Miriam, Diana, Julia, and Barry.

“All right,” Troy said. “What’s on your minds?”

“It’s about the serum,” Tom said.

“Barb says she’s sure she’s on the right track. She should …”

“That’s not exactly what we’re here to talk about,” Diana said.

Troy looked at them curiously. “What then?”

They sat quietly for a few moments, then Barry spoke. “We don’t want to use the serum.”

Troy smiled. “Well, doesn’t that beat all?”

Miriam leaned to Troy. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate what Barbara is doing, it’s …”

Troy held up his hands. “You don’t have to say any more. I feel the same, have almost from the start. But I didn’t say it because I didn’t want to influence anyone.”

“I feel guilty about it,” Tom said. “It’s like I’m running away from my responsibility to protect people.”

“Yeah,” Troy said. “I think that’s it. We should have talked about this a long time ago.”

“I guess we were too ecstatic to think objectively about it,” Diana said.

Tom leaned forward. “Well, at least we finally got a conscience call. Better late than never. What about Kevin and John and Hannah?

“I’d bet they feel the same,” Julia said.

Miriam looked at Troy. “I’ll call Hannah and meet her for lunch. Will you contact Kevin and John?”

“Yeah,” Troy answered. “I’ll take care of that.”

“Poor Barbara,” Diana said. “She put so much into this.”

“I think she’ll understand,” Troy said.

“Don’t want to be nosey,” Tom inquired, “but how are things with you and Barbara?

Troy shrugged and spread his hands. “What can I say? We’re back to where we were. I fought it, but our feelings are just too strong.”

Julia’s looked shocked. “Have you …?”

“Yes. We’ve made love.”

Julia’s face flushed. “That’s wrong, Troy. It’s just plain wrong. It’s dangerous. What if she …”

“Don’t worry, Julia. That’s not going to happen.”

“It’s still wrong.”

Troy’s looked irritated. “Maybe. But it’s happened and I’m not going to break up with her again. So, why don’t we just let this drop?”

Troy glanced at the others. “Anything else?”

They shook their heads.

“Okay. I guess we’re done.”