Legend of Michael by Lisa Renée Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

cages before he turned to face Dr. Chin, director of science and medicine for Project Zodius. Dr. Chin had proven to be admirably ambitious and loyal beyond the expectations of his employment by the U.S. government. “Who else knows about this?”
    “Myself and my assistant, Ava Lane. The rest of the staff had already left for the day.”
    Powell eyed the curvy redhead on the other side of the glass panel as she studied a slide under a microscope; she’d made it onto his radar for more than her sultry looks. Ava had masterminded a blood exchange between one of the marked women and her male partner. The result was that the woman converted to GTECH without using the limited supply of serum.
    Powell cut Chin a sideways look. “And Dr. Peterson?” he asked, well aware that Kelly Peterson often lunched with his daughter.
    “Left shortly before the animals’ erratic behavior began. I thought you’d want to know before anyone else.”
    “As it should be,” Powell approved. “No one else knows.” Especially his daughter. Cassandra had done her job as he knew she would—meticulously reporting the soldiers’ mental capacities as slightly aggressive within normal ranges, despite her warnings this could change. A detail that had pleased the White House, but defied what he saw before him today in these X2 animals. She wouldn’t understand why her tests were not enough. He motioned to the cages. “Do what you have to so that it remains that way. Is there any more ‘kick in the teeth’ news you care to share, Chin?”
    “Not only is the marked female converted to GTECH, but the female will become X2 positive if her Lifebond is X2 positive. Early stage laboratory studies support a hypothesis that the ‘Lifebonds’ become capable of reproducing once the blood exchange is complete, though the men were previously infertile.”
    “Fabulous,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “So now we can breed X2 monsters. That should please the White House.” He walked toward the cages, scrubbing his palm across his face, all too aware he was backed into a corner. The X2s were simply too big a potential liability to be ignored. There was only one way to avoid long-term confinement of the X2s, and he knew it. Red Dart. Created by an alien crystal, the laser inserted a chemical into the target’s bloodstream, allowing for both tracking and control by torture. It had been confiscated from an alien shipwreck some fifty years ago, but was never successfully manifested for use. When he’d seen the writing on the wall—that human law was no means to manage inhuman soldiers—he’d covertly confiscated the research.
    He rotated to face Chin. “We’re using Red Dart. Now. Today. I don’t care how risky, how potentially fatal. I don’t care. Just make it work.”
    “Science does not take orders, General,” Chin said. “Nor will it be rushed. Again, as I’ve told you numerous times, Red Dart was designed for humans, not GTECHs. And even in humans, it’s killing the carrier rather than torturing them. The GTECHs are another story. Death isn’t my concern—they heal too rapidly. It’s the application. Their immune systems destroy the tracking dart before it ever hits the bloodstream, which is necessary for it to function properly. It’s worthless until I figure out how to trick their immune systems into seeing Red Dart as part of its normal operating system.”
    Silently, Powell cursed, using every profane word in the dictionary. And some that were not. Outwardly, he remained cool, collected. “If I double your funding, how soon can it be ready?”
    “A year,” Chin said quickly. “Maybe longer. Too long, considering we have no idea what set off the violence in these animals to begin with. The X2 positive soldiers could do the same thing at any given moment.”
    The words ground through Powell’s stomach. Every fucking thing he’d worked for could be flushed down the toilet over this. “You’re certain it’s X2