Project Apex by Michael Bray Read Free Book Online Page A

eyebrows like twin brown bottomless wells.
    "Thank you all for coming," the man said as he looked at them. Marcus was surprised to hear he had an English accent. "It goes without saying what you are about to hear is extremely sensitive, and should be treated as being on a strictly need to know basis as far as your respective teams are concerned."
    The man paused for a second, making sure his point sunk in. "My name is Robert Genaro, and I'm here to tell you about a situation which could have dire repercussions if we don’t contain it and contain it quickly."
    "Terrorists?" Marcus asked.
    "Nothing so simple I’m afraid," Genaro replied, adding a thin smile which looked positively ghastly in the subdued lighting.
    "Since when were terrorists simple?" Marcus fired back.
    "If you let me go on, I’ll tell you."
    Marcus flushed, feeling both angry and a little put out that this stranger had come into his building, in his meeting room and belittled him. He considered saying something then thought better of it, instead choosing to remain silent until he, at least, found out what was going on. Genaro took his silence as the signal to proceed, and released Marcus from his gaze, glancing back at his vast array of papers on the desk. “In late nineteen ninety-nine, I was working as part of a special projects team commissioned by the government to explore the science of genetics and how they might be applied towards aiding modern warfare. That department still exists today, run in its entirety by me and my team of staff. Our objective was to look into ways of protecting our battlefield infantry from the wears and tears of life in the various war zones scattered across the globe. As you know, the United States is actively supporting and are directly involved on several fronts assisting peacekeeping operations around the world. Unfortunately, this also means we suffer losses. Every soldier who is killed in action represents, at its most basic level,  a waste of resources, both time  and money spent on training that individual who will never go on to repay that debt.
    Marcus wanted to cut in and suggest that, perhaps by giving his life for his country, the soldier had already paid more than enough, but he didn’t want to get kicked out of his own meeting room so he again chose to remain silent as Genaro went on.
    “My team were tasked with exploring things which looked more like science fiction than anything we thought truly achievable. We were exploring genetic modification to enhance pain and temperature resistance, cell regeneration and things of a similar nature. Of course, technology at the time was grossly inadequate for such advanced experiments, and we struggled to make any headway. We had grand ideas, of course, just no means to execute them. That all changed in the spring of two thousand and one."
    Genaro paused to take a sip of water, looking around the table to make sure he still had their attention. Satisfied, he went on.
    "As these things tend to be, it was quite by accident when I stumbled on something which would change the direction of my career and research, and what indirectly brings us all here today. That something was an article in New Scientist magazine written by a man called Richard Draven who was exploring similar technologies to my department but on a much smaller scale. His article claimed he had discovered a new species of monkey in the Congo with amazing regenerative properties. Of course, we know that species today as the tiger monkey, so called for its distinctive yellow markings. At the time of its discovery by Draven, it was thought impossible for a population of creatures to remain undiscovered in a world which we humans wrongly assume holds no secrets to us. The article by Draven was borderline fiction, and he was universally blasted by his colleagues for indulging in such fantasy to the point where it damaged his career. I too scoffed, and yet, some of the things he mentioned rang true with our own