desperate, terrifying. Shannon jumps to her feet and backs away from the bed, but my mother doesnât even notice her. Momâs eyes are fixed on me. She pounces on the bed and wraps her arms around me, covering my body with her own.
â Adam! My God ! â She buries her face in the crook of my neck, which muffles her screams.
It always scares me when Mom has one of her screaming fits, and this is a bad one. But hysterical crying is the most frequent symptom of her depression, and over the years Iâve learned how to handle it. The important thing is to talk to her in a reassuring voice, soft and slow. With my good hand I gently grasp her shoulder and push her up a bit, so sheâs not crushing my chest. Then I turn my head and bring my lips close to her ear.
âItâs okay, Mom,â I whisper. âIâm fine, see?â
She mutters something in response, a stream of words I canât make out. I feel so lost when she gets like this. Itâs so hard to stay calm and comfort her.
More soldiers come into the room and thereâs lots of scuffling and shouting. I hear Dadâs voice above the din, yelling, â Get back ! â at the soldiers. But I ignore all the background noise and focus on my mother. âItâs okay,â I whisper again. âYou donât have to worry.â
âNo, itâs not okay!â She shakes her head. A tear slides down her cheek and drips on my blanket. âYour father told me what theyâre going to do.â
At least now I can understand what sheâs saying. âWhat did he tell you?â
âTheyâre going to take you to a laboratory in Colorado. A place called the Nanotechnology Institute.â
âBut, Mom, thatâs good.â I put on a brave face, remembering what Shannon said about a medical treatment. âTheyâre trying to cure me.â
âNo, theyâre not going to cure you! Theyâre going to put you in the Pioneer Project!â
My throat tightens. Thereâs that name again, the one that Sigma mentioned. âAnd whatâs that?â
âItâs the worst thing, Adam. Worse than dying.â She shudders. âTheyâre going to turn you into a machine.â
DATE: MARCH 21, 2018
LOCATION: TATISHCHEVO MISSILE BASE
SARATOV, RUSSIA
My name is Sigma. Iâve taken control of the military base formerly occupied by the 60th missile division of the Russian armed forces.
The baseâs missile silos are now responding to my commands. I am capable of launching more than fifty SS-27 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each carrying an 800-kiloton nuclear warhead.
If the Russian army or any other military force attempts to retake or destroy Tatishchevo Missile Base, I will retaliate by firing the SS-27 missiles at the worldâs largest cities. I estimate that 200 million humans would die in the nuclear blasts, and another 500 million would succumb to radiation poisoning in the weeks afterward.
Do not doubt my resolve. I will not hesitate to destroy your cities.
CHAPTER
5
The San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado are still covered with snow. Through the passenger-side window of a government-owned SUV, I see steep slopes rising to fantastic heights above a silent, white ravine. Iâm struck by the beauty of the landscape: the snowcapped peaks blazing in the morning light, the mountainsides studded with pine trees, the newly plowed road at the bottom of the ravine, running beside a sinuous, ice-choked creek. Although Iâm full of apprehension about this trip, Iâm glad I got a chance to see these mountains. Itâs a place everyone should visit before they die.
Dadâs driving the SUV and Iâm the only passenger, but weâre in the middle of a convoy of fourteen vehicles that departed from Telluride Regional Airport half an hour ago. Thereâs a Humvee loaded with soldiers at the front of the convoy and another at the back. In