Wolf: A Military P.A.C. Novel by KL Mabbs Read Free Book Online

relationships that prospered both in terms of money and influence.
    When Gerund graduated , he decided that he would never again be in a relationship like he had with his father, Jacob. He turned to headhunting, rather than being headhunted like prey. It was better to imagine himself as the procurer of heads for ritual sacrifice. That thought led him to think about how wars operated, both past and present, and with the States failing in half of its economic endeavours due to restructuring and loss of resources, he turned to the private sector. Blackwater showed up on the list of companies with growth potential—more than many would have thought possible for a mercenary company. Gerund knew how to make them notice him, because money and power were the same thing and he knew a way to save the company from its own bottom line.
    Death.
    His internship had been in a medical facility. He had kept their books, but he also had taken an interest in what they spent their money on. The company's name doesn’t matter. What does matter is that they had pioneered a gene therapy drug that keeps cells alive during treatment. He looked into the records, found someone who could explain the biologics and the laws around human testing to him, and then he proposed an idea to Blackwater Inc.
    They hired him right out of graduate school.

    Gerund Hillman surveyed the satellite feed of Michael Scott that came through his business class personal adaptive computer. In display mode, the P.A.C. projected a life-sized hologram image that took up one corner of the room. This feed showed a man in lotus position, of apparent good health, throwing up. Hillman knew from the records that he was two metres tall and one hundred and twenty-five kilos in weight.
    The woman with him was odd , curled up around Michael that way, and nude. And then he had the woman sniff out his pills, as if she could tell what was in them. Gene therapy was expensive, barely affordable by most people. So what did that make her?
    What were the right questions to ask? What was the client looking for? And why was the client looking for it in a retired military recon team?
    Gerund knew what Michael’s doctor had reported to the medical advisory board, and that report had alerted conditions that Gerund himself had put in place. He suspected poison. It would have been a different way than the rest of Michael’s unit had died, but no less ruthless for the means. Considering where he wintered, it was discreet and tidy. Come spring, few would suspect foul play. No less, anyway, than the other accidents. Bloody near poetic. And what if it was the Canadian army tidying up loose ends? Whatever they were.
    The rest of the feed was uneventful. Wait.
    “Jacob. Stop the feed there. Back up now.” Most people would have picked a name for their P.A.C. that was friendly. Gerund wasn’t friendly. Neither was his relationship with his father.
    The tree cover was intermittent. Colour and objects appeared briefly, only to be hidden a moment later. With the right algorithm though . . . “Extrapolate a new angle and show me this from under the tree cover. And don’t be an idiot about questions. Just do it.” A smile crossed Gerund’s face. The same smile he had wanted to use when his father had been alive.
    Gerund walked into the holographic scene. A wolf had attacked the two . . . no, its target had been Michael. But that wasn’t the only anomaly in the feed.
    “Jacob, are there any gene re-structuring projects that would account for that change ?”
    “There is no evidence to suggest that conclusion.” Gerund’s P.A.C. wasn’t military grade, and none had ever been released to his knowledge. What would a Military P.A.C. look like? As high up as he was in Blackwater, he was ultimately an executive. The bottom line was always control. His own relationship with his P.A.C. reflected that. The software was almost sentient in its adaptability.
    “Any unclassified records of a military P.A.C?”