Project Cyrano: A Genetic Engineering Technothriller (Genetic Engineering, TechnoThriller) Read Free Page B
Book: Project Cyrano: A Genetic Engineering Technothriller (Genetic Engineering, TechnoThriller) Read Free
Author: Amy Taylor
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Director Gregory Benren concerning Operation West 1935.”
The tablet’s screen whirled around in a circle. Sosa tapped her fingers on the desk. She ran over past events in her mind as she waited. Six days ago she didn’t think about dying. Now she wouldn’t be surprised if she keeled over at any moment. It produced a surreal type of despair, and Sosa felt the temptation to give into it. Black hopelessness alighted on her shoulders like the hands of a friend. Sosa slapped the table. “Begone.” She whispered to herself. The blackness disappeared. A deadly quiet replaced it.
A man’s face appeared on the screen. He was a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and a generally dour expression.
“You’re reporting early, Agent Sosa. Enlighten me.”
She tried to make her face flat, but judging by Director Benren’s face, he didn’t buy it. “There has been a setback, sir.”
“And what would that be?”
“Major Mader has gone insane and fled into the unknown parts of the base. We are…”
The director’s face wrinkled inward, with his brows knitting together above his nose and his jowls turning his mouth into a massive downward U. “Say that again, Agent Sosa?”
“He went insane, sir. A chemical got into the atmosphere during a temporary and unforeseen power fluctuation in the base, and we are assuming this chemical has caused some physical changes in Major Solomon Mader.”
“What chemical is it?”
“Dr. McKusick is determining that as we speak, sir.”
“Where is Major Mader?”
“We do not know, but Agent Anders is working on that as well. I will assist the endeavor the moment this report is over.”
“You seem to have a spectacular failure on your hands, Sosa.”
She winced. “I understand, sir.”
The director rubbed his forehead. “I am initiating a quarantine of the Cyrano base until further notice. We will send supplies and food, but nothing is getting off that base until the contagion is eliminated. Effective immediately. Do you understand?”
She bowed her head. “Yes, sir.”
The screen went blank.
Sosa crept down the pitch-black corridor with her beam rifle secure in her hands and ready to fire. Her helmet provided her with adequate vision to see in the dark. Finally, they were able to search for Mader in earnest, for Anders had gotten control of the life detection system. His voice provided a constant stream of information in her ear.
“The other life signs have not moved. Agent Mader is also stationary.” How she adored the life detection system.
She plastered herself to the wall and directed one finger around the corner. The camera on the tip of her pointer finger directed a video feed to her left eye. Nothing. Only a blank hallway. “You tell me if anything changes.” Sosa continued on.
She licked her dry lips. This mission was supposed to be something fun and interesting, a respite from the spying and near death experiences of year 2300 life in the CIA. She personally preferred working in the Air Force, but her husband liked CIA life more than the military. She came home more often. They were going to go on a vacation when she returned, a long and well-deserved stay at the Gracillarii Resort on Callisto, one of Jupiter’s major moons. Now Sosa doubted she, or any of them, would be alive in a week to go on vacation.
“Wait.”
Her feet ground to a halt. “What is it?” She whispered.
“92-F4 is moving towards Mader. Hurry! They’re still five miles away. I don’t think you can make it in time. He moves so fast.”
She put the rifle in its back holster and ran down corridors, through rooms and labs, up stairs and over balconies. Sosa didn’t care about the sound or her own welfare. Her legs carried her like a deer over level ground.
“92-F4 is leaving. Mader’s life sign has…disappeared.”
Sosa ground her teeth. Then she got to the spot
The tablet’s screen whirled around in a circle. Sosa tapped her fingers on the desk. She ran over past events in her mind as she waited. Six days ago she didn’t think about dying. Now she wouldn’t be surprised if she keeled over at any moment. It produced a surreal type of despair, and Sosa felt the temptation to give into it. Black hopelessness alighted on her shoulders like the hands of a friend. Sosa slapped the table. “Begone.” She whispered to herself. The blackness disappeared. A deadly quiet replaced it.
A man’s face appeared on the screen. He was a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and a generally dour expression.
“You’re reporting early, Agent Sosa. Enlighten me.”
She tried to make her face flat, but judging by Director Benren’s face, he didn’t buy it. “There has been a setback, sir.”
“And what would that be?”
“Major Mader has gone insane and fled into the unknown parts of the base. We are…”
The director’s face wrinkled inward, with his brows knitting together above his nose and his jowls turning his mouth into a massive downward U. “Say that again, Agent Sosa?”
“He went insane, sir. A chemical got into the atmosphere during a temporary and unforeseen power fluctuation in the base, and we are assuming this chemical has caused some physical changes in Major Solomon Mader.”
“What chemical is it?”
“Dr. McKusick is determining that as we speak, sir.”
“Where is Major Mader?”
“We do not know, but Agent Anders is working on that as well. I will assist the endeavor the moment this report is over.”
“You seem to have a spectacular failure on your hands, Sosa.”
She winced. “I understand, sir.”
The director rubbed his forehead. “I am initiating a quarantine of the Cyrano base until further notice. We will send supplies and food, but nothing is getting off that base until the contagion is eliminated. Effective immediately. Do you understand?”
She bowed her head. “Yes, sir.”
The screen went blank.
Sosa crept down the pitch-black corridor with her beam rifle secure in her hands and ready to fire. Her helmet provided her with adequate vision to see in the dark. Finally, they were able to search for Mader in earnest, for Anders had gotten control of the life detection system. His voice provided a constant stream of information in her ear.
“The other life signs have not moved. Agent Mader is also stationary.” How she adored the life detection system.
She plastered herself to the wall and directed one finger around the corner. The camera on the tip of her pointer finger directed a video feed to her left eye. Nothing. Only a blank hallway. “You tell me if anything changes.” Sosa continued on.
She licked her dry lips. This mission was supposed to be something fun and interesting, a respite from the spying and near death experiences of year 2300 life in the CIA. She personally preferred working in the Air Force, but her husband liked CIA life more than the military. She came home more often. They were going to go on a vacation when she returned, a long and well-deserved stay at the Gracillarii Resort on Callisto, one of Jupiter’s major moons. Now Sosa doubted she, or any of them, would be alive in a week to go on vacation.
“Wait.”
Her feet ground to a halt. “What is it?” She whispered.
“92-F4 is moving towards Mader. Hurry! They’re still five miles away. I don’t think you can make it in time. He moves so fast.”
She put the rifle in its back holster and ran down corridors, through rooms and labs, up stairs and over balconies. Sosa didn’t care about the sound or her own welfare. Her legs carried her like a deer over level ground.
“92-F4 is leaving. Mader’s life sign has…disappeared.”
Sosa ground her teeth. Then she got to the spot
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