Titan Six Read Free Page A

with a whoosh as the scientists fell to the floor.
    Climbing to their feet, Durangue and Wallace pointed their Maglites into the darkness ahead.
    Durangue swallowed hard as tears came to his eyes.
    “I’m sorry, Mama,” he said.  “I should have come to see you more in that last year.”
    Wallace looked sideways.  “Are you all right?  What’s going on?”
    “Don’t you see her?  It’s my mother.”
    “Just take a deep breath, pal.  It’s stress.  Don’t let your mind play tricks on you.”
    They advanced and then froze.
    “What the living hell is that?” Durangue asked.
    “Son of a bitch,” Wallace muttered.
    A metallic wall loomed before them.  It was silver, but occasionally glowed blue before growing slightly transparent.
    Wallace took a slim rectangular form from her backpack and pulled up an antenna from its side.  A red LED readout displayed constantly changing numbers.
    “This mother is huge!” Wallace exclaimed.  “It’s a friggin’ cube.  Two miles on every side.”
    Durangue had already moved closer to the enigma beneath Mount Elbert.
    “Do you hear that?” Durangue asked.  “It’s like some kind of weird music.”
    He touched the surface of the cube, which turned blue, then orange.  He faced his partner and smiled.  “My mother says that everything’s okay.  We’re safe.”
    Mesmerized, Wallace also stepped forward and touched the metallic surface with her index finger.  “It’s warm!  It feels . . . good!  So very, very good.”
    Durangue and Wallace began to touch the cube in several places.  They appeared ecstatic.  Any fear they may have harbored had completely vanished.
    “I’m feeling a little static electricity,” Wallace said.
    “Me, too.”
    Both scientists suddenly stepped back from the cube.
    “What’s happening to you?” Wallace asked, looking at her fellow explorer.
    Durangue stared blankly at his questioner.  His face was growing dark, was disintegrating.
    Wallace pressed her hands against her face.  “My skin is on fire!” she said.
    “Someone, help!” they both cried in unison.  “Help!”
    They sank to their knees, skin and organs falling from their bones in black, burning ashes.  Two skulls beheld each other in disbelief as smoke rose from their deteriorating bodies.
    Strange symbols and pictures swam across the glowing surface of the cube before it returned to its silver, metallic appearance.
    A minute later, two skeletons lay on the floor of the cave in front of the cube, nothing more.
     

The Armory
Aboard the Alamiranta
     
    Dr. Grace Nguyen’s office and lab were in the Armory on Deck Three of the Alamiranta.  The Armory was a nickname for the Advanced Research Projects Facility.  It was originally formed by Catherine Caine, who had recruited top scientists from the Defense Department’s DARPA project, or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  Nguyen and her colleagues were continually developing cutting edge military technologies used by Titan Global.
    Saturo Aiko sat on the exam table of Grace Nguyen, who motioned for Hawkeye and Tank to enter the room.
    “You’re about to become part of Titan’s Enhanced Warrior Program,” Nguyen told Aiko.
    “She’s already pretty enhanced, if you ask me,” Tank said.  He blushed.  “I mean in the military sense.  And, um, the martial arts.  Stuff like that.”
    “You’re in superior condition,” Nguyen acknowledged, “but we can enable you to take your skills to an even higher level.  Are you ready?”
    “I suppose,” Aiko said.
    “Okay,” said Nguyen.  “Let me give you a final rundown so you can give informed consent.  BioMEMS stands for Biological Micro-electronic Mechanical Systems.  It’s essentially molecular technology, where we inject nanobots the size of molecules into your bloodstream.  Your physical endurance, as well as your senses, will be greatly heightened.  The nanobots can remove harmful toxins, pathogens, and chemicals from your