Legend of Michael Read online

  ***

  Cassandra woke abruptly, climbing through the darkness of a deep sleep to jerk to a sitting position, quickly registering that she was in a bed, steel rails on either side of her. An IV hung from her arm. Green curtains covered the windows to the right. She was in the hospital.

  “Easy, sweetie,” came Kelly’s gentle voice, as her friend rushed out of the nearby restroom. “I knew you’d wake up while I was in there.”

  Kelly. Kelly was here. Cassandra cut through the tangled memories weaving through the blank spots of her mind. Michael’s betrayal. The knife. “My father!” she exclaimed urgently, adrenaline rocketing her heart monitor into a series of fast beeps. “Is my father—?”

  “Alive and unharmed,” Kelly said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were red, her attire casual jeans, and an out-of-character, wrinkled T-shirt. “He had to fly to Washington to deal with the aftermath of Adam’s takeover of Groom Lake.” Her gaze took on a distant look. “I swear, that day was a nightmare I will not soon forget.”

  “That day?” Cassandra queried quickly, her hands going to the steel bars. “How long have I been out? What happened to me?”

  A nurse rushed into the room. “You’re awake!”

  “Please,” Cassandra said, holding up a hand. “I’m fine. Just give me a minute.”

  “Miss—”

  “I need a minute,” Cassandra said forcefully.

  Kelly flashed the badge on her chest. “She’s in good hands. Give us that minute.” Reluctantly the nurse nodded and exited the room.

  The moment she was gone, Cassandra asked again, “How long have I been out?”

  “Three days,” Kelly said. “You hit your head when, ah, Michael tranquilized you.” She stood up and filled a glass with some water and handed it to her. Cassandra waved it off. Kelly stood her ground. “Drink.”

  Cassandra accepted the glass, the cool liquid soothing her throat, but not her heart. Michael had tranquilized her. That part she remembered all too well. She could still see his black eyes in that moment when he’d fired the gun—cold and calculating. She shivered and handed the glass back to Kelly before leaning against the mattress and crossing her arms over the hospital gown.

  Her voice softened as she asked, “How did we get out?”

  “Caleb,” she said. “And thank God for him, though I cannot imagine what it must have been like to stand against his brother. Apparently, Adam had been planning a revolt for some time. Caleb had been working to head it off. But when your father suddenly decided to throw the X2 positive men into confinement, he forced Adam’s hand.”

  “Michael…” A lump formed in her throat, and she had no idea what she’d wanted to say.

  Kelly squeezed her arm. “He’s alive, if that’s what you want to know. With Adam, Cassandra. At least seventy-five GTECHs and almost the entire medical and military staff at Groom Lake followed him.”

  She remembered Ava’s vow. “Did they get the serum?”

  Kelly nodded and rolled the doctor’s stool to the side of the bed before sitting down. “Enough to create two to three hundred GTECHs. That’s a lot of GTECHs, but not enough for the world domination that Caleb says Adam has his sights set on.”

  World domination. This could not be happening. “Can’t he duplicate the serum?”

  “I’m sure he thinks he can,” she said. “But he can’t. And neither can we. The original sample was destroyed, and the alien DNA we are dealing with is nothing like human DNA. It protects itself from duplication. Almost as if it defends itself against imperfection. So once he hands out the serum that he has on hand, he’ll have to find another way to grow the GTECH population.”

  Kelly grimaced. “It’s easy to talk big, but execution is another story. Three hundred men is hardly a new race.”

  “Who says humans won’t follow him, Kelly? The GTECHs could become like royalty. The humans will hope to be made into GTECHs.”

  “Zodius,” she said. “That’s what the army is officially calling the GTECHs who are under Adam’s command to distinguish those who follow him and those who follow Caleb. Caleb’s followers are the Renegades because they’re standing against Adam, but outside the veil of the government.”

  “That’s because my father destroyed any hope Caleb will ever trust us again,” she said, still reeling from what he’d done.

  “Regardless.” Kelly said. “Caleb is going after Adam, Cassandra. He’ll stop him before he becomes a bigger threat.”

  “Surely we can end this with some sort of covert attack?”

  Kelly sighed and reached for the remote control on the nightstand. “Once upon a time, I had a good bedside manner, but I don’t seem to be doing the comfort thing well today.” She flipped to the news where they were showing a Casino up in flames and then flashed to a high-rise in downtown Manhattan, also on fire. “That’s how Adam managed to get Caleb to back down. He promised every attack on Area 51 would be met with double retaliation.”

  “You’re right,” Cassandra said. “You really aren’t good at the comfort thing today. So if there is anything else, just spit it out, and let’s be done with it.”

  “There’s an inquisition into your father’s actions. He may face court martial. And… there are guards stationed at your door in case Adam tries to kidnap you.” Translation—Michael might try and kidnap her, but Kelly didn’t want to say that. “Not that anyone has any reason to believe he might. Caleb says Ava was planning to use you and me and any female they could get their hands on to re-create the fertility testing she’s been working on at Area 51 by trying to find lifebond connections.” She shook herself. “That woman was going to offer us up to their entire male population. Bottom line here is that you’re safe. You were convenient, and now you’re not. We’re just being cautious until things settle down a bit, in case they try to use you to lash out at your father.”

  Cassandra’s chest tightened. Michael had said he wouldn’t tell anyone about their Lifebond, but he’d tried to kidnap her. That could mean only one thing. He must have told Adam. And if she had been captured, he would have used her to reproduce and build Adam’s new Zodius race. Which meant he was going to come for her. It meant she should confess her lifebond connection to Michael and plan for protection. But even as she had the thought, she couldn’t find the words. Cassandra wasn’t ready to let go of the hope that everything wasn’t as it seemed. No matter how things seem, Michael had said. No. She wasn’t ready to let go of Michael or their vow of silence. The takeover of Area 51 might have been Kelly’s personal nightmare, but Cassandra had a horrible feeling that this was only the beginning of hers.

  ***

  Inside a covert warehouse location, two weeks after his successful takeover of Area 51, Adam sat at a conference table with Ava to his right, and Michael, now his second-in-command, to his left. Also present, twelve of the country’s most influential powerhouses—men who represented banking, technology, pharmaceuticals, even government.

  “As you know from prior conversations,” Adam announced, “we are here today because our government is failing our people, and you want to be a part of a better nation. You want a country free of corruptness, free of human illness.” He tapped the table. “You want a Zodius Nation. Each of you is so close to a perfect world. I know you can taste it. All you have to do to ensure that you’re one of the first one hundred conversions to Zodius is to dedicate yourselves to our success.”

  An immediate rumble of assurances quickly followed—promises of generous donations that bordered on begging. Adam leaned back in his chair, satisfaction filling him. He quite enjoyed having these humans—high-ranking amongst their race in power and prestige—beg for his approval. Let the bidding war begin.

  Part 2

  All wars are civil wars,

  because all men are brothers.

  —François Fénelon

  Chapter 5

  Two years after that dreaded day Adam Rain had overtaken Area 51, Cassandra pulled her wool-lined coat around her
chilled neck, her heels clicking on the red-brick path that led away from the German military hospital where she’d worked for nearly two years. Her coworkers had left hours ago for the New Year’s festivities she had no desire to take part in. She’d take her rented G.I. Joe DVD and microwave popcorn and be just fine. She didn’t mind being alone. In fact, she preferred it, found peace in it. She simply hadn’t been ready for relationships—neither male nor female. Not after the two people she thought she’d known—Michael and her father—had proven, despite all her clinical skills, that she was incapable of evaluating those closest to her.

  Even now, she would catch herself replaying Michael’s parting words, trying to understand why he’d been so adamant about hiding the mark if he wasn’t trying to protect her, if he was really loyal to Adam and his Zodius movement. She shook herself, murmuring a word of frustration. She was doing it again, tearing herself up inside with the unanswered questions. Trying to make a traitor into a hero.

  The few months she’d spent at a Texas air force base right after the Zodius uprising hadn’t been far enough away from Groom Lake. She’d never considered herself a coward, but maybe she was—because she’d simply wanted out. Away. She wanted to forget. She didn’t even ask what was happening with Adam. There wasn’t any news of some massive Zodius takeover, and Adam wasn’t coming after her. That was enough for her.

  A snowflake fluttered in front of her. Another touched her nose. She loved the snow. She loved this job where she counseled rather than researched. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten away from that aspect of the field. She liked her life. She liked the food, especially German pasta—she adored spaetzle. And she liked—the rest of her thought was lost as the wind gusted around her, blowing her a step backwards. The snow began to fall faster, mixed with ice that pelted against the pavement. She cast a furtive look around the nearly vacant parking lot a few feet away. There was no sign of trouble. No GTECH—Renegade or Zodius. No Adam. No… Michael. God, would she ever stop looking for him in the wind? Hoping he’d come to her and explain everything, hoping everything wasn’t as it seemed.

  Quickening her pace, Cassandra clicked the lock on the silver Audi that had replaced her Beetle—a little luxury for once, a luxury she’d decided she deserved. She was about to get into the car, when a black sedan with dark windows pulled up. The back window rolled down. “How’s my favorite daughter?”

  Her heart stopped beating for an instant. She wasn’t sure if she were more shocked just to see her father—who she had not seen since her move—or to see him out of uniform, in a designer-looking, black suit. “Father?” she said, questioning the obvious, reeling with disbelief. “What are you doing here?” The wind gusted again, snow and ice plastering her hair against her head and face, reminding her why leaving her hat in the car was a bad idea.

  “Get in, sweetheart,” he said. “You’re getting wet.” The door popped open.

  She stood there, staring at the door, her heart randomly charging and stalling. Tears prickled in her eyes, and she was thankful for the snow. She hadn’t cried since that first night in the hospital when she had faced Michael’s betrayal. And her father’s actions, both at Groom Lake and then in the aftermath, when she’d caught glimpses of a desperate man trying to save himself no matter what the expense. But she’d dealt with these things. Or so she thought. Yet now emotion filled her chest like a heavy block of steel, crushing her.

  With a slow, calming breath, she forced herself to slide into the double-seated back, directly across from him. He reached for the door and pulled it shut, leaning back as he brushed the snow away from his jacket.

  “What’s going on, Father?” Even as she asked the question, a stark, cold memory filled her—of asking that same question that day at Groom Lake.

  He arched a brow. “No ‘how are you?’ ‘Happy New Year?’ No hug for Dad?”

  “I’d prefer skipping the part where we pretend everything is okay,” she said. “We both know you didn’t come to Germany to wish me a happy New Year.”

  He offered her a file. She ignored it, didn’t want it.

  “Take it, Cassandra,” he said.

  Her lips thinned. “Whatever you’re up to now, Father, I want no part of it.”

  “Adam’s Zodius Army has been attacking our naval bases,” he said. “They claimed a New Mexico base and another in Texas. Men are dying. Good men. And you can help prevent that. Take the file, Cassandra.”

  She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want to know this. But… now she did, now she couldn’t pretend she didn’t know. She took the file, her gaze flickering over the label “Red Dart” and underneath that “PMI Research,” then back to him. “What is ‘Red Dart,’ and who is this PMI?”

  “PMI is my private company, and Red Dart is a tracking device we’ve developed that will allow us to tag the Zodius during attacks, like we do animals in the wild. It enters the bloodstream and becomes permanent. It then alerts us to their approach. This program will allow us to save lives and capture the enemy.”

  “I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”

  “I’ve got a meeting in Washington on Monday morning, and I’ve asked Caleb Rain to attend as the leader of the GTECH Renegades. I’d like you to be there as well.”

  She handed him back the file. “That’s not going to happen.”

  He leaned forward and took her hand. “My daughter, the angel of my eye,” he said, his voice rough with emotion, “I have made mistakes. I hurt you. I know this. But I swear to you that everything I did was meant to protect the country I love and the daughter I worship. I knew what Michael was—I knew he was using you.”

  Hatred laced his voice, and Cassandra couldn’t blame him for that. Michael had tried to kill him, though knowing her father, the embarrassment of Michael making him look a fool was probably more like it. Michael—a man who’d stolen her heart, had almost ripped it out. Pain knifed through Cassandra, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Every passing day, every day that he didn’t appear, reminded her that he was Zodius, no matter how much she didn’t want to believe it to be true.

  “I have to fix the tragedy that Project Zodius has become,” her father continued, squeezing her hand and willing her to look at him.

  Cassandra opened her eyes, stared into the desperate plea in her father’s face, so out-of-character, and felt her insides unraveling, felt him tugging her into his world again.

  “Adam’s Zodius Nation is nothing short of a cult,” he said. “Some of those GTECH soldiers following Zodius can be saved. If anyone can make that happen once we have them in custody, it’s you.” He squeezed her hand again. “Stand by my side, daughter. Show the world you believe in me, and I will not fail you or them.”

  ***

  “In the six months since Powell’s return to duty, I’ve been hearing these claims that he can control the GTECHs with Red Dart. And I’ve looked over the data Lucian collected from his White House informant with some excitement. However, there is absolutely nothing here that allows me to create the Red Dart program. Certainly nothing that even remotely indicates it works on GTECHs. In fact, just the opposite. The research shows Red Dart is destroyed by the GTECH immune system.”

  The announcement, made by Dr. Edward Reed, the frail, fifty-something scientist, displeased Adam. In fact, he was so fucking not pleased, he couldn’t decide if he wanted to reach across the desk and wring Reed’s scrawny little neck or turn around and grab Lucian Brody—the Zodius soldier who’d made this White House contact—and pull his balls through his throat. He grabbed Reed’s laptop from his desk and flung it against the two-way shatterproof glass panel. The computer hit the floor with a thud, plastic pieces bouncing off the tiled floor.

  Silence swelled in the room while the two other men, one GTECH and one human, stared at each other. Adam waited for one of them to say the wrong thing—that would let him know which one would die today. Because one of them needed to die.

  “Red Dart is the reason Powell was reinstate
d—with I might add, a promotion,” Lucian argued defensively, anger seething in his voice as he glared at Reed. “It’s why they created the role of security advisor to the secretary of state and acquired funding for a new Nevada air force base twice the size of Groom Lake’s Area 51. He is calling it Dreamland. The government is afraid of the GTECHs, all of us. They only pretend allegiance to the Renegades to gain their protection from us. Powell promised the joint chiefs of staff that his company, PMI, is no more than a few weeks from having Red Dart GTECH-ready. There are troops being transferred to Powell’s new Dreamland facility to prepare for a full-scale attack on both the Zodius and Renegade bases even as we speak. I’m working on getting more details about his attack plans now.”

  Reed pressed his dark glasses up his nose and straightened. His lower lip quivered with fear. “While this information sounds quite daunting, nothing in the data Lucian has given us supports such claims. This file holds nothing but a detailed documentation trail of failed attempts to use Red Dart against enemies of the United States government. They were able to bind the alien chemical component to the humans’ blood, which makes them sensitive to sound waves. When they activated the sound device for torture, it killed the humans. Painfully. It became a kill switch rather than a torture mechanism. Red Dart was ruled inhumane and terminated. The file was sealed fifty years ago.”

  Adam jerked around and leaned on Reed’s desk, shoving his face into the other man’s. “And what’s wrong with a little inhumane?” he asked. “Fucking. Love. It. And I fully intend to use it on both humans and GTECHs. Do you understand?” Reed nodded, turning ashen, and Adam continued, “Then you get me Red Dart ready for humans while we wait on the GTECH formula, and you do it now.” A little torture, a few high-profile dead bodies, and he’d own the White House—hell, he’d own every government in existence. Once he had the GTECHs fully controlled as well—there would be no stopping him.

  “Red Dart is administered by a laser,” Reed said, his voice shaking. “The laser is created by a crystal. I have to have that crystal or there is no Red Dart.”