already dead when we got there. They were killed before all this started.'
'He also lied about his losses,' Brainiac said. 'Sneaky bastard.'
'So what do we do?' Gant asked Schofield. 'They have us outnumbered, outflanked and outgunned. Plus, this is their turf.'
Schofield was wondering exactly the same thing.
The 7th Squadron had them completely on the run. They had all the leverage, and more importantly, he thought, looking down at his formal full dress uniform, they had come prepared to fight.
'Okay,' he said, thinking aloud. 'Know your enemy.'
'What?'
'First principles. We have to even things up, but to do that, we need knowledge. Rule Number One: know your enemy. Okay. So who are they?'
Janson shrugged. 'The 7th Squadron. The Air Force's crack ground unit. The best in the country. Well trained, well armed…'
'And on steroids,' Gant added.
'More than just steroids,' another voice said.
Everyone turned.
It was the scientist, Herbert Franklin.
'Who are you?' Schofield said.
The little man shuffled nervously. 'My name is Herbie Franklin. Until this morning, I was an immunologist on Project Fortune. But they locked me up just before you all arrived.'
Schofield said, 'What did you mean, 'more than just steroids'?'
'Well, what I meant was that the 7th Squadron men at this base have been… augmented… for want of a better word.'
'Augmented?'
'Enhanced. Improved for better performance. Ever wondered why the 7th Squadron does so well at interservice battle competitions? Ever wondered why they can keep fighting while everyone else is falling over with exhaustion?'
'Yes…'
Franklin spoke quickly: 'Anabolic steroids to enhance muscle and fitness levels. Artificial erythropoietin injections for increased blood oxygenation.'
'Artificial erythropoietin?' Gant repeated.
'EPO for short,' Herbie said. 'It's a hormone that stimulates production of red blood cells by the bone marrow, thus increasing the supply of oxygen in the bloodstream. Endurance athletes, mainly cyclists, have been using it for years.
'The 7th Squadron are stronger than you, and they can run all day long,' Herbie said. 'Hell, Captain, these men were tough when they got here, but since their arrival they have been augmented by the latest pharmacological technology to fight harder, better and longer than anybody else.'
'Okay, okay,' Schofield said, 'I think we get the picture.'
He was thinking, however, of a small boy named Kevin, living fifty feet away, inside a glass cube. 'So is that what you do here? Is that what this base is all about? Enhancing elite soldiers?'
'No…' Herbie said, casting a wary glance over at the President. 'The augmentation of the 7th Squadron troopers is only performed as an ancillary task, since they guard the base.'
'So what the hell is this place?'
Again Herbie looked at the President. Then he took a deep breath before answering…
It was another voice, however, that spoke.
'This base houses the most important vaccine ever developed in the history of America,' it said.
Schofield spun.
It was the President.
Schofield appraised him. The President was still wearing his charcoal colored suit and tie.
With his neatly combed light-gray hair and familiar wrinkled face, he looked like a middle aged country businessman — albeit a businessman who had been sweating hard for the last hour.
'A vaccine?' Schofield said.
'Yes. A vaccine against the latest Chinese genetic virus. A virus that targets Caucasian people by way of their pigmentation DNA. An agent known as the Sinovirus.'
'And the source of this vaccine…?' Schofield said.
'…is a genetically constructed human being,' the President said.
'A what?'
'A person, Captain Schofield, who since the embryonic stage of his existence has been purpose-built to withstand the Sinovirus, whose very blood can be harvested to produce antibodies for the rest of the American population. A human vaccine. The world's first genetically tailored human being, Captain, a boy named Kevin.'
Schofield's eyes narrowed.
It explained a lot — the tight security surrounding the complex, the presidential visit, and a boy living inside a glass cube. He was also struck by one other aspect of what the President had just said: the president knew his name.
'You created a boy to use as a vaccine?' Schofield said. 'With respect, sir, but doesn't that bother you?'
The President grimaced. 'My job is not made up of black and whites, Captain. Just gray, infinite gray. And in that world of gray, I have to make decisions — often difficult ones. Sure, Kevin existed long before I became President, but once I knew about him, I had to make the call to continue the project. I made that call. I may not like it, but in the face of an agent like the Sinovirus, tough decisions are necessary.'
There was a short silence.
Book spoke. 'What about the prisoners downstairs?'
'And the animals. What are they used for?' Juliet said.
Schofield frowned. He hadn't seen Level 5, so he didn't know about any animals or prisoners.
Herbie Franklin answered. 'The animals are used for both projects, the vaccine and the 7th Squadron augmentation. The Kodiak bears are utilized for their blood toxins. All bears have extremely high blood-oxygen levels for use when they hibernate. The blood enhancement research for the 7th Squadron came from them.'
'So what about the other cages, the water-filled ones?' Janson asked. 'What's in them?'
Herbie paused. 'A rare breed of monitor lizard known as the Komodo dragon. The largest lizard in the world, about thirteen feet long, as big as a regular crocodile. We have six of them.'
'And what are they used for?' Schofield asked.
'Komodos are the most ancient reptilian species on earth, found only on the scattered middle islands in Indonesia. They're great swimmers — been known to swim between islands — but they're equally fast on land, easily capable of running down a man, which they do regularly. Their internal antibiotic system, however, is extraordinarily robust. They are all but impervious to illness. Their lymph nodes produce a highly concentrated antibacterial serum that has protected them against disease for thousands of years.'
The President said, 'The Komodo dragons' blood byproducts have been reconfigured to match the structure of human blood, and as such form the basis of Kevin's immune system. We then harvest Kevin's genetically constructed blood plasma to produce a serum that can be inserted into America's water supply — a serum-hydrate solution — thereby immunizing the general population against the Sinovirus.'
'You spike the water supply?' Schofield said.
'Oh, it's been done before,' Herbie said. 'In 1989, against botulinum toxin, and in 1990 — because of Iraq — against anthrax. Although Americans don't know it, they're resistant to all the world's major biological weapons.'
'What about the human prisoners?' Book II asked. 'What are they here for?'
Herbie looked to the President, who nodded silently. The little scientist shrugged. 'The human prisoners are another story altogether. They're not here to provide any sort of blood byproduct or serum. Their role is simple. They're guinea pigs for the testing of the vaccine.'
'Jesus Christ,' Gant breathed when she saw the list of prisoner names.
After Herbie had told them the purpose of the prisoners downstairs, he had brought up a list of their names
