Part 12 (1/2)
”I'm no scientist,” Jason said. ”I don't even know what I did to save Threnody. And you still haven't told us what this mission is.”
”You're a psion and a hacker. That is all I require of you.” Lucas glanced over at Threnody. ”We won't be able to extract the neurotrackers like we do in the Serca Syndicate following a retrieval. What we're doing is simply turning off the kill switch. The signal will remain active. Strykers will continue to show up on the government's security grid, but they won't die. An extraction takes time, something we don't have right now, so we had to get creative.”
”Meaning what, exactly?” Threnody said.
”You built a virus,” Jason guessed, looking to Lucas for confirmation. ”You're going to infect the neurotrackers on a wide scale.”
Lucas nodded. ”They're bioware with a system that can be hacked, housed in the best biological ent.i.ty this planet has ever made. The nanites Korman programmed will infect only the neurotrackers with the virus and nothing else. Every other biomodification will be spared.”
”Are you sure? Nanites are tricky to program and the neurotrackers have some serious defensive programs built into them.”
”My family created this technology. It's why we could unlock the neurotrackers without the government's a.s.sistance when we retrieved Strykers.” Lucas shrugged. ”The government has the code to fully deactivate the neurotrackers, which is different from the code that activates the kill switch for termination. My family knows both. We supply those codes every two years.”
”If an encrypted pa.s.sword is the only thing keeping those things in Stryker brains, why hasn't anyone tried to hack them before this?” Novak asked derisively.
Lucas gave him a cool smile. ”The encrypted pa.s.sword for deactivation is two hundred digits long.”
Jason whistled. ”That would be a problem.”
”Not for too much longer. The government might want the Strykers dead, but I don't.”
”How are you going to administer this virus?” Quinton said. ”The Strykers know we defected and they've got standing kill orders for each of us.”
”There are ways around that.” None of the Strykers looked as if they believed him, but Lucas didn't care. Pointing at Fahad, he said, ”Get your people and your gear. Novak will fly you out of here. You will follow Samantha's orders to the letter.”
”About f.u.c.king time,” Fahad said, shaking his head. ”One more week in this place and I'd have gone mad. Been here three months too long.”
”You get used to it,” Zahara said.
”To the dark, yeah. But to the cold? Never.”
Fahad and his two a.s.sistants left the room, followed by Novak and Everett. Samantha leveled her brother a cool look as she let Kristen go. The empath trailed after the humans, tapping at her recently set and swollen nose with one finger.
And when we're finished? Samantha said between them alone.
I'll find you, Lucas said.
It was a threat as much as it was a promise. Samantha left without a backward glance. Matron spat on the ground in her wake.
”Your sisters ain't got your back, Lucas,” Matron said.
”I have them, which is all I'm concerned about,” Lucas replied. ”Korman, I want you to consolidate your work on the virus-carrying nanites, then prep your operating room. Jason needs to familiarize himself with the virus, and Quinton is going to need replacements for his biotubes. Matron, go help him.”
Korman and Matron left the room. Kerr looked around at everyone who remained and said, ”Got something to say you didn't want anyone else to hear?”
No one missed how Lucas glanced at Threnody. Quinton sighed. ”Thren, you keeping secrets again?”
”Wasn't a secret Lucas shared until last night,” Threnody said.
”Is that where he got the swollen lip?” Jason asked.
”As amusing as this conversation is, we've got business to discuss,” Lucas said. ”Tomorrow, Jason is going to teleport Threnody and Kerr to the Strykers Syndicate and retrieve my daughter.”
Jason gaped at him. ”I'm going to-what?”
”You have a daughter?” Quinton said.
”She's not born yet,” Threnody said calmly, the only one other than Lucas who wasn't shocked by the announcement. ”Lucas, I thought we'd get more time?”
”We can't afford to stay our hand. I want my daughter, Threnody. I trust you to get her for me.”
”Who's the mother?” Kerr asked.
”Ciari.” All three men glared at Lucas, who only shook his head. ”It didn't happen like that. I didn't rape her.”
”You wouldn't need to. You'd just have to mindwipe her.”
”Shockingly enough, we discussed this issue as adults.”
Kerr grimaced. ”Ciari got brought before the World Court. How do you even know the fetus is alive?”
Lucas touched a finger to his jaw. ”As Threnody so thoroughly pointed out last night, Ciari wouldn't risk her own child. Given the chance to save her, Ciari would take it. I have to believe that.”
Maybe it was the quiet way he said the words. Maybe it was the faint hint of uncertainty in Lucas's voice when he had only ever been arrogantly a.s.sured. Either way, the Strykers didn't argue. Plans weren't set in stone and even Lucas wasn't immune to chance, despite Aisling's orders.
”We won't kill fellow Strykers,” Threnody said.
”You handle this mission as you like, so long as you don't return empty-handed.”
”I'm going with them,” Quinton said.
Lucas shook his head. ”You're getting biotubes put in tonight and you'll need a bit of recovery afterward. Jason can only help so much with that.”
”Then put me in a biotank. I'm not staying behind.”
Threnody stepped closer to her partner, putting a hand on his shoulder. ”Quinton, no. Don't argue. I'm planning this mission, so you don't have to worry about me, okay? Things will work out.”
If it were Lucas pressing the issue, Quinton would have argued. With Threnody giving the order, he kept his mouth shut. Shaking his head angrily, Quinton left the lab. Threnody gave the microtelekinetic a pointed look and Jason reluctantly followed Quinton.
Then it was just the three of them. Lucas picked up his datapad. ”I need to show you something.”
Threnody and Kerr approached with slow steps. Lucas tapped at the datapad for a few seconds before handing it to Threnody. Kerr looked over her shoulder, both of them staring down at the screen with its listing of encrypted files and several hundred names. The one highlighted was her own. The one above hers was Lucas's. More names were listed after hers. Carefully, she tapped the icon beside her name, and a command window popped up, asking for a pa.s.sword.