Flanked by four Homothals and with Sergeant Wong in the lead, Commander Jim Nicolaou was led to one of the medical labs. He had been in this lab earlier, when he discovered Daniel. He recognized the tables with the wide, thick leather straps for restraining the subject. Prodded by the muzzles of two rifles, Jim was urged forward, toward the closest table.
“Lie down, Commander,” ordered Wong.
“And if I refuse?”
Wong cracked a wicked grin. “Then it will be my pleasure to shoot off your left knee cap.” To emphasize the point Wong removed his sidearm from its holster and pointed the gun in the direction of Jim’s legs.
Reluctantly, Jim stepped forward and slowly climbed onto the table. He lay on his back and allowed his legs and arms to be strapped down tightly. The Homothals and Chinese soldiers stepped back. Jim stared at the ceiling, waiting for the next move.
He didn’t have to wait long before Colonel Ming entered.
“It seems that I have underestimated the resourcefulness of your team, Commander. So it would appear I still have a need for you after all.”
“Admit it, Ming. You just missed my charming company.”
Ming ignored the childish taunting.
“My technicians are having some difficulty tracking your satellite communication. They tell me that your men routed the signal through at least a dozen intermediate stations. Is that true?”
Jim didn’t answer. In fact, he really didn’t know. The entire data download and transmission back to Gary’s server had been done not only without Jim’s permission, but also without his knowledge of the technical details.
“It matters not,” Ming said. “You will tell me what I want to know.”
“Didn’t we already play this game?” Jim challenged. He knew that Ming intended to torture him, and he wanted to stall as long as possible to give his team more time. He still clung to the hope that his team would come after him.
“No… we haven’t,” Ming replied. “You see, before I did not really need your cooperation. Now that I do, the game is about to begin.”
“What makes you think I’m going to answer your questions now?”
“Because I will make your existence very painful if you do not.”
Jim didn’t answer. He found a small stain on the ceiling where he began to focus all his attention.
“Commander. I will ask you a few questions… simple questions, really. They should not be hard to answer for a man of your accomplishments. Now, where did you send the satellite communication?”
Jim remained silent.
Colonel Ming leaned over Jim and stared malevolently. “I will ask once more. Where did you send the communication and what was the content of that communication?”
Jim stared back defiantly, turning his head to make sure he locked eyes with Ming. “Go to hell, Ming.”
“I see… we have lost our manners.” Ming walked away from the table and turned his back to Nicolaou.
“Do you know what this room was designed for, Commander?”
“To torture innocent civilians, no doubt.”
Ming chuckled. “You do have a simple mind, Commander, don’t you. Of course, you are right… in a way. What we do in this room is torture, but that is not the intention.” Ming walked in a small circle, pausing for effect.
“No, what this room was designed for is nothing less than miraculous. On these tables we create a new life form, the Homothal. This is our Garden of Eden!”
Needles of panic pricked the back of Jim’s neck. Ming was completely mad.
The colonel stepped closer to Jim. “Yes, on these tables we transform Homo sapiens into a hybrid creature that is more Neanderthal than human. This is the result of my brilliance!”
“You’re sick, Ming,” Jim muttered in disgust.
“The process is actually rather elegant. My scientists have learned how to incorporate the Neanderthal DNA into a very basic virus—the cold virus, actually. We tried many—we’re still developing the Ebola virus as a carrier—but in the end the cold virus worked very well. The trick, you see, was to find the right viral host that could insert foreign DNA into living human cells such that those cells replicated with the foreign DNA.”
Ming was smiling as he spoke, unashamedly proud of his work.
“You’re nothing more than a monster.”
“I see! And thus your earlier reference to ‘Dr. Frankenstein.’” Ming said this with a dramatic flair that surprised Jim.
“And Josef Mengele, let’s not forget.” Jim added. “Although it would appear that you have outdone his work, if that’s even possible.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you. Mengele was brilliant, but crude. Of course, with today’s tools who knows where his work would have led.”
“Mengele was sick, like you. He conducted surgery on children without anesthesia. He maimed and tortured thousands and murdered many more. And for what? What was the benefit?”
As Jim finished, Ming’s expression turned cold. “I never said that I am working for the betterment of mankind.”
“No, I suppose not, you evil bastard.”
Colonel Ming turned away and took the rifle from the nearest guard. The room was silent. Jim watched and waited. Ming slowly turned back toward Jim. Then suddenly and with lightning speed, Ming swung the gun down across Jim’s stomach.
The rifle struck hard. Strapped to the table, Jim was defenseless. He reflexively cried out and grimaced in pain.
“You will speak to me with respect, Commander.” Ming returned the rifle to the guard.
“Now, you will tell me what I want to know.”
Jim struggled to catch his breath enough to speak. His abdominal muscles were trying to double him over, fighting against the straps and causing even more pain.
Jim shook his head from side to side, and through gritted teeth he answered, “Never.”
Ming considered Jim for a moment. He really needed to know the transmission’s destination. He desperately wanted to know who was coming after him. It could be the Americans, the Chinese, the Israelis, the Koreans, or the Japanese—or any other one of Ming’s countless enemies.
“Commander, can you imagine what happens to a man undergoing my gene treatment?”
“No, I don’t normally associate with vermin of your caliber.”
Ming ignored the insult. “It really is amazing. The cellular transformations that occur are painful, excruciatingly painful. In fact, that proved to be one of the biggest hurdles when we were developing the technique.
“Getting the DNA to fuse with human cellular material was child’s play. Getting the patient to survive the transformation… now that was a very difficult problem to solve. The stresses on the human organs, especially the brain and heart, proved too much for 73 percent of the patients. Women and children were especially frail and nearly all died from the cellular disruption.”
Jim jerked at his restraints. He desperately wanted to get his hands around Ming’s neck, to squeeze the life from him.
“In the end, we had to use a combination of sedatives, steroids, and PCP. Even with this cocktail, we learned to subject only the strongest patients to the treatment.”
“So that’s why the young men have been taken from villages throughout Darfur. You needed healthy and strong subjects for your experiments.”
“Precisely. And as I told you earlier, we needed subjects that would not be missed.”
“But they are missed. They left families behind who are telling the world about their abducted husbands and fathers and—”
“Yes, yes,” interrupted Ming. “My orders were to destroy the villages and everyone else in them, but a few escaped. Anyway the world doesn’t care. We have already discussed this matter.”
“I care.”
“Your concern is insignificant. You will, however, make an intriguing test subject.”
Jim’s eyes widened just a bit.
“Don’t be too afraid, Commander. I am sure you will be able to endure the pain a very long time. Of course, you could answer my questions and then we can be done with the drama. Sergeant Wong would be more than happy to put an end to your life.”
“If nobody cares about what you’re doing, why does it matter where the message was sent?” Jim pressed.
Ming remained silent.
“You don’t know who your enemies are, do you?” Jim guessed. “You really aren’t sure who I work for. What if it is the Chinese?” Jim played into Ming’s paranoia.
“I have no use for any government. Soon, they will all bow in fear before me!”
“Hell is filled with tyrants who thought just like you. You will fare no better.”
“Time is up, Commander. If you choose not to answer me now, maybe you will talk once the genetic transformation begins to turn you into one of my loyal soldiers. You will still be able to speak during the initial stages of the infection. Though sadly, as the pain intensifies and the cellular reorganization reaches completion, all speech will be lost along with your humanity. There is no turning back.”
Jim stared defiantly at the Colonel Ming.
“Very well.” Ming turned to Dr. Hsu who had been silently waiting for orders. “You may begin.”