Chapter 14 - I couldn't move.My mother had been dead for three years.
I had watched her coffin lowered into the ground.
I had attended the funeral.
I had seen the death certificate.
And now a woman with her face stood twenty feet away.
“No.”
She smiled.
“You always were stubborn.”
Emily whispered:
“She's not your mother.”
The woman looked at Emily.
“You survived.”
“Because Daniel helped me.”
“Daniel was weak.”
Emily lunged.
Frank stopped her.
“Don't.”
The woman smiled.
“My name is Margaret Carter.”
I stared at her.
“That's my mother's name.”
“Yes.”
“You're not her.”
“Not exactly.”
Then she removed a small device from her neck.
Her face changed slightly.
A prosthetic mask.
Not perfect.
But close enough from a distance.
She peeled it away.
A different woman stood underneath.
Older.
Cold eyes.
Scar across her jaw.
“Who are you?”
“Dr. Evelyn Voss.”
The architect behind Briarwood.
Behind Project Noah.
Behind the genetic experiments.
Behind my life.
“You killed my wife.”
She shook her head.
“She died because she resisted.”
“You murdered her.”
“She endangered the project.”
I moved toward her.
Frank restrained me.
Voss smiled.
“That anger is exactly what we predicted.”
“You don't know anything about me.”
“I know everything.”
She gestured toward the facility.
“Your first fever. Your first broken bone. Your first blood test. Your marriage. Your wife's pregnancy.”
Every word felt like a knife.
“Why?”
“Because you're the most successful subject.”
“I am not your subject.”
“You have spent your entire life proving us right.”
She pointed toward Noah's chamber.
“Your son inherited the sequence.”
I stared.
“What happens to him?”
“He completes it.”
“Meaning?”
“He won't merely survive thermal stress.”
She paused.
“He'll control it.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means his body can be trained to enter suspended metabolic states.”
I stared at her.
“For what?”
“Survival.”
“War?”
She smiled.
“Space.”
That word shocked me more than anything else.
“Space?”
“Extreme environments. Deep ocean. Long-duration transport. Human preservation.”
She looked at Noah.
“The military funded the beginning.”
“Who funds it now?”
She smiled.
“Your company.”
I laughed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
She handed me a tablet.
Financial transfers.
Shell companies.
My own corporation.
Millions moved through subsidiaries I had never reviewed personally.
My executives had been involved.
Someone on my board had been part of the project.
Frank swore.
“This is huge.”
Voss nodded.
“Your wealth was never merely wealth.”
I looked at the records.
Who had access?
CFO.
General counsel.
Head of research.
And one name stopped me.
My closest friend.
David Mercer.
I had known him for twenty years.
Voss said:
“He signed Phase Four.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My best friend.”
“Your best friend knew before you did.”
I felt betrayed in a way I couldn't describe.
Then Noah's chamber alarmed.
Temperature falling.
Voss watched.
“Now.”
“What are you doing?”
“We're triggering suspended metabolism.”
“No.”
I ran toward the chamber.
Voss didn't stop me.
She smiled.
“It's too late.”
Emily rushed beside me.
She saw the control panel.
“Ethan!”
“What?”
“There's a manual override.”
“Where?”
She pointed.
“Your blood.”
I looked at the scanner.
The system required a genetic key.
Mine.
I pressed my palm against it.
Nothing.
Then a second scanner activated.
Emily stared.
“Use mine.”
“What?”
“My DNA.”
She pressed her hand against it.
The system unlocked.
Voss's expression changed.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
“No.”
The chamber opened.
I grabbed Noah.
His eyes opened.
Blue.
Alert.
Alive.
Then every alarm in the facility started screaming.
Voss ran.
“Why is she afraid?” Frank shouted.
Emily stared at the monitors.
A line appeared:
DUAL SEQUENCE RECOGNIZED.
Then:
ORIGINAL SUBJECTS COMPATIBLE.
I looked at Emily.
“What does that mean?”
She stared at Noah.
“It means I'm not just a former patient.”
“Then what are you?”
Her face went white.
“I'm his biological mother.”
The room disappeared.
I couldn't hear anything.
Only Noah breathing.
May you like
Emily looked at me.
“I gave birth to him.”
