Chapter 12 - The Daughter I Never HeldWe tracked Richard's signal to an offshore research platform.
A military extraction team would take too long.
I needed speed.
I called an old unit contact.
“I need a helicopter.”
“That's not exactly something you order through a drive-through.”
“I know.”
“What's the mission?”
“Family rescue.”
There was silence.
Then:
“Send coordinates.”
We flew overnight.
Sophie came with me.
My father stayed behind to secure the facility.
Anna was hidden with Claire in a protected location.
When we reached the platform, it looked abandoned.
No lights.
No guards.
Too quiet.
That was the first warning.
We entered through the lower deck.
The doors locked behind us.
A voice came over the speakers.
“Welcome, Colonel Parker.”
I raised my weapon.
“Richard.”
“You finally came.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Which one?”
I clenched my jaw.
“Both.”
He laughed.
“Of course.”
The lights came on.
The platform was filled with glass chambers.
Inside them were children.
Dozens.
Every one carrying the Helix marker.
Sophie froze.
“These are the survivors.”
Richard stepped out.
He looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
“You're responsible for this.”
“So is your family.”
“My family didn't kidnap children.”
“Your grandfather did.”
“Then stop pretending you're better.”
Richard smiled.
“I never claimed to be.”
He pressed a button.
A glass room opened.
A little girl walked out.
Brown eyes.
Dark hair.
Exactly like mine.
She looked at me.
“Dad?”
My entire body stopped.
I couldn't move.
Sophie started crying.
I dropped my weapon.
The girl ran toward me.
I caught her.
She was real.
Warm.
Alive.
I held my first daughter for the first time.
“I thought you were dead.”
She whispered:
“Mom said you thought that.”
I looked at Sophie.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was trying to keep you alive.”
My daughter wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Are we going home?”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
Richard laughed.
“That's adorable.”
He pressed another button.
The doors sealed.
“You're not going anywhere.”
I stood.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I want the cure.”
“For yourself?”
“No.”
Richard looked at Sophie.
“For everyone.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Helix was never about destroying humanity.”
“Then what?”
“Your grandfather discovered a biological pathway that could cure most aggressive cancers.”
I froze.
“What?”
Richard nodded.
“He discovered it accidentally.”
“And the treatment?”
“Unstable.”
“Your answer was to test it on people?”
“We were close to a breakthrough.”
“You killed people.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Sophie.
“And she was the missing piece.”
Sophie stared at him.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“She doesn't know everything.”
My blood ran cold.
“What don't I know?”
Richard stepped closer.
“The cancer in Sophie isn't killing her.”
“Then what is?”
Richard looked at me.
“She's already cured.”
I stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“She was never sick.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
Richard continued.
“The cancer was a cover.”
“For what?”
“To hide the fact that Helix altered her.”
My daughter looked confused.
I looked at Sophie.
“What did they alter?”
She finally whispered:
“Me.”
Richard smiled.
“She is the first stable human prototype.”
Silence.
“She doesn't age normally.”
“She doesn't get ordinary diseases.”
“She can regenerate damaged tissue.”
My chest tightened.
“And the children?”
Richard nodded.
“They inherited it.”
I looked at my daughters.
Then I realized the truth.
The miscarriages.
The missing children.
The cancer.
None of it was the end.
It was the beginning.
Richard wasn't trying to kill Sophie.
He was trying to capture what she had become.
Then he said:
“There is only one problem.”
“What?”
“Your younger daughter is different.”
“How?”
Richard smiled.
May you like
“She isn't just carrying Helix.”
“She controls it.”
