Chapter 13 - Three hours later, Natalie was on a transport aircraft.Lily's photograph was clutched in her hand.
Across from her sat Briggs, Ward, Holloway, and Evelyn.
No one spoke.
The plane rattled through turbulence.
Natalie looked at Evelyn.
“You knew where the facility was.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have gone there before you were ready.”
“I lost seven years.”
Evelyn lowered her head.
“I know.”
Natalie stared at her.
“You don't know.”
Evelyn looked up.
“You were seven when they put you through the first procedure.”
Natalie froze.
Evelyn continued.
“You cried for your mother.”
“I was with you.”
“Yes.”
“You were the doctor.”
“Yes.”
“You restrained me.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Natalie looked away.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
The aircraft descended.
The Afghan mountains appeared through the window.
Natalie's heart began pounding.
She knew this place.
Not consciously.
Deep inside.
Her body remembered.
The transport landed at an abandoned airfield.
They moved toward the mountains.
A cave entrance appeared behind a ruined building.
Briggs inserted the black key.
The door opened.
Inside was a laboratory.
Old.
Dusty.
But still active.
Screens came alive.
Files appeared.
Natalie's name.
Echo Seven.
Then Lily's.
Echo Prime.
Natalie stared.
“What is Echo Prime?”
Evelyn answered:
“The final stage.”
Natalie's jaw tightened.
“What final stage?”
“A subject who doesn't need conditioning.”
Holloway looked at the files.
“There's more.”
He pointed.
Natalie stepped closer.
There were hundreds of names.
Children.
All listed as candidates.
Natalie's stomach turned.
“Kane is building an army.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
“He's building replacements.”
“For what?”
“For governments.”
Silence.
The door behind them slammed shut.
Lights activated.
Kane appeared on a screen.
“Welcome back, Natalie.”
She stepped toward it.
“Where is Lily?”
He smiled.
“Safe.”
“Bring her out.”
“You first.”
Natalie clenched her fists.
“What do you want?”
“Your cooperation.”
“Never.”
“Then I'll show you something.”
A screen changed.
Lily appeared.
She was sitting in a white room.
A doctor approached her with a syringe.
Natalie nearly lost control.
“Touch her and I'll kill you.”
Kane smiled.
“That is precisely what I want to measure.”
Natalie looked at Evelyn.
“What does he mean?”
Evelyn's face went pale.
“He wants to activate her.”
Natalie turned toward the screen.
“Lily!”
Her daughter looked up.
“Mommy?”
Natalie nearly broke.
Kane leaned toward the camera.
“Tell her you love her.”
Natalie whispered:
“I love you.”
Lily smiled.
Then the doctor injected her.
Natalie screamed.
Kane laughed.
But Lily didn't cry.
She sat perfectly still.
Her eyes changed.
A screen displayed her vital signs.
Every number spiked.
Then stabilized.
Kane whispered:
“Perfect.”
Natalie stared in horror.
“Stop.”
Kane's smile disappeared.
“Now you understand.”
“What?”
“Why we needed you.”
Natalie shook her head.
“What?”
Kane answered:
“Your daughter isn't an Echo soldier.”
He paused.
“She is what comes after.”
The laboratory doors opened.
Dozens of armed men entered.
Kane's voice echoed:
“And now we're going to see whether the mother or daughter is stronger.”
The lights went out.
May you like
Natalie heard Lily screaming.
Then silence.
