Page 99 of Silent Comrade
“Oh, I thought about it several times.Couldn’t say anything. That detail was need-to-know.” He paced afew steps in her tiny bedroom. God, he took up all the space.“After Brady’s accident, the team volunteered for an experimentaltreatment that could make us stronger, faster, and, well, harder tokill. Every guy in the squad volunteered, because…”
“Of what happened to Brady.” Realizationdawned on her.
A curt nod. “We saw firsthand how having atactical advantage could make our operations more successful. Lessof our buddies would go home injured, or in a body bag.”
“Makes sense. So far.” Her mind still reeledwith the knowledge that he was Brady’s teammate.
“The treatment wasn’t, uh, FDA approved. Ithad been rushed through testing, but because of the challenges themilitary was having in combat theaters, a few higher-ups involvedin the drug’s development were willing to take the risk and do alive trial of the virus. Since our squad volunteered, the Armyresearchers called it the Morpheus Virus.”
“They tested it on you guys.” That sensationof the ground falling out from under her grew stronger.
He poked a thumb into his chest. “Guinea pignumber one right here. We all rolled up our sleeves like goodsoldiers and took the virus. Within minutes, we were stronger,faster. Then our mission success rate went through the roof. Weperformed exactly as the brass had hoped.”
“But?”
“You know the saying, ‘if something soundstoo good to be true’?”
“Literally living that phrase, right here,right now.”
He rolled his lips together. “Two thingshappened. One, most of us developed an extra goody. Like, I havesuper-sensitive hearing, Rodeo has amazing vision and aim. Stufflike that.”
“That sounds helpful. What was the secondthing?” Something told her she didn’t want the answer to thatquestion.
“There was a price. We were powerful anddeadly and we all came back from every mission, even if we had beenshot. The virus healed us quickly.”
“Also a good thing.”
A nod was followed by a flash of paincreasing his features. “The cost for becoming a super soldier wasour minds.”
“I don’t follow.”
“The stronger the virus got in our systemand the better we performed, the more the virus pushed us beyondthe spectrum of normal human behavior. We became unpredictable,dangerous, erratic.” He ended on a whisper. “Animals acting solelyon instinct.”
She had watched him decimate the men in thedepartment store. That raw, unchecked anger had scared the hell outof her. There had been a reason for that behavior. Red was a livinglethal weapon who rode the knife’s edge of insanity. Great. Sheshoved her shaking hands under her legs. “But you have a cure?” Shelifted her chin toward the case in the backpack.
“A temporary antidote that controls theslide into insanity. Slows it down. There’s a difference.”
“Will it ever … stop working?”
“No one knows. I’m the fastest cycler,meaning I must take the antidote every few days to keep it incheck. Other guys are different. Some can go up to almost a monthbetween doses. It also depends on stimulus.”
“I don’t follow.”
“If we’re stressed or in a heightenedemotional state or pushed to use our virally enhanced skills, thenthe virus burns through the antidote quickly and pushes us to acritical level.”
“Critical, meaning insanity.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been … stressed … recently. In aheightened emotional state.”
He pinned her in place with a mere look.“That’s an understatement.”
“So, just take more antidote.”
“Not that simple.” He pushed off the wall topace. Or stalk. “When I take the antidote, my performance edgedisappears. The super hearing I depend on fades back to normal. Mystrength drops to near human levels. In short, I can’t be aseffective in protecting you.”
“But you don’t lose your mind.”
