Wind Demon Triology: Book II: Evil Wind (22 page)

There was something about the photograph of the scientist that unnerved Cree. A vague memory from his childhood stirred and left him feeling sick to his stomach, his palms oozing with sweat. His headache had intensified, the hearing in his right ear muted because of the pain. He felt cold—something totally alien to a man whose normal body temperature was extraordinarily high at all times.

The next page in the file was a short biography of Jarl: his early education, higher education, and his subsequent assignment to the Bioengineering Labs on Rysalia Prime where the main thrust of his work dealt with enhancing the physical and mental abilities of military subjects placed under his control.

Going back to the photograph page Cree knew he was looking at the man who had been responsible for his placement in the Bio lab when he was born. He stared into the long-dead eyes and felt anger wash over him in waves. The unconcerned stare from the piercing blue eyes seemed to bore right into Cree's soul. There was no compassion in that hawk like gaze, no sympathy or kindness; only a cold, calculating glint that brought a slight elevation to the right side of Jarl's thin lips so that the scientist seemed to be smirking at the vid-cam.

This was the man who had been responsible for untold pain and misery that Cree had undergone from the day he was born. Because of Jarl, he had been taken straight from his mother's dead body and placed in an incubator, kept away from all human contact. Only faceless, sexless, impersonal cybots had cared for him as an infant and those same emotionless, detached automatons had trained him as a toddler, punishing him severely, ruthlessly if he uttered one sob or even if he dared to smile. The A.I.U.s had been the only companionship he had known until he reached his fifth birthday and was turned over to the Ministry of Science. There he had undergone countless excruciating and debilitating tests that had turned his body into a mass of bruises, welts, and hives that had left him writhing in pain. One such test had nearly killed him, pitching his body into anaphylactic shock.

Cree passed a trembling hand over his damp face as he remembered the agony he had endured from the drugs the scientists had pumped into his young body. Unable to express any emotion that would help relieve his suffering, he had endured it while his soul slowly withered within him.

"Endure, boy!” one scientist had screamed at him. “Endure!"

And he had, Cree thought as he felt tears pricking his eyes. He had had no choice but to endure what they had done to him.

Moving away from the photograph of Jarl, Cree skimmed over the rest of the scientist's biography and credentials and found a photo of his laboratory staff. Scanning the faces, the Reaper recognized several of the torturers who had made his childhood a living nightmare. He advanced the file, hating the sight of those faces that had hurt him so deeply.

At the top of the next page was the word Resuello, followed by a date a few years earlier than the day on which Cree had been born. He started to bypass what appeared to be a long narrative but one word caught his immediate attention: parasite.

Something whispered to the Reaper not to go any further, to leave well enough alone. The revenant worm inside him shifted over his right kidney but the movement did not cause him the normal pain such an action usually brought. Burying his face in his sweaty hands, Cree squeezed his eyes shut and sat with his elbows on the computer desk. His breathing was ragged and his headache had become an agonizing throb pounding at his right temple. Steeling himself, he opened his eyes, lifted his head, put his hand on the mouse, and began scrolling down the page, reading every word. It was a page from Jarl's personal journal.

As a reward for all the hard work I had been putting in with the military subjects, I was given a ten-day pass to use as I saw fit. Needing a respite from my work as well as from the nagging of my wife and the intrusion of my offspring, I took Brídín, my faithful spaniel, and headed for Meiriceá in the Aneas Quadrant. Since botany is a hobby of mine, I had long wanted to investigate the flora and fauna of the rainforests of Resuello, deep in the verdant green mountains of Meiriceá.

The day was overcast—as are most of the days in that humid part of the planet. A light rain was falling but it was not enough to prevent me from venturing out to collect specimens that intrigued me. Brídín was romping ahead of me—chasing brilliantly hued butterflies and flushing vibrantly-colored birds from their nests. The canine was having as much fun among the lush greenness as was I. Unfortunately, that fun was to end tragically for Brídín.

I remember seeing the canine sniffing the plant. It was a fern-like growth, low to the ground, with several spiky stalks jutting up from the center of spiky, serrated-edged fronds. Upon each stalk was a large round seedpod with what resembled a small crown sitting atop the pale green pod. I distinctly recall thinking at the time the stalk and pod looked like a king's royal scepter. I made a mental note to investigate the pods later and continued on with what I was studying. As I gathered a unique orchid for my collection, Brídín began sneezing violently. I turned to see a cloud of what I realized must be spores drifting up from the plant the canine had been sniffing. Brídín was inhaling the spores and with every breath he took, the sneezing became more prolonged and violent. Calling him away from the plant, I saw he was bleeding from the eyes and nostrils. I picked him up and hurried back to the shuttle, hoping what he had inhaled was not deadly. Racing back to Rysalia Prime, I realized my hopes were to be cruelly dashed and in a way no mortal man could have envisioned.

Let me state here that at no time was there a danger to anyone other than me. What Brídín had inhaled in the rainforest had not entered my respiratory tract and when I arrived back on Rysalia Prime, I transported the canine and myself directly to my laboratory and commenced to lock down all entry to it. Placing Brídín in a secure environment, I stripped down and entered the decontamination chamber to be on the safe side. Nothing suspicious appeared on the scans of my body and clothing so I felt some relief though I was worried sick about my pet.

Brídín was roaming around his secure environment as though drugged and my heart was breaking as I watched him. He ran into the walls, fell down, and had difficulty scrambling to his feet again. His eyes and nostrils had ceased to bleed but he was hassling as though he was either in great pain or was overheated.

A scan of the canine's internal organs revealed a shocking discovery. The unknown spores had invaded his bloodstream and were multiplying at a rapid rate. It became obvious to me the spores were of a virulent variety and the inhalation of them by humanoids might have devastating consequences. In my wildest nightmares I could not have imagined just how disturbing those consequences would become.

Later that night, Brídín began to change before my very eyes. He started to convulse, falling to his side, howling in agony, his paws flailing in the air. His bones began to crack, to elongate, his flesh turning to a leathery consistency, and his canine shape evolving into that more of a lupine creature. What had once been a very tame, gentle animal became a ravaging beast with glowing red eyes, sharp claws, and even sharper fangs that tried savagely to get out through the bars of the secure environment. I had no doubt had Brídín been able to break free of his enclosure he would have attacked me without fail. I sat by his cage with my face in my hands, crying so hard I developed a brutal headache.

Feeling great remorse at what had become of my beloved pet, I knew the best thing to do was to put Brídín out of his misery. Taking up my laser rifle, I shot him, crying the entire time I attempted to put him down. But the canine did not die. Seven times I shot him at close range but I could not kill the beast. I did manage to knock him out with a high-powered narcotic dart and as he lay unconscious I made the most devastating decision of my life. I decided to spray him with a quick-acting combustible and set fire to it. I was in agony as I was forced to end my pet's life. I sat by his cage until his body was nothing but a charred husk.

But Brídín—at least a part of my beloved Brídín—was still not dead. From out of the smoldering carcass of the canine something crawled and lay there slithering on the floor.

Stunned, I jumped up and grabbed my laser rifle, intent on killing this strange creature that had been inside Brídín. I lifted the weapon to my shoulder but something stayed my hand. I lowered the rifle, took up a large beaker, entered the cage, and using the rifle barrel scooped the thing inside. A part of me wanted to know what this thing was that had caused my pet's agony and how it had changed him to a ravaging beast.

Note: I would later discover the highly toxic spores that had infected Brídín were from a strange fungus that grew upon those seedpods on Resuello and not from the pods themselves as I originally thought. I later went back to Resuello and harvested several of the plants that had started it all. I could not identify the fungus growing on the plants; it was unlike anything I'd ever come across. This fungus—like all fungi—reproduced by scattering thousands of spores. Upon each spore, there was a strange microscopic growth and it was this growth that had infected Brídín and that had grown to maturity inside him. I gave the plant a name: lycant and have since issued warnings that this plant is deadly and have advised Fleet Command to eradicate all traces of it.

Cree shuddered. There was no doubt in his mind that the parasites Jarl had discovered on Resuello were related to the ones residing in his body. He felt the Queen move and instinctively reached behind him to put his hand on his back, still expecting pain but the pain did not come. The creature coiled and uncoiled, shifted, but it did not hurt him in the process.

There were two more journal pages but the Reaper could not bring himself to read the entries. He removed the disklette from its drive and returned it to its foam-cushioned slot. He sat there staring at the disklette with his name on it—knowing that what he might discover on it would turn his world upside down. He was sitting there an hour later, his heart pounding in his chest, the disklette still in its slot, when Kym came quietly into the room. He said nothing as she laid her hands on his shoulders.

"How much have you read?” she asked and when he answered in a low voice, her hands slid over his shoulders to his chest and she pulled him back against her and held him in her arms.

"Tell me,” he whispered, unaware of her hands on him.

Kym took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"The journal goes on to explain the arrival of two scientists named Coden Sejm and Barriq Cean,” she told him. “Sejm was from Diabolusia but there is no mention of from where Cean had come. They were both genetic engineers. Sejm had been carrying on stem cell research in Diabolusia ... which is against the laws of that world ... and had fled before he could be sent to prison for what he was doing. It appears Cean had a hand in helping Sejm escape. They came to Rysalia Prime and were welcomed here with open arms."

"Figures,” Cree said.

"The powers in charge afforded them every luxury in exchange for them continuing their research on Rysalia Prime."

"Sejm,” Cree said, the word distasteful in his mouth. “Was Hael his woman?"

Kym laughed. “She would have liked to have been but he wanted no part of her or any other woman for that matter. From what I read between the lines, he and Cean were lovers. Hael took his last name wanting others to believe he had favored her."

"She worked with him?"

Kym nodded. “Indeed she did, but that was later on. She started out working with Cean"

"What transpired after they came to work here?"

"It was inevitable that Jarl, Sejm, and Cean would meet. Jarl told them about what he had discovered on Resuello and the three of them began experimenting with the parasite's DNA. Apparently Cean was not unfamiliar with the spores. The team worked with mice at first, genetically modifying the embryonic stem cells. The altered cells were implanted into a
blastocyst
—an embryo—which was in turn then implanted into the uterus of a mouse. I won't bore you with the protocols and such but let it suffice to say the men were able to create a mouse that was stronger, more intelligent, more cunning, and far more vicious than the other mice. It was also capable of transforming into something neither man could adequately describe."

"A type of killer mice,” he said softly.

"Aye,” Kym agreed. “They moved on to dogs then apes, genetically modifying the DNA of the animals, eliminating traits they felt did not enhance the creature and magnifying traits they found acceptable."

"Such as the strength and savageness."

"Precisely,” Kym replied.

Cree put a hand to his throbbing head and rubbed at the agony pulsing over his right eye. “When did he begin using humans in his experiments?” he asked.

Kym slid her hands to his shoulders and began massaging him, groaning at the tightness of his muscles. “About a year later,” she said. “When your mother and her sisters arrived on Rysalia Prime."

Cree flinched. He had a feeling he was not going to like what Kym would tell him.

"Sejm and Jarl were getting ready to take a trip back to Resuello to make sure all traces of the lycant plant had been destroyed. They did not want anyone else to do experiments with the spores. They were in the docking station when your mother and aunts were brought off Drae Cree's ship. They overheard her screaming her curse, telling Cree and the other men they would have jackals for children resulting from the rapes.” She shrugged. “No one believed her. It was simply a curse by an angered Chalean woman."

"Surprise, surprise,” Cree said through clenched teeth. “Curses of a Morrígú do have substance."

"Aye, but the curse your mother flung at her captors that day was her undoing,” Kym said.

"I don't understand."

"The men were not supposed to experiment with humans,” Kym said. “Because of the tragedy of the V-7 retrovirus that had done so much damage on Rysalia Prime, human experimentation had been outlawed."