by Farley Dunn
Jimenez nodded and acknowledged them. “Colonel Brace. Director Rodheimer. Mr. Hefferly.”
Garik recognized the big man, Rodheimer, with his wide shoulders that were incongruous in the man’s expertly tailored suit. He had been in the Tower when Ms. Sunchaser was introducing them to Gunther. The other man, with his dark, slender face and closely trimmed beard, he had seen him on the screens in the food court, advertising the mall event with the purple mist, the one Arik had caused him to miss.
The colonel was new to him.
“So, this is our young man.” Rodheimer stepped to Garik, even more massive when seen from Garik’s vantage point on the bed. “What enhancements do we hope to achieve with this one?”
Enhancements? Garik’s temples throbbed with fear and anger. He was certain they could see. Like, prosthetics or tattoos? And then he remembered the doctor’s words. DNA. No!
Still, his legs weren’t free, and he had no idea where he was. Arrgh!
The slender man—Jantzen Hefferly—answered for the doctor. “Cunning. Strength. Quickness. We expect a high level of intelligence from this subject, one of the best.” Hefferly lifted Garik’s wrist. The pad covering the needle fell away, and blood seeped from the site. Hefferly returned the arm to the gurney. He looked in Garik’s eyes, not unkindly. “Your body will be greatly improved.”
“Intractability?” Colonel Brace looked up and down Garik in a cold and calculating manner. “We’ve yet to achieve those qualities in a compliant subject. What is the subject to be partnered with?”
“We considered several combinations, first comparing various breeds of dogs for compliance, but the cunning and quickness weren’t there. When we looked further, the wolf rose to the top. Which breed did we settle on, Dr. Jamie?”
“Timber wolf. Caring with their own, extremely competent at survival skills, and the biggest and strongest of the breed.”
Garik pictured the creatures from the basement cages. Surely they weren’t making people into those. He spat his words, anger boiling out of him, “You can’t do this to me. People will know. I’ve got friends. My aunt will come looking for me.”
“Maybe had friends, Mr. Shayk.” Rodheimer smirked. “Remember, you broke into a secured building. And your aunt? When you were caught breaking and entering, you were deported right back to Russia where you could no longer cause our good country additional problems. No one will come looking for you.”
“My—” Garik almost said girlfriend, but what if they didn’t know she had been with him? Or had they captured her, too? Was she also going to have wolf injected into her to become something strange and probably unrecognizable?
“Your what, Mr. Shayk?”
“I have a girlfriend. Does she know where I am?” Garik looked for a way to fight back, but how? Please say she is safe. Please.
“Ah, Marisa with the missing sister. How did that play out, Jantzen?”
Jantzen Hefferly cleared his throat, looking a bit uncomfortable. “We, um, had her sister, Marina, contact her with an explanation, telling Marisa that she was now living overseas. Marisa will no longer have any reason to suspect her sister is one of ours. Of course, we explained to her the reasons you were deported and that if she should decide to reveal that she had entered our secure facilities illegally, her family’s flower shop might face difficulties relocating when the adjacent intersection is widened.”
“That’s unfair!” Garik jerked, trying to sit up, and he slipped sideways, coming partially off the gurney. The doctor on one side and Jantzen Hefferly on the other steadied him, forcing him back to the table. Garik jerked one arm free and grabbed Hefferly’s wrist, twisting the man’s arm. Hefferly jerked back in pain, leaving Garik grasping nothing but air.
“Ah, Mr. Shayk. We thought we had learned this lesson. We shall have to return to the straps.” Jimenez motioned to his nurse to help him.
It was as they were strapping his arms and chest down that Garik understood what had happened, and even then, it was too bizarre to be true. Jantzen Hefferly hadn’t twisted out of his grasp. His arm had become smoke for a moment, purple smoke, becoming solid once again as soon as it was free of Garik’s hand.
How was that possible?
“Perhaps a little sleepy juice to make this easier, heh?” Jimenez smiled agreeably. “We all want this to be as pleasant an experience as possible.”
“No, please,” Garik begged. He was desperate for this not to happen, and he pulled against the straps. He watched Nurse Leah press a needle into the end of the IV tube, and the tube filled with liquid. She turned the valve, and he felt his muscles begin to relax.
Rodheimer and Hefferly had already exited, but Colonel Brace stood to the side and watched with a proprietary air, as though this was his money, his project, and his results. He wanted to see that it was done at the highest level of expediency.
Jimenez patted Garik’s shoulder. “Better already, isn’t it?”
As he closed his eyes, Garik thought of his Street Strider and Arik sitting on it with a glowing fag hanging from his lips. Except for the medicine, he would be angry all over again. Instead, the best he could do was smile at the thought of his aunt’s boyfriend on the side of the road, broken down and not knowing the first thing about how to repair the bike.
“Serves you right, Arik.”
He thought he spoke the words, but maybe he just dreamed them. In moments, he slipped into himself and no longer thought of anything at all.
Arriving April 2021
In Book Two, Garik Shayk is drawn deeper into The Human-Hybrid Project.
Inside the Darkness
Book Two
The Human-Hybrid Project
Garik Shayk has been inducted—unwillingly—into the Human Hybrid Project in the bowels of the secretive Corona Tower. He befriends Jantzen Hefferly, also a recipient of the life-altering process. They discover the truth behind the Tower’s lies. They become convinced that the only way forward is to bring the Project and its leader, Weston Rodheimer, down.
Coming April 2021
The Human-Hybrid Project
Addictive!
A 10-book series you won’t be able to forget. Explore each upcoming book, the characters, and more at www.thehumanhybridproject.com.
Available
April 2021
July 2021
October 2021
January 2022
April 2022
July 2022
October 2022
January 2023
April 2023
