“Oh, really? Have you sequenced your genes lately?”
“I didn’t ask for this!”
“We’ve used genetic engineering to create cures that would have naturally killed people. So why not use genes to make people smarter and stronger?”
“That’s completely different,” Alyssa countered.
“Is it? How so?”
“Well, for one, people who work on genetic engineering to cure diseases don’t kill anybody.”
“Sometimes things aren’t as simple as they seem,” Tasha said. “I’m not certain Will intended for it to go as far as it did. He—”
“I can’t believe you’re defending him!” Alyssa burst out. She threw up her hands and trotted off. After a few steps she stopped and turned. “Look, I…” she trailed off.
“I had known Will since he was a boy,” Tasha said. “George Renley and William’s father were close friends. Will was different when I first met him… an idealist… a dreamer, always protecting me.” A distant memory seemed to cross her eyes. “I was hopelessly in love with him—for a twelve-year-old,” she chuckled. “He was my prince, and I was going to marry him one day.”
“What happened?” Alyssa asked, drawing closer.
“His father sent him away to college. I was devastated, of course, but Will insisted on obeying his father’s wishes. I hated him for leaving me. We didn’t speak again until after his father’s death. When we met at his father’s funeral, he was a different person.” She gave a heavy sigh. “We both were.”
“I didn’t know…” Alyssa reached out and put her hand on Tasha’s arm. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Tasha flinched when Alyssa touched her, and she pulled her arm away. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her parka and inhaled sharply. “I don’t need your sympathy. I’m here because George asked me to help you.” She adjusted her backpack. “We should keep moving,” she said and set off.
Alyssa stood for several moments then followed in her footsteps. They treaded in brooding silence for several minutes when Tasha stopped abruptly. As Alyssa reached her, she spotted the reason for Tasha’s sudden halt. A twelve-foot-wide fissure separated their side of the cliff from the path forward. Alyssa exhaled, glad to focus on something else.
This I can handle.
Alyssa glanced at the GPS unit as Tasha crept up to the edge and peered down.
“Can’t see the bottom,” she said. “Clay must have missed this one when he mapped our route.”
“Or it could be new,” Alyssa offered, remembering the devastating earthquake that left the country reeling a couple of years ago. “This area is a hotbed of geological activity, sitting right on top of where the Indian Plate is diving underneath the Eurasian Plate.” She swept her gaze from left to right. The rift went on as far as she could see. “Looks like we’ll have to map out an alternate route.”
Tasha studied the far side of the fissure then cleared off the loose pebbles from the edge. She stomped on it a couple of times.
“Seems pretty solid here and looks the same on the other side,” she said. “I go first. Then you throw me our backpacks and follow me.”
Alyssa stepped up to the edge and looked down. She glanced at Tasha with newfound respect.
Tasha met her gaze straight on. “What?”
“Nothing,” Alyssa replied. “It’s just that usually I’m the one with the wacky ideas. You sure about this?”
“Believe me, I’d prefer a zipline, too. You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”
Alyssa bit back a retort as Tasha backed up a few steps. She slipped off her backpack and crouched, bending one leg and keeping the other one straight, then shifted her weight to the other leg, stretching her hamstrings. She rose and took a deep breath through her nose and out her mouth.
“Here we go.” She took a couple slow steps before accelerating and sprinting for the crevasse. She pushed off the edge and launched into the air. A second later she landed on the other side. She turned around with a grin.
“See? Nothing to it. Your turn.”
Alyssa tossed their packs to Tasha then backed up, willing herself not to think about the bottomless pit she was about to cross. Her heart thudded in her chest, and a sudden rush of adrenaline surged through her body. It’s just a twelve-foot jump, nothing to it.
She raced to the edge at full speed and pushed off. She sailed eight feet past Tasha, landing softly. She turned. Tasha’s mouth fell open, her gaze bouncing between the crevasse and Alyssa.
“I think you just broke the Olympic long jump record,” Tasha said.
Alyssa stared back at her, a fluttery feeling in her stomach. “I guess fear does give you wings, after all.”
“The ceremony will have to wait.” Tasha cracked a grin and threw Alyssa’s backpack at her. “Let’s move.”
They continued trekking through the forest for another hour. Soon the thin air made every breath a struggle. A rustle behind Alyssa made her stop in her tracks. She turned, her body tense.
“Wait,” she said.
“What is it?” Tasha asked.
“I thought I heard something.”
Tasha squinted, scanning the trees behind them. “I don’t see anything,” she said after a few moments. “Do you?”
Alyssa’s skin prickled, but she shook her head. “Probably just some local wildlife.”
Tasha checked the GPS. “We’re getting close to the coordinates. Just beyond the tree line there.”
After several minutes, the dense trees parted. Alyssa stopped. The mountain sunlight streamed through a break in the clouds in great watery shafts of gold, glinting off Imja glacier and lighting the unmistakable shape of Mount Everest, surrounded by its sister peaks.
The magnificent view in the distance did nothing to diminish the ethereal sight directly before her. Set in a valley beneath them, a sloping courtyard stretched for over a hundred yards. It funneled into a natural stone bridge that led to a thirty-foot-high gateway carved into the mountainside.
Alyssa rubbed her eyes.
“Is this it?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Tasha took in the view for another ten seconds before glancing at the GPS. She nodded, unwilling to break the spell of the sight with words. She dropped her backpack and fished out a set of high-powered binoculars. She pointed them at the courtyard.
“The only way in seems to be across that bridge,” she said. “We should wait until nightfall, in case anybody is watching it.”
Alyssa glanced at the setting sun and nodded. “Makes sense. Besides, I could use a break.” She slipped off her backpack and rested it next to Tasha’s.
Thirty minutes later, they huddled together, nibbling on protein bars. Alyssa soaked in the warmth of the battery-heated parka as the air around her grew colder by the minute. She took a deep breath.
“About what I said earlier. I’m sorry.”
“I told you before, I’m not asking for your pity,” Tasha replied.
“I’m not offering you my pity,” Alyssa countered. “A few months ago, you told me I had no right to judge you. You were right.”
Tasha looked out in a pensive gaze, lips pressed together. She was silent for so long Alyssa didn’t think she was going to say anything. Finally, she spoke. “When I met William again, after his father died… he was different… he scared me, but George insisted…”
“You got together with Drake because George Renley wanted you to?” Alyssa felt a burning in her throat.
“After they took my mom, I didn’t have anybody. George saved me. He plucked me from the streets and gave me a life. I wanted to make him happy, show him my gratitude for everything he has done for me.”
Alyssa shook her head.
“I thought I would be able to just play the role, do what George wanted, but after spending time with William… He made me feel like I was everything to him. I was his princess again.” She looked at Alyssa, tears glistening in her eyes. “I thought I was strong enough not to fall in love with him again
.”
Alyssa met Tasha’s gaze. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know you had no choice,” Tasha whispered. “I didn’t want to hate you for what you did, but—”
Alyssa’s ears picked up an unusual sound, and she put a hand on Tasha’s arm, silencing her.
“What is it?”
Alyssa shushed her. The sound grew louder, into the unmistakable chop-chop-chop of the blades of a helicopter.
“A helicopter.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Tasha said.
Alyssa grabbed her pack and rushed for the trees. “Hide, now!” she yelled. Tasha followed closely behind.
A few moments later the noise from the rotors grew louder. Alyssa watched through the branches as a large chopper flew above them and descended on the clearing. She waited for it to touch down then crept closer and hid behind a stony outcrop. Tasha crept up to her a moment later.
The helicopter door opened, revealing a man dressed in a tan jumpsuit. Alyssa’s heart quickened when she spotted a second man exiting the carved gateway and pacing across the bridge. The men met at the helicopter. They didn’t shake hands but exchanged words.
Tasha fumbled through the backpack and lifted the binoculars to her eyes. She inhaled sharply.
“What is it?” Alyssa whispered. She knew it was silly, there is no way the people at the helicopter could ever hear her.
“That guy who just stepped out of the temple,” Tasha said. “That’s Dr. Yuri Korzo!”
Yuri Korzo? Where did she hear—? Memory hit. “They mentioned his name in the meeting on the ship!”
“Dr. Korzo took over the Society’s bioengineering program after Baxter’s death.”
“I knew it! So, the Society…” Alyssa trailed off when she spotted several figures exiting the helicopter. Something seemed odd about the way they moved.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Tasha handed her the binoculars wordlessly. Alyssa pointed the glasses at the scene below. Her skin prickled. The people were bound and hooded. Two armed men exited the chopper and pushed them into a line.
The scientist approached them. He seemed to appraise them, then nodded approvingly and motioned the armed men to usher them inside.
Alyssa lowered the binoculars. “Do you think they’re using these people…” She shivered, not from the cold, but from the implication. She swallowed to ease the burning in her throat. “What if my mother is still alive, and what if the Society is using her, too?”
“Alyssa, you don’t know that,” Tasha said.
“We need to get inside,” Alyssa said.
“Did you see those guns?” Tasha asked. “I’m pretty sure there are a lot more of those inside whatever hides beyond this entrance. We’ll never make it past that bridge.”
Alyssa clenched her jaw, knowing that Tasha was right. She sat up.
“What?” Tasha asked.
“So, this Yuri guy is continuing Baxter’s work, right?”
“That’s right,” Tasha replied.
“Which means he’s still looking for Hybrid blood.”
Tasha nodded wearily. “Where are you going with this?”
“Let’s give them what they want.”
Tasha stared at her, perplexed.
Alyssa leaned forward. “As far as the Society is concerned, you are George Renley’s daughter and have been loyal to the Society and William Drake. Nobody would question your continued commitment to them. You could deliver me to them as your captive and set me free once we’re inside.”
Tasha stared at Alyssa, unblinking. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. She finally found her voice.
“Absolutely not,” she said.
“If you had a chance to see your mother again, wouldn’t you do anything in your power to make it happen?” Alyssa pleaded. “What if they’ve kept my mom alive all those years? I have to know!”
Tasha pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head with a sigh. “You are completely insane, Alyssa.”
“I’ve been told before,” Alyssa replied. “We have to figure out how to remove any doubt from their minds that you’re on their side.”
A hard smile crossed Tasha’s lips. “I might have an idea about that, but you won’t like it.”
12 Nepal
Alyssa stumbled down the path blindly. She tripped and almost fell, but Tasha grabbed her and yanked her upright.
“Try to keep it together,” she said.
“Easy for you to say,” Alyssa shot back. “You’re not the one trying to walk down a mountain with a hood on your face and hands tied behind your back.” Her cheek throbbed where Tasha had hit her to make the “capture” seem more believable. She knew it would sting, but—damn—did that girl pack a punch. Her head was still ringing from it.
Tasha pulled her to a stop. “We’re here,” she said.
“Now what?” Alyssa asked.
“Now we wait.”
A minute later Alyssa heard footsteps approaching them. Two men?
“Namas—” she heard one of them say.
“Let’s skip this,” Tasha interrupted. “I need to talk to the person in charge.”
“You must leave immediately,” the man said.
Tasha inhaled sharply. “I am George Renley’s daughter. I’m here to see Dr. Yuri Korzo.”
A stunned silence followed.
“Is he expecting you?” one of the men finally said.
“No,” Tasha replied, “but you can tell him that I brought him a present.”
She removed Alyssa’s hood. Alyssa squinted in the fading light at the two men in gray coveralls.
“Tell Dr. Korzo I brought him ten pints of fresh Hybrid blood,” Tasha said.
Dr. Yuri Korzo was a short man, his eyes level with Alyssa’s. He had a round face with a craggy nose and thick, fleshy lips. His receding hairline was emphasized even more by a pair of black-rimmed eyeglasses that rested on top of his head as if forgotten there.
“Alyssa Morgan,” he said, appraising her. The animosity in his voice stirred and lifted the small hairs on her arms. “I have waited a long time to meet you in person.”
Alyssa swallowed. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all. She flicked a glance at Tasha. If she shared any of Alyssa’s distress, she was hiding it adeptly beneath her well-practiced Mona Lisa smile.
Korzo brought his face closer to Alyssa’s. She tried backing away, but the two guards held her in place by her bound arms. He cupped her chin and tilted her head, examining the bruise on her right cheek. Alyssa hoped the scrutiny the bruise brought to the right side of her face would take away the attention from her left side where a small comm unit hid in her ear, concealed by her hair.
“Your work, Miss Renley?” he glanced over his shoulder to Tasha.
“She wasn’t cooperating,” Tasha replied lazily.
Korzo curled his lip. “How unrefined,” he quipped before turning and heading for the stone bridge. “Bring her along,” he said over his shoulder.
They crossed the stone bridge and approached the entrance into the mountain. The remaining rays of the sun cast a diffuse light, beaming it through the pillared entryway. The intricate detail carved into the mountain was apparent even though the once smooth rock was left pitted and scarred.
As they passed through the entrance, Alyssa’s sense of awe and reverie only deepened. A vast natural cavern stretched before them, its rough stone and jagged peaks transformed into a majestic temple. Arching ceilings rose fifty feet above her, and smooth walls were lined with intricately carved, life-sized statues.
Alyssa’s knees buckled when she recognized the subjects of the carvings. Ganesh, the man with the elephant head. Nure-onna, the snake with the head of a woman. Chu Pa-chieh, half man, half sow. Alyssa stared at the falcon-headed man.
“Wh-what is this place?” she stammered.
Korzo ignored her question.
“Keep moving,” one of his guards said, pushing her on.
Alyssa continued
through the temple as if in a trance, past rows of statues representing hybrid entities from religions and folklore from around the world. She swept her gaze through the cavern, looking for anybody else, but other than Korzo and his two guards, the temple was empty, with no sign of the others who had arrived earlier by helicopter.
They stopped in front of a carved wall. One of the guards spoke into his comm, and the wall lifted, revealing a gate of polished metal. The gate parted before them. Alyssa blinked as she stared into the cabin of a modern elevator. She followed Korzo and Tasha inside, flanked by the guards.
“The Society built this?” Tasha asked. Her voice betrayed her wonder.
Korzo stabbed the button for the lowest floor. He studied Tasha, an amused expression in his eyes. “The Society?” he chortled, shaking his head as if she had made a joke.
Tasha’s face tensed for an instant before returning to her usual dispassionate expression.
Alyssa watched the digital display showing the floor numbers as they descended. Every floor that flashed by had her heart thudding faster, louder. She chewed at her bottom lip, taking slow, deep breaths, questioning her wisdom once again.
What did I get myself into this time?
The elevator stopped, and they exited into a corridor. The sparse, narrow hallway lined with metal cell doors and a low ceiling bore a striking contrast to the airy, sacred structure above their heads.
So this is where you do your dirty work. Fear curled up inside her and clung to her ribs as a sudden shiver chilled her spine.
They moved through the corridor and stopped at one of the countless cells. One of the guards unlocked the steel-barred door and shoved her inside.
Korzo appraised Alyssa through the open door, the resentment for her spilling from his eyes. “I look forward to getting closer acquainted with you, Miss Morgan,” he said in a tone that made her flesh crawl.
The guard moved to close the cell door. Tasha lifted her hand.
“Wait,” she said and approached Alyssa. She grasped Alyssa’s hair and yanked her head to the side then took the miniature comm unit out of her ear. She handed it to the guard.
Daughter of Ra Page 15
