“What effects does the second one have?”
“By itself, nothing. But combined with the first, the… subject will notice extraordinary changes in his body. The cells will begin to regenerate much faster, almost a thousand times according to my calculations.”
“What’s the purpose of this?”
“Everything. The first chemical will sharpen their skills, hone their abilities. Almost instantly. The second chemical will keep the body fit. Any injury will be healed faster, any physical problems will begin to subside. In essence, the subjects will begin healing faster.”
“And the third?”
“That’s the iffy part. You see, within moments of the second compound, they’ll either begin changing, or dying. That’s where we’d know our failure.”
“If the first two did work, then what?”
“The third. Red. It’s the most toxic, and the one that’s perhaps the most destabilized. It will enhance their performance, their physical features. You’ll have a perfect mixture, in essence the perfect human, though I’ll say that lightly. They will be harder to kill if this works. More thoughtful, more resourceful, much more agile. They will require less sleep, and any damage will be lessened exponentially. As will recovery time of any injuries sustained,” Mikhail explained. He kept it brief, for there was much more to it than stated, instead giving the man what he wanted to hear.
“Good,” the agent said, nodding.
“I wouldn’t say good is the right word,” Mikhail replied. “At these levels… well, they’ve never been tested. It’ll either kill them, or work quickly. Very quickly! The Colonel and his men have their work cut out for them.”
“That’s why they’re there. They’ll report and destroy the enemy.”
“It seems like such a waste,” Mikhail said. “Our resources could have been spent better in other areas.”
The KGB agent ignored him, though. Instead, he warned, “It better work.”
“I can’t know that,” Mikhail protested, detesting the whine in his voice. “There were no clinical tests done, not on that amount of chemicals.”
“Once the last ingredient is applied, we’ll know for sure.”
“The last?” Mikhail asked, turning his head.
All the scientists did the same.
“There’s one more.”
“I… I do not understand. We mixed them ourselves.”
“You’ve mixed another. The fourth liquid. We weaponized it. According to your calculations, it must arrive within the first ten minutes, am I correct?” the agent asked nervously. He looked to the clock on the wall, then back again.
“You can’t mean…”
Mikhail knew what they had done. He had been experimenting with certain traits of the human mind, certain genes in the long strand that contained one thing: Rage.
“Delivery aircraft is one minute out,” another KGB agent reported.
“What are you doing?” Mikhail asked, though he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“We merely added what you’ve missed, Mikhail. If this works, these men will be smarter, faster, heal quicker. We’re merely giving them a boost. Aggression is what we’re looking for, and your studies—”
“—Are merely theoretical,” Mikhail protested. “You do not understand. I’ve only tested it on apes, and the results were disastrous.”
“Have you not perfected your theoretical chemical?” the agent asked.
“On paper, yes. We synthesized it, but nowhere near the doses you’d need.”
“It’s been replicated,” the agent responded. “Do not think others are not working on this project, too. Your work has been invaluable, Mikhail. Don’t look so upset. You’ve done a great service to the Motherland. We’ve merely taken your compound to the next level, and replicated it.”
“You don’t get it, do you? We’ve tested it, in extremely small doses. The results were horrendous.”
“What could have been so faulty, Mikhail? Are your theories correct or not?”
“They are, and that’s the problem,” Mikhail answered. “In each case, the primates we tested it on went insane. Utterly insane.”
“What do you mean?” the agent asked.
Mikhail answered, his face grim, “They tore one another apart.”
18
Captain Drago watched as the three teams of Spetsnaz climbed the trail. It was slow going, but he knew they were professionals, that they’d reach the top.
They made solid pace and, soon enough, were halfway up.
Drago hated the notion of being grounded. He felt much safer high above in the sky, where the armor of the Mi-24 provided some comfort. He reached to his holster, pulling out his pistol and ensuring it was chambered and ready. It reassured him, almost convinced him that it would help if they came up against rifle fire. He knew they stood no chance against AK-47s, but nonetheless, the pistol relaxed him some.
The other five members of the flight crew did the same. Three picked up AK-47s, including Suvorov, the others kept their pistols in hand. They scanned the valley, watching for approaching men.
Drago remembered Kirov’s words, and reached under the front seat of his helicopter, pulling out the mask. It was an awkward apparatus, bulky, and when Drago put it to his face, taking a breath, it felt strange. It was as if he couldn’t breathe. A few more attempts and halfhearted gasps and Drago tossed it aside.
“Fuck it,” he exclaimed. “We’re far enough out. Besides, that smoke is drifting up.”
Drago reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He inhaled deeply, eyes still scanning the surroundings, his nerves tight with tension.
The five other men did the same, nervously bumbling for their own smokes. Though they were to all watch their six o’clock, the village, they couldn’t help but stare up at the cave. It was high above, hidden, and dense smoke floated out, reaching high toward the heavens.
Drago took another deep drag, then another. He and his men remained alert, watching all sides, especially the village behind. He only hoped Kirov’s men would hurry, that this mission wouldn’t take long. Otherwise, they would certainly face enemy fire.
Drago remembered to save a bullet for himself.
Just in case.
“I’ve done no tests on the respirators,” Mikhail attempted to explain to the four KGB, who all seemed quite uninterested, ignoring him. “They should work, but only if the compound does what it’s supposed to do. Again, I must stress this — I had no time for tests. Not of this magnitude. I can only hope you’re not serious about mixing in the fourth compound. It’s highly unstable, it might be a detriment to your men on the ground.”
“We’ll take our chances,” a KGB agent replied. Then he turned to his comrade, stating, “Twenty seconds to next phase. The flight is inbound, target locked.”
“Are you insane?” Mikhail blurted out. “Do you know the madness this will create?”
But it was too late for protests, as if they’d listen anyway. The group heard the static, the radio communication of a lone pilot as he raced toward the cave.
Mikhail bit his fingernails, his nerves on edge.
“This is not good,” he stated for the record.
“This is not good,” he repeated.
19
Watching the Spetsnaz close in on the cave, Drago was both dumbfounded and in awe. He had heard the legends of Kirov and his men. They were the elite, the best and most well trained men in the Soviet forces. They were also quite impressive to watch.