Ethan looked at the size of the tables in the laboratory.
‘If one of these things were trained to obey US soldiers in a combat environment it could tear the crap out of enemy infantry, move freely at night, be hard to spot and almost impossible to shoot.’ He shook his head. ‘It would be a major tactical asset in the field.’
‘So this stuff is being done out here because it’s illegal,’ Lopez said.
‘Tests on animals are legal in this country,’ Dana said, ‘but the ways and means to do that testing is heavily regulated. The animals in question have to be under the care of a licensed and accredited veterinarian. Protocols have to be reviewed by an Internal Animal Care and Use Committee who have to agree that the tests are both humane and worthwhile, in that they would result in useful information being gained.’ She looked at the room around them. ‘I think it’s obvious that whatever went on in here was neither humane nor worthwhile to science.’
‘Especially,’ Proctor said, ‘if the work involved attempting to create para-humans.’
‘What?’ Kurt asked.
‘A human-animal hybrid,’ Proctor said, ‘a chimera. Some work has already been done on mixing the genes and cells of different species. Mass production of spider-silk proteins for armour and insulin have been achieved by adding human genes to bacteria. The military have a long-standing interest in producing bio-genetically enhanced soldiers with greater endurance, strength and resilience to injury. Splicing sasquatch genes with those of a human could plausibly create such a chimera.’
‘They’d never create a viable fetus,’ Dana argued. ‘Humans are genetically too distant from whichever ancestor sasquatch evolved from. But they could create tissues, muscles, bones and suchlike, which could then be grafted onto soldiers’ bodies.’
‘True,’ Proctor said, ‘but scientists have already found ways to enhance muscle mass by injecting gene-manipulated viruses. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have caused rat muscles to increase by up to thirty per cent in size using a gene called IGF1, and the enhancement lasted for the life of the animals. If the same procedure was used by borrowing genes from a sasquatch, they could bypass any evolutionary mating obstacle and simply insert the genes directly into troops, creating super-soldiers.’
‘Who would most likely be involved in something like this?’ Lopez asked, horrified.
Ethan already knew the answer but it was Duran Wilkes who replied.
‘The CIA,’ he said. ‘They’re the ones who have done all the strangest experiments in military history, on animals and on their own citizens. If this is the work of a government agency then that’s where my money would be.’
‘And if somebody exposed the operation,’ Ethan said, and turned to Lopez, ‘they’d be facing a huge backlash.’
‘Randy MacCarthy,’ Lopez replied. ‘If he managed to get photographs of what was going on up here then the CIA would do just about anything to silence him, or anybody else who came wandering up too close to this site.’
‘And the National Guard would take over the search for any missing persons,’ Ethan went on, looking at Agry, ‘which would then ensure that no civilian or park ranger accidentally stumbled on the site. The Guard wouldn’t question an order from the Pentagon to stay away from this area.’
‘And the rangers would be none the wiser,’ Lopez agreed. ‘The only people who would find themselves in trouble would be unfortunate hikers and tourists who strayed off the beaten track and somehow got too close—’
‘They’d be silenced and disposed of,’ Ethan finished her sentence for her. ‘Nobody would ever know anything and they’d be assumed to have died of exposure, injury or animal attacks.’
Lopez looked around at the ruined facility.
‘And if something went wrong up here,’ she said, ‘then the Pentagon would have to send people to clean it all up and remove the evidence.’
‘Top work,’ Kurt Agry said. ‘If I ever need a private investigator, I’ll call you.’
‘Who are you, really?’ Ethan asked.
‘Twenty-fourth Special Tactics Squadron, United States Air Force Operations Command,’ Kurt Agry replied.
Ethan had heard of the 24th STS, a unit specializing in paramilitary operations and often tasked with high-value missions by the CIA.
‘You’re here to clear out and destroy any remaining evidence.’
‘And we need to be getting along,’ Kurt confirmed, casting a glance of distaste at the room around them. ‘We’ve had enough delays already.’
‘That’s why you were in such a rush,’ Ethan said to him. ‘Why you didn’t want to backtrack down the mountain with the lieutenant’s body. You’re on a deadline.’
Kurt nodded.
‘Whole place is about to go boom, I’m afraid,’ he replied. ‘We’re going to bring the whole damned mountain down on this place and seal it underground for about the next quarter of a million years. Our extraction is due to pull us out at first light.’
Ethan let a grim smile crack his jaw. ‘And I guess we have to stick around for it.’
Kurt did not reply as his men joined him in the laboratory. He gestured with quick flicks of his gloved hand as he spoke.
‘Separate them,’ he ordered.
The soldiers barged between them, forcing them into two groups.
‘This is a mistake, Kurt,’ Lopez snapped at him. ‘You’re taking down the wrong people. You really believe that you’re in control here? That you’re alone in betrayal?’
‘I’m not betraying anybody,’ Kurt replied. ‘I’m doing my job.’
‘And so is the CIA,’ Ethan shot back. ‘My boss made a request for soldiers to escort us from the National Guard. That request was intercepted and your platoon sent in place of the reservists. Somebody up the line burned us. What makes you think that the same thing won’t happen to you?’
The soldiers all stopped moving, Klein, Jenkins, Milner and Archer all looking at Kurt. The sergeant slapped a grin on his face but Ethan could sense the uncertainty in his voice.
‘We’re the ones doing the burning here, Warner, not you or anybody else.’
‘This is a covert program,’ Lopez intervened, ‘probably classified at the highest level. You really think that the CIA is going to go out of its way to ensure a little team of soldiers survives this any more than some investigators and scientists? Wake up, Kurt!’
The sergeant shook his head.
‘Our extraction is planned, and you’re forgetting that we’re carrying the explosives.’
‘Get real,’ Ethan shot back. ‘My guess is this place will be hit with an air strike the moment you send the data from those servers back to the CIA. You get out, the extraction will most likely be an ambush to finish off any one of you left standing.’
‘We’d hardly go to the extraction if we were bombed,’ Jenkins pointed out.
‘You got anywhere else to go?’ Lopez challenged. ‘You’ve been burned, just like us. We’re in the same boat here.’
‘That’s an issue of perspective,’ Kurt replied without interest.
‘There’s nothing to be gained from this, Kurt,’ Ethan said, keeping his voice reasonable. ‘We need to finish our job and get out of here, alive. Sooner we do that, the better I’ll feel.’
‘Your work is done,’ Kurt snapped.
‘This isn’t you, Kurt,’ Ethan said, searching the soldier’s face. ‘You were willing to go after Mary. Murder isn’t your thing.’
‘Obeying orders is my thing!’ Kurt snapped. ‘We’re done here, Warner. All of you, turn around and keep your hands in the air.’
Ethan stared at the soldier for a long beat and then obeyed. Lopez stared at him in dismay.
‘Seriously, you’re going to just fold for this asshole?’