Chapter 28 - Whispers Across the Water
The peace, however, was not an absolute ending; it was an armed truce.
Inside the compound's secure communications room, a dedicated satellite link beeped once every morning at 0800 hours. It was a secure encrypted frequency connected directly to the federal task force dismantling the remnants of the Apex network in Switzerland and London.
Over seventy executive warrants had been executed. The public narrative had been carefully managed: a sprawling corporate fraud scandal involving illegal gene therapy and offshore tax evasion. The world didn't know about Subject 804. They didn't know about the little girl laughing on a blanket in Maine.
Around noon, while Maya was napping, Marcus stepped into the study, holding an encrypted satellite receiver.
"Lauren. We just intercepted a priority transmission originating from an unregistered naval vessel in the North Sea."
I set down my medical journal, my spine instantly stiffening. "Who was it addressed to?"
"It wasn't addressed to an individual," Marcus said grimly. "It was broadcast on the old Sovereign emergency frequency. An automated broadcast protocol triggered by Bell’s disappearance."
He plugged the receiver into the terminal. An audio waveform oscillated on the screen, accompanied by an artificial, digitized voice speaking in clipped, neutral English:
*Protocol 9-B Activated. Custody of biological asset Subject 804 remains unresolved. Ground assets in Sector 4 are formally decommissioned. Initiating Phase Two: The Geneva Registry.*
The audio cut out.
"Phase Two," I repeated, cold dread pricking the back of my neck. "What is the Geneva Registry?"
May you like
Julian leaned over the desk, analyzing the transmission headers. "It’s not an extraction protocol, Lauren. It’s a disclosure protocol. If they can’t possess Maya, they plan to publish her genetic sequence to every black-market biotech syndicate on the planet. They want to turn her into the most hunted target in medical history."
***
