Page 22 of Dark Medicine (Strange Gifts #2)

The table erupted in laughter as Flip told the story of the first time he met Kane. Kane’s face was red with embarrassment, Flip’s huge smile filling the room with light and joy and memories, clearly good memories.

“Oh my gosh!” laughed Aislinn. “Please tell me you didn’t pick a fight with him?” She pointed at Flip and shook her head at Kane. Although Kane was a solid six-foot-three and two hundred plus pounds of muscle, Flip would swallow him whole.

“Welllll, he was the biggest guy in the gym, and I was trying to prove myself at the time,” said Kane. “I was young and stupid. What can I say?” Kane shook his head at the memory of trying to prove he was the biggest badass on-base. That lasted about two minutes when he got a look at the rack of weights Flip was lifting over his head.

“You were an idiot. That’s what you can say,” roared Adam. “Flip has always been slow to anger, but when you outright pick a fight with him, it’s on like Donkey Kong.”

“You guys are too much,” said Fiona, wiping the tears from her eyes. Tears of laughter and joy were far more welcome than of fear and uncertainty. She loved her newfound friends and loved being a part of this small band of misfits.

“The bottom line is, Kane was smart enough to not throw the punch. I do have to say the kiss was the best I’d had in years,” he laughed.

“It was a peck!” yelled Kane. “A simple peck on the cheek. I was trying to diffuse the situation since it was obvious my mouth was overloading my ass.”

“Sure, you were,” said Adam. “That’s why you asked him to the Army ball.”

“Fuck you, asshole,” said Kane, smiling.

“I’d say it all worked out the way it was supposed to,” said Aislinn. “You two became friends and learned to trust one another early on.”

“That’s the honest truth,” said Flip. “It took a little while, but I knew he was different the minute he refused to follow that chieftain into the mountains. There was something off about him, and the asshole of a captain was trying to prove himself. Fucking idiot nearly got us all killed.” Kane nodded at his friend, remembering the moment as clearly as if it happened yesterday.

“I made the mistake of touching the man’s arm and nearly vomited on the spot. Turns out he was selling secrets to the Taliban and dealing in Afghan children. He was the most miserable human being I’d ever been around, well, almost.”

“So, the captain didn’t make you go into the mountains?” asked Fiona.

“Oh no, he did!” said Flip. “We went into that damned mountain range just like he planned. He was the first killed, the idiot. We started taking fire and knew it was a trap. That fucking chieftain disappeared. I looked at Kane, and he just shook his head and started firing. All hell broke loose at that point.”

“It was definitely hell. I emptied my weapon in the first ten minutes and had nothing left. Then suddenly, there were three rifles laying at my feet, fully loaded.” He smiled at Flip, who grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

“You did that?” asked Fiona.

“You gotta save your brother,” he said, smiling. “The weapons weren’t doing anyone any good lying next to dead men. Kane was a great shot, so I knew we’d have a chance if he had the weapons.” Kane nodded again, grinning at his friend.

“That’s when I knew there was something special about Flip. Well, that and the fact that two vehicles mysteriously overturned onto the enemy.”

“We didn’t see each other much after that little adventure. Seems like we were always on different squads,” reflected Flip.

“Yea, but I kept up with you and so did Adam.”

“I saw Adam several times when I brought wounded in. I watched him work on a few and just walked away, scratching my head. He diagnosed them within seconds and started working immediately. His hands moved so fast the nurses couldn’t keep up with him. You could tell he just knew what was wrong and dove right in,” said Flip.

“Yea, the problem was people started questioning my methods. The chief surgeon suggested I was reckless and was ‘lucky’ up to that point. He had no clue, and I couldn’t tell him anything. To cover for myself, I had to slow down, and that meant risking people’s lives.”

“Is that why you left the Army?” asked Fiona.

“Partly. I was ready to move on. I think we all were.” Adam looked across the table to see Spook stiffen against the back of his chair. He stared down at this phone and then looked at the blank wall, his eyes moving so rapidly Adam was concerned for his health.

“He’s here,” he said calmly.

“Who’s here?” asked Kane.

“The man who tried to take Fiona on the cliffs. His signal, the same signal. He’s here.”

The door slammed at the front of the inn, and standing in the doorway of the restaurant was a dark-haired man of medium height and build. The same man who tried to take Fiona. He stood in the doorway, his hands folded in front of him, ensuring they were visible to the table. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just waited.

“You’ve got a helluva lot of nerve, buddy,” said Flip, standing. His towering height and intimidating size made the man swallow hard.

“I mean no harm,” said Uri, holding his hands up, palms facing the group. “I’m actually here to help.”

“Help? How would you help us? And more importantly, why?” said Adam.

“May I sit down?” he said, taking a tentative step forward.

“There,” said Kane, pointing to a chair against the wall.

The group would be near him but prevent him from leaving if something happened. Adam placed himself between the man and Fiona, his large body a perfect blockade in case he attacked.

“I promise that I mean no harm to anyone. My name is Uri Bellum, Sgt. Uri Bellum.”

“Bellum? You were with the 10 th Mountain Division,” said Kane. “I was part of a joint mission with you many moons ago.”

“Yes. Yes, I remember,” he said, looking at Kane. “Please, if you’ll let me explain, I think we may be able to help one another.”

“We’re listening,” said Adam. “But you have a lot of explaining to do, asshole. You try to kill Fiona and take shots at the rest of us, and then just walk in here expecting that we’re going to listen to you AND help?”

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said, looking at Fiona. “I truly meant you no harm. Moore’s orders were to bring you to him, or my wife and daughter would die.”

Fiona’s eyes grew wide, and she started to stand, but Adam held her still. Uri held up a hand, waving her back down.

“They’re safe, for now. I’m not sure how long I can keep them that way, but that’s another story.”

The group waited for Uri to continue. He was nervous and rightfully so. He was sitting in the midst of trained soldiers, but not just soldiers. These people were part of Moore’s Aries Project, and he knew exactly what that meant.

“Colonel Weston Moore is behind all of this. Your families and each of you were chosen to be a part of his Aries Project.”

“Aries? Like the God of war?” asked Aislinn.

“Yes, exactly like the God of War. In 1970, right in the middle of the Vietnam War, the military discovered a powder that they hoped could be a chemical weapon. A biological killer. Its foundation was from a rare jungle plant, but it could be replicated in the laboratory. The concept was that the powder would be placed in a torpedo or missile-like containers and dropped in war zones. Unfortunately, the powder didn’t have the effect they hoped.”

“What effect did they hope it would have?” asked Flip.

“They hoped it would kill everyone it touched. It was to be used as a chemical weapon against the Vietcong. Unfortunately, it had strange effects but only on a few people. Moore was a young medic trying to prove himself. He used the POWs in his camp as unwilling subjects. He pulled a Hitler on them. He corralled them into a building and released the powder. Nothing happened, or so he thought. A few days later, a few of the men were showing signs of unusual skills.”

“What kind of unusual skills?”

“Some possessed superior strength, others superior intelligence, and others possessed nothing. Nothing changed. Moore was obsessed with finding out why only some experienced effects. He went back to his superiors, but they told him to shut it down. Obviously, he didn’t listen. He was able to convince every doctor and every scientist within the command of the project. In the end, the only thing he found in common with those that possessed new abilities was their age.”

“Their age?” asked Fiona.

“Yes. They were all under the age of eighteen, most much younger. It was the trigger. He needed to find something that would justify his continuation of the project. He finagled a command at Sierra, remote, low population, no civilians to speak of. It was perfect. He then tried to get either soldiers with young families or contractors with young families stationed at the Depot but not too many. He only wanted a few at a time so as not to draw suspicion.

“All of you weren’t accidental. I’ve seen the files, the records. He planned your arrival and your family’s arrival at the Depot.”

“So, the pink dust we all remember as children is this dust associated with the Aries Project?” asked Adam. Uri nodded his head.

“It manipulates the DNA in ways that no one understands. It’s obvious, looking at all of you, that you still possess whatever abilities it gave you. He’s wondered about that for years. Whether or not it would dissipate over time. Apparently, the changes in the DNA are irreversible.”

“How many of us are there?” asked Kane through clenched teeth.

“I’m not sure. At least fifty, maybe more. However, I suspect that some may have taken their own lives or were institutionalized. As you well know, there wasn’t a user manual or training on how to deal with the gifts. I know for a fact at least eleven killed themselves. I have no clue how many more died before I came under Moore’s command eight years ago. Moore believed that eventually, the mutations of the DNA would send a homing-like signal to others, and you would find one another.”

“A homing signal? We’re not fucking pigeons,” said Spook.

“No, no, you’re not. Yet here you all are together. My guess is you all suspected something different in the others. We’ve seen it before. It’s like a calling card that only you can recognize.”

“So, why are you here? Why are you here now to tell us this?” asked Flip.

“Because no matter what, I’m a dead man. What I want is for my daughter and wife to be safe, and in order for that to happen, Moore needs to be dead. I need your help in accomplishing that task.”

“You want us to help you kill Colonel Moore?” asked Adam.

“He’s not a colonel anymore. The Army asked him politely to leave the service. Moore is sick, terminal. That’s why he wants Fiona. He believes she can heal him. Personally, I believe he’s too far gone. Stage four lung and liver cancer. He’s been given just weeks to live. Top that off with someone trying to kill him, and he’s not long for this world.”

“Why not just wait it out? If he’s going to die anyway, why not wait for him to die and be free?” asked Kane.

“He has a second in command. A woman who is his nurse, more or less,” he said, grimacing. “I strongly suspect she has some type of training, but I’m not sure what. She is able to manipulate him unlike anyone I’ve ever seen.”

“And pray tell, what is this woman’s name?”

“No one seems to know her real name. Moore calls her ‘K,’ but we’re not sure if that’s the letter K or the name Kay. Anyway, she’s the one we’re concerned with at this point in time. She manipulates his thoughts and convinces him to do things that are completely unadvisable, and more than that, she’s brutal, unrelentingly, unapologetically brutal.”

“Could she be the one trying to kill him?” asked Flip.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s had ample opportunity to do so and hasn’t yet. I think it’s more than that. Moore has money, a lot of money. He’s been stealing from the military for years, and no one knew it. The wealth he’s compounded is beyond comprehension.

“I defected from Russia as a teenager. Moore took me in and treated me like a son. I joined the Army because of him. He bought me a house, paid for my education, and I never once knew where he got the money. What I didn’t know was that he was creating his own little army using Uncle Sam’s funds.”

“So why are you here, other than to save your wife and daughter? I mean, that’s a noble cause and all, but why now?” asked Spook.

“My family is safe for now, but I don’t know how long that will last. I can’t stop Moore alone. The men on his board are all former military. Sgt. Tom Cullen, Major William Groome, Captain Dan Henry, and Captain Norris Fredericks. Sgt. Zurvel is the one you threw over the cliff.” He looked at Flip, no expression of sorrow or regret.

“He was trying to hurt my friend.”

Adam and Kane looked at one another. They both knew the names associated with Moore but didn’t let on. Bellum was being truthful, and that, at least, was a point in his favor.

“I know. I’m sorry about that. Really, I am. It’s a good thing Zurvel didn’t live to see what Moore did to his wife and sons.” Uri let those words absorb with the men and women in the room. “Moore is very powerful and controls all of us. The only way to stop him is to kill him, and I need your help to do that. There are more of you out there, many more. You may not see your abilities as gifts, but believe me, they are. We are certain that the DNA mutations almost call out to one another, which is why you’ve all connected. Together, you could form an unbeatable army or an unstoppable force against evil.”

Those words floated above their heads in the tiny space of the restaurant. An unbeatable army. That’s what Moore wanted. An unstoppable force against evil? That’s what he would get.

“Christ! He really was trying to become the God of War,” said Kane.

“Yes. Yes, he is. That’s why he has to be stopped.”

“If he has this army protecting him, who’s to say he won’t just kill us all the minute he gets a glimpse of us?” asked Spook.

“His army doesn’t want to protect him. They have to. He’s holding something over every person’s head. Family, debt, friends, careers, you name it. They do not want to be there. He wants you, needs you. If she can cure him, then he has another twenty or thirty years of living to do.”

“And what does he want to do with those years?” asked Aislinn.

“He wants an unstoppable army to defeat the undefeatable. He wants to send all of you in to wipe out the enemies that the government can’t or won’t. He wants ISIS gone. He wants the Taliban gone, guerrillas in South America, drug lords. You get it.”

“Yea,” said Fiona, breathing in deeply, “we get it. But still, even if I walked into his fortress, what’s to stop him from killing me when I’m done healing him if I can?”

“Easy, my dear, you’re his daughter.”