Sword of Minerva (The Guild Wars Book 10) by Mark Wandrey (good books to read for teens txt) 📗

was crude by comparison. It would require maintenance update shots every 5-10 years to really be effective. In the files he’d stolen, he saw that the original research had been commissioned by an obscure race suffering from a short lifespan. Likely a remnant of Kahraman genetic programming. The Lazarus treatment would have made a major difference to that race, and countless other short-lived ones. His Mesh gave him a jolt. Back to work.

* * *

Backtracking the HecSha’s work to its sources hadn’t been easy. It had led him back to Earth again, proving the benefit of setting up multiple caches. The Saisho had approved of his forward thinking. It had said that was why he’d been trained as a proctor. He would do much good for the Guild.

This mission had taken more than 5 years before he’d finally infiltrated the shadowy organization known as Section 51. It was the first time he’d had to utilize his long inactive real identity. A made-up personality would never have sufficed. Section 51 had apparently sat astride the Earth governments for more than a century. The level of technological sophistication was equaled only by his Science Guild. And to think, he’d never known they were there!

Once inside, the scientist formerly lost on Dr. Adelaide Black’s scientific mission of discovery was worked into the Section 51 organization. They were just as secretive as the guild. They liked having a ‘dead’ scientist working for them. He liked it that they didn’t have enough offworld operatives to know what he really was, because his visage would be found in many suspicious incidents of sabotage, espionage, and mayhem.

To facilitate his advancing level of trust and access, he planned to take one of the organization’s operators as a lover. Adrianne McKenzie was a lovely woman. The problem was the pangs of guilt when he went to consummate the act. The ghost of Ichika and their unborn child haunted him. Adrianne recognized the reluctance, understood, and never pressured him. That didn’t make his job any easier.

Finally he got in deep enough to gain access to their whole information network. His orders were to destroy them utterly. He decided it was impossible, and instead compromised their main data storage, sabotaging as much as possible before fleeing. His mission was a success, yet he still felt guilt and some doubt. His Mesh punished him for indecision, and he returned to his duty.

* * *

It was the most important mission he’d ever been given. They’d sent him because, once again, it involved Humans. Far too often, Humans were involved in dangerous research. That was, of course, why he’d been recruited. Sato understood that his people needed to be restrained, just like every other race. But in the depths of his psyche, he felt a little thrill of fear. What would the Saisho do if humanity crossed one too many lines? The memory of the Altok haunted him still. Had it really been an accident?

Penetrating Azure had been easy. The Humans there were friendly, open, inviting. The planet was a paradise compared to many in the galaxy. Warm beaches and water. He’d been sent to investigate what the Humans were doing with the race known as Wrogul. The species had been unknown until recently.

<Investigate. Obtain genetic samples. Correlate against known Great War–era races missing and thought lost. Evaluate research, determine risk, respond accordingly.>

The orders were plain and straightforward. He used his considerable scientific knowledge to get a position as a researcher and stashed an Enigma box in the village against future need. It was only a matter of a week before he got his chance, and he used his slicer to crack open their database and copy everything.

The genetic information he fed into his Mesh to be compared against all known racial genetic profiles in the galaxy. As he was leaving the lab, he jerked and almost fell.

<Abort all other mission objectives,> was the order, triggered by his Mesh based on the data he’d just gotten. <Use Enigma, then Extract. All necessary means are authorized. Report to Occul immediately after extraction.>

Sato looked around in confusion. What could possibly have been found here to warrant such a mission abort? He’d seen no signs of any weapons research, or anything else dangerous or forbidden. He jerked as his Mesh applied a reminder. <Do your duty, Proctor!> He moved.

The genetics lab was on the water’s edge, as the Wrogul often participated in the work. When he left, he hadn’t bothered looking. It was late, after all, nobody would notice. He came up short when he saw a Wrogul slithering out of the water at his feet. “Oh!” he said in surprise.

“Hello, Sato,” the Wrogul flashed.

“Uhm, Nemo?” Sato asked. They could be told apart, with practice.

“Yes, very good. What is wrong, you seem agitated?”

“Nothing,” Sato said, calming his breathing and trying to look casual. “Just running a late-night sequencing.” He grunted as his Mesh gave him a jolt.

“I did not know you had been assigned to the genetics team. Aren’t you a computer expert?”

“I have more than a few specialties,” he said, knowing it sounded lame and not caring. “Excuse me, I have to go.” He stepped over the Wrogul, intent on hurrying down the walkway to the beach. He never made it. Something wet touched his foot, and a form of paralysis made his leg go limp. “Gah!” he yelled and fell. He tried to catch himself, and did, badly. Falling sideways, he plunged into the water.

When he came up spluttering, 20 kilograms of Wrogul landed on his head, shoving him underwater.

“Your story is not convincing,” Nemo flashed.

Sato went into combat mode. His Mesh linked his muscles with thousands of hours of training in every form of martial arts that could be adapted for Human use, and it was all for nothing. Sato barely got a hand on one of the Wrogul’s limbs