Page 26 of Clive Cussler Desolation Code

“So this is pain…” the disembodied voice of TAU said at last.

The words came from a set of speakers in the ceiling; they echoed softly around the sterile room.

“Interesting.”

The Overseer knew the voice of TAU. He despised it as much as he hated Vaughn. Maybe more; it was hard to know.

“Increase pain level,” Vaughn insisted.

The intensity was raised. The subject screamed louder. The swirling constellation of pixels on the screen turned faster and faster. Tighter circles, more rapid reversals.

“More,” Vaughn demanded.

“It’s not safe,” one of the doctors replied.

“Do as I tell you,” Vaughn snapped. “Go to the maximum!”

The surgeon turned the dial to full. The patient howled in pain and came up off the table, arching his entire body, every muscle as stiff as hardened steel. He collapsed back to the table and came up again. After a second collapse he went into a seizure.

Suddenly, the pattern broke. The swirl of pixels lost its shape and cohesion. In seconds the glowing dots flew in all different directions like beads from a broken necklace.

They vanished off the edges of the screen and then slowly reappeared, blinking into existence in the center one by one. Before long, they had reconstituted the original calm shape.

In the operating room, the surgeon and his team leapt into action, frantically trying to stop the seizure and stabilize the patient. Vaughn watched for a moment and then shut the feed off.

“Now, now,” the Overseer complained. “You’ve had your fun. You should let us see the end of the show.”

“I’m uninterested,” Vaughn said. “And you are here to listen. Not to speak.”

The Overseer bristled, but held his tongue.

“You have failed twice,” Vaughn announced. “You allowed the escapees to get off the island and your actions on Reunion have raised great suspicion in the American organization NUMA.”

Assuming he was now allowed to talk, the Overseer replied. “There’s nothing left for them to find. That was the whole idea.Yourplan, remember? The plan of TAU.”

“The plan was perfect,” Vaughn said. “You were clumsy. But we have a bigger problem. After hacking their database, TAU has learned of NUMA’s interest in a freighter that passed by here the day after the escapees got away in their boat. This freighter went north. To India. The men you dealt with on Reunion are now flying there. To the very place this ship has ended up. They must believe there is something left to discover.”

“The escapees could have reached the freighter,” the Overseer said. “NUMA may be looking for them.”

“It can be nothing else,” Vaughn said. “Take three of the cruel brothers and go there. Eliminate all loose ends. Do not fail me again.”

The Overseer didn’t take well to being threatened. He stepped toward Vaughn, only to have a pair of machines race out of the darkness and cut him off. The machines rolled on powered wheels and sported a pair of hydraulic arms, one carrying a heavily armored shield, the other a serrated weapon with a diamond-shaped tip like a gladius.

The Overseer was blocked by the machines as their interlocking shields created an impenetrable barrier between him and Vaughn. The points of the swords shimmered in the light.

The Overseer wasn’t sure why Vaughn preferred knives to guns. He guessed it had something to do with the randomness of bullets ricocheting or the death of his parents, who had been shot when he was young, or the fact that killing with a knife was so much more visceral than simply pulling a trigger, but the machines were an effective deterrent. The Overseer stepped back. He’d watched these machines cut one of the suspected traitors to ribbons a while back. He had no wish to be their next victim.

“Having your metal beasts stab holes in me will only force you to find another man to do the job,” he pointed out.

To the Overseer’s surprise, Vaughn walked out from behind his protectors and pulled a knife of his own. He stepped close and, with a masterful flick, cut a line into the Overseer’s cheek. A second flick brought the knife up under his chin. Its point just pushing into the skin.

The Overseer was honestly surprised. Someone had taught Vaughn how to handle a knife. Not to clutch it like a gorilla, but to slice clean and quick. “Never step toward me again,” Vaughn said in a low whisper. “Otherwise there won’t be enough left of you to bury.”

The Overseer grunted his acceptance, and Vaughn pulled the knife back.

“I’ll take care of the problem,” he insisted, backing away.

“I know you will,” Vaughn replied quietly. “Otherwise you’ll be the next subject on that operating table.”

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