Page 41 of Black Bay Protector
Predictably, Doctor Dietrich couldn’t look away. That’s all it took. A moment to catch their eyes and they were hers for however long she wished to hold them.
“There are several labs spread across the country that can accommodate the soldiers. However, given the short notice of the move, and the likely rushed transport, I have to assume they didn’t go far. That limits the choices to the lab in Maine or the one in Ohio.”
“Addresses?”
The doctor rattled them off. Not a surprise. While most people probably wouldn’t be able to pull that information off the top of their heads and would need to look it up, Doctor Anne Dietrich was not like most people. Her mind was a vault.
Without breaking eye contact, Lark told Kong, “Inform the General.”
“On it.”
They had what they’d come for. Lark could have left, but she had some questions of her own she wanted the doctor to answer.
“Why this project? Bio-robotics isn’t exactly your field.”
When the doctor opened her mouth, Lark quickly tacked on, “And don’t try to tell me it was between that or prison as you told the General. I accessed the files. You were given three other options as well.”
Doctor Dietrich nodded. “You’re right. I was. But they told me that if these initial prototypes functioned as planned they would then move to the next stage.”
“Which was?”
“Integrating bio-robotics with my genetically engineered hybrids. They’d not only be physically superior but technologically superior.” Excitement gleamed in the woman’s eyes. “Can you just imagine the possibilities?”
Lark, however, was sickened by the very thought. Seriously? What was the government thinking letting this woman resume her eugenics experiments?
The doctor’s expression turned thoughtful. “I admit I was surprised by the carrot they were dangling. After all, they’d have to wait for my specimens to mature before they could modify them, and we all know the government doesn’t like to wait, but now that I know you and the others are alive, I have to wonder if,” she shot Lark a speaking glance, “they didn’t already have the specimens they needed.”
Kong’s aggressive rumble announced that he’d returned to the room and that he’d heard that horrific announcement.
Lark held up a staying hand just in case Kong was thinking of taking out his anger on the doctor.
“The General would never allow it.”
“My dear,” Doctor Dietrich condescended with a smile that raised Lark’s hackles. “He won’t have a choice.”
When Lark hissed, her fangs bringing forth the toxic venom of the serpents her DNA had been spliced with, it was Kong who held her back. With his big beefy arm wrapped around her, he whispered into her ear, “Don’t do it. Believe me, I’d like to see this bitch get hers, but we may still need her.”
Dammit. Kong was right. If the two locations she’d given them didn’t pan out, they’d need to question her about the others. Plus, if they did find those soldiers, the knowledge of the project in Doctor Dietrich’s head might be the only thing that could help those men and women get their lives back.
The doctor had scooched back into the corner, her knees drawn up protectively in front of her and her normally swarthy complexion had drained of color. Lark took a small amount of pleasure in her fear.That’s right, bitch. You should be afraid. Getting lippy with me will have you dying in horrific pain in a matter of minutes.
Kong grunted as he released her now that he sensed she was back in control. “She stinks of fear now. It’s offensive.”
While she had no doubt the doctor probably did stink to Kong’s heightened senses, the statement made Lark chuckle and did exactly as Kong had intended when he’d said it – it had lightened her mood. “Fine. We’ll leave so you can go sniff some laundry soap or something.”
“Coffee. French roast.”
“Coffee it is.” With another chuckle, Lark turned to the door.
“You still don’t understand why I did it. Do you?”
Lark turned back to the doctor with a raised brow of inquiry.
“Do you know how many soldiers are killed in action every year? How many funerals are held? How many families are left behind to mourn them? In just my family alone, I lost uncles, a brother…”
Lark crossed her arms over her chest. “So you justify torturing innocent children in the name of altruism? You thought to spare others the pain you felt? What aboutourpain? Did you think hurting us every day, over andoveragain was your form of patriotic duty?”
“I made you stronger, faster, harder to kill. True predators, but you needed to be tested, trained.”
