Project Hyperion (A Kaiju Thriller) (Kaiju #4)

“But the creature, if it is Nemesis, it’s also more than Nemesis.” Watson looks at me. “The second sample. Collins said you collected it from some razor wire?”


I nod. “It came from the creature—Nemesis—when it was smaller.”

“The results are inconclusive, but only because they can’t make sense of the results.” He opens the DNA analysis on the computer screen. It means nothing to me, so I just listen. “But I can. There are two distinct DNA strands.”

“It’s a hybrid,” Collins says.

“Yup.” Watson point at the DNA results. “The first half is the screwy part. It barely looks like DNA as we know it. It’s just a mess. The lab says the sample was contaminated, but I don’t think so. I think it’s simply something they’ve never seen before. It’s like nothing else on Earth.” He looks back at me, pushing his glasses higher onto his face so that his eyes grow a little larger. “Jon, this thing either evolved long before life as we know it began, or it’s alien. Like from another planet.”

“But not completely,” I say. I haven’t forgotten that only half of the DNA is alien. “The other half is human, right?”

He nods. “It’s Maigo. I think she probably shed her human skin as her non-human body grew. Like how bull moose molt their antlers as they grow larger.”

Woodstock looks to the ceiling and walks away, clearly disgusted.

Collins looks about ready to tear someone’s head off.

I must look similar because Watson cringes and says, “Don’t blame the messenger.”

“No one is mad at you, Ted,” I tell him. “It’s just...”

“Sick,” Collins says, completing my thought. “Who would do that to a little girl? And why?”

Ted shrugs. “Best guess is that they were using the alien DNA to enhance organ growth somehow. Maybe speed it up. You mentioned the creature was growing quickly.”

“Very quickly,” I say. “So the creature that laid waste to Maine and killed thousands of people is one part Nemesis, one part human girl?”

Ted nods, “But given the creature’s appearance and the shed human skin, I think the non-human DNA is becoming dominant, which helps when we get to the business of killing it, but it’s also very bad news.”

“How so?” I ask.

“It means she’s becoming fully Nemesis, goddess of vengeance who strikes down men and women, not just for their crimes, but also for their hubris and even evil thoughts.” He turns to the screen on his right, opens a new window and reads. “‘To every mortal is thy influence known, and men beneath thy righteous bondage groan; for every thought within the mind concealed is to thy sight perspicuously revealed. The soul unwilling reason to obey, by lawless passion ruled, thine eyes survey. All to see, hear, and rule, O power divine, whose nature equity contains, is thine.’ That’s from a Greek hymn. And if it’s true, if Nemesis will exact vengeance on the human race based on our thoughts—”

“Yeah,” I say. “I get it. We’re all fair game.”

“Not just fair game,” Watson says. “We’re screwed.”

“Unless we kill it,” I say. It comes out sounding bold and confident, but then I remember what happened in Portland. A hundred soldiers, five heavy machine guns, a grenade launcher and a frikken missile strike had absolutely no effect, other than pissing the thing off. I’m not sure what it will take to kill Nemesis, but it’s not going to be men on the ground. We’re going to need the full power of America’s armed forces against this thing. I just don’t know where. Thinking of the military reminds me of General Gordon. “What about the General? And Endo? Anything new on them?”

“Nothing,” Watson says. “But I think it’s safe to say both are employed by some secret division of Zoomb, who somehow acquired a DNA sample of Nemesis. But I seriously doubt there is a paper or digital trail that would reveal as much. Besides, it might have all been legal.”

“Trying to kill Collins and I, not to mention murdering the Johnsons, is very much against the law,” I say.

When I see Watson frown deeply I realize that he probably knew the Johnsons. “Sorry,” I say, and I should probably say more, but I’m struck with a thought. “Why would Zoomb hire an active duty U.S. general whose career wasn’t at all technology-based?”

Watson’s frown disappears as the question takes root. “That’s a good question.”

“Can you access Gordon’s records?” When Watson nods, I say, “Check his last deployment. Where was he?”

After a few seconds of furious typing, Watson says, “Here’s the brief. Looks like he was in Alaska. There was an accidental death at a training exercise involving U.S. Marines and Japanese Defense Forces. A Master Sergeant Lenny Wilson was shot and killed when a weapon was dropped and discharged despite it not being a live-fire exercise.”