Chapter 14
They searched the facility for nearly an hour before a security guard said that one of the cameras had caught Jonas leaving the facility and heading for the riverbank.
His tracks were easy enough to follow. They led across the lawn and down a path to the river, but they stopped at the water.
“Can you pick up his scent?” Colt asked, turning to Glyph, who just shook his head.
“He wasn’t wearing a jet pack,” Danielle said. “And if he tried to swim to the other side, he would have died from hypothermia.”
“I don’t see any signs of struggle,” Glyph said.
“So he just disappeared?” Colt asked, frustrated as he tried to make sense of what had happened.
“Bravo Leader, this is Alpha Leader, over,” Colt said into his comlink.
“This is Bravo Leader,” Stacy replied.
“Any luck?”
“Not unless you count losing Pierce’s stupid dog,” she said. “He let it off its leash, and it bolted.”
“Please tell me that was a joke.”
“Sorry.”
Colt sighed. “We’ll look for Jonas, you find the dog, and we’ll meet back at the entrance at 0930.”
“Roger that,” Stacy said.
“We need to find that dog before it wanders into somebody’s backyard,” Colt said as he turned back to Glyph and Danielle.
“What about Jonas?” Danielle asked.
“I’ll circle back and see if I can find a different set of tracks,” Colt said. “You two help them find the dog.”
Colt pulled a small disc from a pouch on his belt. The moment he hit the button, a three-dimensional holographic map of the area projected into the air.
“Where are you hiding?” he murmured as he walked back up to the lawn in front of the nuclear power plant. But there were no other tracks, so he ended up back at the riverbank.
Overhead a smattering of stars dotted the sky as the moon fought to break out from behind a bank of clouds, and a cold breeze whipped across the water. Colt picked up a smooth stone and was ready to skim it across the surface of the water when the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
Something had moved up ahead.
He doused the lights mounted on his helmet and switched the pattern of his Whitlock Armor System to nighttime camouflage. Odds were that it was Jonas, but why would seeing Jonas trigger Colt’s internal early warning system? Something wasn’t right.
Colt crept along the riverbank, thankful that the rush of the water masked most of the sound as he attempted to channel his inner spy. The telescopic night vision goggles helped and so did his enhanced vision from his Thule DNA, which is why he saw Jonas standing next to a man on an unmarked armored ultralight before either of them spotted him.
“What are you up to, Jonas?” Colt whispered aloud as he watched the man hand Jonas an envelope.
Jonas looked around before he removed his pack and placed the envelope inside. A moment later the man on the ultralight took off, and Jonas scrambled up the embankment back toward the nuclear power plant.
Colt waited until he thought Jonas was far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to hear or see him approach, and then he crept along the shore and followed him through the thick brush and up the hill.
Something moved.
“Jonas?” Colt asked.
No response.
“Is that you?”
A massive shape burst from the thicket and grabbed Colt by the forearm with its jaw. It was Pierce’s genetically altered Malinois, but why was it attacking? The armor held, but the pressure was excruciating as the dog swung its head back and forth like it wanted to rip Colt’s arm out of its socket.
Something popped in his shoulder, and the searing pain sent Colt to his knees.
Adrenaline surged, and the pain gave way to a feeling of euphoria. Colt felt powerful. Unstoppable. He grabbed the dog by the nape of its neck and yanked it from his arm. Its jaws snapped as it fought to gain another hold, but Colt stood up and threw the animal against a boulder.
There was a loud crack, and it fell in a heap. It started to bubble and bones began to crack. Fur gave way to scales, two extra sets of arms grew from its back, and its paws turned to fingers.
“You can shape-shift into animals?” Colt asked.
The Thule that had been a dog just moments before stood and took a step toward him but staggered. It took a second step and fell to one knee, bellowing in pain. Its chest heaved as it struggled to breathe, but then it shifted once more.
A chill crawled up Colt’s spine. “Who are you?” he asked as he stood there looking at a perfect copy of himself.
“Who are you?” the shapeshifter mimicked, its voice matching his in pitch and inflection.
“Colt!”
He spun around to see Danielle and Glyph, who were standing on a ridge at the top of the embankment.
“We heard something and—” Her voice broke off. “Which one is you?”
“I am,” the two Colts said together.
She raised her sniper rifle.
“Dani, it’s me,” Colt said, unable to tell which Colt she was aiming at.
“He’s lying,” the doppelgänger said.
“Please, Dani,” Colt said. “You don’t want to do this.”
“What’s my dog’s name?” she asked.
“Wolfgang.”
Danielle pulled the trigger, and the doppelgänger fell to its knees before its face hit the ground.