Page 17 of So Deadly
“Jesus.That fast?”
“They have a list of hundreds of dogs,” Jayce informed him.“They’ve got eyes all over the country looking for animals that exhibit certain characteristics that suggest they’d be good candidates for the project.”
“Why don’t they just breed their own dogs?”
“That’s the goal eventually.They’re still not entirely sure which genes cause dogs to possess the right traits.
David looked at Jayce.It occurred to him that he still didn’t know what Jayce did for the 93rd.“What was your job?”
“I compared test results and assigned scores,” he replied.“Dogs would be given a treatment plan designed to enhance their telepathic potential.At different stages, we’d test them for that potential and assign scores.I was the one who looked at those results and assigned the scores.Well, I wasoneof the people who would do that.I was assigned to the Sierra series.”
David knew about most of what Jayce was talking about, but the parts he didn’t know piqued his curiosity.“What’s the Sierra series?”
“So, the assets were grouped in five different series: Alpha, Charlie, Hotel, Mike, and Sierra.The Alphas were all prototypes.That series concluded years ago.They were basically just so we could get the formulas right.Charlie was the second set of prototypes.We used them to fine tune the process.Hotel, Mike, and Sierra are the actual test series.Dogs with high obedience scores are assigned to Hotel.Dogs with high physical scores are assigned to Mike.Dogs with exceptional cognitive abilities go to Sierra.”
David’s stomach turned hearing dogs described as tools like that.“When did it occur to you that these were living, breathing, thinking beings and not just different kinds of screwdrivers for you to play with?”
Jayce turned to him.“I knew the moment I was given this job that what I was doing was immoral.I also knew I would die if I resisted or protested my orders.I told myself that I was doing this for my country, that as brutal as this was, it was for a good cause.I knew better, though.I just didn’t want to die.”
He smiled softly.“Then you came along.A civilian.Arealcivilian.Someone whose assIcould effortlessly kick.”
Lovely to hear that,David thought drily.
“And you inspired me,” Jayce said.“You showed me that it’s possible to be brave.If you can risk your life, then I can.I can do the right thing.”
He looked back at the base.The animals were all inside now.The guards were talking with the drivers, who lounged against the backs of their trucks.A few smoked cigarettes while the rest just lounged.One of them threw her head back and laughed at something one of the guards said.
“What’s the plan?”David asked.“It’s probably not likely that another convoy of vehicles will show up and distract everyone from their posts.”
“No, it’s not,” Jayce agreed, “but the way they have security set up leaves them vulnerable from the north.We can enter from that side under cover of darkness, and we have a good shot of reaching the building before patrolling security sees us.”
“And we’re just going to morph through the electric fence?”
Jayce chewed on his lip.“That’s the part I haven’t figured out yet.Maybe if I short out the fence but make it really obvious that it came from one side, we can pull security that way and leave the other side open.I don’t know.I have to think about it.”
“How can you short out the fence?”
“I have to think about that too.”
David frowned and looked back at the facility.Security was returning to their original posts.He was beginning to lose his excitement for the coming infiltration.Jayce was well-meaning, but like David, his capabilities were limited in scope.He might be able to kick David’s ass, but if they ran into a pair of guards armed with assault rifles, it wouldn’t matter that they were just normal CIA toughs and not SOG super soldiers.
But Sierra was in there.And if Turk was in there, David wouldn’t hesitate.
“Whatever happens, I’m with you,” he told Jayce.
Jayce looked at him with wide-eyed admiration that made David feel uncomfortable.He clapped David on the shoulder and said, “You’re a good man, David.I really hope you survive this.”
“Yeah.Me too.”
Jayce got to his feet and thrust his chin back at the van, which was parked behind a thick stand of desert oaks.“Let’s get out of here.We have our way in now.We just need to figure out how to make it work for us.”
David drove the van back while Jayce pondered their strategy.This van was the third vehicle Jayce had procured, including the one he’d rented to kidnap David and abandoned just outside of Quantico.It was equipped with a suspension lift and offroad tires that didn’t seem to make any noticeable difference to the ride other than causing the vehicle to sway terrifyingly around corners both off and on road.
When David reached pavement and didn’t need to focus every ounce of his concentration on driving, he asked, “Did you ever have a dog growing up?”
Jayce shook his head.“Guinea Pig.Captain Commodore.”
David lifted an eyebrow and looked at the younger man.Jayce grinned.“Yep.I must have been four or five when I named him.I just thought those words sounded cool.Like a superhero.I used to draw pictures of him wearing a cape saving people from evil animals like rattlesnakes, wasps, and scorpions.Mostly things that stung.My dad told me I got stung by a wasp when I was like two or three, so that’s probably why I hated them so much.”
