Whitney considers himself a patriot, Ryland explained.He has that in common with General Pillar. Leila was taken when she was ten. It hadn’t yet come out that Whitney was doing illegal experiments with children.
But Pillar took my sister and me. He gave Bridget to Whitney, Leila protested.He had to have known even then what Whitney was doing.
She has a point, Diego agreed.Pillar wouldn’t have given Bridget to Whitney if he was unaware of what Whitney was doing.
Logan fell silent, allowing the general to talk sternly to the room while he digested the revelation that Pillar had to have known what Whitney was doing all these years. The fact that he sent his soldiers after Leila, knowing they were flawed, spoke volumes. He didn’t want Whitney’s experiments or his culpable actions to come to light.
Logan cleared his throat. “Sir, I think it’s necessary to cut through the bullshit. We need to focus on the real reason we’re here. We aren’t going away. Leila is prepared to go to the press and expose the experiments you’ve done here and the ones you conspired to aid Whitney with.”
Pillar turned bright red, sputtering with anger. “You can’t possibly condone such a thing. Every one of these soldiers and the GhostWalkers are classified. So is Leila.”
“Again, I reiterate, Leila is not in the military. She never signed up for any of this. She was abducted along with her sister,” Logan insisted.
“Ted, these threats are outrageous. Your GhostWalker teamscannot be made public.” His fierce gaze swept the room, taking them in. “Do you have any idea the prejudice people would have if they found out you have animal DNA in you? Reptilian? Snake? You would be hunted to the ends of the earth. Every foreign country would want a piece of you. If you think you could keep your identities secret, with the kind of scrutiny you would be under, you’re wrong and you would be found.”
“And are our lives more important than Leila’s and Bridget’s?” Logan asked, his tone very low. Those who knew Logan knew that when he spoke in that particular tone, it was never a good thing. He was about to go in for the kill.
Diego admired the way he led the general right into the noose. It was the old adage of “give the man enough rope.”
“Yes,” General Pillar thundered. He smashed his fist on the table. “Absolutely, without a doubt, the answer is yes. I’ve had a career of sending soldiers into combat situations. Do you know how many men I’ve lost? Do you know how many died in the First World War? Over a hundred thousand. Do you know how many were wounded? Over two hundred thousand. What if we could have prevented those deaths? What if we could have saved those lives and kept two hundred thousand men from having their lives torn apart due to terrible wounds?”
“I understand what you’re saying, sir—” Logan began.
The general cut him off. “In the Second World War, we lost over four hundred thousand men, and over six hundred thousand more were wounded. The losses were pure insanity. If you can prevent such a terrible thing, why wouldn’t you?”
“I agree one hundred percent with you that we should try to find ways to prevent a repeat of history. Everyone in this room agrees with you,” Logan said. “But we’re soldiers. We volunteered with the idea that we could save lives. But it isn’t right to takeyoung girls and experiment on them. To make their lives a living hell.”
The general snorted his derision. “Leila Fenton’s life was not a living hell. She was afforded every courtesy and every advantage the soldiers had. More so. She was treated with respect. When she got herself pregnant, her child was accepted and cared for.”
“ ‘Got herself pregnant’?” Diego nearly came out of his chair. Fortunately, from early childhood, he had trained himself to speak in a low, calm voice. He took a deep breath when Joe turned his penetrating gaze on him. He made every effort to keep anger out of his tone. “Leila didn’t get herself pregnant. She was raped by one of your soldiers.”
Diego turned his attention to Chariot. “I believe it was documented.”
“That is correct,” Chariot said immediately. He avoided Pillar’s gaze. “There was evidence, including video and witnesses, those looking at the security tapes as it was happening.”
By the deep scowl he wore, the general was clearly trying to intimidate Chariot into either staying silent or lying. Diego respected Chariot for telling the truth. If the general later decided to retaliate, it could be Chariot’s career, yet the man refused to give in to the warning.
Before the general could respond, Ranier did. “Let’s not get off topic here, Diego. I would very much like to hear what the general has to say. There is no question that he has dedicated his life to our country and our soldiers. Many times, when we thought soldiers lost, he was the one to bring them home safely. I, for one, want to know his opinion and his reasoning.”
Diego heard the respect in the voice. General Pillar had to hear it as well. The difference was that most of the GhostWalkers in the room had certain talents. Every human being gave off energy, andGhostWalkers were adept at reading that energy. Many of them had been genetically and psychically altered years earlier, giving them time to cope with the changes as well as be able to develop and use their talents. Reading energy allowed them to see true intent and to know if someone was lying to them.
General Ranier had respect for General Pillar, but like the GhostWalkers in the room, he didn’t believe one sacrificed civilians, especially children. He didn’t believe one took children and experimented on them. Those beliefs were very strong in him. He might sound as if he wanted to hear Pillar’s opinions because he was leaning toward agreeing with the man, but General Ranier was far from agreeing. He felt very strongly that children and civilians should be protected.
The general had seen the results on his soldiers after they were enhanced. He had seen brain bleeds and the fight to maintain a code when their bodies turned against them, causing them to be aggressive and far too dominant. He had read report after report, studied the video evidence of them going into battles or carrying out a covert mission. He also dedicated his life in service to his country and his soldiers.
He believed in the GhostWalker premise, enhancing soldiers to save lives. He believed the strongest and finest should be chosen, and he’d helped implement the psychological studies given to the men before acceptance into the program. Nowhere had there been a reference to first experimenting on children.
Diego—and his fellow GhostWalkers—could feel the escalating anger in the general, but he appeared to be very interested, relaxed and confident. In no way did he betray his true emotions.
“Please continue, Bradley,” General Ranier encouraged. “I think everyone in this room needs to hear what you have to say.”
Pillar nodded. “What none of you seem to understand is that there is a price tag for everything in the military. A price tag for ourcomputers, our paper products—you name it, it has to be paid for, right down to the most mundane thing possible. How are these things paid for? Quite simply put, gentlemen, they are paid for with our men’s lives. Our soldiers. Our bravest men. I have had to send so many men to their deaths when it all could have been prevented.”
Diego did his best to listen with an open mind, if for no other reason than to try to understand Pillar and his way of thinking. There was no possible way to agree with him, but it was worth listening to him in order to figure out how a man as intelligent as Pillar would find a way to justify the experiments on children. Not just any experiments—many of them were totally horrific, such as introducing cancer over and over to the child and operating without anesthesia, as well as so many other heinous and unconscionable practices.
Leila pressed her fingers deeper into his thigh, drawing his attention. She leaned closer to him, her gaze sweeping over his face, feature by feature, as if assessing his condition.The floor is trembling. Is that you?
That would be Rubin. My calm, reliable brother. Everyone will think it’s me because Rubin always has it together. He very rarely loses control, but when he does, it is complete devastation.He included Rubin so his brother would hear the amusement in his voice and feel it in his mind. It always made him laugh when his brother turned hothead.
