man-eaters running around and working together, he’ll want to get back out into the field.”
“Which could aggravate his injuries, leading to real problems if he’s the real thing,” Lakesh spoke up. “Or if he’s fake, give him the opportunity to return to the Thrush Continuum after accomplishing whichever task he was sent to do.”
“Even if it were just to throw doubt onto one of our own,” Domi added.
“We have to keep Kane here and under wraps fornow,” Grant said. “Anything else is just an invitation to disaster. Lakesh, maybe you should start thinking about exactly what Thrush would want to do with the resources we have here at Cerberus that he couldn’t do from his Orb.”
“I’ve been running everything I could in my mind,” Lakesh said.
Grant nodded. “All you need to do is keep an eye on Kane to figure out what he’s trying to do here and put it up against what you’ve suspected.”
“Precisely,” Lakesh answered. “Be careful, darlingest Domi.”
“I’m going to have to say the same thing,” Domi returned. “Edwards, go get Sela. We’re suiting up for the field. Grant, you might—”
“I’m already on the way to the armory to pick up some spare gear for Kane,” Grant cut her off.
“And more restraints,” Domi added. “What we run into might look like Kane, but what if that really is the fake, and we’ve been stuck running around and picking up the infiltrator when we brought the real guy home?”
Grant grimaced. “DeFore, could you spare a couple painkillers for me? All this shit’s giving me a headache.”
“You’re not the only one lost here,” DeFore responded. “But I’m going to give you my educated opinion. I’ve been over that man easily forty times in the past. If he’s a duplicate, then whoever kidnapped the real Kane stripped him naked and looked over every inch ofhis body, then utilized some pretty impressive technology to copy every bit of scar tissue around.”
“That’s not saying much,” Lakesh returned. “Sam regressed my age. Remolding a patch of skin to look like healed tissue shouldn’t be beyond that level of biological engineering.”
“Or we could just be too damn paranoid for our own good,” Grant said. “Domi, did you get anything wrong about him?”
Domi shook her head. “It’s not as if I have the sense of smell of a dog or shit like that. I’m a good tracker, but the only superhuman ability I have are the soles of my feet. They’re harder than armadillo shells.”
Grant shrugged. “I just thought you’d spot something the rest of us didn’t think of. You’ve proved to be pretty perceptive on more than enough occasions.”
Domi sighed. “Sorry. I’m not thinking straight.”
“Which I believe could be Thrush’s plan,” Lakesh said.
“Whatever the plan, the more time we spend jawing about this shit, the closer it comes to succeeding,” Grant growled. “Come on, Domi.”
The pair was as physically different as could be, one tall, muscular and seemingly cast out of bronze and obsidian, the other small, wiry and looking as if she were crafted from porcelain. Yet the two people shared an identical intensity and determination as they left the meeting room.
B RIGID ACCOMPANIED Kane to the canteen, where he finished his meal. She watched as Kane threw away theremaining trash from his lunch. He sighed and picked up his plate and utensils, carrying them to the washing basin. “I know, don’t make more work for the kitchen staff. You’d think with all the extra bodies around, we’d need something to keep them busy.”
Brigid raised an eyebrow. “You mean that digging through the garbage for your fork and knife is a good utilization of some of the most brilliant minds left over from the twentieth century?”
Kane shrugged. “Look at the world they left behind for us. All that genius and…”
“You’re putting the blame for skydark on them?” Brigid asked. “Especially when we saw Colonel Thrush
“Which could aggravate his injuries, leading to real problems if he’s the real thing,” Lakesh spoke up. “Or if he’s fake, give him the opportunity to return to the Thrush Continuum after accomplishing whichever task he was sent to do.”
“Even if it were just to throw doubt onto one of our own,” Domi added.
“We have to keep Kane here and under wraps fornow,” Grant said. “Anything else is just an invitation to disaster. Lakesh, maybe you should start thinking about exactly what Thrush would want to do with the resources we have here at Cerberus that he couldn’t do from his Orb.”
“I’ve been running everything I could in my mind,” Lakesh said.
Grant nodded. “All you need to do is keep an eye on Kane to figure out what he’s trying to do here and put it up against what you’ve suspected.”
“Precisely,” Lakesh answered. “Be careful, darlingest Domi.”
“I’m going to have to say the same thing,” Domi returned. “Edwards, go get Sela. We’re suiting up for the field. Grant, you might—”
“I’m already on the way to the armory to pick up some spare gear for Kane,” Grant cut her off.
“And more restraints,” Domi added. “What we run into might look like Kane, but what if that really is the fake, and we’ve been stuck running around and picking up the infiltrator when we brought the real guy home?”
Grant grimaced. “DeFore, could you spare a couple painkillers for me? All this shit’s giving me a headache.”
“You’re not the only one lost here,” DeFore responded. “But I’m going to give you my educated opinion. I’ve been over that man easily forty times in the past. If he’s a duplicate, then whoever kidnapped the real Kane stripped him naked and looked over every inch ofhis body, then utilized some pretty impressive technology to copy every bit of scar tissue around.”
“That’s not saying much,” Lakesh returned. “Sam regressed my age. Remolding a patch of skin to look like healed tissue shouldn’t be beyond that level of biological engineering.”
“Or we could just be too damn paranoid for our own good,” Grant said. “Domi, did you get anything wrong about him?”
Domi shook her head. “It’s not as if I have the sense of smell of a dog or shit like that. I’m a good tracker, but the only superhuman ability I have are the soles of my feet. They’re harder than armadillo shells.”
Grant shrugged. “I just thought you’d spot something the rest of us didn’t think of. You’ve proved to be pretty perceptive on more than enough occasions.”
Domi sighed. “Sorry. I’m not thinking straight.”
“Which I believe could be Thrush’s plan,” Lakesh said.
“Whatever the plan, the more time we spend jawing about this shit, the closer it comes to succeeding,” Grant growled. “Come on, Domi.”
The pair was as physically different as could be, one tall, muscular and seemingly cast out of bronze and obsidian, the other small, wiry and looking as if she were crafted from porcelain. Yet the two people shared an identical intensity and determination as they left the meeting room.
B RIGID ACCOMPANIED Kane to the canteen, where he finished his meal. She watched as Kane threw away theremaining trash from his lunch. He sighed and picked up his plate and utensils, carrying them to the washing basin. “I know, don’t make more work for the kitchen staff. You’d think with all the extra bodies around, we’d need something to keep them busy.”
Brigid raised an eyebrow. “You mean that digging through the garbage for your fork and knife is a good utilization of some of the most brilliant minds left over from the twentieth century?”
Kane shrugged. “Look at the world they left behind for us. All that genius and…”
“You’re putting the blame for skydark on them?” Brigid asked. “Especially when we saw Colonel Thrush
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