Read Online Project Sparta (The Xander Whitt Series Book 1) by B.B. Gallagher - Free Book Online

device?”
    “Three to four times the size,” Azir replied.
    “Good.” Agent Zero hung up the phone and walked to the barbed wire fence, lining Michigan avenue.
    Xander has the package and played right into my hand. The device has been completed. The first target has been hit. All is going according to plan.
    Agent Zero gazed down the avenue at the passing taxis carrying passengers ignorant of what was to come, past a shop owner closing the shutters over display windows, above the manhole covers that sent pillars of steam into the city’s skyline. Agent Zero’s eyes finally settled on a large building towering over the city and focused as if it were the bull’s eye of a target.
    Agent Zero’s hand reached out to the Capitol building in the distance and enclosed a vengeful fist around it.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    The Compound
    June 11 th 2010
     
     
     
    The Spartans’ physical and mental assessments took place the next day. Xander throughout the day ran a forty-yard dash, bench pressed his max, took a written exam, and finally sat down with the Project’s psychologist, Dr. Pindar.
    They sat in Xander’s house facing each other, Xander on the couch next to the bookshelf and Pindar in the armchair across the room. Xander’s features hung, exhausted from the day and agitated by the thought that he was now a lab rat for a mysterious government contractor.
    “Okay, Xander, we are just going to talk. Our aim here today is to open up about how you are feeling and handling the transition to the Project.”
    “Okay.”
    “So, how’s it going?”
    “Fine…” A long pause followed the terse response. Many moments passed, and Dr. Pindar adjusted her approach.
    “It’s okay to open up to me. Anything you say here will remain between us.” A smirk materialized on Xander’s face. “Is something funny?”
    “I’m a guinea pig in a fish bowl trying to figure out how to swim…” Xander shrugged.
    “Why did you come to Project Sparta?” Xander hesitated a beat.
    “I always knew that I was different after the crash. I saw things differently. I remembered everything and could read people instinctually. Every other kid around me was behind. So I devoured every book I could get my hands on because I had no friends and couldn’t relate to anyone my age. I would have stopped going to school a very long time ago if Ms. Baker hadn’t forced me to go. I figured this program was for people like me. What I have seen so far is that each recruit is here for a specific purpose. But I can’t figure out what my purpose is. What’s my expertise? What makes me special? Why do you people even want me here?”
    Dr. Pindar jotted down a few notes. “Colonel Hardy hand selected each Spartan. I do not know why he picked you, but I can tell you this: for the last forty-eight hours I have been speaking with each recruit, helping them cope with the reality that they have been selected for a black ops training program and their lives will never be the same,” Dr. Pindar explained.
    “So?”
    “I can tell you that you aren’t nearly as distraught by that reality. So, maybe it is your courage that sets you apart.”
     
    «————————»
     
    Xander couldn’t sleep at all that night—morning came and he had not closed his eyes once. He fixed his sights on the revolution of the fan and again assessed his peculiar surroundings. His mind raced, attempting to process the mystery and unorthodoxy of the Compound. He reflected on the day, his assessments, and how he was being tested by government contractors. He still didn’t understand why. Project Sparta’s apparent methods and quarantined nature made Xander skeptical of its true intent.
    It helped to know other recruits were going through it with him. He had the beginnings of a friendship with Ezra and Jooles, but there was a special, unspoken connection with Fiona. It consisted of guilty, bashful smiles, small talk, and awkward interactions. It was