Read Online Bitter Harvest (Harvest Trilogy, Book 2) by Michael R. Hicks - Free Book Online

a mixture of disbelief, horror, and outrage, he added, “Please, let me finish.”  
    Setting the wine glass down on a side table before her shaking hands could spill it, Naomi said, “Go on.” She felt as if the fabric of her dress had suddenly turned into shards of glass, gouging into her skin.
    “I don’t know all the details, of course. But I know enough. I know that you perfected a food-based delivery system for RNA payloads that could be used to combat disease, or even correct genetic defects.” He leaned closer. “That’s my dream, Naomi. To take the revolutionary work you began and bring it to fruition for the good of the world.”
    He picked up his drink and sat back, taking a sip. “I also know that something went very badly, terribly wrong at New Horizons, and I’m not interested in the whole business with the Earth Defense Society. I don’t much care about the past, except for whatever lessons we can learn from it. I’m interested in the future, and I want — I need — you to be part of it.”
    It took Naomi a moment to gather her thoughts. She had never actually considered carrying on the work she’d done at New Horizons. Upon reflection, the role she had played, what she had created in her time there, had been groundbreaking by any standard. And it could have, should have, been used for good. Even though she had been driven by greed at the time, she believed that what she was doing would help people, and potentially end the suffering of millions.  
    And it would have. She knew that in her heart. While her main work had been focused on developing the delivery system, she had also learned a great deal from Rachel Kempf about the payload. Kempf had been a harvester, but the knowledge she had shared, and that Naomi had built upon, had opened Naomi’s eyes to unguessed vistas of genetic possibilities. She had the knowledge to recreate not only the delivery system itself, but to guide specialist researchers in designing payloads that could be tailored to destroy specific diseases. While Kempf had lied about the true contents of the payload New Horizons had designed, the truth was that the system worked. In the right hands, the delivery system could have saved untold lives. Naomi had spent more than one sleepless night wondering at how things might have been, had her work not been corrupted and twisted by the harvesters.
    Looking up at Morgan, she told him, “I need some time to think about it.”
    “No, you don’t.”  
    She felt a flare of anger, but Morgan spoke before she could react.
    “Naomi, this is the best place for you right now. I’m well informed, and I know that the government has let you go. That’s fine, because you don’t belong there.” He waved his hand, a dismissive gesture. “Sure, you could find a job somewhere else, and you’d do well. But you won’t find any other place, no company or institution, that has resources and technology on a par with ours, and the very personal and direct interest of the CEO backing your efforts. Were you to take any other path, you would not only be shortchanging yourself, but would inflict a tragic loss on humanity. We might eventually be able to recreate what you did at New Horizons, but it’ll take us years. I have some very smart people working for me, and that’s what they’re telling me. But you could get us there in months.”
    Morgan stood up and walked to his desk. Opening one of the slim drawers, he removed a piece of paper. He sat on the couch next to Naomi and handed the paper to her. “Here.”  
    She recognized what it was: a check, written out to her. She gasped when she saw the amount.
    “That’s right,” Morgan told her. “Five million dollars. Consider that your base pay for the first year you’re with us, plus the usual laundry list of benefits and stock options that’ll easily double the value of that check.”
    “Howard,” she said, “I still don’t know…”
    “Listen to me, doctor. I can’t hold you