Read Online Genesis Plague by Sam Best - Free Book Online Page A

said
Renfield. “A little rain never hurt anyone.”
    He tossed me a pair of
heavy boots. I flipped them over and pushed down on the heat-resistant lug
soles. “We can walk in the cave with these?”
    “For a while. They’re
tested up to five-hundred degrees.”
    “Just watch your step,”
said Maria, and winked at me.
     Renfield pulled out a
large, clamshell plastic bin and popped the clasps on its side.
    “You might feel a
little silly in these,” he said, “but I assure you, they’re necessary.”
    He opened the bin and
started handing out full-body protective suits, made of a shimmering,
cloth-like material. I took mine and rubbed a portion of it between my fingers.
The pearlescent fabric felt almost like lizard skin.
    “I don’t do disco,”
said Flint, shaking his head at the offered suit.
    “I kind of like it,”
said Maria, stretching hers with her hands. “And I bet Mike looks great in
his.” He grinned back at her. I could practically see his puppy tail wagging.
    “Unless you want your
skin to melt off, Flint,” said Renfield, “I suggest you take it.”
    “Hey, man, it’s your
slug, remember? I’m just here to take the mountain’s temperature.”
    “And what better way to
do that than from inside its mouth?”
    Flint looked at me and
I shrugged. Resignedly, he snatched the suit out of Renfield’s hand, who smiled
broadly.
    “Now then!” he said, clearly
in his element. He reached into the bin and pulled out a stack of full-face
masks with clear plastic shields and black filters over the mouths. “These are
just a precaution, but since we don’t know what else we’ll find in the cave, it
seems only prudent.”
    Cassidy took her mask
and examined it. “But you’ve already been inside. The air is breathable.”
    “Completely!” Renfield
said happily. “But it was foolish to go into the cave without first measuring
the air quality. Who knows how old the air is down there? There could be all
manner of contamination floating, just floating around. Not to mention our own
exhalations! But as I said, these masks are only a precaution. My two
assistants who went inside are perfectly fine. In fact, there’s Dan Grayson
now.”
    Grayson was in his
mid-twenties, with white-blonde hair and fair skin. He shook Renfield’s hand and
looked around at the rest of us, nodding his greetings.
    “So this is the
A-Team,” he said.
    “That’s us,” said Cass.
    “You look a lot bigger
on TV.”
    That got a round of
chuckles, and riotous laughter from Flint. Renfield handed Grayson a set of
gear.
    “Dan will be joining us
on the ascent. The more the merrier, right?”
    A voice broke in from
outside the group. “My thoughts exactly.”
    I turned around to see Alexander
King nearby, leaning casually against Mike Pahalo’s white Jeep. Surprisingly,
Mike didn’t leap to shove him off.
    “Having trouble getting
clearance to go up the mountain?” asked Cassidy.
    “You’re very beautiful,
Ms. Baker,” said Xander. “I can see why Paul likes you.”
    Her mouth opened, then
closed. Her face flushed briefly. She was either embarrassed or flattered, or
maybe embarrassed about being flattered.
    Xander took a step
toward the group and stopped, his hands in his pockets. I put my hand on
Cassidy’s smooth shoulder and guided her a few inches away. The corner of
Xander’s mouth rose up slightly when he noticed what I was doing.
    “The people whom I
represent have very strict rules that often conflict with my…somewhat cavalier methods of research,” he said.
    “What you do isn’t
research,” I said, remembering the circumstances of our last encounter. “You
don’t care who gets hurt as long as you get what you want.”
    “That’s your own
misguided opinion, Dr. Nassai.” The disdain with which he pronounced doctor would have been obvious to a two-year-old. “I allow people to pay for their own
incompetence so they never again put anyone else in real danger, whereas people
like you are doomed