Read Online Genesis by Keith R. A. DeCandido - Free Book Online

wasn’t what really got my attention. After all, that was in your initial background check, and if there was anything weird about your brother, it probably would’ve come up then. But then there was Mahmoud al-Rashan.”
    The hand of ice became a tightly clenched fist.
    Alice’s odd smile became a full-fledged grin. Shestraightened up and walked toward Lisa, putting an encouraging hand on her shoulder.
    â€œDon’t panic too much, I only found the connection between you and al-Rashan after a month of computer searches that I did in my spare time. It gets very boring on mansion duty some days, and even Spence has his endurance limits.”
    Despite herself, Lisa actually returned the grin.
    But it didn’t last. She couldn’t stop thinking about who this woman was, and what she could to do Lisa—and to Matt.
    And to Matt’s organization.
    â€œOnce I realized that you and al-Rashan were coworkers and friends, it all came together. Pursuing a job with the same corporation that was all but responsible for your friend’s death, to the point where you relocated from the city you’d lived in all your life, a relocation you’d rejected six years earlier. Sure, there were circumstances to explain all of that—but not why you were so aggressively trying to get peeks at stuff you aren’t cleared for.”
    Lisa’s breaths started coming more shallowly. As Alice reached into her pocket, Lisa feared that a gun with a silencer would come out of it. Or would she even bother with a silencer? They were in the middle of nowhere, and the only person likely to hear the gunshot was Spence, and he was on Alice’s side.
    But all Alice did was put the mini-DVD player away.
    â€œWhat did you think of what you saw?”
    Lisa blinked. “What?”
    â€œOn my monitor. What did you think of it?”
    Honestly, Lisa said, “I don’t know what to think. That creature was—it was a nightmare. And that virus—it looked like something we were developing, not studying. Not something natural. And certainly that—that thing wasn’t natural.”
    â€œIt’s a T-virus, and you’re right, it’s not at all natural. Believe it or not, it came about from a study into something that would retard the aging process—an ointment that would keep the skin cells from aging.”
    â€œA glorified wrinkle cream, you mean?”
    Alice raised an eyebrow. “A bit more than that, but yes. However, the virus does more—a lot more. Inhaling it is fatal. It has a one hundred percent kill rate—”
    Again, Lisa shivered.
    â€œâ€”and it keeps the body animated after death.”
    â€œWhat?” Lisa asked incredulously. They had just veered into bad science fiction territory. Or maybe back to those godawful monster comics of Matt’s.
    But the creature with no eyes on Alice’s computer screen wasn’t the flight of fancy of a 1950s-era comic-book artist. That was real.
    â€œThe body still generates electrical impulses for some time after it dies,” Alice said. “The T-virus works by stimulating cells.”
    â€œSo they’ve created a killer that turns you into a zombie?”
    Alice nodded. “It could be a brutal biological weapon,” she said, understating the case somewhat, “and there are certain people in the U.S. government—andother governments—who’d pay top dollar for it. Developing it is in violation of half a dozen domestic laws and half a dozen more international ones.”
    â€œWhy—why are you telling me this?” Lisa swallowed. “Are you just telling me because you’re going to kill me?”
    The weird smile came back. “I may look like a Bond girl, Lisa, but I’m not a Bond villain. I didn’t bring you here to kill you. I brought you here to talk to you.”
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œI thought that was obvious. After all, Mahmoud