The chopper arrived on schedule and she boarded.
“Have a successful trip,” the pilot asked.
She glared at him and said nothing. Peacock knew what she had to do. Once back home, she’d do it.
Five hours later, the plane sent by the president landed in Washington D.C. Peacock disembarked. She scanned the hanger area and the position of the limos waiting for her. She handed Reed’s list to the agent at the foot of the steps. Instead of heading for the limousine sent for her, she bolted straight for the follow-car.
“What’s she doing?” she heard someone yell.
Peacock opened the follow-car’s door and hurled the driver out before anyone thought to act. She leaped behind the steering wheel and floored the accelerator. She sped out and away from the airport.
“Peacock, abort your plan.”
She ignored Polaris’s voice in her head. Instead, she slammed the scar tissue at the back of her ear with her fist, until Polaris’s voice turned to faint static. She wasn’t going back to Hercules. She wasn’t going back to Monroe, or to Pendleton, or to her home in Bethesda. All she wanted to do was kill. Not for Pendleton and not for Monroe, she was going to kill her enemies and stop the missile launches—every one of them.
Chapter 9
“The device is firing at random,” Polaris yelled. “She’s not responding to the shocks. Her mind’s subconsciously selecting her pathway, and she’s following along by instinct.”
Kolb’s tampering ran contrary to Polaris’s beliefs. Freedom of personal choice ranked at the top for him. Freedom topped the ideals America stood for. He loved dealing with Peacock when her implant acted only as a communications device, but Kolb crossed the line with neurological stimulation.
As Polaris evaluated what was and wasn’t working, Nyugen put a call in to Kolb.
She’s with Major at his home, Polaris thought. She won’t respond.
“All right, Polaris.” Nyugen grumped after his unsuccessful attempt to talk to Kolb. “Can you track her?”
“Negative. I am able to monitor the sections of her brain that are firing off. I can’t hear what she hears anymore, and she’s not responding to me.”
“What was the last thing she said with her sound unit working?”
Polaris played back the tape.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“After the shots, all I hear is screaming, gasping, and the sounds of her leaving the house. She doesn’t say a word until she arrives back in Washington. Then she must have somehow disabled the sound unit.”
“Not a word since then?”
“No. She’s done something to the audio mechanism. But even with the speech implant destroyed, we should be able to control her with brainwave signals and force her to return here.”
#
Nyugen trembled at the idea of a rogue agent with Peacock’s capabilities. He examined her brain monitor and shook his head. The recorder drew a picture of what he never thought possible, “She exhibits amazing cognitive flexibility. Her abstract thinking. . .” Nyugen hesitated. “By her actions, Peacock and the probe are thinking in unison, neither ruling the other, hence the increased activity in the frontal lobe, the hypothalamus, and the hypophyseal portal system.”
Nyugen’s cell rang. “Yes.”
“This is Kolb. Why the hell are you bothering me?”
“Our train has run away. Without a blood test I can’t be sure, but I believe Peacock’s hypothalamus is malfunctioning, and our implant and her id have bonded to allow that to happen.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Her emotions fly off the scale, anger soars, and her sex drive runs wild. She fights resetting back to normal. Her heart rate is 115. Yet she’s cognitive and thinks abstractly. You tell me.”
Only the sound of Kolb hyperventilating hissed in Nyugen’s ears. He continued, “What happens if we shut our equipment down?”
“Two things—both bad, ” Kolb said. “The backup sensors will deteriorate in forty-eight hours. She’ll
“Have a successful trip,” the pilot asked.
She glared at him and said nothing. Peacock knew what she had to do. Once back home, she’d do it.
Five hours later, the plane sent by the president landed in Washington D.C. Peacock disembarked. She scanned the hanger area and the position of the limos waiting for her. She handed Reed’s list to the agent at the foot of the steps. Instead of heading for the limousine sent for her, she bolted straight for the follow-car.
“What’s she doing?” she heard someone yell.
Peacock opened the follow-car’s door and hurled the driver out before anyone thought to act. She leaped behind the steering wheel and floored the accelerator. She sped out and away from the airport.
“Peacock, abort your plan.”
She ignored Polaris’s voice in her head. Instead, she slammed the scar tissue at the back of her ear with her fist, until Polaris’s voice turned to faint static. She wasn’t going back to Hercules. She wasn’t going back to Monroe, or to Pendleton, or to her home in Bethesda. All she wanted to do was kill. Not for Pendleton and not for Monroe, she was going to kill her enemies and stop the missile launches—every one of them.
Chapter 9
“The device is firing at random,” Polaris yelled. “She’s not responding to the shocks. Her mind’s subconsciously selecting her pathway, and she’s following along by instinct.”
Kolb’s tampering ran contrary to Polaris’s beliefs. Freedom of personal choice ranked at the top for him. Freedom topped the ideals America stood for. He loved dealing with Peacock when her implant acted only as a communications device, but Kolb crossed the line with neurological stimulation.
As Polaris evaluated what was and wasn’t working, Nyugen put a call in to Kolb.
She’s with Major at his home, Polaris thought. She won’t respond.
“All right, Polaris.” Nyugen grumped after his unsuccessful attempt to talk to Kolb. “Can you track her?”
“Negative. I am able to monitor the sections of her brain that are firing off. I can’t hear what she hears anymore, and she’s not responding to me.”
“What was the last thing she said with her sound unit working?”
Polaris played back the tape.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“After the shots, all I hear is screaming, gasping, and the sounds of her leaving the house. She doesn’t say a word until she arrives back in Washington. Then she must have somehow disabled the sound unit.”
“Not a word since then?”
“No. She’s done something to the audio mechanism. But even with the speech implant destroyed, we should be able to control her with brainwave signals and force her to return here.”
#
Nyugen trembled at the idea of a rogue agent with Peacock’s capabilities. He examined her brain monitor and shook his head. The recorder drew a picture of what he never thought possible, “She exhibits amazing cognitive flexibility. Her abstract thinking. . .” Nyugen hesitated. “By her actions, Peacock and the probe are thinking in unison, neither ruling the other, hence the increased activity in the frontal lobe, the hypothalamus, and the hypophyseal portal system.”
Nyugen’s cell rang. “Yes.”
“This is Kolb. Why the hell are you bothering me?”
“Our train has run away. Without a blood test I can’t be sure, but I believe Peacock’s hypothalamus is malfunctioning, and our implant and her id have bonded to allow that to happen.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Her emotions fly off the scale, anger soars, and her sex drive runs wild. She fights resetting back to normal. Her heart rate is 115. Yet she’s cognitive and thinks abstractly. You tell me.”
Only the sound of Kolb hyperventilating hissed in Nyugen’s ears. He continued, “What happens if we shut our equipment down?”
“Two things—both bad, ” Kolb said. “The backup sensors will deteriorate in forty-eight hours. She’ll
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