Read Online Red Queen by Christopher Pike - Free Book Online

other hotels on the Strip before I’ll have to get out of town.”
    â€œAre you saying your life would be in danger?”
    â€œYou act surprised—don’t be. If I continue to win, the people who own these glittering towers will get annoyed. They’re used to taking people’s money, they don’t like handing it out in suitcases.” He paused and drank some more coffee. “Someone, at some point, would take action.”
    â€œYou’re talking about the Mob, right? I’ve heard it still controls Las Vegas from behind the scenes. That people just don’t realize it.”
    He surprised me when he shook his head. “The Mob has no power here.”
    â€œThen who, exactly, would take action against you?”
    â€œThat’s a story for another night. The main thing is you have enough money to go to school.”
    â€œIf I accept the hundred grand.”
    â€œYou’ll take it. You may be a nice kid but you’re not stupid.”
    â€œI’m not a kid.”
    He bowed his head. “My apologies.”
    I nodded toward the dining area. “You left your laptop on. You should be thankful I’m not a spy. I could have gone through your mail.”
    He was unconcerned. “I just use it to access the Internet and keep up with a few friends.”
    â€œI noticed the brochures beside the computer. You work for West World?” I asked.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI glanced at the brochure. They’re a genetics company?”
    â€œThey’ve developed a technology whereby they can take a three-dimensional picture of your entire genome in a matter of seconds.”
    â€œA real picture? One that shows where you might have a defect?”
    â€œAn extremely detailed picture. When our product hits the market, it will explode. It will allow any doctor to take a picture of you the instant you’re born and predict—with a high degree of accuracy—what diseases you’re likely to catch during your life.”
    â€œThe insurance companies will love that.”
    â€œYou’re quick. A few years from now the insurance companies will probably demand to see such a photograph before they agree to insure you.”
    â€œThat’s terrible. Just because someone has a predisposition to catch a disease, they shouldn’t be denied insurance.”
    Russ wasn’t offended. “You won’t get an argument from me. The potential for abuse with this device—we call it the scanner—is frightening. WW is having a convention in town this weekend to address these precise issues. Tons of insurance company CEOs, deans of medical schools, presidents of hospitals—just about everyone who’s a major player in the medical field is in Las Vegas to hear about our technology. There are politicians here as well. Next to defense, the health industry is the largest industry in the world. Everyone who knows about the scanner wants some say in how it’s to be used.”
    â€œIt shows how clueless I am. I didn’t even know this convention was taking place.”
    â€œDon’t be embarrassed. The convention is large but West World has gone out of its way to keep the media away. There hasn’t been a single article in the papers about our meetings.”
    â€œI’m amazed you can keep anything a secret nowadays.”
    â€œIt’s not a problem if you have enough money. West World is heavily capitalized, to the tune of twenty billion, and it’s not even a public company. They know how controversial their project is. They want the scanner in widespread use before it gets major publicity.”
    â€œWait. You said ‘how controversial their project is.’ Did you mean ‘product’?”
    Russ put down his coffee and stared at me. “You don’t miss much, do you? West World didn’t just develop the scanner so it can pass them out to whoever can afford one. They’re in the middle of a