Read Online The Chimera Vector by Nathan M Farrugia - Free Book Online Page A

perched high on the mountain above Rio. Six-year-old Jay ducked under a swathe of cables patched into a utility pole. His younger brother, Hélio, had fallen behind again. Jay checked over his shoulder. Hélio was still running heartily to keep up, a small blur alongside the concrete walls and graffiti.
    Jay scaled the tin roof and stepped through a broken window. He had found his way inside a recently abandoned hideout before Hélio had even started climbing. Lots of empty rifle shells and racks that a few days ago would have been brimming with cable television equipment. Jay had heard someone had been planning to set themselves up as illegal cable providers—before BOPE, Rio’s Police Special Forces, had raided the place.
    A rabbit scurried around a large hole in the floor. Jay ignored it. He saw rabbits all the time, many of them, but they were too disease-ridden to eat. Jay was more interested in finding whatever BOPE might’ve missed. Anything he might be able to sell for money.
    Hélio stumbled through the window behind him. Jay ignored him and checked the next room. It was bare except for three empty fireworks cylinders and a dusty bottle of soda.
    ‘ Nada ,’ Hélio said, kicking a glass bottle.
    Jay heard the bottle drop down the hole. A few seconds later, it smashed onto concrete several floors below.
    Jay picked up a fireworks cylinder and inspected it. Empty shells fell out and scattered on the floor. But they didn’t sound hollow. He picked one up. It wasn’t empty at all. He was holding a real bullet! And it was a big one too. As thick as his thumb and as long as his whole hand. He picked up the other bullets, one after another.
    Hélio called out to him. ‘ Irmão! ’ Brother.
    Jay counted thirteen big bullets.
    ‘ Irmão! ’
    Jay wondered if he could sell them to a gang member. How much would he demand for them? He’d have to act tough otherwise they’d try to scam him.
    A sharp popping sound made him jump. Fireworks.
    The gang used fireworks as a warning when BOPE arrived.
    ‘ Irmão! BOPE! ’ Hélio screamed.
    Then came the cracking sound of bullets. One smashed through a window.
    Jay ran back to Hélio. The glass had sprinkled over the floor. Close call. Hélio hadn’t been hit. More bullets cracked past the building. Jay ducked. Where was his brother?
    Hélio’s head of matted black hair bobbed just over the edge of the hole. His fingers were clinging to its edge. ‘ Irmão! ’ He was sobbing.
    Jay couldn’t move. Fear had riveted him to the spot.
    More rounds cracked past.
    Hélio’s fingers were white at the tips. He hung there, just his fingers and head visible. Jay could see his eyes. Tears streamed from them.
    ‘ Ajuda mim! ’ Help me!
    The unused bullets slipped from Jay’s hands, scattering across the concrete. His heart was racing. BOPE would be here any moment.
    ‘ Irmão! ’ Hélio screamed.
    Jay’s legs wobbled. He wanted to help, but his body wouldn’t listen. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t look away.
    He shut his eyes.
    Every time he had this dream, it always ended the same way. His brother let go of the edge. And he would never get him back.
    When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting in a mess hall with over seventy other kids, some a bit younger, some older. Boys and girls. He’d passed all the selection tests in Rio, and then all the entrance tests at the Desecheo Island training facility. And now, he wasn’t sure why he was here, but he secretly hoped that he was sitting with all the successful entrants into the Argus Foundation’s scholarship program.
    People in white coats were serving them lunch. Neatly cut sandwich triangles, a small bladder of long-life milk and a choc-chip cookie on a plastic tray. Everyone had the same food, but Jay’s table hadn’t been served yet. There were more people in white coats pacing about, checking kids’ names off their tablets and asking questions.
    Sitting opposite Jay was a boy, about his age. A quiet one. He