Read Online Vampire Redemption by Phil Tucker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Phil Tucker
Tags: Vampires
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tighten in her gut as McKnight snapped to attention and saluted. The thought of going into this fortress of a building without her was not a comforting one. Selah began to slide out of the heavy leather jacket so as to return it, but McKnight climbed back into the Humvee before she could do so. Selah hesitated, and then pulled the jacket back on. The Hummer's engine rumbled to life, and without sparing Selah a glance, McKnight drove out of the inner compound.
Selah followed the Lieutenant Colonel into the building. He asked her about LA, about what had happened at the base, and she answered with a minimum of words. Her attention was instead focused on the building itself and how durable it seemed. Almost as if prepared for a full-scale assault or a bombing. The front doors were ponderous, massive, but swung easily enough when shoved. An inch of solid steel, thought Selah, examining them as she stepped through. That would slow down even a wave of vampires.
They passed into the lobby beyond, which looked more like a doctor's waiting room than anything else. Plastic bucket seats lined the walls and a central coffee table showed a spread of science and chemistry magazines. Posters on the wall displayed encouraging aphorisms beneath images of smiling scientists. Applied Knowledge = Wise Action read one, a grinning man in a lab coat dripping a fluid out of a massive pipette into a beaker. The Supernatural is Merely Unexplained Phenomena read another, showing a petite Asian woman in blue doctor scrubs looking up from a microscope.
They passed through to a hallway beyond. The linoleum floors gleamed as if freshly washed, and the walls bore endless portraits of donors, doctors, and military figures, all of them framed in the same faux-gold.
"The USAMRIID is the Department of Defense's leading force in medical biological defense research. Our sister base is out in Maryland, and this lab has been up and running for, oh ... four years now." Wigner's voice had settled into a comfortable cadence, as if recounting these facts were something that gave him distinct and quiet pleasure. "President Hanover signed the initial order to have this lab created in response to the discovery of the vampire threat, but it was only under President Lynnfield that the funds were actually allocated and construction completed." He beamed at her as if she were nine years old, and she looked away, uncomfortable.
"Where are we going? What's going to happen to me?"
"You, my dear, are going to be staying with us for awhile. You're safe here. That's what matters."
Selah slowed down and Wigner turned to face her as she stopped. "Am I a prisoner?"
He gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Technically, you're in a gray area. You're under military jurisdiction, but your sentence for murdering Colonel Adams has been stayed in light of the potential properties of your blood. What happens next will depend in large part on whether the claims coming out of Miami are true, and what potential we think you may hold for helping us in the war effort."
Selah looked from Wigner's face to the two soldiers that stood behind her. They didn't meet her eyes, instead looking down the hallway.
"So I'm a prisoner."
"Selah." Wigner leaned back on his heels. "It's all a matter of perspective. I believe you were slated for execution before the higher-ups intervened. You should be grateful to be here instead. This could present you with an opportunity to clean your slate. Depending on what we learn over the next few weeks, you may play a very important role in the future of this nation."
Selah didn't know how to respond to that. She looked up and down the bland hallway. She was inside the fortress now. Under guard. What had she expected? She examined her hopes critically and realized that she had naively hoped to meet General Adams here, to have been welcomed with open arms, treated as an ally, a friend. Foolishness. She shook her head.
"Come along. As I was saying, this facility has
Selah followed the Lieutenant Colonel into the building. He asked her about LA, about what had happened at the base, and she answered with a minimum of words. Her attention was instead focused on the building itself and how durable it seemed. Almost as if prepared for a full-scale assault or a bombing. The front doors were ponderous, massive, but swung easily enough when shoved. An inch of solid steel, thought Selah, examining them as she stepped through. That would slow down even a wave of vampires.
They passed into the lobby beyond, which looked more like a doctor's waiting room than anything else. Plastic bucket seats lined the walls and a central coffee table showed a spread of science and chemistry magazines. Posters on the wall displayed encouraging aphorisms beneath images of smiling scientists. Applied Knowledge = Wise Action read one, a grinning man in a lab coat dripping a fluid out of a massive pipette into a beaker. The Supernatural is Merely Unexplained Phenomena read another, showing a petite Asian woman in blue doctor scrubs looking up from a microscope.
They passed through to a hallway beyond. The linoleum floors gleamed as if freshly washed, and the walls bore endless portraits of donors, doctors, and military figures, all of them framed in the same faux-gold.
"The USAMRIID is the Department of Defense's leading force in medical biological defense research. Our sister base is out in Maryland, and this lab has been up and running for, oh ... four years now." Wigner's voice had settled into a comfortable cadence, as if recounting these facts were something that gave him distinct and quiet pleasure. "President Hanover signed the initial order to have this lab created in response to the discovery of the vampire threat, but it was only under President Lynnfield that the funds were actually allocated and construction completed." He beamed at her as if she were nine years old, and she looked away, uncomfortable.
"Where are we going? What's going to happen to me?"
"You, my dear, are going to be staying with us for awhile. You're safe here. That's what matters."
Selah slowed down and Wigner turned to face her as she stopped. "Am I a prisoner?"
He gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Technically, you're in a gray area. You're under military jurisdiction, but your sentence for murdering Colonel Adams has been stayed in light of the potential properties of your blood. What happens next will depend in large part on whether the claims coming out of Miami are true, and what potential we think you may hold for helping us in the war effort."
Selah looked from Wigner's face to the two soldiers that stood behind her. They didn't meet her eyes, instead looking down the hallway.
"So I'm a prisoner."
"Selah." Wigner leaned back on his heels. "It's all a matter of perspective. I believe you were slated for execution before the higher-ups intervened. You should be grateful to be here instead. This could present you with an opportunity to clean your slate. Depending on what we learn over the next few weeks, you may play a very important role in the future of this nation."
Selah didn't know how to respond to that. She looked up and down the bland hallway. She was inside the fortress now. Under guard. What had she expected? She examined her hopes critically and realized that she had naively hoped to meet General Adams here, to have been welcomed with open arms, treated as an ally, a friend. Foolishness. She shook her head.
"Come along. As I was saying, this facility has
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