Saint Peter's Soldiers (A James Acton Thriller, Book #14) (40 page)

And
should there be a modern day Hitler, who was smart enough not to disturb those
powers capable of stopping him early on, could he ultimately win?

He
exhaled, realizing how easily desperate people could be led. In the Middle East,
they were being led through fear and dogma, yet in Russia, the people were
embracing their leader.

Much
like the Germans did so long ago.

“Why did
you have the painting?” he finally asked, the last of his questions he had
planned to ask, the revelations of the last few minutes he was sure to prompt
many more.

“It was
entrusted to us during the war. Our man was supposed to return it in 1998, but
unbeknownst to us, he instead switched it with a forgery we had commissioned as
a decoy. We were unaware of this until his death and your involvement.” There
was a pause. “Inspector General, our time is done. I want you to know that we
are no threat to you, as long as you do not go against the best interests of
the Church. We will not meet again.”

The screen
slid closed with a snap, and Mario jumped up. “Wait!” He shoved aside the
curtain, determined to see who this man was, then froze at the sight that
greeted him on the other side.

A row of
monks, leading from the confessional to the door, their heads bowed, shrouded
by their cloaks, a wall of devout flesh leaving him nowhere to go but outside.
He sighed, walking past the monks, pushing the door to the outside open, the
sunlight blinding him momentarily.

He stood
on the steps and stared at the crowds passing by. White, black, Muslim,
Christian, all going about their daily business, some happy, some sad, all
oblivious to the threat they might now face. The idea of a clone army or a
resurrected Hitler were simply too fantastic for him to even contemplate, though
the notion that there were still groups out there with these insane ideas
thought lost to the past, sent a chill rushing through him.

If the
events happening around the world, from Russia returning to its old ways, to
ISIS establishing its own country, were any indication of humanity’s future, he
wasn’t optimistic.

He
reached up and clasped his crucifix in his hand, closing his eyes, a bible
quote coming to mind. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.”

May
history, and its villains, remain the dust they now are.

Leaving Malpensa International Airport, Italy

Acton leaned back in the leather chair, closing his eyes as the seat
wrapped itself around him, their jet lifting off from the ground. It was a more
boisterous ride this time, Bravo Team joining them for the return. Giasson had
already called, filling them in on what had happened with his end of things,
and with details on who these people were that they had gone up against.

The
seatbelt light chimed and seatbelts were popped off, everyone congregating
around two meeting tables, the conversation continuing about what Giasson had
told them.

“So,
Doc, you’re the smart one, what do you think?” asked Niner.

Acton
smiled. “Well, cloning has been around for years, but human cloning has been
banned. That’s not to say there aren’t people out there working toward it, or
possibly even doing it. That being said, I think it’s just a matter of time
before you’d be able to take someone’s DNA and clone them with no problem.”

Niner
sighed. “Imagine, a whole bunch of little Niners running around.”

“Goddamned
nightmarish world, if you ask me,” rumbled Atlas.

“Sounds
like Star Wars to me,” said Jimmy. “Clone armies, I mean.”

Acton
nodded. “Definitely sounds like science fiction. The thing about science
fiction, though, is it has a nasty habit of becoming science fact, whether we
like it or not, like their idea of creating the perfect soldier.”

“Yeah, I
was wondering about that,” said Spock, taking a sip from a water bottle. “How
would that work?”

“Well,
you’ve all heard of the work being done to cure genetic diseases. Basically,
they try to ‘fix’ the faulty gene through gene therapy techniques, and if they
succeed, the person is essentially cured. We’re going to see huge numbers of
these therapies over the coming years as the techniques are perfected.”

“So it
is
possible?” asked Niner. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”

“I’m
sure there’s a few defects in you they could fix,” said Jagger. “Like that
mouth of yours.”

“And
your lips.”

Jagger
shoved his out even farther. “What you talkin’ about?”

“Just to
get back to what I was saying, that’s
fixing
defective genes, which I
think most people don’t have a problem with. Where it gets dicey is when you
try to manipulate the genome to alter it from its original intention. And
that’s what this Congress is trying to do. To create a perfect soldier, you’re
not fixing defects, you’re changing the very fabric of what it means to be
human.”

Niner
whistled. “Please tell me
that’s
not possible.”

Acton
raised his eyebrows, tilting his head for a moment. “Unfortunately, it is. At
least,
now
it is. The Chinese announced just recently that they had
broken the germ line. Essentially what that means is they’ve been able to
manipulate the genome to actually change it.” He noted the confused looks.
“Okay, imagine this. You have a genetic defect, you correct it, so that person
now has the genes they were meant to have all along. They have a baby, their
DNA goes into the mix and voila, perfectly normal baby pops out with the genome
you’re expecting. Homo Sapiens. Because you didn’t
change
anything from
what it was supposed to be.

“But
this new breakthrough allows scientists to actually
change
the DNA from
what it is
supposed
to be, to something
new
, and when that person
passes on their new DNA, their offspring will have it as well. You essentially
create a new species, and you have no idea what the end result might be.”

“Jesus,”
muttered Dawson. “They can do that?”

Acton
nodded. “It’s illegal research in most of the civilized world, but not in
China. They’ve done it, and they’re moving forward. For what purpose is
anyone’s guess.”

“And
this is public knowledge?” asked Jimmy.

Acton
nodded.

“Which
means the Congress now knows,” said Laura, the fear clear in her voice. She
looked at her husband. “Do you really think they could do this?”

Acton
shrugged. “Not today, but a year from now, ten years from now? This is
definitely going to be a problem, whether it’s from nutbars creating clone
armies, or parents trying to create the perfect baby, the future is here, and
we’ve got to get ready for it.”

The
burner phone Reading had bought rang, Acton holding it in his hand. He held up
his finger and everyone became quiet.

“Hello?”

“Professor
Acton?”

“Yes.”

“We have
an agreement.”

THE END

The idea for this story came when I stumbled upon an article
describing the very science mentioned in this novel. As stated in the Preface,
the science is real, though let’s hope there isn’t some group of crazed zealots
out there trying to recreate a madman with a minion army to rule the world.

Yet the
very fact that this is now possible, does make one wonder how it may be put to
use in the future. Will it be banned, with it only being done in countries like
China, Russia and North Korea, or in the back alleys of America’s great cities,
where parents desperately try to give their future child the best hope for an
uncertain world, where they will have to compete with all the other children
whose parents did the same thing?

This
technology is coming, and society will need to figure out how to deal with it.

A couple
of notes. The Denny’s story? True, but it was
my
family sitting there
eating breakfast, and yes, we felt proud when the old couple said what they
did. I mean, feeding your kid hash browns off a dirty table? Are you kidding
me? Sometimes it does make you wonder if manipulating the genome might not be
such a bad thing.

And
Niskha’s green Froggie? It was mine when I was a child, and it sits on my desk
to this day.

A few
people to thank. My Dad for all the research again, Ian Davidson for some
motorcycle info, and Angela Lee for giving Reading a home. My wife, daughter,
family and friends, I again thank you.

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who have not already done so, please visit my website at
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Check out the new Delta Force Unleashed series and get to know Bravo Team some more.
Get started with
Payback (Delta Force Unleashed #1)
today!

Why not try the Special Agent Dylan Kane spin-off series?
Dylan Kane
is a former student of James Acton and before being recruited into the CIA, served and trained
under Burt "Big Dog" Dawson with Delta Team Bravo. Acton has a cameo in Rogue Operator, and Dawson
and the boys appear in Containment Failure, Cold Warriors and Death to America.
Get started with
Rogue Operator (Dylan Kane #1)
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USA Today bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy has been ranked by Amazon as the #1 Bestselling Action Adventure
novelist based upon combined sales. He is the author of over twenty international bestsellers including the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series of
which the first installment,
The Protocol
, has been on the bestseller list in the US and UK since its release,
including occupying the number one spot for three months. He lives with his wife and daughter and writes full-time.