CHAPTER 8 — The Man Behind M-17
CHAPTER 8 — The Man Behind M-17
Daniel's body hit the floor.
For one terrible second, Maya forgot how to breathe.
"Daniel!"
She pressed both hands against his chest, but blood continued spreading beneath her fingers.
Luka dropped beside them.
"Move."
"No."
"Maya, move."
"He gave me the records."
"I know."
"He knows something."
"I know."
Luka pulled her backward.
A man in the corridor raised his weapon.
Luka fired.
The weapon clattered across the floor.
"Everyone down!"
The underground facility erupted into chaos.
Maya crawled backward, clutching the memory card Daniel had given her.
Her mother stood frozen beside the metal door.
Ethan shouted:
"Nobody shoots!"
The command stopped everyone.
Maya looked at him.
"You knew this would happen."
Ethan stared at Daniel.
"No."
"You knew he was going to betray you."
"I knew he was conflicted."
"That's not an answer."
Ethan looked at her.
"I didn't order the shooting."
"Then who did?"
Silence.
Luka looked around the corridor.
"Someone with authority."
Ethan's face changed.
For the first time, Maya saw genuine fear.
"Get her out."
Luka frowned.
"Who?"
Ethan looked directly at Maya.
"Both of them."
Maya tightened her arms around Emma.
"You don't get to give orders anymore."
Ethan took a step toward her.
"Maya—"
"No."
Her voice shook, but she didn't move.
"You lied about everything."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"You erased my childhood."
"I had to."
"You let me believe you were alone."
"I was protecting you."
"You killed people."
Ethan's expression hardened.
"Some people had to die."
Maya stared at him.
Then she understood.
The man standing before her wasn't the father she remembered.
He was the man behind the secret.
The man behind M-17.
And perhaps the man who had destroyed her entire life.
A gunshot echoed again.
Everyone turned.
A security officer dropped.
The lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Luka grabbed Maya.
"Run."
They moved through the corridor.
Maya could hear shouting behind them.
Her mother followed.
Ethan remained behind.
"Where are we going?" Maya whispered.
"There's an emergency exit."
"Daniel—"
"We can't save him now."
Maya looked back.
Her heart broke.
"I left him."
"You didn't."
"He saved us."
"And we'll make sure his sacrifice means something."
They reached a steel door.
Luka entered a code.
The door opened.
Cold night air rushed inside.
Maya stumbled outside.
Snow covered the ground.
Her mother collapsed beside a tree.
Maya stared at her.
"Why did you call Emma the child they were waiting for?"
Her mother looked up.
"Because she is."
"Who are they?"
"The people who created M-17."
"Who?"
Her mother whispered:
"The Belladonna Group."
Maya had never heard the name.
Luka had.
His face became grim.
"The Belladonnas are dead."
Her mother shook her head.
"No."
"They were dismantled twenty years ago."
"That was the story."
"Then who runs them?"
Her mother looked toward the house.
"Your father."
Maya froze.
They hid in an abandoned cottage several miles from the estate.
Luka locked the doors.
Maya placed Emma on a blanket.
Her mother sat opposite her.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Maya said:
"Start from the beginning."
Her mother nodded.
"Your father and I met when we were nineteen."
"You were both involved in M-17?"
"Not initially."
"What was it?"
"A genetic authentication project."
"Daniel said it was connected to family trusts."
"It was."
"Why?"
Her mother took a breath.
"Because several wealthy families had created private trusts generations ago. They wanted inheritance protected from outsiders."
Maya frowned.
"That's not unusual."
"No."
Her mother looked at Emma.
"What was unusual was the method they developed."
She explained that the original families carried a rare genetic sequence.
Over generations, the sequence became fragmented.
M-17 was created to identify descendants carrying specific combinations of those markers.
But then the scientists discovered something unexpected.
The marker could be manipulated.
Duplicated.
Enhanced.
And eventually...
passed deliberately to a child.
Maya stared.
"That's what they did to me?"
Her mother shook her head.
"Not exactly."
"Then what?"
"You were born naturally."
"Then why was I tested?"
"Because your father discovered you carried the complete sequence."
Maya looked at Emma.
"And Emma?"
Her mother closed her eyes.
"Emma inherited it."
Maya whispered:
"So she's valuable."
"No."
Her mother looked at her.
"She's dangerous."
Maya didn't understand.
"How can a baby be dangerous?"
"She isn't."
"Then what are you saying?"
"The people who control M-17 believe whoever controls the child controls the succession."
"Succession to what?"
Her mother hesitated.
"An empire."
Maya almost laughed.
"An empire?"
"Companies. Trusts. Private banks. Properties. Foundations."
"How much?"
Her mother looked at Luka.
"More than thirty billion dollars."
Maya went silent.
Thirty billion.
All because of a baby.
"This is insane."
"Yes."
"Then why did you leave me?"
Her mother's face crumpled.
"I didn't."
Maya stared.
"You disappeared."
"Your father took you."
"What?"
"He told me you had been kidnapped."
Maya's breath caught.
"He lied."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he believed I would expose M-17."
Maya shook her head.
"Where were you?"
"Locked away."
"For how long?"
"Twenty-three years."
Maya froze.
"You've been imprisoned for twenty-three years?"
Her mother nodded.
"Not in one place."
"What do you mean?"
"I was moved."
"By whom?"
"The man behind M-17."
Maya whispered:
"My father."
Her mother shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward Luka.
"Someone more powerful."
Luka's expression changed.
"Who?"
Her mother answered:
"Dr. Adrian Vale."
Luka stood.
"He's dead."
"No."
"I saw his body."
"You saw what they wanted you to see."
Luka stared at her.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know he's alive?"
"Because he contacted me last month."
Maya felt cold.
"What did he want?"
Her mother looked at Emma.
"The baby."
Luka's hand tightened around his weapon.
"Why?"
"Because M-17 was never completed."
Maya frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The original program failed."
"How?"
"Every subject developed complications."
"Except me."
"Yes."
Maya looked at Emma.
"And her."
Her mother nodded.
"That's why Adrian Vale needs you both."
Maya's stomach turned.
"He wants our DNA."
"More than that."
"What?"
"Your memories."
Maya stared.
"What memories?"
"Certain M-17 carriers develop a neurological response."
"Meaning?"
"They can retain genetic memories."
Maya shook her head.
"That's impossible."
"Scientifically, perhaps."
Her mother looked at Luka.
"But the Belladonnas spent decades proving impossible things."
Luka frowned.
"Genetic memory isn't literal memory."
"I know."
"Then what are you talking about?"
Her mother whispered:
"Pattern recognition."
Maya didn't understand.
"He wants your brain to identify the original M-17 sequence."
"Why?"
"Because the original sequence was hidden."
"Where?"
Her mother looked at Maya.
"Inside the first child."
Maya froze.
"The first child."
Her mother nodded.
"That's what Daniel was trying to tell you."
Maya's hands trembled.
"Who was the first child?"
Her mother looked at Luka.
"The boy in the photograph."
Luka's face went pale.
"My brother."
"Yes."
Maya stared at him.
"But he's dead."
"Officially."
Luka stepped backward.
"No."
Her mother continued:
"Your father didn't kill him."
Maya whispered:
"Then who did?"
"Adrian Vale."
Luka looked as though he'd been struck.
"Why?"
"Because your brother was the first child to survive M-17."
"And the sequence?"
"Was hidden inside him."
Maya looked at Emma.
"Then why does Emma have it?"
Her mother smiled sadly.
"Because she inherited it from you."
Maya's eyes widened.
"And I inherited it from my mother?"
"No."
Her mother shook her head.
"You inherited it from your brother."
Silence.
Maya stared.
"But he wasn't my brother."
"He was."
"How?"
Her mother took a deep breath.
"You were twins."
Maya stopped breathing.
"No."
"You and the boy were born together."
"I don't remember."
"You were babies."
"Why wasn't I told?"
"Because one child had M-17."
Maya's face went numb.
"You?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Her mother whispered:
"Your father."
Maya stared.
"My father chose which child to save."
"Yes."
"And he chose me."
"Yes."
"What happened to my brother?"
"He was taken."
"By Adrian Vale."
"Yes."
Maya looked at Luka.
He had tears in his eyes.
"My whole life..."
He struggled to speak.
"My whole life, I thought my brother died before I was born."
Maya looked at him.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because my father told me."
She understood.
Ethan had lied to everyone.
He had built an entire false history.
And somehow...
Luka Moretti was connected to the truth.
A phone began ringing.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from Maya's bag.
She pulled out the memory card.
There was no phone.
Then she realized.
The sound came from Daniel's jacket.
Luka searched it.
He found a tiny phone.
One contact.
VALE.
Luka answered.
Nobody spoke.
A man's voice came through.
"Daniel failed."
Maya's heart stopped.
"Who is this?"
Silence.
Then:
"You."
Maya froze.
"You sound exactly like your father."
She tightened her grip on the phone.
"What do you want?"
"I want what belongs to me."
"Emma?"
"Not Emma."
Maya's blood ran cold.
"Then what?"
"Her blood."
Luka took the phone.
"You'll never get it."
The man laughed.
"You still think this is about money."
"Then what is it about?"
"The first sequence."
Luka's expression changed.
"Where is it?"
The voice answered:
"Ask your father."
The call ended.
Maya looked at her mother.
"What does he mean?"
Her mother was crying.
"He knows."
"Knows what?"
She looked at Maya.
"The first sequence wasn't inside your brother."
Maya waited.
"It was inside you."
Silence.
Luka stared.
Maya couldn't breathe.
"Then why does he need Emma?"
Her mother whispered:
"Because Emma is the first child who inherited the sequence completely."
A sound came from outside.
A car.
Then another.
Luka moved toward the window.
"We have company."
Maya pulled Emma into her arms.
Her mother stood.
"Where can we go?"
Luka looked toward the road.
"Nowhere."
"Why?"
"Because they've surrounded us."
Maya stared through the curtains.
Black vehicles covered the snow-covered road.
Then a figure stepped from the center vehicle.
A tall man.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
He looked directly toward the cottage.
Maya's mother began trembling.
"That's him."
Maya whispered:
"Adrian Vale."
The man raised his hand.
Every vehicle stopped.
Then he smiled.
Not at Maya.
Not at Luka.
At the baby.
Emma suddenly stopped crying.
Her eyes opened.
And for one impossible second, Maya saw a tiny reflection in her daughter's pupils.
A symbol.
The same symbol that had appeared on the M-17 files.
Luka stared.
"That's impossible."
Maya looked at him.
"What?"
He whispered:
"She's already been activated."
The cottage lights went out.
And from somewhere beneath the floor came a low mechanical sound.
May you like
A hidden door began to open.
To be continued.
