Wired. Part 24

Kira trembled and for a moment thought she might vomit. "Did anyone suspect?" she croaked.

"Of course," he said. "How could they not? But I was clever. I did most of my killing away from home. And I knew enough to cultivate a saintly image around you. You had the potential to be my Achilles' heel. I couldn't kill you, that would arouse too much suspicion after the other deaths. Yet if I let you glimpse my true nature, I was sure you would put two and two together and turn me in." He paused. "Look at the Unabomber. Brought down by his own brother." He shook his head in mock disgust. "Whatever happened to sibling loyalty?"

A tear ran down Kira Miller's face. She had thought that nothing could hurt her more than she had already been hurt. But she was wrong. This was the older brother she had adored. But he had been a psychopath all the while. His had been the ultimate betrayal, and he had made a fool of her. How could she have been so blind!

"What's wrong, Kira?" he said, sneering. "Thought you were a better judge of human nature?" His lip curled up in contempt. "You were so easy to fool. So needy."

"You're a monster," she whispered, now loathing the creature in front of her and loathing herself even more for having cared for him so deeply.

Alan laughed. "Someone had to balance out your nauseating self-righteousness," he replied. "But you know how it is. Us psychopaths don't really see anything wrong with our behavior. And if it makes you feel any better, Mom and Dad's life insurance policy was a great leg up for a struggling college student."

She glared at him hatefully. "So you murdered Mom and Dad and then pretended to come to my rescue. So I would adore you even more."

Alan smiled serenely.

"And then you framed me in a way that would lead people to believe that I was a psychopath and responsible for these murders. Murders that you had committed."

"Nice touch, don't you think?"

"The worst part of it all," she said in disgust, "is that you made me care about you. I loved you!" She turned her eyes away. "And you made me think I had caused your death," she added in outrage.

"Well, now you know better," he replied smoothly. "So cheer up."

47.

Thin shades made of cherry-wood, which could be raised or lowered with the touch of a b.u.t.ton, were completely covering the chopper's large windows, giving the prisoners no indication as to their heading. The helicopter's ride was so smooth and the noise so un.o.btrusive it was easy to forget they were flying.

"So how do you fit into all of this?" asked Desh.

"Fascinating story," said Alan, amused. "I was visiting my dear little sister in her condo in La Jolla while she was working for NeuroCure. Naturally, she insisted I stay at her place. She always did. After all, she truly adored me."

Kira's eyes blazed in fury at this but she remained silent.

"She had to go into work a few times," continued Alan. "So, as is my nature, I thought I would explore her place. See what I could find. Didn't take me long to find her false bottomed drawer with her lab notebook and gellcaps inside." He paused. "So I tried one," he said simply. "It didn't take a super-genius, which I soon became, to grasp the possibilities."

Desh frowned. "So you decided to stage a break-in and steal them all."

"Not right away," replied Alan with an air of superiority. "I waited until a few months after my visit so my sister would never suspect I was responsible. And I didn't just take the gellcaps. I took a sample of Kira's hair as well, in case I ever needed it to frame her." He looked quite pleased with himself. "I like to plan ahead."

Desh shook his head in disgust. He had used a strand of the hair he had taken to frame her for his own murder.

"Then I waited a few days and killed Kira's boss to throw her a head fake," said Alan. "When you're under the influence of her treatment, things become crystal clear. I was certain that if I killed Morgan, she would jump to the conclusion that he had stolen the pills and was double-crossed by a powerful partner."

Desh knew this was the exact conclusion Kira had reached. "And then you hired Lusetti to watch her."

"I thought it best to leave her alone to make other ah a mind-blowing a discoveries, and then swoop in and steal these as well. Meanwhile, I was using her pills judiciously to set up my empire."

"Where does Putnam fit in?" asked Desh.

"As I'm sure you're aware, with intelligence this great fortunes can be ama.s.sed in any number of ways," he replied, swirling his drink around absently. "But if power is your drug, pulling strings at the most powerful intelligence gathering organization in the history of mankind has certain advantages."

"But why Putnam? Did you know him?"

Alan shook his head. "While using Kira's therapy, I broke into the personal computers of a number of mid-level NSA operatives. Putnam was one of them. We were like-minded and he was particularly savage. I was able to dig up enough dirt on him to guarantee him the death sentence several times over. So I recruited him and masterminded his climb up the ladder. We made a great team."

"Did you give him any gellcaps?" asked Kira.

"Of course not," he snapped disdainfully. "Do I look like an idiot. Putnam was far too ruthless and ambitious to be trusted. If he ever became transformed, I was certain he would find a way to turn the tables on me." He paused. "The only person I ever allowed to become transformed, other than myself, was a molecular biologist Putnam was blackmailing. And this was done under extraordinarily secure conditions, and only to ensure I would have an unlimited supply of your treatment."

"So when Putnam was boasting about his activities, he was really describing what you had done," said Desh.

"That's right," he replied. "We rehea.r.s.ed everything he said to you. I even instructed him to kill the man you know as Smith in front of you. Putnam had no idea why I wanted him to pretend to be me." Alan sneered. "But he knew better than to question me," he added icily.

Alan Miller walked a few steps to the bar and began pouring himself another drink. He turned to Desh once again. "I recruited Putnam and began building wealth and power all the while my sister was working on extended life. I always knew what she was up to. I made it a point to know, despite the precautions she thought she was taking after my break-in." He added ice to his gla.s.s and returned to his seat. "When Lusetti reported she was closing up shop, I suspected she had made a breakthrough."

"So you flew to San Diego to find out," said Desh.

"When I learned the secret wasn't in her computer and would have to be coerced from her, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. With emphasis on kill," he added sardonically. "I had been considering faking my own death, anyway, and starting over with a new ident.i.ty that was off the grid."

"And you knew your sister worshipped you. So you decided to pretend to be a hostage and use the threat of your own death as leverage."

Alan nodded. "It was a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself." He paused for a moment and his features hardened. "But I didn't count on the memory trap she had made," he growled through clenched teeth. "That f.u.c.ked everything up." He swirled his drink and stared at it in his hand, as if mesmerized, until he was icy calm once again.

"So given the memory blockade, why even bother with Kira?" asked Desh. "Why not just optimize your molecular biologist until he repeated her work, saving yourself the headache?"

"Because compared to my freak of a sister, he's a moron. It took him years to duplicate her brain optimization therapya"and he had the instructions. Even enhanced, I doubt there are even three or four scientists in the world who would could duplicate her longevity work." He shook his head. "No, she was the only game in town. But as if her memory trick wasn't annoying enough, she managed to kill that dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d Lusetti and vanish from the grid. I'm man enough to admit that this really p.i.s.sed me off," he said with apparent calm, but his tone couldn't fully disguise an unmistakable undercurrent of barely contained rage at this memory, even now. "But only for a short while," he added. "I regrouped. I took another of her smart pills, and I came up with my grand plan the very next day."

"Putnam told us," said Kira in disgust. "Ma.s.s sterilization of women just so you can extend your twisted existence for a few years."

Alan laughed. "Ma.s.s sterilization?" he repeated in amus.e.m.e.nt. "Don't believe everything you're told."

"I don't understand," said Kira.

"That's because you're so sanctimonious you refuse to give yourself the very gift you created. If you would have taken one of your own pills, you would have seen through this ruse in an instant." He shook his head in disappointment. "You really are a lot less intelligent than I remembered." He spread his hands innocently. "Why would I possibly want to sterilize anybody?"

She looked confused. "First, to motivate me to unlock my memories."

Alan shook his head. "When I enhanced myself after I had faked my death, I pondered the likely properties of your memory prison. I realized right away that no threat, no matter how great, would enable you to crack it." He gestured toward her encouragingly. "By all means, guess again."

"Because if you succeededa"if ours really did become mankind's last generationa"I would be forced to give you my secret for the survival of the species. Or to Putnam, at any rate."

"Give it to Putnam?" he hissed, as if outraged. "Give it to me? Kira, you would never give your secret to either one of us. You can only unlock your memory if you truly want to. And you would never want to for me or Putnam. You would bide your time, knowing we wouldn't kill you, until you could escape. That way you'd make sure we didn't h.o.a.rd the secret and use it for our own ends. Make sure the entire world was a beneficiary." He scowled. "You and I both know that's what you'd do."

Kira nodded. "You're right," she acknowledged reluctantly.

"Of course I am. And if I kept you hostage and tried to force it out of you, I'd be back where I started. Catch 22. So the only way I could get it is if I let you go and you gave it to the entire world." He paused. "And while this would, indeed, ensure I lived longer along with the rest of the ma.s.ses, I would lose the use of the most powerful lever in history." He smiled cruelly. "You see, I'm a little selfish. I want the secret all to myself. To use as I see fit."

"I still don't see it," said Kira. "The Ebola cold-virus was a bluff. The explosive in my head was a bluff. The sterilization plot was a bluff. Why? How do they all fit together? And what did all of these machinations buy you?"

Her brother smiled broadly. "As it turns out, Kira a everything."

48.

Alan Miller took a sip of his drink, a delighted gleam in his eye, obviously reveling in finally being able to share his warped maneuverings with a rapt audience. He was savoring the telling of a story that would twist the knife in his prisoners over and over again. "As I said, I knew with certainty that you couldn't be coerced. So I had to ask my unfathomably brilliant transformed self this question: under what conditions would my little sister give up her secret? Once I answered this, all I had to do was establish these conditions." He rolled his eyes. "A lot easier said than done, I must admit."

"So what were the conditions?" asked Kira, but a sick feeling had grown in the pit of her stomach. She realized she had just given Desh the location of the flash drive. She knew exactly what combination of conditions this had taken. But for Alan to suggest he had orchestrated things from the start to bring about these conditions was preposterous. Besides, she had whispered the coordinates directly in Desh' ear, and no listening device was sensitive enough to catch that.

"First," began Alan, "you had to respect someone enough to trust them with your secret. If you were forever a loner and didn't have anyone to trust, no combination of circ.u.mstances would do."

He turned to Desh. "That's where you come in. You were handpicked for this role."

"What are you talking about?" snapped Desh in confusion.

"Who do you think set you up in Iran?" he said smugly, a Cheshire grin on his face.

"Impossible!" barked Desh. "You're saying you expected me to team up with your sister even then?"

Alan Miller nodded. "I wanted to ensure she had someone to confide in. Believe me, Desh, I know my sister's taste in men. I've met the guys she's dated and she's told me, in nauseating detail, the kind of man she's looking for. I studied the records of scores of Special Forces operatives before stumbling onto a ringer like you. You're her exact type physically. Brilliant in your own right. Personable. You studied philosophy for Christ's sake. You like poetry. Incredibly well read. Sickeningly righteous." He grinned. "You're catnip to her. The transformed me was convinced that if you two were thrown together under desperate circ.u.mstances, there's no way she doesn't fall in love with you."

Alan gazed at his sister knowingly. "Go ahead, Kira. I know I chose well. Tell him. You're in love with him already."

Kira lowered her eyes but said nothing.

A startled look flashed over Desh's face, and he appeared totally dumbstruck. His eyes darted to the side as if desperately trying to read Kira's expression.

Alan laughed. "I'll be d.a.m.ned!" he said, studying Desh. "You're in love with her, also. I can see it in your face." He laughed again. "I should be a f.u.c.king matchmaker."

Kira gazed at Desh and her eyes widened. She had been feeling like an idiot, desperately trying to hide her feelings from him, convinced that true love was something that happened over years rather than days. But she sensed her brother, evil as he was, had guessed correctly. Desh had fallen for her as well.

Alan shifted his attention back to his sister. "I had hoped this would happen. When both parties can subconsciously pick up on each other's signals of infatuation, the effect is accelerated. My in-depth study of Desh suggested he liked girl-next-door types who were his match intellectually, but frankly, Kira, I was convinced your irritating personality would turn him off." He raised his eyebrows. "Despite not having a firsthand knowledge of Desh's taste in women, my brilliant, transformed self calculated there was a good chance he would fall for you too." He shook his head in wonder. "Ironic that a being of pure intellect could so accurately predict a largely irrational, involuntary response."

"You should feel very proud of yourself," spat Desh bitterly.

Alan looked back and forth between his two prisoners and smiled in delight. "What's the matter, you two? You look angry and confused. Feeling manipulated? Feeling like experimental animals? Does the fact that I orchestrated your feelings for each other to serve my purposes taint them?"

At this, Desh's expression became thoughtful, and he shook his head ever so slightly, as though the moment Alan had voiced what he had been feeling, he had realized these feelings were misguided. "No taint Alan. My feelings for Kira are my own. If you were responsible for allowing me to meet such a remarkable woman, than I thank you, regardless of your motives." Desh paused. "And if you predicted we would fall for each other," he continued, "so what? Someone might be able to predict my loathing of you, but that doesn't make it any less real."

Alan Miller laughed. "Your loathing of me is about to take a sharp turn for the worse," he said icily. "Allow me to continue. Once I knew you were the right man, I made sure you encountered tragedy, so you would be a wounded soul and would break all ties with other women. To make you more appealing to my sister. After all, what could possibly be more appealing than a tortured, unattached hero?"

"You really did set us up in Iran, didn't you?" whispered Desh in horror.

"Putnam arranged for that particulara"what do you grunts like to call ita"oh yeah a cl.u.s.terf.u.c.k. He didn't have any idea why. Those stupid-a.s.sed terrorists were well paid to make sure you escaped alive, but they almost blew it. I needed you injured, but not as injured as you were."

"You're saying they let me escape?"

"That's right."

"Why did you need me injured? So I'd cut an even more sympathetic figure for Kira?"

Alan smiled. "I'll answer that a little later. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. And I really do want to share with you how brilliantly you were both manipulated. After all, you're the only two people in the world who will ever have a chance to appreciate my mastery." He paused. "Shall I continue?"

Desh nodded while Kira glared at her brother hatefully.

"The optimized me figured there was a fifty-fifty chance Desh would leave the service. Either way, it didn't really matter to my plan."

"If your plan was to get me to team up with Kira, why did you wait so long?"

"She wasn't ready yet. I wanted her harried. Chasing her; almost catching her; isolating her. Making her feel persecuted and alone. Crushing her spirit. I needed her primed for the arrival of her white knight. When I judged she was at the end of her rope, I pulled the strings to have you come in."

Kira knew this is exactly what had happened. She had recruited David because she was lonely and fatigued. Alan's execution had been flawless.

"Are you saying you could have captured her earlier?" said Desh.

Alan shrugged. "Possibly," he said. "If I had made more b.a.l.l.s-out attempts. I tried to capture her in the early days, but failed. My enhanced self had calculated that if I captured her, tortured her a bit, and then let her find a way to escape, this would accelerate her readiness to seek out an ally like you, and I could move up my time table." An annoyed look came over his face. "But she was a lot better than I thought she'd be. And when I got close she would take bold risks with her own life to elude capture, which I couldn't have. So I changed gears and made hara.s.sment my primary objective."

"How did you get me a.s.signed?" asked Desh.

Alan grinned. "With the powerful people Putnam and I have in our pockets, it was laughably easy. I had an influential politician with plenty of skeletons in his closet arrange for it all with Connelly's bosses. And I had long since made sure the ident.i.ties of all of the agents sent after her were recorded in a database I knew she could breach."

"Because you knew she would study them," said Desh. "You needed her to study them."

He nodded. "She studied others that were sent after her without effect, but I knew if she was properly primed and studied your photo and history, she would try to recruit you."

Kira Miller felt bile rise in her throat. This thing pretending to be her brother was distilled evil. What twist of fate had led to her parents giving birth to two mutant children: a daughter with unequaled genius for molecular biology and a son born entirely without a conscience.

"She took the bait just as I knew she would," boasted Alan. "I had planned on having the two of you captured by my Black Ops dupe, Smith, and held together as prisoners for a few days to allow love to blossom. But you kept eluding him." Alan shrugged. "Served my purposes anyway. In fact, your escapes from the motel and woods probably cemented your relationship." A content, self-satisfied expression came over his face. "Then all that was left to do was have Putnam capture you both and pretend to be me, initiating a perfect storm of circ.u.mstances that would cause Kira to tell her lover-boy her secret."

The helicopter banked, reminding the prisoners they were tearing through the air at great speed to an unknown destination, something easy to forget given the near perfect stillness of the opulent, enclosed cabin. "How did you know you would be able to find us when you needed to?" asked Desh.

"This is where the need for you to get seriously injured in Iran comes in. We ordered a military surgeon to add a few implants in addition to fixing you up. The orders came from the highest military channels. He was told this was being done because you were a known traitor." Alan smirked. "He was even told you had set up your own men."

Desh lunged forward in fury, his neck catching enough of the wire in front of him to draw blood, if only shallowly. "You sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" he screamed, his rage finally spilling out.

Alan Miller continued calmly as if Desh's outburst had never happened. "The surgeon implanted a tiny, remote homing device on your elbow, just under the skin. The device was designed to lie completely dormant until pinged by a coded signal, upon which point it would activate. You could scan for bugs all you wanted when it was dormant and it wouldn't register. While the bomb in Kira's head was a bluff, the advanced receivers Putnam told you about are very real. As Kira well knows, when you've taken one of her pills, improving electronics becomes child's play."

"So you could have captured us at any time David was with me?" said Kira in shock.