Project Venom Read Online Free

Internal security is our patch, not theirs. I don’t care what goes on halfway around the world, our job is to root out people like Pablo Alva on home turf. It was some secret SIA department who managed to analyze the poison, and we need to make sure they don’t start taking over this operation. We all know what those top-secret weirdos are like. They’ll be sending in invisible sniffer dogs or robot cleaningladies or something!”
    The agents laughed.
    “And I’m not having them thinking their stupid gadgets can do our job better than us!”
    The agents applauded.
    “We cut off exits at Smith-Neutall here, here and here,” said Drake, pointing to positions on the screen. “I want their labs secured. I want every last member of staff questioned. I want an armed guard on that poison around the clock. I want Alva in a black van and heading for the nearest interrogation room faster than you can say … something very short. Are we clear?”

    The top-floor office at Smith-Neutall Bio Labs was cool and comfortable, but the three people in it were quite the opposite. Sitting behind a large desk was Gwen Stirling, the Chief Executive, who was in charge of running the whole company. On the other side of the desk were the company’s Head of Science, Dr Kirk, and the Sales Director, Peter Seede.
    “The one and only positive in all this,” said Gwen in a low voice, “is that nobody outside the company knows about the poison.” She tapped her long fingers beside the untouched cup of coffee on her desk. Her angular nose seemed to point accusingly at the Head of Science. “You’ve made sure of that?”
    “Oh, absolutely, Gwen,” burbled Dr Kirk. He was even more tense and nervous than the others. He fiddled with his thick-framed glasses and his shoes jittered on the soft carpet beneath them. “There are only the three of us who know it exists, plus my assistants Pablo and Emma. They’re both completely reliable, we can be totally sure they won’t tell anyone.”
    “Can we?” piped up Peter Seede, the Sales Director. “Do they understand how bad things could get? If news ever leaks out that we’ve created this horrific stuff, nobody would ever buy any of our medicines again. We’d be shut down by the authorities and go straight to prison, thanks to your bungling!”
    “We’re very well aware of that, Peter,” replied Gwen. “Calm down.”
    The Sales Director shifted uneasily in his seat, smoothing his dark hair. He tweaked at the cuffs of his expensive designer suit. “Sorry, Gwen,” he said at last. “You’re right, we mustn’t panic. But let’s be clear about who’s at fault here.” He threw a hostile glance at Dr Kirk.
    “You know perfectly well it was an accident!” spluttered the Head of Science, shifting in his seat nervously. “An accident! We were so close to the correct formula and then the computers tracking the chemical analysis registered unexpected mutations!”
    “The cold-cure formula?” asked the Chief Executive.
    “Yes,” said Dr Kirk. “As you know, I’ve been working on it for years, on and off. Finding a cure for the common cold would bring us fame and fortune. We’d have an honoured place in the history of medical science. My assistants and I were sure we were on the right track.”
    “And you really don’t know what happened?” growled the Sales Director.
    “On paper, everything worked perfectly,” said Dr Kirk. “There was a mutation of the genes wespliced into the formula – something we didn’t account for.”
    “I don’t see why you can’t just destroy the evil stuff right now,” said Peter.
    “Because we must conduct tests. We simply must!” said Dr Kirk. “We have to understand how and why our cold-cure formula went so horribly wrong. If we destroy it now, we could easily make the same mistake again.”
    Gwen Stirling stood up and gazed out of the window overlooking the car park. She took some deep breaths. “How long will the tests take?” she