The Aegis Solution Read Online Free Page A

responded, "If it hadn't been me, it would have been somebody else."
    Realizing he had not touched the right nerve, the marshal opened the door to Matt's truck and said,
"Take it easy."
    "You, too," he answered, and the man walked away. Before climbing into his vehicle, Matt turned
and took one last look at the huge complex he had built, his mind visualizing all of the nooks and
crannies, all of the dorm rooms, kitchens, gyms, and the myriad other components within the confines
of the walls. He also conjured, in his mind, the image of Tillie wandering through the cavernous public
areas, and he wondered how she felt.
    As he stood next to his truck, he suddenly felt a fresh gust of wind coming out of the west, seeming
to push him away from the turnstile entrance. Although it was a hot day, he felt a chill in his spine.
Shaking it off, he gave one last look at the complex and climbed into the truck. The engine roared to
life, and as he drove away from what had been his project and his home for almost two years, his mind
focused on his wife, Lisa, and he pressed down harder on the gas pedal.
          
    
    Tillie had no idea where the other people had gone. She assumed they must have immediately
fanned out to explore their new permanent home, since not even one person was in sight all the way
down the long entrance corridor. She continued walking, following the directions given by Matt, until
she found the main electrical room. Opening the door, she quickly found what she was looking for,
glad that no one else had yet bothered to check out this area. She grabbed it and returned to the main
hall. It only took a moment for her to orient herself before she struck out to find the dormitories.
    "Time to pick my new place," she said out loud, her voice echoing back at her.
     

CHAPTER ONE
     
    Elias watched the first accumulation of snow on the window sill. His eyes took in the intricacies
of the slowly accreting pattern, but his mind was several thousand miles away, in a place where snow
was as rare as the basic tenets of civilization. That corner of his heart, which once felt the almost
childlike tinge of joy at the sight, was now empty. No, not empty. Filled. Replaced by a dense, dark
sludge which allowed nothing like joy or happiness or mirth.
    Such was his condition: a status which had stubbornly cohered to him for more than two years, like
a disease with no known cure. In a sense it was a disease, a pernicious malady with vile symptoms and
pervasive effects. Yet this blight was not brought about by some malignant, microscopic organism, but
by a single man, a man who had shared the nameless, faceless anonymity of an abominable mutated
virus. But that was all they had in common, for a virus, no matter how execrable its influence, was
unthinking, non-sentient. No conscious motive could possibly be ascribed to its actions. This man, on
the other hand, coldly plotted the most flagitious of acts, knowing fully and relishing the tragedy his
deeds would bring down upon others.
    Obsession was far too temperate a concept for describing how Elias felt about this wretched beast.
Hatred, too savorless. It could truthfully be said that he was utterly consumed with the desire to find
this abomination of a human being. Diminished not in the slightest over the past two years, Elias'
thoughts had constructed scene after scene where he identified him, hunted him down, and patiently,
arduously meted out...not justice, for that would be impossible...not revenge; in fact, nothing he could
conceive of would satiate that thirst. No…his efforts would be bent solely upon restoring a minuscule
increment of balance to the world, correcting an asymmetry precipitated by the never-ending succession
of vile deeds perpetrated by this lusus naturae.
    There were others, to be sure. For he had recently learned the identities of the others who played
a part in this horrific act, others who had an, as yet unscheduled, appointment with Elias Charon. But
they