Threnody (Book 1) Read Online Free

afternoon.  A couple of hours later when the female lab tech came to summon him to the lab, his mind was already set on his next course of action.  In one pocket he carried a syringe filled with 100 milligrams of pancuronium bromide and 300 milliequivalents of potassium chloride; in the other were two high-capacity USB microdrives, each containing an identical copy of all the files pertaining to their research to date.  While he wasn’t certain about potassium chloride, he was fairly sure pancuronium, a muscle-relaxing agent capable of inducing complete respiratory arrest via paralysis of the diaphragm, could be effective if delivered via intramuscular injection instead of intravenously.  Either one should be sufficient to do the job.   Marcus decided to give both in order to provide a little insurance.  A brief wave of sadness passed through him as he considered his companion for the last eighteen months in the throes of death after he injected the medications.  This sentiment, however, was cut short as his resolve to stop the madness they were creating returned.
    “Marcus,” Sanji said without looking up from the microscope at his workstation, “how are you feeling?  You need to see the latest test results.  Specimen number four has shown some truly amazing findings.  I’m not sure you would believe me if I told you, so I will just show you.”
    Sanji started to turn his head from the microscope to regard his partner. “And Marcus, about earlier…” His words were cut short by the stinging, burning sensation he felt in his left shoulder.
    “What the hell!?” howled Sanji, as he angrily got to his feet after realizing Marcus was behind the pain.  Marcus was already backing away slowly.  Thankfully the lab tech had not followed him, and as it was dinnertime, there were no other techs in the lab.
    “You bastard!” bellowed Sanji, “What the hell have you done to me?”  His words already sounded heavy and effortful, his breathing more labored.  He stumbled several steps forward before falling limply to the floor, eyes wide with the horror of what he just experienced.
    Marcus cautiously crept forward still not completely able to grasp what he had done.  Slowly, he knelt next to Sanji’s crumpled form and uttered two simple words.
    “It’s over.”
    The next five minutes were a blur of activity, so fast that the ICT personnel tasked with monitoring the facility and the scientists were left powerless to intervene.  Marcus first closed and barricaded the door leading to the dining and living quarters, engaging the biometric lock installed as an emergency failsafe to prevent inadvertent pathogen release.
    Mr. Handler was notified immediately when the monitor detected Dr. Johnson’s elevated stress level and Dr. Bhatnagar’s declining vital parameters.  Gazing at the remote monitors, he saw a flurry of activity within laboratory A but, one by one, the monitors went black as Marcus completed his second order of business: smearing the cameras with the thick grease he discovered in the maintenance cabinet just inside the lab’s main doors.
    As Marcus stood on a chair stretching to reach the last camera, he lost his balance and crashed to the ground. Cursing loudly, his tirade was joined by frenetic banging on the outside of the lab door.  Despite frantic calls to several of his most trusted lab techs demanding they assist Dr. Bhatnagar immediately, Mr. Handler realized that in spite of all his preparations and all the vast resources at his disposal, he was powerless to control the situation unfolding before him, albeit over five thousand miles away.
    Ribs aching and forehead bleeding, Marcus doggedly climbed to his feet and set to work on the next part of his plan.  Though he wasn’t certain, he assumed that ICT was likely archiving and cataloging all the data collected from their experiments.  He also assumed they could wipe all the data remotely if needed and planned for that possibility by