Conspiracy Game (18 page)

“Actually you’re right, he can. He also has the ability to change his skin color to match his surroundings.”

“Like a chameleon?” Ian asked.

“Contrary to popular belief, chameleons can’t display limitless colors and do not change colors in a camouflage response to their surroundings. Their skin changes in response to temperature, light, and mood,” Lily explained. “The hormones that control the melanin-containing cells can vary in concentration over the chameleon’s body, producing elaborate colored patterns. Some patterns are good camouflage, while other patterns are more showy stripes or spots in contrasting colors that signal the chameleon’s mood.”

“But chameleons don’t have the same skin we do,” Kadan pointed out. “So far, Whitney hasn’t introduced any alien DNA into us, has he?”

“A chameleon has four layers of skin. The outside layer has both red and yellow color cells. Inside that layer are two more layers, both reflecting light, one blue and one white. The inner layer is complicated and contains pigment granules called melonophore cells. The melonophore has dark brown pigment called melanin.”

“The same stuff that colors human skin brown or black?” Ian asked.

“Exactly the same stuff,” Lily acknowledged. “Humans, by the way, also have red and yellow color cells. So if you could independently and precisely control the hormone levels for each of the melanin-containing cells, you could create a wide variety of color patterns within the ranges allowed by multiple-color cell layers.”

“In a human? How could you do that?” Kadan asked.

“Through a distributed network of nano-computers associated with the melanin-containing cells: one such nano-computer.”

Ian shoved a hand through his red hair. “I hate it when you start talking like this. It makes me feel stupid.”

“Each nano-computer is a few hundred molecules in size, and its primary purpose is to regulate the hormone level of the melanin-containing cell with which it’s associated. It has one more function—something like a sperm cell, if injected into the bloodstream, it will find its way to a melanin-containing cell that currently doesn’t have a ‘nano-computer’ and latch on to it.”

Flame frowned. “So you’re saying the idea is to inject a zillion of these into the bloodstream, and they will sort themselves out into a distributed computing network, one nano-computer per melanin-containing cell? What controls them?”

“The nano-computers change the hormone level they are allowing—and hence the colors those color cells are displaying—when they are exposed to a magnetic field of a certain strength.”

Logan burst out with “Damn it, Lily, are you sure?”

She nodded. “Jack and Ken Norton have extensive files. They’re very strong telepaths as well as having many other talents on a lesser level. Both can use telekinesis. Psychokinesis, more commonly referred to as telekinesis, is the ability to move things or otherwise affect the property of things with the power of the mind. Of all psychic abilities, true telekinesis is the rarest—and the most difficult to control. I know because I have some small talent—nothing like theirs. And I believe Briony must have this talent as well. Not only did both men test strong in that area, they were enhanced even further. They’ve apparently had the ability to communicate telepathically from the time they were toddlers.”

“Let’s go back to the ability to change skin color into camouflage,” Logan said. “If they need a magnet to control the nano-computers, do they carry it? And if hormone levels trigger the capability, how can they keep from revealing their mood swings like the chameleon does?”

“Good question. They’re trained with biofeedback, and both men have amazing control. Dr. Whitney implanted an MRI-like device inside both of the Nortons. It radiates the magnetic pattern outwards to the surface of the body. The device responds to a mental signal the brothers first learned in biofeedback training, but because of their extensive talent, it has become second nature to them.”

“If Briony was adopted, how could they do the same thing to her? Surely he didn’t have this technology before he adopted her out,” Kadan said.

“The parents took Whitney’s money believing he was a grieving husband who had lost his wife. They agreed to educate Briony in the way he wanted and he paid for all medical not only for her but the entire family. Every time she was sick, his doctors treated her. Whitney had access to her the entire time. And I believe he still does. They use his doctor when she’s ill. She has a lot of trouble due to the fact that there’s no respite for her from the continual assault on her senses. Quite frankly I’m surprised she’s survived this long without a breakdown.”

There was a small silence as the enormity of the implications sank in. Ryland pulled Lily into his arms and buried his face against her shoulder. “What impact will all this have on any children?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what he’s done to any of the rest of you. And I sure don’t have a clue what would happen if Jack Norton and Briony Jenkins have a child together. The one thing I can say for certain is that it
will
affect the baby.” Lily placed both hands protectively over the small rounded evidence of her pregnancy.

“If Ken Norton carries the same genetic code,” Kadan said, “why is it so important to Whitney that Jack, not Ken, meet up with Briony?”

“I’m guessing the pheromone reaction is specific to one man and one woman. I haven’t run across a mention of that in the files yet, but there is no other explanation. Dr. Whitney”—deliberately Lily distanced herself from the man she’d known all her life as her father—“is looking for a second-generation soldier and wants Jack Norton and Briony Jenkins to provide him with one. With their enhanced olfactory systems, the chemistry between them would be zinging off the charts.”

“Well,” Logan said, “he looked to the wrong man. No one controls Jack Norton. He’s a dangerous man and Whitney made the mistake of making him more so.”

“Maybe so, Logan, but if what I suspect is true, he wouldn’t be in control, he’d be at the mercy of his body’s demands—and so would Briony,” Lily explained.

“How is it going to help the Nortons to change skin color when they’re wearing clothes?” Flame asked pragmatically.

Lily sent a small, wan smile in her direction. “I forgot to tell you about the ‘smart’ shirts Georgia Tech developed to monitor soldiers and patients for medical problems. The Natick Soldier System Center in cooperation with Crye Precision developed the MultiCam Multi Environment Camouflage system. Companies have a line of personal clothes as well as combat clothes. The hottest thing is microscopic mirrors sewn into the fabric to reflect the environment around them. You’ll never guess who is testing these clothes.”

“Jack and Ken Norton,” Flame said. “Of course. And Whitney had to pull some strings to make that happen.”

“Whitney seems very adept at pulling strings,” Kadan agreed. “You’re right. He isn’t alone in this.”

C
HAPTER 
7

“
You’re
pregnant.”

Briony stared at the doctor in shock. “That’s impossible. I’m on birth control pills. You prescribed them yourself.” She
detested
the man; the way he looked so reptilian, she often thought scales would erupt all over him at any moment. He had the coldest smile, almost a smirk when he looked at her. She didn’t trust him—had never trusted him. Even as a child, she had wanted to run screaming from the room whenever he entered. When she left the office, she was going to go out to the car and wring Jebediah’s neck for calling him. She’d only agreed to come because she wanted a few answers. This was definitely the last visit she would ever make to Dr. Sparks.

“You’re pregnant, Briony, about eight weeks. Perhaps you forgot to take a pill when you should have.” His shark-toothed smile flashed at her, but never once reached his eyes. “The father will be overjoyed.”

A shadow slid into her mind. Her body went into alert mode—she felt the alarm shooting through her, but she maintained her shocked look and swung her leg back and forth in agitation. “Tony? I’m sure he will. He’s wanted to marry me forever and this will be his big chance. My brothers will all get out shotguns and side with him.”

For the first time his smirk slipped. The eyes grew even colder. “Tony?”

She shrugged, trying to look casual. “One of the tiger trainers. We’ve had a steady relationship for a while now.” She looked him straight in the eye, determined to carry off the lie just to see his reaction, because something wasn’t right and she had a very bad feeling that she was in more trouble than just being pregnant.

Pregnant?
Was it really possible? Was he lying to her? She was sick all the time, unable to keep any food down. He didn’t feel as if he was lying, but she never could tell with the doctor, almost as if his mind was shielded from hers.

Sparks cleared his throat. “I thought you told me you couldn’t stand to be touched and doubted you’d ever have a relationship. Has that gotten better?”

She rubbed her temples. Funny, with the doctor she didn’t get pain, but a strange buzzing noise in her mind always persisted when she was close to him. “The exercises helped a lot and I’ve been working with biofeedback and meditation.” That part was true, but no amount of meditation would free her from pain enough to allow a close relationship with anyone other than maybe Jack—and she wasn’t going to
ever
think about trusting him with her heart again. She tried a small smile, pursuing the lie. “For some reason, when I’m with Tony, it’s not nearly as bad, although I don’t know about marrying him.”

“Will you want to keep the baby then?” Dr. Sparks asked, watching her closely.

She fought back her first reply. Of course she was going to keep her baby—she
wanted
the baby, even if its father was a complete bastard. She was quite capable of taking care of a child on her own. She shrugged again. “I’ll think about it. I hadn’t thought in terms of having a baby right now—or ever for that matter. My brothers are going to go psycho on me and Tony will lose his mind too, all wanting me to do the right thing and marry, so I’m not going to say anything to anyone until I decide.”

Dr. Sparks turned away from her and opened a cabinet. “Let me know, Briony, and I can certainly help you with whatever you decide. In the meantime, you’ll need prenatal care, just in case you decide you want to keep the child.” With his back to her, he glanced over his shoulder, busying himself with a syringe. “Did any of your brothers come with you? Perhaps if I spoke to them they’d understand that it would be difficult for you to remain in a relationship for any length of time.”

“No, I came alone.” She had no idea why she lied. Jebediah drove her, afraid she’d be too sick to stay on the road, or—more likely—afraid she wouldn’t actually see the doctor. Her eyes were on Sparks’s face as he turned, and her heart jumped with fear. His reptilian features seemed nearly alien, twisting with a kind of fanatical glee as he approached her with the needle. Briony drew back. “What’s that for?”

“Vitamins, for you and the baby. You look a bit pale to me. You don’t want birth defects if you decide that you’re going to have the child after all.”