Page 86, THE SWORD AND SICKLE

PART TWO: DECEPTION

CHAPTER-TEN

REBIRTH

©2017, Olan L. Smith

"I can guess, your job is to figure this out, in the meantime I want an insulated scalpel or knife, insulated forceps and wide-mouthed liter beaker with lid. Turning to Steel he asked sardonically, "Where did you get these people, anyway?"

"Sir, they are contractors, which the government is using due to government cutbacks enforced during the Bush era...but, I guarantee you that they are the best and an improvement over the military assistant we had before. I have the utmost confidence in their skills."

"Very well, General. Get me that equipment."

Gathering the tools, he stepped into the personnel cage and asked a different lab assistant to raise him up to the cocoon. The assistant positioned General Abrams high in the air beside the chrysalis and he immediately started to work on it, by placing the beaker on the tray in front of him. With the tongs in his left hand and the knife in his right, he stretched out his arms to slice a section of the upper left cocoon for sampling. He felt a mild shock as the knife touched the surface. It ran up his right arm in two successive pulses and in to his head, giving him a mild headache. Abrams shook it off and returned to his objective. He touched the blade of the knife to the chrysalis' surface. Not feeling a current emitting from it he tried to penetrate the chrysalis with its razor sharp edge. He couldn't slice into it no matter what amount of pressure he applied to it. He grabbed it in his gloved hand and found it to be malleable, yet, he could not compress it and as soon as he released it, it would resume it shape.

The lab assistant asked, "General Steel. What is he doing?"

"I haven't the foggiest, I doubt if he knows, Miriam. He is a control freak, always was and always will be."

"What was he doing with this abort control? Is he planning on killing them, if things get out of control, without first discovering what they will turn into?"

"Not if I can help it."

"But he is your boss."

"Not really. The moment that thing went into orbit around Jupiter; the head of Homeland Security became my boss. Put the failsafe device in my safe."

"Right away, sir."

Abrams returning to the floor of the lab, signaled for Steel to join him. When Henry approached, Abrams said, "The material seems to have to opposing properties; it is resilient and inflexible at the same time. The surface appears to be ordinary silk, yet when I attempted to cut into it, it resisted my attempts. I am able to mold it with my hand, yet I was unable to compress it. I want it analyzed to discover its properties, and then I want your lab to use whatever it takes to retrieve a sampling of the material."

Abrams headed back to his old office and sat down at the computer to send an e-mail out to Alderman to update him on Project 666. After clicking on send, he relaxed in the chair and pondered for several minutes before he started to right down something on a pad. He placed the pad in his pocket and returned to the lab. He inquired, "Any changes?"

"No sir. I have my lab assistants busy with your request, sir. It may be several hours before we collect all the data and have it ready for you."

"Very well, in the meantime, I will settle in at the motel and I will return later. It looks like we are going to have a long night."

Steel replied, "Sir, it may be much longer than that. It may be several months for them to go through this metamorphosis. Hell, it could take years."

"I understand, keep me informed. By the way, I felt two mild surges of energy when I first touched that thing."

"I wouldn't worry, sir. I imagine it was a discharge of static electricity, which built up in it during its construction."

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