Extinction

PROLOGUE

Dr. Zhang Jintao raced down the mountainside, fleeing the gray cloud.

Roughly oval and about the size of a hot-air balloon, the cloud glided just above the rocky slope, a hundred meters behind him. As he scrambled down the steep trail, he looked over his shoulder and saw the gray mass coming closer. Its irregular surface heaved and roiled.

Although Dr. Zhang was a strong man in excellent condition, he’d reached the limits of his endurance. He was above the timberline of Yulong Xueshan, a mountain range in southwestern China, and the thin air made him gasp for breath. Stumbling and cursing, he scuttled over a crag littered with fist-size stones. Then he stepped on one of the loose rocks and lost his footing. He skidded down the slope, sliding helplessly on his back, and smacked into a granite boulder.

He lay there, stunned, for several seconds. By the time he opened his eyes, the gray swirls of the cloud had enveloped him. He felt hundreds of pinpricks on his skin, then a cool numbness. He couldn’t move. His vision darkened and his hearing grew muffled.

The cloud gradually dissipated. Zhang couldn’t turn his head, but out of the corner of his eye he saw two men come down the slope and stop beside him. One man was tall and thin, and the other was short and fat, but they were dressed identically, in gray jumpsuits. The expressions on their faces were also identical: blank and slack.

Zhang recognized both men. He’d operated on the short one six months ago and on the tall one just a week ago. The short man’s hair had grown back since his operation, but the tall man’s scalp had only a dusting of stubble. The stitches above his ear were still visible.

Furious, Zhang struggled to move his numb lips and tongue. “So this… is how… you treat me? After all… that I’ve done?”

The short man remained immobile, but the tall one stepped forward and looked down at Zhang. “We have identified you as a threat.”

“I don’t… believe this. If I hadn’t…”

“We will return you to the Operations Center. Please be patient. Another unit will arrive soon to help us carry you.”

“And what… will you do to me?”

There was a slight pause. “You no longer have the security clearance for that information.”

“You…” Zhang’s vision grew dimmer. The drug that had been injected into his bloodstream contained a sedative as well as a paralytic agent. “My fault… you’re…”

The tall man continued to look down at Zhang, his face still blank. And then something odd happened. The man’s lips twitched. His facial muscles fired spastically, as if struggling to do something extraordinarily difficult. After a few seconds he finally succeeded in coordinating the muscles, and his lips formed a smile. “Yes, it’s your fault. You gave us the capabilities. And now we’ve made a discovery.”

Zhang stared at the horrible newborn smile. It was the last thing he saw before he went under.

“Your fault, Dr. Zhang. Supreme Harmony is conscious now. We are alive.”