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gles with possibilities." Wiley stared at him in rigid silence. "How many people knew?" |
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"I don't know, maybe half a dozen. Four of us and two intelligence officers." |
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"Your own little Manhattan Project," Jerry said. "Who's the man standing next to you?" |
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Wiley looked at the photo. "Jack Perry." Wiley said he did not know Perry's whereabouts. If he was still alive, Roman might know. If not, Jerry would try his own network. |
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"What went wrong?" Jerry asked. |
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"Wrong? What do you mean?" |
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Wiley closed his eyes a moment to collect himself. "The substance chemically known as omnimycinol was made from a mold. We discovered that in its pure white crystalline form the substance was a steroid that generated remarkable pharmacological effects, including the destruction of the spermatozoa cells." Wiley finished the rest of his port in a single swallow. "Unfortunately, when administered to lab animals, we also noticed peculiar activity." Wiley stopped to light up another cigarette. His fifth. The smoke was beginning to get to Jerry but he said nothing. He liked seeing the ashtray fill up. |
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"Famous geneticist found dead in charred remains of house. Smoking in bed blamed." |
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Wiley inhaled and began a phlegmy hacking. "Hyperaggressive behavior," he said. "Animals began killing each other. Crazy thing, it was the males only. They sexually savaged the females." |
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The word "savaged" bloomed in Jerry's mind like a rose. He smiled. "What kind of animals?" |
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"Mice, rabbits, rhesus monkeys. They went crazy, brutalized their mates." |
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"Nothing happened," Wiley said. "We could not find a way to curb the aggressions, so we shut it down." |
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