Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

The kites were one of them; that was for sure. And they were one secret the Federation wouldn’t be able to keep for much longer. With the recent rise in kite attacks, the SIU would soon have to be notified and brought in.

“Are you trying to tell me Ryan’s not human?” Given what he’d seen of her so far unnoted skills, he suspected this was a very real possibility.

Finley shook his head. “I’m just making a point. If there are nonhuman species out there we haven’t yet seen, why shouldn’t it be the same with humans? Especially in this day and age, when gene manipulation and cloning is a government-funded research program?”

Even so, it was odd to find a human chromosome they couldn’t categorize. Unless, of course, they were looking for something only partially human and long thought dead. “Finley, do you believe Shadow Walkers ever existed?”

The young doctor pushed back his glasses and pursed his lips. “To be honest,” he said eventually, “no. My father once told me he worked with a man who could hide in shadows, but I always presumed he meant a vampire.”

Finley’s father had worked for the military. Covert operations, if he recalled correctly. “Did he ever mention Shadow Walkers?”

“No.” Finley hesitated, his expression curious. “Why the sudden interest in a myth?”

“No reason.” Maybe Karl was barking up the wrong tree, for once. “What about the microchip?”

Finley dug into the reams of paper and pulled out a small, flat container. “I found it under her armpit. It’s been there for some time, I’d say.”

Gabriel took the container, holding it up to the light. The microchip looked to be little more than a speck of dust. “What can you tell about it?”

“Well, it’s one of the military’s, though they stopped using this type nearly twenty years ago.”

Sam would barely have been nine. But why would they insert something like this in a child? “What did they use them for?”

“Tracking, usually. Every soldier has one, even today.”

“Were Ryan’s parents in the military?”

Finley shrugged. “We haven’t been any more successful in finding information on her parents than State was.”

Maybe his own search had been more successful. Once Finley left, he’d check. “If this device is still active, is there any way for us to track the signal back?”

“We can try.”

The look on the young doctor’s face told him the results were doubtful. “What about someone continuing to track us through it?”

“As long as you leave it in that container, you’re safe.”

Good. Because he fully intended handing it over to the Federation’s experts to see what they could make of it. “Mind if I keep this awhile?”

The young doctor shook his head. “We got all the information we can off it.”

“I’ll need a copy of the test results sent to my com-unit, too.”

“Already done, sir. We’ll update as we go.”

At least Finley was efficient, even if he wasn’t so observant at times. “Thanks.”

The doctor nodded and quickly exited. Gabriel studied the chip a moment longer, then shoved it in his pocket and walked across to his desk. “Computer on.” The com-unit hummed softly. “Background check on Samantha Ryan complete. Results inadequate.”

He frowned. How could search results be inadequate? “Explain.”

“No record of Samantha Ryan exists until the year 2032, when she was placed into state care by person or persons unknown. No record of parents, though a certificate of birth was filed in 2018. No country of origin recorded on certificate. No doctor’s signature.”

“That can’t happen.” That it had spoke of government involvement somewhere along the line. Either that or someone had purposefully erased nearly all record of her past, which again could only have been managed by someone in power.

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen thoughtfully. “Have you tried military records for the time frames mentioned?”

“Military records for that period are not available for general searches.”