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  "I have other projects to protect all of you. Colonel Adams tells me you need my best work here at Genesis for your upcoming mission." Rydel folded his arms across his chest to exude confidence. "I will not disappoint."

  __

  Two days later, Rydel, Ray, and the members of Ray's Unit stood over a white table inside a white room. On the table, wrapped around a clear plastic stand, an almost transparent, paper-thin-looking balaclava stared up at the group. A tint of blue pulsed randomly through the mask's pinholed, mesh-like material (the mask had no eyeholes or back to it; only the neck wrapped entirely around). No one in the Unit, including Ray, could take their eyes off the odd-looking thing. Rydel's eyes sparkled—he had their attention.

  "You want to blend in during the day on your next mission—this will do it. Put one of these masks on, and you will be just like them," Rydel stated.

  Out of all in the Unit, Carrie, a slim woman with spiked red hair and sleeve tattoos covering both arms, was the only one able to take her attention away from the pulsing blue mask. "How is that? How will we be just like them?" she asked, staring at Rydel.

  With an eager-to-explain look on his face, Rydel continued. "Stealth Imaging. Once you put on this blue-tinted mask, we can alter your appearance from here so that you look like any man or woman in Afghanistan—you can change your appearance multiple times, if need be. We can change your eyes, nose, and skin tone at any time. Dress like the locals to cover your body, and we will do the rest."

  Ray finally pulled his attention away from the mask on the table.

  "Well, that would be amazing. And something I would really like to see a demonstration of beforehand," Ray said to Rydel with a little skepticism in his voice.

  "I can demonstrate Stealth Imaging today, if you would like, sir."

  Ray turned to face his second in command, Todd. Having just turned thirty, Todd's full face and shaved head were incongruous with his lean, gangly body. He raised his left eyebrow at Ray, impressed with the scientist, very much wanting to see a demonstration. Ray returned his attention to Rydel.

  "Call me Ray, Rydel. We've been going over your projects here all day. Everyone in my Unit calls me Ray; you can do the same."

  "Okay, Ray."

  Janice, a big, broad woman with full features, patted Rydel on the chest. "Pretty fucking cool, man. If it works."

  "It works," Rydel said confidently.

  Next to Janice, Adriana smiled, her rolled-up sleeves reaching biceps as chiseled as the rest of her body. "Amazing," Adriana said softly to Rydel.

  Four Unit members across the table from Adriana shared the same look; they were unimpressed. Martinez, a stocky Mexican dubbed "Talker" because he barely had more than two words to say during a conversation, just shook his head and turned to Jack. Jack, a man who could pass for actor Edward Norton in his late twenties, whispered something to Kevin, a medium-sized operator with a thin face and premature gray tinting his cropped hair. Kevin shook his head and looked at Steve. Steve looked like a banker dressed in black military fatigues. He had a smirk on his face and seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh.

  Not having the same feelings as the four doubters in the Unit, Sal walked over and put a hand on Rydel's shoulder.

  "I love you, Doctor G."

  "Doctor G? No, my last name is Scott, Sal."

  "No, you are Doctor G. You own this Genesis lab. Look at what you invented for us. I love you."

  Rydel's eyes stopped blinking, and his body stiffened, not sure how to react to Sal's sudden feelings toward him.

  "I really don't know how to respond, Sal. We've known each other for a couple of days. And I do like you very much, but—"

  Sal put up his right hand for Rydel to stop talking. "You don't have to love me, G. Just know that I love you. I'm good with that."

  "Okay, Sal. Thank you."

  Rydel looked over the rest of the Unit staring at him.

  "I have other projects that could be beneficial to your next mission." Rydel looked at his watch. "But right now, Mr. Stevens would like to see all of you again about one of his projects."

  __

  In another stark white room at the lab, Ray and the members of his Unit stood before Will Stevens, who was seated behind a white table. He sat at the table without speaking for a good three minutes, working on a laptop (white as well) in front of him. He looked up from the computer.

  "So, no problems with your new Smartround weapons on your last mission out, correct?" Will asked.

  Ray and the members of his Unit shook their heads.

  "No, I didn't think so. Soon…a Smartround rifle will have backup capabilities if you run out of rounds. Solar-powered rounds. However, that is a novelty for another day."

  Will stood up from the table, taking slow, deliberate steps toward the group with his hands folded together in front of him. "All of you have been fitted for a translator and received them this morning. Please put them on now like I showed you."

  Ray and his team reached inside their cargo pants pockets and pulled out what appeared to be an oxygen mask with a black round speaker affixed to the front of it. The operators put them on, the masks covering their faces from nose to chin. On either side of the translator was a short hose with a round earbud at the end. Each earbud had a slit up the middle. The black hoses with the earbuds reached their ears with a little slack at each side. Ray and the others squeezed the two halves of the earbuds together on their earlobes, attaching them magnetically. As one, they tapped a button on the side of their translators to turn them on.

  Will examined Ray and the members of the Unit, taking his time with his prized project. He returned to the white table and sat down. Will leaned forward, facing Ray, and then briefly looked at each Unit member.

  "Three thousand years’ worth of spoken language has been stored in your translators. Wherever your missions take you in the world, you will understand the language and be able to speak it as well. When you activate your translator, whatever foreign language it detects before you will unscramble and be understood through your receiver buds. Yes, if there are multiple people speaking in different languages, it might become confusing. Get close to the person or persons of interest and the translation will be clear. It will take a moment for the words you speak to translate. And your words will not overlap, if that is what all of you are thinking right now. Once the translator is in place, only your recorded simulated voice can be heard. If you want to communicate in English, simply turn the translator off or remove it from your mouth and clasp the buds around your neck. I will test them now."

  Will chose one of the many languages he was fluent in that he knew Ray and the Unit would not understand. Speaking in French: "Are any in this Unit, including its commander, frightened about their next mission in any way? Don't lie."

  It took a moment for what Will had said to translate to Ray and the others and for them to understand. And when the translation came through, the members of the Unit glanced at Ray, looking a little pissed off. With the difficult missions they were assigned to complete, look at this pompous prick in front of them now.

  With their translators ready to respond to Will's question, Ray nodded at Todd to answer for both himself and the Unit. Ray was the commander. But to think no one else had a say in this elite group of men and women gathered together would be as stupid as this dumbass with his stupid-ass questions.

  All have a say.

  Todd took three quick strides and stood before Will. Will looked past him at Ray, puzzled, expecting Ray to answer for the Unit. Todd waved a hand in front of Will's face to get his attention. The response coming from Todd in French was delayed. You could tell that he was talking by the movement at each side of his face and throat. When the words came out, his voice sounded like a computer—understandable, but definitely off-key. It worked, but it sounded like shit.

  "The answer to your question," Todd said to Will, "is yes. There is fear with every mission out; we are human. We would all be lying if we said no. You, how
ever, get to stay here in this lab and monitor the mission. And that's what gives you the balls to ask such a question. Doesn't it, Mr. Stevens?"

  Todd's response translated back to Ray and the others after a few seconds, and they removed their translators, a murmuring laugh coming from most Unit members.

  Satisfied, Will stood up from the table and walked toward the door to the room. "Functioning well."

  All were quiet, listening to Will's footfalls outside the room fading away. Jack then said aloud how they felt about the man.

  "'Functioning well.' What a dick."

  __

  The next day at the Genesis lab, Rydel stood smiling in front of Ray and the Unit seated around another white table the lab furnished proudly inside yet another nondescript white room.

  Rydel stuck out a finger on his right hand.

  "What is on the tip of my finger can save lives in the field."

  Ray looked over the men and women in his command and then turned back to Rydel.

  "That would be great. But you do understand you're giving us the finger right now, don't you?"

  Rydel looked down at the tiny chip on the tip of his middle finger. "Oh, yes, I am. That's not the way I planned this out. Sorry." Rydel carefully slid the chip over to his forefinger using the middle finger on his other hand. And then the words poured out of him.

  "If a bullet from a point-blank shot gets through your skin armor or you are wounded by an explosive, this chip I'm holding, once implanted, will put a soldier's body on ice until medical help can be reached."

  Rydel stepped closer to Ray at the head of the table. "This chip will save soldiers’ lives."

  Ray looked at Rydel's finger with the chip, not sure what to make of it and definitely not sure if he wanted it implanted inside him after all that Rydel had rambled on about so damn quickly. He got most of what Rydel was talking about from his mile-a-minute mouth. But the man needed to articulate a little bit better before Ray would let this chip be put inside him—or inside anyone in his Unit.

  "Yeah…Rydel, you are going to have to explain a little more and speak a bit more slowly before I—or any member of my Unit—have this chip implanted in us."

  Rydel reached for a small black box in his lab coat pocket and placed the chip inside. He held up his hands and slowly lowered them in a gesture of understanding, knowing that he needed to slow it down.

  "I know, I know. I get excited about the projects I've developed here to keep soldiers like you and the members of your Unit safe."

  "You are doing great things here, Rydel," Ray acknowledged. "We all know that. Just slow it down a little, and give us a little more background on this chip you are talking about."

  "Shutdown," Rydel calmly said. "Once implanted, the chip inside will monitor a soldier's body. In the event of a near-fatal wound, the chip will slow down all vital organs. The chip, in a way, will put a dying soldier's body on ice until he or she can be evacuated to a field hospital."

  With the calm and confident way Rydel spoke, Ray and the Unit waited patiently to hear more. They had all seen what Rydel was talking about in the field too many times. However, Rydel was finished explaining.

  "You invented this for us?" Ben asked.

  "Yes. That's the bulk of my work here. What I am best at. Trying to protect soldiers any way I can."

  There were no more questions from Ray or the others.

  __

  Later, Ray and his Unit sat at a table eating lunch in one of the two cafeterias located inside the lab that was, yes, white from floor to ceiling.

  Janice swiveled her head left and right, taking in the spotless cafeteria.

  "We should have a food fight and see if the table and walls actually do get stained—or will the stains just dissolve and go away from one of the freak-ass projects they have here?"

  "Mind if I join you?"

  Ray and the members of his Unit turned to see Rydel holding a tray of food near the far end of the cafeteria, standing in the doorway, waiting for permission to enter.

  "Sit your ass down, Doc!" Sal yelled.

  Rydel waited to make sure Ray and the rest agreed with Sal's gregarious invitation, and Ray waved Rydel over. Sal slid over to make room at the table, and Rydel sat next to Sal silently for a few seconds before looking at Ben seated across from him.

  "Ben…Ben Howard, right?"

  Ben looked up from his meatloaf lunch, staring at Rydel. "That's me."

  "I just found out your dad, Jacob, trained in special ops out of Maryland with my dad. They would fish together sometimes on leave when I was a kid."

  "Yeah, well, maybe they're fishing together now in their retirement. I haven't spoken to the old man in a long time."

  "No. My father died in combat while I was in college. I enlisted after that. I was sent here because of my science background."

  Ben, along with Ray and the others, fixed their eyes on Rydel. Rydel looked down at his food, pushing around the cornbread and the meatloaf on his plate, realizing everyone at the table was now staring at him. He wanted to stare down at his food until they looked away. This was too much attention coming from all of them at once when not talking about one of his projects. However, to crawl back into a shell around these men and women would be so disrespectful to his father. His father deserved more, deserved to be remembered. Rydel wanted them to know what kind of man his father was. A man not as sought out for such missions and regarded like Ray and the members of his Unit, but a great man.

  "He was a wonderful father, a great soldier, protecting Americans and others around the world. I was lucky to have him in my life for nineteen years."

  Rydel took two small bites of the meal in front of him and pushed the plate away.

  "The food is not very good here at the cafeteria, as you can tell. Can I interest all of you in a well-cooked meal for dinner later this evening?

  "Dinner it is, G," Sal shouted, accepting Rydel's invite for himself, Ray, and the others.

  __

  In a breezy green meadow, the tip of the sun began to slip behind towering trees in the distance while Ray and his Unit followed Rydel. Rydel walked them down a dirt path with knee-high grass at either side. The dirt path led toward a forest, the approaching treetops ahead tinged blood-orange by the sunset. Ray and the others continued to follow Rydel into the forest, disappearing into darkness. The fading sunlight barely filtered through the overhead leaf-thick tree branches, the scent of the forest growing stronger as the group walked on. They made their way out of the other side of the forest five minutes later. In front of them was a row of outdoor benches and tables surrounded by a landscaped meadow. Above the benches and tables, a canopy supported by white metal beams stretched one hundred feet across. The large canopy puffed up and down in the wind as if taking in and letting out a calming breath.

  Trees circled the entire meadow, giving the area a feeling of an island paradise just being discovered after stepping out from the forest. The benches and tables were sparkling white. Centered about twenty feet away from the canopy was a red brick-faced fire pit reaching ten feet across. Two large white refrigerators were sunk into the brick pit at either side. The refrigerators and the unlit lights inside the canopy were powered by a white shed covered in solar panels in the distance. Having led Ray and his Unit to this hidden sanctuary, Rydel turned around to face them all before he reached the benches.

  "This is one of the getaways for the workers to unwind when we have the time. Nice, isn't it?" Rydel asked Ray and the others.

  Ray and the rest all shared the same opinion: it was awesome—a beautiful, tranquil place. Sal got a look at the fire pit and pointed at it. "Holy shit, look—something not sparkling white that the people here are so anal about. Look everybody—it's the color red!"

  Rydel glanced toward the fire pit behind him and turned back to Sal. "Yes, we are a little anal about our cleanliness here. Aren't we, Sal?"

  "Just a little."

  "The refrigerators are full of beers, burgers, chicken bre
asts, steaks, and other refreshments. I grill a mean steak if anyone is interested," Rydel was proud to say.

  "Well, Doctor G, I drink a mean beer," Sal was proud to divulge as well. "So let's get things started. Light up that big red fucker."

  __

  Night had fallen. Plates with nothing but bones from T-bone steaks lined the long bench behind Rydel, Ray, and the members of the Unit. All had a beer in hand as they stared at the flames blazing in the pit. Everyone took in the fire for a few minutes without speaking, and then Kevin was the first to start a conversation.

  “Rydel, when do you get to leave this place?"

  Rydel slightly shrugged at Kevin seated near the end of the bench. "Leaving is not really an option for me anymore with the projects going on here. I have a room that they set up for me. I'm the only permanent resident. Some of the other scientists stay here during the week and fly out to their families on the weekends."

  Seated next to Kevin, Janice craned her head around him to get a look at Rydel. "So you never get to leave this place?" Janice asked with a little beer buzz in her voice.

  Rydel smiled down at Janice. "On occasion I get time."

  Sitting beside Rydel, Carrie leaned in closer. "So I'm guessing you're not married?"

  Rydel shook his head.

  Janice belched, letting out the aroma of the two T-bone steaks she took down, and then shouted to Rydel from the other end of the bench. "Got a girlfriend here, Rydel?"

  Rydel shook his head again. Ray and a few of the others in the Unit could see Rydel was beginning to become embarrassed by the questions. Ray was about to change the subject but wasn't quick enough, as Carrie let out the first thing that came to her mind.

  "So, what…do they bring in a girl for you or something? You gotta be, like, seriously horned up."