Chapter 65 Point of no return
Rafael
We spent the rest of the day preparing for what might be a suicide mission.
Catherine worked her contacts in Switzerland, arranging backup teams at three different locations within an hour of Kask's estate.
Marco researched every detail he could find about the property, security systems, staff schedules, emergency exits.
Vittorio acquired weapons. Small ones that could pass through private security without raising alarms. A knife disguised as a pen. A plastic gun that would not trigger metal detectors.
And I tried to convince Flora not to go.
"We could send someone else," I said for the tenth time. "Someone who looks like you. A decoy."
"He will know," Flora said. She was sitting on the couch, going through files on her laptop. "He has been studying me for months. Maybe years. He will know if it is not really me."
"Then we find another way," I said.
She looked up at me. "There is no other way, Rafael. And you know it."
I hated that she was right.
My phone rang. Marco's name flashed on the screen.
"What is it?" I answered.
"Boss, you need to come to the command center. Now. We found something."
The command center was what Marco called the second bedroom, now filled with computers and monitors. When Flora and I entered, Marco was staring at one of the screens, his face pale.
"What did you find?" Flora asked.
"This," Marco said, turning the monitor toward us.
It was a video file. Dated three days ago. The thumbnail showed a medical room. Marco hit play.
The video showed Sophia Kask lying on an examination table. She was clearly pregnant, her stomach rounded. A doctor was performing an ultrasound. But it was the audio that made my blood run cold.
"Everything looks perfect," the doctor was saying. "Subject L-02 is developing normally. We should be ready for extraction in two weeks."
"Extraction?" Sophia's voice, uncertain. "I thought I was carrying to term?"
"Change of plans," another voice said. Victor Kask stepped into frame. "We need to accelerate the timeline. The embryo will be removed and placed in an artificial womb for the remainder of development."
"But Father, you said I would carry her."
"I said what was necessary," Kask interrupted coldly. "You have served your purpose, Sophia. The embryo is what matters now."
Sophia's face crumpled. "You used me. You manipulated me into this, and now you are just discarding me?"
"Do not be dramatic," Kask said. "You knew what this was about. Project Genesis is bigger than any one person. Even you."
"I am your daughter," Sophia whispered.
"And she will be Flora's twin," Kask said, gesturing to the ultrasound screen. "Genetically superior. More valuable than a dozen daughters."
The video ended.
Flora sat down heavily. "He extracted the embryo. My twin is not even being carried anymore. She is growing in a machine."
"When was this recorded?" I asked Marco.
"Three days ago," Marco said. "Which means the extraction already happened. Your twin is currently in an artificial womb somewhere in Kask's facility."
"Can that even work?" Flora asked. "Can a fetus survive outside the womb that early?"
"With the right technology, maybe," Marco said. "There have been experiments. Animal trials. But nothing proven in humans. This is completely experimental."
"So my twin might not even survive," Flora said.
"Or she might," I said. "And if she does, Kask will have proven that he can create genetically enhanced humans completely outside of a natural pregnancy. No surrogates needed. Just laboratories and machines."
The implications hit all of us at once.
"He could create hundreds," Catherine said, entering the room. "Thousands. An entire generation of genetically modified humans, all under his control."
"We have to stop him," Flora said, standing up. "Tomorrow. When we go to his estate. We have to destroy whatever technology he is using."
"That is not the mission," Vittorio said, following Catherine in. "The mission is information gathering. Get in, see what he is doing, get out safely."
"The mission just changed," Flora said firmly. "If we leave that technology intact, if we leave my twin and those other five embryos in his hands, we are just buying time. He will keep creating more. This will never end."
"She is right," I admitted, even though every instinct screamed at me to get Flora as far away from Kask as possible. "We need to end this. Completely."
"Then we need a better plan," Marco said. "Because walking in there and trying to destroy a billionaire's illegal genetic laboratory while he is watching is going to get you killed."
"Unless he does not know we are going to do it," Catherine said slowly. "Unless we make him think Flora is actually considering his offer. Keep him distracted while we plant explosives."
"Explosives?" Flora said.
"Small ones," Vittorio said. "Enough to destroy the laboratory equipment but not bring down the building. We do not want to kill anyone. Just make it impossible for him to continue his work."
"Can you get explosives past his security?" I asked.
Vittorio smiled grimly. "I know people who specialize in making things that do not look like what they are. A phone that is actually a detonator. A watch that contains enough C4 to blow a hole in a wall."
"How long does it take to arrange this?" Flora asked.
"We already have," Catherine said. "We anticipated you might want to do more than just talk. The equipment will be ready before you board the plane tomorrow."
Flora looked at me. "You knew I would want to destroy his laboratory."
"I know you," I said simply. "And I know that walking away while six children are being created in test tubes is not something you could live with."
She kissed me then. Quick but intense. "Thank you. For understanding."
"I do not like it," I said. "But I understand it."
That night, neither of us could sleep. We lay in bed, holding each other, both pretending we were not terrified of what tomorrow would bring.
"Rafael," Flora said quietly. "If something happens to me."
"Nothing will happen," I interrupted.
"But if it does," she continued. "I need you to promise me something."
"Anything."
"Promise me you will find those six children," she said. "The embryos in the artificial wombs. Promise me you will save them. Give them real lives. Not what Kask has planned for them."
"Flora."
"Promise me," she insisted.
"I promise," I said. "But you are going to be there to help me do it. Because we are both walking out of there tomorrow. Together."
"Together," she repeated, but I heard the doubt in her voice.
At dawn, we prepared to leave. Vittorio handed me a watch. "The detonator. Press the crown three times quickly. That arms it. Press once more and you have sixty seconds before it blows."
"What if I accidentally press it?" I asked.
"Try not to," Vittorio said.
Catherine gave Flora what looked like a normal lipstick. "This contains a small amount of C4. Twist the bottom counterclockwise three times, then place it near what you want destroyed. It will sync with Rafael's detonator."