Dominant Species

By Ben L. Hughes

An unprecedented medical breakthrough has just changed the future of humankind forever. Under the biological enhancement program, ordinary people can live a life virtually free from disease and illness. Hailed as humanities greatest achievement, the overwhelming majority accepts the procedure and becomes augmented. Those that do not are persecuted until they flee into the shadows... but what they find when they get there is an unimaginable truth.... they are the last of their kind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ben L. Hughes
• Release date: Nov 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310111372

Ben L. Hughes

Please take moment to write a quick review on Smashwords, Amazon, or both to show your support. I enjoy hearing from people who have read my books, so feel free to email me with any comments or questions at: [e-mail] Most of my books are available through Amazon.com if you would like to purchase a print copy. Just type in keyword: Ben L. Hughes in the search bar. Recently Updated: Dragons: A Historical Guide: completely updated with many new artifact photos and added content that uncovers more exciting facts about those legendary creatures... If you are looking for my adult 18+ books: Since I write both children's books and erotica, I have separated my accounts so that someone doesn't accidentally purchase and adult book for a younger reader. To achieve this, my adult books under my pen name "Hugh Bennington" The bio picture is of my son and I heading up the 4x4 road to the top of Mount Antero, Colorado.

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Dominant Species

By

Ben L. Hughes

Copyright 2014 Ben L. Hughes

Edited By: Jen Hughes and LJ Cummings

Revision Date: February 9th, 2018

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

About the Author

My Other Books

Chapter 1

When a gust of wind blew open the flap on Richard’s tent, he gazed out at the starry sky. The shimmering lights and crescent moon reminded him of days gone by… camping at Willow Creek Reservoir in the summer, and ice-skating at the Gibson Pond. Things were simple back then, but that was another time, and the world was a different place. Those carefree days were gone, and the memories had all but faded. What had replaced them was so cold and dark that even thinking about it sent a shiver down Richard’s spine. Nearly every generation predicted that the end was near, and yet they never actually expected to see it. Ironically, Richard’s generation never worried about such things, and it all quietly unraveled right under their noses. It even took Richard by surprise, and by the time he figured it out, it was already too late.

When the wind blew the flap closed, Richard looked over at his wife, and sighed. She looked so peaceful, laying there on her bedroll without a care in the world. Her pale face seemed almost ghostly in the dim light, as if foretelling her fate. A fate sealed by a promise that he thought he would never have to keep. The very thought of losing her tore his heart in two, and he cursed the enemy for what they had done. Their latest weapon came in the form of a mosquito, and it had decimated their numbers and taken more souls than he could count. One innocent little bite was all it took. Then the infected would turn into the very thing they despised above all else… a mindless, soulless creature that was nothing more than a slave to its master. When he discovered the truth, he and the rest of the survivors fled north to escape the mosquitoes. It was a great plan, but when a warm spell brought the plague to them, over half of his clan became infected. After laying them to rest, the cold returned and he thought they were safe. A day later, Mikala’s eyes started to change, and he realized she had been infected. It was a fate worse than death for those who knew what they would become, and a nightmare for those they left behind. Mikala was so stubborn and independent, that she made him swear on his life that that he would end it, if she ever became infected. He agreed in order to quell her fears, but now that promise was like a noose around his neck, and it was chocking the life out of him. He knew that if he ignored her wishes, he would have to add betrayal to the long list of his failings as a husband. And if he kept his promise, he would never forgive himself for what he had done. It was the darkest hour of the darkest day in his life. The enemy had taken everything from him, and as he reached for his pulse rifle with his trembling hands, the tears started to stream down his face.

I’m sorry that I failed you, he whispered under his breath as he slowly nestled the rifle against his shoulder. A moment later a bright green flash lit up the tent, briefly illuminating the deep scars on his face. He knew her suffering was over, but his had just begun.

What the hell Richard? Mitch cried out as he rushed into the tent after seeing the flash.

I had to do it… she was infected!

Nooo… she was fine the other day, Mitch gasped in disbelief.

Look at her eyes! Richard snapped as he pulled back her eyelids so he could see the luminous yellow specks for himself.

I wasn’t doubting you, I was just surprised by it, Mitch replied.

I would like to be alone… Richard sighed in defeat.

Okay… but if you need anything, I’ll be in my tent.

No, just go, Richard replied in a cold and lifeless tone.

Mitch nodded sympathetically, and then slowly backed away. He knew everyone mourned in different ways, and Richard never liked to appear weak. So he headed back to his tent with the intention of checking on him first thing in the morning.

Once Mitch was gone, Richard folded a blanket over Mikala’s frail body, and then lifted her off the bedroll. Whatever bits of humanity that he had left slowly drained away as he carried her through the camp. She was all that he had left, and now that she was gone, there was only darkness in his heart. The enemy had won, and the sooner she was laid to rest, the sooner he could end the nightmare that had become his life.

When he reached the burial mound just outside of the encampment, he gently set his wife’s body on the ground. Then he retrieved a worn shovel from a nearby grave and started to dig. The half-frozen soil was as hard as rock, and when he could go no deeper, he set the shovel down and stared into the hole. The distant howl of a wolf was a stark reminder that humans had joined their ranks as an endangered species. And like them, isolation was all that remained.

After the lonesome cry faded way, Richard gently slid Mikala’s body into the shallow grave. Then he said a prayer before shoveling the dirt over her lifeless body. He was no stranger to death, but this loss was more than he could bear. Just the thought off waking up without her made his heart ache, and his soul begged to be set free. Life had lost all meaning, and though he wasn’t one of those things that the infected turned into, he might as well have been… for there was nothing left of the man he had once been.

When he finished covering his beloved, he packed the soil down with his tattered boots to protect her from nighttime scavengers. Then he asked God for forgiveness, not for what he had done, but for what he was about to do next… for his final act would be selfish, and a sin in the eyes of the holy. Even so, he begged for forgiveness so he might join her on high, while knowing if he couldn’t, hell wouldn’t be any worse than the life he had left.

After he had laid Mikala to rest, he went to the camp and hid in his tent. The last thing he wanted was to be interrupted, or have someone try and talk him out of what he was about to do. There was literally nothing anyone could say or do that would get him to change his mind. He had reached the breaking point, and just wanted the nightmare to end. So he picked up the pulse rifle and stuck the barrel under his chin. Then he put his finger on the trigger and closed his eyes.

Forgive me… he muttered under his breath as he pulled the trigger. His damnation was met with a solitary click as the rifle failed to fire.

Really! he mumbled in anger as he slowly opened his eyes to a world he was trying to leave behind. He pulled the trigger again, but the rifle would not fire. So he turned the weapon on its side and stared at it for a moment. The power meter read full, and the safety was off.

Humm… he sighed as he pulled the retaining pin out of the receiver, to release the plasma coupler. The moment it dropped free, a small brown cricket fell out onto the floor.

How in the hell did you get in there? he scolded as the insect hopped over to Mikala’s bedroll and proceeded to chirp at him. He wasn’t one to believe in divine intervention, but he didn’t believe in coincidences either. If it was a message from beyond, he didn’t think he should ignore it. So rather than tempt fate, he put the rifle back together and set it on the ground next to his sleeping bag. Then he stared at the cricket as if waiting to see what it would do next. The little critter chirped at him, and then disappeared into a fold in the bedding.

Once it was obvious that the cricket had gone to bed, Richard curled up on his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

The moment he fell asleep, he started dreaming of Mikala. It was when they had just moved into a new house with their daughters, Calie and Jasmine. Everything was perfect, Mikala had been hired on at the school where their daughters were enrolled, and he had just been promoted to Lead Scientist at the 341st Medical Group’s Genetic Research Facility at Malmstrom. She was so proud of him. He would be in charge of Phase-2 of the Human Genome Project. Phase-1, the mapping of the entire human genome had been completed decades earlier. Phase-2 was a newly funded project tasked with identifying mutations in the human genome that could cause genetic disorders. Once the errant code was identified, gene editing would allow scientists to modify the genetic code on a molecular level. Richard knew it was the wave of the future, and once perfected, genetic disorders would be a thing of the past. It was a bit like playing God, but those were the tools we were given, and it could ease the suffering of millions.

Richard’s dream carried him along like a boat on a river. Life was going great, and his new job gave him hope and purpose. Every time he identified an error in the genetic code, he knew another disorder was that much closer to being eradicated. Across the hall, DARPA, the Department of Advanced Research Projects Agency, moved in. Richard knew they were a secretive branch of the military that funded a broad range of classified projects. Despite the elusive nature of their work, people talked, and Richard listened. On one occasion, he overheard a couple of soldiers complaining about the negative side effects of the drugs they had been given. When he asked what happened, they told him they were part of a small-scale clinical trial using performance-enhancing pharmaceuticals to boost their performance. It was classified, but the soldiers assumed he was part of the program since all the scientists wore the same white lab coats. On another occasion, a test subject went berserk in the hallway and he had to be Tasered by the MPs. After seeing that, Richard secretly hoped that the enhancement program would be defunded, but the program continued on despite the setback. When the drug trials ended without success, DARPA searched the fringes of the scientific community in an effort to salvage their faltering program. Their search ended with Dr. William Stone, a pioneer in endocrinological biochemistry with some rather controversial ideas about the future of symbiotic implants. Richard had seen him lecture about them in grad school, so he recognized Dr. Stone immediately. When Richard introduced himself, Dr. Stone pretended to remember him, and then quickly changed the subject to his latest research. At the time, Richard had no idea that he was standing next to the man who’s creation would devastate mankind on a scale beyond imagination. If he had only known what was to come, he could have tried to stop it. But he had missed the warning signs, chalking up Dr. Stone’s narcissistic mannerisms and lack of empathy to intellectual genius, and drive. Even when Dr. Stone talked about advancing the human race through biological augmentation, Richard didn’t take him seriously. After all, gene editing was the wave of the future, and once it was perfected, humans could cure nearly every known disease or prevent them in the first place. All that was needed was time, something Richard thought he had plenty of.

Dr. Stone’s approach was far more radical, he believed that the way to combat disease and improve biological performance was to make the host stronger. He even found an example of a parasitic worm that after infecting its host would secrete an array of biochemicals that killed off competitive pathogens. Using that as a model for his research, Dr. Stone convinced DARPA that he could genetically modify a flatworm so that its larval offspring would secrete the performance enhancing biochemicals that they were looking for. The larvae in turn could be used as benign implants after a pacification step. The idea repulsed Richard and he doubted it would work, but it was the kind of radical innovation that DARPA was looking for.

Once Dr. Stone moved in, it became clear that he would need more lab space to conduct his research. Rather than wait for labs to become available, he used his connection to DARPA to get half of the Genome Project’s labs reassigned to his program. It was a move that infuriated Richard, but he knew that Dr. Stone was well connected, so he kept quiet, rather than risk losing his job or more of his lab space. It turned out to be a smart strategy because Dr. Stone quickly built a reputation of getting people fired if they got in his way. Richard never knew who that high level person was, but he figured it had to be someone in the Department of Defense because they were the parent agency to DARPA, and Malmstrom, since it was an Air Force Base.

After the labs were reassigned to Dr. Stone, Richard was granted access because they contained a number of built-in freezers that were too large to move. This allowed Richard to glimpse some of what Dr. Stone was working on, despite its secretive nature. When he saw the name Taenia solium on an incubator, he knew that was the parasite Dr. Stone had chosen for his experiments. It made sense, as the flatworm was capable of infecting humans and other primates, and it had adapted over time so that it could evade the host’s immune system. In poorer countries, Taenia solium caused infection in people who consumed undercooked pork, or ate food that had come in contact with infected swine or human waste. It was the stuff of nightmares, and Richard hated the fact that those slimy little things were in the labs across from him. Like Dr. Stone, they were disgusting, and he avoided them at all cost. Despite his attempts to ignore Dr. Stone and his vile project, every one of his breakthroughs made its way around the building. When Dr. Stone created a parent worm capable of producing the genetically modified larvae, there was a celebratory cake in the cafeteria. Richard loved cake, but the white frosting was covered with gummy worms, a satirical touch that repulsed him so much he couldn’t even look at it, let alone eat a piece. When Dr. Stone was able to further modify the parent worm’s genetic code so it produced smaller offspring that could be implanted into host and not exceed its cranial capacity upon maturation, there were celebratory balloons in the hallway shaped like giant inflated brains. Richard popped a few when no one was looking, but his act of retaliation went unnoticed.

It wasn’t long after the balloons that Richard remembered seeing a bunch of top military brass touring the facility and knew that Dr. Stone had reached another milestone. Within a week a half-dozen caged chimpanzees were dropped off in the hallway outside of Richard’s lab. When he inquired about the purpose of the simians, one of Dr. Stone’s assistants informed him that the larval implants had been perfected, and they needed test subjects. The assistant went on to say that the larvae were pacified in the final process rendering them benign so they could be classified as ‘biological implant or augmentation’. It was a distinction that didn’t make him squirm any less than before.

After the simians were moved into Dr. Stone’s labs, their cries could be heard up and down the corridor. At first he thought they were just agitated, but when he looked in, he saw that many of the cages lacked food or water and were in need of cleaning. Richard was disgusted by what he saw and finally broke his own rule of keeping quiet. When he took his concerns to his boss, she was sympathetic, but the very next day Richard remembered getting an email notifying him that the Genome Project labs were being relocated. No explanation was given, but Richard knew Dr. Stone must have gotten wind of his objections. The relocation actually forced Richard to walk past the test labs each day, so he knew it was meant to be an insult more than anything else.

A few days after moving into to the smaller lab, Richard noticed biohazard signs taped on the door to Dr. Stone’s research lab and he could see the chimpanzees were being exposed to an array of infectious pathogens. The following week he saw Dr. Stone testing the poor animals’ pain tolerance and ability to heal from combat simulated injuries. He knew those tests were unethical, and he sent an anonymous letter to the base commander threatening to report the conditions to the oversight committee. Despite the anonymity of his complaint, Richard was notified a few days later that the Genome Project was being moved off base. He knew it was retribution for voicing his concerns, but he didn’t care. He actually wanted to be moved away from Dr. Stone’s sphere of influence because everything that man touched morphed into something nefarious.

After Richard was relocated, he remembered hearing that DARPA had been given FDA approval for phase two testing of the implants in humans. This seemed to legitimize Dr. Stones’ work, and though the science behind the project was still highly classified, recruitment for the implant was not. Richard remembered seeing an internal email that biological augmentations could turn ordinary soldiers into super soldiers. It made him wonder how many would agree to the procedure if they knew the implant was actually a genetically modified tapeworm larva. In either case, a follow-up email praised the volunteers and said they were being deployed overseas.

As his dream continued to chronograph the events, he came to the day when he learned about the implantation procedure by accident. He was called to a meeting on base, and when it was over, he noticed a partially shredded paper sticking out of the recycle bin. Had it not had Dr. Stones’ name across the top, he would have passed it by. But the urge to snoop was too great and he pulled it out and then ducked into the restroom so he could read it. Much to his surprise, it was a single page from a file summarizing the implantation process that had undoubtedly been discarded because of the large coffee stain across it. Even though he knew it would be repulsive, he couldn’t stop himself from reading it. It was a glimpse into the work of the man he despised, and he hoped it would reveal his true nature. He was a sadistic, egomaniac that would implant his own mother if he thought it would further his goals. But the paper only described the process, and nothing more. Even so, Richard couldn’t forget what he read. ‘Each soldier will be given an injection of anesthetic at the base of their neck that also contains a single modified larva. The injection has to be proximal to the pituitary gland at a depth of 60mm. After implantation, the larva will attach itself to the carotid artery near the base of the