Chameleon by Otto Gramm (free ereaders .txt) 📖

woods, full of soldiers, can we?” He thought and glared at Kyle again. The man stared forward and didn’t even blink. Then Alex went back to examining the surroundings. However, the view of the jungle made him anxious. Ominous shadows were looming between dark branches and leaves, something moved in a hot haze. Every now and then, Alex expected to see there a flare of a metal, or a glass, or a tiny spot of the aiming device. On the right, some bird flew up so suddenly that Alex, frightened, almost jumped on Kyle. Then the noises faded. This quiet made Alex even more apprehensive. Moreover, his companion still did not dropped a word. "Where are we going?" Alex asked himself, looking back. He noted his steppes became much less painful. Probably this guy Shad treated his feet with something when he was unconscious. And not only feet – all of his body wounds disappeared, he felt a pleasant moist chill on his skin.

– Don’t let this silence bother you. – Kyle’s unexpected phrase caught him by surprise. – I made this, for I prefer talking in a calm atmosphere. Subconsciously, you already feel that I don’t intend to give you either to the militaries or to the scientists. That is good. Yet you still want to know where I hide my weapon, grab it and kill me on the spot. What exactly scares you about me, Alex?

– You know my name? What else do you know about me? – He answered with questions.

– I think hearing Wolfgang Warren’s name made you even more surprised than yours. You didn’t know it, did you?

Alex slowly shook his head.

– Rat Warren. – Kyle chuckled. – What about the others’?

– Gaibs and... What was it?... Omar, Amar...

– Dr. Elvira Omer. She has not worked with you for two months.

– A woman?! – Alex almost cried out.

Kyle paused and glanced at the interlocutor either with surprise, or with a sneer.

– You didn’t know that either?

– How could I? Only Gaibs and Warren were allowed to my cell without those space helmets. – He shook his hand in front of his face. – I could see only his... I mean her eyes and brows... Just like a man.

Kyle gave a quiet hem and then they continued on their way.

– By the way, they removed her for treating you too humanely.

– Oh, really?

– She’s an anesthesiologist. Secretly mixed blunting pain drugs. In some manner that helped in your escape.

– Meaning?

– It provoked the process in your body, after which a special immunity appeared.

Kyle calmly faced his astonished gaze.

– They didn’t reveal it at once in the laboratory. – He continued. – But with the advent of a so-called “pain detector”, they quickly realized what’s what and called for additional security. However, there were some delays with equipment. Thus, we were lucky.

– We?

From above came frantic shouts. A group of small primates was disputing over the branches with the best fruits. Kyle’s brief glance immediately quelled them.

– We are now a hundred miles away from the nearest small village and three hundred miles from the city. You certainly were not aware of that. I just said it to let you know how come they put a pack of full-equipped militaries on your track so quickly.

– They were ready?

– Yes. Well... Partly. There used to be a few Vietnamese camps in this area. Memory of war atrocities still lingers in the depths of the forest. The military lost two men in a punji trap yesterday. I guess you could lose them for a while, couldn’t you?

Alex replied nothing.

– That was rather smart of you. – Kyle chuckled, as he continued. – I’ve read your file about Vietnam. About how you were found, about your contusion, which surprisingly quickly passed, about your excellent military training, your captivity, escape, long wanderings through the jungle... You know how to survive here, I reckon that, but then you were somehow armed, dressed and not stuffed with drugs that would soon start to ruin your body from the inside.

Alex stopped frozen.

– Sorry. – Kyle turned around with a sad smirk on his face. – But your escape was doomed.

The common picture cleared up a bit... and was not very optimistic.

– So that’s why you hunted me? – Alex asked in a hoarse voice, as he caught up with Kyle. – To explain that my escape was useless?

Steadily pacing, the man only smiled and shook his head.

– Aren’t you one of them? – Again a negative gesture. – Competitor? – The corners of thin lips slightly raised.

– You won’t guess.

– What do you want from me?

– I’m not interested in you as a scientific material.

– Really? I feel insulted.

In response came a quiet laugh. There was something unusual about this drawn grin... and about this black silhouette.

– Still, I wonder. – Kyle’s voice interrupted his thoughts again. – What’s your secret?

– What do you mean?

– My illusions are beyond mind skills of ordinary people. However, you could discern them. Even more – you hacked them. How?

– That was easy! – The fugitive’s snap made Kyle a bit frown. Alex beamed, as he noticed he had hurt his pride.

– But still how? – Kyle repeated his question.

Alex made an ironic grimace and showed him middle finger.

– Wise enough. – The man in black nodded. – Who would reveal his sacred secrets to a stranger?

– First, you tell me what you want.

– And what do you want? – There came a counter question.

Alex paused, dumbfounded. He did not expect such a turn.

– What do I want? – He mumbled, while distractedly looking around. – What do I want? As you’ve just said – to grab your gun and kill you.

– Think global. – Kyle uttered gently.

– Global? – Alex bit his lip thoughtfully. – Well then, you and your henchmen all together with the military, doctors, orderlies. I want to fry Warren and Gaibs on a slow fire... If you’re one of them, so you tell them.

– I’ve told you I’m not. – Kyle sighed wearily.

– Then why all these questions? – Alex raised his voice. – Why do you want me?!

– We’ll talk and then I will let you go.

– Aw, will you? – The fugitive smirked, surprised.

– Absolutely. The choice will be yours.

– Choice?! Choice between what?

His companion tapped on his wrist to let know that the time they had was short.

– So if I want, I can go straight away from here and nobody will stop me? – Alex continued his questions, as he followed his guide.

– If you’re such a fool, then we certainly have nothing to talk about. – Kyle hemmed over his shoulder.

– Well, you’ll give me some kind of a paper, like a pass or ID, just in case if I meet military or border guards. Indicating for example that this is no longer One-one-four but Alexander Koldoum. From now on, he’s granted with a peaceful existence permission. He’s also to be furnish with sneakers, fries, a coke and a pack of Parliament with a lighter. If he desires, you must deliver him to the nearest town, after that you let him kick your ass and unquestionably go to the destination, where he sends you.

Kyle slowed down and a second later burst out with belly laughing.

– You do have sense of humor!

– Sarcasm and wicked irony. – The fugitive shrugged.

As soon as his companion took a breath and turned to continue on his way, Alex jerked to his back. With one hand, he grabbed Kyle’s neck and tried to put him in a hammerlock with the other. However, the man abruptly turned around, easily released and the next moment the attacker, taken aback, became a victim himself. Both hands were twisted behind his back, as Kyle’s strong grip tightly pressed him to the tree trunk.

– Still fooling around?

– I wanted to make sure you have no weapon. – He panted, trying not to touch his mouth to the tasteless and slimy bark.

– Convinced now?

– Yes. – Strong hands released him. – So? – Alex raised his eyebrows, waiting for Kyle to continue the conversation.

– This way. – He said, pointing to the thickets.

Strangely enough, they passed the jungle without stumbling or getting caught on. Alex walked right behind Kyle, who somehow cleared quickly their path. The fugitive had no reason to attack his new acquaintance again. He was quite satisfied with the result if his first check: Kyle really had no weapon, otherwise he would instantly find it and grab. Besides Alex was getting curious.

After a couple of hundred meters, they came upon a rather high wall. Kyle did not pay any attention to the astonished gasp of his companion and moved forward, leaving the structure on his right shoulder.

– What is that...?

– Sh-h! – Kyle silenced Alex, as soon as he ran up from behind. – We’re here, but be quiet.

Striding slowly, they came to a clearing surrounded by a ring of tall trees. Their mighty and wide crowns entwined into a dense funnel that created an almost impassable net for sunlight; its tiny stripes seeped on the grass and the palm leaves. Everything was painted with all shades of green and was fragrant with flowers and dampness. On the right, behind the ledge of stone teeth, Alex saw familiar ruins.

– This is where you caught me! – He exclaimed either in questioning or affirmative voice, as soon as they passed the wall and came down to the hollow.

– Yes, and you are not easy to catch, I’ll give you that.

– Yet you succeeded.

– I lured you in. I needed a little assistance of Shad to do this.

Alex glared over him with squint distrustful eyes.

– I’m able to distinguish my own thoughts.

– You are. However, you were exhausted after the chase, so you didn’t resist much.

– Probably. – He mumbled, as he remembered his feet carried him to this glade.

– It was risky to shoot you for your sharp ears could hear the motion before the dart reached the target.

At these words, a light proud grin appeared on Alex’s face.

– That is why... – Kyle continued. – ...I’ve preferred more brutal tactics.

Just at that moment, they came to the pedestal, where the fugitive had recently had an mental dialogue before he was caught. Kyle pointed up – a dense canopy of branches and vines twisted in a dome just above their heads.

– You just fell upon me.

– And stunned.

– Not too aesthetically to me. – Alex gave him a quizzical look. – You are an esthete, aren’t you?

– Not always. – He looked around and, as soon as the interlocutor turned away, grasped him by the shoulders and threw him in the air. – Grab it!

Alex flew three meters up and instinctively caught a thick branch that painfully hit his chest. The next moment, Kyle easily pushed off and took a firm stand on a nearby branch with his both feet.

– Damn it! – Alex growled, while awkwardly scrambling. – Couldn’t you have warned before?!

– Try to behave quietly! – A strong hand gripped him again by the shoulder and easily lifted on his feet. – Climbing trees is obviously not your strong suit.

– I thought we had evolved from monkeys long ago.

– Only had lost some hair and skills. Regrettably, you still have the same temper.

“YOU?!” As Alex digested that queer answer, his companion closely peered and listened to what was happening in the glade.

– Who the hell are...?

Kyle didn’t let him finish, as he shut his mouth with his hand. Then he slowly bent closer. Alex felt a strange tremor, like before the vaccination. These azure eyes... What’s wrong with his eyes? The ex-lab prisoner mentally asked this question until he remembered the reaction of the pupil to darkness. The iris should not be so wide in a tree shade and... It glowed! Stretched tiny patterns opalesced and sparkled, like thousands of blue crystals in the sun. This discovery made Alex so scared that he almost