A WOMAN IN BLUE MEDICAL SCRUBS LANDED BY HELICOPTER AT A WEALTHY FAMILY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY WITH FOUR LITTLE BOYS—AND THE DECORATED MARINE OFFICER WAITING INSIDE WENT COMPLETELY SILENT WHEN HE SAW THEIR FACES. WHO WERE THOSE CHILDREN, AND WHY DID THEY LOOK SO MUCH LIKE HIM? / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - The Fortress in QuebecGeneral Thomas Vance sat behind a heavy mahogany desk in his secluded estate outside Montreal. He looked strikingly like Arthur Vance—same sharp jaw, same piercing blue eyes—but his posture bore the rigid discipline of forty years in high military command.

Medical staff were tending to Clara's frostbite and giving the four boys warm soup in the adjoining library.

"Arthur warned me six years ago that Eleanor had lost her mind," General Vance said, setting down a crystal glass of amber whiskey. "I didn't believe him then. I thought it was corporate jealousy."

"She converted Vance Global into a biological weapons laboratory, General," Clara said, standing in the doorway with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "And Julian is finishing what she started. They tested the genetic modification serum on Lucas, and my boys carried the mutated genetic code."

"Where is my nephew?" Thomas asked, his voice softening with deep concern.

"He stayed behind in Maine to hold off Julian's black-ops team," Clara whispered, her voice cracking as a single tear escaped her lashes. "I don't know if he's..."

"He's alive," a small voice interrupted.

Liam stepped into the room, holding an encrypted military radio receiver he had wired to the estate’s satellite dish.

"Liam, what are you doing?" Clara asked, rushing over to him.

"I intercepted an encrypted short-wave transmission from the US Coast Guard sector in Portland," Liam said, his six-year-old fingers tapping rapidly on the frequency keypad. "A male soldier with Silver Star clearance was pulled from the water by a fishing trawler two hours ago. He refused medical transport and demanded a flight to Quebec."

General Vance stared at the child in pure shock, then looked up at Clara. "He did that in five minutes?"

"I told you, General," Clara said softly, wrapping her arm around Liam’s shoulders. "Their minds don't work like normal children's."

Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the study flew open.

Lucas stood on the threshold, leaning heavily against the doorframe. His right arm was bandaged, his face bruised and pale, but when his eyes met Clara's, the exhaustion vanished from his face.