THE STARDUST FORTUNE

Chapter 34: Three-Way Mirror

David Conway sat in Eleanor's office, looking exactly as he had fifteen years ago. Unchanged. Untransformed.

"You knew," Eleanor paced before him. "All this time, you knew what they really wanted."

"I tried to warn you." David's smile hadn't changed either. "But you were so certain you could control it."

Luna burst through the door. "The Mars samples are destabilizing."

"Already?" David checked his watch. "Ahead of schedule."

"You expected this?" Alex stood between Eleanor and Luna.

"I expected everything." David rose. "Even this fascinating triangle you've created."

"We don't have time for games," Eleanor's form flickered. "The hunters are coming."

"The hunters are already here." David touched Eleanor's desk, fingers trailing. "Inside each transformed human. Growing. Waiting."

Luna pulled up holographic data. "The samples are showing increasing neural activity."

"Of course they are." David walked to the window. "They can hear their siblings approaching."

"The Mars samples are alive?"