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now.
    “I’m so sorry for your loss, Creed, but we must save them.”  Meg spoke softly as she stepped closer to the soul-shaken soldier.  She reached out to touch his shadowed face as though they had all the time in the world.
    His eyes closed briefly, breathing in her strength.
    When his thick lashes fluttered open he stared at the dark-eyed beauty that held what was left of his bruised and broken heart with the strength and tenderness of a tigress, and he knew he would follow her anywhere.  He nodded once before saying, “What’s the plan?” 
    Meg crouched, motioning everyone to follow, huddling in the shadowed corner of the passageway.
    “Alik, you, Farrow and Maze get the van and pull it right up to those doors,” Meg pointed to the front doors of the Research Hospital. 
    “Keys?” Farrow asked.
    “I left them in the visor,” Alik assured.
    “Creed, Evan, Sloan and I will take the elevator downstairs, gather every child we can find and meet you back here in eight minutes.”
    “Okay,” Alik said, staring at his battered, but still functional watch.  
    “Stay sharp, everyone, and God be with us all,” she whispered as they stood.
    Just then, the front doors to the Research Hospital burst open and the red emergency lights were pin -pricked with blinding white flashes of gunfire.
     
     

    MetaMonarchs, Part 3
    13 years ago
    The Institute in Southern California
     
    “Just calm down, Williams.  Start from the beginning. Who stole what?”
    Kenneth’s face was brick red with rage.  “I just hired that woman you recommended.  Your former student—The West Point graduate, Dr. Margo Pullman.”
    “Yes, I remember her. What happened?”
    “She was supposed to be the perfect soldier!  You said she would obey orders without question!”
    “She’s not a Monarch, Williams.  What did she do?”
    “She stole them!”
    “Stole whom?”
    “The three most promising metahumans I ever created!  She took the first survivor of the serum, a three-year-old female labeled M57, a two-year-old male, M61 and the youngest subject who had just been dosed today with the most advanced version of the Infinite serum—a newborn male, M74.” 
    Senator Donovan Arkdone didn’t interrupt Williams’ tirade.  During the past year of their partnership, he’d learned how fragile Williams’ psyche truly was.  Better to let him burst into flames and stand back so as not to get burned.
    Kenneth’s breathing was coming out in furious puffs.
    “The stupid woman snuck into the building after hours telling the guard she was anxious to set up her office.  He saw her walking to her car a few minutes later with a laundry cart she claimed would help her bring in her things.  She stole them by hiding them in a damn laundry cart, Donovan!”
    He started panting like a laboring animal.  Donovan responded as he would to any psychotic patient, by repeating their worries and confirming their emotions proving to the subject that he truly was listening and did “care.”
    “Of course that is horribly upsetting,” Arkdone placated believably. “Yet it's only three, and you can create many more.”
    “That’s not all she did.  She destroyed my mainframe, took all their files and completely removed all the data and samples we had of the perfected infinite serum.  How the hell did she think to do that?”
    “She was special ops and an exemplary West Point grad.  She is capable of anything she sets her mind to.”  Senator Arkdone’s voice accidentally sounded almost wistful.  Kenneth wanted to reach through the phone and smack him in the forehead with a baseball bat.
    “Are you listening to me, Professor?”  Spittle flew from his pursed lips.  “Now I’m going to have to start back at the beginning!  Do you have any idea how far back this set me?” 
    “Well, Kenneth, didn’t you have backups of your files?”
    “Yes.  Of course I did.  She destroyed those when she took out my mainframe!”
    “My, she is