“They’re extremely deep cover agents. They’re almost aseparate entity from the CIA. They’re recruited at a young age. Most of them between the ages of fourteen and fifteen.”
“Jesus . . . tell me you have nothing to do with that.”
“I don’t. Not directly, and that’s all I can admit to.”
“Is Caitlin a specter agent?” Travis already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it from Porter.
“She belongs to Project Infinity.”
“The tattoo.”
“Yes.”
“Is she in danger?”
Porter exhaled deeply. “That’s the reason I’m here. I just got word that Komarov is coming for her.”
Cold, crushing fear gripped Travis’s heart. “Over my dead body,” he snarled.
“Don’t underestimate the Russian, Blake. He’s got specter agents working for him.”
“What? What the fuck, Porter?”
“Project Infinity imploded around the time Sarah disappeared. Too much dirty money was being laundered, too many agents corrupted. The agency had to shut it down.”
“Disavowed,” Travis sneered. “Fucking CIA. No offense, Porter, but some of your colleagues are fucking assholes.”
The older man shrugged. “I can help, Travis.”
“How?”
“Komarov wants his money. From what I’ve gathered, Caitlin had it locked away in four accounts. She’s a hacker, Travis. That was her tradecraft with Project Infinity. The CIA has a facility that could help her regain her skills.”
“Get her memory back?”
“No. Not the short-term memory that you’re thinking. It’s more about muscle memory for the brain. What you’ve already learned, say in school, is filed away in a different area in the brain and is easier to regain.”
“How much money are we talking about?” Maybe he could just pay off the fucker.
“A hundred million.”
Fuck. He didn’t have that sum of money right now. Not for another five years at least.
“I can also help with her blackouts.”
“That was my immediate concern,” Travis said sharply. “Did the agency perform experiments on them?”
The deep sigh from Ben Porter confirmed his suspicions.
“What did they do to her?” he bit out.
“It’s what we call the Berserker serum.”
“Berserker what?” Travis wasn’t sure he heard the admiral correctly.
“BSK was an experimental serum that makes the body produce massive amounts of adrenalin. It usually kicks in when the agent perceives a threat. It makes them incredibly strong and fast.”
“How can that help? If the agent blacks out and can’t differentiate friendlies from hostiles?”
