MIND GAME
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Jove edition / August 2004
Copyright © 2004 by Christine Feehan
Excerpt from “Dark Secret” by Christine Feehan
copyright © 2005 by Christine Feehan
Cover design by Marc Cohen
Cover photo by Swamp/David Muench/Getty Images
Book design by Julie Rogers
ISBN: 0-515-13809-6
A JOVE BOOK®
Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
JOVE and the “J” design are trademarks belonging to
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
* * *
For my beloved sister Mary, with much love.
Hope always shines eternal, even in our darkest hour.
Somehow, you always have known that.
* * *
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without two wonderful men this book would never have been written. I would like to thank Morey Sparks for all of his help and the many hours he spent talking to me about his experiences in the military. It wasn’t always easy, and I appreciate it.
Special thanks to Dr. Christopher Tong, coeditor of the “state of the art” series, Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Design (volumes I, II, and III). He has also published books with such titles as Beyond Believing, You CAN Take It with You, and Beyond Spiritual Correctness. He has been a manager, consultant, teacher, and researcher at many well-known institutions including Rutgers, MIT, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, and Siemens Research. He was invaluable to me with his help on this book.
Be sure to write to Christine at christine@christinefeehan.com to get a FREE exclusive screen saver and join the PRIVATE email list to receive an announcement when Christine’s books are released.
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THE GHOSTWALKER CREED
We are the GhostWalkers, we live in the shadows
The sea, the earth, and the air are our domain
No fallen comrade will be left behind
We are loyalty and honor bound
We are invisible to our enemies and we destroy them
where we find them
We believe in justice and we protect our country and those
unable to protect themselves
What goes unseen, unheard, and unknown are
GhostWalkers
There is honor in the shadows and it is us
We move in complete silence whether in jungle or desert
We walk among our enemy unseen and unheard
Striking without sound and scatter to the winds before
they have knowledge of our existence
We gather information and wait with endless patience for
that perfect moment to deliver swift justice
We are both merciful and merciless
We are relentless and implacable in our resolve
We are the GhostWalkers and the night is ours
Nox noctis est nostri
* * *
CHAPTER ONE
Contents – Next
“She’s obviously not cooperating again,” Dr. Whitney grumbled and scribbled fiercely in his notebook, clearly somewhere between total exasperation and frustration. “Don’t let her have her toys again until she decides to work. I’ve had enough of her nonsense.”
The nurse hesitated. “Doctor, that isn’t a good idea with Dahlia. She can be very…” She paused, clearly searching for the right word. “Difficult.”
That caught his attention. He looked up from his papers, the impatience on his face changing to interest. “You’re afraid of her, Milly. She’s four years old, and you’re afraid of her. Why?” There was more than scientific interest in his tone. There was eagerness.
The nurse continued to watch the child through the glass window. The little girl had shiny black hair, thick and long and falling down her back in an unkempt, untidy mass. She sat on the floor rocking back and forth, clutching a small blanket to her and moaning softly. Her eyes were enormous, as black as midnight and as penetrating as steel.
Milly Duboune winced visibly and looked away when the child turned those black, ancient eyes in her direction.
“She can’t see us through the glass,” Dr. Whitney pointed out.
“She knows we’re here.” The nurse dropped her voice to a whisper. “She’s dangerous, Doctor. No one wants to work with her. She won’t let us brush her hair or tell her to go to bed, and we can’t punish her.”