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    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora
    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora
    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora
    Ebook373 pages4 hours

    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora

    By Kristie Lynn Higgins

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    About this ebook

    The Shades Of Gray Series follows the adventures of Kat, a woman with no memory of her past who is called the Pandora Project by those who hunt her, and Kim, a woman leading the life of a legal assassin called a Life Closer. The world they live in is plagued by clouds that prevent the sun from shining down on the land called Dry Clouds, making all who live in Noir forced to live in endless night.

    Kat searches for clues to her past while androids called Un-Men and human bounty hunters try to kill her, and Kim searches for who murdered her mother. The two women's paths collide, and they form a shaky partnership to unravel the mysteries that haunt their lives and they try to protect one another from those who do not wish for them to discover the truth.

    Everyone's soul is marked by a color. Which shade of gray will they hold to?

    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora:

    An unstoppable killer...
    An inevitable battle...

    In the third book of the Shades of Gray Series, Kat finds herself hunted by Cerberus, a Council experiment sent to kill her. Cerberus is faster and stronger than her. Can Kat survive the inescapable fight?

    An appalling truth...
    A grim decision...

    Kim discovers her father may have had something to do with her mother's murder. She confronts him. What if he did order her mother's death? Can Kim kill her own father?

    Confessions...
    A shocking truth...

    In the process of interrogating her father, Kim is told an awful truth about her family. What will Kim do with her father? Is he the one she's been searching for to take her revenge? Does the truth about her family have something to do with Kat? If so, what will Kim do?

    Shades of Gray, Science Fiction Action Adventure Mystery Thriller Serial Series:
    (STARTING POINT QUADRILOGY)
    #1 Shades of Gray: Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness
    #2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love
    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora
    #4 Shades of Gray: Sisters

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKristie Lynn Higgins
    Release dateDec 17, 2011
    ISBN9781465771278
    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora
    Author

    Kristie Lynn Higgins

    You can also check out my author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/author/kristielynnhiggins

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      Book preview

      #3 Shades of Gray - Kristie Lynn Higgins

      Shades of Gray #3

      Cerberus Versus Pandora

      Kristie Lynn Higgins

      SHADES OF GRAY #3 Cerberus Versus Pandora

      © 2008, 2024 Kristie Lynn Higgins

      Cover Art © 2024 CHIMERA

      032424

      www.KristieLynnHiggins.com

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      Ginn’s Poem

      Of all the things that bind humans together; race, religion, creeds, etc…  The one that is the strongest and the most inescapable is blood.

      Translated from the Assembled Works

      Ginn L. Irynkissgthie

      525 B.D.C.

      Chapter One

      Adam’s Attack

      The year 32 A.D.C...

      October 24...

      Sunday...

      Hellenistic Sector, Cultural Vicinage...

      Genesis Arboretum...

      Inside the Sphere Room...

      Moments earlier…

      Adam’s view...

      In my long life, I’ve seen many wondrous and horrifying sights and have done many brave and disastrous things, and now I have a chance to atone and make right what once went wrong.  All I have to do is take one life.  All I have to do is take upon myself the most grievous of offenses.

      My feet thunder across the wooden floor of my treehouse balcony, and I seize Pandora by her throat and start to choke her but instead, I drop her to meet her fate.

      I look over my broken balcony.  Is she dead?  Did I finally correct a past mistake?  Have I atoned for my mistakes?  Have I saved the world?

      I squint, staring at the rippling water below as bubbles rise.  No...  She isn’t dead.  I have failed...  I have failed once again.  I can’t make amends for my past mistakes.  All I seem to do is… fail.

      Fifteen minutes have gone by since I attempted to destroy the weed.  I don’t regret my actions. I only regret that I didn’t follow through.  I wasn’t able to kill the weed, but I sent Cerberus to correct my mistake.  I only wish I had the foresight to destroy the weed a long time ago and then maybe the world wouldn’t be doomed to a dark end.  Maybe then the sun would have broken free of its prison and also have set us free.

      I look at the broken section of the balcony.  I’ll have to have someone fix the railing.  I wouldn’t want someone accidentally falling to their death.

      End Adam’s view...

      * * *

      11:46 p.m...

      A gentle wind blew across the lemongrass like a hand brushing across the blades as the sun crept across the cloudless eastern sky inside the sphere-shaped building on thousands of seamless projection screens.  A multitude of birds in an array of colors sang to the morning.  Many birds perched on the huge manmade banyan tree that stood in the large room’s center.  A pond surrounded the tree which was positioned on a small island, and three bridges crossed the water and connected the small island to fields of lemongrass.  An ocean roared in the distance.  It was another illusion like the morning sky.  The outside of the Arboretum was all but abandoned except for a few guards patrolling the parking lot and outer buildings.  The place would not be opened to the public for another nine hours.

      Inside the Sphere Room...

      Kat lay on her back unconscious in a clearing beside the pond as her hair dripped with water and ran from her forehead and down the side of her face.  Her eyes rapidly moved beneath her closed lids as she dreamed, and within the vision, she drifted in a world of darkness.

      Katharine’s view...

      A piece of paper floats in front of me like it’s drifting on the airy currents of an ocean of wind.  The paper rises and falls, surfing on the breezy waves of my past and future.  It holds more meaning than what’s written on its creased and worn surface and with great fondness, I remember the item that has given me hope.  It’s the note R.G. left for me, and for a year, I carried the message, finding strength and purpose in its limited and vague words.  I can’t make out the letters to form words in my mind, but I long ago memorized them.  I never did figure out what my mission was.  There are many things I don’t know.  I don’t even know if my name’s Katharine.  I only know that I awoke one day in Etna Toys Plant and Warehouse with no memory.  At Etna, the note lay on a table beside me, so I believed it belonged to me, and I took the name as my own.  I have to have something to believe in because without hope I’m dead inside.

      The note floats away from me, so I reach out to seize it, but I can’t grasp it, and then a small fire appears, and the flames consume the paper.  No! I scream as I drop my hand and stare at the fire till it fades.

      Do you want to know your origin? a man speaks to me from the darkness.

      At first, his voice startles me, but then I question, Who am I?  And who are you?

      Where to begin? the man speaks, and then he questions me, Who are you, and where do you come from?  My dear, I have wondered that myself, he says.  I have seen glimpses of you throughout my lifetime.  I have seen small fragments of your life in a nonlinear kaleidoscope of your beginning, your middle, and your end.

      What do you mean you have seen glimpses of me? I question him.  Have you been spying on me?  I scan the darkness and see no one, and then I repeat, And who are you?

      The who is easy, but I shall have to tell you that later, he speaks cryptically.  The other things are not so easy.  Nor I the time to tell you now.  I wanted to see if I could speak with you, and now I know I can, but my time has come to an end.  I shall try to speak with you again.  First, you must remember something.  You must remember something important.

      Don’t go, I plead with him, and then I pause, but I don’t hear anything, and then I ask, Are you there?  There’s still no response, so I yell, You haven’t told me anything!

      Remember, he tells me as his voice sounds far away.  Remember these words.  Though the clouds darken the sun...

      The words trigger an auto-response, and I feel as though I lose myself as I start to recite, Though the clouds darken the sun, and the rain becomes tainted–

      No! a different man shouts.  Do not fall for his trick!  It is dangerous to listen to him, so you must listen to me.  You must pull out of his hypnotic induction!  Do it before something horrible happens!

      I’m jolted from the trance by the screaming man, and I examine the blackness surrounding me in the dream.  It’s dismally quiet, and I don’t see who’s yelling at me.

      Hello? I shout, and then I question, Is someone there?  Hello..?  No one answers me as I drift in the void for what seems like minutes, and then the dreamscape before me changes from darkness to light.

      In this new realm of my subconscious, no Dry Clouds exist, the sun shines on the land, and the air’s clean and crisp, and the most important thing of all, I know in this place that no one hunts me.  I drift through this world happy and content till a shadow casts over the land, invading my peaceful dream, and a male voice laughs.

      Is that you? I ask.  Have you come back?  He laughs at me again, and the way he’s laughing at me makes me a little afraid, so I timidly question, Who’s there?

      He chuckles at me a third time, and his sinister laugh seems as dark as a shadow.  The sun flees as Dry Clouds rumble in and plunge the land into forever night.

      No!  Stop it!  Bring it back!  Bring back the other place! I scream, but my pleas are ignored.

      I fly high above the dark world till an unknown force pulls my body down.  The strange force also affects time and as I descend, my body grows younger till I reach my early teens.  As a thirteen-year-old, I land in a white-tiled room, and in the room, people talk with muffled words.  Two figures of faceless women appear, but they don’t frighten me.  I feel safe with them.

      One of the faceless women places her hands on my shoulders and tells me, Katharine, you must be strong.  I can no longer protect you.  The woman looks to a door as she hears footsteps approach the room, and then she turns back to me and states, There are those in the corporation who want to exploit you.  I want to protect you.

      I dreamed this before, but who are the women, and why do I keep dreaming about them and this moment?  What’s so important about it?

      In the dream, the doorknob jiggles as someone tries to enter, and I hear people yelling outside.  It still frightens me to experience it.

      Rosetta, they’re here.  Hurry, one of the women yells.

      Quick, Mary.  Push the desk against the door.  I need more time!

      Something terrible’s about to happen, and I can’t let it happen again, so I shout, Quick!  We have to get out of here!  They’re coming for us!  We have to run!

      The women ignore my frantic warning as if they can’t hear me, and then the woman with her hands on my shoulders lowers herself to one knee.  She looks at me with her blank featureless face and tells me, Katharine, I want to protect you, but they will take you.  I can’t stop them, not with the power I have now.

      Someone outside tries to bust in the door, and I know I have to act fast if I want to change the outcome of this moment this go around.  Listen to me! I yell with all my being as I try to force my thirteen-year-old body to grab the woman’s arms, but my younger self won’t obey me, so I scream all the more, We have to run!  They’re going to hurt us!

      The other woman shouts as if she didn’t hear my desperate pleas, We’ve got to go!  They’re here!

      I’ll hurry, the first woman replies, and then she urges my younger self, Be strong Katharine.  She strokes my cheek, and I want to hug her as she states with such affection, My dearest Kat.

      No!  Don’t leave me! I scream as I turn to the door.  Please don’t happen again!  I want to rush over to the door and stop them from coming in, but I can’t move.  I can save them if they will only listen to me!

      A small explosion rips the door from its hinges, and it falls as five soldiers rush in.  I try to move for the third time, but my younger body won’t respond to my mental commands.  The S.C.M.s aim their assault rifles at the three of us, and then heated muffled words are exchanged between the parties and then angry demands.  The image slowly fades as a sense of pain and loneliness sweeps over me.  The image completely fades, and it’s replaced by the sound of fire, three gunshots, and women screaming.

      Mary!  Rosetta! I shriek as I open my eyes.  Run!

      My heart races as a feeling of powerlessness rushes over me and after a few moments, I realize I’ve been asleep and place my hands over my ears, trying to shield myself from the horrific sounds that echo in my mind.  Something horrible happened in that room.  I only remember a few more details than the last time I dreamed about it.  Soldiers rushed in after Mary and Rosetta, but my younger self just stood there and did nothing to help them.

      My whole body trembles unable to shake off the feeling there’s something I should have done.  I feel guilty, but I also feel like I’m missing something.  My guilt... is it over my inaction back then or is it over something horrible I did back then?  I try to remember more, but I can’t.  I’m so sure Mary and Rosetta are real people.

      The fog in my mind clears, and I lower my hands.  If they’re real people, I should know them, but it also feels like a dream, a dream that’s like a memory.

      Sunlight shines down on me, and I feel its warmth and realize I’m outside, so I peer up and squint.  There are no Dry Clouds.  I don’t know where I am, and for a few moments, I believe I’m still dreaming.

      Chapter Two

      The Two Projects

      11:51 p.m...

      Katharine’s view...

      A breeze sweeps over me, and I shiver as I believe I’m outside.  I’m wet...  I stare at a blue cloudless sky as I lie on my back.  I don’t know how I got here.  A few birds fly over me as I notice my cheek hurts, and I put my hand on it.  I remember now...  I’m not outside but inside the Genesis Arboretum.  I came to see Adam, and for some reason, he’s very angry with me.  I move my hand and rub my sore throat.  He choked me but instead of finishing me off, he dropped me, and I fell into the pond.  I sit up and look around.  This isn’t where I dragged myself out of the water.  I crawled out to the lemongrass, but now I’m back on the island.  I turn and see the treehouse behind me.  My back hurts.  That’s right…  Adam slammed me on the railing.  I don’t remember much after falling into the water, but I did manage to drag myself out and...  I rub my cheek again.  Stephanie kicked me.  She... that conniving liar tried to kill me!  She must be an assassin sent after me, but I don’t understand Adam’s reaction.  He tried to kill me, and he kept calling me a weed.

      You’re finally awake, Stephanie yells to me from the other side of the pond.  I guess I kicked you a bit too hard and had to drag you out of the water.  I guess that means I saved your life.  She waits for me to say something, but I just look around for an escape, and then Stephanie says, I was beginning to think you’d sleep all night.

      I quickly get to my feet as my flight instinct kicks in.

      Stephanie continues, When I first met you at Hades Cemetery, I thought you were a complete waste of time.  I had no clue what Mr. Morta saw in you, but then I witnessed your fight with the Un-Men, and I changed my mind, but I guess you don’t care about that.  You must be wondering why you’re still alive.  I mean I could’ve killed you after I knocked you unconscious, but what fun would that have been?

      What do you want? I ask, ready to flee like a spooked deer from a predator.  And who are you really?  I notice the three bridges and that they’re my only escape from the island unless I go back up into the treehouse.  My enemy stands by one of the bridges, so I ask her, Is your real name Stephanie?  I wipe water from my face and then wipe my hands on my jeans as I continue, I heard Adam call you Cerberus.  Are you a Life Closer sent by the Council?

      I wasn’t sure if you had heard what the old man had said.  It’s too bad you had.  I had this game all planned out, she tells me, and then she glances up at the treehouse.  The old man could always ruin a good surprise.  Stephanie starts over the bridge as she questions me, Do you want to know if I’m an assassin?  That’s funny.  You should have figured it out by now and since you haven’t, I’ll tell you.  I’m like you.

      I point to myself, not sure of her meaning as I inquire, Like me?

      Come on.  Don’t you see it?  Let me give you a hint with two words, Pandora Project.  See, now you’re understanding.  I’m like you.  I’m an experiment.  I’m no piss-asp Closer.  Stephanie runs her hand along the bridge’s railing as she speaks, The Council created me, and now they want me to destroy you.  She accusingly points a finger at me as she yells, They believe you’re a failure.  They believe you’re an experiment unworthy of them.

      I don’t care what they think! I shout.  The Council doesn’t own me.  I point to myself as I insist, I’m my own person.

      Stephanie’s view...

      See...  It’s that kind of half-asp statement that has gotten you into this predicament.  I stop at the end of the bridge and inform her, Of course the Council owns you.  You’re their project, the Pandora Project.

      I can’t get past how the name sounds to me.  The word Pandora incites excitement for the great battle to come, and it’ll be between the top two experiments.  The battle will determine which of the two of us is the best and of course, it will be me.  I’m the Great and Mighty Cerberus after all.

      I also inform her, You have no rights.  Even Adam knows that and when he found out what you are, he treated you as you should be.  He treated you less than human.

      What’s wrong with Pandora?  Why do I have to tell her all these things?  She should already know all this stuff.

      Katharine’s view...

      I look up to the treehouse balcony and there Adam stands like some Roman governor watching a gladiator fight in which he cheers for both of the contenders to be defeated.  I can see the disgust in his eyes as he glares at me.  I don’t understand his hatred.  He must know something about me that I don’t.  I’m almost too afraid to find out what he knows.

      I stare a little longer at him, and then I realize my backpack’s up there.  I have some important things in it, so when I get a chance, I’ll need to get it.  I turn to Stephanie and declare, You’re wrong.  I have worth.  Everyone does.  You’re all wrong.  You, Adam, the Council...  I’m somebody, and I have rights.

      I look back up at Adam.  Here I thought I found someone who could help me.  I thought I found a lighthouse in the midst of a storm, but all I found was a man who came at me like an angry Ent whose forest had been set ablaze.  If Adam’s the caring shepherd of this world, what does that make me?

      I don’t know why you’re looking at him, Stephanie tells me.  Mr. Greenhouse called you a weed, and coming from him that’s low.  He basically hates you.  He wants to see you destroyed.  She marches toward me as she states, So he’ll enjoy what I’m about to do to you.

      I back away from her.  The only thing I can do is run and try to make it out of this place.  I dash over a different bridge other than the one Stephanie crossed, and then I bolt through the grass, running in the direction I believe the exit is in.

      Stephanie’s view...

      I take a few moments to listen to the breeze, the bird songs, and the prey fleeing through the tall blades.  I was afraid Pandora would fight me here, but now there will be a hunt, and I love a good chase.

      Chapter Three

      Between Father And Daughter

      11:48 p.m...

      Hellenistic Sector, Business Vicinage...

      Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office...

      The Chairman’s Office...

      Kimberly’s view...

      What are you doing? my father inquires of me as I finish screwing a silencer onto the PPK, and then he watches in what appears to be baffled horror as I lift the gun.  He questions as if he doesn’t already know, Why are you aiming at me?

      I’m going to get to the truth, I inform him as I choke back incertitude and emotional anguish, and then I inquire, Why did you kill mom?  I loathe the man who’s sitting before me. He’s a traitor to our once happy family.  He’s my father, but I’m a daughter betrayed, and I demand, Tell me!

      What are you talking about? my father questions me.  He’s the Chairman, but he must feel powerless as I stare down my sight at him.  He must feel more like a prisoner before an executioner than a father fighting with his daughter.  His standing in the world doesn’t matter at this moment because it can’t save him from my furor.  None of his resources or global connections will save him from my wrath.

      I can’t unleash the Phoenix’s fury just yet.  I must know the truth before I act.  I must be absolutely sure that whoever I kill for my mom’s murder did commit the crime.  Death’s not something I can take back.  I will save one bullet for them and them alone.  I pause for a moment and peer at him.  I can’t fathom my father capable of such an evil thing.  He couldn’t have killed my mom.  He loved her, but he’s a corporate man and the Chairman of the Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office.  I imagine he has done whatever it took to rise to his position, but does that include murdering his wife?  I maintain my cool demeanor as I lower the gun and lay it on my lap.  Since my father won’t come right out and admit it, the questioning will take a while, and I don’t need to keep the weapon aimed at him, but no matter what, I will get to the truth.  I’ve been trained extensively as a Life Closer, so I’ve had a lot of practice with this type of interrogation.  I secretly hope it doesn’t come down to harsher means of extracting the truth, but I have to know, and I won’t hesitate to use those harsher means.  I stare at my terrified father.  All I want is for this to be nothing but a lie.  I want my father’s name not to be Janus, and I want him to be blameless for my mom’s death.

      Hades...  What if he did kill her?  Will I kill the one parent I have left to avenge the other?  I clear my throat and glare at him with the unrelenting eyes of the Phoenix as I state, I’ll ask you only one more time.

      Mr. Griffin’s view...

      I’m your father, I tell her as I’m uncertain what she’ll do now that she knows I’m Janus.  I see an expression I never thought I would see on her face.  Kimberly looks at me as if she will kill me if I don’t answer her.  Our relationship has always been strained but never in my wildest imaginings did I believe that she would ever shoot me.  I know she’s a Life Closer, and I know she’s capable of killing but still, I never thought she’d threaten me.  I question her, Why are you doing this?

      Kimberly’s view...

      I want to know the truth, I tell him as I slowly inhale and take my time with the questions.  My patience and training are the only things silencing my rage, horror, and disbelief and at any moment, I’m afraid I’ll lose control and lash out.  I keep a firm grip on my gun as I ask, Have you ever heard of someone called Janus?  Tell me the truth this time!  My heart thunders in my chest as I fear the answer to my second question.  Are you that person?

      Mr. Griffin’s view...

      I stare at the folders Orthos delivered earlier.  Kimberly knows... she knows I’m Janus.  I consider calling security, but I know she will kill me before I pick up the phone.  This moment has been a long time coming and so I decide to finally confess, Yes, I’m Janus.

      Kimberly’s view...

      As the Phoenix, I won’t hesitate to kill my father to avenge my mom.  I move forward with my interrogation and ask, Did you murder mom or order her death?  But as his daughter, I waver, clinging to the hope of his innocence and that he is blameless in her death.  We might not be all that close in our relationship, but he’s all that I have and no matter what I think of myself as a Life Closer, I have a heart and I’ll become lonelier and sink into despair without him.

      I did not kill your mother!  My wife! he insists.  For Ares’ sake, Kimberly!  How could you think such a thing?

      Relief pours over me, but is his innocent declaration enough?  Can I believe him and is his outrage real?  I glance at two of the walls of his office that consist of twenty-foot windows, and the corner office’s bright lights cause the windows to act like mirrors.  I see my grim reflection as I order him, Tell me again.  Make me believe.  Make me believe you didn’t murder her.  He hesitates, not sure what to say, so I plead, Please...  I squeeze the gun’s grip so hard I feel the grooves dig into my palm.  Make me believe.  I want to believe but... but you have lied to me!  How do I know you’re not lying now?

      Before becoming a Life Closer, I was trained as an interrogator, so I watch and listen for signs that indicate deceit. 

      He stares deep into my eyes and never wavers in his gaze as he replies, I did not kill your mother.  My father straightens in his chair as if that’s the end of our conversation, and then he says, Now please, Kimberly, put the gun away.

      I listen to his controlled breathing and watch his pupils for dilation, and then I tell him, You seem to be telling the truth.  What about my other question?  His knuckles go white as he grips his chair’s arms as I repeat, Did you order her termination?

      Why would you think I ordered her death? he asks as if looking for a way to delay his punishment.  Where are you getting your information?

      When I was at the Factory, I discovered a disk and on that disk, I came across a file marked Security Memorandum Theresa Griffin, I tell him.  The file was dated a week before mom’s death and in it, you suggest her termination! I shout, and then I calm myself.  What I want to know is… was this a recommendation for her murder?

      You want the truth? he asks.

      For Ares’ sake!  Yes! I answer, and then I yell with unyielding resolve, I demand the truth!

      No matter what it might be?

      Yes!  No matter what it might be, so tell me! I reply, preparing for what I will learn about my father. My training breaks down as tears run down my face and my hand shakes as it rests on the gun that’s on my lap.  My entire being’s overwrought with anger, so I yell, Tell me now before I shoot you!

      He starts, It all began almost forty years ago...

      Chapter Four

      A Time To Run, A Time To Hide

      11:58 p.m...

      Hellenistic Sector, Cultural Vicinage...

      Genesis Arboretum...

      Inside the Sphere Room...

      Katharine’s view...

      The tall grass whips by me as I dart through the field, searching for the door out.  I’m a little turned around since falling from the balcony and nearly drowning.  I’m not sure if I’m heading in the right direction.  I glance back at the banyan, trying to use it as a reference point, but it does me no good.  I can’t tell which side of the tree I had approached it from, so all I can tell is that I’m on the other side of the room and heading for a dead end.  I think I’ve been here for about an hour.  I scold myself for not having a better memory as I rub my bruised neck.  I can’t berate myself too much. I was nearly choked to death.

      My athletic jacket and blue jeans shield most of myself from the tall grass as a couple of blades cut my unprotected hands.  I continue my mad dash.  Even though my body was used as a sledgehammer to break through the balcony’s railing and I got kicked in the head and nearly drowned

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