Prologue

Itexicon Headquarters

Kanpur, India

"Ve cannot let these insipid children ruin our plans again! Dey must be destroyed! NOW!"

Ter Borcht's face flared up like a tomato ripening in late summer. He and Dr. Marian Janssen were revising plans in a conference room in the newly established headquarters with several other lab technicians and various other independent directors of Itex Corporation. Ter Borcht had managed to slither quietly out of the fiasco in Germany only a month before – Dr. Janssen, not so lucky. After nearly being dropped to her death by the bird kid mistakes, the German Bundespolizei arrested her and several others for, well, lots of felonies – namely "unethical practices in the field of genetics." She was awaiting trial when suddenly – she disappeared – and somehow managed to resurface in Kanpur.

"The By-Half Plan and Re-Evolution has faced a serious setback, " Dr. Janssen stated tersely. "At this moment, we need to concern ourselves with funding, stockpiling nuclear weapons, regenerating our army – the recombinant avian hybrids and the fact that they are still alive is a small issue, a temporary –"

"Small?!" TerBorcht shouted. "Ve have not been able to terminate dem for four years! Dey nearly destroyed everything ve have spent the last century to create! Dey are reckless! Vhen dey deescover that ve are rebuilding…."

Marian Janssen simply rolled her eyes and allowed Ter Borcht to continue his tirade. His rants had been a staple of her time here since she arrived in India, but anything was better than that cold, desolate cell in a German fortress that had been her life for too long.

"… and ve entrusted Batchelder vith vay too much –" Ter Borcht continued by Janssen abruptly stopped him with a raised finger. She decided she had had enough.

"The traitor Batchelder is no longer a concern, the avian hybrids are a minor concern. Jeb Batchelder no longer has ties to Itex, the School, the Institute, or the Program – he cannot help those children as he has so cleverly done in the past. We need to concentrate our efforts on rebuilding, " Dr. Janssen said firmly. "To attack the hybrids now would only bring new attention to ourselves – attention we need to avoid until we are ready to re-execute the By-Half Plan."

"Spoken well, Dr. Janssen," came a quiet but confident voice from the back of the room. All eyes immediately turned in his direction. The respectful silence in the room was deafening. The man who spoke was small in stature – not hunkering over 5 feet 3 inches tall. His narrow glasses and slightly grey hair aged him beyond his young age of 42. In Dr. Janssen's mind, he was the stately picture of a mountaintop guru, a man whose presence spoke volumes. He was the one who was responsible for her "disappearance" from that foreboding jail cell in Germany.

The man strode self-assuredly toward Ter Borcht and Dr. Janssen. He was the new director of Itex, a role in which she had failed miserably only a month before. She was fortunate to be alive, lucky to still be accepted among the leaders of Itex. In front of her now, stood not only her savior, but also the savior of Itex. In one month, he had resurrected the company, reviving the stuggling minions, bringing the institution back together.

"Yes, spoken very well, " Dr. Aarit Singh repeated. "But I do believe Dr. Ter Borcht is correct in his assumptions as well."

Dr. Janssen's face flushed. She could feel Ter Borcht's smug grin extending across his rotund face, his eyes boring into the back of her head victoriously.

"Itex has regained its momentum," he continued. "Our armies our growing larger each day and leaders of many smaller nations are looking to us for a most decisive next move."

Dr. Singh paused. He stared into Dr. Janssen's eyes and stated matter-of-factly, "The avian hybrids need to be … dealt with. More importantly – their leader needs to be … dealt with."

Dr. Janssen cleared her throat and spoke quietly, "Just how would you like us to deal with her?"

Dr. Singh turned away and walked over to a series of large windows overlooking the industrial city below.

He again turned to face the small group. "Maximum Ride is among the last of the hybrids with a soul," he explained, his quiet confidence was domineering.

"We shall simply take that away."