The whir of helicopter rotors above him was almost deafening. He stared near mindlessly into the jungle canopy that rushed by below.

"Jesus, Travis, you look rough," Kyle had said when they picked him up at the rendezvous point. Travis hadn't answered. He had just clambered aboard the chopper.

"Where are the Greens?"

"Dead." Greens don't surrender and they can't be taken prisoner, biological alterations had seen to that.

"Pity. They were good boys. Still, life is cheap."

"Yes. That's why there will be plenty more Greens. Life is cheap. Not like expensive bionics."

Travis knew that the word of the Russian artificial soldiers would cause the Pentagon to begin full scale production of Greens. There would be more refinements. This batch had just been the start.

He remembered the look of fury and hatred on Bill-boy's face before he turned to run to his death. It had been an accusing look. It had meant you and people like you are responsible for this. He knew that there would be more Bill-boys and Carlos and Chads and Stefs sent to their deaths. They would live only to die. The knowledge made him feel sick.

He stared down into the vast, tropical wilderness and thought of the men and other things he had lost in the jungle. At least he was getting out.