by CW Johnson
“Put every available resource to work on the booster rocket plan, and people--” The President raised his finger and pointed it around the room “No leaks, do you hear me? The American people are not to know about this until we have a real solution.”
~~~
Six days after Maria began the procedure, blood samples were drawn to measure her serum levels of estrogen. That data, coupled with the results of one last ultrasound, enabled Dr. Perez to determine that it was finally time to harvest the eggs. She and Todd were taken to a delivery room where they were met by Doctors Perez and Donahue. Todd held Maria’s hand as she lay on the table. A nurse helped place her feet in the stirrups.
Using a vaginal speculum, Dr. Perez carefully exposed Maria’s cervix. He guided the tip of a catheter containing a drop of culture medium through the cervix and deposited the fluid into her uterine cavity. Over a dozen of her eggs were then drawn back out and placed in a transfer catheter. The entire solution was then put into a small Petri dish and immediately whisked away by Dr. Donahue.
The eggs were taken to a lab on the fourth floor where Jim had already successfully reanimated a number of cells taken from the Rothenberg sample. The arrival of Maria’s eggs meant that he was finally ready for the next crucial step.
Over the next few days, he and his small staff would carefully remove the nucleus from some of Maria’s eggs and replace them with nuclei from the Rothenberg cells. Once that task was completed, the staff would all but camp out at the lab, vigilantly watching for signs of life.
Maria had successfully completed the first phase necessary for her to become pregnant. The next phase would take place in less than a week. Excited and exhausted, she was finally allowed to go home. The two young people stopped at a quick mart on their way, purchased a bottle of Merlot, and a packaged fire log.
When Maria was chosen to be the surrogate it was understood the Vinces would provide lodging for her, the child and her husband until the child reached the age of eighteen. They had moved into a small house on the outskirts of Nashville. It was set far back from the road and was surrounded by thick forest.
Finally home, they quickly consumed a pot of home-cooked spaghetti, curled up in front of the fire and sipped wine until they both acquired a happy little buzz.
“Tell me again,” Maria said softly, snuggling up to Todd.
“Again?”
“Just one more time?”
“Ok, ok. Let’s see. Uh, your eyes are like sparkling—”
“No!” Maria yowled, punching him in the chest.
“Ok, uh, right now the baby is pretty much a single cell. If I remember right, they’re gonna pump him full of viruses.”
“What?”
“That’s how they turn him into an IPS cell.”
“What’s an IPS cell?”
“Pluri…pluri, oh, I don’t remember. It’s a…artificial stem cell.”
“Why do they need to do that?”
“Well, when the egg is first coupled with the sperm… if this gets too racy for you let me know.”
“I’ll let you know. Keep going,” she said, tossing a load of popcorn in her mouth.
“When they first get together, the egg and sperm make up a complete cell, and for a little while it’s… unassigned…undifferentiated. At this point it could become anything from a toenail to part of a brain. But right after conception the cell starts to divide and as it does each new cell is assigned a certain function.”
“How do the cells know what to become?” Maria said, reaching for her glass of wine.
“No one knows how for sure but some scientist named Yamanaka figured out that only four genes control the whole deal. All they have to do is change four genes.”
“That’s it?” Maria said, pulling her eyebrows together.
“Well, you know, a gene’s a big deal, pretty complicated—”
“Okay,” Maria said impatiently, “move on.”
Todd pulled away and grinned at her. “I’m not sure I remember all this. It’s been a while—“
“It’s okay sweetie,” Maria said. “Just tell me what you remember.”
“Todd leaned back into the couch. “Oh where was I—oh yeah—
Our baby is a full up cell right now, a blood cell to be exact.”
“One of Jesus’ blood cells,” Maria said slowly.
Todd thoughtfully shook his head. “Dude, that is really wild, isn’t it?”
“Keep going, keep going,” Maria said.
“Ok, so now since our cell has already been assigned to be a blood cell, they have to change it back into a stem cell or an… IPS cell... one that’s blank, or not assigned. You see what I mean?”
“Yeah, undifferentiated. Keep going Einstein.”
“Once it’s shut off, it’ll be free to reassign itself.
Maria sat for a time smiling. Finally, she pushed herself closer to Todd and looked up at him. “What do you think he will look like?”
Todd sat up straight and stretched his arms out to his side. He pushed his tongue out and slightly tilted his head.
“Shut up!” Maria hollered giggling. “I’m serious, what do you think he will look like?”
“Well, I read somewhere the clone retains the host’s mitochondria. Maybe he’ll take on some of your features. Some of the cloned sheep turned out a little different, physically from the parent, who knows?”
“Ooo, I can’t wait.”
“I did read somewhere,” Todd said, “Jesus was supposed to have been a very ordinary looking man; no one you would notice in a crowd. It’s likely he’ll be short by our standards. He sat up straight. “You know what we should do? We should find the Shroud of Turin on the internet now that we know it’s the real thing.”
He stood and walked to the computer. Maria followed. Soon, the picture of the shroud filled the screen. “That’s him,” Todd said softly.
Maria put her hand to the screen. “It looks like his nose was broken.”
“Yeah,” Todd said. “His face looks long because his mouth is slightly open, see?” He pointed to the face.
Todd wasn’t sure if it was the wine but he felt a deep sadness. It was as if the picture was calling to him. He shook it off. “Do you have a new testament?” he said.
Maria looked up at him. “You’re not gonna get weird on me are you?”
“No, I just thought it might be cool if we could find out what he was like.”
“Todd, I’m, you know… Jewish.”
“Oh yeah,” Todd said, feeling a little silly. “We could find a Bible online?”
“Let’s not,” Maria said. “Tell me one more time about the baby.”
~~~
About twenty-four hours after Jim’s team had completed the complicated embryonic transfers, the cells began dividing. Within forty-eight hours, the hardiest of them had divided several times while in the incubator. Two of them were chosen to be transplanted back into Maria’s womb. The young couple was summoned into the hospital for the last procedure. In the same way the eggs were removed, Dr. Perez placed them back into Maria’s uterus.
Three weeks later it was confirmed; Maria was pregnant. One of the embryos had taken and the other one hadn’t. This was good news since it saved the team from having to perform a risky selective abortion. The other embryo had been placed in Maria’s uterus strictly as a precaution. They never intended to bring both fetuses to full term.
Book Two
Chapter Four
Six months later
~~~
The pregnancy was going perfectly. Jim had told Blaze that the nuclei reanimation had gone even better than had been expected and by all accounts the child was thriving in Maria’s womb. The Vinces were buzzing with excitement. Jim and Perez had briefed them at every turn and Todd and Maria’s movements were being closely watched; very little escaped the Vinces attention. The Bishop had been in touch constantly since news of the pregnancy. Senator Bentley and even Justice Madsen called him daily.
Bl
aze couldn’t help but enjoy the attention. He could only imagine how it would be the first time he laid eyes on the child. What was he going to look like? Would he be normal? Would he be abnormal, supernaturally abnormal? Would he have a natural propensity for good? The entire process was so new, groundbreaking and wild. There was absolutely no precedent to fall back on. The sky was the limit.
He drove through the night, pushing his way towards home. Somewhere on the highway he reached and turned on the radio.
“The existence of the object was first reported back in January of last year,” the stoic voice on the radio said, “but the seriousness of the situation was not fully understood until now.”
“Proff…professor, pro…” Reporters blared over each other until one voice prevailed.
“Professor, are you telling us that your people didn’t know about the danger this comet posed until just recently?”
“Asteroid, it’s an asteroid, not a comet, and no, we didn’t know. It’s coming in so fast, we didn’t even know about it until just under a year ago.”
Blaze stared at the radio. He turned the station.
“What is being done about it now?” the same voice demanded.
“Both Trawlers, Douglas and Edmonton, are being prepped. We intend to place a number of modified booster rockets, similar to those used to launch the space Trawlers, onto the asteroid itself and use them to apply enough force to deflect it away from the earth.”
“Proff…Proff…Professor, will the booster rockets succeed?”
The professor paused. “Absolutely,” he said, “no question.”
Blaze quickly changed the channel again, only to hear the same voice.
“Holy Hell,” he said out loud.
~~~
Soft music played as Todd pushed a shopping cart around the Smart Buy grocery store.
He had fulfilled Maria’s order and was shuffling toward the checkout counter when something caught his eye.
“Jesus.”
The name of the book boldly stood out in red print. He pushed the cart to the display and picked the book up.
“Did He really exist? Who was He? Why was He here?”
The subtitles called to him as he thumbed through the pages. He dropped the book into the cart and finished making his way to the checkout counter.
He was surprised and a little embarrassed when the girl checking him reached the book. She glanced up at him and… smirked? At first he wasn’t sure but then…he was sure of it.
He wanted to say, Listen you little twit, I’m a scientist. I don’t believe in this. He would have loved to tell her he was just a little curious because less than a block away, his son, A.K.A. the clone of Jesus Christ, was growing in yet another womb. He kept his silence and walked to the truck.
On his way home He decided not to mention the book to Maria. He stepped into the house and found Maria sitting in front of the TV. She quickly turned his way as he approached. Her eyes were wide and fearful.
“Maria, what’s wrong?”
“Todd, listen,” she said softly, pointing at the TV.
“How many rockets are you going to use,” a voice on the TV asked the middle aged man behind a podium, “and how many missions are planned to get them there?”
“five,” the man said, pointing into the crowd of yelling reporters. “We’re sending ten boosters, five launches.”
“Professor,” a voice came from the back of the crowd. “How far away is the asteroid, and where will it hit?”
“It won’t hit. It’s about three months out.”
Todd sat down next to Maria. “What’s going on?”
“Shhh, listen--”
“We’ve been listening to Professor Carl Waddington, the current head of NASA. If you’re just now joining us we have grave news indeed. News of an object described as a tumbling mountain range coming at us at the speed of sixty thousand miles per hour. Is this really the apocalypse that has been so often foretold? Could it be the end of mankind as it was for the dinosaurs millions of years ago? Our guest is Professor Louis Fasbender, Nobel laureate in the field of physics and the former head of the National Aeronautical Space Administration.”
“I’ve seen this guy,” Todd said, speaking over the TV. “I caught one of his lectures at UCLA. He’s brilliant.”
The TV anchorman turned towards his guest. “What’s your take on all of this, Doctor?”
“Well Howard,” the doctor said, removing his glasses, “I have to say that my outlook is slightly less optimistic than that of Professor Waddington, but I definitely stop short of the doom and gloom scenario some of my colleagues have been espousing. I don’t think there’s any question as to whether we have the ability to save ourselves. My only question would be, can we do it in time?”
The anchorman quickly responded. “Professor Waddington said the prevailing plan is to place a number of booster rockets on the asteroid itself, and that these rockets will hopefully deflect the asteroid away from the earth. Could you elaborate on that?”
“Well, that is the plan. I believe the SRBs will be placed in orbit using Delta IV rockets…”
“By SRB,” the anchorman said, “do you mean Solid Rocket Boosters?"
“Yes, SRBs are the rockets used to launch the space Trawlers. These SRBs will be stockpiled at the international space station. Once they’ve been delivered, a team at the station will basically tie the boosters together, creating what we are calling the main propulsion assembly. The unit will then be attached directly to the surface of the asteroid and operated remotely.”
“You said you wondered if there was enough time,” the anchorman quickly said. “Could you give us an idea how much time you feel would be necessary to safely get the job done?”
“Well, the problem is this, Howard. We have less than two months to deliver all ten of the propulsion units, put together the propulsion assembly and get it all to the asteroid. Timing will be critical. If we are early, so much the better. We’ll be able to get a little head start and hopefully deflect the thing sooner but, if we’re too late, and the asteroid gets too close--” He stopped and shook his head. “We might not be able to move it at all.”
He paused a moment and continued. “You have to realize, because of the great distances and the speed at which this thing is traveling, by the time it gets close enough for us to make our little rendezvous, it’s practically going to be right on top of us. There isn’t going to be a second chance.”
“Professor Waddington seemed evasive,” the anchor said, “when asked where the asteroid is expected to hit should it get through. Any thoughts on that?”
“It won’t matter,” Professor Fasbender said slowly. “If it hits, it’ll hit us all.”
~~~
The asteroid streaked into the earth’s atmosphere and impacted in a massive explosion. Huge plumes of fire blasted out in all directions as smoke and ash began raining down, quickly choking the atmosphere. Jim Donahue watched the CNR special for a while and decided it was too much like watching plane crash movies on an airplane. He reached for his remote and turned the TV off just as Blaze knocked at his door.
“Have you heard the news?” Blaze said.
Jim motioned for Blaze to sit. “Yeah, freaky huh? You wanna’ beer?”
Blaze nodded and sat down. “You think they’ll be able to stop that thing before it hits?”
“I sure hope so,” Jim said, delivering the beer to Blaze.
Blaze popped his beer open “I think they will….I’m sure they will.”
“Yeah more than likely. I guess if they don’t, it won’t really matter anyway.”
“That’s true,” Blaze said thoughtfully. “So your work here is pretty much completed? Are you planning on going home soon?”
“Yeah, I have a few more fires to stomp. My lease on the condo is up. I figure I’ll leave in a week or so.”
Blaze nodded and looked around the room. He lifted the nearest magazine from the nearby coffee table and silently flipped through it
. After a time he scratched his head and said, “Jim, you know, the reason I came here is…well…do you remember Huntsman?”
“Huntsman, Huntsman…Yeah, the kid with red hair; freckles.”
“Yeah, that’s him. He’s a physicist now, right here at Vanderbilt.”
“No kiddin’.”
“Yeah, it’s true,” Blaze said nodding. “I, uh, I just talked to him, a little while ago. He’s like a genius when it comes to understanding mechanical processes…stress points, things like that. Anyway, he says trying to push that asteroid out of its trajectory using those rockets would be like… I think he said it would be like gluing a housefly to a Piper Cub and expecting it to force the plane off course.”
“Really?” Jim said. “That’s a little disconcerting.”
Blaze chuckled. “Yeah a little."
“Well Blaze,” Jim said, “I know you're skeptical about my little talk with God. I would be too if I were in your shoes and even though I was the one who experienced it, I probably would’ve been open to some sort of neurotic breakdown. You and I both know these things happen. People hear things; see things, and believe to heaven that what they experienced really happened but the reality is different. Turns out, it was all in their minds, and I would probably accept that reality completely, but for one thing: the physical evidence. You and I know there’s no way I could have done that amount of damage to that hotel room, not even in my wildest days could I have done that. So I’m telling you my friend—” He looked directly into Blaze’s Eyes—“God told me I was not to stand in the way of the birth of this child.”
He paused a moment. “You know me, Blaze. You know I’ve always been a man who puts his faith squarely in science, but I was there in that room that night. I felt his power. His child will be born. That damn asteroid wouldn’t dare hit us.”
Blaze grinned. “I envy you. That sort of personal confirmation must be comforting.”
The two men sat silent for a time, Jim finally spoke. “So you wanna watch TV? I think the Vikings are playing Baltimore."
“No," Blaze said, “I really should be going. The Bishop wants me to touch bases with Maria, make sure she’s holding up.”
“You never told me how you got into this thing,” Jim said.
“You mean the Vinces?”