"Kerrin…in war, everyone knows that the worst thing that can happen is to lose our leaders…without leaders the people cannot be led…In peacetime it is exactly the same. We owe it as a duty to our society to protect our leaders, to nurture them and give them long life.…and if that is what the Orlando Treatment can do, then so be it!"
The President sat down in his chair, and put his face in his hands. He sighed heavily, then looked up at Kerrin.
"Please sit with me Kerrin. I have something to ask you…"
Kerrin looked at Dana, then returned to his seat, facing the President.
"Kerrin, you've seen the documents, and you've read the dossier on the Orlando Treatment. You know the potential of this research…we could sit here and discuss this for years, but we can't. A few days ago the board of the Chymera Corporation met and were appraised of the success of the project so far. The Board agreed to proceed with the research and to start the next phase, which we are calling Phase Three. The threat you pose to the project was also discussed at the Board meeting, and it was a condition of the agreement for further funding that action was taken to ensure that the Washington Post is not able to expose the work that is being done, or the existence of the Chymera Corporation…"
"What are you saying, Mr President? Are you threatening me?"
Kendrick looked across at Dana, his eyes resting long enough on her legs and her wheelchair for Kerrin and Dana to notice it.
"No, not at all. On the contrary…I look at the both of you now and I am, quite honestly, impressed by the fire and the passion with which you have fought to get here today. That you have strived through so much to fight for 'justice', speaks highly of you both as individuals. And it touches me that such bright young lives were destroyed by the accident that you both had… Imagine what fantastic lives you could have led together if you hadn't both been crippled? Yes…It's not just Dana that's in that wheelchair…you both are! The car accident robbed you both of the future that you had planned together. One stupid moment in time that took away all your dreams…"
"…You've both suffered…and I would bet that you Kerrin, have suffered as much up here as Dana has suffered down there…" The President said, pointing to Kerrin's brain and to Dana's legs…"
"What would you both say, if I told you that I could offer you both back your dreams…that I could take away your pain, that I could remove the guilt you still suffer from, Kerrin, every time you look at your beautiful wife…and that I can give Dana back the ability to walk? And what if I were to offer you both back your youth…to return to both of you the years that you have lost, that were stolen from you by one tragic, unplanned moment in time?"
Kerrin and Dana looked at each other in confusion.
"What are you suggesting, Mr President?"
"I am asking you to join us. To become part of the Chymera Corporation! The Orlando Treatment is not a dream…It works! …Join us! Take part in the next round of clinical trials, with myself and other leaders from the Chymera Corporation, and become part of the new elite…Our doctors have already looked at Dana's medical files and have assured me that the therapeutic cloning techniques that have been pioneered in the Orlando Treatment using stem cell technology, will be able to successfully re-grow the areas that were damaged in Dana's spine. If she takes part in the trials I can promise you that within months, maybe weeks, Dana will walk again…And I think that you have already witnessed for yourself that one of the major benefits of the treatment is the ability to stop and partially reverse the ageing process…We can take ten or twenty years off your biological age! We can make you both twenty-eight again, and hopefully we can help you to maintain that age for the rest of your life…"
"…Just think! You can both be young again…you can travel the world, laugh and run together, swim in the ocean, climb mountains…whatever it is that you always wanted to do together…it's yours for the taking!"
"And in return, what do we give you?" Kerrin asked, holding Dana's hand tightly.
"Nothing…you just promise that you will never betray the brotherhood of which you become a part…It works two ways…We keep you alive, healthy and fit, to make sure that you are able to make the phone calls to your boss and whoever else has the documents…and in return, you make sure that the documents are never released to the world."
Kerrin stood up, and walked away from his chair towards the window of the Oval Office. He looked out over the grounds of the White House, not seeing how green the grass was or the beautiful deep blue of the sky above. His mind was awash with emotion.
He felt dizzy, and faint, and his heart was racing.
They had lived through hell this past month. People they knew had been murdered. Friends, relatives and acquaintances. They had all gone. And the suffering of the bereaved relatives would still go on for year after year, for longer than Kerrin would dare to guess. Death is always harder on those left behind.
He turned to look at Dana, and for the first time in years he saw how old she had become, how the years had begun to add lines to her face and how the skin had slowly begun to lose its elasticity and lustre. He looked at her wheelchair, and for a fleeting second he could feel the jarring impact of two cars colliding on a remote country road, and the sight of Dana's bloodied and torn body in the wreckage of the accident so many years before.
And then he could see two people running along a beach, splashing through the waves, before they both plunged headlong into the surf and swam out to sea, swimming hard and fast, …together.
"So Kerrin," the President asked the Washington reporter. "What will it be? Will you join us …or destroy us?"
Kerrin glanced across at Buz who had been silent throughout, but who now watched Kerrin expectantly, his attention not leaving him for a second.
Kerrin walked up to Dana, and looked down into her eyes. She reached up her hand towards him and he took it in hers. Tears were streaming down her face, and it was only then that he realised that he too was crying.
Kerrin looked back at the President, and began to form the answer with his lips. He knew that there may be times in the years to come that he would hate himself for the answer he was about to give.
Yet really, in spite of it all, there was only one answer he could give…
It was one word.
Chapter 45
Epilogue
January
Chapters Bookshop
Washington D.C.
The young couple walked into the bookshop, as they so often did these days. They split up at the door, and each went their own way. He to the thrillers and crime sections, and she to cooking, travel or world geography.
They liked to travel a lot, and she wanted to get the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Guide to Southern Africa.
The young man, probably somewhere in his middle-to-late twenties, passed by a display of the latest hardbacks in the centre of the shop, and stopped in his tracks.
The podium was covered by six different piles of books, each belonging to a different up-and-coming author. Above each pile there was an upright plastic card with the writer's name on it and a picture of the author smiling proudly at his achievement.
The young man picked up one of the books and flicked it open to the inside cover to read the summary of the plot. His hands were shaking.
Normally he would never buy a hardback, preferring to wait until it came out in the cheaper paperback form, but without hesitation the young man walked across to the cashier and handed the young assistant the book and his credit card.
"Good choice," she replied. " ‘The Untamed Gene’ has become one of the fastest selling books this month…if only the author were still alive, he'd be a very happy and wealthy man by now."
The young man took the book and his receipt and hurried over to find his wife in the travel section. A mixture of emotions swept through him as he searched for her amongst the rows of bookshelves. Excitement and fear mixing together to produce a curious blend of emotions.
According
to the synopsis on the back cover, the book was a fictional thriller based on the real work and actual discoveries of the author, the now world-famous scientist called Mike Gilbert.
Published after the author was mysteriously killed, according to the author's surviving fiancée, the thriller was an exposé of the secret work conducted at the genetics company the author used to work at, … before he died in such strange circumstances…
Book in hand, the young man found his wife who was lost in adventures in foreign lands in a corner at the back of the book store. She looked up and smiled.
"Anything interesting?"
"Yeah, look at this…"
She took the book from his outstretched hands, and read the cover. Her eyes lit up as she read the summary on the inside cover.
"But…?"
"That's not the worst of it…look at the first chapter!"
She turned quickly to the first page of the book, read the first line, and then laughed.
"I'm sorry, darling…he's stolen your thunder!"
"Talk about coincidence! The bastard stole my line!" he said, looking over his wife's shoulder.
As far as first lines for a new novel go, it was a cracker. Two words. Simple, but effective:
"…So what?…"
THE END
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Thanks for reading this novel. I am really flattered that you chose one of my books to read, from all of the millions of books on Amazon. I hope you enjoyed it. I would love to hear from you if you did! You can contact me on [email protected] .
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Please look out for others books by IAN C.P.IRVINE on Amazon and see below:-
Say You're Sorry
Sometimes, an apology is all it takes to save your life, no matter who you are!
'SAY YOU'RE SORRY!'
A gripping page-turning crime thriller which will make you think twice about how you treat strangers or ever use the internet or your mobile phone again!
When Scottish crime lord Tommy ‘McNunn’ commits the perfect murder, killing a corrupt policeman and framing his death on a rival, DCI Campbell McKenzie knows there is little he can do to stop a gang war and prevent McNunn taking over the whole of Scotland.
However, when Tommy McNunn accidentally drives into an old age pensioner, destroys the man’s car and refuses to apologise, his ambitions are soon to be thwarted. In a modern day retelling of the biblical story ‘David Versus Goliath’, the meek topple the mighty, brains conquer brawn and good overcomes bad. DCI McKenzie versus his arch rival, Tommy McNunn. Who will win? In another classic IAN CP IRVINE thriller, just when you think you know the truth, your world is turned upside down. Hold on tight, cancel the rest of your day and take a deep, deep breathe. You'll need it.
I Spy, I Saw Her Die
In a race against time, it's Ray Luck against the world!
When Ray Luck - a top cyber security expert - accidentally stumbles upon a devastating secret while surfing the web, he knows immediately he is in way above his head and soon he is being hunted by both Mossad and the British Security Services.
Alone, desperate, with only three days to live, Ray is a man with not one, but several missions: to save the life of his girlfriend who has been kidnapped by the security services; to prevent a terrorist cyber attack destroying London; to save the Middle East peace process; and to bring one of the most powerful men in the world to justice for the savage killing of an apparently innocent woman, a murder certain powerful people in the British Government are determined to cover up at all costs.
Only Ray can stop them all.
But as the clock starts to tick, he discovers that nothing is as it seems. Who is the real enemy? And who can he trust? Unless he finds out soon, will Ray’s luck finally run out?
Find out for yourself!
Written by a cyber security expert, this thriller will make you think twice about our modern world and using the internet. By the time you've finished the book, whenever you next watch television, you'll wonder just who is watching you! It's called 'tele-vision'. Now you'll understand why!
Murder, mystery, cyber crime, espionage, conspiracy, a terrorist plot, romance, page-turning, nail-biting adventure... this book has got it all.
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Haunted From Within
For some, death is not the end. Thanks to modern medicine, they are given a second chance. A second chance to live, and another chance to kill.
A fast paced contemporary medical thriller, based upon a true medical mystery that scientists and doctors do not yet understand.
Readers should be warned that the novel contains strong language and scenes of sex and violence.
The Story:
When Peter Nicolson, a reporter with the Edinburgh Evening News, is almost killed by a gang leader out to make his mark, the only way to save his life is through a double kidney transplant. One of the first people in the world to be treated with the new genetic wonder drug 'SP-X4', Peter makes a remarkable recovery. Yet as he recovers, his personality begins to change, and he discovers that he can see visions of unsolved killings committed by a murderer that no one has ever caught. Peter sets out to solve the murders, to track down the killer, and find out the truth behind the visions that he sees.
As time progresses, and as Peter uncovers a trail of death that stretches across the United Kingdom and Europe, the makers of 'SP-X4' watch his actions from afar, anxious that he will uncover the incredible truth behind their new drug treatment, and conspiring to make sure he does n
ot succeed in revealing it to the world.
'Haunted From Within' is also the story of seven separate lives: readers will follow each character as the plot develops and their lives intersect, culminating in a surprise ending that few will predict.
Please beware: this book is based on fact: a medical phenomena that few understand and most are unaware of. At first, it may seem hard to believe. This is after all, just a story, a fast-paced thriller written to entertain you . . . but it will leave you wondering and talking about the definition of 'life' itself. Enjoy!
Click on image or here to view video!
Haunted From Without
The Sequel to Haunted From Within
Following the international success of Haunted From Within, Haunted From Without is the latest thought-provoking medical thriller from Ian C.P. Irvine.
The Orlando File Omnibus : (Omnibus Version-Book 1 & Book 2) Page 40