TERMS
The Experiments Book 3
by
Jacqueline Druga
Terms
Experiment Series Book 3
By Jacqueline Druga
Copyright 2013 by Jacqueline Druga
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Thank you, Jenny S for your help!
THE RETURN
Caldwell Institute
Experiment Log - Entry: 765
August 28th
It’s over. Iso-Stasis Experiment Thirteen was a complete success. We will leave for a review of the Island in three days. It is my feeling that not only will all of the investors be back, but if we played our cards correctly, as I believe we did, we will be overrun with applications to invest. If all goes well, we should very much be able to accommodate more than eight investors for Iso-Stasis Fourteen. For which a date has not yet been set.
More had survived the experiment than originally anticipated. All of which were somehow connected to the previous experiment. Perhaps, in a way, this will be useful information.
Rickie, of course survived. A survivor of I.S.E.- twelve, Rickie was believed to have died at the jaws of the DNA mutated ‘catch’. Inadvertently through the attack, blood-to-saliva, Rickie became a ‘catch’ himself. Therefore becoming Caldwell property to be utilized for any and all experiments deemed necessary. He possesses phenomenal abilities, and like a werewolf with a full moon, Rickie’s DNA transformation is emotionally charged. Virtually indestructible, I’ve no doubt, he will be of further assistance.
William Griffith, Jr. A.K.A., Billy. Son of I.S.E. Twelve participant and catch, William Griffith. A reporter, seeking perhaps the breaking story, and information of his father. A deal was struck with Billy. He goes to I.S.E. Thirteen, if he survives he gets his story. Profoundly and totally unexpected, Billy survived. He unfortunately got more of a story than we hoped. An amoeba attack took from him his leg. With our technology we hope to give him a new leg, and with manipulation, we hope to get him to back out of the ‘story’ deal. He did, though, aid us more than he will ever know.
Lt. Colonel Jacob Graison and his wife, Cal. What can I say. We expected their survival, we got it. I didn’t think it was possible, but these two, unnervingly, seem indestructible in every aspect. Experiments Twelve and thirteen are now under their belts. Not only did they walk away this time with the usual compensation, they received a bonus. The use of infidelity as a team dismantlement, failed. In fact it backfired. Instead of shaking the stern, and sterile Jake Graison with the consequent discovery that his wife was with child, we made him happy. In my opinion, that still remains to be seen.
I.S.E. Thirteen was my first experiment as new Director of Caldwell. I led what I felt was a unique and different experiment. The three years prior were a mere preview of things to come. With Director Emeritus, Randall Jefferson still in tow, we will take Caldwell Institute and their league of experiments, even further than our predecessors thought imaginable.
Dr. Gregory Haynes
Director
CHAPTER ONE
Cedars of Sinai Medical Center - Los Angeles, CA
August 28th
By no means would Billy consider himself an extremely vain person, adequately vain perhaps, but not over the edge.
He was pretty secure in the fact that he was a nice guy, sensitive when he needed to be, and intelligent. In the looks department he knew he was considered ‘cute’, never ‘hot’ or extremely handsome. And as far as his built went, ‘average’ and ‘cute’ were the labeling points placed upon that as well.
Billy was typical.
And as far as vanity went, being a reporter, the camera made him vain at least ninety seconds a day. But the experiment, threw him over the vanity edge for the rest of his life.
It would be a matter of minutes until the television station for which he worked, sent a crew to talk to him. A brief interview and follow up. A ‘tease’ so to speak to entice the viewing audience for the multitudes left to come from Billy Griffith.
As best as he could from a hospital bed, he cleaned himself up. He was still pale, how could he not be, he had pneumonia. A fever blister graced his top lip and he debated back and forth whether to wear his glasses or not. He opted for the glasses, figuring they would cover his dark circles. His dark brown hair, often curly, was long. Too long. It reached his shoulders. A product of seven months on the island without a real haircut. Cal trimmed him here and there when Jake offered his clippers. But Billy decided the hair would go when he got back.
There were more times than not, that Billy didn’t think he was coming back. And he wouldn’t have done had it not been for Cal and Jake.
Literally they saved his life. A lot.
How far back did it go? Years.
Following the discovery that his father had been released from the mental institution to participant in an experiment, Billy started his investigation.
He got the go ahead from the magazine and station he worked for to ‘break’ the story. The Iso-Stasis and Caldwell Institute had a long standing history of secrecy. Why?
Billy was bound and determined to find that out.
Immediately he met Cal and Jake. And immediately they became his friends. He learned what he could from them, but Billy knew his best shot of learning what the experiments were was to be in an experiment.
Unfortunately qualifications to do so were not within Billy’s reach. So after failing to be a participant, and a few threatening words to the institute’s director from Cal, a deal was struck.
Billy goes to Iso-Stasis Thirteen. He gets his story and if he survives, he keeps it.
Deal.
The simple experiment said to benefit many, in Billy’s opinion was sadistic, over the edge, inhuman, and unreal. Not to mention the Iso-Stasis was a source of demented gambling entertainment for a bunch of rich men with nothing better to do than to bet on who would survive.
The breaking story that would shock the world. Achieve Billy that book deal, get him on national TV and sky rocket him to the media fame, for so long, he had been trying to achieve.
He got his story. Disk upon, disk, upon disk, he gained.
But he also lost.
That was the reason for his new vanity dilemma, or rather, lack of.
Painfully obvious, and a reality nightmare.
In a phase of the experiment, Billy lost his leg. He supposed he should of been grateful that he was still alive. That Jake’s quick thinking and knowledge saved him. Still he grieved.
He still felt his leg, but every time he looked down, he was reminded of the fact that he would never be the same again.
Or would he?
There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in Billy’s mind, when Dr. Haynes told him of Caldwell’s technology with bionics. No doubt whatsoever that Dr. Haynes spoke the truth and didn’t exaggerate one bit when he labeled, Caldwell’s Bionics division, superior, beyond belief, and futuristic.
And Dr. Haynes’, little retro-television humorous comment of, ‘we can rebuilt you, make you better, we have the technology’, was far from a joke made to lighten the mood.
It was an offer.
Billy, through the experiment, had seen the scientific capabilities Caldwell had, and honestly believed he may have only scratched the surface in what he viewed.
The promise to, ‘make him as if he never lost a leg’, was a dream come true to Billy.
However, so was the idea of shutting down the Iso-Stasis with his knowledge.
Years upon years he fought for his story. Watched people die. Dig the truth, lived the truth and nearly died trying to obtain it. He was a reporter with high journalistic integrity in the truth, and he stood firm on that.
Now he was a reporter who stood with only one leg.
Not even the truth could give him the balance in his life he so much needed. But the truth, in a sense, could give him back his leg.
In a simple glance, Billy all but faced the choices he had. Next to his partial leg sat the case that held the abundance of disks he brought back from the island.
Where some would view it as an easy decision, Billy reflected with heart-aching contemplation.
He needed time to think. Much more than just a few hours in the hospital. The immediate ensuing interview wasn’t vital. For that Billy could flub through buying himself more time to make that final decision.
And a final decision had to be made.
Pros and cons had to be sorted through, and though it wasn’t much, in the pre-moments before the cameras arrive, Billy started stacking the scales, and weighing his options.
The Plaza Hotel - Los Angeles, CA
August 28th
Huge.
Lt. Colonel Jacob Graison was a huge man. His height towered above normal and where most men would slump, Jake carried himself like a giant. He was lean, not heavy, defining physical fitness not only in physique but in lifestyle.
Returning back from a debriefing, still in full uniform, Jake surprising himself, walked into the hotel suite unnoticed. He guessed that was when it hit him how big he was and it wasn’t his genetics that did it. It was his life.
How far he had come. If someone were to ask Jake what else do you need in life, he would have to reply ‘nothing’. To Jake his life was full, and consequently would only become fuller.
He stood right by the hotel room door watching his wife on the sofa. Before he had met Cal, his life was the military. No family. Nothing.
She blasted in faster and stronger than he ever expected. Iso-Stasis Twelve was his introduction to her. A petite woman, and Jake swore sometimes she was half his size. But she was never half the person he was. Alone, no family of her own, Cal had to of been the saddest person Jake had ever met. Having just lost her thirteen year old daughter tragically before experiment twelve, Cal really didn’t care. And Jake still swore he fell in love with her the first moment he saw her lay a man out with a single punch.
Some would claim their marriage was a little on the demented side, Jake preferred to say it was adventurous. Without a doubt or question, Jake loved Cal. She was his soul, the blood that ran through his veins. There was nothing she could do, or say that would make him change his mind, and history proved it. Nothing would make Jake give her up. At least not without a fight.
His life.
Period.
And in the deepest corners of his imagination, Jake never thought he’d find himself waiting on parenthood, and that too was just around the corner. A surprise, and the means of fertilization would have been a means Jake would rather not of faced. But that was the past. Over. The baby was the future. His and Cal’s.
Of course, there was Rickie. He became no less than their adopted son.
Jake reflected as he stood by the door. Maybe it was the settling down moment of returning from a successful experiment. He still rode on a high over that one. To Jake a near death experience was a better high than any crack addict could pay for. And seeing how Jake’s near death experience came in the final seconds of the experiment, Jake was pretty much stoned on euphoria.
The experiments. How ironic it was to Jake that when he first went to I.S.E.-Twelve, he only expected to return with a huge compensation and his life. Jake ended up walking away with a life bigger than any compensation. In a sense he figured he owed the Iso-Stasis Experiments. Action, adventure, death, a new family. He received more than he bargained for and Jake loved it. He truly loved it all.
Rickie was happy, his ‘do’ had finally surpassed his shoulders. And he took great pleasure in washing his blonde locks three or four times with that really flowery smelling stuff they had in the hotel shower. He also had a blast playing with the blow dryer that hung on the wall, pausing to pose in various, ‘windblown hair’ frantic moments.
Dressed, starved and ready to go, Rickie waited on the arrival of the big guy. And there he was, he came back. But he was just standing by the door. Maybe he was just waiting to be acknowledged, have him and Cal rush the door and greet him in a ‘whoa, dad’s home’ way.
Rickie thought about blasting forth, screaming out and giving the Sarge a big hug. But it really wasn’t all that long since he had seen him last. And with the exception of the time he had spent cocooned, Rickie pretty much saw Jake for seven months straight.
Seeing how he didn’t want to startle Cal in the middle of her toe decorating ritual, Rickie merely shifted his thin, small body in Jake’s view.
Jake didn’t notice.
Rickie jumped.
Jake blinked.
“Dude.” Rickie snorted. “I scared ya huh. Got the big guy all shaking inside when . . .”
“Rickie.” Jake halted him immediately. “What in God’s name did you do to your hair?”
“Cal babe was bored.” Rickie played with one of the pig tails. “You like.”
“No, I do not like.” Stern, Jake reached out and at the same time, pulled the rubber bands from Rickie’s hair.
Rickie screamed.
Cal finally turned around some in her seat. “Jake.” she smiled his name then started to get up. The soft sofa sucked her back in. “Jake.” She tried again, but the weight of her new awkward shape plopped her back. She whined. “Jake.”
“Cal.” Jake winced as he walked back to the couch. “I know old habits are hard to break. But could we leave the Billy whining behind, please, thank you.” he kissed her. “Why aren’t you dressed?”
“I was trying to paint my toenails.”
“Why?”
“To look nice.”
“Cal, no one will see them anyhow once you put your shoes on. So why bother?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know. It’s useless anyhow, I can’t reach my toes.” She quickly looked up when Jake laughed.
He wiped the smile from his face. “That’s horrible. Get dressed. I’m starving. I’m sure Rickie is hungry as well.”
“Dude. I am.” Rickie rubbed his stomach. “I like went down three times to eat but they wouldn’t feed me without my dad being there. That’s you. Let’s go.”
“Rickie, you’re twenty-two years old.” Jake said appalled. “Why the fuck wouldn’t they feed you?”
“Because you’re paying and they said they didn’t trust me.”
“Did you have the ponytails in your hair?” Jake asked.
“Sarge, that would be rude. Cal took all that time to make me look good.”
After a serious look, Jake turned from Rickie and held out his hand to Cal. “Can we send him on vacation somewhere?”
“Jake. Be nice.” Cal used Jake’s hand to stand. “Billy was on the news tonight.”
Jake closed one eye. “Can we not talk about him for one fuckin night.”
“Well, he didn’t seem OK.” Cal said with concern “Something’s wrong.”
“Cal, the man almost died, he has pneumonia and he lost his leg. Of course he’s not all right. Get dressed. I’m hungry.”
Rickie called out, “Me too.”
“See.” Jake pointed. “Clothes.” He turned Cal in the right direction.
“Jake.” Cal slowed down. “Don’t you care?”
“Well Cal, to be honest. No.” Jake replied. “I’m hungry.”
After her mouth opened slightly in her offense, Cal folded her arms, turned and walked to the bedroom.
Knowing it was Cal and it would be a few minutes, Jake started to look around the hotel suite for something to eat. “Rickie, did they bring up fruit?”
“Yeah. First thing guy.” Rickie answer
ed.
“Where is it?”
“We ate it.”
Jake grumbled. “Any candy. Crackers, or anything.”
“Got some from downstairs.”
“Excellent.” Jake said.
“But we ate that too.”
Jake growled, but he knew his plight would not be in vain. He started to search.
With some nervousness, Rickie called him. “Sarge.”
“What?” Jake grabbed Cal’s purse. “A-ha.” He found half a bag of candy. “This will work.”
“Sarge. I didn’t say anything in front of the Cal-Babe.” Rickie walked to him. “Here.” He handed him a sheet of paper.
“What’s this?” Jake said then dumped some candy into his mouth. The soft chocolate cracked and Jake’s chewing slowed, he cringed and spoke with his mouth full. “Something is wrong with this candy. Did you taste it.”
“Not that. It’s probably been in that purse for seven months. Remember, Cal-babe didn’t bring her purse.”
With diligence, Jake tried not to show a facial reaction, he just swallowed hard. “Fuck. You knew this and you allowed me to eat this.”
“Dude, you were hungry.”
Jake grumbled and looked to the note Rickie had given him. “Caldwell called?”
“Dude called Haynes. The director. Said call him tomorrow ASAP. It’s important.” Rickie watched Jake crumble up the note. “You aren’t calling him?”
“Nope.” Jake said. “We have our checks. As far as I’m concerned . . .” he took the crumbled paper and tossed it in the trash. “There’s no reason to talk to them again. The more distance between us and them, the better.”
“But . . . like, OK, I’m not like the smartest guy in the world. But like I know them guys. And I know the way they work. With the experiment, and Cal getting . . .”
“Rickie. It’s not a concern.”
“But I’m worried about them wanting . . .”
“Rickie.” Jake said stern. “It’s not a concern. OK?” He waited for Rickie to nod. “And as far as that note goes, it has nothing to do with the experiment. It especially has nothing to do with Cal.” Jake was pretty certain in his relaying of that to Rickie. He was also pretty certain that he was hungry. And old candy or not, Jake dumped the rest of the bag in his mouth, smiling in his chewing when Rickie cringed loudly.
Terms (The Experiments Book 3) Page 1