BOX SET of THREE TOP 10 MEDICAL THRILLERS

by Ian C. P. Irvine

  If all continued to go to plan, the embryo cloned from the A-type blood from the Crown of Thorns would be implanted in the host mother on the Thursday morning. The mother would be monitored for a week, during which time experimentation on the cloning of the G-type blood would begin.

  If at the end of the next week they had successfully managed to produce a G-clone embryo -as Don had nicknamed the embryo cloned from the G-type cells- and all was still well with the A-clone embryo within the mother's womb, then they would proceed to implanting the G-clone embryo into its host mother.

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  The significance of that event was becoming more clear as the days passed.

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  “Professor, I think you should switch on the TV as quickly as you can…turn to the BBC and open a screen-let on the Channel 8 news. It’s on both sides!”

  It was nine o’clock in the evening and Jason had just got back from the lab. Opening a can of beer freshly retrieved from the fridge he was balancing the phone receiver between his chin and his shoulder as he fought with the remote control in one hand and the beer can in the other.

  “The BBC? And what’s the other one you’re watching...Channel 8...Oh...Yes, I see it. I’ll call you back...” The Professor flicked from his favourite comedy channel to the news on the BBC, and then also opened up a screen-let of Channel 8 in the bottom corner of his screen. The BBC showed a man standing in front of the Golden Dome on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Behind him large crowds were waving big banners and shouting incomprehensibly.

  “…The situation remains peaceful, and the air is full of a sense of excitement rather than of trouble. The rally has entered its third day now, and a spokesman for the gathering has said that it will continue until the comet has passed by the planet and continues on its journey into space.”

  The Professor turned up the volume and increased the size of the screen-let showing the Channel 8 news on the other channel, which was running the pictures of the same rally from a different angle.

  “...What makes the rally unusual is that for the first time in recorded history, three of the world's major religions have gathered in Jerusalem to proclaim the same news about the same prophet. Today for the first time we see here Jews, followers of Islam and Christians, all proclaiming the coming of their Messiah. According to their individual religions many of the prophecies which were to precede the appearance of the Messiah have now come to fruition and recent world events are signalling the completion of the remaining outstanding prophecies which have not yet been fulfilled. I have with me Rabbi Ben-Israel and Father O’Brian. Father O’Brian, what is your feeling on all this?”

  “...I think it’s incredible…almost unbelievable…along with the rest of Christianity we’ve been monitoring events over the past hundred years, and since the founding of the state of Israel in the twentieth century, the prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ have been completed at a rate which has been accelerating over the past twenty years. What I think is fantastic, is that at the same time as our Christian prophecies have been completed, those of the Islam and Jewish fates have been completed too, and they have all been coming together in recent years...”

  “And you Rabbi Ben-Israel? How do you feel about all of this?”

  “It’s so exciting. The day of the Messiah is near. I never thought I would live to see it in my lifetime, but according to Holy Scriptures the time is almost here. I, you, everyone on earth, …we will see the Messiah come very, very soon!”

  “…And how soon will that be Father O’Brian?”

  “…Well, before I answer that question I think I should say that this rally you see here was not planned. It’s a spontaneous occurrence. For the past few months, people of all religions have been reporting dreams, miracles, and visions of the Second Coming. People, for no apparent reason, have felt compelled to come to Jerusalem, and over the past week large crowds have found themselves gathering. From all religions. And when they've talked to each other, they've found that they all shared the same compulsion to come here…”

  “… So when?”

  “…Next autumn!”

  “…Next autumn? Are you saying that the Second Coming of Christ will be next autumn?”

  “Or in the spring!" Rabbi Ben-Israel interrupted, "I think I should say that although we are all united in our excitement and our dreams and visions that something incredible is going to happen, we don’t agree on everything. We are predicting the coming of our Messiah. We don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah…Anyway, that is another debate…The point is that we, the Jewish community, think it will be in Spring. Christians are expecting their Messiah to come at the end of summer next year. The Islamic community think it’s at the beginning of next year…The important thing though is, that inexplicably, all the religions seem to be united in their prediction that the most important person in their faith is going to come to us at last, after all these thousands of years of waiting!"

  “And Father O'Brian, as far as Christianity is concerned, when we say the 'Second Coming', are we talking about a world event where Jesus of Nazareth appears in the sky riding on a white chariot, or comes back in a spaceship? How will this happen?”

  “We don’t know. But we’re not saying that he will come back as a grown human being either. Most of the visions are of Him coming back as a child, and being born and growing up like any other man. Most of the visions people have had point to that. All we know, or rather all we feel, is that Jesus will reappear in physical form on this planet next spring, or the summer afterward?”

  “…So why are you all gathered here in Jerusalem? Is he going to be born here? Rabbi Ben-Israel…?”

  “…Actually, that is not clear. The Jews would obviously like the Messiah to be born in Israel, but some of the prophecies and visions our brothers and sisters have been having are of the Messiah being born somewhere in Europe. We will only know where for sure when we see where the comet guides us?”

  “…And what comet is that? I understand that according to our best astronomers there is no recorded comet on a path to the earth?”

  “…The comet will come! For the past few weeks peoples of all religions around the world have been having visions or dreaming of a Great Comet which will sweep across our skies and lead us to the land of the birth of the Messiah. That is one point which all the visions agree upon, and many of us here have been having the same dream...regardless of the religion we belong to...the comet will lead the way and show us the land of His birth...”

  The Professor flicked back to the BBC, the image in the screen-let in the corner of the screen being replaced by the Channel 8 news he had just watched. A woman on the BBC was busy interviewing another member of the rally, walking amongst them and sampling the views of those on the streets.

  “…So why did you come to Jerusalem?”

  “…I don’t know…I came by myself from Australia. I had no idea others were coming too!”

  “…All the way from Australia? When did you leave?”

  “I had the dreams about three weeks ago, and the compulsion just grew…I got here last week.”

  “…And you sir? Can I ask you why you are here?”

  “You mean, why Jerusalem and not Paris or New York? To be honest…I don’t know…maybe it’s just because it all started here....it’s a focal point for us all!”

  “…And what does your T-shirt say Sir?” The lady reporter turned to a student dancing around her, who was wearing a dark T-shirt with a picture of a comet on it and a slogan written above it.

  “ ‘Follow the Light! Watch the Comet’ man…watch the comet ...”

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  The Professor watched as the reporter handed back over to the studio, where a member of the Anglican church gave some comment on the occurrences in Israel and reported on a number of miracles that had apparently happened in England, concluding by admitti
ng that for no apparent reason they could claim credit for, the attendance in Churches throughout England, Scotland and Wales had apparently tripled in the past two months. The Professor picked up the phone and called Jason back.

  “All I can say is that the bloody comet had better not land on our roof! I just had the roof re-felted and re-tiled last year and it cost a small fortune!”

  “What do you reckon though…it’s quite scary. You know they’re talking about us. We’re it! We’re the actors playing the most important scene in the biggest show on earth. Next week we’re going to create the clone of Messiah. An end to the hostility that has dived Jew and Christian for thousands of years! It's us that are going to implant Him in a woman, and in nine-months time He will be born, in England,...Europe! They’re talking about us Mathew, US! When we put that little electric shock across the cell with Christ’s chromosome set in it, ...the moment that happens we will have given birth to the Messiah!”

  “Not quite Jason. Not quite. There is a little matter of a nine-month gestation period...Anyway, God will have created the embryo, not you or I. We are just puppets in His game. Pawns completing the last few moves of an intricate and long and drawn out game of Chess that goes back thousands of years in time.”

  “..Mathew…do you believe in this…is it really happening?”

  “Yes Jason, it is. And you were chosen to make it happen.”

  “...But why me? I don’t even really believe in God.”

  “...That may be so, but obviously God believes in you!”

  While Jason and the Professor were chatting, they missed the other piece of breaking news that was just bursting across the airways around the globe. Pope James had just died, and the process had already begun to select and elect the next Pope.

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  Chapter Forty Two

  The White House

  Washington D.C., America

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  President Jamieson watched the footage coming from Jerusalem and was livid. The mention of the belief that Christ would be born in Europe somewhere, drove the reason from him and sent him into a furious mood.

  “No! …NO!” he shouted to himself as he stormed around the Oval office. His aides and his most trusted Senators cowered in the corridor outside, each fearing that their name would be called and they would be summoned into the lion's den. They all knew that it was at times like these that the President destroyed people. Careers could evaporate in a second, for no apparent reason. Just so long as the President found a scapegoat and a route to vent his anger.

  Then suddenly the room went silent and the President stopped screaming. For a few minutes no one breathed, then the President called his chief aide.

  “Toby? Get in here now...good…what took you? Listen, have you been seeing this crap on the television? How come no one told me about it? And what’s this about a comet? Could it land in America? What threat does it pose?...What do you mean you don’t know?”

  The President gave him approximately five minutes to find out. When Toby scurried out the office the President called for Tim Curts.

  “Close the door behind you Tim. Sit down...So what do you make of this? Drink?”

  “No thanks, Sir. I don’t drink in the morning. I think we both know they’re talking about the Haissem project. They must be on track to make their first clone in December or January.”

  “…and what the hell does that mean about the project in Vale? What about our Messiah clone? Why is no one having visions about us and our project and our Messiah?”

  Tim Curts knew better than to try and answer that question. He waited for the President to speak again.

  “So, how’s the project going?”

  “All the news is good. We’re on track to make a clone within the same timeframe as the Oxford team. We may even beat them!”

  “So what do we do? We can’t let them limeys steal our thunder!”

  “I would suggest something tactical.”

  “Such as, Tim? Are you sure you don’t want something to drink, I could really do with a Scotch, and I don’t drink alone!” The President thrust the already poured glass of Scotch into his hand.

  “Such as? Did you see the news that the Pope has died...?”

  “…Yeah, so what…I’m sure another one will ‘pope’ up in his place!”

  Tim ignored the pathetic joke and carried on.

  “Exactly. And who do you think will replace him?”

  “Haven’t the faintest. What are you getting at? …Damn this stuff is good…” Jamieson looked at his glass and winced as the Scotch bit into his throat as he swallowed it. He preferred the cheap blends that packed a punch to the more mature malts which just slid down his throat without him noticing it.

  “Cardinal Laurentin. All our sources say he’s favourite to be elected. Especially since he got so much good publicity surrounding the verification of the authenticity of the Crown of Thorns. Apparently it was his project and he worked it all out with Oxford, his Alma Mater, and got the use of the top scientists in the world to verify it.”

  “So…what does that give us?”

  “Hope.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s got a record.”

  “What type of record?”

  “The type of record that you wouldn’t want to have if you were just about to be elected Pope.”

  “Stop speaking in fucking riddles man? What are you getting at?”

  “When he was in Oxford he was a leading member of the gay rights movement. He changed his name when he left Oxford, and changed his lifestyle. After he joined the church a lot of his records started to disappear. Things got covered up. Indiscretions went away.”

  “Where did they go? What happened to the files?”

  “We ‘got’ them. Cardinal Laurentin doesn’t know, but he’s been the target of CIA interest for a number of years. Just in case he showed potential for the future!”

  “That’s very clever of you all.” The President said half sarcastically, half seriously.

  “Not really… we now make it a policy to try and get something on almost everyone in power, or anyone who shows the potential to take power in the future…”

  “…and who pays for all this activity?”

  “You do sir. It was your idea.”

  “So what do we do now? Blackmail the guy?”

  “No. I wouldn’t say we have to go that far…yet. For now, I would simply suggest we inform him of the details of our project in Vale. Ask for his blessing. Suggest that he endorses the research. If there’s going to be two Messiah clones popping up in nine months time, we want him to publicly endorse ours and not the one in England.”

  “What? Are you suggesting we just tell him we stole the real Crown of Thorns and gave him back a fake?”

  “No. We tell him that the English stole the real one and gave them back a fake. Then we tell him that we used our agents to get back the real one, and that we are looking after it for him. We mention that while we have it we will search it for blood residues, and we tell him all about the cloning project. Then we offer to give him back the Crown, out of the warmth and generosity of our hearts. We be open and up front with him. Even invite him to Vale to come and see the lab. And we keep him informed of the progress of the work. The world wants a Messiah now, it’s expecting one...and all we ask is that the Pope backs our baby, ...to use a rather appropriate turn of phrase!”

  “And what if he doesn’t go along with it?”

  “Then we blackmail him. Either way it’ll work.”

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  Chapter Forty Three

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  In the weeks leading up to the rallies in Jerusalem, the astrology and horoscope industry went into overdrive. Independently of the mass hysteria that seemed to be gripping the nations of the world, with thousands of reported visions of comets and astral signs and fires in the sky, the astrologists had begun to write about the “New Age”, the “Re-birth of Hope”, the “dawning of a new era”, all of which would be
heralded by the appearance of a flaming torch in the sky. With the planets moving into an unusual alignment, lining up in a spiral curve radiating outwards from the sun, an alignment which occurred only once every two thousand and eighteen years, they had every excuse they needed to draw a connection between the original birth of Jesus Christ, and His much heralded and by now immediately awaited return to the planet.

  The more the peoples of the world had visions and the more the astrologists predicted the appearance and movement of a heavenly body crossing the skies, the more flustered and concerned EUSA, the European Space Agency, and NASA became. In a series of much publicised press conferences they repeated their fervent belief that there was nothing in the heavens that would fulfil the prediction. There was simply no asteroid or comet heading towards the earth that would cross the planet’s path in the next six months. The more they had to dispute the claims of the religious leaders, the more they checked and rechecked their figures and observations. Perhaps in two years time, maybe even in five, but for now the skies were pretty quiet. With the end of the week approaching every eye was trained on the heavens above.

  As the week of the rallies drew to a close, the planets took up their optimal position in space, and the perfect curve leading to the sun was completed. The earth formed part of the spiral alignment, taking its dutiful position beside Mars, at a mere distance of fifty five million kilometres, the closest it had been to the Red Planet in thousands of years.