The Prodigal Sun: A Novel

by S. E. Meyer

“What do you care?” she pushed him away and rolled over. They were both silent for several minutes and then Jenny stood up. She turned to look at him as she brushed her tears away. “You can’t even make it to like, only one of the most important appointments in our lifetime, aside from maybe our wedding! Oh wait, that’s right, you were late for that too. John you would forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on you know!” Jenny looked a frightful mess. Her makeup was smearing, running down her cheeks along with her tears and her hands were shaking.

  “I’m sorry, I truly am, but I really would like to know what he said.”

  Jenny started sobbing again and she shook her head slowly back and forth. John got up off the bed and hugged her. “No babies” she whispered into his ear. “No babies ever. Turns out my ovaries are no good John” she managed between sobs. “I can’t have children.” She finally let herself relax into his arms and John just held her, rocking back and forth for several minutes while Jenny wept into his neck. He could feel the emotions welling up within himself as he thought about what the news meant for them. He touched her face and moved a few blond strands of her tear soaked hair away from her cheek. “I’m so sorry honey.” John face was twisted up in pain and tears began to well up in his eyes.

  “Well, how do I know you still want to be with me John? Her voice sputtered in his ear. “I mean, you can have kids, I’m the one that’s all messed up and broken inside.” She felt a burning pain in her chest. Her broken ovaries had caused a broken heart.

  “Don’t even think that honey, I would never leave you.” John pulled away far enough to put his hands on each side of Jenny face and look her in the eye. A tear rolled down his cheek as he spoke softly. “Really, it will be okay, there are other options. Okay?” He pulled her close again. “Come on, you always said you would love to adopt a baby, especially from an impoverished country or something, right? I know you’re a little stressed about not working right now, but maybe it’s a blessing. Right now you would have the time to focus on raising a baby.

  “Yes but, I don’t know, it just seems so final now. At least I had a ray of hope of us having our own children before now, but...” she broke into sobs again for several minutes. “But you’re right, I would have the time. I could finish my doctorate in Psychology from home while taking care of a baby. It would be a nice change. I just really wanted to have our own.”

  “I’m so sorry honey,” John said, trying to console her as he held her in his arms. Jenny pulled away to get a tissue from the top of the dresser and she looked closely at John for the first time.

  “Jesus John, are you okay? You look like you seen a ghost. You look worse than I do. You’re so pale.” She touched his face. “This news is really affecting you too, isn’t it? She sniffed and then blew into the tissue. John looked in the mirror, noticing the color was almost completely drained from his face.

  “Yes it is affecting me. I don’t even know what to say.” John sat back down on the bed and put his face in his hands. It’s the kind of disappointment that is painful. But I’m not disappointed with you, okay? Just remember that. This isn’t your fault and I meant it when I said there are other options. For better or worse, right? I love you.”

  “Thank you John, that means a lot to me. I love you too.”

  John let himself flop backwards onto the bed. The day’s events had drained him. “This entire day is affecting me honey, I’m just exhausted.”

  Jenny stretched out onto the bed beside him. “I’m sorry John, about being mean earlier and my nasty comments.” She was lying on her side with her head propped up in her hand.

  “Don’t worry about it Jen. It’s okay, really, you had every right to be mad at me for not being there.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay, I mean really, you do look pretty rough.”

  “No Jen, I’m not. I don’t feel good at all. I realize today has been no picnic for you, but I think this has been the worst day of my life.”

  “I thought the news of not being able to have children would be hard for you to take.” She moved closer to him on the bed.

  “It’s not just that. Since I woke up from the nightmare this morning my day has just gotten worse.” He rolled over to look Jenny in the eye. “We lost an entire group of animals at the lab last night. The shit is really going to hit the fan at work, and my ass is on the line. On top of that, what happened at Frank’s place has got me thinking I’m going crazy.” He let out a long breath. The shift in conversation seemed to be helping Jenny. Her eyes were drying, and her face looked slightly less stressed being focused on something else.

  “What happened?”

  John almost told her about what happened at Frank’s house and then thought better of it. She was already worrying about him, telling her would only make it worse, besides, he wasn’t really sure what he saw at Frank’s and Jenny was in a fragile state. He decided to focus on the problem at the lab instead. “We don’t even know what caused it yet but the entire testing group is dead.” John sat up. “I really need to get back there and get it figured out.”

  “That’s too bad. With the news from the doctor I was really hoping you could call in sick the rest of the day so we could just be together.”

  John stood up and turned to face her. “If today was any other day I would have already called in, but with what’s going on at the lab I’m going to have to go back.” He headed out of the room back towards the kitchen and Jenny followed. As soon as they came around the corner they both saw the FedEx package on the table.

  “Oh, that’s right! I forgot all about your package John!” Jenny wiped the tears from her cheeks. She was breathing more steadily now and seemed to be getting control of herself; happy to have something else to focus on. John went to the table and picked up the package. It was an overnight letter addressed to him, but the only thing on the return address was D.S. Assoc. stamped on the first address line. John flashed back to Frank’s house, recalling his words. ‘Go home John, Go home and read the letter’. His heart jumped into his throat and he quickly tore open the envelope. Inside there was a key-card from the research center, along with a letter. At the very bottom there was a small round metal object. John read;

  John,

  If you are reading this then something must have gone terribly wrong. By you receiving this letter it means I am in dire need of your help and I have no-one else to turn to or to trust. Here is what I need you to do. Enclosed is my key-card, which will give you access to the entire building, including my office. I need you to go to my office and copy all of the files saved under ‘Pyramid Formula 7-1‘. The access codes to my computer are written below. Once you have copied the files, erase them from the hard drive. I also need you to take a file from my file cabinet marked with the same name. The metal tube is a lancet. Just hold the small end to the back of your neck against the skin and push the small button on the larger end. It’s a small automatic injection that will allow me to talk to you. I can explain better later. Open your eyes and all of your senses John, and it would be best if you’re not seen in my office.

  0135872909 ---- col34276

  Regards,

  Frank

  John looked up from the letter with a shocked expression.

  “What is it John?”

  He handed her the letter and sat back down with a sigh. He waited for what seemed like forever for her to finish reading before she handed it back to him. ”What do you think it means? Do you have any idea what this is all about?”

  “None, absolutely no idea whatsoever,” John replied. He sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and nervously rubbed his forehead.

  “What are you going to do?” Jenny sat down in the chair next to him.

  “Well I’m going to have to do what he’s asking me to do. I guess I’ll go get this stuff and see what happens.”

  “What about the injection?” Jennifer held a nervous expression. “You don’t even know what it is John.”

  “Frank wouldn’t ask me to do anything dangerou
s, but I have to admit it is all just so strange. Asking me to take an injection so he can talk to me? Why not just pick up the phone? I don’t get it.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this John?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I have to, from the letter it sounds like Frank really needs my help. Maybe Frank made a new discovery in his research or something, or maybe this has something to do with what happened at the lab. I don’t know, but I have to try and help. It sounds like he could be in trouble.” John’s eyebrows rose as he came up with an idea. “Tell you what. I’m going to get this lab issue figured out, and then I’m going to take care of this.” John shook the letter in his hand. “Then I’m going to take a couple days off work. As bad as things have been going today I’m ready for a little time off. Remember I said we should go somewhere this weekend? Well let’s just go a little early. Tonight, when I get home, we can figure out where we want to go. We’ll take a nice long week-end okay?”

  “Aw, that sounds wonderful honey!” She quickly moved closer to him and hugged him tightly. “I’ve been really missing you lately.”

  “Me too Jen. Plus it will be a good way to take our minds off the bad news about having babies and give us some time to think about what we want to do about it” He smiled at her then suddenly noticed the clock on the wall.

  “Damn, I didn’t realize how late it was. I guess I better get going.” John stood up shoving the letter in his pocket.

  “You didn’t even get lunch.”

  “That’s okay, I’ll grab something out of the break room.” John headed for the door and put his shoes on.

  “Be careful with the whole Frank thing. I would wait on the injection, at least until you have a better idea of what it is.”

  “That’s probably a good idea. I’m more worried about getting things fixed at the lab, to be honest. I’ll probably end up working late and by the time I’m done everyone should be gone. Then I can grab this stuff from Frank’s office while no-one’s around before I come home.” He kissed her and headed out the door.

  John made it back to the center around 1:30. He hid the key-card and the lancet in his inside blazer jacket pocket and went inside.

  “Any word from Frank yet?” Steve asked as John entered the building.

  “Frank? Oh, Uh, no. I stopped by his house but no-one was there.” John nervously fumbled with his badge.

  “Are you okay John?”

  “I’m fine.” he answered, but didn’t sound very convincing. He hurried though the doorway and headed straight to the lab, rushing to get to Nick’s work station.

  “Nick, any updates?” John asked, a little out of breath.

  Nick turned around in his chair. “John yes! I’ve been trying to call you on your cell for the last hour, where have you been?”

  “My phone is kind of out of order for now. What do you have for me?”

  “We just realized that our inventory of serum we’ve been giving the test groups is missing. Not only that, but it was replaced.” Nick picked up a bottle from his desk and handed it to John. “See? It was labeled properly, like someone didn’t want us to know it was missing, but the only thing in that vial is plain old saline.

  “Saline?” John turned the vial between his fingers. “How long have we been giving the subjects saline?

  “As far as we can tell almost a week, but we’re not positive. We’re having a hard time tracking down exactly when the vials were switched.”

  “So it looks like we may have lost the animals because we stopped giving them the serum?” John’s eyebrow was cocked upwards in a surprised expression.

  “That’s the way it looks right now John. I don’t know. We’re still digging for answers here.” Nick leaned in his chair closer to John and lowered his tone. “You’re the boss here, but my suggestion is we stop the human trials immediately.”

  “And what if we have the same problem Nick? What if they all go crazy and beat themselves to death when we stop? I don’t need innocent lives on my hands.” John felt the knot in his gut coming back. He stood silent for a moment in deep thought. “You’re right, we can’t keep going with the information we have. I’ll make the calls, but I’ll have them wean the human subjects off very slowly over the next several weeks. I’ll also see if we can get some serum sent over here from the clinic so you can do the same thing with the animals that are left. Let me know if you get any new information.”

  John went back to his office working feverishly to get as many loose ends tied up as he could in order to take a few days off. He put the clinical trials on hold until further notice, making sure they would wean everyone off slowly. He stayed busy all afternoon, but quitting time still seemed to take forever to arrive. John pulled out the letter from Frank and re-read it several times before folding it neatly and placing it back in his pocket. The words churned over and over in his mind.

  ‘It’s a small automatic injection that will allow me to talk to you’.

  What is that supposed to mean? John thought to himself. Is it worth the risk? John went outside for a break. Too many questions floated through mind. He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, looking around the parking lot. Only a few cars were still in their parking spots waiting for their drivers to take them home, or downtown, or maybe the tavern for happy hour. He was anxious to get upstairs to Frank’s office and get home, relieved that he was able to finish up his day without having to stay late. He stubbed out his cigarette in the three foot, stone ashtray and headed back to his desk. John sorted through more e-mail and waited until 5:45 to be sure the office was cleared out, then headed towards the elevator. The doors opened on the top floor and John stepped out. The cinch around his stomach was tightening again. Why am I so nervous? John thought then flashed back to Frank’s letter.

  ‘Make sure no one sees you in my office.’

  Almost all of the lights were off, except for the ones above the reception desk. Everything appeared deserted. John headed down the hallway towards Frank’s office.

  “John, you’re working late,” Steve said from behind him.

  John jumped and immediately felt a lump in his throat as he turned to face Steve. “Uh, yeah, just remembered I forgot some files in the conference room this morning” John lied, quickly thinking of a reason to be up on the top floor.

  “Conference room is that way.” Steve pointed in the opposite direction John was heading.

  “Oh, right, just needed to use the restroom first.” John nervously fidgeted with his hands.

  “It’s all good. I was just finishing my rounds up for the night. Can you hit the lights when you head back down?”

  “I sure will.” John continued down the hall passing Frank’s office along the way and entered the restroom. He waited a few minutes until he was sure Steve had left. “Damn it!” he whispered. “I guess a career in the FBI or CIA was out,” he joked to himself in the mirror. John slowly crept out of the men’s room and headed back up the hall to Frank’s office. He slid the key-card through the slot and the familiar “beep - click” with a green light meant the door was now unlocked. John nervously glanced both ways up and down the hallway and quickly went inside.

  There was barely enough light coming through the huge windows in Frank’s office to see, but John didn’t dare turn on the lights. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust and moved across the floor slowly in a crouching position. He didn’t know why he was crouching, but it seemed like the thing one should do when sneaking into someone's office. Especially since that someone specifically said to make sure one stays unseen. Frank’s office was neat and tidy as usual, with the exception of a few books opened on his meeting table along with loose papers strewn across it. He went around the side of Frank’s large desk and sat down.

  “Okay, get the files and get the hell out of here,” John whispered to himself. He pulled out the letter Frank had sent him and logged onto the computer in front of him using the passwords. He had to perform a search to find the right folder then slipped a blank CD
into the CD drive. “Come on, come on,” John whispered, as the CD burning software loaded and the files began to transfer. He got up and opened the file cabinet next to the desk. The folders were all alphabetical so it only took a moment to find the one he needed.

  Copy progress…50%

  John was sweating now and he could feel his pulse start to race. “Come on!” he said louder than he probably should have.

  Copy progress…70%

  …90%

  “Finally!” A message now read Copy Completed Successfully across the screen. He slid the CD out of the tray and began to erase the files one by one from the hard drive. “Okay, done,” John whispered again. “Now, get the hell out of here,” he told himself. As he walked back around the desk he heard the familiar beep and click outside Frank’s door as someone swiped a key-card. John quickly ducked behind Frank’s desk, his heart was pounding and he could feel his pulse thundering in his head as a drop of sweat ran down his forehead and stung his left eye. Oh Shit, the folder and CD. John remembered as he got to his knees and grabbed them just as the door to Frank’s office opened. John quickly, but clumsily, crawled under the desk. He curled into a fetal position so quickly he almost cracked his head on the back of the desk and felt a sudden painful stab in his chest.

  “Ouch!” John breathed in sharply as he mouthed the word, biting his lip to keep from crying out. His chest started to burn and then he remembered the lancet in his jacket pocket. He was just starting to realize what happened when his head began to swim. He thought he heard voices nearby, and getting closer, then everything went black.

  dirty deeds

  It had just started to rain as the black Mercedes pulled slowly up the long driveway and stopped at the entrance gate. Two figures sat inside, just shadows, in the increasing darkness of twilight. The window of the driver’s side door slipped down with a faint hum and a long arm stretched out to push the call button. A gentleman with a strong French accent came over the speaker.