“The test subject is here,” the man with the tattoo said.
“So, people are the guinea pigs here? You’re going to have problems with animal rights groups about this.”
“People come way cheaper than monkeys. This place is near the Mexican border, so there’s no shortage. We can get as many fresh specimens as we like.”
“You’re kidnapping people from Central America that cross the border illegally?”
“No one cares if they disappear. No one even notices.”
He rapped on one of the doors with his stick. There was no response from within.
Max was taken to a room at the end of the hall.
“Katya! Are you in he—”
A sharp pain exploded at the back of his neck, and he tumbled to the floor.
“Stop that!” Katya screamed, but Max couldn’t tell from where. The stick was a stun gun.
“Shut up! He may be the great Professor, but that won’t earn him, or you, any mercy.” He removed Max’s cuffs and shoved him into the room. Max’s knees gave, and he ended up kneeling on the floor. The man rapped on the door with the stun gun and left. Max could hear the main door close with a thud.
The men’s footsteps echoed in the hallway, eventually fading away.
“Katya, are you there?” Max shouted through the iron grill.
“I’m here!”
“Are you injured?”
“I’m okay. Are you?”
“I’m okay. I saw Gerhard.”
“They were waiting for us. But why?”
She was right; they’d known about the mission in advance. How? The suspicions that dawned on him suddenly became clear. But that can’t be. There’s just no way. Max banged his head against the grill and shook off those thoughts.
“Who was with him?”
“Don’t say another word. They’re probably listening.”
“Okay.”
Silence. Max sat on the bed and looked around. The room was lit by what little light entered from the hallway through the grill. Max tried to think. The heavy lead in his body spread all over. He felt sluggish, still experiencing the effect of the drugs.
Suddenly, the light went out. In the complete darkness, all he could sense was the presence of people, silent but there. Max counted slowly. The light came back on after he reached two hundred.
He lay down. His mind refused to piece together the complex interlocking chain of events. His hands were still numb from the cuffs. Max closed his eyes, and his consciousness rapidly receded. Gerhard . . . the fetus in the glass cylinder . . . Feldman . . .
Joe, you . . .
CHAPTER 31
How much time had passed?
The main door creaked open, and the click of boots echoed off the walls. He could hear the locks of separate rooms unlocking, and people stepping into the hallway. Max sat up in bed. He grimaced at the pain in his joints, but the sluggishness was gone.
The footsteps stopped in front of the room. The door was unlocked, and rammed violently open. There stood two men. One man was thin and over six feet tall, and the other had on a lab coat. The man in the lab coat was the one who’d taken him here, the man with the tattoo.
Max had his hands cuffed behind his back once again, and he was dragged out of the cell. Standing beside the thin man, Katya looked at Max with frightened eyes.
“You’re bleeding.” Katya put a hand on Max’s forehead.
“It’s just a small cut.”
The two men looked at the clock and spoke in low voices. A faint smile occasionally curled the thin one’s lips; he was looking at Katya.
“What time is it?” Max asked the tattooed man.
“It’s almost five.”
“In the morning, or in the afternoon? I want to know the exact time.”
“It’s 4:54 a.m.,” he sniggered.
The thin man pushed Max to make him walk out into the hallway. The men walked quickly as they rushed the two of them forward.
“Faster!” The tattooed man shoved Max’s shoulders. Max staggered and lost his balance, but narrowly avoided falling down.
“Don’t be so rough. He’s wounded!” Katya said. She held Max up by the arm.
They stopped at the first room around the corner. The men exchanged glances and opened the door. The dreary room had a table at the center and a steel desk in the corner.
A savage blow hit the back of Max’s neck. His body lurched, and his mind went blank. He collapsed to the floor.
“What are you doing!?” But Katya’s voice was muffled, as if she were underwater.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man with a black stun gun.
Katya opened her mouth to scream. The thin man was holding her in place from behind.
“Lower the voltage. It’s more fun when she’s conscious.”
“Stop!” she said hoarsely.
The man with the stun gun placed it on the back of Katya’s neck.
Max tried to scream stop, but couldn’t. He was dragged by the handcuffs to the corner of the room. His body was too leaden to move.
“You’re gonna get chopped to pieces anyway, so we’re gonna show you a good time before that happens.” The thin man taped Katya’s mouth shut.
Everything flowed in slow motion. Katya’s despairing face, the men’s laughter . . . Max desperately kept himself from slipping into unconsciousness. Katya’s white skin seared into the backs of his eyelids.
They held Katya on the table. The thin man turned his back on Max and tried to remove Katya’s jeans. Max could hardly see the man with the tattoo. Was he holding Katya’s arms from the other side of the table? The tattoo man’s upper body was bare. Max looked around, still groggy. He saw a lab coat in the corner, beside it was Katya’s jacket. The stun gun was sticking out of the pocket of the lab coat. When Max stretched out his arm, he was stopped by the pain in his left wrist. One of the handcuffs was fastened to a desk leg. The thin man took off his pants and threw them behind him.
Max desperately stretched his arm again. Just four inches away. He put all his strength into it. The desk moved and his fingertips touched plastic. The thin man, whose lower body was now exposed, turned around. His expression changed, and he moved away from Katya.
At that moment, darkness swallowed the room. Max stuck out the stun gun, and it came into contact with something soft. With a moan, a heavy body fell down on him.
“The power’s out. What’ve California’s power companies come to?” the tattooed man said.
Max pushed the thin man aside. He fumbled in the darkness for the man’s pants; the key to his cuffs had to be in one of the pockets.
“Get it over with so I can have my turn with her.”
His hand felt the fabric. Rummaging through the pockets, he found the key. He searched for the keyhole of his cuffs, but it was tricky in the dark.
“What’re you doing? We’ve got no time. We need to take them to the lab before Dr. Gerhard shows up.”
Then the lights came back on. Max and the tattooed man’s eyes met. Astonishment dawned on his face.
When he saw his friend lying half-naked on the floor, he pounced. Max took a blow to the chin, and the stun gun slid to a corner of the room. Max kicked the man with all his might, and he flew across the room, his back smacking against the wall.
Where’s the key? Max looked around but couldn’t find it. It flew somewhere when he’d taken that hit.
The man with the tattoo groaned and got to his feet. Max froze. He was holding a handgun. He kicked Max in the stomach. Stomach acid flooded his throat.
The man raised his foot against Max once more, but he suddenly jerked upward. His eyes rolled back as his body spasmed, until, at last, he dropped to his knees and fell forward.
Katya was holding the stun gun. She was still in her underwear. Max looked away and unlocked his cuffs with the key he found under the table. He picked up her jacket, went to her side, and put it over her shoulders. He gently pulled the tape off her mouth.
; “Don’t say anything,” she whispered. She was pale, shivering, with tears welling in her eyes.
After they were sure the two men were out cold, they taped their mouths shut and bound their hands. Katya finished dressing, then glared at the two as she pointed the gun at them. Max took it from her. Then the power went out again.
“Don’t leave my side.” Max gripped her hand. “Do you know where we are?”
“We’re on the north side of the computer room. From the exit . . .” Katya’s voice cracked as she started crying. Max hugged her tight to him. “I’m okay. But if the lights had gone out seconds later, I would have killed them.” She started walking. “Were these power outages caused by the computer wiz, too?”
“Five a.m. It was extra time to spring us out. We should’ve been either rushing down the coastline in a motorboat, or toasting with some wine right about now.”
“He saved me.”
The lights came back on. They’d switched to a private generator.
“There should be a staircase around the corner,” Katya said, as they dashed down the hallway.
They climbed the stairs to the floor above the basement.
“Do you still have any magic lamp wishes left?”
“He’s an honest sorcerer.”
“How many more times?”
“Until he hears from me, the power is set to go out twice in quick succession every thirty minutes for the next three hours. It was his suggestion. But somebody’s bound to tip off the power plant at some point. The rest will be a battle of wits between him and the power plant engineers. I am sure he’ll win.”
“Is it possible that the laboratory is generating its own power the whole time?”
“It is possible, but you’ve seen the size of the place. Supplying power to the entire complex through private power generation is probably only for emergencies. And I bet that’d only last for a few hours at the most.”
“I don’t plan to be around by the time the next wish is granted.”
Max grabbed Katya’s arm and stopped. They could hear footsteps from beyond the corner ahead of them.
Max turned the nearest door handle, and it opened. A few seconds later, the footsteps of several people passed in front of the room.
“What . . . is . . . that?” Katya whispered.
Max turned to face her. Katya was staring across the room. Cold air enveloped them. Slowly they walked over to the opposite side of the room. Their field of view suddenly opened up, and they saw that they were in a 1,000-square-foot atrium. The hallways above curved around the portion of the atrium at the second-floor level. In the center of the room, four glass cylinders glowed in white light. Several large apparatuses were along the wall. The cylinders were huge, each around ten feet tall. Inside them were not fetuses, but the bodies of adults.
And those bodies were staring at them.
“They’re alive . . .” Katya clenched Max’s arm. It was true—they were inhaling and exhaling the fluid in which they floated.
“This . . . this is . . .” Max was at a loss for words. This isn’t the real world. Is this the world of death?
A body without a head was inside one of the cylinders in the back. Next to it was a cylinder with a brain inside. The grayish lump was floating in fluid. In another cylinder was a head. There was a hole in the back of that head; its contents had been scooped out. Its face was . . .
“Gerhard . . .”
Katya buried her face in Max’s back. She was shivering.
“They’re clones of Gerhard.” Max approached the cylinders. The two bodies were staring at them. They had thin hair, pointed noses and light blue eyes; there was no mistaking them. The headless body was also Gerhard.
“Gerhard cloned himself.”
“But . . . what is all this? This is madness!”
“He even played around with his own body.”
“But why? He wasn’t making some friends for himself, was he?”
They stood there dumbfounded.
“Drop the guns!” shouted a shrill voice from above.
Max pointed his gun at the voice. Gerhard was standing in the corridor. Katya leaned even closer. He could feel her fear. Max held her in his arms and moved behind the glass tube. Ten guards were standing on either side of Gerhard, and they all held automatic rifles. A small figure moved beside Gerhard.
“Ich bitte dich, bitte verschone ihr Leben,” the figure said in a high-pitched voice. “Please, please, help them!”
“Aska!” Katya called out.
“The girl likes you two. She’s begging me not to kill you.” Gerhard grabbed Aska’s arm and dragged her away. Aska yelped.
“Don’t hurt her!” Katya shouted.
“Throw away your guns and come.”
“Your threats are empty. You can’t kill her. No one else in the world has her genes.”
“I have already generated her tribe’s telomerase. And I’m culturing the embryonic stem cells as well. I no longer need her.”
One of the guards wrapped an arm around Aska’s neck and stuck a gun to her head. Katya started to run out from behind the cylinder, but Max grabbed her arm.
“You’re lying,” Max said. “You can’t shoot her.”
Gerhard raised his hands, signaling the guard. The guard’s arms moved, and Aska shrieked.
“Don’t let him trick you, Katya. He does need her. Aska’s genes are even better than Dona’s. Her cells can regenerate dozens of times faster than Dona’s could.”
“But he made a clone of Aska!”
“No, he just tried to. He hasn’t succeeded yet. They can’t make clones of Aska. Her DNA has far more genes than the average person. Those genes interact with each other and activate as she grows. Aska is an enigma. There’s no way of knowing what will happen within her body in the future. The girl holds stupendous possibilities.”
Katya’s line of sight moved from Max to Aska. Aska was grimacing in pain.
“You are the genius scientist, Professor. I want to bring you to our side. So, you already worked it out, Professor Knight.” Gerhard grinned. “Aska’s genes are more advanced than those of her mother and her villagers. If her genes could be analyzed and integrated into my genes, I would obtain true immortality. But I’ve already taken a sample. I have no use for her anymore.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. Aska will continue to evolve.”
“No matter what happens, I will achieve eternal life.”
“Can’t be done. Try examining the third and ninth chromosomes. They both contain genes related to telomerase and embryonic stem cells. Even Aska will die eventually.”
“Her third chromosome is the same as Dona’s. It’s not unique to Aska.”
“The question is the period her ninth chromosome will start activating. That will serve as the switch that turns on cell apoptosis. It’s that cell death that leads to evolution. The signs of aging must be slowly materializing in your body, too.”
Gerhard was speechless. His grin was gone, and for a moment, he looked afraid.
“Humanity is evolving. Evolution will go on forever, as long as humanity continues to exist. It’s death that moves evolution forward. Evolution can only happen if we accept death and plant the seeds of the next generation.” Max signaled for Katya to stand back. Behind them, a giant compressor was making a low hum. “Her cells are undergoing apoptosis. Death may come for her later, but as long as she’s human, she can’t evade it forever. Once a living thing becomes immortal, it stops evolving. And that’s just impossible. Eternal life will never be anything but a fantasy. Besides, there’s no point to immortality.”
“You’re wrong. I will make eternal life a reality! I’m just a step away. All that stands in the way are technical hiccups,” Gerhard replied. He’d come back to his senses, and his evil smile returned.
Max looked at the huge cylinders. “Brain transplants?”
Gerhard’s body reacted. He stiffened.
“You plan to transplant your brain into clones of you, so
the body won’t reject the transplant. The brain will replace the new cells with further-activated embryonic stem cells. In theory, it should be possible.”
“Again you live up to your reputation, Professor Knight. I greatly admire your acumen. You are correct. With your assistance, I could realize that plan in the near future.”
“You can count me out. All you’re doing is toying with human lives. You don’t even regard your own clones as independent existences.”
Gerhard faced a corner of the room. A man’s silhouette was standing there, covered by darkness. Max and Katya stared in his direction until he stepped into the light.
“Joseph Feldman, is that you?” Katya asked.
The shadow didn’t reply.
“He asked me for a transplant of this child’s bone marrow fluid. In exchange for your necks. He’s the one who informed me that you had snuck in.”
“What do you mean? . . . Joe?”
Again, Feldman didn’t answer.
“There’s something that humans want, no matter how, and that is life. There is no substitute. Now put the gun down. Won’t you reconsider?” Gerhard’s voice echoed.
“Joe, say it isn’t true,” Max pleaded.
“You can’t blame him. Everyone is afraid of death, especially old folks like him.” Gerhard beckoned to Feldman. Feldman obeyed and took a few steps forward, emerging into the light.
“The prisoners of Auschwitz were meek and submissive. They accepted their destiny and resigned themselves to their deaths. If all Jews were as docile as they were, we could have taken a different approach.”
Feldman’s face stiffened. The handgun he was holding slowly moved up.
“You . . .”
The muzzle stopped at Max’s chest.
“Joe, why are you doing this?”
“Even I don’t know,” Feldman said. He paused for a few seconds. “No, I do know. I stopped to think about the life I led. Suffering, sadness, hatred, anger . . . and nothing else. I want to start over. They promised to give me a new life. To give me eternal life.” A faint smile appeared on Feldman’s face. “And I’m tired. I’ve been tired since I was dragged to a concentration camp when I was 7. Sixty-six years. A long time, I think you’ll agree. And through all that time, I thought only about erasing Nazis from this Earth. That was all there was to my life. Isn’t that just too sad, too lonely a life?”
The Gene of Life Page 33