by Marita Smith
Robyn flicked her eyes up at the analog clock. Just after midnight. The printer in the machine room spat out paper. Fletcher and Ariana’s DNA sequences. Robyn stifled a yawn and spread them out on the table.
Typical human mitochondrial DNA encodes 37 genes on two strands. Brock’s voice echoed in her mind as Robyn skimmed over the H– and L– strands in Ariana’s sample. All the normal protein-encoding genes were there, as well as the transfer-RNA genes and the two ribosomal subunit RNA genes. Robyn’s finger stilled above the page as she recalculated the number of base pairs. That was odd, Ariana’s mitochondrial genome coded for 40 genes, not 37. A separate regulatory region separated the normal and abnormal genes, making a whole chunk of the genome different. Really different. This wasn’t a generic point mutation.
Robyn reached for Fletcher’s output. She traced the genes with her finger, muttering base pairs under her breath. It was the same pattern.
“Why the long face?”
Robyn jumped. Derek leant on the doorjamb holding two steaming mugs; he was wearing track pants and a faded singlet. His presence saturated the air in the machine room, now heavy with aniseed. Robyn wanted to breathe it in, let it cloud her mind.
“My God, you scared me. How long have you been standing there?”
Derek grinned, handing her a chipped blue mug. “Not long. I heard you get up, figured I’d find you here.”
Robyn tasted peppermint. “Thanks.”
Derek took the chair beside her. “Find anything interesting?”
Putting the mug down, Robyn ran both hands through her hair. “You could say that.” She shoved Ariana’s sequence toward him and watched his face contort as he scanned the output.
“But this – this isn’t possible.” Derek held the page closer to his face, as if willing it to give up its secrets.
“I’ve never seen anything like it either.” Robyn closed her eyes. “A whole extra operon.” The room was still heavy with Derek’s presence.
“So we run the analysis again.” Derek turned to the computer and the sequencer stirred to life.
“Duplicate analysis never hurt,” Robyn yawned. “Though I don’t know how it’s going to help.”
“Do you think Fang knows about this?” Derek tapped at the keyboard.
Robyn snapped her mouth shut. “I hope they’re all okay,” she murmured, Catherine’s face bright in her mind. “I don’t know what they’re going to find in Beijing. We know what the MRI is capable of now.”
Derek gave a faint nod, still focused on the computer screen.
“All the more reason for us to be here,” he said. “I take it that’s why you couldn’t sleep?” Derek shifted his gaze to her and something clicked in Robyn’s mind.
“This morning, at the clearing. When Ariana and Fletcher came back from the spirit world. You were upset because of Damian, weren’t you?”
Derek fiddled with his mug. “I just can’t believe in anything that would allow my brother’s genes to be so malformed. God, spirits, whatever.”
They sat together in the machine-lit gloom as the sequencer droned on. Robyn cradled her mug and let the hypnotic sound wash over her as Derek traced a finger along the mutant genes.
Robyn woke to a persistent tapping on the door. She rolled further into her blankets moaning “Leave me alone.”
“Robyn. It’s seven thirty.”
She opened her eyes at the sound of Terence’s voice, registering that she was in her bed, though she had no memory of getting there.
“Urgh,” she managed, lifting herself to a sitting position. “Okay, I’m up.”
“I’m making pancakes in the kitchen when you’re ready.”
The gene sequence, the midnight cup of tea, Derek. It came back in a rush. The tiredness hung over her like a cloak as she got to her feet.
Feeling more human after a hot shower, Robyn followed the smell of buttermilk to the kitchen where Derek and Terence were attacking a syrup-covered mountain.
Terence looked abashed. “Sorry,” he said. “Couldn’t wait.” He swallowed his mouthful and pointed to the stack of paper on the counter. “Derek showed me the gene sequences.”
Robyn eyed Derek, who smiled at her. “Sleep okay?” he said.
Robyn narrowed her eyes. “Did you –”
Derek cut her off. “Yeah,” he snorted. “You fell asleep in your chair.” Great, thought Robyn, carted off to bed like a twelve-year-old past their bedtime. Her ears grew hot at the image of her slumped form in Derek’s arms. He must be strong. Robyn blinked and focused on the big red maple leaf on the syrup bottle. Her mind skipped to Catherine. The flash of lying in Catherine’s arms instead made her choke on her tea.
Terence stabbed at the paper with his knife. Syrup dribbled onto the mutant operon like golden blood.
“Do you think we can splice this into a vector?”
Derek smirked as Robyn pulled two pancakes onto her own plate. She had hesitated over the stack for a second; it’d be rude not to eat Terence’s cooking, though she’d prefer her normal muesli.
“Theoretically, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t work.” Robyn cut the first pancake into neat squares.
Derek pulled out another set of papers. “Yeah, except for one little thing.”
Robyn took a tentative bite of pancake. Delicious. She closed her eyes for a second as she chewed. “What little thing?” she asked as she opened them.
Derek splayed the new papers above the original sequence.
“It changes.”
22
Sun Song
Ariana leaned against the cool wall of the shipping container and slowed her breathing. Energy skipped across the hand joined with Eli’s as the orb of blue light enveloped her. The falling sensation of crossing over to the spirit realm still made her feel nauseous. Ariana wondered if she’d ever get used to it as Jericho uncoiled around her, whiskers tickling her face.
A few long moments passed before Eli materialised next to her, blinking heavily. Red light glazed his skin, and Una shifted into a huge bird of prey at his side.
“Holy mackerel,” Eli said, dazed. Una nipped at his shoulder, bringing him to standing. Eli leaned on her back as he heaved in air.
“Before, back in the lab – that was real, wasn’t it? Not a dream?” Eli stared at Una in disbelief, tracing his hand across a wing, the fine bones a testament to the wonders of evolution and engineering. “I don’t really remember what happened. What I did.” His hands dropped from Una’s side as he held them up in front of his face. Red light arced between them.
Ariana nodded. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed to bring Jericho into his spirit form without crossing over. She’d just reached that in-between place. The same as her encounter with the water spirit.
But Eli had never been here. She glanced up at Jericho, swirling in the air above them. They’d emerged back into the tree-rimmed grove, although there was no sign of Fletcher. Ariana sighed. Maybe it had been foolish to think he’d be waiting for them here.
“This is real, too.” Lenti stepped out from behind a tree.
“Jesus, you’ve got to stop doing that.” Ariana clapped her hand to her heart.
“Sorry.” Lenti stifled a grin.
“Aren’t you supposed to be helping us?” Ariana folded her arms across her chest.
Eli stiffened at her side before bowing. “It is an honour to meet you.”
Ariana sent Eli a disgusted look. Lenti cocked an eyebrow, his grin widening.
“Una spoke of a guide.” Eli met Ariana’s eyes with concern.
“Yes. It is good to see you again, air walker,” Lenti said.
Ariana saw his confusion through a shimmering patch of air that appeared in front of her. Fletcher materialised, feet hovering down to the grass. Ariana backed up as Eva arrived. Skidding backward on the grass, Ariana
landed on her butt.
“Ow,” she said, rubbing her tailbone.
Fletcher pivoted. “Sorry, Ariana.” He leaned over and reached out an arm. Lenti chuckled somewhere in the background. Ariana allowed herself to be yanked back up, bristling at the indignity.
“So there are others,” interrupted Lenti, moving to sit beneath one of the trees. “Though they are not walkers.”
“Yes.” Eli crinkled his brow. “You say again as if we had met.” He waved an arm to indicate the grove. “But I’ve never been here before.”
Lenti closed his eyes. “Great, here we go again.”
Catherine gritted her teeth as Kate dug bits of glass from her arm and bandaged the gashes. Filled with furniture and boxes, the shipping container tipped with the pitch of the boat; the feeling was worse than any hangover. Catherine leaned her head against the headboard of an ornate four-poster bed frame. She’d always dreamed of a bed like this, sleeping on her bunk in her parents’ battered VW. Now she could barely appreciate it.
“Nearly done.” Kate knelt by her stomach, ripping the plastic from a sterile bandage. A cardboard box labelled Bathroom lay open at the end of the bed.
“There.” Kate rocked back on her heels and scooted up next to Catherine.
“Thanks,” Catherine managed, trying not to move her arms. Everything ached. Snores rose from the couches they’d unwrapped. Sara and Jacob slept head to toe on something that belonged in an English manor house. Eli and Ariana lay stiff and unmoving against the side wall, sheathed in red and blue light. It bathed the whole container in an eerie glow. Catherine’s eyes grew heavy. Just a little nap. She’d be awake before they got back.
Kate stared at the two walkers. “I think, from what you described, it was some sort of electromagnetic pulse. Which is incredible in itself, really. Explains why we lost the radio connection.” She poked Catherine.
“Are you listening to me?” But Catherine was already asleep.
“So there’s never been three walkers at once,” Ariana repeated, staring at Lenti. Surely he could have told them this before.
“No, not since …” Lenti cleared his throat. “No.”
Ariana pounced. “Not since when?” Lenti’s games annoyed her. He was keeping something from them, she was sure of it.
Lenti scratched his neck, shifting his shoulders. “The legends say that in the before times, the spirit world and the physical world were one. Many humans had spirit-animal partners, but it was only when the worlds diverged that the walkers were called.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this?” Fletcher said.
Thank you, Ariana thought, sending a glance in his direction.
“I didn’t think it was possible for there to be others, but I have felt them.” Lenti looked troubled, his cockiness gone. He turned to Ariana. “You have met the water spirit, yes?”
Ariana nodded.
Lenti frowned. “In the before times, spirits and humans lived together in harmony. What do you call it?”
“Convergence,” Fletcher supplied.
“Yes. Humans walked alongside animals as equals, as convergers. But one spirit rose up and split the two worlds. She called down rocks from the sky and forced the spirits here. She has been called many names throughout history, but we call her Nyx.” Lenti gestured to the grove. “But two spirits fought her; they took on corporeal form when the portal closed. They stayed behind.”
“Atlantis is one of them,” Ariana said, thinking of the enormous, gentle whale.
Lenti nodded. “Both the sea spirit and the air spirit, Notos. They forced Nyx deep into the ground, but they could not reopen the barrier between the worlds.” Lenti closed his eyes. “But by sealing the physical and spirit realms, something happened that Nyx did not intend. She created the walkers, the only ones able to pass between realms. The first walkers were born into the same generation, but scattered across the world. They never met as you have.”
“What happened?” Ariana asked.
“The walker lineages continued. As one died, another was born; last breath to first breath in a new body. But then the transitions became feeble, skipping generations entirely.”
Late. Lenti’s words echoed in Ariana’s skull. “That’s why you said we were late.”
“Yes, I feared perhaps you would not come.”
“But we’re here. What are we supposed to do?”
Lenti stared past them into the forest. “I didn’t want to scare you, but we do not have much time.”
“What are you talking about?” Ariana’s stomach plummeted.
“The sun song.” Lenti licked his lips. “It has been building for millennia. The strength of it has called you, but it will also give Nyx the power she needs to break free.”
Ariana stared at Lenti. Sun song? “Like solar flares or something?”
Fletcher interrupted. “What happens if Nyx escapes?”
Lenti remained silent for a moment, still staring into nothing. “Destruction.”
“So, how do we stop her?” Eli said.
Ariana blinked. At her shoulder, Eli stood with fists clenched. Una sat on his shoulder, back to her normal size, though she pulsed with red energy.
“You will grow stronger,” said Lenti, pointing to the red glow on Eli’s limbs. “You channel the spirit energy, which comes from the sun. But it also weakens the bonds on Nyx, and there is no way to stop the sun. It burns with or without us. But maybe with the others, the new convergers … I do not know if it is possible.”
“How long do we have?” said Eli.
“Ten moons,” said Lenti, biting his lip.
23
Homecoming
Robyn pushed the new gene sequences to one side of the counter and rested her head in her hands. It had been a long day. The optimism of yesterday had well and truly gone.
“I don’t understand,” she said. Something garlicky wafted toward her as Terence turned at the stove. “It doesn’t make any sense.” Normal DNA shouldn’t change so quickly. No normal DNA could.
Terence tapped the wooden spoon against the edge of the pot, and Robyn couldn’t help thinking of Catherine. There was still no word from Kate. Every muscle in her body ached, tensed as if her limbs were about to jerk into some unbidden action. Like bashing her head against the wall or screaming into her pillow. They should never have sent Catherine back to Beijing. If anything happened to her, Robyn didn’t know how she could forgive herself.
“It must have something to do with the whole spirit world thing.” Terence leant against the stove, hands crossed over his chest. Robyn felt Derek stiffen beside her. Great, just what they needed, another spirit world debate.
“Maybe some sort of defence mechanism? Or maybe it’s beyond what we can feasibly do with science.” Terence reached over for the bowl of chopped fennel and mushrooms. Fragrant steam billowed across the room.
“I wouldn’t have believed it unless I’d run the sequences myself,” said Derek. “It shouldn’t be possible.”
Robyn sighed with relief. At least Derek hadn’t launched into another argument about the existence of spirits. She didn’t think she could handle it right now.
“Well, it is,” Robyn said into her hands. “Is there anything we can do?” She’d stared at the sequences for hours all afternoon, willing something to jump out at her. Something, anything.
“No,” Terence said. “But maybe –” He stirred the vegetables. “Maybe if Ariana comes back with others.”
Derek shifted in his seat. “If the MRI has managed to trigger convergent capabilities, their DNA might be more stable.” His eyes were bright. “It’s a possibility.”
“So our only hope is if Fang’s testing works,” said Robyn. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach; the liquorice smell of the fennel suddenly a choking haze. Robyn coughed and took a sip of water. Who knew what Fang w
as doing to those kids? If Eli’s gene sequence was the same, then it was unlikely that Fang had developed a specific activation vector. She was probably exposing them to chemicals or radiation – anything to stress the cells into gene activation, compromising their entire immune systems and leaving them vulnerable and weak. Robyn doubted if anyone would survive extended exposure to whatever cocktail Fang had devised.
Robyn jerked as her phone vibrated in her pocket.
“It’s Kate. They’re on their way back. Everyone’s coming here.” Her heart thudded in her chest. Catherine is on her way back. They are all safe. “They’ve got Eli, and they found two more kids, new convergers.”
Robyn stared at her phone. So there are survivors.
Terence emptied another packet of fettuccine into the pot of boiling water. “Well, thanks for the advance warning,” he said. He whirled around at Robyn’s affronted gasp. “Joking.” He raised both hands with a forced smile. His grip on the wooden spoon was tight – Robyn could see the whites of his knuckles. Derek’s knee jiggled on the stool next to her. For once, he had nothing to add.
Robyn clenched and unclenched her fists by her side as the new convergers poured in. A leopard slunk in under the row of lab benches, knocking a rack of empty vials to the floor. The glass shattered with a popping sound, sending tinkling fragments skittering across the floor. The leopard jumped, startled, and the action was so similar to a normal domestic cat that Robyn managed to unwind her tense shoulders.
“Eli, Sara and Jacob,” Kate yawned, pointing.
The leopard wove itself between Sara’s legs while a huge bird rested on Eli’s shoulder on a padded strap. Terence hurled himself at Ariana, collecting her up in a hug. “I’m okay,” she said into his shoulder. “Really.”