by Don Viecelli
Chapter 33
The local police and a medical ambulance showed up quickly after Ingrid called for help on the bridge. After the medics stopped Jack’s bleeding, they were taken to the local hospital where a police report was filled out and a recovery team was assembled to search for the missing body. Jack and Ingrid were insistent; they would not be satisfied until Ivan’s body was found.
Jack spent the next two days in the Stockholm Medical Hospital recovering from his knife wound. Ingrid stayed at his side. They talked about the future and tried not to think about what might have been.
Jack called his friend, Captain Ed Stiles at SLEA in Washington DC and filled him in on what happened. Ed was astonished to learn that Ivan had survived the explosion and had tried to kill them. He promised to help them in any way he could.
The next day Inspector Leroy Madison showed up at the hospital and walked into the room. He was very glad to see them, and apologetic. “Hello, Jack; Ingrid. It’s nice to see you again. I’m very sorry to hear what happened. I’m glad you’re both okay.” He shook their hands. It was the first time Leroy had seen Jack since he took the anti-aging drug. “You look good. I see the drug really works.”
“Thanks, Leroy. I feel good. I’m glad you came. Have a seat.”
“Thank you for coming. Have you talked with the police? Did they find the body yet?” Ingrid asked anxiously.
“Yes, I did. They recovered the body this morning. The lab verified it is Ivan Hellstrom. I can’t believe he was alive, and he attacked you here.”
They sighed with relieve. The nightmare was over. They didn’t have to be afraid anymore.
“How are things on Mars? When did you get back?” Jack asked.
“Pretty good. I arrived last week. Sam asked me to say hello. He’s running for police commissioner, you know. I think he’ll make a good one. The department misses you up there. It seems they’re short a few good police officers since they had to clean house. You could run the Mars Crime Division if you want the job, Jack.”
Jack glanced at Ingrid. She had a worried look on her face. He smiled at her and said, “No, thanks, Leroy. I’m ready to try something else this time around—something a little less dangerous. We want to start a family soon.”
“I understand. I think you’re making the right decision.” He smiled at both of them.
“What happened to SpaceMed?” Ingrid asked.
“It’s out of business. The bureau confiscated all of its assets for Mars development. At least something good will come from the money.”
“Did you find Ivan’s drug labs?” Jack asked.
“We found four of them. And we think we know where the rest are. We arrested several drug dealers and stopped a lot of the drug trafficking in the mining belt. If Ivan was still producing and selling drugs, then we had him on the run.”
“What about the drug conspiracy? Has everyone been arrested?” Ingrid asked.
“There were several people involved. You know about the Governorship. He was arrested and had to resign from office. We arrested a senator on the drug approval board and a couple of drug distributors. We’re still searching for a judge named Wilson Jones who was on the take. Some officers in SpaceMed were involved. The first trial is coming up. You’ll see in on the news media in a few weeks. We think we got to the bottom of it now.”
“Are you going back to Mars?” Jack asked.
“Yes, in a few weeks. I promised to help Arnie run for governorship. It should be interesting.”
“When you see Commissioner Faulkner, give him our regards,” Ingrid said. “We know he’ll win the election. Tell him I’ll talk to him soon. I’m part of the terraforming committee.”
“Will do. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear from you. You two take care of each other. I’ll stay in touch. Call me if you need anything.”
“Say hi to Ed for us. Thanks for everything, Leroy,” Jack said, shaking Leroy’s hand.
“I will. Well, I’ve got to go. I have to wrap up a few things with the police before my plane leaves tomorrow. Bye.” Leroy waved goodbye and walked out of the room.
*****
One week later, Ingrid and her father, posthumously, received the Nobel Prize for Biochemistry. It was a memorable ceremony. The King of Sweden personally presented the gold medal, monetary award and diploma to Ingrid in the venerable Stockholm Concert Hall. The monetary prize alone was worth over five million denoms, which Ingrid planned to donate to various charitable organizations including the Mars Terraforming Committee in memory of her father.
Ingrid was greatly honored by the prize and delighted the audience with a speech honoring her father and expressing her regret that he was not present to enjoy what he had worked a lifetime to accomplish. The discovery of the fountain-of-youth drug was so great and so revolutionary that no one could deny its impact on humanity and what it would mean to future generations. Every single person in the world would be touched by this discovery. The implications were enormous, and almost unimaginable.
Before they departed Europe, Ingrid announced to Jack that she was pregnant. Jack was absolutely thrilled. They made plans to return to Bald Head Island in North Carolina to start a family.
Chapter 34
The baby was born on August 23, 2095. It was a healthy, eight pound, four ounce, baby girl. They named her Sofia Gala Helms after Ingrid’s mother and maternal grandmother. It was a joyous time for both of them. Jack couldn’t believe he was finally a father, after so many years. Every time he held Sofia in his arms, his love for her grew stronger. The baby’s crying, fussing and nighttime feedings kept them both awake and sleepless, but the time passed quickly. They developed a feeding schedule and learned to adjust. Parenting was a new experience for both of them. They quickly settled into a family routine. It wouldn’t be long now, the doctor assured them, before little Sofia would sleep through the night. It was something they both looked forward to with sleepy eyes.
Today looked glorious. The sun was bright, not a cloud in the sky. It was 8:00 a.m. in the morning and Jack was sitting on the balcony looking out over the ocean. The water was calm. Soon, it would be too hot to stay outside, unless one ventured down to the water and took a swim. Ingrid came outside and joined him.
“Good morning. Beautiful day.” Ingrid kissed Jack on the cheek.
“Sure is. How’s Sofia?”
“She’s asleep. Want some breakfast?”
“No, I’m fine. I think I’ll go for a swim. Then I’ll make you breakfast if you want.”
“Sounds great to me. I’ll check the computer to see if the test results are in.” Ingrid had requested additional DNA tests on Sofia from the hospital in Wilmington. She knew the baby was fine; she just wanted to check on a few things.
Jack put on his swim trunks, grabbed a towel and headed for the beach. It was low tide, perfect for a morning swim. Several neighbors and visiting tourists were already on the beach, swimming or taking an early morning stroll. A few brightly colored catamarans with full sails were gliding through gently rolling waves in the distance. Seagulls were circling overhead looking for handouts, and pelicans flew single file in rows of three or five close to the waves looking for small fish to feed. Occasionally, a pelican would rise up in the air and dive vertically into the water. It would disappear under the waves and bob up a second later with a fish in its large beak. The pelican would gobble down its food: then fly off to catch up with the others.
Jack waded out into the water, felt its warmth from the Gulf Stream and dived in. He swam parallel to the beach in water just over his head. He took quick, strong strokes. His body felt strong and vigorous, even his left shoulder felt good. The knife wound had finally healed, leaving only a small scar as a reminder. Thinking about that time made Jack lose concentration. After ten minutes, he stopped swimming and headed for shore. It was time to make that breakfast for Ingrid and see how the baby was doing.
When Jack reached the house, Ingrid was standing in the doorway, holding a piece of
paper, waiting for him. She looked perplexed.
Jack grew worried. “What’s the matter? Is Sofia okay?”
“I got the DNA analysis back from the hospital. I had them double-check the results just to make sure. Sofia’s DNA has changed—on chromosome 23. Some new genes have been added.”
“What does that mean? Is she sick?”
“No. At least I don’t think so. It just means her DNA is different. Her telomere strands are self-repairing. Her cells will continue to divide and regenerate even after she reaches adulthood. Her body is self-producing the telomerase enzyme. Sofia won’t need the anti-aging drug when she gets older.”
“How can that be? I thought our cells were programmed to stop dividing when we reached maturity. That’s why we needed to take the drug, to start the cells dividing again.”
“I know. But something new has happened. I think her DNA has evolved, probably because we both took the drug. Somehow it generated a new gene sequence that will do the job for her, automatically. This is unbelievable. I didn’t expect this to happen.”
“What should we do?” Jack looked worried, like a father would.
Ingrid looked at him. It was beginning to make sense to her. She needed to make some calls to see if this was happening to other couples that had taken the drug, to see if their children had the same DNA results. If so, then this was going to be earth-shattering news, in a very positive and hopeful way.
“Don’t worry.” Ingrid hugged him close and kissed him. “It’s all right. Sofia isn’t sick. She’s just the next logical step in human evolution. We have to change, live longer, to explore the universe. It’s a good thing. I’m sure of it.”
Jack relaxed, kissed her back. “You’re probably right. I just need a little time to think about this. Let’s have breakfast. I promised I would make it.”
Ingrid smiled and put her hands on his shoulders. “Sofia is still asleep. Breakfast can wait, you know.”
Jack smiled and hugged her tight. Maybe a second child would have the same DNA results. After all, if Ingrid said it was a good thing, it was, but they wouldn’t know for sure until they tried. It was the trying part that interested him at the moment. Then he had an unusual thought. Maybe growing old once in a while would also be a good thing. They could experience what being grandparents felt like. It was just a momentary thought, a picture in his mind. The possibilities were endless.
The End.
Author’s Note
This story is purely fictional, but the setting and theme could be real. I chose Mars as the setting because it’s close, relatively speaking. It will be explored and settled some time in this century. In the past Mars had an atmosphere, water and maybe even living organisms, before it got to cold and dry to sustain life. It may have been like Earth in the very beginning. Mars is the only planet in our solar system with Earth-like characteristics, such as tolerable temperatures, 24-hour days and abundant natural resources. There is a very real possibility that Mars can be terraformed and over time made habitable to human life. If you would like more information on the plans to settle the red planet and can imagine living on Mars, then read Robert Zubrin’s book ‘The Case For Mars’.
As for the main theme, I chose the human genome and the fountain-of-youth because of the possibility of discovering how to become young again. That too is within the realm of possibility in our lifetime. The human genome project is a great breakthrough for the human race. The effects will be felt for decades. Of course, I am no expert in genetic engineering, but I am fascinated by the mapping of the twenty-three chromosomes of the human genome. The search for the fountain-of-youth or ‘immortality genes’ is still on. Regenerative medicine is a new frontier. The enzyme called telomerase is real. In this novel I took extreme liberties with some of the science, and it may be hard to separate truth from fiction. You can learn more by reading Matt Ridley’s book ‘Genome’.
Excerpt From The Guardians - Book 1
Chapter 1
Interstellar Space
At the outer edge of Earth’s solar system, the darkness of interstellar space exploded violently into a white fireball of superheated particles moving faster than the speed of light. The immense heat and bright light formed into a halo and a small opening appeared. From within hyperspace a dark, spherical object emerged racing towards the sun. The tunnel closed behind the object as quickly as it had opened.
The ominous looking object was 10 meters in diameter, with numerous sharp pointed tips protruding from its metallic skin; reminiscent of an old World War II mine floating in an endless black sea, except this mine was now traveling at the speed of light. There were no visible signs of a propulsion system, no light escaping from inside of the object; only faint quantum energy emissions.
The unidentified object plotted a course toward the third planet orbiting the sun; a blue planet that contained the right conditions for life in a harsh universe. The object’s artificial intelligence guidance system was preprogrammed; the mission predetermined. So far, the object had detected no warning signals or signs of defensive weapon systems. The object changed course two times to avoid the first eight planets. During the entire voyage, the sphere was recording data on its progress and beaming the information back towards the outer edges of the galaxy where it would be redirected and sent via faster than light (FTL) quantum energy signals to its origination point.
The object finally slowed down as it approached Earth. It was still moving at one-tenth the speed of light when it changed its trajectory one final time. By now the object sensed detection by military defense satellite systems and ground-based radar equipment. It would not matter, for it was too late to do anything to stop the object from entering the planet’s atmosphere.
The object made one revolution around the planet moving east to west, monitoring conditions on the ground and selecting coordinates before it plunged into the upper atmosphere. There was no fireball, nor any indication of atmospheric heat buildup. The sphere’s force field protected it. Five miles above the planet, the multiple cone-shaped missile engines fired and separated from the sphere, which then instantly self-destructed. The missiles changed directions and sped to twenty-four different locations around the globe. When they were less than a quarter mile above sparsely inhabited land points over every continent, the missiles exploded with brilliant white-hot flashes releasing alien nanoparticles. Every biological organism—animal, bird, insect, microorganism and plant life—within a half-mile radius was utterly vaporized and turned into white dust. As the dust settled, the first transformation began.
Chapter 2
ISS – Day One
“My God! Did you see that?” U.S. Flight Engineer Kate Robbins announced suddenly to the crew onboard the International Space Station as she viewed Earth through one of the portholes on the left side of the cabin. There were four crewmembers manning the ISS. Two of them, U.S. Commander Scott Breen and Russian cosmonaut Flight Engineer Yuri Krikalev were working with Kate in the Zvezda Service Module. One more astronaut, U.S. Mission Specialist Lynn Hoshi, was working elsewhere in the Destiny Research Laboratory Module.
“See what, Kate?” Commander Breen responded, looking up from his computer console and spotting her staring out one of the 9-inch-diameter windows.
“Those white flashes on Earth!” Kate answered as she raised her hand to her forehead in concern. “They look like explosions—all over the place.”
“Let me check the remote sensors,” Yuri Krikalev volunteered as he flicked some switches.
“This doesn’t look good, people.” Commander Breen said as he quickly peered out another porthole on the starboard side and saw several small circles of what looked like explosions on the ground. “We better contact mission control and see what they know.”
“I’ll do it, Commander,” Kate said. She floated over to the computer console and sent a text message to NASA ground control in Houston, Texas.
“Yuri, what are the sensors picking up?”
Yuri accessed th
e telemetry data and replied with his usual Russian accent. “Ничего себе! (Wow!) I’m getting the data now.”
Commander Breen asked the obvious. “Are they nuclear?”
“It doesn’t look like it,” Yuri replied cautiously, studying the telemetry data. “The blast sites are relatively small. And there are no radiation emissions.”
“How many blast sites do you see?” Commander Breen asked.
“There must be a dozen explosions on this side of the planet alone. There could be more on the other side. We won’t know for sure until we make a complete revolution,” Yuri answered.
“Alright, Yuri. Keep the cameras rolling and record everything you can. Maybe Houston knows what just happened.” Commander Breen had a worried look on his face. He turned to Kate to see if she had any news yet. “What’s Houston saying, Kate?”
“They acknowledged receipt of my message. I’m waiting for a reply. Any more explosions on the ground?” she asked. Kate knew something bad had happened and wondered if her family was safe back home. No one answered her.
Commander Breen saw the concern on everyone’s face. He tried to keep calm and think through this. Every problem had a solution, or so he kept reminding himself. Clearly, something unusual had just happened on Earth. He prayed it wasn’t nuclear, but who knew. Maybe it was a terrorist attack. That was the most likely scenario. He hoped for the best.
“We’re getting something now, Commander,” Kate said as the monitor pinged a message reply.