Savage Bay

by Christopher Forrest

  Ambergris nodded to indicate he was following the basics that Boren was laying out for deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

  “Now then, in the Magic Square, we find a grid of sixty-four numbers,” Boren continued. “Move left to right and right to left though the grid. Find any two sequential numbers and subtract them. Horizontally, you’ll only find a few — at the very bottom. Vertically, there are none. Regardless, when the lower sequential number is subtracted from the higher, you naturally get a ‘one.’

  9-8=1

  25-24=1

  49-48=1

  33-32=1

  “But the subtraction operation kicks into high gear when you start to scan the grid squares on the diagonal, going either up or down.”

  Boren reached into her lab coat and produced a sheet of paper with the Magic Square on it. She then commenced to draw elongated ovals around any two sequential numbers moving diagonally.

  “In columns two, three, six and seven, almost every pair of diagonal numbers are sequential and can be subtracted to produce the number ‘one.’ Next, look at the number of subtraction operations that can be made.”

  62-62=1

  60-59=1

  7-6=1

  58-57=1

  64-63=1

  4=3=1

  6-5=1

  59-58=1

  8-7=1

  2-1=1

  30-29=1

  39-38=1

  26-25=1

  32-31=1

  36-35=1

  38-37=1

  27-26=1

  40-39=1

  35-34=1

  “That’s twenty-three operations yielding the number ‘one.’ Subtract one — that’s our new magic number — from twenty-three, and you get twenty-two, which is double the number eleven. But there is something even more remarkable. Look at the grid now that I have put all the ovals in the second, third, sixth, and seventh columns.”

  “Unbelievable,” said Ambegris. “What you’ve drawn resembles two . . . ” He brushed his fingers through his hair, unable to complete his sentence.

  “Two parallel double helixes,” said Boren. “But with just a few of the nucleotide chains missing.”

  “Introns,” said Ambergris, “or as they’re also known, intervening sequences.”

  “Sequences we now know contain important information,” said Boren. “But the double helix representations in the Square are only produced when you’re looking for the number ‘one.’”

  “This truly is the beginning of a new era for mankind,” Ambergris said. “Just as I said when I first realized that the Ancients had coded DNA to show that humanity endures cataclysms every two hundred thousand years, always beginning a new cycle for humans.”

  Ambergris walked about the Remote Presidential Hospital, deep in thought. “Dr. Boren,” he said, “what exactly is on Intron 1,111?”

  “A very distinct code that only Dominique has interpreted completely. When she saw what I was onto during the gene sequencing process, she took me off the project and told me to search for other introns, which I did. I think it’s time to interpret Intron 1,111, however. Dominique began planning the Chinese incursion after unlocking its code. Whatever is there is probably going to produce another paradigm shift in human thinking. This is why the Ancients programmed the number into our subconscious.”

  Ambergris looked around the hospital facility.

  “Dr. Boren, can you go to Gencore and reinsert your CL chips?”

  “Of course.”

  “Can you connect Gencore to Manticore?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Good. Do so as quickly as possible.”

  Ambergris sat at one the computers in the medical facility. “Just as I suspected,” he said. “Dominique linked every one of these computers to Gencore.”

  Ambergris got Hawkeye’s helmet and spoke into the COM set. “Touchdown, I want you to be ready to access Manticore. And summon Grace Nguyen to the Ops Center. We’ll read the Genesis data straight from Gencore. Grace can see it on your screens via Manticore.”

  “What’s going on, Joshua?” asked Caine.

  “We’re about to boot the Genesis data on the digital mainframe down here.”

  BEIJING CLASS SUBMARINE

  BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

  Dominique Caine opened the briefcase containing the Crystal-Linear chips from Gencore. Removing the fifth, she placed it into a small digital computer that Yang had provided as a courtesy for his mistress. The portable computer was a miniature version of Gencore, able to read one CL chip at a time. Nevertheless, Dominique was eager to start sifting through the data she had gleaned at Savage Bay courtesy of Christian Madison, Heidi Boren, and others.

  On the fifteen-inch plasma screen before her was a picture of Johannes Peter Honus Wagner. Baseball legend Honus Wagner, known as “The Flying Dutchman,” had played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates until 1917. His basic stats were displayed beneath his picture.

  Born: February 24, 1874

  Died: December 6, 1955

  Original Major League Team: Louisville Cardinals

  Lifetime Batting Average: .327

  Total Hits: 3,415

  Runs Batted In: 1,732

  “Boren!” screamed Dominique. “That bitch!”

  Dominique paced the small engineering compartment. She had the majority of Genesis data on CD-ROM and external hard disk drives. But the Chinese had built a twin of Gencore in Shanghai, and computing the billions of bits of data without the CL chips would take years. She would have to meticulously transfer all data removed from Savage Bay to a new set of CL chips before she could begin computations to unlock the entire Genesis Code. Worst-case scenario — she had lost three to six months.

  Yang would not be especially pleased, but he would understand. She kept him very happy in the bedroom.

  REMOTE PRESIDENTIAL HOSPITAL, SAVAGE BAY

  Having inserted the genuine CL chips into Gencore, Heidi Boren had returned to the RPH, where she stood next to Joshua Ambergris. The following words appeared on the main screen in the computer room bordering the lab and ward.

  THE GENESIS PROJECT

  AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

  THUMBPRINT RECOGNITION REQUIRED

  Boren put a snug latex cover over her right thumb and swiped it across a slit on the side of the keyboard.

  “I saw that Dominique was providing extra protection to her files, so I decided to assume her identity.” Boren held up her thumb to indicate victory. “Or at least part of it.”

  The screen now changed.

  PLEASE ENTER DECRYPTION KEY

  Boren next placed a disk into the computer’s CD drive. Thousands of letters and numbers scrolled across the screen faster than the human eye could follow. Line after line appeared until, three minutes later, the desired words appeared.

  ACCESS GRANTED

  “It’s a copy of Dominique’s CD,” Boren explained. “Never leave home without one.”

  “I cracked the first part of the code with a cipher found in the Jewish text called Sepher Yetzirah,” Ambergris said, taking a CD from his torn leather bag. “Since then, however, I’ve found ciphers in the ancient writings of other cultures as well. This one, the Rigveda, is one of the Vedic texts sacred to Hinduism. I assume Dominique ran a cipher and learned what’s on this intron.”

  Ambergris inserted the CD into a computer and typed in a command for the Vedic cipher to read The Genesis Code on Intron 1,111.

  “What now?” asked Caine.

  “DNA,” said Boren. “And voices speaking to us from the past.”

  Chapter 34

  OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA

  Grace Nguyen stood next to Caine in the Ops Center, staring at the letters on the many screens surrounding them. A small tear formed at the corner of her right eye.

  ACT AGC TCT CAG AGC GTA GAT GTC TAT

  AGG TTA CCT ACG CTC GAG ATA CTC GCG

  AAT AGG GAC TTC CCT TAG GCC TCC TCG

  “Christian, Jo
shua, and I spent a great deal of time trying to crack the Code in the United States,” Nguyen said. “To think that our initial efforts in Manhattan and the Nevada desert have finally come to fruition.”

  “What we’re seeing,” said Touchdown, “is the Genesis data being funneled through Manticore. Ambergris and Boren are seeing the same data on their screens below, in Savage Bay. We’ll be able to hear them since I’m patched into speakers in the RPH.”

  “What is the status of Titan Six?” Caine asked.

  “Respirations are shallow,” reported Ambergris. “There is also severe dehydration, high fever, and coma. It’s all the result of a breakdown of metabolization at the cellular level.”

  “Let us know when the end comes,” said Caine.

  “We will,” Ambergris said.

  TITAN TEN AND TWELVE, SAVAGE BAY

  Titan reinforcements, together with Alamiranta forces, had been inoculated with Thorian 18 and dispatched to dig survivors from the rubble. While it was believed that people trapped in safe rooms or corridors due to the explosions had received less radiation, they too would be inoculated.

  Razor and Vista were sifting through chunks of concrete and rock on Level One when Razor dropped to one knee and picked up a stone.

  “This is odd,” she said.

  Vista joined her. Together they looked at a smooth gray stone with rough edges, as if it had once been part of a larger stone tablet.

  “That’s some kind of ancient writing,” Razor said, tracing her index finger along lines that she couldn’t interpret.

  “Just squiggles to me,” Vista said, “but let’s bag it. Maybe it might be of interest to some of the scientific gurus around here.”

  “Agreed.”

  Razor put the stone into an aluminum pouch and stowed it in her backpack.

  The teams continued their search and rescue. Several dozen Triad employees were located and appeared to be weak but in stable condition.

  REMOTE PRESIDENTIAL HOSPITAL, SAVAGE BAY

  “This is the beginning of the code for Intron 1,111,” said Dr. Boren. “It goes on for another 3,400,000 protein sequences, give or take.”

  In the RPH and the Ops Center, personnel stared at their screens with suspended breath. A language was now replacing the string of protein sequences.

  “Absolutely amazing,” said Boren.

  “Yes,” said Amergris, mesmerized by each new line of text appearing on the computer screens. “But does anyone read Sanskrit?”

  TITAN FIGHTER SQUADRON TWO, AIRBORNE OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

  “Submarine surfacing two miles ahead at one o’clock,” Flamer said.

  “Confirmed,” said Firecracker. “Arming sidewinder missile number three.”

  “Let’s go down and have a closer look,” Flamer said. “We may have a two-for-one sale today on submarines.”

  The two F-16s rapidly dropped in altitude, the new day’s sunlight reflected on the tops of their wings.

  “Holy shit!” Flamer said.

  “Report,” said Caine, taking her eyes from the plasma screens in the Ops Center.

  “Abort!” Flamer said. “Abort!”

  The jets climbed back into the deep blue sky at a steep angle, as if they were performing maneuvers at an air show.

  “Flamer,” said Caine. “I repeat: report! What the hell is going on up there?”

  Silence.

  “Sorry, Mrs. Caine,” said Flamer after several seconds had elapsed. “That’s not our fish down there. The sub is Russian.”

  “Touchdown,” said Caine. “Where’s our target?”

  “I’m afraid I got wrapped up in what’s going on in the RPH,” came the reply. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

  “After all we’ve done to try to stop The Genesis Code from falling into the wrong hands, you’re . . . wrapped up in something else?”

  “I’ve been tracking the sub,” DJ broke in. “Its signal disappeared a few minutes ago. It grew fainter and fainter and then just vanished.”

  “Keep looking anyway,” Caine told Flamer. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  Flamer and his squadron reformed their search pattern and continued flying east. Lucky? He didn’t think so. There was a lot of water below. Plus the Beijing class sub could stay submerged for weeks, even months.

  Luck wasn’t on their side.

  ***

  “I’ve got a translation in progress,” Quiz said. “First step is a transliteration from Sanskrit to the modern Roman alphabet.”

  * You can read Sanskrit. Why not translate it yourself? *

  It would go too slowly. Besides, I wouldn’t want to show off.

  * It might impress DJ or Cruz, however. *

  I prefer to impress them in other ways if I ever get the chance.

  REMOTE PRESIDENTIAL HOSPITAL, SAVAGE BAY

  Ambergris sat in a chair, his knees weak.

  “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said as he began reading the Code. “Imagine what we’ll find when we unlock the entire Genesis Code. It will truly be the dawn of a new millennium.”

  “Modern mind-medicine healers have been on the right track,” Boren said while studying the text of Intron 1,111. “The human body can repair almost anything by itself.”

  Grace Nguyen broke in from the Ops Center.

  “It seems the Ancients wanted to give us a leg up,” Nguyen said. “There are hundreds of illnesses, described somewhat archaically on this intron since our ancestors did not have the names we would give to certain illnesses and medical conditions. Following each illness are more protein sequences.”

  “Meaning what?” asked Ambergris.

  “Meaning that they’re telling us what nucleotides to inject into the human body to enable it to begin its self-regeneration process at the cellular level.”

  “I’m following you,” said Dr. Boren. “I believe that the right combination of amino acids will instruct the affected portions of DNA to unzip. Replacement RNA products will then re-establish the double helix with the correct protein sequences.”

  “It makes absolute sense,” said Ambergris. “After telling us who they were, the logical information to next be given by the Ancients is how to keep ourselves healthy. After that, who knows what other secrets the Code will reveal? But where in the deciphered text does it instruct us how to cure radiation sickness.”

  “I’ve been scanning the info,” Nguyen said. “Look at line 856. It speaks of an illness associated with the number 238. I assume that’s a reference to the atomic number of enriched Plutonium — Plutonium 238.”

  “So what do we do next?” asked Ambergris.

  Looking at the amino acids following the reference to 238, Nguyen sat at a terminal and began typing. “Joshua, Dr. Boren — look at your screens. Administer the following amino acids cocktails to Titan Six in the sequence that I’m listing.”

  “Remote Presidential Hospitals would have been well-equipped with meds,” Cruz said. “But I doubt they would have stored pure proteins or had various genetic sequences synthesized. Even if they did, the shelf life would make them dangerous to administer.”

  “True,” said Ambergris. “But let’s remember that Dominique Caine has been using this facility.”

  Ambergris walked to an oversized stainless steel refrigerator in the medical lab. Sitting on the shelves were thousands of small bottles. Many were labeled with the letters A, T, G, and C. A majority of the glass containers, however, had three of the letters written on their labels in varying combinations. Dominique Caine had stored thousands of genetic sequences in the RPH.

  “I found the medicine chest,” announced Ambergris.

  BENEATH THE WATERS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

  The transfer of Dominique and the Genesis data had been complete thanks to the Chinese submersible sub, which had docked with an unmarked Russian 941 Shark class submarine.

  The Russian sub had surfaced briefly to see if it would arouse suspicion from the Titan jets. The Captain of the Russian sub was fully prepared to
fire on the F-16s, but it had proven unnecessary. The jets had broken off their attack run. The Captain promptly submerged his boat again since its destination was highly classified.

  The Beijing class sub would stay submerged for months. No one would be the wiser that Dominique Caine had left the region far behind. Eventually, the boat would be scuttled, the crew having been evacuated via other submersibles.

  The sub had performed admirably.

  THE BEACH, ES VEDRA

  Dozens of amphibious craft from the Alamiranta were already ferrying rescued Triad employees back to the Titan ship, where they would be held in quarantine until Dr. Nguyen and her staff deemed them completely free of all harmful side-effects of the radiation unleashed at Savage Bay.

  Dr. Henry Warren Shiloh stood in the back of the third craft to depart from Es Vedra. A leading geneticist, he had worked beneath Christian Madison. He’d never had any doubt he would get off the island. He just didn’t think that it would be via transport to the Alamiranta.

  He reached into his shirt pocket.

  “Damn,” he muttered under his breath.

  He’d lost his good luck charm.

  He closed his eyes, the invigorating sea air rushing against his face.

  It was a new day. He wondered where his next assignment would be. One thing he knew for sure: he would never work for Triad Genomics again. He had disappeared before, and he would find a way to disappear again.

  REMOTE PRESIDENTIAL HOSPITAL, SAVAGE BAY

  Ambergris and Boren stood in the center of the medical ward. On a stainless steel tray draped with a sterile cloth were dozens of hypodermic syringes, each containing various colored solutions.

  Each member of Titan Six, plus Dr. Madison, would receive three injections.

  “It is indeed a brave new world,” Ambergris said.

  “The Ancients knew this day would come,” Boren said. “Assuming, of course, that we didn’t annihilate ourselves first.”

  “A big assumption,” said Ambergris. “Two world wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, nuclear armament, and the Cold War.”