by E L Russell
Genecaust
A Meret Mather Mystery Techno Thriller vol-1
E L Russell
Edited by E C Russell
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Contents
Author’s Comments
1. The Hawk
2. Meret Mather
3. Pilgrim
4. Katya Kornilova
5. Dirk Donahue
6. Dr. Subash Sen
7. Making Do
8. New Life and New Friends
9. Almost Home
10. Wakeup Run
11. Poppy
12. Katya's Magic
13. Interesting Developments
14. Conditions
15. Visitors from Washington
16. Steve Fairchild
17. First Flight
18. Dirk Manages Katya
19. Director Davies
20. Crime Scene
21. It Begins
22. What We Want to Know
23. What We Discover
24. Man Down
25. Aftermath
26. A Bio Lab in Rome
27. (R1$Pr (4$9
28. The Toolbox
29. Lunch at the Hotel Mercure Aden
30. Katya Conspires with Henri
31. The Search for Granger
32. It's All in the Cloud
33. The Conference Call
34. Reality
35. The Chase
36. Extraction
37. MJ and Granger
38. Ambush
39. Consciousness
40. Meret and Granger
41. Katya meets the Eight
42. Meeting Granger
43. What Granger Knew
44. Three Way
45. Rome
46. Katya plants a Seed
47. Meret sees Henri
48. Meret encounters The Hacker
49. The Next Thing
50. Proof of Concept Part 1
51. Proof of Concept 2
52. WWMD
53. Washington Wake Up
54. What Debby Shared
55. Catch Up
56. Tag and Bag
57. Dr. Piero della Francesca
58. Evidence
59. Katya orders Jack
60. Taken
61. Reactions
62. Meret gets Lucky
63. Team Play
64. Opportunity
65. The Best Laid Schemes
66. Gang Aft A-Gley
67. Takedown
68. Flight to DC
69. The DC LitterBox
70. The Real Reality
71. Interrogation
72. Jack’s Back
73. First Things Last
74. Debby Shares
75. Dynamic Tactics
76. To Do
77. An unexpected caller
78. The State of the Union
79. Reunion
Contents
Author’s Comments
1. The Hawk
2. Meret Mather
3. Pilgrim
4. Katya Kornilova
5. Dirk Donahue
6. Dr. Subash Sen
7. Making Do
8. New Life and New Friends
9. Almost Home
10. Wakeup Run
11. Poppy
12. Katya's Magic
13. Interesting Developments
14. Conditions
15. Visitors from Washington
16. Steve Fairchild
17. First Flight
18. Dirk Manages Katya
19. Director Davies
20. Crime Scene
21. It Begins
22. What We Want to Know
23. What We Discover
24. Man Down
25. Aftermath
26. A Bio Lab in Rome
27. (R1$Pr (4$9
28. The Toolbox
29. Lunch at the Hotel Mercure Aden
30. Katya Conspires with Henri
31. The Search for Granger
32. It's All in the Cloud
33. The Conference Call
34. Reality
35. The Chase
36. Extraction
37. MJ and Granger
38. Ambush
39. Consciousness
40. Meret and Granger
41. Katya meets the Eight
42. Meeting Granger
43. What Granger Knew
44. Three Way
45. Rome
46. Katya plants a Seed
47. Meret sees Henri
48. Meret encounters The Hacker
49. The Next Thing
50. Proof of Concept Part 1
51. Proof of Concept 2
52. WWMD
53. Washington Wake Up
54. What Debby Shared
55. Catch Up
56. Tag and Bag
57. Dr. Piero della Francesca
58. Evidence
59. Katya orders Jack
60. Taken
61. Reactions
62. Meret gets Lucky
63. Team Play
64. Opportunity
65. The Best Laid Schemes
66. Gang Aft A-Gley
67. Takedown
68. Flight to DC
69. The DC LitterBox
70. The Real Reality
71. Interrogation
72. Jack’s Back
73. First Things Last
74. Debby Shares
75. Dynamic Tactics
76. To Do
77. An unexpected caller
78. The State of the Union
79. Reunion
Author’s Comments
I created the title Genecaust to describe using the knowledge of our genome and microbiome applied to the targeting and murder of specific groups of people or individuals by identification of existing or engineered genetic markers.
The label is suitable for such horrors and I have applied the concept in several of my science fiction stories. At the time I began to write Genecaust, the Google informed me that the name was currently used by a bar band and a search of Amazon showed no products or books by that name. That has changed. The genetic engineering tools and some of the products used in this story are currently available on Amazon.
Genecaust is a mystery, medical techno thriller for current times. This is not a work of science fiction. I only speculate about advanced software applications that make using the CRISPR-cas9 molecule a modern tool complete with a full graphical interface. I speculate add-ons these apps will/have become available on the Dark Web and, of course, on eBay.
The quote I created is a summary of my desire for heightened awareness of this technology.
“The Holocaust must be remembered so it will never happen again.
A Genecaust must be anticipated so it will never happen.”
E L Russell
1
The Hawk
March, Al-Tahreer Square Yemen.Action in the Field
At six foot three and beardless, Special Agent Granger Hawking attempted to blend in as best he could while strolling through Al-Tahreer Square in Sana'a, Yemen. The heat was unbearable, and the shade wasn't any better.
Shit.
This Urban spy business was not for him. He was at his best sighting through the scope of an M40A5 sniper rifle at an adversary sixteen hundred meters away. He looked around. Crowds of this size, always viewed as low-hanging fruit by dozens of the predatory, plain-clothed governmental police, and large numbers aggressive, uniformed military thugs, eager to bully anyone who caught their
eye. As plentiful as pigeons, they scrutinized the crowd for reasons to maintain order over persons and families that required none.
Distracted by the nearness of ever-present, armed men, Hawking almost missed his asset, Yasser, resting in the shade of a scarred tree. Damn. He'd brought his two young sons with him. Danger signals exploded like flares in Hawking's brain. This was not a safe place for kids. Doing his best to look like a befuddled tourist, he circled past Yasser he took off his hat and wiped his forehead, telling the Yasser the spot was too hot, meaning compromised, and followed with signals much like that of a third base coach.
Yasser took the hint and ambled down the wide concrete promenade to a seat under a small slice of shade at the far end of a bench adjacent to the City Amusement Park, his sons, ten-year-old Nadheer and seven-year-old Sameer, in tow. Knowing they would wait for him near the exit of the park, he handed his boys money and sent them running toward the rides. When Hawking sat at the other end of the bench, he did not acknowledge his arrival until he’d read the better part of the front page of the paper. Then he sighed and spoke low to the ground, jerking his chin momentarily at a two-man team of uniformed national security guards standing by a food vendor across the way. "I am at risk of being followed. Not by them, but by a terrorist group."
Hawking casually folded his and gazed across the nearby Gulf of Aden, with no apparent interest in the man sharing the same cement bench.
Pretending to read his folded newspaper, Yasser continued in a quiet voice, "These terrorist are part of a group planning a large-scale biological attack. They want to know what the CIA has learned about their activities in Yemen. These people want assurances you are not on to them. My country still in recovery from the recent conflict and any perceived association with such an attack would be bad for business."
Hawking felt a jolt of alarm. “Then let’s finish up. You called this meeting. What do you have for me?”
"Certain people in my oil company have stumbled across information from a sometimes reliable source that international terrorists acquired several Reaper drones, and they are outfitting them to deliver a deadly virus. Our sources know only that they are somewhere in the desert within three hours drive of Riyadh.”
Hawking cast a furtive glance around. "Damn, that puts them within striking distance of Cairo, Tel Aviv, and Baghdad and if their base is east of Riyadh, they could hit the western coast of India, putting several high-density cities like Mumbai in danger. Who the hell are they and what is their intended target?"
"Unclear. These cities are not associated with my company. My friends suspect the terrorists are an American company."
“American?” That came as a surprise. Hawking resisted turning to face his asset. “You’re saying an American company is aiding and abetting a foreign terrorist group to disperse biological warfare somewhere here in the Middle East?”
“That’s the chatter.”
"None of the cities in India range make any sense."
“We’re working on finding more details, but it was lucky to get that. Whatever is going down- it’s bad.”
“When will the Reapers be operational?”
He shrugged, "I guess two to three weeks."
“What would make an American company get involved with terrorists?
Yasser snorted. "Money. Control. Power. Take your pick. Yemen remains fertile ground for corruption and rebellion." He raised chin toward a sagging power line across the walkway. "See that wooden pole with the bent metal cross?"
“Yeah.”
“See the short wires attached to the ends of the cross bar?”
“Oh, shit.” Hawking’s eyes locked on Yasser’s. “Is that the place?”
“So you’ve seen the photo from the fighting in 2014.”
Hawking exhaled a silent whistle. “That’s where they crucified one of the rebels.”
Yasser lowered his chin and spoke again to the ground. “There are no safe places in Yemen, my friend.”
Glancing past his asset, Hawking caught sight of two men in business suits walking in their direction with some urgency. The hair on the back of his neck bristled. “We got trouble.”
Yasser's eyes skipped through the crowd near the entrance. "I don't know them, but I will delay them." Taking off his wristwatch he said, "They haven't seen us yet. See that this gets to my wife. She'll know what to do. Go. Lose yourself in the crowd."
“I will, where did you send your boys?”
"The Ferris wheel. We often do this. The boys will be safe playing in the park. Don't worry. These men are after us and will not spend the time looking for my children. Go."
Hawking walked backward for a few steps watching Yasser with concern, hoping his asset would be safe. Not at all convinced Yasser could handle the trouble coming his way, he turned into Seera Fun City's thickest crowds. Concerned for Yasser's sons, he headed for the Ferris wheel.
* * *
Hawking observed Nadheer and Sameer waiting their turn at a food stand next to the Ferris wheel. Standing next to them, he knelt at their feet, pretending to pick something up. Deftly, he folded some paper bills over the watch, and using the most formal form of Arabic he could remember, addressed the older boy,
“Nadheer, Alhamdulillah. Praise Allah. I speak little Arabic. This money is from your father. He wants you to return home immediately and give his watch to your mother.
Nadheer looked unsure at first but must have read something in Hawking's expression, because he relented and nodded.
"Allah ysalmak. Please hurry.” Hawking watched them leave and scanned the crowd to see if anyone followed them. Once they were safely on their way, he returned to the concrete park bench in time to see Yasser being escorted toward the street between the two men in business suits. Hawking followed, looking vainly for an opportunity to intervene.
The two men stopped next to a black SUV and shoved Yasser inside. A woman emerged from the front seat, leaving the driver and another man inside, to guard Yasser.
He moved close but heard only one word he recognized, Children. Then, the plain looking woman, apparently the one in charge, pointed at Hawking and commanded the two men to her get him. They turned and faced so abruptly, Hawking knew they'd been watching him all along. He crouched low and reached for his Glock.
Fuck it. Too many families for a shootout. He was up shit's creek now. Resigned, he dropped his gun to the ground and raised his hands.
2
Meret Mather
March, Southern California, USA - A New Life
Alternating glancing between her cell phone on a side table and the Venice Beach pier at the end of her street for the approach of her Uber, Meret felt her life plummeting in a downward spiral. She sat on the balcony of her hotel near Marina del Mar, finger-combing her long straight black hair into a tight ponytail. She stretched her not-quite six foot frame and slouched on the lounge placing her crossed ankles to rest on the balcony rail. Pulling the sleeves and the pants of her running gear back to examine her light chocolate skin for any signs of solar abuse, she remembered her mother’s love of the sun.
The pier's jetty split the vista of the Pacific Ocean in two reminding her of the barrier she felt existed between her and her grandfather, Elias. All her family members, with the possible exception of her Aunt Doris, were minions of her grandfather. They would side with him on Company policy. This was her battle and was hers to win and hers alone.
Sounding like an oracle from the depths of St. John's Grotto, her grandfather’s voice on her speakerphone reminded her that Elias held the purse strings. And he did not share her vision, or values, to release her trust fund so she could pursue her dreams.
"No, Meret, I am bound by your parents' written directions. They explicitly stated that until you complete your education, I am required to keep your annual draw to three percent of the corpus. As you know, regardless of your age, all your university expenses will be paid by company funds and will not be taken from your trust. The conditions of the trust shoul
d be no surprise to you. The three percent draw began when you were eighteen, and it has supported you well for the last ten years. In spite of your current status as a post-doc student from USC employed by the Lentiviral Core Laboratory, I see no reason to change it."