by Ron S. Nolan
Malcolm consulted with his techs and reported, "Yes sir, it could be that the gene sequence provided by Dr. Sturtevant had a built in timing system. The problem is that it would take a great deal of effort to discover the altered section of the gene sequence, which she was so clever to hide.”
"Malcolm, are you saying that Dr, Sturtevant intentionally added a flaw to her program code? And that this flaw was intentionally designed to protect her discovery?”
Again Malcolm consulted with his techs and replied, “Yes sir. That is a distinct possibility.”
Horowitz resumed, "All right let's recap. If Sturtevant's genetic system had some sort of timing component, it might have been programmed to cut off at a certain stage of the Phase I growth. But since it didn't happen to Sturtevant's worms, she may have given me a code version that had been rigged to protect her findings. I wouldn't put it past her.”
“Yes sir, that seems likely.”
Horowitz thought for a moment and then said, “That would indicate there was another version that she kept to herself. Perhaps this all comes down to what she took with her when she left. We have been monitoring Dr. Sturtevant's activities for several weeks. I'll have my staff do a search for any irregularities and get back to you in a couple of hours.”
He added another item to the list on the white board and signed off.
Item 1: Cause of Phase 1 Growth Cessation
Item 2: Interruption of Biological Clock
Item 3: Built in Timer
Item 4: Check Surveillance Feed
Horowitz was back at the white board when the meeting resumed–this time Reverend LeRoque had joined in. Horowitz brought the Reverend up to date and then included the others. "I think we found what we were looking for." He highlighted item five on the board.
Item 5: Caught in the Act
"We examined the surveillance video for anything suspicious and discovered this footage taken on her last day in her lab while Astra was moving out.”
He keyed the video segment and resumed. “Here we see our chief of security telling Dr. Sturtevant that she would need to undergo a body scan as a last step in our normal termination procedure. You will note that the surveillance system's emotion detector suddenly peaked indicating that she was alarmed. Now watch! As soon as the officer's back is turned, she took off her necklace, put it in a bag and dropped it into the CryoVat."
Reverend LeRoque interrupted, "Wait a minute; is that device the infamous Ark?”
“Yes Reverend, not only does it contain the frozen remains of her flatworm studies, but what we now believe to be a locket holding a microdisc upon which she has hidden the original, unaltered version of her research."
The Reverend exclaimed, "So, what you are saying is that the key to immortality is locked in a locket hidden in the Ark. And that leads us to the final item...find the blasted Ark!”
Horowitz held up his hand and said, "I agree, but we need to use caution. First we need to retrieve the Ark intact and second we must not let anyone know what it contains. In other words, we need to cover up our search. If the truth gets out, every biotech lab in the world will be after the Ark and the micro disc inside.”
Horowitz looked at the Reverend and asked, “Can you come up with an approach that would involve your many devoted SDL church followers in the search? Some way of uniting them and inspiring a worldwide hunt?”
The Reverend put his head back and closed his eyes for a few moments, then said, “All right, how about something like this? Publicly I will announce that the Ark is designed to create a race of super-humans that will rule the planet–not merely save a bunch of inedible plants and useless animals.”
“That sounds very promising. Go ahead.”
“Dr. Sturtevant and her VIDAS are the bad guys. My SDL followers, the CREOS, and I are the good guys. I will tell them that we need their help to find the Ark. I must personally destroy the contents so there will be no question as to its fate...they should bring the Ark directly to me.”
Horowitz asked for comments from the group. Malcolm offered, "It sounds good. The sooner, the better. I can't wait to compare the code she has hidden with ours that just failed."
Horowitz turned to face the Reverend. "It is now all up to you, Reverend."
-- CHAPTER 11 --
Nine Months Later
By the end of summer in the year 2029, the last vestige of the polar caps had melted leaving behind a sparse population of icebergs that served as a stark reminder of the past. And by the fall of 2030, the Earth had been ruthlessly hammered by the devastating impacts of global warming. As a result of the melting ice, sea levels had increased by a dozen feet flooding coastal cities and drowning tropical Pacific Island villages. Much of Asia and Africa were parched deserts with cities crowded along the newly formed coastline desperately sucking up drinking water produced by a fleet of nearly burned-out desalination plants. Nearly every state in the United States of America Corporation was plagued by water crimes with gang thefts and extortion schemes running rampant on city streets inundated by scavengers, vagrants and beggars dying of thirst.
Chia, a sexy, 'China girl' underground news announcer with ornate tattoos on her face and arms, sat in front of a makeshift broadcast studio on the fourth floor of a grungy apartment building in downtown Washington, D.C. and flash-delivered the latest, unauthorized and non-sanctioned, therefore according to the government, illicit and illegal news broadcast.
"Greetings faithful viewers; this is the RealNews for September 15th, 2030. Set your record chips to receive in burst setting starting...." She counted down with three fingers, "Three, two, one...now! This is Chia signing off."
Dr. Astra Sturtevant, her hair worn in a long braid tied with colorful ribbons, stretched to close the window behind her desk. Outside the vacant factory in Oakland furious, racing gusts of hot wind and dust devils propelled waves of trash over the cracked pavement.
Her present workspace was a far cry from her fancy lab at BGI, but here the Ark streaming vapors and a compressor generating liquid nitrogen sat center stage and commanded her full attention. And thanks to the amazing efforts and support of VIDAS in foreign lands during the last nine months, the Ark now housed an extensive library of fertile plant and animal embryos, stem cells, and tissue samples from locations spread across Europe and North America.
Astra’s microcell wrist display alerted her to an incoming zip message. She slipped a record chip into the port on her wristband and entered her password. She received the flash almost instantly–a tactic designed to reduce the risk of hacking in a world full of rip-off artists.
She leaned back in her chair and watched the broadcast. The opening bars by the 'Prince of Glamrock', David Bowie's, hit from the 80's 'China Girl' began to play in the background.
'Uh, oh, oh, oh
Little China girl'
Chia's smiling face appeared on the screen followed by the sound of a reverberating gong and the caption:
The RealNews
The Only Truly Independent
News Source!
Chia took a quick drink then began. "I've been in touch with a highly credible source that claims that the 'X-Plant Project’ isn't living up to expectations. This directly contradicts USACO claims that the project will halt global warming once and for all. The Arctic contains a huge reservoir of frozen carbon, however after ten thousand years the permafrost is melting releasing millions of tons of greenhouse gases."
A sequence of images, graphs, and an amateurish animation filled the screen as Chia voiced over the collage. "My sources have informed me that current CO2 level is 682 ppm–the highest in Earth's history. The X-Plant Project uses tiny, nano-scale machines to absorb the carbon released by dead plants and animals once frozen beneath the permafrost, but that are now thawing out and decomposing. The 'X-Plant Project is sound, but according to my source, It's too little, too late to stop the meltdown."
Chia pressed her hand to her earpiece and said, "Hold on for a moment." A caption flas
hed on screen, 'Breaking News' accompanied by the irritating gong tone.
Chia covered the mic and whispered to her assistant, “No more gongs," then faced the camera.”Viewers please stay tuned for a direct feed from USACO VidNews.”
The scene cut to an image of a distinguished looking senior gentleman wearing a deep blue robe adorned with white roses standing at the base of a stairway. The on-screen caption flashed ‘Seekers of Divine Light Headquarters’. A large, modern building loomed in the background with the blue and white SDL logo prominently displayed above the entrance.
The Reverend began, "Thank you for coming. I am happy to announce that two more of the horrid gene clinics in the State of Mexico have been shut down. No longer will those outlaws meddle into the holy secrets of life."
The monitor showed clips of men and women wearing hospital smocks being handcuffed and shoved into police vans.
The Reverend continued. "Now I would like to draw your attention to this so called 'Ark Project'. For months now we have been getting reports that a bunch of fanatics are secretly creating a sanctuary for plants and animals in case the world comes to an end. That would be just fine.... except that isn't what they are really up to at all.
These so called VIDAS volunteers are actually collecting the DNA and fertilized embryos of human beings from around the world. Not just from living subjects, but from ancient times as well. Plants and butterflies are just a smokescreen; they are planning to develop a new race of super-humans. Why else were VIDAS spotted secretly taking samples from the pyramids in Egypt and the museum in Cairo? I wouldn't be surprised if they had found a way to enter the Cave of Christ to get the DNA of the Almighty! "
Behind Chia, the monitor displayed a fast paced montage of map locations around the world and shots of VIDAS in the act of collecting a wide variety of specimens.
The Reverend continued. "Why would they do this? Simply put, because the Ark contains the raw materials to create God forsaken genetically engineered children. The VIDAS have teamed up with an army of gene hackers to create new hybrid organic beings endowed with artificial intelligence. This is obviously against all international laws so they have moved their inhumane operations to a lab off planet–on the moon of all places. We have reports of all sorts of grotesque creatures being held up there in cages–creatures from a nightmare!”
Video smuggled from the SpeeZees Lab appeared on the screen. The camera zoomed in on a bright green humanoid sitting on a bench. It seemed to be grooming its head feathers. When it noticed the man with the vidcam, it rose and gracefully walked off camera.
The Reverend's face replaced the lab scene. "I thank all the devoted CREOS members of the Seekers of Divine Light for helping me purge the world of this evil. I want you to bring me the Ark intact. Whatever you do, don't destroy it yourselves. God has asked me to take care of that personally. He shouted, “God is the only gene master!”
The scene reverted back to Chia in her studio who commented, "There is another take on this news item. My sources have recently told me that a former researcher at BiolGenetics International is indeed putting together a bank of fertilized plant and animal embryos to preserve them for the future. And her team members do call it the 'Ark' as Reverend LeRoque alleges, but they strongly deny that any human genetic factors are involved in any fashion whatsoever."
The screen displayed a sequence of images and statistics as she continued, "According to the World Science Foundation, there are between six to eight million species on Earth of which 90% are the verge of extinction. VIDAS maintain that the Ark, will store species for re-seeding the planet–if and when it finally cools down”
"On a final note, gas just topped $25 bucks a gallon. Ouch! This edition of the REALNEWS was brought to you by Robo Driver Unlimited–the best personal transport service on the East Coast and they are currently offering fifty percent discounts to seniors. This is Chia signing off."
Astra disconnected feeling furious, worried and frustrated. Why in the world would the SDL care about my Ark? This doesn't make any sense–unless Horowitz and the Reverend have teamed up and they are after me...or maybe my locket containing the microdisc. Maybe that security guard saw me put it into the CryoVat? No, he would have confiscated it right then and there. But…maybe they were watching me with a hidden surveillance cam? I figured all along that he was spying on me. That has to be it!
She went over to the Ark and used a set of large forceps to retrieve the bag containing her locket. She placed it on her desk to allow it to warm to room temperature. A half hour later she opened it and was relieved to see that the microdisc was in perfect condition. She replaced the locket in its plastic sleeve, returned it to the Ark and then began dealing with a torrent of text messages sent by concerned VIDAS that had just seen Chia's broadcast. In all the confusion, she realized that she had been completely overlooking the news about her brother's X-Plant Project.
She called Sabien at the Climate Lab in Alaska and he told her, "Yes, we saw the program. Everybody up here is in a panic. I'm sorry I can't talk now; I have to go help my boss deal with this mess. But don’t worry, I have a plan, however I can't talk about it on an open line. I am going to try to get down to see you within the next few days."
Astra felt a surge of hope. "I could sure use your help Brother. What are the odds that both of our projects would make the world news on the same day? “
"Probably about one in ten million. Take care, Sis.”
“I love you Sabien."
-- CHAPTER 12 --
USACO Climate Lab, Arctic Tundra, Alaska
t was an extraordinarily warm spring day in the Arctic. Like many of the lab staff, Torch and Sabien were enjoying an outdoor lunch on the deck outside the cafeteria, but the conversation became heated when Torch brought up the missing electronic gear. Sabien grunted, "I didn't steal any frigging equipment."
Torch countered, "The Director thinks you did."
"Well...how about the leaks to the media about our X-Plant work? Somebody must be talking to that underground news service.”
Torch replied, "Don't look at me. Let's just drop it and get back to work. What's this new idea you came up with?" Sabien pointed at the maintenance shed. "Let's move over there where we have some privacy."
Once inside, Sabien rubbed his hands together, "It's elementary my dear Watson. The only way to stop all this outgassing of CO2 and methane is to seal off the tundra surface."
Torch shrugged his shoulders, "All right, tell me something I don't know."
Sabien activated his microcell and pulled up a 3D hologram showing carbon inflow and outflow in the tundra. He circled the red colored 13C and explained, "This is the heavy isotope of carbon generated by the X-Plants that enables the carbon particles to sink into the ground faster."
Torch walked around the hologram and sounded unimpressed. "We designed it just that way... so what’s new?"
Sabien put his hands on his hips and paced back and forth, "What if we construct a second batch of nanomachines that will align the carbon atoms in chains and then supply immense molecular pressure?"
Torch shook his fist, "Diamonds. You're talking about making diamonds!"
"Precisely, we'll seal the tundra with a thin layer of diamonds."
Torch started pacing in tune with Sabien. "It would also act like a huge mirror that would reflect the sun's rays back into space."
Sabien stopped, "Wow, I have to admit that I didn't think of that."
"But how would we control this? We don't want these new machines to solidify the entire planet."
"That my friend is a major concern; but we have several options that we can explore. For example, we might use one of the artificial carbon isotopes that has a short lifespan, like 11C, which has a half life of only twenty minutes. And we could combine this approach with incremental geographic dispersion. But for now, we will simply limit the experiment to a small area at a single site."
"But once perfected, how would we get them in place? It took months
to disperse the X-Plants. Unfortunately, I don't think we have much time."
Sabien held out his left hand and turned the palm up then he placed his right hand on top, palm down. Making a 'whooshing' sound, he threw his right arm up towards the ceiling and announced, "Rockets. We launch the new nanomachines into orbit, and then rain them down from high altitude. Once they land, they start making the glittery stuff and the planet's global warming problem is solved."
Torch was starting to like the idea, "But how about the development time? Will it take weeks, months or years?"
Sabien rubbed his hands together. "I have been working on the concept for weeks. With your help and some support from the lab gurus, we should be able to have the prototype ready for testing within a few days."
Torch headed for the door. "I'm sold. Let's go see what Redstone has to say."
******
The Climate Lab Director's office was plush and richly furnished. Hamilton Redstone looked and dressed like a company executive and obviously wasn't too happy to see Torch and Sabien in an unscheduled meeting that interrupted his daily routine. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair while Torch and Sabien explained their new idea and asked for clearance to proceed, but were shocked when the Director said, "It is an interesting idea that you have come up with, but sorry, the answer is no."
Torch and Sabien chorused, "But why?"
Redstone rose to his feet, "Gentlemen, has it escaped your attention that the only remaining oil reserves are located right here in the Arctic? And that the Climate Lab's continued operation is now entirely based upon the financial support of the oil industry?"