“Where was the fuck-up?” I turned to Kel who had finally come to and entered the conversation in his own unique manner. I smiled at him, glad to see he was looking alive. Hollister came over and began taking his temperature and blood pressure, while still detailing the end of the world.
“Telomere6 worked a little too well. The problem was actually in the immune system of the subjects, themselves. Nanorobotics was not as advanced as it needed to be. The immune system saw the nanobots as system invaders and tried to destroy them. The response of the serum, nanobots included, was to counterattack in order to repair what it saw as a damaged system. The serum bonded to the immune system, essentially destroying it.”
“Well, that sucks,” Kel said.
“Yes,” Hollister replied. “It does.”
“Wait,” I chimed in. “I don’t get it. If the serum just destroyed the subject’s immune system, wouldn’t the subject just die? What caused the pandemic? Not the serum, right?”
“It wasn’t just the serum. It was the results of the serum and nanobots melding with the human immune system. Once the test subjects got sick, which was the eventuality; they would cough or sneeze and spread their germs – their DNA – to others. The effect was a flu that could not be fought against by the immune system, since at the same time as the flu was running its course, the Telomere6 was destroying the immune system. Catch-22, so to speak.”
“Son of a bitch,” Kel commented.
“So, I take it that after thirteen more years of trial and error, Thyssen has supposedly perfected his serum?”
“You might say that,” Thyssen’s voice came from the open door of the lab. He was standing there, a peeved look on his face, staring at Hollister. He looked askance at her. “Well,” he said, “aren’t you going to finish the tale? You’re leaving us all in a dreadful suspense.”
“Yep,” Kel muttered. “He’s a prick.”
CHAPTER 8
“Go on,” Thyssen directed. Hollister shrugged and turned back to us.
“Initially,” she said, “the project was to be shut down, after the first weeks of outbreak. But, the President made the call to continue the efforts to save as many as we could. We made the necessary arrangements to bring him and the others here and place them into cryostasis until the cure could be devised. We would have brought a few more in but the previous Project Leader had made quite an effort to have us shut down. With the President’s order, Colonel Watson was locked out of the project and control turned over to Dr. Thyssen.”
I bit my tongue, sneaking a quick meaningful glance at Kel. He ignored me but also said nothing about my dad. I felt a swell of pride that my dad would have risked everything to shut this bastard down. Thyssen stood by the workbench as calm as could be. There was a growing itch in the pit of my stomach, a sense of duty that I could not push aside. It may not have been my place, but it was a task I had taken up years ago. I was not about to let justice slip through my fingers. I couldn’t let my dad down.
“Once we got everyone inside,” Hollister continued, “we locked everything down tight. No one had been allowed outside the lab since the first reports of outbreaks. Dr. Thyssen knew it would not stop in just those cities. His quick actions saved those of us who remained inside the lab.”
“Right,” Kel said, looking over at Thyssen. “Your very own hero.”
“I appreciate the thought, young man,” Thyssen said with ice in his eyes. “My only goal, all I ever wanted, was to help mankind.” He looked back at Hollister and nodded for her to continue our education.
“The problem that we had found with Telomere6 became our focus. We had to manipulate the serum so that the immune system would not fight it, but welcome it. We also have two of the brightest minds in nanotechnology working in the lab. As we made strides in that arena, Dr. Thyssen improved upon his serum, eventually instituting the new nanorobots. Now, we have Nanomere9.”
“It may take a few injections to truly see the effects,” Thyssen said. “But, those effects will be amazing. You will thank me in the end.”
“I think there may be a very different end to this than you suspect.” I said this through my clenched teeth. If I could have gotten to him, I would’ve done my best to rip his fucking throat out. I was tired of hearing him speak about people like they were nothing more than guinea pigs.
“How does that jaw feel, young lady?” Thyssen asked me. Thankfully he didn’t smile; otherwise, I would have looked like an idiot wriggling around and trying to break free of my bonds. Instead, I sat silent, mulling over various possibilities. Hollister invaded my daydreams when she touched my face.
“How does it feel?” she asked, looking into my eyes with a pointed glance. I thought about it and realized that it did not hurt any longer. It seemed the swelling was going down, too.
“Fine,” I replied.
Thyssen took a step toward me and then hesitated. He watched intently as Hollister inspected my cheek. I saw her turn back to him and nod curtly. He motioned her to back away and he moved in closer to examine the damage he’d done earlier. After a couple of seconds, he took step back. His glance bounced back and forth between Kel and me for several moments before he sidestepped over to Kel.
Without warning, Thyssen punched Kel in the nose. I heard the crunch and winced at the pain Kel must have felt. His head had rocked back and now he was glaring at Thyssen with enough animosity to back down a lion. Thyssen looked over at Hollister.
“Clean it up. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” He paused at the door. “And, do cease any further storytelling, Doctor.” With that he left, the door secured behind him.
“What the fuck was that for?” I demanded. She retrieved some sterile wipes, and a moist cloth.
“You healed far too quickly,” Hollister replied, as she began to gently clean up Kel’s bloody nose.
“So he punches me in the face? Seriously?” Kel was livid, but his voice sounded funny as he spoke without the help of his nose.
“He wants to compare your healing factors.”
“This is how he runs tests on his subjects?” My voice had risen an octave and I was about ready to explode. I felt the heat course through my blood and I clenched my fists in anger. “What is wrong with you, lady? What the hell kind of doctor does this? Why are you doing his bidding like a well-trained puppy?”
Hollister said nothing but as she finished cleaning up Kel, and making certain his nose wasn’t broken, I noticed the tears streaming down her face. I just did not understand what was going on here. It just seemed as if everyone we’d met hated Thyssen’s guts, but still took his orders with little or no questioning. It irked me more every second.
“Karen,” I said, “What does this guy have on people that no one just tells him to fuck off? Why are you still here?”
“The serum works.” She took the soiled cloth back to the workbench and tossed it into the waste can. “He’s been taking it for the last year.”
“Okay. Fine. So what. It works. Great. Even less reason for you to stay under his apparent rule, right?”
“Do you know how old Dr. Thyssen is?” she asked, not looking at us. I glanced at Kel who was staring at Hollister.
“Late forties, I’d say.” She was already shaking her head.
“He’s seventy-two.”
Kel’s head snapped toward me and I wasn’t sure what to say. If what Hollister said was true, that meant that the serum not only extended life, it brought back youth. It seemed impossible.
“That’s the serum that did that?” Kel asked. Hollister nodded.
“There is limited access to the serum. There has been limited access to any variety of test subjects. We are his work force. He won’t use us.”
“Are you saying that he’s been using himself as a guinea pig?”
“There’s more.” Hollister was about to tell us something important, but just then the door opened and Thyssen walked back in.
He took in the scene and then walked over to Kel. “Still hurt?” he ask
ed, dispassionately. Kel’s glare was more than enough for Thyssen who then moved over to look at me.
“What?” I demanded.
“When you came to earlier, your face hurt. It was swollen and yellowed with bruising.”
“Yeah? Well that was your doing, you asshole.” I watched as he only shrugged, accepting the charge.
“Barely any bruising left,” he noted, cocking his head to one side to get a better view of my face. He looked back into my eyes and leaned in. “I’m going to ask the next question only once. I advise you to answer it honestly.” I nodded. “What is your name?”
“Jennifer.” I offered no more.
“Jennifer, what?” he persisted. He must have had a clue, a notion already. I reckoned the game was up. “Watson.” I heard Hollister suck in her breath at the recognition of the name. Thyssen stood up, stared down at me.
“So, you’re Rock, huh?” he asked. I nodded once.
“He spoke very highly of you. The apple of your father’s eye, so to speak.” Even as he said the words, I could almost feel the contempt more than hear it in his voice. I figured the fact that my father turned on him was enough to make them enemies for life. Of course, Thyssen was the one responsible for shortening my dad’s life considerably.
“He said you were a prick,” I replied. Thyssen crooked up his mouth and half-nodded. Hollister tried unsuccessfully to prevent a snort. Thyssen ignored her.
“He had two doses. Did he give them both to you?” The man watched my face intently and I knew I had best not lie. It seemed like my fate was sealed along with my last name.
“No. My uncle got the other one, I think. We never talked about it.”
“Where is your uncle now?”
“Dead.”
“Too bad.”
“So,” I said, “I guess I got Telomere7, huh?” I still remembered my dad telling me that the inoculation was to protect against the flu. He had just come back from the lab. It was the day before the phone call to Thyssen that was to let him know that Thyssen was taking over and that dad was locked out. Thankfully, my dad was nothing if not a forward thinker and planner. Good old military training. He had already secured two doses of the better serum that the doctor had developed. Looking back, I know he wasn’t sure if the serum would help me or kill me quicker. At that point, it really hadn’t mattered.
“With this new dose of Nanomere9,” Thyssen said, “you’ll grow stronger by the day. Your immune system will be bolstered exponentially. It’s likely you could live a few hundred more years.”
“Will I?” I asked, knowing he had an axe to grind. He confirmed that with a raised eyebrow.
“Not really,” he replied.
“Hey, gramps,” Kel spoke up. “Mind untying me so I can take my turn at your decrepit old ass?”
Thyssen turned to Hollister. “I’ll send in the guards.” He left.
Hollister looked at us with a pitying look on her face. I turned my face to Kel. He smirked.
“I think we’ve come too far to give up now, don’t you?” he asked.
“Karen.” I peered into her eyes to stress my intent. “At least give us a fighting chance, okay?”
She didn’t move. She just stared at us. She wrung her hands and then wiped them on her lab coat. I could see there were a great many thoughts dancing around in her head. I could only pray she made the right choice.
She picked up a scalpel and walked toward us.
CHAPTER 9
Hollister cut through each of the straps as quickly as she could and Kel and I were free in less than two minutes. Kel rubbed at his nose but waved me off when I tried to have a look. We headed for the door and just as Hollister reached for it, two soldiers entered. I took the first one head-on, smashing his nose with my palm, driving upward in an effort to incapacitate him but not kill him. I had made a promise to Kel and I meant to keep it. Thyssen was our only true target.
The second soldier raised a rifle and Kel dived at him, catching his knees and super-extending them as the two men fell to the floor. The soldier screamed out in pain and a burst of rounds from the rifle tore through Hollister’s chest and head, then into the ceiling. I did not have to look back to know that Karen was dead.
Kel retrieved zip ties from the soldiers’ belts and we secured them inside the room before heading out into the hall. I noted a couple of lab technicians ducking into their labs. The hallway was otherwise empty. With the labs on one side, there were offices on the opposite side. The directly across from us had Thyssen’s name on it. Kel had taken one of the soldiers’ rifles. I nodded at the weapon and then indicated the office door. He smiled.
The bullets ripped into the door handle and tore into the doorjamb. Kel took a step back and I kicked in the door, ducking down on my knees as a follow-through. Sure enough, bullets slammed into the wall behind us. Kel opened fire above my head into the office, spraying the entire width. I leaped and rolled into the room, taking cover behind what looked to be a meeting table close to the door.
Kel sprayed fire into the room once again entered behind me. Before he could get down behind the table with me, I heard two successive shots and Kel spun, falling hard against me. He crumpled to the floor, blood flowing from his upper chest and shoulder.
“How’s he doing, Rock?” Thyssen asked from the opposite side of the room. “Is it bad?”
I ran a hand over the wounds and saw that both bullets were through and through. The bleeding is what I needed to address. I ripped away part of Kel’s shirt, wadding it into a ball and applying it to the wounds, which were no more than two inches apart. He grunted and looked up at me with pain-filled eyes.
“It’s up to you, I guess. I’m really sorry, Rock. I—“ He winced, cutting off his words.
“No worries, Kel.” I felt that old sense of familiarity that had tinged my memory cells on several occasions since I’d found him in my house. “This is what I came here for. Thank you for tagging along, even though you didn’t have to.”
“I’d follow you anywhere,” he said. Then he passed out. I laid him gently to the floor and turned my attention to the problem at hand.
“Thyssen,” I called out. “I owe you a sore jaw. Let’s say we do this the old-fashioned way. What do you think?” I wondered if his arrogance and over-developed sense of self-confidence would play to my benefit. If he were smart, he’d say no. Even though, he still had the advantage.
“Did your uncle ever teach you fencing?”
I frowned at the thought. This guy was not only a loon, he was a narcissistic poser. . Who else would opt for an anachronistic sword fight, except a person who wanted to demonstrate his cleverness and skill. Still, I needed to humor him, get him in the open where I would at least have a decent shot at a lucky blow.
“I’m familiar with blades, yes.” I was. That was no lie. It was just the majority of my experience lay with smaller blades. Still, Uncle Derrick had taught me a thing or two about swordplay; just not that much. I admit to not particularly caring for the fencing lessons Uncle D had forced upon me. To me it had been a waste of time. I guess fate was about to prove me wrong.
I heard some shuffling and a gun went sliding by me out into the hallway. It could be a ploy, though. Next, I heard the unmistakable sound of metal on metal and a beautiful saber came sliding into view.
“Ready when you are, young lady,” he said. I was really getting sick and tired of him calling me that.
“Fine.” I stood slowly, hoping he wouldn’t just blow my brains out. He was standing by his desk, a behemoth of shiny hardwood. Moving slowly, I stepped over Kel and retrieved the saber. I couldn’t help myself. I took a defensive stance and said, “En garde, you prick.”
Doctor Eliot Thyssen, murderer of the human race, actually smiled at me as he whipped his sword in the air. It cut the air with a hissing whistle and we were upon each other.
We traded parries and thrusts, lunges and ripostes. He was much better than me, I knew. After only a few passes, I realized he was just t
oying with me. I decided my only hope was to take unnecessary chances, draw him out, and see if I could throw him off balance and create an opening. He performed a lunge and I countered with a parry in quarte, turning slightly to the side, allowing his thrust to slide by me. At that moment, I swept up with my blade, knocking his into the air, and then swiping down. I was pleased to see the blood seeping down his chest as I moved backwards to end up in the en garde position once more.
Thyssen looked down at the significant slice running diagonally down his chest and stomach. Ripping his shirt away from the wounds, he used part of the cloth to wipe away the blood and my breath caught in my throat as I watched the wound healing itself before my eyes. Thyssen smiled at me and opened his arms wide as if to say, “Look at me, I am invincible.” Thoughts raced through my head and none of them had happy endings.
“You could’ve been like me,” he said, the point of his saber digging into the hardwood floor between his feet. He had both hands on the hilt and his eyes were locked on mine. “Your father was a good man. A little too good, I should say. His elevated sense of morality clashed with my goals more than once. Of course, when we began to realize that the outbreaks were tied to my Telomere6 subjects, he was on his high horse in an instant. He was meddling with my future, meddling with the future of mankind.”
“You nearly killed off mankind, you fool,” I said in response.
“Do you really think that the the human race, in the state it was in thirteen years ago, truly deserved to live forever? Widespread moral and societal decay, recreational drug use, urban violence, international wars – nothing but fuel for the funeral pyre.”
“Wait just a fucking minute. Are you saying that the decimation you caused was, what, an act of God?”
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