The Chromosome Game

by Hodder-Williams, Christopher

  ‘— I’ll leave that part to you, General.’

  ‘Sure. Okay, she was twenty-three when they married. By then she was either still an intern or just qualified. Very caring person, and — to be honest — pretty damn sexy.’

  ‘Could we have her name, rather than your dispassionately Olympian responses?’

  ‘Ar, sure. Name of Mei Ling. Guess she couldn’t have been more than twenty-four — maybe twenty-five — when everything blew. Girl of very independent views — one reason no doubt why she shacked-up — that is to say, married — with Dollenburg, who wasn’t going to have his arm twisted by the CIA. Dollenburg was much older than the girl but it seems he was pretty good at it.’

  ‘At what, General?’

  ‘Ar, maintaining his independent views. Anything else?’

  ‘I think you’ve said enough. Thanks.’ The Interrogod let go of the switch. On the other circuit he said to the Engineer, ‘Okay, run the Dollenburg video right now.’

  *

  ‘David. You can’t sit there all night. What are you gazing at, anyway? There’s nothing out there but stars.’

  Dollenburg held her till it hurt. ‘Unfair, reading my mind … You’re right, of course. We’re liable to wind up a Supernova — on the button.’

  She said, ‘David, I’ve been threatening a holiday for a long time. If you’re not careful you’ll find yourself sentenced to a fishing trip. And it just so happens I’m needed right here — at the hospital … where I won’t be able to massage that frown.’

  ‘I am trying to smile.’

  ‘You need to work on it.’

  ‘You do know what Huckman is planning?’

  ‘How could I miss it?’

  ‘If the plan itself is nuts, the execution of it will be even crazier in his hands. If these guys spent a little less of their time gazing at red buttons they wouldn’t risk being caught with their fly undone. The way they’re acting, stars really will be the only things out there — except we won’t be around to see them.’

  ‘He’ll never get this one past the President.’

  ‘There’s someone who can … My God, if every damn discovery anyone ever made is going to get bent they should use a firing squad on every scientist including me.’

  ‘I think you’re a little bit jealous of Huckman. He’ll get all the credit for every scrap of work you’ve done.’

  ‘He’s welcome to it if that’s his idea of “credit”. He can walk through Senate Committees and run rings around them till they don’t know dawn from dusk. He did it way back on the computer snarl-ups and walked clean away. Now you’ll have the privilege of seeing the same thing happen again. Memories in Washington are short.’

  ‘Yes … And what about this other line of research you’re onto? Does Huckman know about that, too?’

  Dollenburg put on his professor’s face. ‘Scientists have to pretend to be sane, Mei. It’s bad enough being bugged by the FBI. I’ve no particular ambition to wind up in Colney Hatch.’

  She said, ‘What you’re really implying — though wild horses wouldn’t get you to admit it — is that new ideas don’t sell.’

  ‘Okay, I admit it. Adam and Eve probably had to fight the entire Establishment just to convince people about screwing.’

  ‘It didn’t take you too long to convince me on that score.’

  ‘This is the wrong time to give me ideas.’

  She said, suddenly, ‘I’ll bet Huckman can’t do it.’

  ‘Oh? That’s interesting. Well, you’re usually right. But is it relevant?

  — There are plenty of fancy magazines he can get steamed up about. No amount of scientific porn can aid me in convincing my colleagues about the true meaning of Supernature. You should have seen the faces of those eminent gentlemen in London when I addressed the Royal Society. Heresies like mine just don’t make the Charts.’

  ‘They never did. History proved them wrong over and over but they never got the message. Not until it was too late … David, these intense magnetic fields you keep finding: are you any nearer to discovering why they’re there?’

  ‘I just know that other people who’ve detected them are scared out of their minds to talk about them. With monotonous regularity they find themselves explaining it all to a Shrink.’

  ‘You’re not afraid of shrinks. So why not write it up in Scientific American and lay it on the line?’

  ‘Miss Mei Ling! How? — How do I put, in so many words, that … the hell, let’s try and write the lyric right now: ‘that because Mankind is at war with Nature, he can only expect Nature to hit back in a way too subtle for laboratory equipment to diagnose. Nature is beaming-out protest-rays and since these cannot be measured on a Geiger Counter direct, those who wish to bury their heads in the sand can ignore the less tangible means we have at our disposal to fill in the gaps …’ Crazy talk? … That’s just for starters. We’d go on something like this: ‘To those few who wish to know, the reply of Nature to the abuse perpetrated upon it is to send out signals which, though remote from Quantum Physics, do at least show that something is occurring’ … the word ‘occurring’ printed in nice, thick italics, don’t you see?’

  ‘And what is occurring?’

  ‘You want it straight?’

  ‘I want it straight.’

  ‘The wrath of God. You do see my problem? — Headline: Mad Professor Pursued by Clergyman Along Broadway. Text: Professor David Z. Dollenburg, having revived Jesus Christ Superstar in the Operating Theatre of New York Central Hospital, has somehow confused the score with Frankenstein. His magnetic personality — in more senses than one — has invoked a new sort of Monster which Dollenburg now sets to music in Scientific American, to the consternation of stray cats, howling dogs and baying hounds. God, it appears, expresses his indigestion from one end of the Universe to the other by Magnetizing Things. For — Listen, folks! — God is allergic to everything from nuclear reactors to — yes, you’ve guessed it! — laser beams. Yeah, that’s right. Lasers. Better yet, God has put through a conference phonecall to his colleagues in other galaxies to drum up support. Why, the Indignation of Space-Time will crumble the very walls of Jericho at M.I.T …’ — Do I go on?’

  She was silent for a long time. Silent and afraid. When she spoke, low-voiced and somehow remote, she asked, ‘And is God equal to the task?’

  ‘Don’t you know what he’s equal to?’

  ‘You’re saying E=Mc². Right from here to Malaysia to Eternity.’ Dollenburg turned to look at her, to admire her. He knew her to be unique. She made up for everything that, to him, was otherwise lost. ‘I very much fear we are soon to witness the deploying of Einstein’s formula to Zero Point — courtesy of mere mortals … You see, Mankind knows he’s as guilty as hell and like all people with the hidden, festering hatred — accumulated evil — Man can only step up his own appetite for destruction.’

  ‘I’ve never heard you so angry.’

  ‘It’s not my own anger that counts.’

  ‘Can’t God … or the Universal Powers, or whatever we choose to call Him … Can’t God stop it happening?’

  ‘Not if people just go on driving straight through red lights, like drunks on Seventh Avenue. The red lights are behind them, now. There’s no going back.’

  ‘Not like you to say there’s no hope.’

  ‘Did I say that?’

  Mei nodded. ‘I see. Hence the —’

  ‘— the chromosome game. And Huckman, given his head — if that’s what you can call that mask of his — will turn it into just that. A game. Only played with a deck of wild jokers.’

  ‘Can he get past the White House?’

  ‘There’s no one to stop him now.’

  ‘That’s why they isolated you out?’

  ‘Me, along with a few others, yes.’

  ‘Who is Huckman’s man in the Administration?’

  ‘Ricardo.’

  ‘Does Ricardo have direct access to the President?’

  ‘He can get closer than Ha
ldemann got to Nixon.’

  ‘But the House of Representatives —’

  ‘Damn the House of Representatives! All they ever think of is what suits the next Elections! When they have time — between unseemly squabbles in the lobbies — to debate anything worth debating they cow-tow to the myth that anything with teeth can be passed-off as “Classified” — Hands off! CIA Eyes-Only! And, Mei, we should know.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Yes what?’

  ‘Yes come to bed.’

  ‘And just how bad can a bad angel be?’

  ‘You’re about to find out.’

  *

  Ricardo managed to gulp back his natural sycophancy as he waited, poised, in the most exclusive room in the United States.

  He said, ‘Might I have your, ar, your reactions, sir? I mean, feasibility studies aside, is the timing right?’

  ‘I think it’s one hell of an idea! And the timing is right. Have you spoken about this to Dollenburg?’

  ‘There’s a problem area, Sir.’

  ‘Doesn’t realize the urgency?’

  ‘Not quite that.’

  ‘Quit stalling me, will you? Press conference, fifteen minutes from now. So there’s Dollenburg: he’s not the only problem area we’re going to hit.’

  ‘Chrissakes, you’re not intending to raise the Kasiga project with the press?’

  ‘What I’m raising with the press is the pile-up of Soviet strike-power. That’s more than enough for the next twenty newspaper editions. Hell, the Reds have broken every damn agreement on nukes we ever made.’

  ‘Steve, I hate to say this, but —’

  ‘— Sure, we did too. How could we avoid it? Can’t beat a royal flush with two of a kind … Leave that be. Go on about Dollenburg. One thing is for sure. We can’t go to this ball without Cinderella’s glass shoe, and right now Dollenburg’s big feet are the only ones that fit.’

  ‘Yeah, but Dollenburg’s a Jew. That’ll mean —’

  ‘Assorted races. That’ll be his price.’

  ‘You mean … In this case we have to pay it?’

  ‘Sure. So talk to him.’

  ‘Certainly not discussing anything like this on the phone.’

  ‘Use the red one.’

  ‘That’s Operations.’

  ‘Isn’t this? Go ahead, pick it up, my personal authorisation.’

  ‘Steve, how the hell do we justify it? — get the money?’

  ‘Dress it up as an escape ship. They’ll buy that.’

  ‘You really think it’s come to that? — Getting people out?’

  ‘That’s what the NATO boys think. So let them go on thinking it.’

  ‘They don’t think. They panic … And the Russians?’

  ‘They’ll never have a gimmick like this.’

  ‘But they are in a panic?’

  ‘Sure. Hotlines don’t cure everything. Okay, they can take-out ballistic missiles in route. But there’s so much stuff orbiting up there by now —’

  ‘— Chinese stuff as well as —’

  ‘— Right. They only have to hit the wrong one.’

  ‘Jesus.’

  ‘Ricardo, you have to go to work on Dollenburg before one or other type of those damn Reds hits the wrong damn slice of hardware that’s orbiting up there.’

  ‘Or hit one of ours.’

  ‘Same difference. You get this rolling, I’ll push it through the Senate, they scare easy.’

  ‘Except don’t mention it’s Dollenburg.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘Then who pays, Steve? … Costly project. Several billions.’

  ‘That’s only a fraction of the Defence Budget. Once this thing gathers impetus, once we get the full deal on Dollenburg’s pilot project —’

  ‘— We ditch Dollenburg.’

  ‘Affirmative. Then we take-off with a big whack from industry … Pledge massive government contracts and so forth. Not a doubt about it, they’ll play.’

  ‘Not if —’

  ‘— Of course we don’t say what the hell it’s for. What do you think I am? — Some kind of a nut?’

  ‘So we go to —’

  ‘— Heavy industry. Give it some crumby code name and, the hell, it’ll seem like some big step forward in weapon development. And in a way it is. Maybe the only one that can work. Yeah! Some new doom weapon thing, Ricardo. Keep the automobile industry going like crazy … And aviation. Promise lots of SSTs to keep Lockheed, Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas in the red for even longer. The banks love it. Huge overdraft charges and the power to foreclose. Keeps them in paranoia — nice and healthy.’

  ‘You’re thinking about leaking the true purpose to other departments? — What about the State Department?’

  ‘Only the cranks, the fringe people. They’ll nod wisely at a hint dropped on target —’

  ‘— Without quite knowing —’

  ‘— what the target is. Keep them guessing. So secret that people get shot, just for thinking about it. We heat them up and get the rest of the bread right here in Washington.’

  ‘For something unproven, Steve? — No one knows if it’ll work.’

  ‘Proved. It’s proved, Ricardo.’

  ‘Well, Dollenburg didn’t say a thing to me.’

  ‘My orders.’

  ‘That’s why he never published a Paper?’

  ‘That’s why.’

  ‘So you kept it back because of this deal?’

  ‘Yeah, I knew you’d come up with it sooner or later, matter of fact —’

  ‘— That’s cool! You sit here knowing —’

  ‘— how your mind works, Ricardo.’

  ‘That why you did not get onto Dollenburg direct?’

  ‘Partly. But also, well, I’m in an awkward position —’

  ‘— This new legislation you’re trying to push through the Senate?’

  ‘Yeah, but I started that before Dollenburg’s damn Jew-daughter married my son.’

  ‘I’ve heard they’re happy.’

  ‘So what? They won’t be when the new laws start working on their kids.’

  ‘According to you, their kids won’t be around much any more.’

  ‘Maybe none of us will. Then, again —’

  ‘— Wish I could read your mind, Steve. Sometimes I —’

  ‘Main thing is, the basic research is done. Plenty of R and D to implement, but we know it works.’

  ‘Viable semen good as new after three hundred years?’

  ‘Sure. Aryan semen is like multigrade. Runs as smooth as silk and no wear and tear.’

  ‘I never know when you’re joking, Steve.’

  ‘Nor do I.’

  ‘And the incubation cubes?’

  ‘Proved.’

  ‘Only using rabbits.’

  ‘Not only using rabbits.’

  ‘Are you saying? —’

  ‘Homo sapiens, and no flaws. Not one. Alive and kicking. All adopted. I have the records. No questions. Check it out with the CIA. Here’s a joke: CIA think these guys would make ideal material for their outfit.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because they damn-well don’t know where they damn-well came from, that’s why. Scare them about immigration laws. Press-gangs, more or less. Join, or get with the niggers and the jews and the commies.’

  ‘— Alex Huckman will go out of his mind!’

  ‘That wouldn’t be hard.’

  Ricardo gazed around the room. ‘Sir, I don’t wanna get personal, but you are running a tape on this?’

  ‘You know I don’t run tapes. They talk.’

  ‘Odd. I could have sworn … Hell, I get instincts for bugs, Steve. Could have sworn —’

  ‘— Forget it. What I’m handing you is the most confidential brief in history, and I’ll tell you for why, Ricardo.’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘This Mission we’re discussing. Not quite what it seems. See, we need to make the Reds think we’re panicking. Get what I mean? We commission Kasiga and we leak certain … elements of
it to the Soviet Union. Their agents check it out — interrogate some of the guys on the project, get what I mean? They then think we have no answer to their new ICBMs so we fix it so they hit the button. Get the idea? With our new intercept system — the one we did not leak during the SALT ball-game and its derivatives —’

  ‘— So they fire first!’

  ‘Right. End of Russian threat. We destroy their multi-warhead hardware up there in space, then dictate the terms.’

  ‘Kasiga’s the red herring?’

  ‘Check. But we have to believe in it, Ricardo. We have to be certain that any espionage penetration confirms that we have our sums right.’

  ‘But surely, they’ll build a duplicate.’

  ‘By my reckoning, Ricardo, they won’t have time. But they must find no flaw. Futureworld must be technologically perfect. Get that?’.

  ‘On the nose. Only —’

  ‘— Only what?’

  ‘Only your intercept system has to be even more perfect. If that goes wrong, well, the way you’re figuring the strategy, Kasiga is for real.’

  ‘We can stop those Soviet fireworks like Miss World stops the traffic. We have to trust each other, Ricardo. You do your thing, I’ll do mine. Then, finally, we stop crawling up Russia’s ass.’

  ‘Unless they have a counter-weapon, Steve.’

  ‘Ricardo. What do you think the CIA is for? — checking-out your downtown whores? … We act. Now.’

  ‘They won’t see through it?’

  ‘Not unless they can see through two inches of armour plate.’

  ‘Okay, Mr President. But until the planned leak is ripe on the tree, better not let this get out of the Oval Office.’

  *

  A.D. 2293 FEB 3 0001 55

  The glow from the crystal display of the startime clock is green; and the only new development on this apparatus is that the last two digits, having hit zero in the first place, now count forwards. Flick … flick … flick …

  There is poetry in all that ensues. It is as if the creators of this huge shipboard laboratory have been forgiven their shortcomings through the purging process of Time itself. A wandering shadow, in some way miraculously permitted to view and experience what is to follow, would experience only the sheer creativity in those who had, so long before, devised the miracle.