“Mister Davies.” He inserted an artificial enthusiasm in his voice, hoping that Davies wouldn’t catch onto his deceit. “How are the fish biting?” Rusty had spent a couple of the most relaxing and fulfilling days of his life on the bank of a South Carolina river beside Gerald. He allowed the memory to flow over him and restore the calm that he had felt in those moments.
“Well, by God, you’ll have to come see for yourself. I ain’t had a good excuse to go back out there since you left.”
“If you only knew how badly I’d like to be there with you.”
“Hang up the damned phone, get in the car and get your city slicker ass down here, then.”
“Oh, how I wish I could.” Rusty sighed.
“We’re both going to need it after what I have to tell you. We might even need to find a place to hide.” Gerald’s voice suddenly had a grim tone to it; like he’d made a grisly discovery of some sort.
Rusty sighed heavily. He didn’t need any more bad news. “Okay, tell me.”
“Well, we didn’t notice it as much with the pigs that were born, the gray/green skin was a little smoother than usual, but like with the chickens, everybody figured that meant that they would have higher quality meat. However, when we started seeing the sheep, goats and calves that were dropping that’s when we picked it up. To put it simply, they came a great deal earlier than their usual gestation period and the mothers had a great deal more trouble with natural birth. Hell, I don’t think our vets here have gotten a wink of sleep in several weeks now, what with all of the C-sections they’ve been doing at all hours.”
“So, help me out with this.” Rusty thought he understood, but he needed more.
“Most producers are used to seeing their first birth mothers of whatever species have some problems, but this is going way beyond anything they’ve seen before. Most cattle producers, for example, don’t grain their mother cows, if they do, it’s typically a cottonseed based cake or meal and maybe a little salt and mineral, so organic, pastured cattle won’t be affected; however, a lot of your ranchers will feed their weanlings a little corn, but the minute they see what it’s doing to their calves they’re going to be suspicious and with what’s already out concerning this corn, they’ll cut that out first.
“That would be the big operations out west, like in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Montana. Hell, Rusty, a lot of those cattle only see a man a half dozen times in their lives. What we have here is a good deal different. Most all of our local beef, sheep, goats, etc. are supplemented when pasture runs out during the winter months, so we have a different situation.
“Around here, these babies that are being born are growing faster inside the womb as well as out. Some like the idea that they have rapid gain afterward, but like I said, it’s playing havoc with the veterinarians. But that’s not the worst part.”
“What’s the worst part?” He had to get the facts for his call to the President.
“The worst part is that they’re being born without any hair.”
There was a long silence. For a moment, Rusty wondered if he’d lost the connection. “You still there?”
“Yeah. Just letting that sink in for a minute.”
“Gray/green skin and no hair. I suppose that will mean that they’re sterile too?”
“Not much way of telling at the moment, but if the research that’s been done is a solid sample of what we’re going to see…” He didn’t want to finish the sentence and he didn’t have to.
Rusty suddenly realized the implications across the board. The livestock industry was going to be hit hard. Suddenly, he started thinking beyond the livestock industry, what about horses, now that oats had been added to the list. They weren’t a meat animal, but hairless horses? What other hairy mammals that eat corn, oats and wheat were going to be effected. The answer that came to him made the hair stand up on his neck. He dialed the White House.
“I need a secure line to the President and it is extremely urgent.” His number was identified immediately and he was sent into a security check that would connect him into a secure line.
“Mister Whitman, hold on one minute for the President,” the voice said.
Rusty heard a different tone to the line and knew that he’d been connected to the secure line. He couldn’t quite describe it, but it was sort of like being inside of a culvert. The wait was at least a full minute, allowing him to put together his thoughts.
“What you got Rusty?”
“Sir, I just got some news from South Carolina that pertains to the GM Hybrid situation.”
“Go ahead.” The President’s tone didn’t seem happy to have to go through anything dealing with a problem that was rapidly growing out of control, but he’d told Rusty to call him the second he heard anything.
“You’re not gonna like this, sir.” Rusty repeated nearly word for word what Gerald had told him and then waited in silence. He wasn’t sure what he expected the President to say, but he certainly wasn’t prepared for what Calvin James did.
“Alright. Thank you for the update. Keep on top of it and keep me in the loop.” As soon as he finished speaking, the line went dead.
“What was that about?” Hannah asked. “Were you just talking to the President?”
Rusty hadn’t heard her come back into his office and he’d been turned away toward the window, so he hadn’t seen her either. “Yes. I was talking to the President.”
“So, what I had predicted is now happening?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“A lot faster than I thought, but I’m not surprised. They’ve really screwed the pooch on this one,” she said.
“We’ve really screwed the pooch. Not you, of course, but the rest of us have.”
“I’ve got to get in touch with Dr. Greene,” she said. “Are we allowed to connect me to him on Skype?”
“I think so. Just remember that it’ll be monitored. You come do it. My screen has the camera built in.”
Hannah hopped into his chair and started hammering away at keys to connect. Rusty watched her concentrating and recalled the same look on her mother’s face whenever she was completely focused on something. In a moment, a finger went to her hair and started twirling a cluster of locks; exactly like Catherine used to do.
“Hannah, about before…”
“Shhh, Rusty, we’ve got bigger fish to fry right now. Speaking of fish, I’m kinda hungry. How about you?”
Rusty smiled. He wasn’t off the hook, but life was moving forward, maybe time would heal the wounds. “We’ll get some,” he replied.
He heard Hannah connect with Dr. Greene and begin talking. There wasn’t much point in him hanging around to listen, so he slipped out of the room and went to place an order for some of DC’s best seafood. Not being sure what she would prefer, he ordered a sampler platter of several kinds. Once he hung up the phone, the thought of fish took him back to the bank of that slow moving river in South Carolina. As soon as they could get away, he’d take Hannah fishing there. If she’d go.
34
Washington, DC
Tuesday Afternoon
Rusty’s Home
“Hi Dr. Greene! Did you miss me?” Hannah teased in her most cheerful voice, with her best smile on, as soon as she saw her mentor’s face on the screen.
“Hannah, my dear girl, where on earth are you?” he asked.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story, which I’ll tell you all about later, but I’m at Rusty’s house in D.C.”
“D.C.? Well, explain you must, but are you alright?”
“Oh, for sure, for sure. I kinda got into a little trouble, but Rusty took care of it,” she said.
“Is that why Homeland Security came to question me about you?”
“Oh, crapola! I’m SO sorry that I had to have them bother you with this, but they thought I was some kind of criminal or something.”
“My only concern is for you at this point Hannah. How can I help you with this debacle?” Dr. Greene asked.
“Well, I can’t come back right this second, so I was kinda hoping that I could bounce an idea I have off you, and sweet-talk you into getting the team to follow up on it?”
“Let’s hear it first, shall we? Then we’ll talk about what to do with it,” he said.
“OK so, I’m gonna hafta leave out some of the ‘reasons why’ for right now, but we need an easy way to test for the presence of that terminator gene we discovered. I’ve been noodling on how to do that, and in a conversation with Rusty, it came to me. The terminator gene is difficult to test for, but where it is, the algae and bamboo genes are as well, right? So, testing for the minute traces of the unique oil produced by that particular strain of algae should be as easy as a swab test, right? By adding a reactant chemical to the swab, it’d be just like testing for human blood at a crime scene. Whatcha think?” she asked.
“Yes, yes, you are correct my dear. We should be able to develop that rather quickly. How soon do you need this?”
“Well, here’s the thing Dr. Greene. We need this test developed and proven, ASAP. Then it’ll need to be mass produced like, like nothing we’ve ever seen before volume. I’ll ask Rusty to help us with that. So, I guess just hit me back here and update me when you can?”
“Hit you back, dear?” he asked.
“Hahaha! Dr. Greene… Call me back on Skype at this address,” she explained, acting like she was looking over her non-existent glasses, like he would do.
“Oh, yes. Yes of course I will,” he said, and simply disconnected without another word.
“Rusty?” she called out. “I have a question.”
“It’ll be here any minute,” he answered.
“What will be?”
“The fish, silly! You said you wanted fish, so I’m having some delivered.”
“Oh yum!” she said. “But that’s not what I was asking. Can you hook us up getting a swab test mass produced? Gigantinormously mass produced, like yesterday, as soon as I get the details back from Dr. Greene?”
“Probably, if you make a compelling case for it. You’re talking about that test for the terminator gene, right?”
“Correct,” she answered, not looking at him, and resumed her thinking position on his couch. Her mind now automatically moving forward, considering this step accomplished, onto the reversal of this in humans. ‘Does this new breakthrough offer any opportunity for taking this genetic modification back apart, or for the targeting of those cells, to set them up for destruction to prevent them from reproducing themselves, much like a cancer treatment?’
She sat up suddenly to move to the computer to research this, and nearly upset the plate of fish, coleslaw and corn relish that Rusty was bringing to her. “Whew!” she said. “I nearly did it, jerking around like that. Sorry.”
“You do eat fish, yes?” Rusty asked, suddenly remembering her ‘different’ eating habits.
“Yes siree. Fish, check. Eggs, check. Meat, negatory.”
“Where were you headed on two wheels?” he asked.
“To your computer to research a thought, but it can wait. Maybe we can talk about it while we eat?”
Rusty had a moment of reflection at her suggestion. ‘This is what I’ve missed out on all these years.’ The idea of simple conversation over a meal with one’s own child felt foreign to him, but very appealing. ‘I could get used to this!’
“So here’s what I was thinking…” Hannah began to explain her thoughts as they ate, with her feet naturally curling under her to the side as they sat. Eating and talking, like they’d done this forever.
35
Washington, DC
Thurs, Jan 14, 2021
Rusty’s Home
“Hello my dear,” Dr. Greene began, even before his face appeared in the video chat window, as was his custom. Hannah recognized her mentor’s voice immediately. As his face showed up, too close to the camera, like usual, she had an instant feeling of homesickness. She missed him. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is; it was fairly easy as you suggested, to create a compound that reacts by changing color when coming into contact with the exact vegetable oil produced by that strain of algae. Putting it on a sterile swab kit like you wanted was of course routine. It works very well with saliva or any bodily fluids. Blood or urine work equally well. Even the dry grains show it, if the swab is moistened with distilled water. The color change is instant, to a nice dark green.”
“That’s great news Dr. Greene! Oh… I miss you guys so much… Now we can easily test our food before we eat it to see if it contains the ‘W-Factor’,” Hannah said.
“The W-Factor?” he asked.
“Well, I had to call it something, so W for Walsanto is shorthand for it.”
“Ah, haha! I see,” he chuckled. “I miss your amusing young self, as well. I doubt however, that since they will likely be selling these test kits to the public that Walsanto will appreciate that term very much. Why not consider calling it something like the ‘GG-Factor’, shorthand for gray/green?”
“Oh-duh? Why didn’t I think of that? You’re def the rightest of all right guys, Dr. Greene. GG-Factor it is, from now on then,” Hannah said with a big smile for him. “Hey,” she said, changing her look to one of seriousness. “You said that there was bad news too? Not too bad, I hope?”
“Well. I hope it’s not as well. That remains to be seen,” he said. “The entire forensic genetics team and I have tested positive for the GG-Factor, I’m afraid.”
“OMG! That’s awful! Did you double and triple check? Are you sure?” Hannah asked.
“Very sure,” he answered. “Even young Susan, who is a strict vegan, tests positive.”
“Well, yeah! Anyone who has eaten anything made from corn, wheat or oats anywhere on the planet, or even those who have eaten any animal that has eaten corn, wheat, or oat products or by-products in feed is at risk!” she thought out loud.”
“I’m afraid that we came to the same conclusion here, Hannah dear. I have sworn the team to secrecy for now, but you know as well as I do that I cannot enforce that. Some of them are rather frightened already,” he said.
“Yeah, I get that. I’m pretty freaked out wondering if I have it right about now,” she replied. “The next logical question I have is; ‘How much of it’ do I have?”
“What do you mean, ‘how much of it’?” he asked. “And what importance does that hold?”
“Well, like, what rough percentage of the total cell count of my body, estimated by parts per million from a urine sample,” she replied.
“Again, why?” he asked.
“Because silly, everybody is going to want to know how bad they have it, right after they find out they do. And, we need a way to let them pre-screen themselves for us, because there’s just no way that we can do bloodwork on everyone fast enough to figure out who are the good candidates.”
“Candidates for what, dear girl?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry. Well, see, I have this idea for reversing the GG-Factor, but I’m pretty sure that it could only be used on people that have a super low percentage of involvement. If they say they test low from a home test, then we’d at least have some idea of who to do bloodwork on to see if it’s safe to try on them,” Hannah answered.
“Go on, why must it ‘be safe’, I fail to get that.”
“Because it occurs to me Dr. Greene that since the body is reproducing these cells, it considers them no threat to itself, much like what happens with a cancerous tumor. So, it leaves them alone to do their work, just like that cancerous tumor. My idea is to make just these cells sick by targeting them in a way similar to the swab test, and attaching a strong but easily controlled virus to them. Think of how the breakthrough treatment of 2014 worked, where oncologists were able to directly inject a live, but toned down variety of the polio virus directly into a tumor. They adapted it so that the virus targeted only cancer cells and attached themselves to them. Then the body’s own immune system saw those cells as a polio threat, and attacked the
m vigorously. Even patients with stage 4 cancers, as long as the total body percentage was low enough were cured completely. Patients that had too high of a total body involvement percentage died from the treatment. This would be the same thing. We mark the GG-Factor cells with something that attaches itself and let the immune system do its thing!”
“That’s absolutely brilliant Hannah! I believe that you are correct. That should work!”
“I’m fairly certain that we only want to consider testing first generation carriers. Second generation, or the offspring of ‘changed’ people would be practically 100% involved. This treatment would kill them for sure,” she said.
“Agreed,” he said. “My dear, I’ll tell the team straight away. You’ve just made the whole world’s day, and they don’t even know it yet!”
“Looks like we need to kill some chickens and pigs to test this out right away,” Hannah said, thinking aloud again. “I’m going to have Rusty beg President James to let me come back there to help with this. As important as this is, I don’t see how he can refuse. Try to keep everyone quiet about this for as long as you can. We’re gonna get ‘run over’ when this gets out!”
“Agreed once again,” he said. “We’ll get on this right away. I hope to see you soon dear girl.” With that, the screen went blank, as was also Dr. Greene’s habit.
Just as Hannah closed the video chat window, it popped back up again, and there was Dr. Greene again. “Oh, I forgot to tell you Hannah that I applied for a patent in your name for the swab test. It was, after all, your idea. I have all of the documentation here, as I don’t want to send it there and have it intercepted. I suggest that you offer a licensing fee; much like the college has done forever on each unit produced. Something lucrative, perhaps $1 per kit or something, when you present this for manufacture.”
The Rise of Walsanto (Genetic Apocalypse Book 3) Page 20