“What do you mean?”
“The changes before you left, the hair color and ear thing,” Paul pointed to his ear, “They have even hit the higher ups!”
“What are you saying?” Tom asked in disbelief.
“A few days after you left we started hearing things trickle down. Like the Lieutenant’s hair turning black. But not only that Tom, there’s more.”
“More?” Tom repeated stunned.
“Yes, not only has it been hair color and ears, but eyes and eye brows. One of the cooks was hospitalized.”
“What for?”
“His jaw and chin began to hurt. He went to the dentist, but they didn’t find anything that would cause the pain. They checked his old x-rays to new ones, and that’s when they saw what was going on. Evidently, his jaw is squaring. They put him in the hospital so they could watch him. They think they might find something out if they see the changes for themselves. It just seems to go on and on with no end.”
Tom didn’t like the sound of this and was glad he’d already made the decision to get out of the army. He wanted to be home with his family and start one of his own.
***
A little over a week after Tom left there was trouble. John woke up and discovered a red rash had covered his cheeks, chin, and neck area. He didn’t have time to look more closely because he had over slept, so he rushed out the door for work. When lunchtime arrived, he grabbed his lunch out of the refrigerator and put it in the microwave.
“Hi John.” A familiar voice spoke behind him.
“Hi Black Rabbit,” he answered back.
As the men sat to eat, Black Rabbit looked at him quizzically. “We have the same rash.”
John rubbed his chin. “Yeah it started a few days ago. I don’t think its poison ivy though, it isn’t spreading.”
“Well, there are a few of us who have it,” whispered Black Rabbit.
“What do you mean, a few others have it?”
“It seems that some of us have a red rash on our face. Jack, Pete, and Kai have it too. They don’t know what it could be. Kai is going to go to the doctors tomorrow to see if they can figure it out.”
“Well, let me know. At least it doesn’t itch too much.”
“Yes, it could be worse I guess.”
When lunch was over, the men went back to their workstations.
The next day when John woke up the rash seemed to have gotten worse. The little bumps were larger and itched. He called the doctor for an appointment.
“Eleven? Okay, thanks,” he finished and hung up the phone. Things like this didn’t bother him much, but due to the fact that others had the rash as well concerned him.
***
“John,” the nurse called out. He rose and followed her to the examining room. “Now what brings you here today?”
“I have a rash on my face.”
She gave him a good look, typed something into his chart, and smiled reassuringly. “The doctor will be right in.”
John knew what that meant, wait. After a few minutes, the doctor walked in.
“Hi, John.”
“Hi Doctor Sean.”
“Well what do we have?”
He and John had known each other from childhood. Sean had moved away for medical school then came back to help his fellow Native Americans. He took a good look at John’s face and leaned back in his seat. “One moment…” He pulled over a large magnifying glass with a bright light attached. “Hmmm.”
“What?”
“Well John, you are the fourteenth person I’ve seen this week for the same reason. I must admit, it’s more difficult to tell a woman what it is than a man.”
“What is it?”
“You, my friend, are growing a beard!”
“No! There’s no way Sean, you know that.” John wailed.
“Well I can tell you that not only are you growing a beard, but there are women growing one too.” He paused for a moment then added, “Did you go to Tom’s welcome home party?”
“Yes.”
“Everyone I have seen thus far, for the same rash, went to the party. It’s very odd I must admit.”
“Sean, we’re Native Americans. We’ve never been able to grow a beard.”
“John, not only are you growing a beard, but women of different nationalities are as well! It’s all very strange, and I’m trying to find an answer for it.”
“What do I do in the mean time?”
Doctor Sean opened the door to leave and called out over his shoulder, “Shave!”
John sat there for a moment trying to take in what Sean had told him. The thought of women growing a beard disturbed him more than the fact that he was growing one. Even worse was the thought that they had all been in the same place at the same time. What could possibly have happened to make such a thing possible?
A few days later when John woke, he grabbed the gossip magazine he liked to read at breakfast. He believed the stories, for the most part, were made up with just a grain of truth to them, but found them mildly entertaining. He looked at the front page in utter disbelief. A young woman of about thirty had at least a six-day growth of beard on her face. The poor thing was caught getting into her car at a doctor’s office and was trying to shield her face from the camera, but was unsuccessful.
He could see the fear in her eyes and what made it worse was the headline ‘The Bearded Lady.’ He read the article and it told the story of women and Native Americans growing beards around Farmington, New Mexico. What was going on?
***
On the flight to Keflavik International Airport, Mark Ahrens noticed one thing; he was the only dark skinned person on the flight. Before his trip, he had searched the Internet for information on Iceland. He found that the population was ninety-four percent a mixture of Norse/Celtic descendants. He was lucky in the fact that English was mandatory in their education. He took his seat next to an older man and settled in for a long flight. The flight attendant made her rounds, and everyone got as comfortable as possible.
By the end of the flight, everyone was more than ready to disembark. Mark made his way to baggage claim where he saw a young woman holding a sign with his name on it, so he introduced himself. They walked to her car and she drove Mark to his hotel.
She dropped him off and said, “Mister Donell, the supervisor of the department you are working in, will pick you up in the morning at seven.”
“Okay. Thank you for the ride.” Mark closed the door and checked in to his room.
He went through his notes and turned in for the night. The next morning, Mark was at the front entrance by six forty-five. After a few minutes, his cell phone rang. He hastily answered it.
“Hello.”
“Mister Ahrens?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Mister Donell. I’ll be picking you up this morning.”
“Yes sir. I’m at the front entrance.”
“Good, I’m pulling up there now. Which one are you?”
Mark looked around and saw there were six other men and a woman waiting for their rides, but he was the only one with dark skin.
Mark chuckled. “Well sir, I’m the dark skinned one.”
“Oh I see you,” Mister Donell rolled his window down. “I’m the one waving,”
Mark gave a wave and walked to the passenger side of the car. He opened the door. “Mister Donell?”
“Hop in Mister Ahrens, nice to meet you,” he held out his hand to shake.
The trip to the factory took less than fifteen minutes. They got to work right away when they arrived.
***
To get everything as it should be would take a minimum of two weeks. Mark decided to find a list of local restaurants for variety. He asked the attendant at the front desk in his hotel where he could go for dinner. She gave him a couple places but said one was very popular with those who lived in the area so he decided to go to that one, which was very crowded. As he ordered his drink, he noticed a group of locals next to him. They were having
a few drinks and enjoying themselves.
One of the men in the group turned to him after he heard him order. “Ah, an American.”
Mark did not know how to take the remark, so he smiled at the man. “Hi.”
“Come, come join us,” the man said gesturing to Mark, “We’re celebrating the birth of my son.”
He held his hand out for the new father to shake. “Hi, I’m Mark Ahrens. Congratulations.”
“Yes, this is very good,” the man said. “I have three daughters!”
“I have one of each. My son is thirteen and my daughter in nine.”
“Very good, very good,” the man answered as he motioned the server to bring Mark’s drink to their table.
There seemed to be a constant flow of people coming and going from the group. It was a rather large group to start with, and Mark thought he must have met over twenty people in that one evening. He was having such a good time he didn’t realize that two hours had passed by. He thanked everyone for a nice evening, congratulated the new dad once again and went back to his room.
His trip was going quite well. He hadn’t known what to expect when he had first arrived, but now he thought Iceland would be a wonderful place to bring his family for a vacation.
Chapter Four
Daniel’s Secret
A few days after Emily’s departure, Daniel woke up early and went into the kitchen to get breakfast. Sweetie, rubbed against his leg.
“You hungry too Sweetie?” He stooped and picked her up. He lifted the cat so that they were face-to-face. He stopped dead in his tracks.
“It worked! It actually worked.”
Holding the cat high in the air, Daniel danced around the room at the realization of what this meant. He was so excited he wanted to tell someone. Of course he wanted to tell Emily but she was working. Then Austin came to mind, but an appalling thought struck him. What will his reaction be when he finds out what I’ve done?
He put the cat out while he finished getting ready for work. Before leaving, he let Sweetie back in. Picking her up one more time he again marveled at her eyes changing from green to blue.
***
Surprisingly, the next round of tests didn’t take as long as Daniel feared. All results were positive. Daniel grew more excited at the prospect of testing being completed.
“Austin, do you think we’ll be doing much more testing?”
“Well, Daniel, I need to finish my report, but I think next week we can send it to my superiors letting them know the outcome.”
“Austin that’s great!”
The knowledge that his colleague was ready to move forward gave Daniel the courage to tell him about Sweetie. “Austin, I need to —”
RING. RING. Austin held up his hand to silence Daniel as he answered the phone. After listening to the caller for a few moments he started nodding his head. “Okay, I’ll leave immediately.”
Austin hung up the phone. “Daniel I have to leave, will you lock up?”
“Sure, is everything alright?”
“Yes, just the government wanting info on another matter.”
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”
***
In the days following that phone call, Austin was out of the lab more than he was in it. This made it impossible for Daniel to find time to tell Austin of the successful outcome with the cat.
The day Emily arrived back at the airport Daniel had busied himself with his work until it was time for him to pick her up. She was tired so the ride home was quiet.
Daniel would steal glances at her and after a few she finally smiled at him. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing, nothing at all,” he answered sheepishly.
“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” she said laughing. She squirmed in her seat to find a more comfortable position. “How about we get take out instead of stopping to eat somewhere?”
“Too tired honey?”
“Yes and I want to get home.”
They went through a drive through and headed home. The moment Emily entered the door Sweetie was at her feet. She picked the cat up and gave her a hug and Eskimo kiss “I missed you too Sweetie.”
The rest of the day closed into evening and finally Daniel couldn’t stand it any longer. “I can’t believe you haven’t noticed!”
“What?” Emily asked looking around the room trying to find what she has missed.
“Take a good look at your cat.”
Emily picked Sweetie up and gave her a good once over. She checked her paws and stomach and gave her coat an extra good look. Finally, she got to her face and stood for a moment in silence. “Her eyes, Daniel her eyes are blue!”
“Yes! The same as yours!”
“But how?”
“Well now that’s the thing Emily.” She looked at him with a worried expression so he added, “No, it’s okay… It’s Austin’s and my experiment.”
“Austin’s experiment?”
“Yes, I um… well, I took it,” the words flooded from him. “It was a good thing because it works!”
Emily stood stunned. She could not believe he would have done such a thing. “What did Austin say when you told him?”
“I haven’t told him yet.” Putting up his hands in defense of what she was about to say, he added, “I wanted you to be the first to know. I’ll tell him.”
“Oh Daniel, I don’t know about this.”
“Emily, Austin and I are very careful with our work. He said we are ready to move forward so the fact that this worked on the cat is just a confirmation. Austin may be upset at first, but when he learns it worked he’ll calm down.”
Emily shook her head not knowing what to think. She looked at the cat again; she liked the blue eyes, but was it safe to have conducted such an experiment on her? “Will she get sick from it?”
“No, no Emily. I did this before you even left. She’s been fine.” Daniel smiled uneasily at her, trying to justify his actions.
The next day, while waiting in the checkout lane at the market with Daniel, Emily picked up a tabloid. All she could do was stare at the headline. “The Bearded Lady.” What a strange title. She skimmed over the cover. It told the story of women and some Native Americans in New Mexico growing beards.
“Daniel?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Can Native Americans grow beards?”
“No, I don’t think they have much facial hair. Why?”
“I was reading the front page of the magazine,” she pointed to the rack, “and it struck me as funny.”
Once they reached their car in the parking lot she asked, “I was wondering if you had told Austin about Sweetie.”
“Not yet,” he answered squeamishly. “I just haven’t found the right time.”
“Ask him to supper Daniel. We’ll tell him together.”
“Okay, tomorrow night good?”
“Yes, we’ll tell him together,” she repeated and kissed his cheek.
As Daniel and Emily were taking their groceries into the house, Daniel’s cell began to ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Daniel, it’s Austin.”
“Hi, Austin.” Daniel gave Emily a funny look and shrugged because of the timing of Austin’s call.
“I have to go out of town later tonight and was wondering if I could come over and say goodbye?”
“Sure, do you have time for supper?” Daniel asked looking at Emily for an answer from her. She nodded ‘yes’ with a smile and began putting things away.
“That sounds good! See you around five?”
“Five it is. See you then.”
As he helped Emily put things away he chuckled. “What timing!”
Emily laughed. While he was putting milk in the refrigerator he added, “I guess I’ll tell him tonight.”
“We’ll tell him tonight.” Emily gave him a sweet smile, “I’m going to give my mom a call.”
“Okay.”
Emily went up to their bedroom to make the call. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hi
Emily, how’d work go?”
“Oh, Okay. It was busy but it’s always that way.”
“At least you have a stable job.”
“Yes. Oh I was wondering …” Emily talked with her mom for about twenty minutes. They caught up on current family events before Emily tried getting off the phone with her.
“Well I’d better go. I’m meeting some of the girls for supper tonight.”
“I like that you stay busy dear. Any new boyfriends?”
“Oh, Mom.”
“I just want you to be happy dear.”
“I know but I don’t have to have a boyfriend to be happy mom.”
“I know dear. I just worry about you, that’s all.”
“Mom, don’t worry about me. I do great and anyway with my job it’s hard to meet someone.”
“But with your job you meet so many people.”
“People I don’t know! There’s a friend of one of the girls’ that might be there, maybe he’ll be the one.” Emily felt bad leading her mom on that way but it was always part of their conversation so maybe this will quiet her for a while.
“I hope he’s nice.”
“I’ll let you know. I gotta’ let you go so I can get ready.”
“Okay, talk to you later.”
“Bye, Mom.”
***
Daniel opened their door at 4:30 pm. Austin’s lips curled up into a sad little smile as he peaked inside the house. “Hi Daniel, do you mind that I’m a little early? It’s a beautiful evening and the prospect of sitting outside with a cold beer is very enticing.”
“No, not at all, I’ll be right back.” Daniel got them each a beer, and the two men went outside and sat, neither of them saying much.
Finally, Daniel broke the silence. “Where are you going?”
“It’s a government job.”
That was all Austin had to say. Daniel knew that Austin had top security clearance and would say no more. “Need a ride to the airport?”
“Sure, if you’re not too busy.”
Genetic Flux (Phase One Book 1) Page 3