The Shox Gene Variant

by Bob Cooper

  Raina listened intently while the Senator explained his relationship with Dorthea. Finally, she had had enough. “I don’t think I need to hear any more of your personal life. I want you to know that I’ll work for you in any way you choose. You have my word on that.”

  “Thank you. That’s nice to hear. I know she’s been talking to you about a Presidential run. I know about the interviews and publicity she’s arranged. Why do you think she’s doing that?”

  “I’d like to think because she believes that I have something to offer this country and the party and …”

  The Senator laughed out loud. “My young, impressionable, and gullible junior senator. Can’t you see she’s using you to push her agenda?”

  Raina felt humiliated that she had let herself be manipulated. The Senator saw that she was embarrassed.

  “It’s okay. I did the same thing. So did a lot of other people. Be very careful. If you need to discuss anything, I’m always here.”

  Raina walked out of the office confused. He was the second person to warn her about Dorthea.

  ***

  The smell of sterile antiseptic and bright lights woke Carina. Hearing voices, she turned toward them, finding it difficult to focus.

  “Jonathan!” she called out in a panic.

  Squinting to get a better look at her surroundings, she tried to sit up. Restraints held her fast to a table. The voices continued. As the drugs wore off, she was able to make out Jonathan lying on a table next to her. He looked unconscious. All she could remember was two burly men coming into the room. They must have drugged us, she thought.

  “Hey! Let us out of here! Let us go!” she screamed.

  That caught the attention of the two guards in the room for a second, but they ignored her, continuing their discussion.

  “Carina, is that you?” a confused Jonathan asked.

  “Yes. Are you all right?”

  “I guess.”

  Concentrating on her body, Carina mentally took stock of any pain. Other than a headache and pain in her groin, she was fine.

  “How about you?”

  “I’m okay. What did they do?”

  Before she could answer, a female lab technician pulled open her pupils and shined a light in them.

  “Get your filthy hands off me! Let me go!” Carina shouted.

  After checking Jonathan, the lab tech yelled to the other technicians in the room. “They’re both awake. Get them out of here.”

  Two men maneuvered them out of the room and down the hall. Carina saw someone from the corner of her eye. “Gretchen! Is that you? Get us out of here!”

  Gretchen jumped when she heard her name called. They made eye contact.

  “Gretchen, please!”

  Stunned by the plea for help, she froze and watched as they passed. Carina’s stare turned to ice and wouldn’t let go.

  21

  Acey was at the spaceport filing the flight plan for the mining cargo transport ship. Dirk had accompanied her and studied the vessel while Acey talked to the flight director. The ship was smaller than the Exploration Class Starships he piloted at the Academy. A maintenance crew was cleaning and inspecting it. While Acey was completing the flight plan and the insurance paperwork, he opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder to the bridge. The cleaning crew paid no attention to him.

  The ship was not equipped with faster-than-light capabilities and seemed tight and confined. Even the smaller ship brought back memories of his off-world exploits. There were three levels – level three was the bridge and conference rooms, level two was the crew quarters and cafeteria, and level one was the cargo holds. Taking the elevator down to the cargo area, he found several large holds that were open and one that was secured by an overhead door. Opening it, he walked in to look around. It was encased with radiation shielding used for radioactive ore that was occasionally transported.

  His com link buzzed.

  “Hey, where are you?”

  “I’m on the ship. I’ll be right out,” he said to Acey.

  Leaving the ship, he saw a concerned look on her face. He grinned at her. “Looks like a nice ship. I didn’t see any weapons on it.”

  “It’s a cargo ship. Captain Tom said he would supply the weapons.”

  “Who’s going?”

  Her face tightened, and she let out a deep sigh before speaking. “Captain Tom and Foster. But Aidan and Annie want to go.”

  “I see,” he said, noting her frustration grow. .

  “They have no business going. It’s too dangerous. Aidan promised he wouldn’t get involved in anything dangerous.”

  Dirk nodded, agreeing with her. He thought about reminding Acey how she, Raina, Aidan, and Billy rescued Hillary from her kidnappers despite warnings from the Guard to stay out of it, but he decided not to argue the point.

  “When are they leaving?”

  “Tomorrow morning, at seven.”

  Acey watched the wheels turn. “Why?”

  “Oh, I’m just curious.”

  “Don’t you even think about doing anything stupid. You hear.”

  “Who me?”

  ***

  Raina marched over to Dorthea’s office after trying unsuccessfully to contact her for an appointment. She didn’t mind playing politics when needed, but being taken advantage of because of her naivety made her furious. Referring to a map, she found the ‘hideaway’; as these second offices were called. These were offices some Senator’s maintained for various reasons. Her husband had set this up for her use. Raina knocked and waited. She knocked again, harder this time. Calm down. Don’t show your anger, she thought. Discouraged, she turned to leave when her com link buzzed. It was Dorthea.

  “Dorthea, I’m at your office and …”

  “I know. I heard you knock. Come on in.”

  The door opened, and Raina looked directly at her. “We need to talk.”

  “So I suspected. Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”

  Raina gripped the sides of the chair and bit her lip. The thoughts that ran through her mind ended with her choking the hell out of Dorthea. Calm down. Talk rationally, she told herself.

  “Let’s start with my meeting with the President.”

  Dorthea leaned forward. “Look, I know my husband is upset. But I did what was best for your career. I wanted you to dazzle the President with your knowledge, charm, and personality. And it worked. He told me he’s very impressed with you.”

  Raina’s teeth clenched, and she couldn’t hold back any longer. “I have had enough of your bullshit. I don’t trust you one bit. You took advantage of me. Why?”

  “Is that what he told you? I genuinely believe you have great potential and I would like to be the one to show the world your vision.”

  “You only want to be in the limelight again. I read about your failed run for political office. You were trounced when you ran for the House. Your husband supported you so you can’t blame him.”

  Dorthea let out a gasp. Her eyes watered and Raina expected a vehement denial. “If that’s what you want to believe, then go ahead. All I can say is you’re right about me screwing up my run for the House. But you’re dead wrong about my motives for wanting to help you with a presidential campaign,” she responded.

  “And what are your motives?”

  “My motives are simple – to get you elected President of the United States. The sooner you start trusting me, the faster we can proceed.”

  Raina had a gut feeling there was more to her motives than she admitted. “Then let’s clear the air once and for all. I want to talk to you and the Senator, together, and I want all my questions answered. And if I don’t feel comfortable after that, you won’t run my campaign.”

  Dorthea looked at Raina, trying to decide how to answer. “Okay, I’ll set it up.

  Raina left without saying goodbye.

  ***

  Gretchen and her father sat in the auditorium, along with scientists and dignitaries from the Fourth Reich watching the larg
e monitor as the team hovered around the cylinder-like device. Inside was the embryo created from the Carina-Jonathan fertilization. The lead scientist turned to address the spectators.

  “The embryo has developed as we expected. The union of the two children has greatly increased not only the physical abilities of our creation, but also the ability to remotely view and communicate with each other telepathically. This means that the army of clones can take direction from us but can collectively decide how to implement our orders without our programming each clone.”

  Gretchen was fascinated, but wasn’t convinced that it would be as easy as they believed.

  “The next step is to grow the embryo in the artificial womb. Normally, it would take years for the clone to grow to maturity, but we have learned how to shorten the process to a few minutes.”

  There were murmurings among the spectators. Gretchen looked at her father. “That’s impossible. How can they do that?” she asked.

  The scientist continued. “By using the SHOX gene variant from the Bayberry girl, we were able to control the growth and maturation of bones in the arms and legs. We can also control the rate at which the maturation progresses. Allow me to proceed with the process.”

  No one said a word as they watched a greenish fog fill the cylinder. There was a flash of light and gasses expelled through a vent. The auditorium was filled with an antiseptic smell. Once completely vented, a human-like form lay there. The auditorium broke out in sheer bedlam. They rushed down to the cylinder to get a better view. Gretchen’s father took her hand and led her through the crowd directly to see for themselves. A human male, around six feet tall with blond wavy hair and deep blue eyes lay there naked in all his Aryan glory. There was not a flaw on his body, his skin as smooth as a newborn.

  “Please stand back,” the scientist ordered.

  The crowd moved back a few steps, and the top of the cylinder half slid off the bottom. Another scientist approached with an instrument that emitted a shock to the boy’s leg. Suddenly, the eyes opened, and they heard a loud gasp for air. His body tightened which caused his penis to jump up for a second before returning to normal. A tingle went through Gretchen’s body as she thought of Aidan. She quickly dismissed her thoughts. The boy sat up and looked around. Discovering his nakedness, he covered his privates with his hands. A scientist draped a blanket around him. He stood up and looked at everyone. Then he looked at the lead scientist.

  “Who are these people, Father?”

  The spectators stood there in jaw-dropping silence, stunned at the achievement by the scientific team.

  “These are your family,” he said.

  The boy nodded to everyone.

  “Go with this young lady and wait for me, my son,” the scientist said. He was led away. Still, no one said anything until Gretchen broke the silence.

  “Are you ready to begin the replication process for the others?” she asked.

  “We need to do some tests first, but that shouldn’t take more than a day. Once completed, we can start the process in earnest.”

  There were a million other questions which the team answered. They were there all day and part of the night before the scientists were satisfied.

  “Are there any more questions?”

  “Yes,” said Gretchen.

  “Have you fixed the problem with each subsequent clone losing some ability from the previous?”

  “We believe we have. We saw this degradation in their abilities with the R1, R2, and R3 replicants. Again, the SHOX gene variant contains the needed genetic programming to ensure this doesn’t happen from now on.”

  “One more question. What are your plans for the boy and the girl?”

  “Since we can keep the embryo indefinitely, they are no longer of any use to us.”

  A cold chill ran through Gretchen as she heard him say, “They will be eliminated.”

  ***

  Aidan picked up Captain Tom and headed for the spaceport where Acey and Annie were to meet them. Foster was already there loading supplies and armament on board the cargo ship. Aidan had convinced everyone he should be included on this mission. They arrived before dawn.

  “Good morning. It’s loaded, and we’re ready to leave anytime you are,” Foster said.

  “Good work, Private. We’re waiting for some last-minute paperwork, and we’ll be off.”

  Aidan looked around for Acey and Annie and saw them walking towards them. He kissed them both.

  “I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

  “I wish you would reconsider and let the Guard handle this,” Acey said.

  “I need to do this. Just think of the favorable publicity we’ll get for the agency.”

  Acey wasn’t happy, and Aidan didn’t want to leave under those conditions. “Come over here. I want to talk to you,” he said, directing Acey behind the parked cruiser. “I promise to be very careful. I won’t take any chances. But Carina is family to us. And families stick together.”

  “I know. But this is dangerous. And keep an eye on Foster. He’s going to be our son-in-law.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “He asked my permission to marry Annie. He said he was going to ask you.”

  He looked over to Annie who was kissing Foster.

  “Looks like we have a wedding to plan,” Aidan said.

  He took Acey in his arms and quickly kissed her. “I love you so much, and I’ll be back. With Carina and Jonathan.”

  She clung to him tightly and wouldn’t let go until she heard Captain Tom calling for him. “Please be careful.”

  “What is this? A lovefest? Let’s get moving,” Captain Tom said.

  Aidan laughed and met up with Foster. Captain Tom made the final preparations to take off.

  Foster turned to Aidan. “Have you ever been on New Moon City?”

  “A long time ago. I’m quite sure it’s changed a lot.”

  “I’ve never been there.”

  “From what I remember, you’re not missing much.”

  “We don’t have much of a plan when we get there,” Foster said.

  Aidan felt a tinge of nervousness. “Yeah, we don’t have much to go on. Captain Tom has some intel he hasn’t shared with me yet. I’m hoping we can get this over quickly.”

  “No one knows we’re coming. The Captain didn’t want to risk a leak, so we’re on our own.”

  “Okay, buckle up. We’re cleared for takeoff,” Captain Tom said.

  The engines rumbled, and the ship lifted before shooting straight up into the early morning sky. Dirk huddled in the corner of the cargo hold to secure himself for the takeoff. He decided to wait until they landed to make himself known.

  22

  Sue waited patiently for Raina in the park not far from the Capitol building. It was unusual for them to meet in the middle of the day, but Sue insisted, wanting to find out how the meeting with Dorthea went. She knew this was traumatic for Raina and wanted to be there for her. When she arrived, Raina sat down next to her on the park bench and guzzled down a bottle of water before saying anything.

  “You all right?” Sue asked.

  “Yes, but totally drained after meeting with the Senator, followed by talking with his wife.”

  “You want something stronger?” asked Sue.

  Raina laughed. “I could use a stiff drink, but I’ll save that for when I get home tonight.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “Their marriage is a sham. They use each other. The Senator warned me to be careful. He’s now the second person to warn me about her.”

  “What’s she up to?” Sue asked.

  I don’t know. She confessed to screwing up her run for the House, but wouldn’t say much more about it.”

  “So how does this play on your chances of a Presidential run?

  “I believe I still have a shot. I’m not sure I want Dorthea running my campaign.”

  Sue was nervous about Raina running for President. It was going to be hard with all the time Raina wo
uld need to spend campaigning. She wasn’t happy about her running, but would support her all the way.

  “Oh, I got a call from Annie.” Sue said.

  “Is everything all right. Did they find the kids?”

  “They haven’t found them yet. She asked me to see if I could find labs or medical facilities on the moon that could perform cloning experiments. I told her I would check it out.”

  Raina forgot her problems, remembering the sweet young girl that she adored.

  “Annie said they left for the moon to look for them. I’m sure everything will turn out okay,” Sue said.

  Raina took her hand and gave her a guarded smile. “I hope you’re right.”

  ***

  The cargo ship landed without incident. They waited for the inspectors to inspect the ship before leaving. As they were gathering up their gear, Dirk emerged from the cargo hold. Aidan’s face reddened, his anger building up.

  “I’m sorry Aidan, but I have to be here. It’s my fault she’s in this predicament.”

  “Does anybody know you’re here?”

  Dirk said nothing.

  “Of course not. Why would I even think that?”

  “Aidan, I can help. I know I can.”

  Foster and Captain Tom walked in. “What are you doing here?” Captain Tom asked.

  “I’m here to help.”

  Captain Tom looked at Aidan. “Too late to send him back. He’ll have to come along.”

  Dirk gave him a half-assed smile, but Aidan continued to glare at him.