Jillian had led them back down the elevator, and Jonah was amazed as they reached the bottom floor and yet still descended.
“How low are we going?” He asked.
“Several hundred feet below the surface of the ocean.” She replied as the elevator came to a stop and the door slid open. She led them down the hallway, then keyed a sequence of commands into the security panel, and the door slid open and revealed a large open warehouse lined with rows of shelving. Gabrielle reached out and touched Jericho’s arm, as she remembered the last rows of shelving she had seen, and the gruesome items they had contained.
“This is the library.” Jillian said, as she led the way inside. Jonah looked around in astonishment.
“Doesn’t look like any library I have seen before. Where are the books?” he asked. Jillian laughed.
“No books here.” She said. “This library contains DNA.”
“DNA?” He asked. She nodded.
“Years before the collapse of societies across the earth, scientist began collecting samples of all of the animals, plants, insects, and bacteria. Everything which made up the ecology of our world. For hundreds of years they have been carefully stored. When the waters began to rise, this great structure was constructed. It’s been here for almost two hundred years. And since his arrival, Adam oversaw the construction of those many floors above the sea. If Adam is correct, we haven’t much time. Follow me.” She led the way back out and across the hall. The door slid open, and they stepped into the dimly lit room. Gabrielle froze at the door. She saw rows and rows of tanks lining the walls.
“It’s okay, Gabrielle.” Jillian said. “This is the growth chamber. Each tank contains a species from the library. We have been cultivating them for months, and soon, another week or so, the first specimens will be viable. Here in this room is the beginning of the new world.”
“Your new world.” Adam said, as he stepped into the room behind them.
“I don’t understand?” Jericho said.
“Roger has activated failsafe.” He turned to Jillian. “Would you please release the tether?” He asked. She nodded, and turned and left. “Quickly now.” He said as he motioned for them to follow him. “We don’t have much time.” He left the room and led them back to the elevator. They went down a few floors and exited again. Adam walked quickly down the hallway. He reached the first door and it slid open. The room inside was obviously some type of control room. Jillian was at work at one of the consoles. The far wall was a video wall, showing a view of the outside, high above them on the surface. They could see the ocean, the dock, and the fact that the ship was gone.
“Where’s the ship?” Jonah asked excitedly.
“It has been sent on a mission. There is a precious shipment that it must pick up right away.” He turned back to the open room. “It will rendezvous with us soon enough. This is the control room of Speros. I moved the controls down here a few years ago in preparation for these events. Though Speros is perfectly capable of running itself, it is from here where you can access the controls manually should you need to make a course correction or to steer it away from danger.”
“Steer it?” Jericho asked.
“Yes. Speros is a ship.” Adam replied.
“A ship?” Jonah asked in disbelief. Adam nodded.
“It’s been tethered to the ocean floor in this exact location since it was first built. Only just now have we released those tethers.” He stepped to a console and activated it. “This is one of many data consoles in Speros. From any of these you can access the entire data bank. It contains the history of mankind as we know it. Right through the rising waters, and the Deathshead plague.”
“The plague?” Gabrielle asked. Adam nodded.
“The waters began to rise when the sun’s temperature grew hotter. We’ve learned that every few thousand years or so, the sun cycles through period of a hundred or so years where its flare activity is far greater than normal, increasing temperatures throughout the solar system. This resulted in the melting of the polar ice caps, and the seas rising to the point of covering the earth. We have entered the end of its most recent cycle, and according to our measurements the seas have begun to recede at a fairly rapid pace.”
“And the Deathshead? Is that the plague?” Gabrielle asked.
“Well kind of. Yes it was a plague, but not the one you refer to, Gabrielle. When you speak of the plague, you’re speaking of the scanners in the village.” She nodded. “Those scanners are not actually scanning for any type of plague. They are designed to locate a specific DNA sequence of the person being scanned. In the village they are used to locate and identify the needed specimen for an impending rejuvenation procedure.” Jericho gently grabbed Gabrielle as Adam spoke, as he saw her distraught look. “I know this is hard.” He continued. “But we haven’t much time.”
“So there is no plague?” Asked Jericho.
“Yes and no.” Adam replied. “There was a horrible plague, referred to as Deathshead, which nearly eliminated the human race. In the process of fighting this plague, humans, as they often do, came up with a solution that resolved the problem, in this case stopping the plague, but also made things worse. Much worse as it turned out. The virus that was released that to stop the plague, modified human DNA irreversibly. To cut to the heart of the issue, no more babies could be born.”
“But we have babies now?” Gabrielle interjected.
“Yes.” Adam continued. “But with some help. Your mother and your father could not have a baby together, not without our help.”
“Your help?” Asked Jonah.
“Yes. Our help. The embryos that are grown in New Sebastian for implementation, all come from here.” Adam said as Gabrielle gasped. Adam nodded to her. “I understand how you feel, but please understand what has been happening. We have been working ceaselessly year after year to correct the problem caused by the Deathshead cure. A reversal of the DNA transformation, and ultimately a correction to the affected chromosome that was causing sterility in all humans. Luckily, we have achieved that goal. We have found the cure…for the cure, so to speak. It cannot be given to someone already born, but instead the embryo must be engineered to be free of the defective gene. We first achieved this with you.” Adam said, as he looked at Jericho.
“Me?” he asked. Adam nodded.
“The two of you were the first. The Omega Alpha series. And with every embryo engineered afterwards we were able to implement the gene correction. Every child born since your birth, Jericho, is free of the defect. Every child born since then is fertile. For the first time in almost two hundred years, you…” He said looking at Jericho. “And you…” he said looking at Gabrielle. “The two of you can have a baby. A child of your own. A true human being that would be made up of just your own DNA, paired by the same chances as was intended by nature…by God…since our species entered this world.”
“So the people of the village?” Jonah asked. “They can have children?” Adam nodded.
“At least those younger than Jericho.” He replied, and then turned back to them. “There is more you should know.” He continued. “Your embryos. Specifically the two of you, had a little something extra added. A tiny bit of nanotech designed to be triggered in case of a specific circumstance. When Gabrielle scanned positive in the village, her nanotech triggered. As soon as you learned of this Jericho, yours triggered as well.”
“What is nanotech?” Jericho asked.
“Basically it’s like a tiny preprogrammed machine. In your case, it also contained certain bits of data, and that data ultimately helped you to make the decisions that you have made that have led you here.”
“The control panel codes!” Exclaimed Gabrielle. Adam nodded.
“Some were programmed into Jericho, some into you. The last and final code. The one leading outside, was split between you. We had to ensure that both of you would come.”
“You knew we would escape? Even all those years ago?” J
ericho asked. Adam nodded once again.
“You could say that we have engineered this outcome. We have been carefully planning for this very moment, since way before either of you were born.”
“But why? How? How could you play with our lives like this?” Gabrielle asked.
“Let’s start with why.” Adam began. He pointed to Jillian. “How old is she?” He asked.
“I don’t know? Thirty?” She guessed.
“Jonah?” Adam asked.
“That’s not fair. I knew her before she came here. She’s about one hundred and fifty.” He said confidently. Adam smiled.
“Jillian?” He asked her.
“Please don’t.” She said to Adam, as she looked nervously at Jonah.
“Jillian. We haven’t much time.” She hesitated, and then spoke reluctantly.
“I am twenty one.” She said. Jonah looked astonished.
“Twenty one?” He asked. “That’s impossible! You’re at least as old as I am!” She shook her head. “What? You’re some kind of clone? A Copy?”
“Please follow me.” Adam said, as he left the control room, and walked briskly down the hall. He approached a door which slid aside. The inside was total darkness. “Lights on.” He said, and suddenly the room lit up a brilliant white. They peered inside, and saw the small room had three rows of cubicle like divisions. All but one was empty. In the one farthest from the door way, a man stood. The bottom part of his body stood rigidly as the top part slumped forward. Attached to his head was a black ring with numerous wires that led back to the wall behind him. A continuous series of lights blinked on and off on a panel on the wall behind him. Jillian entered the room and avoided eye contact with the others. She approached the man, reached beside him, and tapped a button on the wall. Suddenly he stood up. Jonah gasped.
“Premier?” He said with disbelief.
“The reprogramming and announcement sequences have been sent, Adam.” Said the Premier. The original Premier. Roger’s father, Daniel.
Chapter 48
Immortal Page 47