by Jacob Whaler
Qaara feels faint and stops the holo just as it pans over to Mercer. He’s frozen in time as his lips part to speak. Qaara realizes she’s been holding her breath.
Standing, she walks to the window to stare down at the neon world below. Manhattan in early dawn. A living organism of light and color.
After two deep breaths, she allows the holo to continue.
Mercer opens his mouth. “What do you mean, is changing?”
“Just that.” The woman glances at the slate in her hands. “Probe results are off the charts. Never seen anything like it. The molecular structure of the pooled materials is in flux. Like some kind of—”
“What?”
“Soup. Supercharged primordial soup. Amino acids. Sugars. Organic molecules.” The woman’s gaze drops to the ground. She kicks at the dirt. "Almost like something is about to be . . . born.”
The holo jumps to a conference room. Mercer sits in an open slot in the center of a round table. Men and women, some in business suits, and some in laboratory attire, sit around the edges.
“You’re sure it’s alive?” Mercer says.
“Without a doubt.” A man in a white lab coat rises from his chair and walks to the wall. The instant his finger touches the wall, it lights up to become a large bluescreen. “As you can see, the acidic material possesses a unique ability to break molecular bonds. It dissolves anything it touches until all that remains are primary materials, individual atoms. The process continues for forty hours and then suddenly stops. At that point, the resulting pool of liquid coalesces into organic materials. And then—”
“And then what?” Mercer says.
“The organic materials condense into the LUCA. The Last Universal Common Ancestor. Cellular precursor of all life. The first rung on the evolutionary ladder.”
“You’re saying the killer molecule starts with inorganic materials, breaks them down into an organic soup and spontaneously produces life?” Mercer's eyebrows rise.
“Essentially, yes.” The man returns to his seat. “The Holy Grail of biology ever since Miller-Urey.”
“Explain.”
“Back in 1952, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey performed their famous experiment at the University of Chicago, passing electric sparks through a mixture of water vapor, methane, ammonia and carbon monoxide. The experiment produced amino acids and sugars, the organic building blocks of life.”
Mercer tilts his head. “But nothing you would call alive, correct?”
“Not in the classic sense.” The man motions to the bluescreen on the wall. An image of the killer molecule with its distinctive spiral shape slowly rotates. “For over a hundred years, evolutionary biologists have tried to do what this structure does. Turn dead matter into a living, reproducing cell. If nature can do it with nothing but a few raw materials and the laws of physics, the argument goes, then scientists in a lab of sophisticated equipment ought to be able to do it.”
“But the scientists could never get it to work, could they?”
The man shakes his head. “No matter how many times the experiments were done, dead matter has never been turned into living, reproducing life. Until now.”
“Which brings us to our next topic.” Mercer stands, fingers pressing into the table. “Earth is going to be awash in this killer molecule in a few months. If what you've told me is true, it’s the end of civilization. A catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions for the world. But for those who are prepared, the most rare opportunity.”
Qaara stares at the holo.
I thought Mercer said no one else knew about this.
The people at the edges of the table stare blankly, clearly not comprehending.
“The killer molecule.” Mercer points at the shape swimming on the bluescreen. “It’s going to rain down from the skies. You’ve seen what it can do. All that humankind has achieved is about to be wiped clean.” He swipes a finger on his jax. “Observe."
The molecule on the bluescreen fades into a pool of blue particles floating in space. Long tendrils radiate out from the central mass, as if grasping for a passing planet. Stars are faintly visible through it.
“We identified this some months ago. Genesis Corporation sent out a probe, in secret, of course. Any guesses on what it is?” Mercer looks around, smiling.
Nothing but blank faces stare back at him.
A man in a dark blue suit raises a hand. Mercer nods.
“The killer molecule?”
“No,” Mercer says. “But close. It’s full of the DNA fragment that produces the killer molecule. The one we synthesized from the genetic code on the jewel inside the rock my father dug up so many years ago. We have six months before this Cloud engulfs Earth. More than enough time to prepare. Any suggestions on what we should do?”
Silence fills the room.
One woman raises her hand. “We have to figure out how to disable the killer molecule. Stop it before it destroys the world. Find the chemical key to break it apart. Neutralize it.”
“Agreed. Who could perform such a task?” Mercer asks.
The scientists in the room remain silent.
“A materials expert,” the woman says. “The best in the world. There really is only one choice.”
Mercer opens his mouth to speak. “Qaara Kapoor. Inventor of Graff.”
Heads nod around the table.
“Very good,” Mercer says. “Thank you for coming today. You are my inner circle, the only group in the world to know about the Cloud and the killer molecule. You've all worked hard and performed admirably. But here’s the real reason I invited you all into this room.” All exits to the room seal shut. Lifting his jax in his palm, Mercer taps the end. "I’m no longer in need of your services.” At the same time, he slips a clear mask over his mouth and nose, pressing it into his face. One of the women in the room jumps up from her seat, screaming and running to the door, clawing to get out.
Green vapor shoots from holes in the ceiling. The room erupts in chaos.
In less than five seconds, Mercer is the only one standing.
Qaara stares into the hologram, witnessing the murder of the best and the brightest, the nobility of Genesis Corporation, her mouth hanging open.
15
MEAT LOCKER
Jedd wakes up.
He opens his eyes. The world is pitch black. Silent. He tries to get up, but his hands and ankles are bound together with warm, sticky ropes. The harder he pulls, the less he can move.
“Ricky, you there?”
No answer.
Then a hand slips over his mouth. Jedd struggles to get free, but the ropes on his hands and ankles suddenly go hard.
Lips come close to his ear. “It’s me. Ricky. Now please stop yelling. They might be able to hear us.”
Relaxing, Jedd sits down. His shoulder blades press into a cold wall. The floor is freezing against his feet. He realizes his clothes are gone.
“Hold on,” Ricky whispers. “You’ve got saturated nano-carbon cords on your hands and feet. Move quickly, and they turn to steel. Move real slow, and they stretch like wet pasta. Took me an hour to get out of mine.”
Images flash through Jedd’s mind. Arms and legs bent at unnatural angles. Body parts missing. Heads twisted off. Medieval torture. Bits and pieces of video he’s seen on the Mesh. It’s how the Tribe deals with enemies.
He panics.
“Stop thrashing,” Ricky says, his voice low. “Can’t cut this sat-carb when it’s in hard phase. We have to get out of here. It’s going to be playtime soon for the Tribe.”
“Look, we have to get to Qaara,” Jedd says in his softest voice, struggling to keep his fear at a manageable level. “She's in trouble.”
“Is that all you can think about? You’re kidding, right?” Ricky pushes Jedd’s back to the wall. “We won’t be alive in five minutes if we don’t get out of these ropes. Even then—"
Jedd rears up and the ropes turn to concrete. “Mercer kidnapped her. Taking her to Japan. The world is about to be wiped out b
y a Cloud. Strange molecules falling from the sky.” He hyperventilates. There isn’t enough oxygen in the air. The room spins.
“Settle down and shut up,” Ricky says. “You’re making no sense, and we can’t do anything if we’re dead.”
Jedd takes in a final breath and holds it until the room stops twisting. “Where are my clothes?”
“The one called Fuse is probably wearing them. Thought I heard her say she wanted to try on your shirt.” Ricky’s fingers slowly slide under the cords along Jedd's wrist. “Hold on. Found this on the floor.”
A cold shard of broken glass pricks Jedd’s skin. A rivulet of warmth trickles across his palm and down his middle finger.
“Careful.” Jedd resists the urge to pull his hand back. “You’re cutting me.”
“Sorry.”
The cords pull away from his wrists.
In another two minutes, Jedd’s hands and feet are free.
“What now?” Ricky says.
“Huh?” Jedd rubs his arms and legs. “I thought you’re the one with the answers.”
“I got the cords off. The next move is yours.”
“What kind of room is this?” Jedd stands up and runs his palms against the wall. “I’m freezing.” He pushes away from the wall and slowly gropes his way through the dark toward the center of the room. His fingers bump into something hanging from the ceiling like a punching bag.
Smooth skin. Cold as ice.
He recoils and fights back the urge to vomit.
“Any idea what the Tribe eats?” Jedd says.
“Nope.”
“I think I know.” Jedd stumbles until he slams into the wall. “We have to get out.”
“Over here,” Ricky says. “Found a couple of towels on the floor.”
Jedd follows the voice and bumps into an outstretched arm. He takes the towel from Ricky and wraps it around his waist. “Give me the broken glass.”
“OK. Don’t cut yourself.”
Ripping off a strip of his towel, Jedd wraps one end of the shard to form a handle. “Let’s find the door.”
Moving past Ricky, Jedd runs his fingers along the smooth wall. For the first time, he realizes how cold his body is. Fingers and toes are going numb.
Jedd’s hand finds a metal handle. “Think I got it.” He gently pulls back, but the handle doesn’t move. He gives it another pull, harder this time.
The handle clicks. Lights flash on.
Blinded, Jedd covers his eyes. “What’s going—” Before he can utter the next word, the floor is gone.
They drop twenty feet into a pool of warm water.
“About time you found your way out of the meat locker.”
Jedd looks up to see Fuse standing above them, bright orange eyes, each one pierced by double black dots. She’s wearing his shirt or what’s left of it after stretching it over her massive torso. The other members of the Tribe stand shoulder-to-shoulder, forming a ring around the edge of the pool. All of them are breathing hard, saliva dripping from the edges of their filthy mouths.
The water has a pinkish hue. Jedd doesn’t want to think about how it turned that color.
“Did you get the vial back?” Jedd looks up at Fuse. “I gave it to one of my connections a few hours ago. It should have arrived by now."
Fuse smiles, exposing yellow teeth filed to fine points. “We got the vial, and we each just took a hit. Stuff makes you hungry. Real hungry.” She licks her lips. “Haven't had any fresh meat for a while. We like it nice and tender, you know? And alive, like sushi. Tastes better that way. Got our tenderizers right here.” She grips a steel pole with a glass tip glowing neon blue.
In her other hand, she’s holding a jax.
Ricky’s jax.
And it’s flashing green.
Remembering the icy cold room, Jedd cranes his neck and looks up, but the floor has already slid back into place above them.
“Look, we don’t want any trouble. We gave you the vial, and you rescued us from a fire fight. I’d say we’re even.” Jedd tightens the towel around his waist and reaches for Ricky. Tremors run through his friend’s body. His lips are moving without sound. From the look on his face, Ricky’s already gone into shock.
“As long as you’re alive, we’re not even.” Fuse looks to the other women for approval, and they nod in unison.
Jedd relaxes his arms at his side. “We’d really like to stay around for your party, but we’re a bit busy tonight. Maybe some other time. Our friends might come looking for us. They’re from Genesis Corporation. The big company in the City. You saw what they did to our house. You wouldn’t like them much.”
“Jedd?” Ricky whispers. “See my jax up there? In Fuse’s hand?"
“Not now, Ricky.” Jedd grips his friend’s arm, trying to whisper. “You won’t be getting your jax back. Just let her keep it.”
Fuse roars with laughter, and so do all the other women in the Tribe.
“We saw what your friends did to that home-sweet-home of yours. Turned it into a firing range for EM blasters. Looked to me like they wanted you dead. We’re going to be nice and help them out. But first—”
Fuse slips the jax into a shirt pocket where its green light is visible through the fabric stretched thin as the skin of an onion. She leans down and pulls a fillet knife from a slot in her leather boots. “We deserve to have our fun. Shall we, ladies?”
In one smooth motion, the Tribe pulls daggers from their clothes.
“Umm, Jedd?” Ricky says.
Jedd stares up at the women, calculating the diminishing odds of escape. The structure above has only one small door and no windows. The water in the pool laps at his chest.
The green light on Ricky’s jax flashes three more times and stops. Then it turns red.
Ricky’s trembling hand reaches up and curls around Jedd’s hair.
“Steady there, buddy.” Jedd turns to glance at his friend. “I’ll figure out a way—”
The next instant, Ricky slaps something wet and rubbery on Jedd’s mouth, lunges backward and pulls Jedd with him under the water.
As Jedd loses his balance and goes under, he looks up to see the walls and ceiling above the water melt into fire.
16
CHAINS
Luca waits in her cell.
Staring up at the ceiling, she closes her eyes and reaches out for it. The Voice in the sky.
Closer than before.
“What are you?” she says.
No answer. The sphere on the wall flashes red, like it always does when she talks to voices.
Luca ignores the warning.
She’s been in the minds of the guards and listened to their thoughts. Tonight is the last night any of them will be in the Institution. Tomorrow will be different. Cat and the other workers plan to leave and abandon the girls. It has all been arranged.
But before they go, the guard named Zero has a plan of his own. He’s going to make a last round of the cells and leave his mark. Not on all the girls. Just the ones he hates the most. So they’ll never forget.
Luca jumps out of his mind when she sees how deep his anger goes. It’s too painful to sense, especially with most of it focused on her. She doesn’t probe to see what Zero plans to do. She doesn’t want to know.
But she has warned the other girls. The ones that still listen to voices know he is coming.
He’s enraged that the Institution is shutting down. He’s losing his job. He wants to share his pain. And the woman named Cat doesn’t care.
Luca lets go of her fear.
As she relaxes, a familiar sound comes into her mind, a voice she hasn’t heard in a while.
So, they’re finally letting you go?
It’s the voice of Rika, her friend from the town where they grew up together. Rika was the older one, the smarter one. And Rika found a way to stay in the town rather than leave, living on her own after all the others had gone.
Luca smiles, knowing that Rika can hear her thoughts across the hundred kilometers that s
eparate them. The Institution is shutting down. We’ll be free tomorrow.
Rika’s words are ominous. If you survive the night.
What do you mean? Luca thinks.
He’s coming. The one you call Zero. I’ve been listening. I always listen. He’s coming tonight to hurt you and the others. But especially you. To make you pay. For everything.
Luca knows it’s true. She clings to hope. It will be over quickly. Like always.
You haven’t been listening, have you? You didn’t want to see it all. But I have. He isn’t going to let you walk out the gate. I’ll never see you again.
Then I will show him, Luca thinks.
Show him what?
Luca smiles. The voices. So he will understand.
There is laughter in Rika’s thoughts. Don’t you see? People like him will never understand. No matter what you show them. We're too different from them. We share the voices and always have each other. People like Zero are alone. They hear nothing but their own fear and anger. But I can help you. I can show you how.
Luca shakes her head. I won’t kill him.
It’s so easy. You can do it. Just like me.
No, Luca thinks. She throws up a thin wall and senses Rika pulling away.
Looking up through the two slits in the concrete to the outside, Luca finds a sliver of the night with moon and stars. Her thoughts go back to the Voice in the sky. Always coming closer.
She tries once again to touch it, like she did before. Closing her eyes, she takes in a deep breath, holds it and casts her mind high in the sky.
I am Luca. I am here.
A low-frequency bass vibration tingles in her bones. It’s not human, or animal or plant. It’s everything.
It makes her feel small.
It’s alive.
And it’s searching.
What are you searching for?
No answer.
In the silence, the sound of footsteps comes floating through the metal door. Each step is crisp, deliberate, slow.
Luca casts her mind out into the hall and finds him.
Zero.
The footsteps stop in front of the first door at the other end of the hall. Hands fumble in pockets for the key. The sound of metal on metal. Footsteps disappear into the cell. The door closes.