Enhanced

by Ben Brown

  “They’re in a drawer to the left of the table,” Josh replied as he typed furiously at the keyboard.

  Doc pulled out three drawers before he found them.

  “Got them. Now, Zac, please pull up the clone’s sleeve.”

  Doc placed a needle on each of the three syringes, then began to draw blood from the dead clone.

  Martinez and Jacobson stepped away from Dominic’s naked body as the glass cylinder began to close.

  “Lea, you’re the same blood type as Dominic. We need to draw off as much blood from you as is safe,” Doc shouted as he worked feverously on the clone. “Matt, show her to a chair.”

  The young soldier led Lea to a seat and started to roll up her sleeve.

  A thick gel-like liquid started to fill the cylinder and Dominic became submerged in the gelatinous liquid.

  Josh headed to a cupboard and pulled out the equipment he needed to draw off Lea’s blood. He ran over to her and began to work on her arm.

  “Okay Lea, normal people can give two units of blood safely, that’s about 900ml. You’re enhanced so we may be able to push to three units. If at any stage during the procedure you start to feel light-headed or weak, I’ll stop.” He attached a clear bag to the line he’d inserted in her arm; he removed a clamp from the clear plastic tube and her blood began to fill the bag.

  Doc hurried over to the gel-filled maturation chamber. Dominic floated in the middle of the chamber, tethered to the base of the unit by the cable joined at his navel. The gel had taken on a slight reddish tinge as Dominic’s blood poured into it. His vital signs flashed up on a screen above the chamber; his blood pressure was almost nonexistent and his heart rate was dangerously low.

  Zac joined Doc and asked quietly, “What are you doing, Doc? And why do you need Lea’s blood?”

  “The clone’s nanites are an exact match to Dominic’s,” the old man said as he adjusted settings on the complicated device that now housed his son. “We need its nanites to help repair Dominic. The trouble is, too little of his own blood is left to spread the new nanites. That’s why we need Lea’s. With her blood in his system, his blood pressure should rise and the nanites will work faster.

  “This is a maturation chamber; it was used to create that clone.” Doc flicked his head in the direction of the dead clone. “The chamber will control Dominic’s body and vital systems while he recovers. The gel that surrounds him helps pass nanites, nutrients and medicines into his body through his epidermis.”

  Zac looked at Martinez and Jacobson. Martinez just shrugged.

  “Okay,” Zac said. “But I still don’t get why you need Lea’s blood. Why not use the clone’s?”

  “The reason we can’t use the clone’s blood is simple. As with all copies, whether it’s a photocopy or a burned copy of a compact disc, there are always errors during the copying process. Those errors would be found by Dominic’s white blood cells, they would then attack the clone’s blood, eventually resulting in Dominic’s death.”

  “Doctor, the first unit of blood is ready,” Josh called as he attached another bag to Lea’s arm.

  Martinez rushed the bag of blood over to Doc.

  Doc worked quickly. He attached the bag to a nozzle at the base of the glass cylinder. The blood instantly began to drain. He took one of the syringes and injected its contents into the stream of blood through a small plastic aperture on the side of the nozzle. He watched his son’s vital signs on the monitor.

  Zac walked over to Matt as he stood next to Lea. The young soldier watched Lea as she opened and closed her fist. Zac took Matt by the arm and guided him back towards the open doors.

  “Matt, I want you to do a full recon of the base. I want you to find where that crashed chopper came from — and if there are any more. Plus, I want to know about Sinclair. Is she dead, injured or did she get away? If she did get away, then things aren’t over. She’s every bit as dangerous as Dominic is — if not more.”

  “Yes sir, I’m on it!” Matt saluted and ran from the lab.

  Zac turned in time to see Doc connecting the second bag of blood. Again, he injected the blood with another syringe. His eyes shot back to the monitor. Dominic’s blood pressure and heart rate began to rise.

  Doc looked at his son and smiled. “You’re going to make it, my boy. You’re going to make it.” With that, the old man collapsed onto the floor and began sobbing uncontrollably.

  Zac rushed to his aid, as did Martinez and Jacobson. The three of them helped him to a nearby chair as he continued to weep.

  “Thank you — all of you. I know you would have rather seen him dead, but still you helped. Under the circumstances, that’s quite remarkable and selfless. I will be forever indebted to you all.”

  Josh entered the last unit of blood into the chamber, as well as the last syringe. He watched Dominic as the last of the blood drained into the machine.

  “Doctor, he’s awake!” Josh exclaimed with surprise.

  Zac helped the old man to his feet and approached the chamber.

  Dominic looked down at his father; the old man placed his hand on the glass and smiled. Instantly, Dominic began to writhe and thrash in the gel.

  Doc stepped back with a look of shock on his face.

  “I thought that after everything he’s been through, he might have forgiven me.”

  The old man’s head dropped as he walked back to the chair.

  Josh hit several buttons and Dominic returned to a serene state. His eyes closed and he became completely still within his gel-filled artificial womb.

  Zac looked at Josh; the young man simply said, “I sedated him. I’ll keep him like that for as long as he is in the chamber.”

  Zac nodded, reassured by the fact that Dominic’s body was as good as dead. Maybe the worst was finally over.

  “Zac, I feel a bit woozy,” Lea said as she swayed in her chair.

  He walked over and picked her up gently in his arms. She wrapped herself around him as he carried her to an empty table.

  He laid her down and stroked her hair. “You need to relax for a while; you’ve given a lot of blood,” Zac whispered as he lowered his mouth close to her ear.

  She turned her sightless eyes towards him, and smiled. “We did it, Zac, we did it. We stopped Dominic and all without killing him. See, I knew you had it in you.” Lea gently stroked his cheek as she spoke.

  She looked so beautiful; Zac simply couldn’t hold it in any longer. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her.

  In that moment, everything stopped; time, the world, everything. All the terror and pain of the past week disappeared. All that mattered in that one timeless and infinite moment was Lea. She was safe. She was alive, and he could love her at last.

  Their mouths parted and Zac looked at her. Tears rolled down her face as she smiled again.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing wrong, it’s just — I love you.”

  “I love you too,” he whispered.

  “Get a room, you two; you’re making me feel ill.” Jacobson laughed.

  Zac looked at his two friends; both had been through so much with him.

  Martinez simply nodded, and said, “See, Zac. If you leave no one behind, good things happen.”

  Zac walked over to the two men and pulled them into a hug. He could have sworn Jacobson shed a tear, but he would deny it.

  Several hours later, Matt returned to the lab. He headed over to Zac and began his report. “The good news is I have found another two choppers. Big ones too — Chinook’s, I think. The bad news is, there’s no sign of Sinclair. I’m sorry sir, but I think the bitch got away.”

  Zac patted the young man on the arm and said, “No worries, at least it’s all over for a while. Get something to eat then get some rest.”

  The soldier saluted and headed for the door. Zac walked over to Josh, who was talking quietly with Doc.

  “Josh,” Zac laid a hand on his shoulder, “is there a way to transport Dominic out of here?”


  The young man nodded. “Sure. Dominic always wanted a way to transport the clone in its dormant state; therefore, we developed a portable unit. It has its own power supply and is completely self-sufficient for up to one week.”

  Zac nodded. “Good. We’re all getting out of here as soon as possible and Dominic’s coming with us.”

  “Zac, I have some good news,” Doc said. “Josh has been telling me about his research. He believes he can help Lea. It will take some time for Josh and me to develop his discoveries, but I think we will be able to replace Lea’s eyes. It may be more than a year away, but I’m sure Josh and I can do it.”

  “That’s great news, Doc! Lea will be so pleased.”

  The old man smiled and nodded. “Also, Josh and I are going to synthesize the nanites I developed to counteract Dominic’s nanites. We can administer them to the surviving subjects. Most of them will return to normal, just like Michael.”

  The old man was clearly pleased that finally there could be successful reversals, and that his son’s actions would not last forever.

  “Okay, listen up everyone.” Zac turned to the group. “We are out of here in twenty-four hours. Oscar can fly us to the rendezvous point in one of the choppers that Matt found. We should be back in New York within a week.”

  Everyone began to clap.

  Martinez and Jacobson walked over.

  “James and I are going to get Jason’s remains,” Martinez said. “He’s going home too.”

  “What about the remaining subjects?” Jacobson asked. “They still did some terrible things. Just because Doc can cure them doesn’t mean they should get off Scott free.”

  “How many have survived?” Zac asked.

  Martinez shrugged. “We only found about ten or fifteen. The rest either escaped or died.”

  Zac thought about it for a while. “We take them with us; let a court decide their fate. It’s not up to us.”

  Both men nodded in agreement.

  39

  “This is pointless, I’ve told you all a thousand times what happened,” Zac complained to yet another nameless, grey-suited man. “I’ve told you everything from start to finish. You’ve heard my whole story time and time again; I’ve had enough of this!” Zac dropped his head to the table as the man droned on.

  It had been a month since their return to New York. In that time, they had been confined to the subterranean base under the old abandoned church on the corner of Bedford and Flushing Avenue. All, including Michael and Chinwendu, had undergone lengthy debriefings.

  Zac had been the main focus of all the agents’ enquiries. He had recounted his story to at least ten different men, and here was yet another one demanding to hear it again.

  “I know you have told others your version of events, Mr. Thomas. However, you haven’t told me, so let’s start again. How did you meet Lea?”

  Zac groaned loudly as he banged his head on the table several more times.

  The door behind the grey-suit opened and Kennedy walked in. He looked at Zac and smiled. “Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked with a chuckle.

  Zac laughed sarcastically.

  “Well, I’m glad to tell you, all of your debriefings are over, by order of the president. You and the rest of your team are to meet me in the main briefing room in an hour.”

  Kennedy left the room; Zac stood and followed him, grinning at the grey-suit as he passed. He knew Lea would be in the makeshift gym Doc had built for her — he had designed the gym to help enhance her spatial acuity.

  Zac opened the door to the gym just in time to see her flying through the air after launching herself from a large crate in the middle of the room. The second she landed, she looked in his direction. “Do you want to join me? It will help keep your reflexes sharp.”

  Zac had gotten used to the fact that she could recognize each of them from a hundred feet away; she had learned each of their scents.

  “No thanks, we’re needed in the briefing room,” he replied.

  Lea grabbed up her towel and ran in his direction, stopping briefly to give him a peck on the cheek. She then tore off down the hallway shouting over her shoulder, “I’ll get Martinez, Jacobson, and Matt. You get the others.”

  As she disappeared around the corner, Zac turned and headed for Doc’s new lab.

  The door to the lab slid open to reveal Doc standing with Josh as they wrote on a white board. Michael and Chinwendu sat at a table just behind them, all four turned to look at him as he entered.

  “Is your debriefing over already?” Doc enquired, as he looked at his watch.

  “All of our debriefings are over, by order of the president. We’re needed in the briefing room; Kennedy wants us all there as soon as possible.”

  Zac looked at his two friends sitting at the table. Michael had become particularly close to Chinwendu. Lea had told him it was most likely because they had both escaped from Dominic’s control. It gave them something in common, a connection that none of the others in the team could share.

  “You and Chinwendu need to come too, they want the whole team there.”

  Michael smiled; it obviously made him feel good to be part of a team again. He’d said that the people, who he now looked on as family, gave him a feeling of purpose and belonging again.

  As always, when Zac entered the lab, he felt his eyes drawn to the glass chamber at the rear of the room. There, at the furthest point of the lab, shrouded in semidarkness, sat the maturation chamber, an exact replica of the one in Africa.

  Zac walked slowly towards it, allowing his eyes to acclimatize to the darkened state in which Doc kept the chamber. He stopped about five feet from the thing that still filled him with dread. Zac knew saving Dominic was the right thing to do, but seeing him still floating within his gel-filled tomb made him uneasy.

  At night, as Zac slept, he could feel something — someone — trying to probe his mind. Lea told him he was having bad dreams because of all he had experienced. Zac wasn’t so sure; he had felt similar sensations every time he’d gotten close to Dominic — not as intense or pervasive, but still, he had felt it. Was Dominic reaching out to him? Zac wasn’t sure — the mind was powerful, but simplistic — it didn’t feel like the mind of a genius, but the one sensation he was sure of was its malice. Maybe Dominic was working at a more primitive state, now that his body had been subdued.

  Zac told Doc about his feelings. Doc assured him that Dominic was in a state of suspended animation and he intended to keep him that way until he found a cure for his son’s psychosis. He had also assured him that there was no way his son had any active brain state; his scans would have shown any activity. He was adamant that Zac had imagined it.

  Since their arrival back in New York, Doc had tried several times to remove the nanites from his son’s blood stream. He had hoped that the removal of the nanites would be the first step on his son’s road to recovery; he had been wrong.

  Dominic’s body had become so dependent on his nanites that all attempts to remove them had resulted in Dominic’s near death. Therefore, Doc decided to keep his son in the chamber until he could figure out another course of action. Consequently, there Dominic stayed, his lower limbs jagged and torn. his naked body battered and bruised his mind … imprisoned.

  As Zac stared at Dominic’s face he heard Doc approaching. “Are you still worried about Dominic, my boy?”

  As Doc said the word, ‘Dominic’, Zac thought he saw his old adversaries eyelids flicker. It would have been undetectable to un-enhanced eyes — even he wasn’t sure whether he had seen it or not.

  Zac jumped as Doc slapped him on the back. “Come on, my boy, we mustn’t keep the president waiting.”

  His gaze lingered on the chamber for a few moments longer, then turned and followed the old man from the lab.

  A minute or two later, they joined the rest of what was now referred to as his team in the briefing room. Martinez, Matt, and Jacobson sat with Lea, quietly talking.

  Doc and Zac entered the room closely fo
llowed by Michael, Chinwendu, and Josh.

  Martinez rose and came over. “Do you have any ideas what this is all about?” he asked. Zac shrugged as he headed for the vacant chair next to Lea.

  Kennedy entered the room from a door beside an immense plasma screen; everyone fell silent as they found a seat.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, in less than one minute, the President of the United States will address you. I ask that you hold all questions until she has finished her address.” Kennedy took a chair; Zac had never seen him look so serious.

  They all sat silently, staring at the blank screen; finally the TV sprang to life.

  The president appeared on the screen before them, her stern but attractive face smiled out at them. She sat behind a large desk in front of a window, obviously the Oval Office, light from the window danced across the polished mahogany of the furniture. Her hands lay clasped together on the desk.

  “This country and the world owes you all a debt that will be hard to repay. Thanks to your selfless and valiant efforts, the world is that much safer. It is people like you that truly embody what is great about the human spirit.”

  Zac looked over at Martinez, Jacobson, and Platt. He could see the pride in their faces as their leader spoke.

  “You selflessly carried out your duty with honor and integrity.

  “Now, I wish that I could say that your services were no longer required. Sadly, that is not the case. Zac, you and your team have performed heroically and I am afraid you may be needed again.”

  Everyone in the room began to look at each other — what had happened while they were underground?

  The president continued, “Intelligence agencies around the world were put on high alert as soon as you returned to the States. There has been some disturbing evidence that the woman known as ‘Jane Sinclair’ has moved Dominic’s operation to one of the Baltic States. At this stage, we don’t know which one.

  “In addition to this disturbing information, we have discovered a number of enhanced cells actively working around the world. Some of these cells seem to be linked with Sinclair, but others seem to be working purely for monetary gain. All are equally dangerous and need to be stopped.