by Sean Adelman
“Judy!”
Standing waving at Judy was a beautiful woman with long, light brown hair, and very thin features with a sharp nose and a huge smile. She was wearing just a simple dark dress and a leather coat. Jason relaxed seeing that Judy’s friend appeared to be a normal human being. Judy got up and gave her a hug.
She spoke to Judy. “I am so glad you are here. It seems like forever since we saw each other last.”
“I know. I’m so sorry, Anne. It’s been too long. First, Anne, this is my friend Jason who I believe you have heard about, and his daughter, Lily. Jason, this is my friend Anne Wilson.”
Anne knelt down in front of Lily. “Hello, Lily. Jason, it’s very nice to meet you. My dad wants to meet you and has invited one of his lead researchers to meet with us. Given the situation, we thought we would just meet at our place.”
“I’m glad we’ve earned the right to be invited to your humble abode,” said Jason with a smile.
Anne turned to Judy with a quizzical look on her face.
“Don’t worry, he thinks he’s being funny.”
“Daddy, come on.”
Anne smiled at Jason. “Sorry. I’ve not been feeling too much like laughing these days. Please forgive me. My sense of humor has suffered.”
She led them to her car in front of the hotel. Jason looked at Judy with a strange mixture of surprise and pleasure.
“What’s wrong?”
Jason pointed to the car they were about to get into. “I think I like her already.”
Sitting in front of them was a dark green Subaru Forester. Jason didn’t know about Judy, but he had expected some crazy limousine.
Anne seemed to notice Jason’s reaction. “Yeah I know. What can I say? I like the car. Driving around town in a Land Rover just didn’t fit us. I kind of fell in love with these silly cars skiing at Mount Baker with that crazy gal standing next to you.”
Judy piped up from the backseat, “The only difference is that I am still driving that same car.”
They all got in and Anne announced that it would be about a thirty-minute trip to their place. Lily was becoming a pro at the whole car ride thing so everyone settled in. They got on the freeway and headed south toward Castle Rock, a small upscale suburb just south of Denver. It was drier than Jason expected, with large mountains dotting the landscape in the distance. Once out of the downtown area, traffic moved quickly and they found themselves on a small winding road outside of Castle Rock. It was a small, two-lane farm road that wound its way around a small hill just north of town. He could see the scattered subdivisions leading into town just south of them. They seemed to be heading nowhere until they passed a small outcropping of rocks lined by fir trees. Embedded in the rock at the top of the hill was a beautiful home which was almost invisible as it melded perfectly with the pine trees. The walls were a light stone topped with three apex rooftops almost like the pinnacle of a castle. The main building was on the right. Behind the building on the left was a huge garage that Anne pulled into. There were several cars in the garage that Jason was hopeful to explore later on, but there was one that caught his attention. It was Eleanor, or at least he thought it looked like Eleanor.
“Jason, come on. My dad wants to meet you.”
Jason grabbed his laptop and followed them into the house. They were led through the main foyer into what was clearly the entertaining area. On the far wall was a huge window that provided an amazing view of Pikes Peak, and to the right of that was a huge stone fireplace. On the left was the dining area, and straight in front was a sitting/reception area where a gentleman with dark blond hair sat in one of the chairs.
“Hello,” bellowed a man from behind them.
Jason turned to find himself looking at the chest of a large man wearing a light denim jacket, jeans, and old leather cowboy boots. He had a full head of dark hair and a beard streaked with grey.
“Daddy!” said Anne. “Guys, this is my father Gerald Wilson, and in the chair over there is Dr. Edward Arnold. Dr. Arnold runs the genetics program at the University of Colorado and he’s our lead consultant. We thought it would be nice to have someone else we trusted help translate your sciencespeak.”
“I am honored that you think I’m smart enough to need a translator, especially one as esteemed as Dr. Arnold. I also must say thank you very much for inviting us here. The hotel is lovely.”
Gerald’s voice seemed to fill the room with little effort. “We have much to discuss. I’ve made arrangements for Anne to take Judy and Lily for a little exploring around Castle Rock so we can speak privately. Before we get down to business, however, I want to introduce you to my grandson. I know Anne is anxious for you to meet him.”
Gerald led them up the stairs to the second floor and to one of the corners which led up to the far towers. It looked like a tower, but was in fact a large bedroom. There was a large glass door followed by a small sitting/changing area that lead to a second glass door before you could enter the actual room. To the left of the inside door was a large window with a curtain that could be pulled to allow for privacy. Through the window, they could see a panoramic view of Pikes Peak immediately above a bed where a small boy sat playing what appeared to be video games. Anne got his attention through a small intercom over by the door. He looked to be not much more than five years old wearing shorts and a T-shirt. He looked relatively healthy, but Jason knew why he was in the sealed room.
Anne was having a conversation with her son through the intercom when Gerald turned to talk to the rest of them.
“Gerald Jr. here is doing pretty well. He had pneumonia last week, so we had to keep him in his room until it was cleared. Poor little guy, he usually gets outside every day. We have some special clothes and a mask for him. His infections are getting worse and more frequent. I converted this room so he could feel like he was outside even when he was inside recovering. We are being very careful, but, it’s only a matter of time even with today’s technology.”
Everybody turned back to watch Anne talk with her little boy in his sterile room covered with windows. It was the prettiest prison Jason had ever seen. Gerald Sr. led them downstairs while Anne finished up with Junior.
Anne walked downstairs behind them. “Hey, Lily and Judy, why don’t we go downtown? We can wander a little and get some lunch, and then maybe go for a hike or something. There are some fun rocks we can climb over.”
“Okay guys, let’s go. I don’t want to listen to Daddy talk anymore.”
With that, the girls left and Jason sat down on the couch next to Gerald and across from Ed. Gerald started the conversation, “I wanted you to meet Junior so you’d have some idea of my motivation to help him.” Gerald paused for a moment before looking to Jason. “I understand your predicament as Judy has explained it to us. So, I am sure that you already know that Gibson has the reputation of being a little less than reputable in his approach to business. In fact, much of the research he used for his first big break was not his own, or so the people at the University of Colorado who work with us have intimated. The bottom line is, I trust Anne and she trusts Judy, so here you are.”
Jason nodded. Ed said nothing.
Gerald motioned toward Jason before continuing, “As a token of my trust, I have acquired something I believe belongs to you. You may have already seen it in my garage. The truth is Anne told me what happened so it isn’t exactly what you owned but I am hopeful it will help you adjust to your current situation. I’m also committed to making sure you can work freely without interference. I’ve secured a small condominium close to the lab downtown that you’ll be able to move into next week. In addition, you now have a separate account under my name that you’ll have access to for your living costs. My head of security will go through all of the precautions we’ve taken. I really don’t want you being interfered with while you’re helping us. I wanted Ed here to help. As I said before, I trust Ed, and he speaks science.”
It was now Jason’s turn.
“In the spirit of our
mutually beneficial relationship I was able to save the data from my last experiment. After examining it repeatedly, I discovered something. I discovered that there is a large uncoded region in Lily’s extra 21st chromosome that is not present in the normal 21st chromosome DNA. I just discovered this last night, so I don’t know anything else. Oh sorry, strike that. I also believe it’s close to Mir-155.”
“How big?” asked Ed.
“Big enough for a protein or unnecessary junk. It’s uncoded.”
“Why would an uncoded region be important, Ed?” asked Gerald.
Ed replied, “Mainly because it’s different. Is it uncoded for a reason? Is it a missing link for a protein? Does it change our understanding of uncoded regions? The bottom line is that there is something different about the genetics of the extra 21st chromosome in children with Down syndrome, or at least that’s what Jason here would have us believe.”
Jason said to Ed emphatically, “I assure you it’s real, but to answer those questions I need a lab.”
“Which is exactly why I’m here, Dr. Roy. My lab is built just for this kind of thing. I actually have to prep some things before we get started. Why don’t we get started tomorrow? I’ll meet you in the lobby of the science building on the downtown campus. You should be able to walk there from the Hyatt. Let’s say nine a.m.”
“See you then.”
Gerald and Jason walked Ed out to the garage where Gerald gave Jason back the keys to his new car. He walked around the car marveling at how they could have possibly acquired this car and transported it here in front of him. He looked up imploringly to Gerald.
“Sorry, Dr. Roy. I have a few secrets I have to keep. You may want to leave it here until you get the condo. I don’t think it makes sense to take it to the Hyatt. In the meantime, why don’t you take me down to the others and let’s see if we can meet them for lunch?”
Gerald and Jason both got into the car. Jason turned over the engine and revved it a few times for pleasure. His copilot laughed.
“Can we go now, or do you want to put on the parking brake and try to light up the tires while we’re here? If you do we should back out first so you don’t set off the fire alarm.”
“Message received,” replied Jason.
Jason and Gerald found the girls and they all enjoyed a nice meal together. After lunch, they all decided to make it back to the Wilson’s home. The house seemed far away, but without traffic congestion, it only took a few minutes to get back. Lily screamed when she saw that Eleanor was back, but was unhappy about sitting in the backseat again. Judy stayed with Anne for the ride home so they could continue to catch up. Jason parked the car in the garage. Anne invited them for dinner, but Jason wanted to get back so he could go over some of the data before meeting with Dr. Arnold the following day.
Lily wanted to say goodbye to Junior before they left, so Anne took them all upstairs. Junior looked imploringly at Anne so she maneuvered Lily over to the intercom.
“Hi, my name is Lily.”
“My name is Jerry. Please don’t call me Junior.”
“Okay. How old are you, Jerry?”
“I’m kind of small for my age, but I’m eight.”
“Do you ever get to come out?”
“Yeah, I was just sick, but I’m better now. Mom says I can come out to play this weekend. Will you be back?”
Lily looked over to Jason for an answer.
Jason took his prompt to respond. “Sure I don’t see why not. Let me talk to his mom. Is it okay with you, Anne?”
“Sure, Junior, I mean Jerry. He loves company. Why don’t you guys come over Saturday? We can have dinner.”
After agreeing on dinner, Anne led everyone downstairs to take them back to the hotel. Lily, as always, was the one to ask the hard questions.
“Miss Anne, where is Jerry’s dad?”
“Lily!”
“No, it’s all right, Jason. He’s been gone for a little while now. That’s a hard question, Lily. He passed away a few years ago from an infection. It was the same problem that Jerry has, except that Jerry has it a little worse. That’s why he has to stay in that room sometimes.”
“Oh man, that doesn’t sound any fun. Can he play with me when we come over next time?”
“I think he would like that.”
Anne dropped them off at the Hyatt and made sure they all had her phone number and that Jason knew how to get to the university science building. The plan was to go to their room and relax for a little before going out to dinner. Jason wanted to go through some of his data before dinner. However, before they made it to the room, Judy’s cell phone rang.
“Hey, is Jason available?”
“I’m sorry, who’s this?”
“It’s Debbie.”
Judy handed the phone to Jason.
“Debbie! What’s up, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Gibson is a snake. He came to the funeral, but that’s not why I called. You guys mentioned a wealthy sponsor when I spoke to you last time.”
“Yeah, we just met actually.”
“I need a favor, Jason, for Nate.”
“What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”
“It won’t take much money. What I need is more connections. Do you have a pen?”
Jason couldn’t sleep most of the night thinking of what the future held for him in the morning. Despite his restless night, Jason got up energized to get moving. He took care not to wake Lily or Judy. After a cup of coffee and a pastry, he set off walking toward the university. The building itself was welcoming enough as science buildings go. The dark red brick matched most of the rest of the campus buildings, and a large metal and glass central portion made it look appropriately modern. He almost thought he’d found the wrong building when he saw what looked like an open air seating area with blue umbrellas. It was hard to believe a science building would be cool enough to have its own café. Sure enough, it was the science building. Dr. Arnold was standing in the lobby waiting for him.
“Hey, Jason, glad you’re early, too. I couldn’t wait to get started.”
“Same here.”
Ed took Jason up the elevator to his lab where he had three other scientists working with him. The building and equipment was newer, but it was amazing to Jason how similar they were to his old lab. Ed led him past the computers and equipment into a conference room with a projector and the rest of his team.
“Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Jason Roy. He has some very interesting data I’d like to show all of you.”
On the monitor was a projection of the 21st chromosome. Over the next few minutes, Ed went through the known sequencing of the 21st chromosome and the known connections to Alzheimer’s and Mir-155. He then turned the talk over to Jason who plugged his laptop into the projector. Jason didn’t want to patronize these new colleagues, but he did want to give them some background of what he was working on. Most of what he talked about was the background of his immune research and the solid tumor data he had on people with Down syndrome, as well as the information he had on combined immunodeficiency. As he talked, everyone nodded along indicating they were clearly was up to speed. Now it was time for the finish.
“And here my friends is the genome of the extra 21st chromosome in a patient with Down syndrome. Specifically, I want you to pay attention to this uncoded region.”
“Excuse me, Dr. Roy, but why are you pointing out an uncoded region?” spoke one of Dr. Arnold’s colleagues.
“Because, my friends, it is not present in the 21st chromosome of normal volunteers.”
A hushed silence overtook his audience. Jason let it sink in for a few minutes.
“Dr. Arnold and I discussed this yesterday. I’ve been considering what our next step is. The first thing we have to do is establish what this extra DNA actually is, so I think adding some codons so we can see if our bacterial friends can make us a protein would be a great place to start. I also want to do some splicing experiments with the mouse model I developed to lo
ok at what factor the location plays on its function and what it could possibly do to immune function.”
Dr. Arnold got up. “I agree completely. The good news is, we have what we will need to start the splicing experiment. The bad news is, we have a lot of work to do. We need to modify the uncoded region a little so we can transcribe it. We need to create a plasmid vector, which will be a nice way to introduce naked DNA into our E. coli bacteria for protein synthesis. We will also need to work on creating some viral vectors for our mice. We may be on the verge of something great, gentlemen. Let’s get started.”
22
SEATTLE—2014
Six months since Nate has been gone. I thought I could do this. Debbie came out of the computer lab into a sea of college students. She walked down the hill from the lab onto the Burke-Gillman bike trail she used to walk home. Debbie used to love walking with the students around campus. She thought it made her feel younger. Today, she felt old. Everything was in a fog, just like the Seattle low clouds. She just kept moving. That is what kept her going. Debbie worried that if she stopped moving she wouldn’t be able to get going again. Selling the Ann Arbor house had been easy. Even though Seattle was her home she didn’t want to buy a house yet. She wasn’t ready for any long-term commitments. Since she was back in graduate school at the University of Washington, she rented an apartment just off the trail a mile or so up from the University. The walk was just far enough to keep it a journey but not onerous.
Fall in Seattle could be beautiful but it was often overcast. Today the clouds obscured everything but the buildings immediately adjacent to the trail. One foot in front of the other. Her feet fell into an easy rhythm so her brain turned to thoughts of her class. She was taking a computer security class today, and programming wouldn’t be until Monday.