Trispero

  It was announced that dinner was ready.

  “I’ve been sitting too long,” Gerald said, “so I’ll go get Jerry so he can join us.” He headed for the stairs.

  Jason and Debbie got up and made their way toward the dining room. Jason was still amazed that with all of his money Gerald didn’t have someone else cooking his dinner. The plates and silverware were already set out and candles adorned the table from one end to the other. Anne handed Debbie the sweet potatoes and Jason grabbled the stuffing. The table was now set and Gerald was walking in with the kids.

  Everyone was seated with Gerald at the head and everyone else lining the sides. The dining room table was covered with red cloth and Christmas place settings so there could be no mistake as to what they were celebrating tonight. Jerry sat next to Lily and Jason knew it was rare to see Jerry outside of his room without a mask on. He also knew from Gerald that a person can’t eat with a mask on so the dining room actually had a special reverse flow air filter that pulled the air out of the room through vents at the top of the wall and cleaned it just like an operating room. Jason had to force these thoughts out of his mind and focus on the moment. Tonight the moment was a beautiful dinner with wonderful people and two young people whose smiles could stop time.

  24

  ANN ARBOR—2015

  It was time. Debbie looked in the mirror to examine herself. Her medium length red hair had been changed to a short black bob, but her white freckled skin and blue eyes were still too obvious. She never really wore contacts before so felt clumsy as she took the first brown contact out of its case. After several attempts both contacts were in place and the only thing left was her makeup. She had tried several bases and colors before coming up with this. A little darker, no freckles, brown eyes, and black hair. That will do. Caught up in emotion she began to cry. What is wrong with me? As tears rolled down her cheeks onto her nose, Debbie looked once more trying to find answers to her sudden surge of emotion. Oh my God, I look like Rachel!

  Debbie dried her eyes and sighed heavily, appreciating the irony of what she was doing. She was going to bring justice to the people that killed Nate and are after Jason, while looking like Rachel. Debbie learned from some of the archives that Gibson had been involved in projects which were not part of the public record starting over a decade earlier. She knew Gibson was involved, but didn’t know yet how Jason and Nate were connected. She thought there was a connection between Randal and Nate, but were did Jason fit in? It was too much to be a coincidence. The other factor Debbie had not reconciled was Missy. Nate was going to meet with Missy’s friend, then nothing. It wasn’t that she expected anything from Missy, it was simply that it was an empty spot on her list of things to figure out. Nothing would go empty on Debbie’s list.

  What little remained of her life with Nate was in storage along with the old Debbie. Now Erin Sydney was walking to her first meeting with Henry Geller. Leaving Seattle this time was not as hard, since she had a mission and was willing to do what it would take to accomplish that mission. Erin and Geller spoke several times, but this would be their first in-person meeting and the future of their relationship would be predicated on how this went. Debbie walked through the parking lot taking a chance to look at her reflection in the window of a parked car. Okay, here we go. It’s showtime.

  The automatic door to the administration building opened allowing Debbie to proceed through to security. A young man who looked barely old enough to have graduated from high school sat behind the main security desk. Debbie gave him her ID from her wallet trying to keep her hand from shaking. He barely looked at her or the ID putting info into the computer as he watched the screen. Calm down. He isn’t even looking at you.

  The security guard raised his head to speak, “All right, Miss Sydney, you’re meeting with Mr. Geller in his office on the fourth floor. Proceed over to the elevators. I will give you access to the fourth floor only. Proceed to Mr. Geller’s office. Here’s a visitor’s pass. Please return it here before leaving.”

  Trying to control the tremor in her voice, Debbie answered, “Thank you, I certainly will.”

  Debbie moved toward the row of elevators behind the security desk and as soon as she got close, the door opened with the fourth floor light already lit. Despite her nerves, Debbie was paying close attention to the security. The system was pretty sophisticated but as with most things human error was one of the weak links. She knew there would be cameras hidden everywhere and even though she was confident in her appearance she kept her head down as much as possible. There was a sign with an arrow pointing to administration. Debbie turned to follow the direction and could see a placard indicating Geller’s office at the end of the hall. Sitting in front of Geller’s office was a young woman speaking on the phone. She put her phone down to address Debbie.

  “Miss Sydney?”

  “Yes,”

  “Mr. Geller is ready for you, so please go in”

  Debbie took a deep breath and walked into the office. There was a large desk on the left and in the right corner was a small round table with two chairs. Geller was sitting behind his desk but got up when Debbie entered the room.

  “Miss Sydney, welcome. Why don’t we go sit over here so we can talk?”

  Debbie very slowly raised her head to meet his eyes. She had only met him a few times before as Debbie. Would he recognize her? “It’s a pleasure, certainly.”

  Debbie walked to the corner with the table and sat across the small table from him. He looked directly at her without flinching.

  “Miss Sydney, you come to us highly recommended. I’m curious how you happened to get such a recommendation out of Gerald Wilson?”

  “I would love to tell you, but I have a non-disclosure agreement with him. Suffice it to say he needed my services much as you do and was pleased with the result.”

  Geller leaned in across the table toward Debbie with just the slightest hint of a smile. “Well, if what you’ve told me already is true, I think we’ll get along very well.”

  Debbie tried not to react, but instinctively pulled back away from him. She looked at him and forced herself to lean back in. “I assure you I can deliver what I’ve promised. The rest is up to you.”

  “Touché, Miss Sydney. I like you. We were lucky to pull you away from Amazon. Preliminarily, we will have you as a consultant and will pay your company directly. If things work out I hope to foster a closer relationship. You will get a badge and will have supervised access to everything but our archived and offline servers. We will reevaluate your status and your contract every month. If you agree to the terms of our contract, I will have one of my assistants walk you through the process.”

  As Geller was finishing his speech, the woman sitting in front of the office came in with a folder containing the contract. After the contract was passed to Debbie, Geller got up from his seat.

  “Have a nice day, Miss Sydney, and let us know when you’ve decided so we can move forward. I trust you know your way out. I look forward to us working together.”

  Debbie stood up, somewhat dazed. She had expected a long drawn-out discussion about her software and negotiation. “Thank you, Mr. Geller. I will review it tonight and get back to you.”

  With that, both of them shook hands. Debbie turned and left while Geller went back to his chair. She looked down at the contract in her hand. Looks like phase two is starting. I can’t wait to see that toad lose his day job.

  25

  ANN ARBOR—2015

  Winter was in full force, dreary sunless days with snow on the ground and temperatures which stayed below freezing. It had been several days since the last snowfall so what remained was a dark glob of mush which lined the roads and sidewalks. Inside their glass-lined office the light was brighter than it would be outside for several weeks at best. Conrad Gibson sat in his private office at the top of the administrative building with his most intimate colleagues. Randal had been part of this group but it had been almost a year since his stroke and nearly s
ix months since his death. The group was now a threesome, which in Gibson’s mind was a better number anyway. The table was big enough for ten but as far as he was concerned, it felt just right for the three of them. Henry Geller sat to his left managing to find the only shadow in the entire room, and to his right sat a tall blond striking woman who could have been thirty or fifty. As Gibson tried to look at her without staring, he wondered if she had aged at all since he had known her. She could be thirty-years-old for all he knew.

  Missy, Randal’s widow, caught his stare. “What the hell are you looking at Conrad? Are we going to talk or are you just going to sit there and finish your fantasy for a little while longer?”

  “Thanks, Missy. I’m glad to see that you still don’t need fangs to bite. If you’re done then yes, we do have things to discuss.”

  Conrad Gibson knew that Geller knew better than to get between him and Missy and wisely stayed quiet until the conversation got started. He pulled up the quarterly earnings report on his overhead and presented the data for the various subsidiaries. The Gibson Labs earnings report was stagnant. They were still making a profit but the margin had been eaten away over the last decade. The smaller tech companies which were supplying cheap technology to third world countries were doing better but were much more risky. They had started as a quid pro quo for the countries that helped Gibson with their immunization trials. He had to funnel things through separate corporations, but soon found that there was another way to make a significant product. Now almost half of their profits came from these companies secretly under the Gibson umbrella.

  He could tell Missy was getting bored. “Nothing has changed since last quarter so what are we really here for, Conrad?”

  “We lost some ground with Dr. Amsler’s untimely passing, but his assistant has been able to continue his work. She doesn’t have his vision, but is very capable of problem solving. Henry can you update Missy?”

  Geller seemingly woke from his sleep to address Missy and Gibson. “Before Dr. Amsler passed, they were having difficulties with an oncogene and some cancers in our animals. They had been working with some different models and were about six months from going to the FDA with their first human trials. Since Dr. Roy has not been bothering or competing with our research we have a little more time.”

  Missy spoke up at the mention of Dr. Roy. “What is the plan with Roy? We’ve been through a lot with Randal and Amsler already. I don’t think we can afford to take a chance when we’re so close. You didn’t have the balls to deal with Amsler either, Conrad. I sacrificed Randal and took care of Amsler, so you either grow a pair or listen to me!”

  Gibson mustered the courage to look her in the eye as he spoke. “Dr. Roy was followed to Salt Lake City where we lost him. His lab and research have been destroyed. Unless he can magically get a job, funding, and a lab, there is no way he can compete. Even if he has something it will be years behind us and at that point we will be able to buy up whatever he has. No one alive has anything on us except the people in this room. We are less than a year from releasing something that can change the world.”

  Missy returned his stare with a smile that made Gibson’s blood run cold. “And becoming the most powerful biological tech company in the world.”

  Gibson looked over to Henry and met his gaze. He knew for a fact that they were both equally exhilarated and frightened by Missy. Randal had been the mind, Gibson was the salesman and front man, Geller was the worker, and Missy was the ruthless queen. She was the only one of them capable of forming plans for what needed to be done. Gibson turned his eyes back to Missy. I wonder if she can see her own reflection. Which would have been a funny thought if he hadn’t been so afraid of her and what she was capable of.

  26

  DENVER—2015

  Jerry laid in bed thinking. Time seemed to travel so slowly in his glass prison. He couldn’t believe it had been a year since Lily had moved to Denver. Quiet. Everyone thought he was asleep so he kept his face in his pillow hoping they would leave. Stay quiet, and they will go away. He slowed his breathing so he could hear. The intercom had been left open so he would know if someone came. Once it had been quiet for a few minutes, he carefully rolled his head to one side to make sure no one was there. The window was empty; no one was at the door. He rolled out of bed to go find his book. He just didn’t want to talk with anyone. He spent so much time here that when anyone visited they always had that, “I’m so sorry for you” look on their face. Everyone except Lily, that is. Lily just wanted to hang out and play; she never treated him like the freak that he was. He was only ten, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew he was sick; he didn’t know how long he would last.

  “Jerry, I can see you, silly boy. I knew you were pretending. What’s up, big guy?”

  “Come on, Mom. I just don’t feel like talking.”

  “I know, sweetheart, but Lily wants to play and you haven’t been out of your room in a month now. The doctor said as long as she wears the mask and suit she can come in.”

  “Does she still want to come in?”

  “Of course she does. She loves dressing up to play with you.”

  Lily bounced into the room wearing a big bunny suit and mask. “How cool am I? You know I am almost a teenager, so you should be nice to me.”

  Jerry laughed. “You are still twelve. What do want to do anyway?”

  “You want to play some card games?”

  “Okay, let’s play Uno.”

  Anne watched while the two kids played. She didn’t want to spy, so she told them to call her if they needed anything. Jerry was so skinny. She didn’t think he had grown since Lily had moved up here. It was strange seeing your child grow up mentally but not physically. He rarely went out anymore, even when he was well. Everyone was so paranoid they didn’t want him in the hospital again. Lily never seemed to mind; she was always willing to play and never asked questions of him. Anne watched Jerry in this box every day, and it never got any better. She turned to head downstairs before she started crying again.

  Judy was sitting in the living room area with Jason, and her father, Gerald.

  “How is he?” asked Jason.

  “He’s okay now. He’s having fun with Lily. I don’t know, Jason. Every infection takes more out of him. I don’t know what he has left. The only reason he is doing as well as he is, is because we can afford to protect him. I know there’s nothing you can do. I guess I’ve just been hoping for a miracle.”

  “I don’t know about miracles, Anne, but we are making progress.”

  “Ooh, Dr. Roy, do tell. Can we get a preview of your report perhaps?” asked Gerald.

  “Of course, you can. You’re picking up most of the tab. As you all know, we started by splicing a start codon to see what proteins, if any, we got from the extra DNA. We’ve translated it into proteins, but have really not isolated its effect or function at all in its own right.”

  “You mean all of the extra DNA doesn’t do anything?”

  “No, we just don’t know what yet. Now that I have said that, we have a couple experiments that we will be gathering data on this week. We have inserted that coding sequence into mice with a couple different models of disease. We are trying to see if it influences T cell function and memory. We have four models: an immune-compromised model, an Alzheimer’s model, a cancer model, and a very interesting mouse model of Down syndrome to see how activating this gene affects them. The mouse model doesn’t have this separate uncoded region we found in Lily.”

  “Why don’t you just tell us now?” asked Anne.

  “I would love to but I don’t know yet. We have to go through the data and examine the animals, which is what we are doing this week.”

  “When will you know?”

  “Three or four days.”

  “What about Jerry? Will any of this help him?”

  “I don’t know, Anne. We have an idea where the gene is on the 21st chromosome that affects T cell function, and we now have an idea of the connections for Alzheimer’s.
We are close to being able to modify them, but even when we do, getting what we find through the regulatory process may take years. I’m not saying that it will, but it might.”

  Anne looked down at her feet so that they couldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes. She knew this was true. She had been preparing for it for a while, but somehow it was even worse to know that they were close. If there was no hope, then she would look at things differently; having a little glimmer of hope just made it worse. Then, she reminded herself, a little hope was just that. A little hope.

  Jason spoke up, “Why don’t you guys come down Friday and we can look at things together?”

  Anne responded, “That sounds great. By the way, how are you, Judy? I heard you were working at the lab.”

  “I am a vet after all, and they needed some help with this part of the study. I’m also doing a few shifts at one of the local doggy urgent care places, just to keep my skills up.”

  “And how is the cohabitation going?” Anne smiled at Jason and Judy.

  Judy spoke up first. “You are so nosy. There are three bedrooms and Jason knows how to do laundry. Kind of feels like we’re back in college.”

  “How is the car, Jason? I noticed you didn’t drive it today,” asked Gerald.

  “It doesn’t do well in the bad weather. Even though it ended up being fine outside, we decided to drive the Subaru. It’s still really fun. Lily loves it, especially when she gets to sit shotgun.”

  “Good for you. I’m excited we get to come by the lab. I’ve been talking with Ed, so I’m expecting great things.”

  Jason noticed Anne step out of the room while Gerald was speaking. She came back in with a tray of scones and pastries. When Judy got up to help, she was directed to the kitchen to grab the coffee. Jason was amazed once again that with all of their money, Gerald and Anne still did everything for themselves. Anne loved baking and Gerald made the best coffee. Jason got up to help Judy; the kitchen was probably one of the best parts of the house. It was a broad open space that was continuous with the dining area. The white stone-and-marble counters were covered with some of the nicest appliances Jason had ever seen. The double oven was as tall as Jason, and it could have belonged to the witch who tried to cook Hansel and Gretel. Thinking of that made him smile. There was a huge brass cappuccino machine with tubes and dials sticking out everywhere. Gerald was the only one allowed to touch that. Next to that was a large pot with a white filter on the top of it. It was a way of making coffee called a pour-over that Jason had been introduced to since moving to Denver. It was very good, so Jason didn’t complain. He carried the tray with the mugs while Judy brought the coffee.