“I want to use some specific equipment. Let me get an estimate and get back to you. Give me a few days.”
“Alright. Happy Thanksgiving, Penelope. Talk to you soon.”
William called Dr. Chang. He got the voicemail.
“Fai! Penelope just called. She’s going to do it. We can put the brakes on ordering equipment. She’ll do it and invoice me. See you next week.”
William and Penelope corresponded for several weeks. In their last conversation, she said the tank was nearly done.
He brought the kokopelli statue and moon to his work office. They’d somehow become, for him, a symbol of the task they were trying to achieve. He pushed the moon with the end of his ink pen and it started swaying on its string, but he stopped it when there was a knock on his door.
“Yes?”
The security guard, Kenny, poked his head in. “Hey, Dr. Wiseman. You have a visitor.”
Kenny opened the door wider. A young lady was standing there, holding a cardboard box.
“Hello, Dr. Wiseman. My name is Liling. I have a delivery.”
“Are you sure you have the right person?” he asked.
Her eyes narrowed just a bit. “Positive.”
Kenny looked back and forth at them. “Miss, do you need a directory?”
“No. This is for Dr. Wiseman.”
Kenny stared at Liling and Liling stared at William.
“That’s right. I forgot I ordered something,” William lied. He smiled at Kenny. “It’s fine.”
Kenny lingered until William started to close the door. “I know where I’ve seen you before.” He pointed at Liling. “I’ve seen you at that bakery downtown… on Fourth Street?”
She turned to look at Kenny. “Yeah, I go there sometimes.”
“Cool.”
“Kenny, will you excuse us?” William asked.
Kenny only seemed to now realize his imposition. “Oh, sure, sure. Have a good one.”
William closed the door.
She held up the box. “Dr. Patton asked me to give this to you.”
He took it. “How do you know Dr. Patton?”
“I was an engineer at Goode Planet before Sullivan BioTech bought us out.”
William remembered that buyout. After the fallout over Penelope’s scandal, Goode Planet’s stocks went down. When Sullivan BioTech took over, there were massive layoffs.
“Did you lose your job?”
Liling shook her head. “I was one of the lucky ones.”
William put the box on his desk and got his scissors. “What’s in the box?”
“It’s called RespirGel. I’m not able to meet this weekend, so she asked me to bring it to you.”
He started cutting the box. “This weekend?”
“Yes. She told me she wants to meet Saturday night. Ten o’ clock. She also asked for… a test subject.”
“Did she tell you what we were doing?”
Liling nodded and William grimaced.
“I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” she said.
That’s a comfort, William thought sarcastically. “What else did she say?”
“To bring the rest of her payment, please.”
William nodded and folded back the box flaps. It had a dozen or so small bags of pink liquid.
“That needs to stay refrigerated,” Liling said.
“Okay.”
“I should be getting back.”
“Alright. Thanks, Liling.”
She nodded and walked out the door. William waited until she disappeared into the stairwell before going to Dr. Chang’s office.
“I think Penelope is done with the prototype.”
Dr. Chang minimized the window on his screen. “That’s great.”
“She told someone else though.”
“Who?”
“She’s an engineer at Sullivan. Liling. Didn’t get a last name.”
“Great.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” William shrugged one shoulder. “At any rate, we’re meeting at ten on Saturday night and we need an embryo.”
“Okay. I’ll start the thaw that morning.”
“I’m going to put in a call to Penelope. I’ll talk to you later.”
Saturday night, William began his forty-minute drive to Deep Creek, where he’d been meeting with Penelope. His grandparents’ house had been torn down years ago, but William still owned the land and the barn on it. He was paranoid about the duffel bag of cash in the trunk, and constantly checked the rearview mirror until he turned onto a long, dirt driveway.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly and took his foot off the gas when a pair of headlights cut into the darkness behind him. He parked and waited for the car behind him to do the same. He recognized Dr. Chang’s vehicle and relaxed. Hurriedly, he got the money and box of RespirGel out of his trunk, walked inside the barn, and let his eyes adjust to the weak light. Overlapping Mylar blankets lined the walls and covered the ceiling of the horse stalls.
William jumped when Dr. Chang opened the door behind him. “God, this is wearing on my nerves.”
Dr. Chang’s teeth gleamed when he spoke. “You get used to it.”
William looked at Dr. Chang from the corner of his eye. Before he could ask what that was supposed to mean, a woman spoke.
“Hello, gentlemen.” A flap opened in the blankets and Penelope walked out of the stall. She held out a hand to Dr. Chang. “Hi, Fai. How have you been?”
Dr. Chang shook her hand. “Fine. Good to see you again, Penelope.”
“Did you bring the RespirGel?”
“Yes.” William tilted his head toward the box in his hands.
Penelope made a come hither gesture and they followed her into the enclosed stall.
“I’m a little concerned about Liling.” William put the box on a small table Penelope had brought.
“She’s trustworthy,” Penelope said.
“How do you know?”
“I know her, William. Plus, she’s so grateful, she’d never tell a soul.”
“Grateful?”
“Her brother was in a terrible accident and her family really needs the money. I’ve been giving her some of the money you paid me.” She eyed the duffel bag. “Speaking of…”
William handed her the bag. She unzipped it and peeked in.
“Do we have to include her in this?” Dr. Chang asked.
Penelope nodded. “Goode Planet had a surplus that went to Sullivan. Only employees have access to that. I don’t give a damn what Sullivan says, Goode Planet’s equipment is higher quality and now there’s a limited supply. If we want the good stuff, we have to keep Liling.”
Dr. Chang frowned.
“So where is it?” William asked.
“They,” she pointed, “are right behind you. I call them pods.”
William and Dr. Chang turned around.
“Three?” William said.
“Liling assisted me. I figured the more you have, the faster you can test. It’s going to take some trial and error.”
“I know you and William have spoken at great length about this,” Dr. Chang sounded slightly agitated, “but since I wasn’t included, could you step me through this?”
Penelope glanced at William. “Sure.”
They walked over to one of the pods. A beach ball-sized globe, filled with clear liquid and illuminated with a dull blue light, sat on top of a four-foot pedestal.
She placed her hand on the globe. “This is where the fetus will reside. I used Ringer’s solution as the amniotic fluid replacement.”
She squatted down and opened an access panel on the front of the pedestal, exposing several moving mechanisms.
“This is the viability exchange unit. It essentially works like a multifaceted dialysis machine. It’s responsible for waste elimination, the introduction of hormones and nutrients, natural and synthetic, and oxygen supply.” She pointed up into the cavity. “The unit connects to the underside of the pod here, here, and here.”
/> William and Dr. Chang bent down to peer inside. There were tubes, one red, one blue, and one green, running up into the pod.
“There’s a temperature regulator that will keep the fluid in the pod at 99.7 degrees. The regulator is affected by room temperature. That’s why I put up these blankets. It’s drafty in here.”
Something moving inside the pod caught William’s attention and he straightened. On the side of the globe, near the bottom, was a square section of tissue. Thin, hair-like tendrils projected from the tissue and swayed in the solution.
“What is that?”
“That’s the placenta interface where we’ll place the embryo. As the fetus develops, the umbilical cord will embed into it. The filaments will act as blood vessels.”
William saw that the red tube from the pedestal fed directly into the placenta interface tissue.
“While I did say that one of the objectives of the viability exchange unit is to supply oxygen, it needs some help.” Penelope grabbed a bag from the box. “That’s why we need this. Goode Planet developed RespirGel to oxygenate blood. I’m hoping it’ll work in the pod too.” She detached one end of the blue tube and pointed it toward William. “Hold this, please.”
He held the tube while she opened a port on the bag. She attached the tube to the port, then picked up a tablet that was propped up against the pedestal. She touched the screen.
The gel was vacuumed out of the bag and into the bottom of the pod. The gel broke apart and floated in the liquid like a lava lamp. The globules, as if they knew their purpose, drifted directly toward the swaying tendrils. As they started to settle, the filaments threaded themselves through the globs and held them in place on the placenta interface.
“Holy shit,” Dr. Chang whispered.
Penelope nodded. “Indeed.”
William pointed to the tablet. “Is that the control panel?”
“Yes.” Penelope touched the screen, activating more features. “Here you can monitor everything from fetal heart rate to gestational time from when the embryo was implanted. This can be synced to multiple mobile devices so you can monitor your subject wherever you are.”
“I see the pod is plugged in,” William said. “Does it have a backup battery?”
“There’s a fail-safe independent power supply that will protect the pod for ninety minutes.”
“What happens when gestation is complete?” Dr. Chang asked.
“There’s a delivery function on the control panel that will drain the amniotic fluid.” She turned the tablet so the screen faced them. “You’ll need a bucket for the drainage.” Penelope tapped her fingernail on the pod. “This globe isn’t solid. It consists of four petals that are vacuum-sealed so it’s watertight.”
William leaned closer. The seals in the pod were barely visible.
“After you cut the umbilical cord and discard the placenta interface,” she continued, “the pod reforms. Run the disinfection system, install a fresh placenta interface, fill it with solution, and it’s ready for another run.”
“This is,” William shook his head slowly, “amazing.”
“I know.” The corners of her mouth lifted. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to build one of these.”
“Should we get started?” Dr. Chang asked.
They worked deep into the night. Penelope detailed each mechanism within the pedestal and coached William and Dr. Chang through preparing the pods and implanting the embryo.
When they finished, William stared at the pod, letting the poignancy of the moment seep in. If this actually worked, he could make Eve truly happy.
“Is there anything else to do?” he asked.
Penelope nodded toward the pod. “It’s up to this little guy now.”
Dr. Chang slapped William on the back. “Can’t stay here forever. Time to go.”
William checked his watch. “Let’s clean up.”
He thanked Penelope and Dr. Chang, then walked to the car, reluctant to leave the pod. On the drive back home, William tried, for the countless time, to imagine what his children might look like.
Back home, he changed into his pajamas, but was too restless to sleep. He sat in his study and stared at the stained glass, thinking, until sunrise.
CHAPTER FIVE
William and Dr. Chang made regular trips to the barn. They implanted two more embryos in the remaining pods. If they had any questions, they called Penelope and she talked them through the issue.
William had lost a significant amount of sleep since the first implantation, worrying about being caught, as well as from being elated that the pods seemed to be working. He wanted to tell Eve what he was doing, but of course, he couldn’t. He didn’t want to let her down if the pods failed.
He looked at her from across the dining room table. William had given Agnes the night off and ordered in filet mignon, roasted asparagus, rice pilaf and strawberries with chocolate fondue. He slid a jewelry box across the table.
“Happy Valentine’s, Evie.”
She grinned and opened the box. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” She held up the diamond necklace. “Help me put it on?”
William rounded the table as Eve held her hair up for him. He closed the clasp. “You know what this necklace would look great with?”
“What?”
He tugged gently at the zipper on her dress. “Nothing.”
She laughed. “Want to go upstairs? We can have the strawberries afterward.”
It took a moment for William to realize she was serious. Eve hadn’t shown much interest in any intimacy since the miscarriage. He hurried her up the stairs before she changed her mind. In the bedroom, he kissed her as he yanked off his pants. “I’ve missed you, Evie.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I know.”
They fell on the bed together and he guided her hand down below his waist.
“What’s that?” she asked.
What’s that? Had it been that long? Had she forgotten already?
“Do you hear that?” she asked.
He kissed her neck. “No. I don’t hear anything.”
Eve put her hand on his chest. “Shhh. Listen.”
William heard faint chirping coming from the floor. “It’s probably an alarm I forgot to turn off on my phone. It’ll go off in a minute. Come here.”
“Are you sure? I’ve never heard your phone make that sound.”
William rolled over on his back and pulled her on top of him. “It’s fine. It’ll stop.”
Eve leaned over the edge of the bed and picked up his phone. “Why is the screen blinking like that?”
She handed him the phone. Instead of throwing it across the room like he wanted to, William looked at it. The icon for the pod monitor was blinking. He entered his password to access the remote monitor application. The thermostat readings for the pods had dropped below 99 degrees. William sat up so fast, he almost knocked Eve off the bed.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s… I have an emergency.” His phone rang. It was Dr. Chang. “Hello?”
“Are you seeing this? The pods are cooling down.”
“I know.”
“Could you get Penelope? I called her and the phone was disconnected.”
William started getting dressed. “Did you dial the right number?”
“I called three times. Listen, I’m in Raleigh for this conference. There’s no way I’ll make it in time.”
“I know. I’m on my way. I’ll call you when I know something.”
William hung up.
“What is it?” Eve asked.
“One of the freezers just went down. We’ll lose all of our samples if someone doesn’t get to the lab now.”
“Can’t Fai take care of it?”
“He’s in Raleigh. I really have to go.”
He gave her a quick kiss and ran out the door. Dialing Penelope’s number, he steered his car onto the highway.
“The number you have dialed has been disconnected...”
“
No, no!” William pounded on the steering wheel. He tried the number again, then threw the phone in the passenger seat and cursed. “Where the hell is she?”
By the time he got to the barn, his hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. It had taken an extra fifteen minutes because of the ice on the road. When he rounded the back of the barn, he saw a little, red Fiat parked there. He stopped short and cut off his headlights. He peered into the darkness, but couldn’t see anyone sitting in the car. He popped the trunk open and got out his tire iron.
William tiptoed to the barn door. He opened it as quietly as he could and squinted in the near darkness. Someone was shuffling around in the covered stall. He held his breath and crept toward the stall door. Taking a deep breath, he gripped the handle and counted down in his head.
Three… two… one…
William let out a war cry and rushed into the stall, wielding the tire iron. He flung the door open, hitting something on the other side, and rushed in. A figure fell on the floor.
“Who are you?” William demanded. “Why are you here? This is private property!”
“Please don’t hit me!”
It was a girl. William heard a click and a light shone from the floor. The flashlight beam illuminated the stall.
“Liling?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“How did you get in here?”
“Dr. Patton gave me her key… can you put that down? You’re scaring me.”
William dropped the tire iron. “What are you doing here?”
“She told me to watch the pods.”
He held out his hand and helped Liling get up. “Are you alright?”
She nodded. “Yes. Thanks.”
William checked one of the pods. He opened its pedestal and examined the temperature regulator. “Why isn’t this working?”
“The temperature in here dropped too low. These blankets aren’t enough.”
“How do we fix it?”
Liling picked up the control pad and gave it to William. A flat line ran across the screen. The pod had just detected a heartbeat in one of the fetuses the week before. “It’s too late. It’s just too cold in here.”
William checked several modes in the viability exchange unit. “Where’s Penelope?”
Mark of the Wiseman (The Wiseman Series Book 1) Page 4