Perimeter

by M. A. Rothman

  “I always figured it was a phase. So, have they decided when they’ll tie the knot? And are they doing it here?”

  “They’re talking about this December. Some big shindig over near where they are.”

  Frank groaned. “I need a monkey suit, don’t I?”

  She smacked his chest. “Yes. And no boots, you hear me?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Any word on grandchildren?”

  “Franklin! They’re not even married yet! Give them time. I’m sure it’ll happen. And speaking of love and babies…” Megan looked over at Jasper, who was curled up on the recliner. “What about our Jasper?”

  The huge chocolate lab lying near the fireplace opened one of his eyes.

  “What about him?”

  “Jasper,” Megan said, “do you need a girlfriend? Would you like one?” She blew Jasper a kiss and looked up at Frank. “You know, I think we could handle a second dog. Can you just imagine what kind of puppies Jasper would have? He’s so big and smart. They’d be absolutely adorable!”

  Franklin shook his head and sighed. Once Megan set her mind to something, there was no stopping her.

  Author’s Note

  Well, that’s the end of Darwin’s Cipher, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.

  If this is the first book of mine you’ve read, then let me introduce myself, and how I came to this whole writing thing.

  I’m one of the most unlikely novelists you’ll ever encounter. I’m a practicing engineer/researcher, first and foremost, and have been for quite a long time. My formal background is in the sciences, with a focus on both the biological sciences and physics.

  I started writing fiction when my sons were old enough to appreciate bedtime stories. And for them, the stories they enjoyed were almost always epic fantasy. The more goblins, dragons, and ogres there were, the better they liked it. However, it was never anything I took too seriously. I did it because it made them happy.

  But something unexpected happened after a few years.

  I’d caught the writing bug.

  At this point, I’d been writing for a handful of years, and I made friends with some rather well-known authors. When I talked about maybe getting more serious about this writing thing, several of them gave me the same advice, “Write what you know.”

  Write what I know? I began to think about Michael Crichton. He was a non-practicing MD, and started off with a medical thriller. John Grisham was an attorney for a decade before writing a series of legal thrillers. Maybe there’s something to that advice?

  I began to ponder, “What do I know?” And then it hit me.

  I know science. It’s what I do for a living and what I enjoy. In fact, one of my hobbies is reading formal papers spanning many scientific disciplines. My interests range from particle physics, computers, the military sciences (you know, the science behind what makes stuff go boom), and medicine. I’m admittedly a bit of a nerd in that way. I’ve also traveled extensively during my life, and am an informal student of foreign languages and cultures.

  With the advice of some New York Times bestselling authors, I dove headfirst into writing novels that interested me. With my background, it’s easy to imagine that I might focus solely on science fiction, but I’ve always been a sucker for mainstream thrillers, especially those with international settings.

  Truthfully, I hadn’t intended to dive into self-publishing the way I have. My intent was to send this to mainstream publishers. After all, I got lots of rave reviews from the traditionally published authors who’d read my work. They were all very kind and a great source of encouragement.

  Before I jumped into independent publishing, I did submit stories to acquiring editors at major publishers. Even though I’d received some interest from them, they all in the end felt it wasn’t right for their particular audiences at that time. In hindsight, it’s very difficult for an unknown author to “break into” traditional publishing, and for the acquiring editors, it’s a big risk taking a chance on an unknown author. These are things I can fully appreciate.

  Given that, I was faced with a choice of leaving the stories in a desk drawer and moving on with my life, or taking a chance and seeing if I could find the audience for my stories.

  Obviously, I’m stubborn and chose the latter.

  And since my first book, Primordial Threat, was published and became a USA Today bestseller, I suppose I’m pleased that I took the plunge.

  I’ll assume that if you’ve read these last few paragraphs, you’ve only done so because you’ve read this novel in its entirety, and I’ve hopefully kept you entertained. If so, that means I’ve found you! You’re that elusive “audience” that the publishers had said they didn’t know how to reach.

  Yay!

  If I could ask anything from you, dear reader, it would be to please share your thoughts/reviews about the story on Amazon and with your friends. It’s only through reviews and word-of-mouth that this story will find other readers, and I do hope Darwin’s Cipher (and the rest of my books) find as wide an audience as possible.

  Again, thank you for taking the chance on a relatively-unknown author and reading what I hope to be a long line of technothrillers.

  It’s my intent to release two books a year, one in the science fiction/technothriller category, and another in the mainstream thriller genre.

  Given that, I should note that I am releasing another story soon after this novel. A thriller called, The Inside Man.

  If you’ll indulge me, below is a brief description of The Inside Man:

  As a member of a New York Mafia family, Levi Yoder’s role is unique: he’s a fixer, a solver of problems, a man whose code puts loyalty above all else, yet he’s a man with a conscience.

  In THE INSIDE MAN, Levi’s search for the kidnapped grandchild of a Japanese mob boss plunges him into a world filled with chaos.

  When he’s falsely accused of a heinous series of crimes, the FBI makes Levi an offer he can’t refuse: use his mob connections to help investigate the murders of several undercover agents or find himself in jail awaiting trial, without a way to clear his name.

  With the threat of incarceration hanging over his head and the life of a five-year-old at stake, Levi finds himself tracking a serial killer who he fears might lead him to suspects that are very close to home.

  Jail or the life of an innocent little girl, Levi’s left with no choice.

  Addendum

  All too often, when people think of stories having elements of science and technology, they think of science fiction. Yet, I think for many people, science fiction is stereotyped as rocket ships and laser beams.

  They’re wrong.

  I’ll note that in Darwin’s Cipher, not one rocket ship or laser beam was used, yet it would be hard to say that the novel wasn’t chock full of scientific topics and technology.

  It would also be hard to deny that novels like Jurassic Park, or The Andromeda Strain weren’t technically science fiction, yet they were marketed as thrillers, which is also what they are.

  Thus came the birth of a new genre: the technothriller.

  The type of novels I write almost always tend to weave elements of science into their fabric. It may seem to some that there are components of my stories that seem fantastic, or impossible, yet it’s my goal to always base things on current science or scientific theory.

  I’ve often said that I tend to write two type of novels, one that lands squarely in the technothriller genre, and the other being more a mainstream thriller (e.g. like the Levi Yoder series.)

  It would be reasonable to ask, given what I’ve already written above, “If you always weave science or technology into your stories, why make a distinction between technothriller and mainstream thriller?”

  The answer is simple:

  To me, the key thing that differentiates a technothriller from a mainstream thriller is that in the former, science is not just an ingredient of the story, but a key part of it. Just like with Darwin�
�s Cipher, you wouldn’t have much of a story without the cipher (DNA modification).

  However, in my honest opinion, that shouldn’t mean you need advanced degrees to understand what is happening in my technothrillers. All you should need is a love of good stories that contain science and technology. It is up to the author to make the science portion accessible to all that would read it.

  In this novel, I’ve strived to maintain a strong level of scientific accuracy. Certainly, there will be elements in any tale of fiction that are impossibilities today. However, built upon a solid foundation of science, I attempt to venture forward with some predictions of what could be, and from that, construct a tale that should hopefully be entertaining and maybe somewhat enlightening.

  In this addendum, I wanted to note some things that I’ve used in this story, and give you, the reader, an insight into how some elements of science might relate to them or serve as inspiration. For example, I’ve discussed extensively aspects of genetic modification in this novel. Almost all of what I’ve described is real.

  There is a lot of misconceptions and debate around the topic, which is completely fair. Anyone who ever claims that the science for something is settled is often leading you astray.

  Always question. Always doubt. Always verify.

  In this addendum, I’ll give very brief explanations of what may be very complex concepts. My intent is to only leave you with sufficient information to give a remedial understanding of the subject. However, for those who want to know more, it’s also my intent to leave you with enough keywords that would allow you to initiate your own research and gain a more complete background understanding of any of these topics.

  This should also give you a peek into some of the things that have influenced my writing of this story, and maybe have you start asking what all authors inevitably ask themselves, “What if?”

  GMO (Genetically Modified Organism):

  Note: Because there’s a lot of emotions tied to this topic, I want to make one thing clear. I am not advocating for or against GMO, I simply want to state the facts, the implied motivations, and the concerns. I don’t proselytize science, but I’m a big believer in giving people the facts, and letting them draw their own conclusions. An informed opinion is a valuable one.

  In the mainstream conscience of our society, there aren’t many boogiemen as feared as the GMO.

  In Darwin’s Cipher, I do talk about GMO, and I even used a few examples where Dr. Juan Gutierrez explains the benefits of GMO, from his point of view.

  Before we go into too many details, let’s briefly discuss what motivates scientists to genetically modify anything. Obviously, they aren’t modifying the genetics of organisms on a whim. There is always a goal.

  Let’s assume that in the case below, the goal is to fight malnutrition, and more specifically, vitamin A deficiency in some parts of the world.

  What are the high-level steps a scientist would go through in the GMO process?

  1) A scientist will identify a desired trait exhibited in some form of life, whether plant or animal.

  2) The gene(s) that provides this desirable feature is identified, and a copy is made.

  3) The copied gene is inserted into the target, with the goal of it producing the desirable effect as well.

  4) Finally, lots and lots of testing occurs.

  Simply put, scientists have a goal to improve a target organism, whether plant or animal, by editing the genetic code or adding genetic code from somewhere else.

  The following section will go into technical details associated with a well-documented case of genetic modification.

  Golden Rice (addressing vitamin A deficiency):

  When we talk about modifying the genetics of something, what does that really mean?

  To answer that, let’s gain a little background on the topic before getting too specific.

  Many of you are familiar with the concept of DNA. It’s the blueprint of what we are and how we’re made. But have you ever considered what is DNA really made of?

  Well, DNA is composed of a collection of genes. Each of those genes are “coded” to express a certain function. Think of a gene as one of the features that makes you who you are.

  Humans have roughly 20,000 genes.

  So, what is a gene?

  A gene is composed of a series of nucleotide pairs, also known as base pairs. They’re called that because they form the basic building blocks of DNA. For many, base pairs may sound like a bunch of gobbledygook. So, to better explain what a gene is, I’ll give two analogies:

  1) If you’re a computer programmer, you can think of a gene as a series of instructions. Code, if you will. More specifically, imagine that each of the base pairs is an op-code. Each op-code is an independent instruction, that in the end, results in a logical sequence of operations. We might think of the list of op-codes as a useful subroutine. Note that each subroutine has anywhere from 20,000 to two million lines of code (base pairs). Have enough of these subroutines, and you’ve eventually constructed a program that closely resembles your genetic makeup.

  2) If you’re a cook, you can think of a gene as an ingredient to a recipe for humankind. But, associated with each ingredient, you have a long series of steps on how to prepare that ingredient. Peeling, scrubbing, par-boiling, chopping into cubes, chiffonade, etc. Think of the base pairs as one of the instructions on how to prepare that ingredient. The only thing is, that the ingredients are quite complicated to prepare. It’s not just toss it into a pot as-is. Each ingredient has anywhere between 20,000 and two million steps (base pairs) to prepare it. Obviously, some ingredients(genes) are more complicated than others to prepare. And when you consider that the human body has approximately 20,000 ingredients(genes), it gives you an idea of just how much work we’re talking about.

  Now that you have a vague idea of what a base pair is, let’s talk about rice and genetic modification. If you’re still with me, I applaud your persistence.

  Oryza sativa is the Latin name for the species of grass that produces what we commonly refer to as Asian rice. Its DNA is composed of over 400 million base pairs.

  It was in the 1990’s that work was done on the DNA of rice by copying phytoene synthase (a gene from a daffodil) and phytoene desaturase (a gene from a soil bacterium). They inserted these genes into the genetic structure of rice. This ended up creating a form of rice that provided beta-carotene, a source of dietary vitamin A.

  Later, in 2005, this formula was improved by sourcing the phytoene synthase from corn, thus producing a significantly higher amount of beta-carotene than the previous effort.

  Why do this?

  In many parts of the world, rice is a staple of people’s diet, often to the exclusion of many other food items. Not everyone has immediate access to the diversity of foods that many of us may take for granted.

  Since rice has no natural vitamin A, it was found that vitamin A deficiency was reaching epidemic rates in some regions in the world.

  In 2005, 190 million children and 19 million pregnant women in 122 countries were estimated to be affected by vitamin A deficiency. Lack of sufficient vitamin A is responsible for 1 to 2 million deaths and 500,000 cases of irreversible blindness each and every year.

  With the advent of golden rice, a GMO product, just five ounces of this rice would provide an adult with their complete daily allowance of vitamin A.

  As of May 2018, the FDA has approved golden rice for human consumption.

  What are other uses for GMO?

  The efforts associated with the creation of golden rice pretty clearly makes the case for increasing the nutritional value of the end product, but GMO products have been made for any number of reasons.

  Some of them are: drought tolerance, apples that don’t brown when exposed to air, fungus tolerance in many cultivars, increasing crop yields, and lowering food costs.

  Is there a reason to be afraid of GMO?

  Note: it is a widely held posi
tion by many scientists that there is nothing to fear from GMOs. In fact, in June 2016, 107 Nobel Laureates—most having been given the award for medicine or chemistry—signed a letter urging Greenpeace and its supporters to stop campaigning against GMOs. In fact, the letter called opposition to precision agriculture (GMO) a “crime against humanity.”

  I will summarize the view of the GMO opponents below:

  1) There are concerns that genetically modified substances remain in the body once consumed, and are suspected to cause ill effects.

  2) By making some GMO crops resistant to herbicides, this enables greater use of herbicides, which is believed to be dangerous.

  3) Despite testing, there is fear of unpredictable side-effects that could be caused by the transferring of genes from one species to another.

  4) It is believed that government oversight is lax.

  5) There’s a belief that GMOs harm the environment.

  6) There are some who refute the evidence that GMOs can have beneficial effects.

  7) There may be dietary concerns for some religions where genes from an “unclean” animal are used. Also, there are some religions that hold a stance that anything not found in nature should not be consumed.

  Gene therapy:

  In the prior section, we discussed GMOs. Gene therapy is really not much different than what happens in the creation of a GMO, except that the target of the gene manipulation is an animal.

  Gene therapy, as applied to humans, has been around since the late 80’s.

  Unlike with GMOs where often the goal is to improve upon what nature has provided, gene therapy is used for trying to fix a problem at its genetic source.