Mutation

by Robin Cook

  “Who knows about this lab?” Victor asked, stopping to appreciate the electron microscope. He ran a hand over its curved surface.

  “Philip and a handful of security people,” said VJ. “And now you.”

  Victor shot VJ a quick glance. VJ smiled back.

  All at once Victor laughed. “And to think this has been going on under our noses all this time!” Victor shook his head in disbelief, continuing around the circle of scientific appliances, tapping the tops of some of them with the tips of his fingers. “And are you sure about this implantation protein?” Victor asked, already considering likely trade names: Conceptol. Fertol.

  “Completely,” VJ said. “And that’s just one of the discoveries that I’ve made. There are many more. I’ve made some advances in understanding the process of cellular differentiation and development I believe will herald a new era of biology.”

  Victor stopped his wandering and turned back to VJ. “Does Marsha know anything about this?” he asked.

  “Nothing!” VJ said with emphasis.

  “She is going to be one happy lady,” Victor said with a smile. “She’s been worrying herself sick that something is wrong with you since you don’t have time for kids your own age.”

  “I’ve been a little too busy for Cub Scouts,” said VJ.

  Victor laughed. “God, I’ll say. She’s going to love this. We’ll have to tell her and bring her here.”

  “I’m not convinced that’s such a good idea,” VJ said.

  “It is, believe me,” Victor said. “It will relieve her enormously and I won’t have to listen to another lecture on your psychological development.”

  “I don’t want people knowing about this lab,” VJ said.

  “It was an unexpected accident that you discovered it. I wasn’t planning on telling you any of this until I’d moved the lab to the new location.”

  “Where is that?” Victor asked.

  “Nearby,” VJ said. “I’ll show it to you on another day.”

  “But we have to tell Marsha,” Victor insisted. “You have no idea how worried she’s been about you. I’ll take care of her. She won’t tell anyone.”

  “It’s a risk,” VJ said. “I don’t think she’ll be as impressed as you by my accomplishments. She’s not as enthusiastic about science as we are.”

  “She’ll be ecstatic that you are such a genius. And that you’ve put all this together. It’s just extraordinary.”

  “Well, maybe . . .” VJ said, trying to decide.

  “Trust me,” Victor said enthusiastically.

  “Perhaps on this one issue I’ll have to bow to your better judgment,” VJ said. “I guess you know her better than I do. All I can say is that I hope you’re right. She could cause a lot of trouble.”

  “I’ll get her right now,” Victor said with obvious excitement.

  “How will you get her over here to the building without people noticing?” VJ said.

  “It’s Saturday,” Victor said. “Hardly anyone is around, especially so late in the day.”

  “Okay,” VJ said with resignation.

  Victor headed for the stairs, practically running. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes. Forty-five, tops,” he said. He charged up a half dozen steps, then came to a stop. As he noticed before, the stairs dead-ended into heavy planks.

  “Is this the way out?” Victor asked.

  “Just give it a shove,” VJ said. “It’s counterweighted.”

  Victor went up the rest of the stairs more slowly until his hand rested on the overhead planks. Tentatively, he pushed upward. To his surprise, a large trapdoor opened with amazing ease. Casting a last glance down at VJ, Victor winked, then climbed up the rest of the stairs. When he let go of the trapdoor, it sank silently into place, cutting off the light from below.

  Victor ran from the building, his pulse up from sheer exhilaration. He hadn’t felt so ecstatic in years.

  Having returned from her two upsetting visits, Marsha made herself a real cup of tea. She’d taken it into her study to try to calm down when she heard Victor’s car start up the drive.

  It wasn’t long before his head popped through the door. He still had his coat on. “Ah, there you are, sweet thing!”

  Sweet thing? Marsha thought disdainfully. He hasn’t called me that for years. “Come in here!” she called to him.

  But Victor was already on his way into the room. He grabbed her hand, trying to pull her from her couch. Marsha resisted and got her hand free. “What are you doing?” she questioned.

  “I’ve got something to show you.” There was a distinct twinkle in his eye.

  “What’s come over you?”

  “Come on!” Victor urged, pulling her to her feet. “I’ve got a surprise for you that you are going to love.”

  “I’ve got a surprise for you that you are not going to love,” Marsha said. “Sit down. I have something important to tell you.”

  “Later,” Victor said. “What I’ve got is more important.”

  “I doubt that,” Marsha said. “I’ve learned some more disturbing things about VJ.”

  “Isn’t that appropriate?” Victor said with a smile. “Because what I’ve discovered is going to make you forget all VJ’s traits you’ve been agonizing over.”

  Victor tried to drag Marsha from the room. “Victor!” she called out sharply. She pulled her arm free again. “You’re acting like a child!”

  “I’m immune to your worst epithet,” Victor said gaily. “Marsha, I’m not kidding—I have some great news for you.”

  Marsha put her hands on her hips and spread her legs for stability. “VJ has been lying to us about other things besides the school situation. I found out that he has never stayed at the Blakemore house. Never!”

  “I’m not surprised,” Victor said, thinking how much time VJ would need to spend in his lab to accomplish what he apparently had.

  “You’re not surprised?” Marsha said with exasperation, throwing her hands into the air. “Richie Blakemore and VJ are not even friends. In fact, they had a fight recently in which VJ broke the Blakemore boy’s nose.”

  “Okay, okay!” Victor said, assuming a calm tone of voice. He gripped Marsha’s upper arms and looked directly into her warm eyes. “Calm down and listen to me. What I have to show you will explain where VJ has been spending most of his time. Now will you just trust me and come?”

  Marsha’s eyes narrowed. At least he sounded sincere. “Where are you taking me?” she demanded suspiciously.

  “Out to the car,” Victor said enthusiastically. “Come on, get your coat.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Marsha said as she allowed herself to be led from her study. She got her coat and a few minutes later she was holding on to the dash to steady herself. “Do we have to drive this fast?” she asked.

  “I can’t wait for you to see this,” Victor said. He banked sharply. “And to think I was proud of a secret tree house I built when I was twelve!”

  Marsha wondered if he’d taken leave of his senses. He’d been behaving so oddly lately, but she’d never seen him like this.

  Victor thundered over the Merrimack River and eventually pulled into Chimera. The security shift had changed in the guardhouse. Fred wasn’t the one manning the gate.

  In deference to VJ’s concern for secrecy, Victor parked in his usual spot in front of the administration building. “We have a little walk,” he said to Marsha as they alighted from the car.

  It was late afternoon as they approached the river. Long shadows had begun to creep across the alleyways. It was also quite cold. Marsha guessed it was in the thirties. Victor walked slightly ahead of her, glancing back over his shoulder as if he expected someone might be following them. Marsha glanced behind them out of curiosity, but no one was there. She pulled her coat around her more closely, and decided what was chilling her was more than the weather.

  Victor took hold of her hand as her gait began to slow. She’d noticed they had moved from the occupied section o
f the complex to the part that was unrenovated. On either side of her were the dark hulks of abandoned buildings. They loomed ominously in the gathering dusk.

  “Victor, where are you taking me?” she asked, threatening to stop.

  “We’re almost there,” Victor said, urging her onward.

  When they got to the gaping entranceway of the derelict clock tower building, Marsha stopped.

  “You don’t expect me to go in there?” she asked, incredulous. She leaned back and looked up at the soaring tower. Rapidly moving clouds made her momentarily dizzy. She had to look away.

  “Please,” Victor said. “VJ is here. You’ll be wonderfully surprised. Trust me.”

  Marsha looked from Victor’s excited face to the interior gloom of the building and back. Victor’s eyes were bright with anticipation. “This is crazy,” she said. Grudgingly, she moved forward. The gloom enveloped them.

  Marsha let Victor lead as they stumbled over the rubble-strewn floor. “Just a little further,” Victor said.

  Marsha’s eyes adjusted enough to see vague outlines on the floor. To her left were large window openings through which came the roar of the falls as well as reflected light from the surface of the millpond. Victor stopped in front of an empty corner. He let go of Marsha’s hand and bent down. He knocked on the floor. To Marsha’s surprise, a section of the floor lifted and incandescent light flooded up.

  “Mother,” VJ said. “Come in quickly.”

  Marsha gingerly climbed down the stairs. Victor followed and VJ let the trapdoor glide back into place.

  Marsha looked around the room. To her, it looked like a scene out of a science fiction movie. The combination of the rusted gears, the huge paddle wheel, and the granite, along with the profusion of high-tech instrumentation, was disorienting. She nodded to Philip, who nodded back at her. She nodded to the Chimera security guards but they didn’t return the gesture. She noticed the man with the droopy eyelid.

  “Isn’t it the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen?” Victor said as he came up alongside Marsha. She looked at him. He was beside himself with excitement.

  “What is it?” Marsha questioned.

  “It’s VJ’s lab,” Victor said as he launched into a brief explanation of the setup, including how VJ had been able to build it without anyone having had the slightest suspicion. He even told Marsha about VJ’s discovery of the implantation protein, and what that would mean to the infertility field.

  “So now you have some idea why VJ hasn’t been as social as you’d like,” concluded Victor. “He’s been here, working his butt off!” Victor chuckled as he let his own eyes roam around the room.

  Marsha glanced at VJ, who was eyeing her cautiously, waiting for her reaction, no doubt. There was an enormous piece of equipment in front of her. She had no idea what it was. “Where did all this equipment come from?” she asked.

  “That’s the best part,” Victor said. “It all belongs to Chimera.”

  “How did it get here?” Marsha asked.

  “I guess . . .” Victor began, but then stopped. He looked at VJ. “How did you get this stuff here?”

  “A number of people helped,” VJ said vaguely. “Philip did most of the actual moving. Some of the things had to be disassembled, then put together again. We used the old tunnel system.”

  “Was Gephardt one of the people that helped?” Victor asked, suddenly suspicious.

  “He helped,” VJ admitted.

  “Why was someone like Gephardt willing to help you get equipment?” Marsha asked.

  “He decided it was the prudent thing to do,” VJ said cryptically. “I’d spent some time with the Chimera computer, and I’d discovered a number of people who’d been embezzling the company. Once I had that information, I merely asked these people for help from their respective departments. Of course, no one knew that the others were involved, or what they were doing. So it all stayed nice and quiet. But the point is, all this equipment belongs to Chimera. Nothing has been stolen. It’s all right here.”

  “I’d call it blackmail,” Marsha said.

  “I never once threatened anybody,” VJ said. “I merely let them know what I knew, then asked for a favor.”

  “I’d say VJ was quite resourceful,” Victor said. “But I’d like to have this list of embezzlers.”

  “Sorry,” VJ said. “But I have an understanding with these people. Besides, the worst offender, Dr. Gephardt, was already exposed by the IRS. The ironic thing was that he thought that I’d been behind his exposure.” VJ laughed.

  Victor’s face lit up with sudden comprehension. “I get it,” he said. “Gephardt was directing the messages at you when he tossed the brick and killed poor Kissa.”

  VJ nodded. “The fool,” he said.

  “I want to get out of here!” Marsha said suddenly, surprising both Victor and VJ.

  “But there’s more to see,” Victor said.

  “I’m sure there is,” Marsha said. “But for the moment I’ve seen enough. I want to leave.” She looked from father to son, then glanced around the room. She felt distinctly uncomfortable. The place scared her.

  “There are living quarters . . .” Victor said, pointing toward the west end of the room.

  Marsha ignored his gesture. She walked back to the stairs and started up.

  “I told you we shouldn’t have told her,” VJ whispered.

  Victor put a hand on his shoulder and whispered back, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” Then to Marsha he called, “Just a second, I’ll come along.”

  Marsha went directly up to the trapdoor and pushed. Once out of the basement, she stumbled blindly across the wide expanse of rubble-filled floor space. When she reached the door and the fresh air, she felt a flood of relief.

  “Marsha, for goodness sake,” said Victor, catching up with her and turning her around. “Where are you going?”

  “Home!” She walked on with determination. But Victor caught up to her again.

  “Why are you acting this way?” Victor asked.

  Marsha didn’t answer. Instead she increased her pace. They were practically running. When they got to Victor’s car, she opened her door and got in.

  Victor got in on his side. “You won’t talk to me?” he questioned with some irritation.

  Setting her jaw, Marsha stared ahead. They drove home in strained silence.

  Once they were home, Marsha poured herself a glass of white wine.

  “Marsha,” Victor began, breaking the veil of silence, “why are you acting like this? I thought you’d be as thrilled as I am, especially after all your worry about whether VJ’s intelligence would drop again. Obviously the boy’s just fine. He’s as bright as ever.”

  “That’s just the point,” Marsha said sharply. “VJ’s intelligence is fine, and it terrifies me. By the looks of that lab, he must still be in the genius range, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Clearly,” said Victor. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “No,” Marsha snapped. She put her wineglass on the table. “If he is still a genius, then the whole episode of his intelligence drop had to be a charade. He’s been pretending all this time. He’s been smart enough to outwit my psychological tests, except for that validity scale. Victor, his whole life with us is a sham. Just one big lie.”

  “Maybe there’s another explanation,” Victor said. “Maybe his intelligence dropped, then rebounded.”

  “I just did an IQ test this week,” Marsha said. “He’s tested around 130 since he was three and a half.”

  “Okay,” Victor said with some irritation of his own. “The point is that VJ is okay and we don’t have to worry about him. In fact, he is more than okay. He’s put that lab together all by himself. His IQ has to be much higher than 130. And that means my NGF project is an unqualified success.”

  Marsha shook her head. She couldn’t believe he could be so myopic. “What exactly do you think you have created with VJ and your mutations and gene manipulations?” she asked.

  “I’
ve created an essentially normal child with superior intelligence,” Victor said without hesitation.

  “What else?”

  “What do you mean, what else?”

  “What about this person’s personality?” Marsha asked.

  “This person?” Victor questioned. “You are talking about VJ, our son.”

  “What about his personality?” Marsha repeated.

  “Oh, damn the personality,” Victor snapped. “The kid is a prodigy. He’s already accomplished research breakthroughs. So what if he has a few hangups? We all do.”

  “You’ve created a monster,” Marsha said softly, her voice breaking. She bit her lip. Why couldn’t she control her tears? “You’ve created a monster and I’ll never forgive you for it.”

  “Give me a break,” Victor said, exasperated.

  “VJ is an oddity,” Marsha snapped. “His intelligence has set him apart, made him lonely. He apparently realized it when he was three. His intelligence is so far above everyone else’s, he doesn’t respond to the same social restraints. His intelligence has put him beyond everyone, everything.”

  “Are you finished?” Victor demanded.

  “No, I’m not!” Marsha shouted, suddenly angry though tears streamed down her face. “What about the deaths of those children that had the same gene as VJ? Why did they die?”

  “Why are you bringing that up again?”

  “What about the deaths of David and Janice?” Marsha asked, lowering her voice, ignoring Victor’s question. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you before, but I visited the Fays today. They told me that Janice had been convinced that VJ had something to do with David’s death. She told them he was evil.”

  “We heard that nonsense before her death,” Victor said. “She became a religious psychotic. You said so yourself.”

  “Visiting her parents made me rethink what happened back then,” Marsha said. “Janice had been convinced she’d been drugged and poisoned.”

  “Marsha,” Victor said sharply. He grabbed her by her shoulders. “Get ahold of yourself. You’re talking nonsense. David died of liver cancer, remember? Janice went a little crazy before she died. Remember that? She had some paranoia in addition to her other troubles. She probably had a brain metastasis, the poor woman. Besides, people don’t get liver cancer because they’re poisoned.” But even as he said the words, doubts of his own sprang up. He recalled the troublesome bit of DNA that he’d found in both David’s and Janice’s tumor cells. “And about those children’s deaths,” Victor said as he sat down across from her. “I’m sure they had something to do with the internal politics of Chimera. Somebody has found out about the NGF experiment and wants to discredit me. That’s why I want someone with VJ.”