chamber, Marina and I then observed a series of cave formations unlike anything that we have ever observed in the Pachanga Territory. We then proceeded to gather samples of these bubble-like rock formations. I then began exploring the formations with my hand and began chipping away samples. While gathering new samples, I made a traumatizing discovery. I then moved my head away from the discovery so there would be no video evidence of what I found. I radioed back to the team and pretended to not hear their confirmation calls. That way, it gave me the opportunity to restart our research suits and a quick three minutes to chat with Marina off the record. Janet, what I brought back is the skull of a creature unlike anything we have ever discovered. I don’t believe that this new chamber is a burial site. However, I do believe many of these cave formations could still be preserving others like it. Nobody, except those on the research team, are aware of this discovery. For all they know from the video footage and data, we just discovered some rocks and a new chamber.” As my father explained the discovery, excitement rose in his voice.
A haunting silence filled the room for half a minute. I could hear Dr. Gruver exhaling after sipping her coffee, prior to addressing my father.
“Craigio, if the data and video evidence support your claims, then what you did will be either very genius or very foolish. There is no in between, Craigio. With that being said, is the skull human-like?” asked Dr. Gruver curiously.
I could again hear my father mixing cream and sugar into his coffee. I could hear him taking a deep breath gathering his thoughts like he always did before he had something to say. “Janet, this is arguably the biggest discovery in the history of mankind. This skull’s cranium capacity alone is beyond anything that we could have possibly ever
imagined. I have yet to synthesize the DNA or store any samples. Truthfully, I intend on devoting my entire day to analyzing this skull in the comfort of my own lab,” said my father full of excitement.
As I continued to eavesdrop on their conversation, my mind began to race with the possibilities of this newly discovered fossil. My thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Gruvers voice. “Craigio, I have a professional obligation to notify C.O.C.A. 's research officials about the level of this discovery. It has been my entire life’s work administering the campus of the L.R.R. and to be frank, Craigio, I don’t have anywhere else to go. If C.O.C.A. 's officials catch even the slightest wind of this, they will cut funding, relieve us of our duties, and replace us with their own officials. It is a risk that I am not willing to take.
“C.O.C.A. is scheduled to be here sometime this week to assess the campus and give their State of the Planet speech. I will contact them and possibly see if we can schedule a meeting during their visit. They may want you to present your findings, so just be ready. Please analyze everything as thoroughly as possible and decide what you are willing or wanting to share. You will have my utmost support when their officials arrive. I just cannot afford to not report this information.
“Besides, it will in a sense be a new point of interest and actually may serve as a well-needed distraction for their officials. Let me know when you have completed your analysis and please give me an update sometime before you go to bed. I will see what times work best about the possibility of scheduling a lecture for you. Remember, Craigio, it may be open to the public. I have a ton of work to do, but please keep me updated. We must be prepared to assist with an investigation if needed,” said Dr. Gruver.
The room was silent for a short period of time. I knew my father didn't entirely agree with Dr. Gruver but knew he respected her deeply and the last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize her job.
“Sounds great. I will be heading to my lab once I get cleaned up for the day. Feel free to stop by or give me a call. Thanks for everything, Janet. Your support means the world to me,” said my father.
I let go of the intercom button and quickly processed everything from the comfort of my bed. I fully anticipated joining my father at his office and seeing if I could be of some assistance in the lab. I knew if I asked him now, there was a good chance he would suggest that I do something else. So, I decided to just wait for his departure to the office.
As I looked outside my bedroom window, I could see Dr. Gruver driving away in an L.R.R. vehicle. Things are going to get very interesting in the next 48 hours, I thought to myself.
Chapter 16
My Father’s Lab
My father left the house with a coffee mug, a few bags, and his messenger pack hanging from his shoulder. I watched him drive off from the window and decided that I would give him a half hour or so to get settled in before I surprised him in his lab.
I abandoned the comfort of my warm bed and made my way towards the kitchen, where my mother was making herself some breakfast.
“Good morning, sweetheart. You’re up awfully early! Aren’t you still tired?” she asked as she began peeling a mango.
“I am still a bit tired. I just think the maintenance trip threw off my sleep schedule. I am sure I will sleep like a baby tonight, though,” I said as I poured myself some coffee.
“So, any big plans for the day, honey?” asked my mother as she offered me some of her breakfast.
I sipped my coffee and bit into a piece of her mango before answering.
“Well, I planned on actually going to see papa over at his office for a bit. I have a few videos and pictures that I wanted to show him,” I said nervously.
My mother sat silent with her mouthful as she nodded her head.
“Great. I have a little bit of work I need to finish, but maybe when you’re done, Layka, we can go to the recreational center and swim laps or sit in the hot tub? I have really missed you,” said my mother.
“That would be awesome. I have really missed you too. Maybe we can play cards or watch a movie, as well,” I said smiling from ear to ear.
My mother stared at me and smiled. She looked so comfortable in her plaid pajamas.
“Layka, sweetie, I made chicken enchiladas yesterday. Why don’t you take some for you and your father to have for lunch? When he starts getting too deep into his work, he forgets to eat and can get a little cranky,” she said as she made her way towards the refrigerator.
My mother began packing a small cooler full of food: the chicken enchiladas, a few mangos, a couple grape sodas, chocolate and some tortilla chips. She always seemed to pack enough food for a family of four.
As I grabbed the cooler from her, I gave her an enormous hug. Her plaid pajamas smelled like the apple laundry detergent that she always used when washing our clothes. For some odd reason, it always reminded me of when I was a kid.
“I love you, mama, and I can’t wait to hang out later,” I said as I began to put on my shoes.
“I love you, sweetheart. I am excited to hang out, as well. You might want to take the Tortuga. It is supposed to start raining shortly and I don’t want you caught out in the rain,” said my mother as she tossed me the keys to the Tortuga.
The Tortuga was a small vehicle that was solar powered. It resembled an old golf cart of sorts. They were found at every household on campus and were used by many of the elderly to get from point A to point B.
I opened the garage to let Àna back inside the house. I quickly jumped inside the Tortuga and headed towards my father’s lab. It started to sprinkle just as I had arrived. The L.R.R. vehicle my father had driven was parked right in front of his lab. I walked to the front of his lab and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Normally in situations like this, I would make an attempt to call my father and wait for him to answer the door.
However, with it starting to rain, I didn’t have the patience. I quickly entered the digital code to enter the lab. A-J-0-6-1-7
A green circle appeared on the door and unlocked. As I entered, my father was nowhere to be found, but I could hear some music coming from somewhere inside the lab. The television was on, but the music drowned out the cartoon playing in the background.
‘Papa?” I said getting no
response.
I continued to patrol the lab in search of my father, popping my head into every room. I knocked on the bathroom door and again received no response; it was empty as well. There wasn’t a microscope on any of the countertops and all his equipment seemed to be untouched. I circled towards my father’s office, which he rarely ever utilized unless he had some important phone call. As I turned the corner, I could see the light in his office was on. I thought that maybe he was chatting with C.C. in Africa, but having the music so loud didn’t make sense. I knocked loudly…again, no response.
As I entered his office, the smell of coffee filled the air. The room was empty and looked untouched. I walked towards my father's desk in the back of the room. His phone and coffee mug laid idle on his desktop. I figured wherever he was, he would be back shortly. So, I decided to just sit tight at his desk. As I walked around to his chair, I noticed that the mat that usually lay at his feet had been blatantly moved, exposing a latch that in all my years I had never known was there.
My jaw dropped. I didn’t know if I should be scared or upset. Did I even want to know what was down there?
As I looked down the compartment, I could see a ladder attached to the side. It couldn’t have been farther than twenty feet. I immediately began lowering myself down the ladder where I was met by another door that had three old-fashioned chain locks on the door handle, each of them unlocked.
I pulled open the door, where I could see bright fluorescent lights. As I walked further into this new compartment, I was amazed at the space there was. I saw a green room where an abundance of plants were growing. Another place where food was stored along with an abundance of bottled water and other material. The square feet of this underground compartment had to be equal to, if not greater than the entire lab upstairs.
As I strolled the area in search of my father, I finally stumbled across him. He was in a unique lab surrounded by glass doors. I could see him in his lab coat, with some lab glasses and a microscope. At least half a dozen of the carbon pens that we used to collect samples sat on the counter, along with the skull that he discovered. The skull looked very foreign to me, increasing my interest.
I approached the doors to the glass room and knocked twice, startling my father. The lab glasses nearly fell off his face.
“Layka, sweetie! What are you doing here?” he said surprised at my presence.
I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “I couldn’t sleep, and mama was tied up with work for the morning, so I decided to come and see if you needed any help. How long has this room been down here? It’s extraordinary.”
My father backed away from the microscope and removed his glasses. “I can’t believe you are here. What a pleasant surprise. This room was built as a bomb shelter hundreds of years ago. It has been kept secret for a very long time. I inherited this office when I accepted this position and vowed to keep it top secret. Your grandfather showed it to me,” my father explained calmly.
I sat in awe, wondering how many intellectual conversations must have happened down in these walls.
“Top secret. Why is it top secret and what are those big metal tank things in there?” I asked as I pointed to a series of metal tanks that were housed in the glass lab.
“Layka, do you ever wonder why we collect so many samples of cells? We collect the DNA samples so I can enter them into a database and analyze the sequence of nucleotides from species to species. Also, in the case that any global catastrophic event takes place, that would put the survival of mankind at risk.
“We often get spoiled with the abundance of wildlife and the ecosystem here in the jungles of the L.R.R. However, the reality of everything is, many of the plants and animals that once roamed the earth are now extinct. So, as you can imagine, with all our advances in science, we have put ourselves in a position to be prepared for the worst. C.O.C.A. has taken a similar approach by building a seed bank in some part of their territory, where they have stored seeds of many plants in case of any global crisis. There are similar comparisons for what we are doing here. C.O.C.A. has funded much of our research because of our process of collecting cells. What we do is collect the cells from any species of life using our carbon pens; it doesn't matter if its plant, animal, or fungus. When I have the opportunity, I place the cells into a vial and store them in a bank with the aid of these metal tanks. These aluminum tanks pump them full of liquid nitrogen. It helps keep the cells frozen so we can use them on demand.
“I have strict standard operating procedures from the L.R.R. to collect enough cells to store one sample here on our main campus and to send one to our colleagues in America. Not sure if you remember Tobias Seranno, but he is the chief scientist for America’s Innovative Research Team. He and his wife Diane have played vital roles in a lot of our research as well. I just hope they are okay up there. Anyways, the reason we store these vials of cells in two locations is in case one location suffers a catastrophic event. I just happen to store my own samples down here, as well, without anyone knowing. It is hard for me to trust people, Layka. You know that,” said my father as he gave me a light hug.
“So, we just collect the cells to study their DNA? Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to store them at numerous locations,” I said, puzzled with the process.
My father nodded his head as he began walking back towards his microscope. “Think about it for a second, Layka. Imagine if we lose our pollinators, whether it be butterflies, bees, or hummingbirds. Hundreds, if not thousands, of ecosystems would be affected. Life for many species would be endangered. So, we collect the cells and store them in fear that one day we may have to restore life or our ecosystems. One of my old professors was this English lad and he would always say ‘Every cell is a stem cell.’ So, needless to say, sweetheart, we collect them in case one day we need to reproduce and restore them for the survival of mankind. Plus, the way things are going with C.O.C.A., I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought back the dinosaurs or the saber tooth sometime in the near future for military purposes,” said my father as he let out a slight chuckle.
I walked towards the tabletop that had the microscope, carbon pens, and skull. My father halted me and instructed me to put on a lab coat, gloves, and some glasses. When I was done putting on all the proper protective equipment, I hovered over the skull. It appeared so human-like with all of its facial characteristics. The teeth and the eye sockets looked just like an average skull to the naked eye. As I looked closer, I could see the nasal cavity was a bit larger and so was the cranium area. I stood silently gazing at its beauty. I wasn’t a forensic scientist, but the skull didn’t appear to be damaged in any way.
“Do you have any idea of what it is?” I asked puzzled.
“I don’t, honey. I do believe that it was a species that possessed many human-like characteristics. Its skull is very similar to ours and I am beginning to wonder if this particular species contributed to any of our current DNA. I don’t have the technology down here to assess it without it going into C.O.C.A. 's DNA database. I sent a small sample with Marina in hopes it will get to C.C. for him to analyze. What scares me the most is the cranium capacity of this creature. If you think about it, our DNA is 99 percent similar to that of a chimpanzee. Take this skull for instance, the brain in this creature could house more neurons than that of our own brains. How scary is that? We are said to have roughly three to four times the amount of neurons than a gorilla. And gorillas, as we know, are highly intelligent great apes. Now think about a creature that could possibly have three to four times the amount of the neural connections of modern man. It scares me. Our minds are what separate us from the entire animal kingdom. It has driven our ability to survive, create tools, think, hunt, and communicate. It has shaped our evolution,” said my father as the passion in his voice rose.
I was a bit frightened at the possibility of a creature that was more intelligent than the modern human. “Sounds terrifying, papa,” I said as a thousand thoughts rushed through my head.
My father
removed his gloves and sanitized his hands. He looked at me with a very sincere expression on his face. “Layka, I need you to promise that you will never tell anyone about this lab. I could lose my job and all the benefits we currently receive,” said my father as he looked me dead in the eye.
“I won’t tell anyone, papa. Not even Àna. But only if you show me around down here,” I said with a smile.
“Deal!” said my father as he gave me a fist bump.
I removed my gloves and sanitized my hands. We exited the glass lab as I prepared for my father to give me the grand tour. The first thing I saw was the green room, which had numerous fluorescent lights, giving it the appearance of an underground rainforest. My father said that he grew potatoes, tomatoes, melons, and numerous other vegetables in different compartments of the room. Next to the garden
area was a bunch of blankets, sleeping bags, and bottles of water. We passed a small restroom that was pretty compact, about the size of a closet; he told me it was rarely used to avoid drawing attention to it, in case plumbing issues were to arise. Next to the bathroom was a series of small cots and medical supplies in case of an emergency.
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