The PM’s head was buzzing, but she was determined to get to the root of the matter. ‘Almost entirely human?’ she queried. ‘In what way does the DNA differ?’
‘The genes of a dog or wolf are divided into thirty-nine chromosomes. Humans have roughly the same number of genes, but spread across twenty-three chromosomes, and only around three quarters of the genes are exactly the same in dogs and humans, so it’s a simple matter to tell the two species apart. The creature here has twenty-three chromosomes, just like humans, but its genes are ninety percent human and ten percent canine. My conclusion is that it was born human, but something happened to change its genetic makeup. The result, as you can see, is a hybrid species; something completely new to medical science.’ The Colonel nodded to the General to indicate that he had concluded his analysis.
‘What could have happened to cause this?’ asked the PM. ‘Some kind of genetic engineering? Is such a thing possible?’
‘Certainly not to my knowledge,’ said the Colonel. ‘I am not aware of any research teams that have attempted modifications on this kind of scale, even to plants or primitive animals. Certainly not on humans or higher animals.’
‘A rogue team, then, operating in secret?’
‘I cannot rule that out of course, but it seems extraordinarily unlikely. The changes to the DNA structure are decades ahead of anything that is currently possible even in the most advanced laboratories.’
‘Then what?’
For the first time, the Colonel seemed to lose his confidence. He spread his hands in a gesture of defeat. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I honestly don’t have the slightest idea.’
Chapter Nineteen
Department of Genetics, Imperial College, Kensington, London, New Year’s Day
Helen entered the genetics lab and crept over to the nearest computer screen. As she’d suspected, it was one of Leanna’s “secret” experiments.
Leanna was always running experiments late at night when she thought no one else was watching. But Helen watched. Nothing slipped past Doctor Helen Eastgate. Over the weeks and months, she’d become very familiar with Leanna’s painstaking work, always so meticulous, always so carefully hidden from view. Leanna’s formal studies at the university were simply a front for her own private research.
But Helen could keep secrets too. She’d waited patiently to collect samples of Leanna’s own DNA. Stray hairs, so fine and golden, almost invisible when left behind on work surfaces. They had revealed their secrets under Helen’s scrutiny.
The paper that Professor Wiseman had written claimed that genetic changes were at the root of the condition he had named lycanthropy. Helen had imagined a scattering of altered genes, but the first time she’d analyzed Leanna’s DNA she had been shocked beyond measure. Leanna Lloyd was a living miracle. It was a wonder that she could still be alive with chromosomes so utterly changed. Wiseman’s paper had outlined the nature of the changes in general terms, but seeing them for herself in the harsh light of the computer screen had been utterly different to reading about them in a scientific paper. Leanna’s secret was written throughout her entire body at the cellular level. She was no longer human. No longer remotely human. A chimpanzee was genetically much closer to being human than Leanna. Some process had altered her genes beyond recognition.
The rogue DNA in her chromosomes appeared to be canine in origin, presumably a selection of wild wolf genes. Wiseman had documented the way those alien genes were transferred to their human host. A virus.
Knowing what she now knew, Helen no longer found the idea so strange. It was, after all, precisely the mechanism that she used in her own scientific research to manipulate genetic material in the laboratory. Viruses had evolved over billions of years to invade living cells and insert their own DNA into the host cell nucleus, tricking their victims into manufacturing more copies of the original invader. It was only a small step to imagine that a virus could transfer genetic material from one animal host to another. And while scientists had spent decades working to develop the technique for use in curing genetic conditions, nature had already perfected it, unknown to them all. It would be funny, if the consequences weren’t so dire.
Helen peered at the computer display that lit up the dark laboratory with its bright white light. The gene sequencer had already completed its DNA analysis and was displaying its results on the screen. Helen frowned. She had seen a lot of DNA sequences in her time, including Leanna’s rogue DNA with the wolf genes present. But not like this. This wasn’t Leanna’s DNA, it was even more exotic and alien. The familiar twenty-three chromosomes of the human genome were present, but full of anomalies and defects. The creature with this genetic makeup was even less human than Leanna.
Perhaps this was some failed experiment, a glitch. Helen moved to the next screen and felt her pulse speed up. This one had also finished. The results were even stranger than the first. The DNA profile on the screen was the blueprint for a monster. Could an organism with this kind of mutant DNA even survive?
The changes here were vastly beyond anything Helen had imagined. She was looking at an entirely new kind of species. If such a creature was capable of surviving, Helen couldn’t begin to guess what its abilities might be.
A female voice behind her broke her chain of thoughts. ‘Doctor Eastgate, what a surprise.’
There was no mistaking that disquietingly familiar voice. Helen felt suddenly cold again. The fear that had crept up on her earlier had come back even stronger than before. She turned slowly, the backpack containing her laptop, papers and genetic sample suddenly weighing heavily on her shoulders. She ought to have gone when she had the chance.
Leanna stood in the doorway, her blue eyes sparkling and her blonde hair shining even in the semi-gloom of the darkened laboratory.
Helen stared back at her wide-eyed. Her hands began to tremble with a violent shaking that she couldn’t control. She hid them in her coat pockets to hide her fear.
‘Curiosity killed the cat,’ said Leanna lightly, nodding to indicate the computer display that Helen had been studying.
Helen fought to keep her voice calm. ‘And it killed Professor Wiseman too, I presume,’ she accused.
Leanna entered the lab and closed the door behind her. ‘Not curiosity, no. I killed him myself. And then I ate him.’
Helen felt her gorge rise, terror threatening to overwhelm her senses. Fear was the enemy now, as much as this monster disguised as a young woman. Any pretence at secrecy was over, and she had no doubt that Leanna was here to kill her. ‘So, what happens now?’ She cast her eyes around the lab, hoping for some kind of lifeline. There was only one exit however. No way out other than past Leanna. And no one else in the building to come to her rescue.
Leanna smiled a cold, cruel grin. ‘What do you think will happen?’ she asked.
Helen thought quickly. ‘I think the police will be arriving here any second. I called them before I came. They know all about you. I’ve been reporting back to them for weeks.’
Leanna stared at her silently for a moment. Then she threw her head back and began to laugh. ‘I don’t think so. You’re a terrible liar, Helen, didn’t anyone ever tell you? Too focussed on discovering your precious truth to know how to tell lies. The police have plenty of other things to keep them occupied this evening. They aren’t coming to save you. And soon the curfew will begin. I think we have this place to ourselves tonight, just you and me. So if there’s anything you want to say, any famous last words, I suggest you unburden yourself now.’
Helen backed away, putting more distance between herself and Leanna. The girl looked harmless enough, but Helen wasn’t fooled by her surface appearance. She had seen the genetic profile that lurked in each cell of her body. She had read about the so-called Ripper murders in the newspapers. And she had watched the news footage of wolves prowling London streets, displaying claws and fangs as deadly as sharpened blades. Leanna may be in human form right now, but Helen knew that she was capable of extreme violence. She
scanned the worktops of the benches as she retreated, searching for something, anything that could help her escape.
‘Nothing to say?’ asked Leanna. ‘How disappointing. I suppose we’ll just have to say our last good-byes then.’ She took a step forward, advancing as Helen continued to move backward.
‘What about Professor Wiseman?’ demanded Helen. ‘What were his last words?’ She needed to keep Leanna talking. Anything to stall her and buy more time.
Her question had obviously hit Leanna’s weak spot. The girl scowled, her face contorting in anger. ‘Wiseman was a fool, the biggest fool of all. Do you know what he said to me? Can you imagine? At the very moment of his death?’
‘Tell me.’ Helen cast her gaze from left to right, searching for something she could use to defend herself.
‘He told me it was all his fault. He said he was sorry for what he’d done. He said he forgave me.’ Leanna sneered. ‘As if I wanted his forgiveness. As if that could possibly make any difference to the outcome. Wiseman was weak. He deserved to die.’ She sprang forward a step, closing in on Helen. ‘The weak will always die at the hands of the strong. He was a biologist, he should have understood that. You should know that too.’
Helen took another step backward and felt the solid edge of a workbench against her back. She had reached the far end of the laboratory. There was nowhere else to go. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘I can help you.’
Leanna laughed again. ‘Help me? Do you really think so?’
‘Of course. I’m a genetic scientist. I have all the resources of the university available. We can work on this together. I’ve seen your experiments. I know what you’re trying to do.’
Leanna kept walking forward, unhurriedly. ‘Really? So tell me, what am I trying to do?’
‘Develop a cure. Restore your original DNA. Become human again.’
Leanna burst into laughter again, louder than ever. The cruelty of the laugh was like a slap to Helen’s face. ‘Change me back? So I can be like you?’ Her laugh died in her throat, as suddenly as it had begun. ‘Why would I want to be human again?’ she demanded. ‘So I can be weak? So I can know fear, and hunger, and disease? You think I would want that? You think this is some kind of curse? Becoming lycanthropic was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me.’ Leanna’s voice was as cold as her crystal eyes. ‘Lycanthropy isn’t a sickness. It’s nature’s gift. Who would want to be human when you could be lycanthropic?’ She jumped up suddenly, springing several feet off the floor onto the top of a workbench. ‘Could I jump like this if I was human?’ She picked up one of the DNA sequencers and hurled the machine toward Helen. ‘Would I be this strong if I was still human?’
Half a million pounds worth of scientific equipment tumbled in Helen’s direction. She rolled to one side just before the machine crashed into the wall behind her.
Leanna leapt back down to the floor, her face alive with pleasure for the first time since Helen had known her. ‘Could I smell the fear on your skin if I was only human?’ she demanded, wrinkling her nose to sniff the air.
Helen crouched where she had rolled, panting breathlessly. ‘What do you want, then?’ It was all she could think to say.
Leanna continued to walk closer, casually, as if she had just flicked a ball of paper, not flung a forty-pound weight halfway across a room.
‘Like I told you when we first met, I’m an idealist, a dreamer. I want to make the world a better place. I don’t just want to cure disease. I want to free humanity from all weakness. I want to give us superpowers. I want to free us from the curse that has always haunted us. Human suffering.’
‘You’re mad.’
‘Oh no. I’m not mad. I’m a wolf. You see, lycanthropy is a fast track for human evolution. It culls the weak and gives unimaginable powers to the strong. It will transform the world in ways that people like you are too blinkered even to imagine.’
Helen knew she was talking to a monster, but she decided to try one last appeal to the fragment of humanity that surely must exist, locked somewhere within the wolf. ‘You speak of idealism. You must understand that you’re creating a new species of predator that hunts and feeds off humans. Stop now, before it’s too late. I can help you with your ideas, but you must become human again.’
Leanna’s look of pleasure turned to anger. ‘Human? Why? You humans have no claim to the moral high ground. Humans eat other animals, just like dolphins eat fish, and lions eat antelope. The only rules of nature I know are that predators eat prey and the strong rule the weak.’
She snarled then and came for Helen. Leanna moved with incredible speed, covering the distance between them in seconds. Helen threw herself to one side and crashed painfully into a workbench. She almost tumbled to the floor, but managed to stagger around to the other side of the workbench just as Leanna’s fingernails whipped in front of her face.
Leanna smiled, and Helen had the feeling that the girl had allowed her to escape, like a cat playing with a mouse. The bench between them was fixed securely to the floor, but Helen was under no illusion that it provided a safe barrier. She had already seen Leanna jump onto the other bench. She could leap this one too in a second, if she wanted to. But she didn’t, yet.
‘You can’t get away from me,’ said Leanna. ‘But don’t stop trying. This is fun.’
Helen backed away and moved along the far wall of the lab, searching for a tool or a piece of equipment she could use. Experimental apparatus was stored on shelving along the wall. She was always lecturing her students on how dangerous lab work could be. Surely there was something dangerous here, when she needed it?
Leanna circled her, prowling around the edge of the room, like a lynx. ‘Do you know how much I’ve longed for this moment?’ she asked. ‘You’re such an interfering busybody, always poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. It’s high time you got what you deserve.’
Helen scoured the shelving for something she could use. Her hand seized on a hypodermic needle and she gripped it tightly.
Leanna had seen her do it. ‘Ah, yes, about time. A weapon. That’s what made humans the apex predators, after all. Let’s see you use it, then.’ She ducked low behind a bench and disappeared from view.
Helen swept her gaze from left to right, seeking a glimpse of the girl. She felt panic rising. Fear flowed through her limbs, sapping the will to move. She clutched the needle, craning her neck for a glimpse of movement, listening for the slightest noise that would tell her where Leanna had gone. A chair crashed over to one side and she flicked her eyes to it, just in time to see the girl appear. Helen lifted the needle in front of her and held it out protectively.
Leanna flew at her, springing like a wolf, her arms outstretched. Helen thrust with the sharp needle but Leanna’s hand reached out and brushed it aside, swatting it out of Helen’s grasp.
Helen stumbled as the girl landed on her, but managed to jerk herself sideways at the last moment, tumbling over a nearby chair and crashing to the floor beside it. She landed awkwardly, her shoulder taking the brunt of the fall, and a jolt of pain shot through her arm and down her spine. She lay there stunned, unable to move, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Leanna had landed neatly on her feet a few yards away. Her eyes flashed in angry brilliance. ‘A human without a weapon is a pathetic creature, you know. An easy kill. And now I’m bored. It’s time to end this.’ She walked toward Helen, her fingers curling and uncurling in anticipation.
Helen scrabbled away from her along the floor, until her back collided with the genome analyzer that Leanna had thrown earlier. She had backed herself into a corner. Now she would die, and the knowledge that might have helped to save the world would die with her.
Leanna crouched lower as she advanced, almost dropping to all fours. She opened her mouth to reveal neat white teeth in two perfect rows. Saliva dripped from her tongue.
Helen pushed herself back to her feet, instinctively seeking to distance herself from her foe, but there was nowhere left to go.
/> Leanna crept forward, blocking the only exit and closing the gap between them inexorably.
Helen fumbled on the bench behind her, desperately pushing away test tubes and plastic beakers as she searched for some last hope. Finally her fingers closed around an object and she picked it up. A glass vial with a yellow hazard warning sticker. Concentrated sulphuric acid. She hurled it in Leanna’s direction.
The glass vial struck the side of Leanna’s head and shattered, covering the girl’s face with clear liquid. Leanna shrieked. Immediately the acid began to react with her skin. Leanna threw her hands to her face and doubled over, screaming in pain. The acid burned into her flesh with a fizzing noise, making her skin bubble as it dissolved the exposed soft tissue layers and began to bite deeper.
Helen didn’t stop to see how far the acid would burn. She ran from the lab as fast as she could, covering her ears to shut out the piteous wailing that followed her.
Chapter Twenty
Bath Road, West London, New Year’s Day
Chris Crohn had found his mood lifting as the day wore on. Perhaps it was because they were nearing the edge of the city; perhaps lack of sleep was producing a surge of adrenaline. ‘This is Civilization 2.0, Seth. The old ways no longer apply.’ He gestured at the mass of unmoving cars in front of them. ‘These people already get it. People like us. Leaving the old world behind, heading out into the wilderness and bringing with them nothing more than what they can carry. We’re like the pioneers that crossed America, in search of a new life in the west.’
‘Or maybe they’re just heading home after a New Year’s party,’ said Seth. ‘Either way, we’ve been stuck in this traffic jam for over six hours now. We need to find a way to get off this road.’
Seth could be such a source of negativity. Chris ignored him. ‘The operating system of humanity has been updated, and we’re the early adopters. Obsolete rules have been torn up, shredded and bagged for recycling. The rules that will replace them are as yet unwritten. We’re at the cusp, Seth, people like us. We are the future.’
Lycanthropic (Book 2): Wolf Moon (The Rise of the Werewolves) Page 9