Chapter 21
The evening sea breeze was blowing over the Mediterranean bush, carrying the intense scent of mirth and thyme over to the terrace of the ‘Chia Laguna’ resort, on the south coast of Sardinia, where Louis was hosting the reception for his 100th birthday, on July 27th, 2034.
Despite the relatively low number of invitees, he had been forced to reserve all the 125 hotel rooms to make sure he could accommodate all the bodyguards. Dora and he had managed to organize everything, and he was now enjoying a glass of Vermentino, the local dry white wine, while the terrace was being prepared for the arrival of the birthday cake.
He could not help notice the charming smile of Aurora, who was catalyzing the attention of all young men. Or at least, those who still pretended to be young men, as he knew that many of them were well past their forties but still possessed their boyish looks thanks to Telomerax. Louis stared again at Aurora, she looked very much like Helena. He asked himself if there was something about her that reminded him of George, but he could not find anything. Maybe that was because the memories of George had started fading in his mind. For some reason, the pill did not help here. He took another sip of wine, as he stared at the sea against the blue sky and then turned towards the balcony gardens. He exchanged glances with Tarek, who was talking to Dorian, with cocktails in their hands. As soon as Tarek realized Louis was alone, he approached him.
“Louis, why didn’t you tell me that Dorian had just finished his bachelor’s degree in Physics at Cambridge? He is not even eighteen!”
“Well, I kind of took it for granted. After so many years you get used to the fact that your kid is a fast learner,” Louis could not conceal his pride. “Even with his, um, genomic boost, I was really surprised by his performance. He’s a real ‘enfant prodige’, much more than I was.”
Dorian in the meantime had joined the group that was orbiting around Aurora, but he always kept an eye on Tarek and Louis.
“Does he plan to continue studying at Cambridge?” Tarek asked.
“You should ask him,” Louis replied, “I guess so. He was thinking about going to MIT, but the recent developments make it too dangerous. For a start, Massachusetts and nearby states self-proclaimed the Northeastern Federation and declared secession from the United States, enacting the results of the referendums. I would not like to have him in the middle of another Chicago. You know we do not have that many friends in the US, or what is left of them.”
“How about sending him to Alexandria, Egypt? I might have a job for him.” Tarek enquired nonchalantly.
Louis was quick to grasp. “Do you need some help with the new supercomputing facility that the Egyptian government is building? I wonder what part you had in all of this.”
“The one I have always had, Louis,” Tarek answered with a broad smile, “I am just helping to broker deals. After I left my former employer in the Gulf, and I would like to underline it was a peaceful separation, my old home country found she might use my services and connections. I can tell you, the beaches nearby Alexandria have nothing to envy compared to the place here. And the confusion and chaos of Cairo is hundreds of kilometers away.”
“Well, Tarek, I am quite happy with your move,” Louis replied, “I think it is the first time you are not in the middle of some arms trade, isn’t it?”
“Well, not directly. I was hired to foster the cooperation with Iran, quite a lot of engineers and scientists in Alexandria are coming from there, along with many Europeans. On paper, the supercomputing center is meant to work on advanced oil research, agricultural bioengineering and the impact of the new solar program on the climate. In reality, there will be other shadow programs running in the background, mostly military ones. The recent tensions with Pakistan have eventually persuaded the Iranians to offshore part of their program to make sure it survives in case things worsen. But I can assure you, Dorian won’t be involved with this.”
“I see how you nicely fit into the picture, now,” Louis said, “I still need access to these resources. I am still developing the research we obtained with the secretive help of the Iranians. I am afraid that the effects of Telomerax are going beyond this already scary story of the immortal fly. It looks like….it is contagious.”
“Contagious?” Tarek mumbled, then his eyes flashed, “You mean that if any living thing is exposed to it in the long term it might develop immortality?”
“In short, yes,” Louis replied, “Obviously conditions vary significantly, and exposure has to be long enough, sometimes so long that it does not have much of an effect. But in principle, it looks like any DNA has some way to incorporate the fix and achieve immortality….so far all the research I did is about animals exposed directly to the drug. I still have plenty of things to verify about microorganisms and indirect exposure, like the food chain for example and..” Louis’ voice subsumed, as he noticed Dorian leaving the group around Aurora and moving towards them.
“Dad,” he said, visibly upset and ignoring Tarek, “Can you tell me why on Earth you allowed mom to invite Cardinal Colonna? I know she has been in a religious crisis recently, but she could have avoided it! And the guy seems to enjoy the party, he does not want to go away!”
“I made the decision to invite him, Dorian, because I like the guy, the way he is trying to manage the challenge that we gave the Church and all other religions…what’s wrong with you? He’s not preaching to us. On the contrary, it looks like he’s having very good conversations with mom and Helena. By the way, the day the pictures of him at my birthday party will leak out to the media, and rest assured he will face trouble with his right-wing Catholics.”
“Well, they are right because he simply does not fit here,” Dorian insisted, raising his tone and attracting the attention of Dora and Helena, “you simply defeated death forever, the key propaganda argument of religion, and you should be wary of him and all others like him. They are just looking for your, actually our, weak spot to attack.” Dora joined the group, looking at Dorian with a mix of rage and compassion.
“Dorian, do you really think so? You think I lost my mind and I am looking for easy answers? Never mind, my boy, we will talk again in eighty years, hopefully your mind will have changed.”
“Hopefully?” Dorian looked at Tarek, who tried to hide behind his two cocktails, “Gosh, you heard her Tarek? She is filthy rich, looks glamorously thirty at age eighty-one, and wastes her time giving me moral lessons, probably taken from a sneaky Cardinal. I am fed up! I can’t wait to join you in Alexandria, Tarek, and leave this place full of hypocrites.”
Dorian pounded his fist on the glass on the table and headed straight to the patio exit on the beach side. Dora silently started to cry, trying to keep a straight face. Tarek tried to stammer something about how Telomerax had not quite changed much in the way boys were coming of age, and slowly moved away from Dora and Louis, towards the cake that had just been moved in by the waiters. He stopped at the edge of the swimming pool, where he was joined by Helena and Guillermo. Tan and fit, the couple looked awesome, just like the friends of their daughter.
“It was an animated exchange, was it?” Helena asked Tarek. Then she continued without waiting for an answer, “I will tell Dora not to worry too much. We’ve been through that with Aurora as well and now it’s much better. It’s just the process of growing up.”
“I don’t think it’s so simple,” Tarek said, “Dorian has just realized that for good or worse, his parents will always be there to judge him, and Louis and Dora have yet another never ending challenge in front of them, called Dorian.”
“Um, I hope we made the right decision then, Helena,” Guillermo said, looking at his wife’s womb.
“Hold on, guys, you mean that..” Tarek started.
“Yes, Tarek,” Helena concluded,”Guillermo and I thought it was time to give Aurora a brother. Not an easy decision with what is going on in the world today, but Guillermo deserved his first son after being a fantastic stepfather for Aurora. Just don’t tell Dora and Lo
uis yet, I do not want to overload them with emotions tonight.”
The cake was ready, the small crowd of guests gathered around Louis. Dora stood next to him, her eyes still glistening with tears. Tarek, Helena and Guillermo joined them. Louis took the bottle of champagne in his hands. He was supposed to make a small speech, but all he said before opening the bottle was. “I thank you all for coming and hope to see you here again! Thank you!” He then quickly uncorked the champagne, so quickly that the small group that was playing in the background went out of sync and began playing “Happy Birthday” after a few seconds of delay.
Tarek pondered the news of the new pregnancy of Helena once again and looked at his beloved wife. He wondered if it made sense to have a new child, at the age of eighty-six, perhaps he had better discuss it with some Imam he trusted, just like Dora does with her friend the Cardinal. As he handed over his glass to get some more champagne and toast Louis, he realized that Valerio had not made it. Tarek let the sorrow and melancholy spread through his soul for a second, then pointed his eyes and glass to the sky and murmured,
“Happy birthday to you too, Valerio, wherever you may be now.”
The Last Enemy - Parts 1,2 & 3 - 1934-2054 Page 67