Creature (9 page)

“Don’t touch him,” a soft but urgent voice said behind her. Gasping with surprise, Charlotte turned to see a pretty young woman, no more than thirty, coming out of the bathroom that connected this room and the next. “Please,” the woman went on. “I can do it.” She moved to the bed, and Charlotte stepped aside. Gently, her hand barely caressing the boy’s cheek, the woman carefully moved the lock of hair. Then she looked up, her dark eyes meeting Charlotte’s. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Charlotte LaConner,” Charlotte replied. “I—my son is Jeff LaConner. He was in the game—”

Instantly the other woman’s eyes flashed with anger. “I know who he is,” she said. “He’s the boy who hurt my son. I am Maria Ramirez,” she added, the words sounding to Charlotte almost like a challenge.

Charlotte swallowed, struggling to control her emotions. “I—I just came to see how your son is.” She spoke softly, her voice little more than a whisper. “Is he going to be all right?”

Maria Ramirez’s eyes glistened with tears, but when she spoke, her voice was perfectly controlled. “No,” she said. “He’s not going to be all right. He may never walk again.” Though she saw Charlotte recoil from her words, Maria went relentlessly on. “He might not even live, Mrs. LaConner. Your son might very well have killed my boy.”

Charlotte closed her eyes, as if the gesture might shut away the reality of Maria Ramirez’s words. But when she opened them, the slim Chicano woman was still staring at her. “Is—Is there anything I can do?” Charlotte whispered. “Anything at all?”

Maria Ramirez shook her head. Charlotte moved forward then and reached out as if to touch the woman, but Maria shrank away from her. Silently, Charlotte turned to go. But when she was at the door, Maria spoke once more.

“Make him stop, Mrs. LaConner. Make your son stop playing that game. If he doesn’t, he’ll hurt someone else.”

Charlotte turned back and nodded. “I will, Mrs. Ramirez. You can be very certain of that. Jeff has played his last game.”

But as she walked out of the hospital and into the bright glare of the high, noonday sun, Charlotte wondered whether or not she would be able to back up her words. In the twenty years she’d been married to Chuck, she had yet to win a major argument. Inevitably his logic won out over her own emotionalism.

* * *

Blake Tanner had spent the morning touring the TarrenTech facility with Jerry Harris. At almost every turn his amazement had increased.

When he’d arrived that morning, he’d been surprised at the apparent lack of security in the building, but Jerry had quickly disabused him of that notion.

“The television cameras have been tracking you since you came within a quarter of a mile of the shop,” he explained. “A description of your car and its plate number is already in the memories, and it also did a match to a photograph of you. In addition, we have a whole series of perimeter alarms buried in the ground around the building, and backup systems in case anyone is smart enough to get around the main system. Not that we’ve ever had a problem,” he added, a note of smugness coming into his voice. “In all the years we’ve been here, there hasn’t been so much as a single attempt to breach our defenses.”

Jerry Harris spoke as though TarrenTech were a fortress and he its commanding officer. And as they began their tour of the building, Blake saw that the comparison was apt. Deceptively small when viewed from the outside, the building extended four floors below ground level. “No point alerting anyone as to how much we’re doing here,” Jerry had pointed out, chuckling softly.

They’d gone first to the software section, where a group of top programmers, all of them casually dressed, were working at computer terminals or whispering quickly to each other in the strange programming language that Blake had never been able to comprehend. “We have an Artificial Intelligence unit working here,” Jerry said in reply to Blake’s inquisitive glance. “We’re far ahead of the guys in Palo Alto and Berkeley, but of course they don’t know it. In fact, as far as they know, we’re only working on a new operating system to compete with Microsoft.”

Blake nodded. He’d heard the rumors himself and had already begun working on marketing strategies.

“Except,” Jerry went on, smiling broadly, “it’s a bunch of bullshit.”

Blake gaped at him, and his boss laughed out loud.

“Do you think Ted Thornton’s dumb enough to go up against Microsoft on their own turf? We started the rumor ourselves, and managed to get it going really well by sending a few guys to Berkeley and Palo Alto.” His eyes fairly glittered with pride and amusement as he told the story. “The reason they wanted out of TarrenTech, supposedly, was that they were bored with operating systems and wanted to get into A.I. So we now have our men in both places, and no one has caught on yet.”

Blake shook his head in wonder. They moved on then, wandering through a maze of laboratories. One of them was experimenting in superconductors, concentrating on ceramics, and others were experimenting with new forms of bubble technology. Finally, they entered the pharmaceutical labs and at last encountered a security guard. Though he didn’t ask them for any identification, he watched carefully as they donned lab coats and covered their faces with masks.

“Of course, this isn’t much protection if anything’s loose in here,” Jerry said, “but it’s better than nothing. And our containment has been about as good as it can get. In five years we’ve never had a bug get loose. Not even within the lab itself.”

“Bug?” Blake asked, hesitating at the door. “What’s going on in there?”

Jerry’s smile was hidden by his mask. “Research. The big push right now, of course, is AIDS, but we’re involved in a lot of other things, too. And you don’t have to worry about AIDS—in the conditions here, it would be next to impossible for you to be exposed to it. Come on.”

He opened the first of a double set of locked doors; as soon as they had stepped inside, the doors automatically closed behind them, sealing them in the antechamber. A moment later the second set of doors was released. Then they were in the lab itself. Jerry did his best to explain what was
going on, but when the talk began to involve DNA and genetic engineering, Blake was lost.

“And now,” Jerry Harris announced nearly an hour later, after they’d left the labs and returned to the first floor, “we come to my personal favorite part of the whole installation.” He pushed open a door and they stepped into a long, sky-lit room, with cages along one wall. “The animal room,” Jerry said, his voice taking on a note of excitement that went beyond anything Blake had heard before that morning. He grinned like a kid. “I must come in here at least three times a day,” he said. They walked slowly along the row of cages. At almost every one of them Jerry stopped to murmur to the mice, rats, or guinea pigs. When they came to a cage full of white rabbits, Jerry opened the door and carefully lifted one of the animals out. He cradled it gently in his hands, and Blake was instantly reminded of his own son. Jerry seemed to read his mind.

“It was Mark who got me started. I always liked Robb’s guinea pigs, but there’s something about rabbits that always gets to me. I guess they always seem so friendly or something.”

Blake’s brows pulled together in a puzzled frown. “But they’re lab animals, aren’t they?”

Jerry’s eyes clouded for a moment, then cleared. “I guess I just try not to think about that,” he said quietly. “I try not to get too attached to any of them, but sometimes, well—” He broke off suddenly and put the rabbit back in the cage. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go take a look at the monkeys.”

They moved to the end of the room where, in a large cage well equipped with rings, bars, and branches of trees, a small troop of spider monkeys chattered amongst themselves. As they approached, the monkeys fell silent, their wary eyes gazing suspiciously at the two men for a long moment, until, as if satisfied about something, their attention shifted back to one another and they returned to their grooming and murmuring.

“They recognize people, you know,” Jerry said quietly. “They were looking to see if one of us was the lab tech. They always know that that means one of them is going to be
taken away and not brought back. I’ve been thinking of having someone different do it each time, but I’m afraid if I did, the troop might become frightened of everyone.”

They watched the monkeys silently for a few minutes, then Jerry Harris turned away. “Well, back to the grind, I suppose,” he sighed.

They were no more than five steps from the big cage when they heard a loud screech of pure animal fury and both men spun around to see a large male—almost a third larger than any of the others—reach out and grab one of the smaller males around the neck. Its eyes glittering with rage, the larger one sank its teeth into the smaller one’s shoulder, and then, as the smaller one began to scream in agony, the larger animal began shaking it.

Blake stared at the two monkeys in shock, but Jerry Harris instantly reached out and hit a button on the wall. A loud bell began to ring, the doors at the far end of the room flew open, and three attendants came running toward them.

“The hose!” Harris called. “Bring the hose!”

While two of the attendants advanced toward the cage, the third wheeled back and disappeared for a moment. When he returned, he was clutching the nozzle of a fire hose that snaked out behind him.

The smaller of the two monkeys was already dying, blood spurting from the torn artery in its neck. But the bigger one, apparently oblivious to the crimson fluid with which it was being drenched, kept shaking the body of the smaller one.

Finally, the attacker dropped the limp body of its victim to the floor of the cage. Grasping the now-dead creature by its feet, he began swinging it around, maniacally smashing its head against the bars of the cage.

Fighting down a wave of nausea, Blake turned away from the gruesome spectacle, but Jerry Harris, his face ashen and his jaw tight, kept watching, directing the activities of the three attendants.

“Turn on the water,” he shouted. “He’ll drop it as soon as you hit him.”

The blast of water nearly knocked the attendant who was holding the nozzle off his feet. But as Harris had predicted, the large monkey, still screaming with rage, dropped the corpse of its victim. Immediately he was pinned against the bars at the far end of the cage.

While the attendant with the hose kept the animal immobile with the pounding stream of water, another quickly fired a tranquilizing dart into the raging creature. Not more than three seconds later the large monkey slumped to the floor.

“Jesus,” Blake breathed when it was all over. “What the hell happened in there?”

Harris hesitated a moment while he seemed to regain control of himself. As the attendants began the work of herding the rest of the troop into the sleeping quarters behind the main portion of the cage so they could remove the bodies of the two fallen monkeys, he took Blake’s arm and drew him toward the door.

“It happens sometimes,” he said, his voice quavering. “Something happens to an animal when it’s kept in a cage. It might seem perfectly normal for years, but then, all of a sudden, it can just go berserk.” He glanced at Blake. “Haven’t you ever seen the big cats pacing back and forth in a zoo? Especially in the small cages? Well, I don’t think they’re just exercising. If you ask me, they’ve just gone completely psychotic. They’d be better off dead.”

They were back in Jerry Harris’s office before Blake spoke again. “If you feel that way,” he said, “then how can you stand to know that every one of those animals back there is going to die in our labs?”

Harris managed a thin smile. “It’s my job,” he said, a trace of bitterness apparent in his voice. “And I keep telling myself that the research we do, and the lives we might save, are worth what we’re doing to the animals.”

Blake thought about it for a moment, then slowly nodded. “And what am I doing out here?” he finally asked. “From what I’ve seen, you don’t need a marketing man at all.”

Apparently relieved to have the subject changed, Jerry
Harris tossed a file across his desk to Blake. “You’re going to be doing a lot,” he said. “You’re going to know every facet of what’s going on out here, and even if you don’t understand the technology—which I don’t, myself—you’re at least going to know what we’re trying to do. You’ve always been good with people, Blake, and whether you agree or not, that’s what marketing is all about. Showing people why they need what you have. Out here, of course, you’ll be doing a lot of what you might call public relations as well. And you can start with that.” Harris nodded toward the file, and Blake picked it up. He opened it curiously, and was surprised to find that it was a medical file.

It was the file on Ricardo Ramirez.

Puzzled, Blake Tanner gazed questioningly at Jerry Harris.

“TarrenTech will be picking up every one of the medical costs for that boy,” Harris told him. “Whatever he needs—surgeons, specialists, physical therapists—the works.”

Blake smiled cynically, certain he understood. “On the theory that it can’t cost more than a lawsuit,” he commented. But to his surprise, Harris shook his head.

“There won’t be any lawsuit,” he said. “No grounds. It was clearly an accident.” He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “We’re in a unique situation here, Blake,” he said. “Silverdale was a tiny town when we arrived. TarrenTech came in and changed everything. Essentially, we rebuilt the town from scratch, right down to the schools and library. There was some opposition at first, but we asked the people who were here to trust us, and they did. And we’ve never failed in that trust.” He pointed to the file in Blake’s hands. “Legally, no one in Silverdale is responsible for what happened to that boy. But that isn’t going to help him, is it?”

Blake shifted in his seat, feeling suddenly embarrassed about his own cynicism of a moment ago. “No,” he agreed, “I don’t suppose it is.”

Harris’s voice took on a heavy note of authority. “So as far as I personally, and this company as an entity, are concerned, since the accident happened here, we have a moral
responsibility. Ricardo Ramirez will be taken care of, and there will be no cutting of corners. Whatever he needs, he’ll get, and for as long as he needs it. If it comes to the worst, the company is prepared to set up a permanent annuity for him.” Once again his eyes met Blake’s. “His mother says Rick intends to be a doctor when he grows up. He has the grades for it, and he seems to have the drive as well.” He paused for a moment, then went on. “Keep that in mind when you start thinking about how to set up a trust. I should imagine a boy like Rick would have treated his mother pretty well, all things considered. In the event that he can’t, we will.”