Authors: Kathy Bell
He looked at her with measured
respect. “You are a formidable woman. Are you sure you weren’t some
corporate mogul?”
“
Heh, definitely not
that, Peter, definitely not that.”
“
Melik, I need to
speak with you.” Adya caught him before he entered his office the
subsequent morning, following him in.
“
When I first arrived
in this timeline, there was an…incident. I was attacked, and I’m
pregnant with twins.”
Melik sunk into the chair behind
his desk. “Wow, that wasn’t what I was expecting. I was hoping you
were going to confess your undeniable attraction to me and finally
give in to it.” Adya smiled.
“
That too.”
“
So, what do you know
about them so far?”
“
I’m thirteen weeks
along, so we can’t do any invasive testing yet. There hasn’t been
any testing yet. I didn’t want to use the Sanctum doctor since he
isn’t a regressee…I’m only fourteen for all intents and purposes,
not really a good age to announce a pregnancy. So, I don’t even
know if they’re male or female although from the ultrasound Peter
and I bungled our way through, it looks like they’re identical.
Common amniotic sac.”
“
Well, that makes
studying the next generation a more immediate
possibility.”
“
Way to put a positive
swing on it, Melik.”
They continued to work with her
samples, recording DNA sequencing through electrophoresis,
cataloguing segments in the hopes they would be able to piece the
entire thing together after sequencing enough samples. Peter joined
them just before lunch.
“
At eleven forty hours
I realized you likely weren’t coming for the sample
today.”
“
She already gave
herself to me, Peter, too late. She also confessed.”
“
Did she?”
“
Yes. It really is me
she wants.” Peter looked startled. Adya widened her
eyes.
“
You should see your
face, man, that was priceless. No, about the babes.”
Peter grunted while she giggled.
“Wally and Fred finally found the key for longer sequences. Their
earlier attempts at sequencing had been confounded because the
plasmid did not behave like normal DNA. It reacted more like a
complex protein when denatured and the usual matrix did not work
well. They figured out the best matrix for the plasmid was a custom
mixture of acrylamide and agarose.” Thrilled to be able to pass on
news of their small success, his voice squeaked. “I don’t want to
put too much pressure on you, Adya, but could we get one more small
sample today?”
“
Only if you take me
to lunch first. I’ll need the fluids.”
“
Consider it done,
let’s go right now…and leave this buffoon behind.” Melik’s snicker
could be heard as they closed the office door.
“
Do you think it was
people, or do you think it was….something more?”
Peter hesitated before responding
to Adya’s query, taking a bite of his sandwich and chewing with
careful deliberation. “I don’t believe in God, if that’s what
you’re asking. Could it be aliens? Perhaps, you know as well as I
do the probability of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is
almost a certainty. But, why they would go to all of this effort to
manipulate your DNA, send us all back in time and not give us any
other clues…it doesn’t make sense. If they had the technology to do
all that why not just fix the problem at the time it
happens.”
“
Perhaps they can’t
use their technology in that way?”
“
Let’s not waste our
time speculating. Finished? Here, let me.” He cleared her dishes
from the table and they moved on to his laboratory. The centrifuge
spun down the sample of his blood, to check if there had been any
success with the transfusion of her blood containing the plasmid.
Attempts to look at his individual cells under the microscope found
no indication of success.
“
With the plasmid
breaking down so fast, we can’t hope to find it in its entirety.
But Wally and Fred found one particular sequence present which has
not appeared in any human sequence. If we find that segment in my
blood it would be an encouraging sign since your samples break down
within twenty four hours, so there would be no residual segments
left from your original plasmid transfer.
It would be significantly more
tedious to study the broken fragments of the plasmid collected from
her samples, and perhaps fruitless in the end if they could not
figure out which fragments were in what order, but Peter voiced the
attempt needed to be made.
“
This is finished.
Let’s see what we can find.” No sign of replication. Melik joined
them, reading from their disappointed faces their lack of
success.
“
So, where do we go
from here?”
“
If we can finish the
sequencing and replicate it ourselves, perhaps we can create our
own synthetic version.” Peter’s face showed how little hope he
held.
“
Do you really think
it would work?”
“
Not likely. There is
something about the plasmid which wants to ensure you are
involved.”
“
Back to the Eve
hypothesis. Where does that go from here?”
“
If only we knew the
exact mechanism by which the plasmid is meant to save us. Is it
immunity? Some new trait?”
“
Peter. You’re
creating a Noah’s Ark here, with genetic samples from all of the
species. How did you determine what samples to include for each
species?”
“
We selected based on
traits. We wanted to ensure we included samples with the various
alleles, the various genotypes and phenotypes.”
“
So, if we were doing
the same for humans and you were freezing sperm and ova, how would
you select?”
“
Again, I would want
to ensure I had samples representing the various alleles. We’ve got
plans if it comes to it, but our intention is to bring living
humans into Sanctum, not popsicles.” He shook his head. “May it
never come to that, such a loss of life we have to resort to the
frozen samples.”
“
Peter, Melik, have
you ever noticed all of you have different backgrounds, different
ethnicities?”
“
You mean the
executive?”
“
Yes, amongst the
twenty-eight of you I would hazard a guess you represent almost
every possible allele. Hair colour, skin colour, eyes, facial
features. It’s all there.”
Melik looked uncomfortable. “Are
you implying we have been selected for our genetics, to be
stored?”
“
It’s just a
thought…not stored, necessarily, but…used. Reproduced.”
“
I’m not sure I’m
following.” Adya faced him.
“
Peter just described
the way to save a species for the future. Cover all the possible
genotypes and phenotypes. We haven’t done it in the lab. It’s been
done for us, in the executive. You were both selected because of
your heritage as much as your specialty.” Adya gave the men a
minute before continuing.
“
I first noticed in
the orientation handbook. Just looking at the pictures I could see
all cultures from around the world, all of the alleles. I’m not
going to be Eve alone. I think you are my Adams.”
Melik responded with shock,
“What?”
Peter narrowed his eyes. “This is
beginning to sound a bit farfetched, Adya. Are you implying you
would sleep with all of us? We know in vitro won’t work because the
plasmid will disintegrate.”
“
Peter, distance
yourself and look at this scientifically. We have arrived at the
conclusion the plasmid is a key to survival. And, whether done by
AI or some other means, fathers will be needed for my children. The
two I carry would not be sufficient to propagate successfully. But,
looking at the other details, I think you must agree there is a
high probability the genetic variation amongst the regressees is to
ensure genetic variability in the future. The only way to combine
those two factors is for my children to be fathered by the
regressees. The how bears investigation, though.”
“
Twenty eight men?”
Peter made no effort to disguise his disgust.
“
There are only twenty
six-years before 2011.” Melik did not appear to be caught up in the
moral ramifications of Adya’s hypothesis, unlike Peter. “Is that
enough time?”
“
It might not be a
matter of having had the children by 2011 anyway, perhaps there
will be opportunity afterwards. But it is feasible to have
twenty-eight children in twenty six-years…every ten to eleven
months.” Aggrieved as she thought of the timeline, she grimaced.
And it struck her−she would not have her children, the ones she
originally bore. Pain knifed through her as memories of them
flashed across her mind.
“
Are you
okay?”
“
This is not an easy
idea for me, Peter. If true, I have to give up any hope of my life
I had before. My children were my life. But perhaps even that is a
reflection of this destiny…I was a mother and am meant to be a
mother. But are you meant to be fathers? I need to go for a walk.
Think about what I’ve suggested.” Adya left Peter and Melik
discussing her thoughts as the door swished closed behind
her.
Adya sat on a bench in the common
area watching a bee move from flower to flower, carrying his load
of pollen and serving his purpose as the pollinator for the trees.
Adya wished her path was as clear, as definitive as the movement of
the bee. Not afraid of taking the role of mother, even for a large
number of children, she found the thought of choosing to give up
her family very difficult to face. Doubts afflicted her, especially
related to the sacrifice of the loving relationship shared with her
husband. She would be facing the future alone, without the support
of one single partner, the love of someone who shared not only her
bed but her life. Adya was unsure if she could make that sacrifice
even if she was able to choose to bear the children of the
future.
Journal of Doctor Nicholas Weaver
November 2, 98 P. I.
The silence is hard to
bear. Most especially, I miss the sounds of children. In my first
lifetime I of course did not treasure such commonplace commotion,
but now I would listen to the orchestra of a schoolyard with as
much pleasure as a symphony.
The last computers
gave up the ghost two decades ago. I still find vehicles to drive.
I should commend the auto makers who survived the recession of
2009. They created better vehicles when forced to the precipice,
when their very survival depended upon selling every single car
rolling off the assembly line.
A movie – I cannot
remember the name, too many lifetimes ago – proposed the time where
we are most likely to change is when we are at the edge of the
abyss. The moment of our darkest fears, that time each of us must
face, is also the instant of our most brilliant clarity.
Adya wanted to get one last workout before her departure,
using the sauna facilities for the first and last time—she did not
want to risk damage to the babies. The sauna was an infrared model
similar to the one she and her husband had enjoyed, finding steam
saunas intolerable after a short while. It was well designed with
an antechamber at the entrance to ensure no blast of cold air when
the door was opened. She set the thermostat, turned on the music
and entered through the swinging panelled door into the main sauna.
Relieved no one else was present, she kept her bikini in place in
case someone entered later. Running her hands over her belly, the
hardening and rounding of her uterus was more obvious now than even
the day before. She spread a towel, stretching out on the bench.
Closing her eyes, she let the soft music relax her as the warmth
seeped into her pores.
She could visualize her husband
sitting beside her as they had often done in their own sauna,
sharing ideas and setting goals. Imagining herself giving him a
massage, his firm shoulders under a glistening layer of sweat. He
would turn and pull her into his arms, rubbing his hands down her
slick back and over her buttocks while he kissed her shoulders and
neck. Adya’s breathing sped up as she pictured Daniel repositioning
himself on the bench so she could slide herself over top of him to
make love. She felt her nipples pucker at the thought of his lips
upon them and a low moan escaped her throat.
Her eyes flew open at the
answering groan in her ear.
“You have to stop whatever you’re
thinking about now, before I do something both of us might
regret.”
Peter knelt beside Adya, his
eyelids heavy with desire.
“Peter…” she breathed, realizing
in the way of the Dutch he was completely naked. Her eyes drank in
his solid frame, gold hair dusting his chest and darkening further
down his stomach. She traced his lips with one finger.
“Adya, I don’t think…” Her
finger moved to silence him.
“Don’t think, just feel.” She
pulled his face towards hers and their lips melded. His hands slid
softly over her body, his lips not far behind. She sighed as he
slid his body over top of hers.