The Eve Genome (13 page)

He contemplated my question. “I don’t know. Probably.” He grabbed the ladder again and started toward the door. “Come on.  I don’t want to find out.”

As if his last words were a premonition, the door to the building crashed open, the entire space lit up with the strobe effect of numerous flashlights. We ducked behind the blue plastic containers, but the heavy footfalls closed in on us.

Kalan grasped my hand and tugged back along the wall and toward the entrance.

My collar suddenly closed in around my throat as a fist jabbed into my back. Someone had the back of my shirt.

The voice was cold and toneless behind me. “Stop moving.”

#

This time I knew there would be no faking sick and attempting escape. Now there were four guards escorting me back to the lab, all of them the largest I’d seen yet. I resigned myself to whatever unpleasant and possibly painful procedure they would perform.

The hulking men led me back to the same lab, with the same nurse, who had the same extreme bun, but this time, she was wearing lime green scrubs instead of pink. And while she maintained the mechanical way of going about her job, now she had a cold edge in every glance and mannerism. She also seemed to be taking less care in being gentle, and when she shoved the needle into my arm, I yelped. All four guards stood around the table and watched my every move, ready to act at the slightest provocation.

The nurse lowered the table so I was horizontal and pushed my medical gown up to my armpits, my bare lower half fully exposed. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“As genetics allows us to turn the tide on human disease, it's also granting the power to engineer desirable traits into humans. What limits should we create as this technology develops?”

-Nature.com

CHAPTER TWELVE

KALAN KANE

I went with the guards without putting up a fight because I wanted to save my energy for when it counted. Besides, I didn’t know what my father was aware of, in terms of my abilities, and the more I could surprise them at the last minute, the better.

But watching them yank Adriana’s slender arms high behind her back and the pained expression that followed was nearly too much. If she’d cried out, I wouldn’t have been able to hold back, but thankfully, she hadn’t.

Now, inside my room, I was once again cut off from everyone. Like a caged animal, I wanted to climb the walls. How long would it take before Malcolm came to address me? I didn’t want to think about what would happen when that moment came to pass.

Feeling helpless and ramped up, overfilled with nervous energy I couldn’t bleed off, I sat down on the bed and focused on reaching out to my mother.

“Mother. Can you hear me?”
I waited, but there was no response. I called to her once again. Nothing.

Then a familiar voice streaked through my mind.

“So you and Adriana made a run for it?”
Marcus’s voice.

I ignored the surge of anger that ran through me.
“They’ve got this place set up like a fortress. There’s no way out.”
 

Marcus’s sarcastic tone came through loud and clear, despite the fact that his words weren’t even spoken aloud.
“I could have told you there was no way out. Saved you the energy.”
I could imagine Marcus’s smirk.
“I’ve been here before.”

Now it was my turn to be snide.
“Well done. You’ve managed to bring us to him and lead yourself into imprisonment in the process. Very wise, brother.”

Marcus didn’t respond right away.
“I had no idea he would turn on me.”

“This man used his own genetic material to engineer us. We are scientific specimens to him, that’s all. What kind of person did you think he was?”
I asked.

“I underestimated. Obviously.”
Marcus’s answer was diminutive
.

“
Obviously
.” I flopped back on my bed, overwhelmed at the ridiculousness of my brother’s stupidity. “
How much does Malcolm know about you—and your abilities? How did he know to make that weapon?”

“He knows everything.”

I pressed my knuckles into my eye sockets and punched the wall. My knuckles crunched with the impact of skin and bone against concrete.
“Fuck. You’re stupid. Do you know that?”
When Marcus didn’t respond, I continued.
“I need to know precisely what he knows. It’s the only way we’ll defeat him.”

Marcus laughed.
“How is that, exactly?”

“Because. I’ve finally accepted the truth, and now that I have, I’m developing new abilities every time I turn around. If I don’t even know about them, how could he? Maybe if we have something unexpected to use against him, we’ll have a fighting chance.”

Marcus hesitated and then answered.
“Okay. I’ll tell you everything.”

#

There were six guards who came to retrieve me this time. Obviously they weren’t taking any chances. I supposed I should have been flattered, but all I could think about was how much more difficult it would be to outwit and physically overwhelm all six of them at once. They led me to a side room where I was instructed to put on a hospital gown. I refused. To my surprise, they walked away and left me alone. To wait.

After a few minutes, a man in white scrubs approached me, those same guards following beside him. The lab man’s hair was greyish-white and he peered at me with dark blue eyes. They looked like two ripe blueberries set in a ruddy face of broken capillaries.

“What is this I hear? You’re refusing to cooperate?” He spoke in a loud, jovial manner, like some sobering Santa Claus, annoyed I wouldn’t get up onto his knee.

              I glared at him. “I want to know what you’re doing.”

The man’s eyebrows lowered in the middle. “We need a semen sample.”

I cursed, and he backed up as guards simultaneously moved toward me.

“Obviously, I’m not going to cooperate!” I said, my voice a low growl.

He laughed. His belly jiggled. Like a bowl full of jelly. “There are ways to attain a sample that don’t require your cooperation.”

I swallowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It’s difficult to explain without sounding crass.” The man smiled. “I can use a sedative, if you’d prefer. It will help you relax.”

“I guess I’m going down fighting,” I said as I lunged at the guards and they tackled me to the ground.

#

Malcolm had lined us up, side by side, each with at least one guard behind us. The skin on my face burned from the humiliating experience I’d just undergone, and my entire body was still shaking. I was situated beside Adriana, and Malcolm made no move to stop us from holding hands. Her palm felt cold and clammy, matching the greyish cast to her complexion. I’d never seen her look so pale.

On my other side stood my mother, who had yet to respond to my silent questions. Beyond her was Tait, who looked dumbfounded, his eyes still black and blue from getting thumped over the head and hitting the ground face-first. Beside him, furthest from me, was Marcus.

My brother no longer had his usual smug, arrogant look. In fact, his entire body emanated defeat, from the curled-in quality of his shoulders, to his downcast eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost feel sorry for him.

But Karma was a bitch.

What made Marcus look all the more pathetic were his attempts to touch Tait’s hand, and Tait’s repeated rebuffs. After about three attempts on the part of Marcus, Tait folded his arms across his chest. I guess mind control was no longer working for Marcus.

I glanced back at the row of guards. Each of them had lengths of the transparent weapon they’d used on Marcus, the sci-fi gadget hanging from their gun belts like whips made of slimy rubber.

What other high-tech devices did my father have in store for me and Marcus?

The room was silent as we waited for the self-acclaimed
Science God
to walk in. I was fast learning that my father enjoyed an audience.

Malcolm strode in, followed by several people in white lab coats who trailed behind him like parasitic minions. He wore jeans and a collared shirt, his lab coat open in the front. The scientists around him had their white lab coats buttoned all the way up, their name tag lanyards dangled around their necks, blue rubber gloves tucked into their breast pockets. Had they all signed non-disclosure contracts to work here? Or was the threat of being the next lab rat enough to keep them silent and compliant?

“I have brought you all here today to outline the requirements of the next several months. I also wanted to give you the opportunity to say good-bye to your loved ones, as you will be separated from this point on.” He looked directly at me. “It appears I’ve been far too trusting.”

Genevieve spoke first. “Malcolm, what do you want with me? I’m old. I can’t reproduce for you anymore. Surely I’m only taking up space.”

Malcolm strode over to Genevieve and looked at her with a kind of tenderness. “I want you to be here for it. To be present for what we’ve created, you and I. Our collective offspring. Unfortunately, you are correct about your lack of value to me. Preliminary results from Adriana’s tests indicate the energy within her mitochondria is far beyond yours.”

“What you are doing is wrong, Malcolm, and you know it.” Genevieve’s voice was soft, as if Malcolm was her one and only true love.

Malcolm’s expression fell, as if she’d slapped him in the face. “No, Jennie. Human weakness and inconsistencies can be fixed. It is simply the rate of advancement in molecular genetics surpassing that of natural selection. I’m merely hastening the process.”

Genevieve shook her head as her eyes filled with tears. “No, Malcolm. You can’t tamper with nature this way. You are not God.”

Malcolm’s brow furrowed. “God? This has nothing to do with creationism. My lab has made the speed of genome sequencing increase exponentially. And do you know why? It is not because of a god, but because of people, who have made computers so advanced our ability to sequence genomes is growing ever faster. Don’t you see? Imagine how this will open up enormous vistas for biological research and create astonishing changes in human medicine.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his eyes narrowed. “Look at them.” He gestured to me and Marcus with an odd kind of reverence. “Do you see what this lab made possible? Science did that. Not
God
. And I will forever be known as the geneticist who created them.”

Tears streaked down my mother’s face. Her voice rang out inside my head.
“I’m sorry for what I’m about to say, Kalan.”

She took a step toward Malcolm but guards grabbed each of her arms and stopped her. “Are you talking about Marcus? The infant who came out screaming and went on to become a vengeful, hostile young man, whose only use of his genetically engineered strengths are used for selfish reasons? Or do you mean Kalan, who looks like he was meant to live in a bubble and who obviously doesn’t even feel comfortable in his own skin?”

I swallowed, now understanding why she apologized to me before she spoke. And yet, every word she said was true.

Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “That’s precisely why we need to finish our research. Prototypes always have errors.”

Genevieve wiped away her tears and gaped at Malcolm, her whole body shaking.  “They are not goddamn prototypes, Malcolm! They’re people!” she screamed, her face beet red, eyes flashing. Then her face went slack and she clutched her chest, right before her knees buckled and her body crumpled to the ground.

“Genevieve!” Malcolm jumped forward in an attempt to catch her, but missed. Her head hit his shoe. He dropped to the ground and pulled her onto his lap to check her throat for a pulse. She blinked at him, her mouth open as she sucked in shallow breaths. He waved frantically at the guards behind him. “Page the physician.”

Two guards came to her side, and Malcolm helped them hoist her into one of the guard’s arms. They swept her out of the room. The door slammed shut behind them.

Now, Malcolm looked rattled. When he addressed us this time, he was noticeably quieter, his expression far more serious.

“Genevieve’s contribution to Project Eve is complete. That’s the last time you’ll see her. I’m sorry you weren’t able to say goodbye.”

My mouth dropped open. “What? What do you mean, that’s the last time we’ll see her? Where in the hell are you taking her?”

Malcolm looked down, and for a second, I wondered if his expression showed a hint of…regret? “I’m afraid Genevieve has always been a liability. I’ve been searching for her for years, only recently coming anywhere close to finding her. And for that, Marcus, I am eternally grateful.”

Marcus’s face was ashen. Tait stood beside him with a look of equal parts disgust and horror.

Marcus spoke. “You’re not going to kill her, are you?”

Malcolm’s eyebrows rose in the middle as he registered his son’s reaction. “What is this, Marcus? A radical change in conscience?”

Tait shuffled sideways, further from Marcus, and eyed him with unmuted disdain. Marcus caught the look, and his entire expression darkened. Tait’s glare must have been his breaking point. Without hesitation, Marcus launched himself at Malcolm and tackled him to the floor. The guards sprang to life and were immediately at their boss’s side, but it was too late. Marcus had our father in a headlock.

“Touch me with that thing so my muscles lock up, and his carotid will experience the full extent of my muscle rigidity.” Marcus’s lip was curled back, his eyes glittering like razor-sharp black diamonds.

This was more like the Marcus I knew.

My brother’s voice entered my mind.
“I’ll take these guards. You take the ones behind you.”

“Okay.”

I whipped around and without thinking, grabbed Adriana and put her in a headlock. Her eyes flashed.
I’m sorry,
I said, mind to mind. She squeaked but didn’t respond.

“The same is true for me,” I said to the guards. Their shocked expressions and tightly coiled muscles hovered over the translucent weapons. Seeing their fingers twitch gave me the courage to continue. “You need her. You take me out and she’s gone.”

They looked to Malcolm, who was not able to speak. His eyes bulged, staring at them, silently willing them to do something to help him, but unable to communicate with words. The irony.

When the guards remained in their unmoving state of indecision, Marcus stood up and carefully pulled Malcolm upright with him. The guards cringed, obviously at a loss about what to do as they observed their boss gasp for air. I backed up with Adriana in my hold, struggling to ensure she could breathe freely while making it look convincing that I was a hair’s width away from cutting off her oxygen. Tait came with us, despite the wide-eyed look on his face.

A croaking sound erupted from Malcolm’s mouth and his skin turned a deep shade of burgundy.

“Let go of him!” The guard yelled, pulling the gun from the holster in his belt. “I can still shoot you in the leg!”

Marcus smiled and his nostrils flared, his lips curled back in a snarl. “Try it. I’ll squeeze that much harder on my way down.”

The guards didn’t move. Their eyes were as wide as saucers, beads of sweat dripping from their foreheads.

“Let’s go,” I said. We backed up toward the closest door. Tait held the door open for Marcus, who steered Malcolm forward, his throat still at the crook of his elbow. As soon as the door was closed behind us I let go of Adriana. “Are you okay?” I asked. She nodded. I grasped a steel bar from a side lab and fed it through the door handles to keep the guards locked-in.

Marcus led with Malcolm in front, in his vulnerable position.

They walked with purpose, and after rounding several corners, reached the main foyer where people milled about, unaware of what was going on. The entire room fell silent.

Shouting broke out and guards ran toward us as people in lab coats ran away. Marcus stopped. “I’ll kill him if any one of you takes even one step!” he yelled.

They all, save for one, stopped. A tall bald man with a black goatee continued forward toward Marcus. Even from my vantage point I could see Marcus squeeze Malcolm’s head in the bend of his arm. Malcolm’s face turned purple-red and his knees buckled.

Every person in the room came to a sudden stop, including the guard with the goatee. Now we had a clear exit. We went for it.

I shoved my shoulder against the door, but it held firm. “What the—”

Marcus said, “There’s a buzzer behind the front desk that will let us out.”

I rushed over to the desk and jumped over it to push the button. The locks
clicked
, and Marcus shoved Malcolm through the doors and out into the night.

Adriana held her hand out to me. I could see in her expression that she understood my actions had been a ploy to escape. I hopped back over the desk, took her hand, and together we entered the darkness beyond.