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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 7
Part 8
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Part 6
Rebecca
All my life I’ve been a very reliable person. Good Old Reliable Rebecca. Most people take my attitude for granted. The times I’ve had to stop delivering some people were stunned and amazed to discover I no longer had the patience to be used and taken for granted.
Mason wasn’t that way. He had lived too long in his personal wilderness to take people for granted.
Reliable as I am, as I carried the ashes of Mason’s grandson back to our quarters, I felt not at all like myself. I carefully tucked the jar into a drawer where Mason kept the residue of generations of Greys and a handful of Eckharts. Then I left, got in my car, and started driving.
I went and visited paintings I loved in a museum. That may sound peculiar to some, but I’d known these paintings since my first years at Genomex, and going back to seeing old friends once more. This was so calming, I considered going back to Genomex to get in a few hours of productive work. Everything began falling apart when I got back into my car, and began driving to work, to home, and the thought that Genomex had become my home was simply unbearable.
There weren’t many places for me to go. Neither Mason nor I was a very social creature. I found myself sitting in Laura Varady’s driveway. I needed to talk to someone and that someone could not be Mason because he already had enough burdening him.
Had I known what things she had said to Mason, I would not have been there or gone up and rung the doorbell. I likely never would have spoken to her again. Laura was motherly towards everyone; however, Mason had lost his mother at a young age and his relationship with Laura Varady was very important. She must have known she would traumatize him with the way she ended their friendship. But I knew nothing about what happened, not then.
No wonder she looked so surprised to find me on her doorstep.
“Come in, Rebecca.”
I started crying immediately. How very sloppy of me. I felt like a fool, but Laura didn’t laugh.
Laura made a pot of tea and we went outside to her garden, planted to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. We sat down in a pair of Adirondack chairs, real ones made of wood, not molded plastic.
“What is it, Rebecca? Has Mason done something to you?”
“No. Not Mason. Mason’s never done anything cruel to me, maybe because so many things have been done to him. No, this is about something horrific done to Mason that I witnessed.”
Laura looked surprised. Emma must not have said anything about Jesse’s sick revenge.
“You’ll have to bring me up to speed. No one has told me about anything important happening lately.
Fortunately, she knew who Julie was so there was little to explain beyond the fact of her pregnancy. The story itself was simple enough. In no time I had related the tale of Jesse murdering Mason’s grandson.
I did not tell her about what Mason and I did with the body. I was certain we had broken several laws, and I didn’t want to get into that.
“I feel like my mind is overloaded with terrible things. I think I know most every dark and dreadful deed committed at Genomex.”
“Anyone who was part of Mason’s life would have familiarity with the past sins of Genomex.. I think Mason did the right thing unearthing the secrets and not leaving them to be found maybe decades later, but involving himself so deeply was unhealthy. He did not create those unfortunates or cause them to be created.”
I shrugged. “He felt responsible to handle things with decency as soon as he realized what was hidden in the sublevels.”
“Mason might be a more content man if he was not so responsible. You don’t need to answer this question, but I’m curious. Does Mason have nightmares about perverse Genomex science?”
“No. He has nightmares about Marcus.”
“Ah. Twins have a special bond. Mason and Marcus together would have endured childhood better than Mason alone, but that was not to be.”
“I still wonder how Marilyn Eckhart could commit suicide and abandon her surviving son.”
“Mason remembers some question about that at the time, that perhaps she had some ‘help’, something about the way she was found. The police appeared unconvinced, he recalls, but nothing came of it. I’ve seen photos of her. She was a pretty young woman. Mason remembers her happiest when Connor Eckhart was sent overseas and Marilyn and the boys lived with relatives.”
“Mason told me years ago that his father was a jealous man. He has vague memories of coming home to an argument with his father accusing his mother of unfaithfulness. I suspect Connor was jealous of the attention she paid to his own sons. Initially, a possessive, jealous man can make some women feel highly valued and much-loved. Unfortunately, such men are not inclined to trust their womenfolk to be faithful. Behavior once flattering becomes oppressive.”
“Oppressive enough to abandon their own children by way of suicide?”
“You haven’t heard the stories I’ve heard over the years of guys who demanded explanations of odometer readings of their wives’ cars, wanting to know where they went, what they did, why they did it, who they saw, who they talked to. I knew of one character who recorded his wife’s phone calls. She only talked to her mother and two sisters, and there was never a suggestion of evidence that she was fooling around, but the lunacy continued.”
“What happened?”
“The wife stuck it out until their youngest child started college. She filed for divorce the next day.”
“We’ll never know what Marilyn went through, will we?”
“No, but it must have been horrendous. Mason remembers his mother as loving, kind, and not just to her twins, but to neighbor’s children, injured animals, and her elderly relatives.”
“Damn shame she didn’t marry someone who deserved her.”
“Yes.” Dr Varady paused. Rebecca, I’ve done something I’m ashamed of. Mason came to my office. I lost control and said some bad things to him. I knew better, but I’ve been so upset about Emma. I just vented. That isn’t professional of me. Mason just stood there and took it.”
“That’s his way. He thinks of you as a kind of surrogate mother. He’s never said it out loud, but it’s so obvious.”
“I wish I could apologize…Mason was such a kind, decent man when I met him. You’ve been good for him; he was getting back to being who he used to be, at least in the company of a handful of people. I cannot forget Emma’s face that afternoon, and then I feel betrayed and heartbroken all over again. Then, I’m not sure who Mason is. I’m going to say something that may offend, but for your sake, I need to say it: aren’t you just a little afraid of Mason now?”
“For a few, fleeting moments, yes, I was. Then the fear vanished. He acted out of a sense of duty, not in an emotional rage. Guilt is affecting him physically. He had not been able to consume whole food since that day, and he’s not keeping down much of Prodana’s ‘milkshakes’. A guilt-free man would terrify me, but that’s not Mason. No, Mason will not harm me.”
“Well, that’s reassuring. I’ve been worried about you. What are you doing right now, Rebecca?”
“Avoiding going back to Genomex.”
“Avoiding Mason?”
“Oh, no. I want to drag him away from that place permanently. He talks about leaving.”
“He does?”
“Yes.”
“I’m stunned. He has made progress with you. I always thought he planned to die at Genomex.”
“We have house plans we developed with an architect. The plans are done with a three-dimensional program allowing you to try different orientations of the sun to see what the rooms would look like over the course of a year. The images can be rotated, and you can ‘walk’ through the rooms.”
“That’s healthy and positive. What would you do about Mason’s unique health problems?”
“Dismantle the steel cave, reassemble it elsewhere, and build the house around it.”
“Of course.”
“The cave originally was brought to Genomex on flatbed trucks. It can leave the same way. I’d like to see it hauled at least a thousand miles in any direction.”
“You really want to get away from Genomex.”
“In the worst way. I want Mason to get away from the place where his life went wrong and where so many bad memories began.”
“Not a bad idea at all
“We both have books we want to write, and Mason wanted to have time to be with his grandchildren…if there are going to be any grandchildren. I feel like I’m on real-life horror overload, Laura. I know there are millions of people in this world who have experienced much worse, but…”
She interrupted me. “You’ve been around Mason the stoic too long. Yes, there are people who have known worse, but that does not make your experiences tame and lightweight, or easy to handle.”
“I’ll never forget the look on Julie’s face when she realized her baby was gone, but she could not understand what had happened.”
“Is Julie damaged internally?”
“I don’t know.”
“And how is Mason coping?”
“Not well. He’s very good at not betraying himself…except with me. Other people might not see it, but Mason’s having a difficult time.”
“What do you think he’ll do?”
“Find Jesse. If Jesse can be found, Mason will ferret him out.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“I can’t do what I want to do. I’d like to leave Genomex now.”
“I’m glad I’m out of there. I should have bailed after the first six months.”
“Mason says the same thing. Rarely has so much unhappiness emerged from one place. I need time away to think…to not have to be there, at Genomex, 24 hours a day.”
“Well, you could stay here for a while. It’s not like I don’t have plenty of room.”
I thought about it for a moment, but only a moment. “That would be wonderful.”
I couldn’t just not-go-home and start staying with Laura. Some things must be explained in person. Some people must receive explanations in person, or they will very likely conclude the Wrong Things.
Hardly anyone can imagine Mason vulnerable. I was never one of those people. I think I always knew there was a human inside of him…somewhere.
“Mason, you won’t like this, but I need to spend some time away from Genomex.” His sudden grim expression told me that he did not understand, and that he was Making Bad Assumptions. “I am not leaving you. I just cannot be here 24 hours a day, just for a little while.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“If I had all of my wishes, I’d want us both to get away from the site for a while, together, but that isn’t practical. Unfortunately.”
“Why now?”
“Everywhere I go here, I see things that bring to mind the consequences of perverted science.”
“I have some pleasant memories here.”
I should have chosen my words more carefully.
“As do I…but so much has happened recently, I feel like I’m on Genomex overload. Mason, I am NOT leaving you. Put that out of your mind. I didn’t run when you told me about Breedlove and the canine feral, and I didn’t run after the mess with Emma. I will never abandon you. I can’t imagine leaving you unless you said you wanted me gone.”
“Living here is claustrophobic. You’ve tolerated it better than I imagined. Can I call you every night?”
“Yes. Of course. I want you to do that. This is not about time away from you. This is about time away from Genomex. Please look over the house plans while I am away.”
That last line was code-language for ‘seriously consider retirement’ without using the r-word.
“It’s going to seem strange,” he said.
“To me, too. And don’t be a stoic. If you need me, call. I’ll be only a few miles away, not on the other side of the world. Call anytime of the night. I’ll be here in 20 minutes or less.”
He smiled faintly. “Just sort out things quickly, will you?”
“I promise.”
“When you’re done, we’ll use some vacation days and take extended day trips. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough.”
Rebecca
Under Laura Varady’s roof, I awoke each morning to birdsong because the windows were open. I went to see to the chorus of crickets and cicadas. Rediscovering these sounds, sounds once familiar and loved, I realized I had missed them.
Little of the outside world reached Mason and me inside our steel cave. The laminated glass window stopped any sound from the outside except the ascent and landing of the GSA helicopter 15 meters away, just out of sight. The only interior sounds came from fans, dozens of fans, fans moving filtered air, fans in computers, fans cooling electronics, generating a soft, muted background hum.
A handful of times, the power failed. The sudden silence was incredible, but never lasted long. The steel cave had two sets of power backups; they took a few seconds to come online.
Laura’s house had wooden floorboards that squeaked, and tree branches that scraped against the side of the house in the wind. The steel cave produced no such noises.
The cave was nearly odorless, except when we disinfected all the surfaces, and that dissipated quickly since the air was exchanged frequently.
At Laura’s, the scent of wet earth after the rain flowed to me through the open windows.
When I realized how much I missed these things, I felt disloyal to Mason. That could not be helped. I liked the sounds, the scents, the ordinariness of Laura’s house. But I missed Mason immeasurably more.
I thought about Rob’s comment implying a compromise by having a relationship with Mason. Did Rob understand at all who I was, or did he only project upon me the woman he wanted me to be? Even when we dated 20 years ago, I had been different, even for a nerdette. Rob wanted to get back to having a home with someone, someone conventional, and I could never be that someone.
No, I “settled” when I married my gelding Jeff, a mistake I would not repeat. I had not “settled” with Mason. Far from it. Mason and I were both eccentrics. There weren’t many people in the world capable of putting up with either one of us.
No matter how smart you are, you cannot know everything. I knew that. I am even well aware –usually—of my shortcomings and blind spots. But not always. I should have been more observant or less naïve or some combination of both. But I wasn’t.
Rob wasn’t a bad guy, not in the sense of being devious and conniving. He started showing up in my lab just before lunch and we’d go down to the cafeteria together. Rob was one of the most brilliant individuals I had known in my lifetime, and he could talk about things outside of his specialty.
I’ve worked primarily with men all of my adult lifetime. By necessity, if I was going to have buddies, a lot of them would be male. That’s all they ever were to me, all I ever wanted them to be. So, I failed to reflect much upon ‘buddy’ Rob, or perhaps I did not want to, since dealing with the situation would require some unpleasantness.
After I crashed with Dr Varady, Rob must have found out almost immediately although I failed to connect that with his more frequent visits to my lab. I have always been a miserable failure reading this kind of thing.
Only when Dr Varady answered her phone one evening and found Rob asking for me did I allow the thought to cross my mind.
Naïve me, I assumed he must be calling about some results not delivered at the promised time.
“Rob, if this is about the samples that were supposed to be done today, we had instrument problems. My technician ordered a replacement part for morning delivery. She’ll install it as soon as it shows, and your work will be first in line.”
“I just wanted to talk.”
“Well, I really don’t have time for that. Good evening.”
I rolled my eyes at Laura, who made a blunt observation.
“Knowing Mason as I do –no matter what I think of him now—if he concludes that you have betrayed him, as Jackie did, he could shut down his emotions completely and never be reachable again. Remember, his mother chose to abandon him by suicide and Jackie left him for Adam. He almost expects you to abandon him. Don’t let him think you are doing this, not if you care about him. Don’t even let him begin to think this way, because he will require so little persuasion to believe it.”
“What does Rob think he’s doing?” I was annoyed. In my mind, I had not offered Rob any encouragement.
“Staking out new turf. He thinks you’re on the way to being free. Are you?”
“No. I don’t need this.”
“Rob thinks otherwise. You’ve got the problem.”
An old panic flooded my thoughts, an old fear of people and of being caught up and involved with lives I wanted no part of.
“Sometimes, I wish I had stayed with my old life, or run away from this one.” Part of me was always prepared for flight.
“No you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. All those terrible, strange things that keep happening to me. I’m tired of strange things happening to me, Laura.”
“You knew Mason was not going to be easy.”
“Of course I knew.” I had no illusions about Mason. He was always truthful about himself with me. If he hadn’t been honest, when bizarre stories reached me about him, I wouldn’t be able to sort fact from fiction. Had he presented himself to me as better than he was, I would quickly have learned to distrust him. He knew that.
“You took a great chance.”
“Mostly, I’ve been right, until now. I’m sure of one thing, Laura. I cannot go back to living the way I was. I know too much about Genomex. Everywhere I go, I am reminded of something unwholesome and dark, some hideous perversion of science and technology. My life has to change.”
“After what your doctors told you, I think that’s a given.”
“I think it’s time to go...home, and convince Mason we both need to change our lives.”
“He’s a stubborn creature. What if he won’t change and he won’t leave Genomex? He feels personally bound to this project and uniquely suited to carry it out. He may be correct.”
“Staying on at Genomex will kill Mason.”
“I agree. You’re not the first person to believe that. I’m just not sure you can convince him.”
“Neither am I.”
“What will you do?”
“Probably get a job in another city and have a long-distance marriage.”
“I’ve seen people try that. It’s difficult.”
“I won’t abandon him. I just cannot live and work at Genomex. Thanks for putting me up, Laura.”
“I enjoyed the company.”
I went to work the next morning, my things packed in the trunk of my car, and buried myself in paperwork, in reality putting off what I had to do and did not care to face, out of fear of disappointment. I had walked in through the door eager to see Mason, and talk to him, but I kept putting it off.
There was a real possibility Mason would choose to stay at Genomex, even after I made clear that I could not remain. I ran through the possible ways things could turn. The more I considered the possibilities the less confident I became of the outcome, dreading more and more what I believed was inevitable rejection.
I looked up from my desk, and was astonished to see Rob standing there.
“What do you want, Rob?”
“It’s lunchtime.”
“It is?” I glanced at my watch. “It is.” I was ducking doing the scary stuff in a big way. Coward.
“I know you’ve been staying with Laura Varady.”
“So? That is my business.”
“I’ll be blunt. Does this mean you’re leaving Mason?”
“O Dear God,” I muttered, as I did realizing I was using Mason’s phrase.
“Rebecca, you’re a lovely, vital woman. You shouldn’t waste your life as Mason Eckhart’s roommate.”
Rob was utterly sincere. He believed he knew the truth. He was also being highly offensive.
“Rob, you’re way out of line. So far out of line that you cannot imagine.”
“I knew him before, Rebecca, back in the 1980s. He wasn’t ‘Mr Personality’ then. It’s common knowledge around here that as a consequence of his condition human emotions were burned out of him.” Rob paused. “And that he cannot have sex.” He paused again. “Well?”
My private life was just that—private—but all kinds of stories and speculation circulated about Mason and me. Some stories were lurid, showing a high degree of imagination and creativity. Few hinted at the plain, unsensational truth.
I stared at Rob, wanting to retain control and remain civil, while still putting him in his place. “I’m straining to compose a tasteful response. I know contemporary cultural norms allow for considerable vulgarity and crudity in conversations, but I hold myself to a standard well above the cultural norms.”
“That’s something I’ve always admired about you.”
“What if I told you, not that you deserve the information, that local ‘common knowledge’ is utter hogwash, the confabulation of creative but uninformed gossip-mongers?”
“I’d think you were trying to save face and salvage your dignity.”
“Rob…” Why was it so difficult for people to accept the straightforward truth?
“I just don’t understand why you would…settle.”
Once upon a time in my life, prior to learning patience and control of my temper, I would have responded to Rob by verbally chewing his head off.
“I’m trying my best not to scream at you, Rob. You probably won’t believe that I’ve never attempted to correct any ‘obvious’ impressions because they are all part of how Mason controls this organization…and what goes on between us is nobody’s business but ours.”
There was a flicker of doubt in his eyes. He knew I habitually told the truth. He looked deeply puzzled. Rob was not an emotional man; the data points did not come together the way his careful prior calculations projected. Rob studied my face as if he expected to find all the answered inscribed there. I could not stand the silence.
“Mason and I are not roommates, Rob. I don’t owe you that much information, but maybe this is the only way you’ll understand. What do we have drummed into our skulls about solutions to problems? Consider the simplest explanation first, before the obscure and arcane.”
Rob looked stunned. “I had no idea. I feel like an idiot.”
“As well you should. I don’t ever want to hear another word about this again. I’m not eating lunch today, Rob.”
“Why not?”
“Because I am not hungry and because I have too much to do here.”
“Then just have a salad. Can’t spend your whole day at your desk. Come on.”
I can do what pleases me.
On the edge of vision at the doorway, I perceived movement, dark movement, and I knew exactly what it was. Mason turned before I could say anything, but what I saw scared me: he looked gaunt and frail, and once more was relying upon a cane.
What has happened to you?
He stalked off, and I could hear him moving quickly away.
Rob rolled his eyes at me, and shook his head.
“Damn.” I rose from my desk chair and pushed past Rob, leaving my lab. But I couldn’t tell which way Mason had gone. I turned and came back into my lab.
I was angry. Without asking, there was no telling what Mason was thinking, but given his history, he was probably thinking the worst and assuming another betrayal and abandonment.
“Rob, while we’re wallowing in honestly, why don’t you tell me what became of the VCR I loaned you in 1993 so you could copy tapes?”
“That was twenty years ago!”
“Yes, and the VCR was nearly new.”
“I thought you gave it to me.”
“Uh, no, Rob, I hadn’t been working here for long, and money was tight.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry enough to replace it?” I asked.
“They’re not made anymore.”
“DVD recorders are. You could glide on down to Electronics Valhalla on Hamilton Road and pick up one since you have no one to eat lunch with. Oh, and some blank disks would be nice, too. Good ones.”
“You’re serious.”
“I am.” I was. Now, I really wanted that recorder.
“What would you do with one?”
“You have no idea. And that’s not the point. The point is that you owe me a recording device.”
Rob sighed. His temper was fraying, too, but he knew I wasn’t asking anything unreasonable.
“I’ll see what I can manage.
Rob stomped out of my lab. Whether he glided over to Electronics Valhalla or not, he would not darken my lunches again.
Now I had to go find Mason, immediately, before he brooded and reached too many incorrect conclusions. I steeled myself to the task, and pushed back from my desk to rise.
Then my phone rang.
Rebecca
When Catherine called from the airport and asked me to come pick her up, I knew something had happened. She was in mid-term, her courses were going well, and she just didn’t fly home without any warning.
She was waiting with a single suitcase when I arrived. As we made our way out of the terminal, Catherine spoke very little. The place was too noisy for conversation, anyway.
“Do you want to stop somewhere to eat? A late lunch?”
“That would be great.”
“We’ll stop somewhere between the airport and Genomex. I didn’t have any lunch, either.”
Out beyond the throngs of people, deep inside the concrete cavern of the parking garage, we were in a circumstance that could be considered private.
Like her father, Catherine got directly to whatever was on her mind. I have little patience for social rituals and appreciated the directness of both of them. It saved so much time.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m here in the middle of the week?”
“I thought you would tell me when you were ready, or perhaps you wanted to talk to Mason first. I’m anxious and concerned, but you know I don’t pry. I want people to tell me only those things they are comfortable sharing.”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you first.”
Catherine surprised and flattered me with that comment. Our relationship, illegitimate daughter and second, late wife, offered all manner of negative possibilities, none of them realized. I did not want to take Danielle’s place, but to be a kind of long-lost, unsuspected auntie she trusted. I had my wish.
“We can talk anytime. Tonight. Now. I’ll listen.”
“I broke up with Patrick. I found him with somebody else.”
Wretched savior of the beasts. You were never good enough for Catherine. Now, she knows that, too.
“I’m sorry, Catherine.”
“You were both right about him.”
“That’s a miserable way to find out. After they betray your trust, everything changes, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. But there’s more. I became pregnant.”
I stopped and turned towards Catherine. “Genomex is the last place on earth for you. Catherine, if you want this child to live, I’ll help you any way I can, whatever you need, beginning with a warning about telling Mason.”
Catherine smiled weakly. “Thank you, Rebecca. I became pregnant, but I’m not any longer. I did not want the child, and not just because I understand the need to protect the human gene pool.”
I started walking again. “You went through all of this by yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a strong woman, Catherine. I respect your strength, but I wish I could have been there with you.”
“So much has been going wrong here that I didn’t want to add more distress. I wanted to tell you both in person, and I didn’t want to present Mason with another pregnant mutant. I wanted to come home and be able to tell you both, ‘This is what happened, this is what I did about it, and I hope you aren’t too disappointed with me or my lousy judgment.’”
“That’s a lot to take on, but for your father’s sake, it’s probably a good thing. He hasn’t said anything to you about his health, has he?”
“No.”
“I thought not. Catherine, after years of hard-won, gradual improvement, Mason’s having a relapse. Even before Emma’s pregnancy, he was having trouble with whole food. He’s lost a lot of weight. Prodana is feeding him enough calories to fuel a lumberjack. All the recent stress and distress has to be making things worse. I am trying to convince him to retire.”
“Good luck. That won’t be easy.”
“No.” It might be impossible.
“Maybe I can help.” Catherine smiled a sly little conspiratorial smile. She had none of his features, but that sneaky smile was pure Mason.
“Thanks.”
Up ahead, in the gloom of the garage, someone strolled out in front of us. Something about him was vaguely familiar.
Adam. Adam blocked the way ahead.
“This is a real stroke of luck, Rebecca. We followed you from Genomex, and decided to hang around when you went into short-term parking.”
Catherine and I kept on walking the last few steps to reach my car.
“How nice for you, Adam. Unfortunately, neither of us has time to chat with you about old times.” I had the key in my hand to open the trunk. If I could just casually pop open the trunk, and lift in Catherine’s suitcase…my automatic was inside, tucked against a wheel.
“I thought I was going to have to corner you in a public place, like a restaurant, but I couldn’t have asked for better than this. I’ve had you and your car watched for days, Rebecca.”
None of this sounded promising. I leaned down to open the trunk.
“Kurt, John, direct Dr Steyn and Ms Hartman out towards the plane.”
No, this did not sound promising. I turned to look behind the way we had come, and saw a pair of tall, very healthy looking young men wearing bland, unremarkable clothes. They did not have the look of thugs, but clearly they must be. And something else: they looked enough alike to be brothers. Where did Adam find these young guys willing to serve him with violence?
Ordinarily, I was armed. I carried identification confirming my status as a GS agent, which I was, by training. I could have entered the terminal armed, and when challenged, prove I was permitted to carry. However, that would have slowed me down, as confirmation of my status was made. I did not want to keep Catherine waiting. So, I left my gun locked in the trunk of my car.
“Adam, is this the best use you can make of your time outside?” I asked.
“Aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked sarcastically, dodging any acknowledgment of his time in prison.
“No. Seeing you means a yawn-inducing monologue detailing your latest and greatest adventures pushing back the frontiers of science.”
That made him mad. Good. I wanted him off balance.
“Adam, if you think you’re going to crawl into my head again, and use me, think again.”
Catherine was being extra special stubborn. She sat down on her suitcase, looking like she had settled in for a while. Adam’s ‘muscle’ looked perplexed. Neither Catherine nor I appeared impressed or intimidated by Adam; we were more irritated than anything else.
Adam didn’t have time to waste. I don’t know if he realized it or not, but the longer we stood (and sat) there, the greater the chances of airport security coming by on a routine patrol.
“John, get Miss Hartman back on her feet. It’s time to go.”
‘John’, if that was his name, took one step towards Catherine, then stopped dead as she tossed a cold glare his way. These guys might be big, but they were not trained to push people around.
“Adam, that isn’t my name anymore. Do me the courtesy of calling me by my proper name.”
“Your proper name?” Adam looked puzzled. I’ve always enjoyed those moments of Adam-confusion, when he clearly has no idea what is going on. I only wish I had witnessed more of them.
“My name is Catherine Eckhart.”
Adam laughed nervously. “No wonder I could not find you. Kurt, John, help Ms Eckhart stand up so we can get out of here.”
“Are you sure you want to be involved in a kidnapping?” I asked. “ I have the authority of a GS agent. The feds brought in to look for me will be looking for one of their own.” Hands on my hips, I smiled sweetly at him. Kurt and John did not move. There was something familiar about Kurt, but I could not quite place where I had seen his face before.
Adam was never a paragon of patience, and predictably, after Kurt and John failed to act, Adam lunged for Catherine, who jumped up and sideways to avoid him.
“Get her suitcase,” he barked at Kurt, who did not hesitate to follow Adam’s command in this case. Then Adam grabbed me by my right arm, saying, “You always were too much trouble, Rebecca.” He nearly caused me to lose my balance. He was hurting me, too, but I did not cry out, not wanting to reveal any sign of weakness.
“I suspect you’re going to regret doing this.”
“We’ll see.”
Catherine was following behind without any coercion, avoiding contact with John and Kurt.
“Go stealth and get help!”
“I can go stealth anytime, but if I leave you, I’m not sure I’d have any way of finding you, and I don’t want to lose my not-evil stepmother.” She smiled.
Adam dragged me out of the parking garage and into the daylight. Then we proceeded across country into an open, mowed grassy area. Adam pushed me ahead, making me fall…onto a metallic ramp I could not see.
But the Flying Sow no longer exists.
“Now, we’re going somewhere I think you will find very interesting, Rebecca.”
He dragged me back to my feet, up the ramp, and ‘inside’, now suddenly visible, and pushed me into a chair.
“Keep your hands off of me, Adam.” Always unsubtle, aren’t you? Better watch your back; if I can make you pay for that, I will.
Catherine sagged down into a chair across from me. “I saw the Sow cut up and hauled away on a flatbed truck. Where did you get this?” She just wasn’t afraid of Adam.
“You’ll see, Catherine.”
I was surprised to see John and Kurt sitting up front and not Adam. Adam was not even instructing them. They made their way at very low altitude until well clear of the local flight paths. Only then did the pseudo-Sow begin to gain altitude and speed.
I reflected upon our situation. It was not good. No one knew I had gone to the airport. No one knew Catherine would be there. If anyone talked to Dr Varady, she would tell them I had made a decision, but thought I had gone to work. It would look as if I had run off. It could be a miserably long while before Mason could be sure something had happened to me, and I had not vanished by choice. It would take some time before my car was found at the airport. Passenger lists would have to be searched...well, there just weren’t many suggestions to indicate what had happened, except one: there would be no record of my purchasing a ticket, but there would be one of Catherine’s ticket. That bill would come to Mason, just not anytime soon. A day or even longer might go by before anyone even thought about looking for me. I resolved to not allow Adam to know this; it would please him too greatly.
I was relieved when Adam did not slap ‘visual cloaks’ on us. Contrary to what many believe, even with a good map and great visibility, it is difficult to determine where one is from the air. I resolved to relax and try to spare myself some small amount of stress until we got to whatever wonderful place Adam was taking us.
Well, I tried to relax, but after viewing Adam’s desperate acts, I realized he had little more to lose by committing another crime. He had reasons to resent Catherine and me; he had motivation to harm us: revenge upon Mason. Catherine and I were in deep trouble.
Catherine never was too cautious about what she said, even now. “Adam, why can’t you just leave us alone?”
“Because Eckhart wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“He had a duty to see you arrested for stealing from Genomex. He would have been negligent if he hadn’t.”
That made Adam angry. He probably thought of Catherine in terms of the young girl he had thieving scientific supplies for him. She was a different Catherine now, confident of who she was, someone Adam had not anticipated.
“I put a lot of myself into Genomex and I was never compensated adequately for the job I did.”
Adam, stop living in fantasies.
“Rationalization. After all the damage you did to people and all the money Genomex has poured into undoing some of that damage, putting together places like St Kat’s, you should be paying money back to Genomex.”
“What the hell is St Kat’s?” he asked.
“A state of the art hospital dedicated to the treatment of conditions unique to Genomex mutants, “ I informed him. “Some of the staff are themselves mutants.”
Adam glared at me. Reality was not improving his disposition. How could he not have heard about the hospital?
“I’m supposed to believe that?”
“If you haven’t heard of St Kat’s, you must not have many contacts left among honest mutants.”
I did not need to see Catherine’s face to see her smirking at him.
“I’ve been in prison.”
“That’s where you belong,” Catherine said.
“That’s harsh. If not for the memory of Danielle…”
“You deserve it. Adam, you make things up as you go along, to suit the moment.” Catherine sighed.
“We used to be friends. I even took you in when you had nowhere else to go.”
I wasn’t going to let that go by without a comment. I had no way to prove it, but I believed Adam unraveled Catherine’s pedigree in 2007 when told Catherine wasn’t his, and he got around to sharing those data only when sharing was useful to him.
“Catherine always had a place to go. You just didn’t bother letting her know about it.”
Catherine was not done with Adam. “All the time I was growing up, my mother told me about how special you were. Then when she saw you again, you let her believe you’d call or do something. Well, after you shipped us off into ‘the underground’, Mom could never get a decent job and we lived on the edge of survival. Did you ever look into the kinds of lives you were sending people into? Did you ever think of checking to see how Mom and I were doing?”
I was surprised by all of this. That Catherine resented Adam for using her I knew well, but she had never said much about that part of her life with Danielle. I realized few Genomex mutants said much about ‘the underground’, and they did not speak well of that time.
“Danielle always had a lot of boyfriends. I didn’t think she’d miss me.”
I shook my head slowly. ”Mason says you blight every life you touch. He’s right.”
“Rebecca, you talk too much.”
I turned to Catherine. “I had no idea Adam’s ‘underground’ was such a step down.”
Adam turned around in his seat, but said nothing. Surely he knew what kind of lives he was sending people off to live? Or didn’t he care?
“It was even worse than that. Sometimes we didn’t have enough to eat. I’m not exaggerating.”
“I believe you.”
“Money was always tight, and we were almost always on the move. We ate whenever and wherever we could. It was nothing like the life we had before Mom got really sick.”
Catherine made steady eye contact with Adam. I was sure he would say something, but he kept silent. “Mom always thought Adam would come along and take us back to Sanctuary. But he never really cared. Not once did he contact Mom to see how we were.”
At that, Adam turned away from Catherine. Did Adam feel some small measure of guilt?
“If Mason had known…”
“I know. You don’t need to tell me. I know.”
The pseudo-Sow slowed drastically, then hovered; we descended slowly down, first to ground level, then into a hole in the ground, a roughly cut passage straight down into the earth. Adam had another hole in the ground to hide in? Is that why we could not find him? What is it with Adam and holes in the ground?
We came to rest in a man-made cavern with a flat floor covered with concrete, and walls rising at right angles from the floor. The hangar was awash with light.
Lilith
Adam was highly strung and pompous beyond measure, but he did have his uses. I quickly discovered he could make the simplest tasks complex. I sent him on “shopping trips” to Genomex and other places, and while he did return with what was needed, he had a habit of bringing back something more than I asked for. Maybe I had not done such a clever thing in breaking Adam out of prison; this time he had brought back bonus people. What was he thinking? Was he thinking? I could hear them all the way back in my lab.
“Adam, get your hands off of me!” The voice was female, and possibly familiar.
“Time with Eckhart never seems to do much for anyone’s disposition.”
“Adam, make yourself look smarter. Shut up.” Here was someone who clearly knew Adam well. And yes, sometimes keeping his mouth closed did make Adam look wiser and less emotional.
Now I was curious to see who would talk back to the great Adam this way. I thought I was unique in speaking to him in that tone of voice.
I emerged from my lab to see Adam half-dragging a fortyish woman through Haven, with a younger woman half her age trailing behind them.
“Or you will do what?” Adam challenged.
She moved very quickly, seizing his right hand, and biting it! Adam howled without restraint. Clearly, she was not in awe of Adam. The younger woman laughed.
“Adam, you were warned.”
Leaving Adam swearing and reeling in pain, she continued walking towards me with the other woman close behind.
I know you. And she knew me.
“Lili Chen?”
“Rebecca.” I focused back on Adam. “Why have you brought Dr Steyn here? Her expertise has nothing to do with my project.”
“You know each other? Did you also know she’s Eckhart’s wife?”
That was stunning news. I glanced back at Rebecca Steyn. “How bizarre.”
“And Adam is jealous,” she said, sighing.
I looked at Adam’s face, and knew she was telling the truth. I laughed. Adam looked uncomfortable. I liked that. “Adam, we’re not set up for…guests. We’re going to have to have a little talk about this.”
“He wasn’t,” Rebecca said.
“Adam, was this one of your emotional impulses? Must learn to keep those in check someday.” I enjoyed scolding Adam.
“Lili, I’ve watched her for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to grab her and bring her here.”
“Adam, it’s called kidnapping. It’s a federal crime. We did not need to give assorted law enforcement agencies another reason to take interest in us.”
Rebecca pulled something out of her purse, and held it up. “It’s worse than that. Technically, I’m GSA.”
I read Rebecca’s ID, and handed it back to her. I had no way of knowing if her identification was authentic or not, but what possible reason could she have for carrying false identification?
“Adam, you must stop making our lives more complicated than they need to be.”
Dr Steyn replaced the ID, and folded her arms.
She isn’t as confident as she appears.
“And who is this,” I asked, looking at the younger woman standing beside her.
Adam answered. “Catherine Hartmann.”
“My name’s Catherine Eckhart,” she corrected.
“My stepdaughter,” Rebecca added.
“Whatever her name is, with these two we’ll have leverage on Eckhart, a means to manipulate him.”
“Good Golly, Adam, our work does not involve Genomex mutants! Why would you want to drag Eckhart into our lives? This creates risk for us all. Where did you do this thing?”
“At the airport.”
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, he did not think things through. Adam had carried on a running private, personal war with Mason Eckhart for over a decade, so out of habit he initiated more conflict. Adam did not yet understand that my patience had limits. “Until today, Kurt and John’s faces were not recorded anywhere on earth. Now, several federal agencies will be looking for them.”
“Rebecca, why do you think Adam brought you here?”
“An emotional impulse,” she answered. “Over twenty years later, Adam has not gotten over my lack of interest in becoming the Princess of Genomex. Worse, I chose to date a professional rival of his. Worst of all, years later I married Mason.”
I laughed. Rebecca Steyn had a well-earned reputation for blunt honesty. I didn’t doubt anything she said. The spectacle of Adam’s growing discomfort was amusing. He would tell a very different story, but even without hearing it, I believed Rebecca’s version.
“Adam, you’ve had a more interesting life than you led me to believe.”
Rebecca joined right into the spirit of the moment, turning to Adam. “Tell Lili about the time I caught you going through my purse and desk looking for personal information.”
“Yes, Adam, I want to hear this.” I had dreaded dealing with two unhappy women, but this was amusing.
“I was looking for a report.”
Rebecca laughed. “In my purse? That’s as lame and absurd as it was in 1992.”
“I don’t believe you either, Adam.” I had to laugh. Perhaps Adam was the smartest man on earth, but I was a woman.
Rebecca had gumption. Deep inside a hollowed out mountain, held captive, and she is humiliating one of her captors. I’m beginning to understand what she and Eckhart see in one another.
‘I bring you two useful bargaining chips, and you laugh at me.” He sounded genuinely disappointed.
“Nice try, Adam.” I turned to Rebecca. “Is your capture on video?”
“In high resolution digital clarity. The airport system was upgraded some years ago. It was a little gloomy in the garage, but I’ve seen what image enhancement can do.”
“Do you see, Adam? Their kidnapping will be reported to the local police and the feds. We don’t need that kind of scrutiny.” I had no idea what to do with these two, but there was no need to panic them. “I apologize, Rebecca, Catherine. I had no idea Adam was planning anything. This was not my idea.”
“Accepted.”
“If we’re going to have guests, we need to make them comfortable.”
“I don’t have any clothes,” Rebecca said, “Or any civilized niceties, like a toothbrush.”
“I’ve got my things,” Catherine said, turning and pointing back towards Matt, who had carried her suitcase.
I turned to Rebecca. “Please make a list of whatever items you need. Adam can go shopping a little later. I’m sure he won’t mind. We can order clothes for you and have them shipped overnight. Adam, clear any personal necessities out of your room, and drag one of the futons in there, because that is where Rebecca and Catherine are going to sleep.”
“But my computers...”
“Password protected, I assume?”
He nodded. I wasn’t convinced. I was so annoyed with him I did not care.
“Where am I going to sleep?”
“I don’t know. Wherever you can, I suppose. Where did you think I would put them when you brought them here? Chain them to a wall? Go on. Do it.”
Adam sulked off. He was livid, but he wanted no more of this conversation. What he had imagined as a Grand Triumph instead mutated into Humiliation and Ridicule.
I turned back to Rebecca and Catherine. “Come into my lab. We’ll talk while I work. I really am sorry about this.”
Rebecca looked suspicious. I could not blame her, but she had little choice.
“You’re Breedlove’s second…android, aren’t you?”
I laughed. “Don’t worry. Unlike Adam, I am proud of what I am. Imagine: I was designed and crafted over a period of years by one of the great minds of the last century. Intentionally, consciously created, not the result of random lust.”
Some part of what I said distressed her. I could not know what it was.
Rebecca sat down on a task chair. Catherine stood beside her, not timidly, but ready to spring to protect her. She cares about Rebecca. They are friends.
“Breedlove learned a lot from building Adam, didn’t he?”
“Oh, he did. Adam represents a manipulation of Paul’s own DNA. I am different…better. He fashioned me from the most desirable, superior traits of his colleagues…and employees. I am not the child of dozens of parents, but of hundreds, including Dr Eleanor Singer herself. Do you remember her?”
“I did not know Dr Singer. I began working at Genomex in 1992.”
Most people are shocked or even disgusted by the idea that an individual could have hundreds of parents. Not this woman; she took it in without hesitation, and went on to the next.
“Ah, then Mother Breedlove was gone a few years before you joined us. A complicated, brilliant woman. She prompted Paul’s change of focus from androids to transgenic humans, when she was certain she would never conceive. Do you have children, Rebecca?”
I knew she did not, but I wanted to watch her response. After I said it, I knew I had been needlessly cruel. But I wanted to know her reaction.
“No,” she replied softly.
This was an emotional issue for her. “And why? Oh, I am sorry, that is too personal a question.”
“I’ll answer it. Because the man I married in my youth was unfit to be the father of my children.”
Rebecca Steyn’s reputation for bluntness was well-deserved.
“And the one you are married to now can never give them to you. That is sad.” I meant that.
I was being completely sincere. I was privy to the fact of Mason Eckhart’s sterility. Rebecca had been kind to me at Genomex, without knowing of my special relationship with Paul Breedlove. She had no motivation then other than the inclination of her character.
I had my sons, of course, and they were dear to me. However, their creation was more of an engineering project than anything else. Perhaps Rebecca and I shared something now, a lack of children-of-our-own-bodies. Perhaps, like me, she was physically unable to conceive and bear children.
“Yes. Very. Our lives have the oddest ways of working out.”
“Even for androids. You and Samihah were both kind to me. Hardly anyone else knew I existed. I was surprised to learn you were more of a hermit than I was.”
“Self-protection after bad experiences. I learned from my mistakes, but I try not to remember them any more than I must.”
She almost came to tears saying that. Paul told me that Rebecca had come to Genomex after a disastrous early marriage while completing a costly divorce. Someone inflicted profound damage upon her. The nasty ones always do, leaving hearts-in-ruins behind them. I am too rational to ever understand why any creature would do that.
“But, you married again…’Satan’s Handmaiden’, ‘Mr Creepy’, yes, I know the names people gave him. Most childish. How did that happen?”
“An unlikely series of events.”
No doubt. She wasn’t going to tell me any more than that. Like Rebecca, I had started at Genomex in 1992, and had never known Eckhart before Adam tried to kill him, yes, Paul told me about that. Paul knew perfectly well that Adam had done his best to kill Mason Eckhart. He was disappointed in his flawed creation, but he was convinced he needed Adam’s help, so the incident was never handled legally.
Paul threw his creativity and energy into keeping Eckhart alive, a way of undoing Adam’s attempt at murder, and of keeping Eckhart’s good will. Paul worried that Eckhart would decide to sue Genomex and open the company and all of its projects to public scrutiny, something he considered disastrous at the time.
Eckhart was kept sedated, and required huge doses of painkillers to cope with his failing body and Paul’s treatments. During his lucid moments, he made clear to Paul that he wanted a financial settlement, not a legal war. He would never know how relieved Paul was to hear that.
I liked Rebecca. She was about as good as humans could be. She was rational. In the years we had been ‘neighbors’ at Genomex, she kept everyone at a distance. Adam was not the only one. Driving Adam away I could understand, but the others? Maybe she didn’t even know she was doing it. I remembered Eckhart as one of the oddest humans I ever met, and humans could be so very peculiar. I had never discerned much humanity in Eckhart. Paul described to me how different he had been before the murder attempt and when Eckhart still had a family. Paul’s description was difficult to reconcile with the man I knew.
Putting Eckhart and Steyn together was not a puzzle easily solved.
“Rebecca, I know Eckhart had Paul murdered.”
Rebecca was unmoved. That surprised me. She knows. Eckhart told her about the murder. That is an act of profound trust. I would not expect that of him. She just told me more than she realizes. What else does she know?
“There are all kinds of stories about Mason, some quite absurd, some he created and spread himself. Sorting them out is a challenge for anyone who does not know Mason.” Rebecca spoke without much emotion.
True enough! But I already knew the truth.
“Frank Thorne talked before he died.”
Indeed, he had, but Rebecca showed no flicker of recognition of the name.
“The name means nothing to me.”
“Thorne worked for Mason,” I informed.
“A lot of people have worked for Mason.”
Dozens, hundreds of people had worked for Eckhart. Quite possibly Eckhart told her the unadorned, perfect truth of the murder without mentioning the name of the killer.
“Aren’t you just a little shocked by what I’ve said, at your Mason’s involvement in the death of the man who hired you on at Genomex?”
“Not really. Mason’s…done a lot of things. If I ask him about it, he will tell me.”
Rebecca had the reputation at Genomex for being, well, rather staid. Some people told stories about their drinking and drug adventures while in college, but not Rebecca. She didn’t condemn anyone who had done these things, but clearly she found such conduct needless risk-taking. The cool way she talked about the sins of Mason Eckhart surprised me. I had considered the possibility that she was naively unaware of his nature, but no. I would guess now that Eckhart shared all the secrets of his dark heart with her.
“And you can accept that?”
“As I once told someone else, Mason is at once the best man and the worst man I have ever known.”
“You’re a complicated surprise.”
“Many of us are.” She smiled faintly.
I laughed. How very true! “No wonder you couldn’t stand Adam! I like to keep him off balance. I honestly am not sure what I will do with you. Having you here makes such good sport with Adam.”
“I hoped I would not have to look at him very much. I have a question for you. What are you trying to do?”
She had been very direct in our days at Genomex, but not under such stress. If she was bold enough to ask, I decided she deserved an answer.
“Breedlove created Adam to satisfy his own curiosity and to prove it could be done. He then shifted his attention back to altering human genetics. He designed Adam –and me—to watch over the Genomex mutants. When Adam returned from Stanford, Breedlove reprogrammed him to that goal. Our purpose was to guarantee the survival and multiplication of the Genomex mutants.”
Catherine squirmed. Is it true then, Adam’s story that Eckhart was father to a Genomex mutant himself?
“Are there more of you? If there is an Adam, and a Lilith, shouldn’t there also be an Eve, and others?”
Rebecca’s question took me by surprise. Of course. Paul must not have stopped with me. There must be an Eve, constructed somewhere within Genomex while I was away at school. But where was Even now?
“I never considered such a possibility. But you are most likely correct. That’s Paul’s kind of thinking.”
“Lili, why do you serve the interests of the Genomex mutants? What benefits are there for you?”
“Benefits for us? None.”
“The Genomex mutants eventually will bring about the extinction of the human race. How can you proceed, knowing that?”
“I concede your projection of extinction. I understood that years ago, and re-programmed myself, eliminating Paul’s original direction for me. I never had the heart to tell Paul what I had done. Now, I need a chance to re-program Adam, who will be a more difficult subject since he is literally hard-wired. Compared to me, his programming and processing are primitive. Maybe that’s why Adam’s interpretation of taking care of the Genomex mutants can be whimsical and self-serving.”
“ ‘Eve’ and the others will likely take your place.”
“If ‘she’ is not already acting to achieve the same goal. Surely by now your Mason has noted there are more ‘Genomex’ mutants than can be accounted for in the Genomex records.”
“He has. Tracking them back to their source has proven…difficult.”
“The other centers were small and did no research. All research came out of Genomex, and was applied in clinics leased for short periods of time to a myriad of corporate illusions, an entirely different model than the organization of Genomex. Documentation was sloppy and erratic. There never was a master list compiling names, parents, and details about mutants created in the satellite centers.”
“I am curious to know whether Dr Breedlove maintained contact with former colleagues from the old country, the ones who took up residence in more southerly locations.”
“I am surprised you know about that. Some secrets Paul kept even from me. I think he believed I knew nothing about his life in Europe, or the name he was first given. Paul thought he had hidden his past completely. You are well-informed.”
“The irony of Paul’s association with the Nazis is that he never believed their silly racial theories. Look at me: I’m no blonde uberwoman, but the fusion of the best qualities of many individuals no matter what their racial origin. That’s what Paul really believed. Now, to return to your question about associates from the old country, yes, he kept contact with them, chiefly to siphon money from them in return for techniques and technology. The old Nazis, and their progeny, the new Nazis, remained fixated on the Nordic Uberman, and because they have concerned themselves so much with superficial traits, they have been about as successful as the Lebensborn Project.”
Had I told her too much? No. Only a handful of people on earth would know better than to dismiss my story as lurid fantasy.
“So Paul Breedlove never believed in Nazi ideology?”
“Of course not. Paul was a sophisticated, educated man who thought in terms of the genius of humanity. He found the notion of a ‘master race’ laughable.”
“Yet he worked with and for monsters. He stood at that infamous railroad siding and watched while people were chosen to live and to die. Why didn’t he find a way to get out of Germany? My distant Steyn cousins, the ones who were able to get out, scattered all over the earth, even as far as Shanghai. They went wherever they could.”
“By the end of the war, Paul was still legally a child. As a child, what could he have done?”
Rebecca shrugged. “I did not realize he was so young.”
“Paul carried a burden of guilt from those days. He once hoped the Genomex projects would produce medical advancements for mankind, a counterbalance to what he had done earlier.”
“That didn’t happen.”
“No.”
“Genomex yielded horrors of its own.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Mason had years of opportunity to search every cubic centimeter of Genomex…not just the obvious places, but down several levels, too, into the secret spaces, sealed against discovery. The secrets of Genomex burrow down into the earth, descending towards Hell. Mason doesn’t understand the science, but he knows most everything there is to be found in the sublevels. Now, so do I.”
“Paul was not a perfect man. He was well aware of his imperfections. But like your Mason, he was not a monster; I loved him very much. I miss him and still wish we were together.”
“Nothing is ever simple, is it?”
“Never.”
“This place looks like every description I’ve heard of Sanctuary, but it’s not Sanctuary, is it? Sanctuary is flooded.”
“It is. This is Haven. Breedlove programmed Adam and me with plans for identical hideaways.”
Rebecca pointed towards the ceiling. “If I start thinking about the tons of rock above my head, I’ll panic.”
“Haven is safer than it looks. Unlike Sanctuary, there are no underground rivers above us to flood these chambers. I have always been more detail-driven than Adam. Much of Haven is built within a naturally occurring cavern that has remained stable for millions of years. Geologically, we are located in an unusually stable area not prone to earthquakes. Before locating Haven, I examined possible sites for six years. I had a team of geologists working for me full time. You are far safer here than you would have been in Sanctuary. The work I am doing here is far too important to risk in an unsafe location.” I stopped to chuckle. “He may have been joking, but Adam told me a few days ago that he selected Sanctuary’s location because he liked the view from the top of Stormking Mountain.”
“And what are you doing here?”
“Facilitating the next evolutionary stage of humanity by perfecting ectogenesis. Humanity, not mutantkind.”
Mason
Years ago, when I first prowled the sublevels of Genomex, one fear nagged at me, and that was the dread of falling or becoming injured, and not being found.
I had fewer security people in those years and they were thinly spread. This was before the time of badges with transponders. I could easily have died deep below Genomex. After all, I did not tell anyone what I was doing, and there was no one to miss me.
No one to miss me.
Well, with Rebecca’s ‘camping out’ at Laura Varady’s who would miss me now?
No one.
I had largely abandoned those solitary late-night subterranean expeditions. Rebecca and I had opened nearly all of the remaining sealed labs. We knew additional labs existed, but we had not found them yet. They were hidden somewhere. Surviving documentation and contemporary description of the laboratories in the sublevels was sometimes detailed, sometimes almost nonexistent, with only a reference to “Lab 37” that could not be accounted for. Using ground radar and metal detectors, everything would eventually be found.
I would be glad when there were no more horrors to be found. I had seen enough.
Opening a lab sealed off since 1983 or 1988 was peculiar business. Electrical service was never cut to these rooms, but the ductwork was sealed. Upon opening, a sealed lab could present a pristine appearance, but a handful showed extensive water or insect damage.
In rare cases, labs had been evacuated in a great hurry, time taken only to block the drains and ventilation. Desks sat waiting for researchers who would never return, pens, pencils, calendars, everything left as it had been 30 or more years before.
The pitiful creatures who (and they were all part human) prompted such sealings had been put to death, typically at an early stage of development. Their hybrid forms told the tale of their origins, usually humans and vertebrates, but there were others: humans combined with arthropods or insects, and a small number arising from the mixture of humans and green plants.
The last group was the oddest. I found one perfectly preserved ‘little boy’ who looked to be about five years old. His skin was still dark green, as was his hair. His skin puzzled me until I looked very closely and realized the roughened appearance was due to the covering of tiny leaves.
I could not discern whether he died naturally or if he had been murdered, but I will never forget he sight of him. What did he think about? Did the fact of his mixed metabolism—because those leaves, small and present in such profusion, had to be taking in carbon dioxide—affect his thinking and outlook? Or had he been too young to understand?
Voluminous laboratory records had been neatly stored in the same lab. I had them removed to the ‘family’ room where we could examine them in relative comfort with good lighting. Rebecca and I spent several evenings going through this documentation.
Nearly all of the material proved to be tedious descriptions of the preparation of buffer solutions and the like. However, with persistence we learned more about the chlorophyll boy. We read the interesting parts to one another.
“Thyme. He’s covered with tiny thyme leaves, Mason.” For purposes of experimentation it had not mattered what kind of plant was used, so the leaves of Thymus praecox, ‘Elfin’ creeping thyme had been used.
Buried deeply among more mundane matters, I found an extraordinary memo from Adam to the hum/green plant group:
“I have been informed that several ‘cuttings’ have been taken from the leafy epidermis of our successful human/green plant fusion subject, exposed to rooting hormone, and grown as a plant. This would be an interesting tangential study, but these cuttings have not been grown within the bounds of the workgroup but in private homes. All such rooted, growing plants must be brought to my lab for destruction. The leafy epidermis is NOT a pure plant but contains detectable human DNA. The possibility of a plant grown from the leafy epidermis being analyzed and found to contain human DNA is not acceptable.”
“Who knows if all of the rooted ‘plants’ were returned?”
“Someone could have ground cover thyme growing underfoot and have no idea that what they walk on…is partly human.”
The green leaf-skinned chlorophyll boy was found late in 2009, when Adam awaited trial for embezzlement. Chlorophyll Boy haunted me and haunted Rebecca. I arranged a meeting with Adam.
His orange jump suit did not enhance his dignity, but he agreed to the meeting, not knowing what we wanted of him. He must have been very curious.
“We’re not here about the trial, Adam. We’re here about another matter recently come to light.”
I carried a folder containing four color photographs of Chlorophyll Boy. I spread them out before Adam. He recognized the boy. I have no doubt of that. He picked up one of the photos and studied it carefully.
“What’s this about, Mason?”
“That’s what I came to hear you tell me.”
“We tried a lot of unusual things in the early 1980s. A human who was part green plant, capable of taking up carbon dioxide, would be suited for prolonged space flight. Crew members who could scrub CO2 from the air as well as perform their other duties would be particularly valuable.”
“What happened?” Rebecca asked.
“Jason turned out to be less than stable emotionally.”
“Jason’s his name?”
“Jason Verdeschi.”
“An emotionally unstable Genomex mutant. How unique, Adam.” Didn’t Adam ever learn anything? Most Genomex mutants were unstable emotionally.
“I don’t have to sit and listen to this, especially from you.” He glared, as if that would work on me. He was the one in the orange jump suit. I was the one who would walk out freely.
“How did he die, Adam? He was a perfectly preserved desiccated little mummy when we found him. At first I thought he was a miniature old man, until I looked at his face.” Rebecca had a lot of control.
“We freeze-dried him. He was developing normally, and then, we couldn’t control him. We tried a lot of drugs. They didn’t work. The governors we had then were crude and could not be used on such young children.”
Did you spray him with Roundup, Adam?
“And because of that, you…?” I asked.
“I honestly don’t remember. That was thirty years ago, and there were so many of them who did not survive into adulthood.”
“How many other chlorophyll children?”
“I don’t recall. I do recall they were difficult to create. For each one who lived to be born, dozens were spontaneously aborted.”
“Where are the others? The others who lived?”
“Incinerated. Jason was nearly perfect, the most promising.”
That’s all any of them were to you, promising or not so promising projects. They weren’t people to you.
“What about his family?”
“He didn’t have one. His parents were in an automobile accident. He was delivered by Caesarian two months premature not long before his mother died. The Breedlove Foundation was listed as next-of-kin. That’s how he came to Genomex.”
But despite recalling all of that, you cannot recall what happened to Jason. Very credible, Adam.
The interview ended shortly after that. Adam played the victim, swearing once more that his ideas and processes had been stolen from him and applied perversely. There was little more to know of the short life of Jason the chlorophyll boy.
Adam pushed away from the table.
“We’ve heard that pathetic bleat before, Adam. It’s never been convincing.”
S0, here I was, years later, digging around in one of the strangest holes to ever be dug in the ground anywhere, all by myself in the middle of the night, wondering if Rebecca was ever coming back to me. There might not be anyone to miss me now, but when I made these descents, security prompted me once an hour to confirm I was not in trouble. With the transponder, they could come directly to me, with no need for a search.
Lilith
I was not pleased with the way Adam had overstepped the instructions given him, bringing Rebecca Steyn and Catherine Eckhart to Haven. I was glad to have Rebecca to talk to; she and her friend Samihah always treated me with respect at Genomex. Adam could be tiresome company. Learning her surprising connection to Eckhart was a shocker, however, as was the revelation of the young woman Catherine.
Paul had never told me anything about a mutant living at Genomex having a child by Eckhart. How could he not have known?
I hated very few things and fewer people. For having Paul murdered, Mason Eckhart was one of them. But to get revenge upon him by bringing harm to the wife or daughter, or both, seemed primitive, and so human. Adam’s imperfections were made clear by his thinking in those terms.
Adam resented both of them. He put no effort into hiding this. He wanted the approval and adoration of both, but they both knew him too well.
What was I going to do with them? I could not simply charge Kurt or Matt with releasing them on a city street corner.
What I would like to do with Rebecca…is recruit her. Yes, she was a human. Might money be enough, not desired out of greed, but to fulfill some extraordinary dream? I needed to know more, and alas, Adam was my sole information source.
I found Adam tinkering with yet another pile of junk. He wasted a good deal of time this way.
“I’m sure this is not a social stop, Lilith. How may I help you?”
“Rebecca. I want to know the nature of her attachment to Eckhart.”
“What do you mean?” He looked up from the electronic debris.
Rebecca remains a charged issue.
“The Eckhart I knew was not the kind of personality people wanted around. People avoided his company.”
“With good reason.”
“I don’t recall Rebecca being sociable, either, but in a different way. People liked her, respected her. Nobody hesitated to ask her a question or borrow equipment from her. But, except for Samihah Shah after she became widowed, Rebecca appeared quite isolated. Men seemed to like her, but she kept her distance. Didn’t she date anyone?”
“She dated Rob Abelmann for a while,” Adam mumbled.
“Ah. Rob. Brilliant man. And one of your technical rivals. I can see that happening.”
“Rob was squeamish. Once he saw how the mutant children began to develop in puberty, he wanted to intervene, to lessen the effects and when Paul refused, Rob became guilt ridden and ineffective. After his marriage fell apart in the late 1980s, his work deteriorated as well.”
“Paul told me how good he had once been. How does Rebecca fit into this? I am not collecting ancient gossip, Adam; my questions have a serious purpose.”
“The gossip of the day said they were all but living together. People expected them to marry.”
“What happened?”
Adam shrugged. “Nothing dramatic. I never saw hostility from either of them, nothing indicating betrayal or deceit. Consensus opinion was that Rob was still interested, but that she preferred her own company.”
“And what about you?” I intended the question as an ambush.
“We had lunch once.”
He was mumbling again, but I caught all of the words anyway.
“You didn’t ask her again?”
“She always had something else to do.”
Who could blame her?
Rebecca had time for Adam’s professional rival and time for Eckhart, but no time for Adam, Prince of Genomex! No wonder the prince is still smarting.
“What is she doing with your former friend Mason?”
Of course I knew about Adam’s tacky affair with Mason’s first wife. Paul told me everything. But Adam did not need to know that I knew.
Adam was deeply annoyed by my question. I’m sure he found Eckhart’s survival annoying 22 years after Adam inflicted devastating damage that should have killed him within days.
“Boy-girl things, Adam. Can your former friend do boy-girl things? Or are these two up to something else?”
“Before Mason purged Genomex in late 2007, I had several people inside, working for me.”
Spies? I should not be surprised.
“You did?” I asked, trying to sound impressed.
“Yes, Lilith. As much as possible, they kept me informed of current projects and their status.”
“And?”
“The technical people were good about keeping up with projects, but they had no idea what was going on. They couldn’t tell me anything. I managed to get people through the back door by getting them hired on the kitchen staff, and when they told me they were providing meals –real food—to Eckhart’s wife Rebecca Steyn, I was stunned.”
“You are not much help to me, Adam.”
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 7
Part 8
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