The Premise

by Andy Crossfield

  Maneuvering inside the parking garage without the mapping guidance was trickier than Jack had realized, and it took some time for the car to understand his verbal commands. Sam soon realized the car had an onboard imaging system, and directed it to quickly draw a map of its surroundings on its central screen. Jack found touching the area on the map where he wanted to go was much easier than trying to tell the car direction and distance. Sam was a quick study and soon took over "driving" up the many ramp levels that led to Jack’s spot on the fifth floor.

  Jack had originally chosen the condo because of location, just a block or so from his publisher, Keystone. But the private entrance was a plus too. It saved a long walk through the cavernous lobby, and was just what Jack was looking for; convenient and discreet. Jack led the others to the owner’s elevator and entered his code to take them up to his condo.

  While Colleen called for dinner to be delivered from the restaurant downstairs, Jack got Sam to pull out a large erasable storyboard from a storage closet behind the kitchen and set it up in the living room. Then Jack and Kyle collected Tom’s belongings. He wanted to keep them out of Colleen’s sight for fear of bringing on another emotional outburst.

  When Jack and Kyle had finished stowing Tom’s things they came out to find Colleen enjoying the view. The snow was swirling as it fell past the 16th floor windows and onto the balcony. The city lights were just coming on with the growing darkness.

  "It’s beautiful!" Colleen said, sensing Jack’s presence behind her. "It’s like a million miles away from everywhere up here!" she said, turning into Jack’s arms. They shared a glass of wine and stood for a while lost in the perspective that being so high above the world provided.

  After dinner Jack gathered the group around the large board now dominating the living room. "I’d like your help in making sense of the past week," he said to the expectant faces now seated around the room. "I usually use this board to flesh out my book plots, but tonight, maybe we can reverse that process. On this side, we’ll list what we know" Jack said drawing a vertical line down the middle of the board. "And on the other, we list characters, motives, sequences and suspects.

  Then we draw lines connecting the two until we get a picture of cause and effect." Jack said looking at Kyle to urge him to contribute.

  "Who wants to start?"

  Silence.

  "Okay, maybe I should go first to get the ball rolling" Jack said turning to the board. He began by writing 'Relentlessly pursued' at the top of the list, making Colleen squirm in her seat. He then added 'Dr. Mark Moran' underneath, followed by 'military cover-up', and 'Project Termes', and 'Tom’s death' under that. As he added events on the left side, more comments and suspects were contributed and added to the right.

  Kyle added Hank, the warden, Mark’s death, Big T, and the hit in Chicago; Colleen added the Vegas attempts to steal her work, Mark’s briefcase, Ramy’s stonewalling, Mark as a murderer, the lab break-in, and the men casing her apartment.

  Karen had been merging the work brought from the lab with Colleen’s records from Mark’s briefcase, but soon decided to join Sam on the couch, riveted to the conversation as if it were one of Jack’s book plots.

  Jack came back and added 'William Downs' and 'Rebuild America' to the list and stepped back to view the entire board.

  "Okay, anybody see any motive yet?"

  Everyone shook their head no.

  "Okay," Jack said as he flipped the board to the clean backside. "Not to worry, this happens at the beginning of a mystery. Let’s start asking questions"

  "Why would Colleen be targeted?" he said as he wrote the question across the top of the board.

  "Luckily," Jack said, "there are only a few reasons… money, fear, or love/jealousy"

  "Really? Just three?" Colleen asked in a doubtful tone.

  "Well, I guess we could include 'national security' if you wish…" he said with a smile.

  "But, I don’t see any one of those as viable," offered Karen. "Money has always been tight, and with the loss of the data, we may just lose our only grant! As for fear, well we sure haven’t scared anyone I know of! And love or jealousy… well, that’s just silly!"

  "Well, then…" said Jack trying to regroup, "How about you Sam, what do you think is the reason?"

  "Fear. Definitely fear." Sam said without hesitation.

  Colleen turned toward Sam with a surprised look.

  "Why do you say that Sam?" asked Jack.

  "Cause she, you know, she gets brothers killed and stuff."

  Colleen sat looking at Sam, shocked he would say such a thing.

  "What do you mean Sam?" Jack said stepping on Colleen’s stuttered attempt at protest. "How does she get people killed?"

  "You know, with that test medicine… the vaccine."

  Colleen erupted. "What do you mean, Sam? Who have I killed?"

  "Nobody I guess. I shouldn’ta said anything" Sam said, visibly retreating from the discussion.

  "You don’t get off that easy Sam, now tell us what you know!" said Jack sensing a breakthrough.

  "All I know is folks aren’t right after getting the shot," Sam said almost in a whisper. "and they’re dying 'cause of it… thas all I know."

  "Well you don’t exactly look like you’re dying to me, and you got my vaccine!" Colleen blurted out defensively, hurt by his claim.

  "I would if Winston knew where to find me!" Sam shot back without thinking.

  "What does Winston have to do with this, Sam? Sam, you tell me what you know. Sam, this is important!" Jack pressed.

  Sam got up to leave but he realized he didn’t know the code to call the elevator. He paced back and forth hitting his head with his palms.

  Jack grabbed his arm as he passed by and pulled him close. "Sam, if the vaccine is hurting people, Colleen needs to know it. It is important to tell us, do you understand?"

  "I already said too much." Sam said, holding his head down and hitting himself over and over.

  Jack tried again, in a calm voice "Why would Winston hurt you just because you got Colleen’s vaccine?"

  Sam struggled to get away but Jack’s grip was strong.

  "You can’t save me… nobody can!"

  "Well, Sam if that’s true, you’re dead either way… so why not tell us? Maybe you can help somebody else?"

  Jack’s words caused Sam to stopped struggling and Jack relaxed his grip. Sam’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

  "Winston would kill me cause… I ain’t the same as before. I know it, an’ he knows it."

  "Sam! Tell us what you mean by not the same!" Colleen demanded.

  "I ain’t the same, I’m jus’ different, okay? I don’t do as I’m told no more, you know? I don’t boost anymore, alright? It just don’t feel right. Don’t go hustlin’ or poppin off no more…I ain’t got it in me, okay?"

  "And that’s why Winston wants to kill you?" Jack asked.

  Sam nodded, ashamed at his admission and keeping his head down.

  "And that’s why Winston is killing the others?"

  Sam nodded again. "What good’s a gang what don’t stand up for iself? You know, it jus looks bad, okay? Jus looking for trouble if that word gets out. A whole gang a cowards is what ya got. Survival of the fittest, you know, th’ first rule of the jungle.

  Jack sat down heavily in the chair and exhaled loudly.

  "And Winston is going after just the members that got Colleen’s vaccine? Nobody else?"

  Sam nodded again.

  "Sam, are there any left? Anybody Winston has missed?"

  "Yeah, but they’re hiding."

  "What are you thinking?" Colleen asked Jack.

  "I’m thinking my dear, …you’re a shoo-in for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, sweetheart!"

  Colleen sat up a little straighter looking at Jack with a puzzled look. "Come again?" she said with growing smile.

  "We’ll have to do some more tests and interview the other test subjects, but if I’m right, you could be the most famous scientist in histor
y!"

  "I could? What for?"

  "Remember the amygdala? Remember how Mark believed your serum worked because it targeted that region and the Genesis gene?"

  "Yes, so?"

  "So you, my violet-eyed genius, have developed a cure for crime!"

  "But it’s supposed to cure AIDS!"

  "So? Maybe it does both! Viagra was originally developed as a blood pressure medicine! You, Dr. Baker are a genius!"

  "But I don’t understand…" said Karen. "How can crime be cured?"

  All eyes were on Jack, who literally jumped at the opportunity to put on his show.

  "Crime, is as old as mankind," Jack began before he lost the group's attention. "And survival is thought to have provided the rationale for crime. From there, man adapted his criminal motivations from life-and-death survival to one of good old garden-variety avarice, jealousy, lust, and well you know the others. Because crime’s 'origins' are so old, it resides in the part of our brains that were the earliest to develop …near the amygdala."

  "Your serum also targets that region, and using the Genesis gene, it must have reprogrammed the area responsible for our justification of criminal acts!"

  To prove his point, Jack turned to Sam. "Sam, when was the last time you committed a crime?"

  "Jack!" Colleen protested. "How can you ask Sam such a thing?"

  Jack fended off Colleen’s objection with a quick reassuring glance and returned his attention to Sam.

  Sam sat fidgeting, uncomfortable at being the new center of attention.

  "Okay, then how about this… have you committed any crimes since you’ve become a patient of Dr. Baker's?"

  Sam shook his head no.

  "Sam," Jack pressed, "Did you commit crimes before you met Dr. Baker?"

  Sam looked up and nodded.

  "Do you think you are a coward now, Sam?"

  "Jack!" Colleen protested louder this time.

  "Colleen, if my suspicion is correct, these questions will be easy compared to the ones you will need to answer later on."

  "Sam, how did it make you feel when Winston started killing your friends?"

  "Sad." Sam said in a barely audible voice.

  "Not mad?"

  "No"

  "Not scared?"

  "No"

  "Well Sam, don’t you think a coward would be scared?"

  Sam looked up and caught Jack’s gaze for the first time since he began his questions.

  "Yeah, I guess they would" Sam said with a confident realization crossing his face.

  "Did you want to strike back at Winston?"

  "No"

  "Well, see? You are changed, but in a good way!" Jack said with a smile.

  Sam thought about it for a minute then said, "You don’t think I’m a coward?"

  "You came to see Colleen at the lab, didn’t you?"

  "Yeah."

  "Even though Winston said he’d kill you if you did, right?"

  "Yeah, I did"

  "Doesn’t sound like you would make a very good coward to me," Jack said with a grin.

  "All this is just ridiculous!" said Karen. "I’ve never heard of a cure for crime, never even heard of anyone working on a cure. It can’t be done!"

  "Well," Jack said, "I’ll bet Wilbur and Orville had to put up with a lot of ridicule before they took that first historic flight too, and, I might add, nobody conquered HIV before Colleen and Karen…."

  Karen blushed deep red at the prospect of her potential fame.

  "Of course," said Jack trying to be objective, "we need more data to make any solid conclusions, but from a physiological standpoint, it sure looks like you have an amazing achievement on your hands here. And if that is the case, you’ll have some even bigger decisions to make going forward."

  "What decisions?" said Karen.

  "Well, first off, I can’t get over the coincidence of our work dovetailing like it has! I mean, I spent years thinking on the repercussions of just this kind of discovery! And I just thought up this crazy cure for crime idea because it had never been done. Folks are less suspicious of anything if it is a new concept to them. They’re more apt to judge it objectively, and to analyze it without bringing their normal biases into the mix. I picked it to show that any revolutionary breakthrough has both good and bad associated with it, and I’ve spent years trying to come up with the best way of educating the public about the positives, while explaining the negatives in such a way that the discovery isn’t cast aside."

  Colleen looked at Karen, and then they both looked at Jack and repeated "What negatives, Jack?"

  "Oh, that’s right, neither of you have attended one of my lectures…" Jack said, feigning a hurt look. "If you had, you would know that a cure would eventually free 2.3 million criminals from our prisons, while causing massive layoffs in the criminal justice industry. Everyone from judges and police, to anti-virus programmers and meter maids would be out of a job. It turns out we as a society have become very heavily invested in anti-crime careers, and all those people would all suddenly be looking for work."

  Karen and Colleen looked at each other, trying to forge a reaction to Jack’s theory.

  "In short, you have some big decisions to make."

  Colleen gave a sigh and said, "Okay, I’ll ask again, what decisions Jack?"

  "Well, the big one is do you get the government involved up front?"

  "The government?" Colleen said.

  "Yes, the government. You need to know they will most certainly get involved sooner rather than later. This is a huge transformation to society, and they will most definitely want to control the, well, the decision whether to implement."

  "What do you mean, whether to implement?" asked Karen in a sharper voice than she intended. "We may be sitting on a scientific Holy Grail so special, nobody had even freakin’ thought it could be possible! Of course they would want to implement." Karen sputtered.

  Jack sat back in his chair and waited for Karen to calm down before he spoke. "That’s why I said you could be the most famous scientists in history. I’ve got almost two years of data that says the government could very well shut down the whole project… especially if the economy is fragile, as it still is. But even if they decide to go ahead with it, there’s the not-so-little matter of how."

  Karen stood and started pacing the room. Colleen attempted to calm her by reaching out for her arm as she passed, but Karen sidestepped her reach and said, "How?" "What do you mean how? We give them an injection, same as the test group."

  Jack remained seated, not wanting to agitate Karen any more than necessary. She was trying to deal with fame and the prospect of it disappearing because of some bureaucrat decision. "Well, think about this for a minute," Jack said. "Let’s say we know for a fact that this cures crime, and, an even bigger supposition, it has no major side effects…."

  Karen stopped for a moment and turned to Jack, listening to him.

  "Okay. Do you think you could just put an ad in the paper and get people to come get the shot voluntarily? What about all the criminals out there… you think they’d just line up to put an end to their careers?" Jack stopped to give that thought time to sink in.

  "Well, what do you suggest, Jack? Give everyone an injection in their sleep?" said Colleen.

  "No, of course not." He said with a slight smile. "That would never work. But you could always tell them it was for something else..." Jack’s smile faded and his eyes turned dark.

  Karen was the first to catch his meaning, replying "Well, you’d have to take the serum after you pulled a stunt like that!"

  Jack and Colleen both laughed at the irony of having to resort to subterfuge in order to rid society of dishonesty.

  "Seriously though," said Jack, "central to my findings is that while people don’t like to be fooled into taking something that will change their entire outlook on the world… they like even less that some people out there could still be capable of committing crimes against them while their guard is down! When given a choice, they a
lmost always elect for the conversion to be universal. And they elect that option, knowing the only way to convert a population universally is to inoculate without their knowledge!"

  "Really?" said Colleen. "That’s your findings from doing all those enragement seminars?"