The Best of All Possible Worlds

by Richard D. Parker

  Nico frowned as every last person in the campgrounds gravitated toward the RV and the target. Nico swore and placed his eye back on the scope, knowing that if an opening came it would be quick.

  ‘I may get only one chance,’ Nico thought. ‘There can be no mistakes.’ He also realized that after the kill was made, he would have to retreat quickly if he was to survive, the memory of the girl’s speed was still very clear in his mind.

  For an hour Nico waited, trying to ignore the fact that he was a feast for the local insect population, but still no clear shot presented itself. Several times the young girl came into view and Nico stood rooted, mesmerized by her lethal beauty. Without realizing it he kept her centered in his sights for several minutes before he would finally snap out of it and quickly searched for a clear shot at the boy. Another half an hour past and the crowd showed no signs of dissipating, and still he had no clear shot at the boy. It didn’t seem possible and once more the notion that the boy was blessed, protected by providence fluttered through his mind. He shook the pesky thought away just as a bug buzzed close to his ear, hovering a moment and then landed. Nico jerked and set down his rifle and brushed the intruder away. He should have thought of bug spray.

  ‘If I stay out here much longer I’ll be eaten alive,’ he thought and resigned himself to the fact that he would have to move in closer and perhaps kill the boy with his pistol. He gingerly climbed the fence and began to circle around the outskirts of the campgrounds, but always heading closer to the target. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and drew his glock. As he crept in he realized the danger posed by the women multiplied the closer he moved toward them, but that could not be helped. Still, speed or no, he was confident in his ability to kill anyone in his sights, whether with his rifle or pistol. As he drew ever nearer he moved with extreme care; it was now fully dark and he realized that one false stumble could spell disaster. He forced himself to be patient as he continued in, knowing that he’d suffer from hundreds of bites if he didn’t get this resolved quickly. If necessary, he would shoot the girl and her companion before turning his sights on the boy, though he loathed the thought of killing the girl from a distance.

  ‘The boy may be blessed,’ he thought once more. The boy always seemed to have someone directly in his line of sight. Nico shook off the unwanted thought and crept closer, circling toward the north in the hopes of getting a clear shot. He moved along the banks of the lake, completely unaware of the beauty of the scene as starlight reflected off the still surface of the water. Closer and closer he moved, occasionally the wind brought sounds of laughter and cheerful banter but it died down quickly. His feet touched gravel and he glanced down momentarily.

  ‘Close’ he thought with a smile and then looked up in surprise. Two people, walking hand in hand, were moving slowly his way. He stepped quietly behind a large domed tent, fingered the safety on his glock and waited. The gravel made the footsteps of the approaching couple easy to track in the still, night air. Nico backed slowly along the side of the tent, intending to circle around it as the couple moved by, but suddenly the footsteps stopped. Nico sighed, knowing they’d come to a halt directly between him and the boy. He waited and held his breath, eyes straining in the relative darkness. The light sounds of a whispered conversation reached his ears and then gentle laughter.

  ‘Lovers!’ He thought in disgust and moved back toward the lake along the tent wall. He would try to get a read on the pair’s location before making the attempt to circle around them. From the sounds they were making the couple was close, but probably not too close. Sounds were often amplified at night.

  When he reached the very edge of the tent, Nico slowly rose and took a peek. The lovers were perhaps twenty feet away, standing very close and facing one another; even in the dim light Nico, recognized Adam Dawkins immediately. He was facing Nico’s way, holding a woman close and even though her back was to him, it only took a split second for Nico to realize that she was the partner of the deadly girl he so wanted to kill.

  Without actually making the decision to do so, Nico stood in the darkness. Excitement flooded over him. If he could kill the woman…and Dawkins, the girl would be just that much easier to take. Here was an opportunity he could not pass up even if it meant the main target would escape for now. Nico did not care…Nico was patient.

  Nico slowly rose to his full height, quickly aimed the glock at the center of the woman’s back and fired.

  †

  The sun was just above the horizon when Blue and his wife Camille walked down from the house to join Ned and his crew at the fire. Tagging along was their eight year old daughter Marigold.

  “Goldie!” Dorothy exclaimed and hoisted herself up from the log she was sitting on; because of her natural bulk, Dorothy avoided camp chairs which tended to be far too delicate for her healthy physique.

  Marigold smiled as the large woman lumbered up to her and swallowed her in a hug. No one called her Goldie anymore. She was much too old for the pet name, but she did not correct the woman. Dorothy was far too kind to be corrected over such a simple mistake and besides the Newton’s were like extended family. In all her eight years, Dorothy never forgot to send a card on her birthday, a card with money no less, which always made Marigold very happy.

  “You’ve grown so big!” Dorothy exclaimed and pulled the girl back for a better look. “You’re looking more and more like your mother…and trust me that’s a very good thing.”

  Adam, who was shaking hands with Blue, found he agreed with Dorothy’s assessment. Camille was tall, thin and dark like her husband, but her face was open and friendly, and though her eyes were also coal black they sported the very same twinkle found in Blue’s.

  “Any friends of Ned’s…” Blue said, taking Adam’s hand in a crushing grip. Adam did his best to return the favor but knew he fell far short. Blue was a powerful man, probably a weight lifter or a construction worker.

  “Thank you,” Adam answered and introduced his part of the entourage. “This is Vio…she’s from…abroad and just learning English and Avigail…her sister. And this is Galen, my nephew and my sister Christine.”

  There were greetings all around.

  “You could be Lakota yourself,” Camille announced as she took Vio in.

  “Blue and Camille are both Lakota,” Ned explained as he adjusted a log on the fire. He was forever adjusting the fire this way or that and was rarely satisfied for long.

  “Thank you,” Vio answered smoothly with barely an accent.

  “Galen’s the one!” Dorothy finally blurted, unable to contain her excitement any longer. She quickly hustled over to the boy, grinning wildly at him. “He’s the one I’ve been waiting for,” she explained and pulled him from his seat next to Avigail. She gave him a quick squeeze and ushered him out into the middle of everyone.

  Blue looked shocked for a moment and then smiled at Galen, who of course was smiling in return. Galen was always smiling.

  Blue studied the boy for a moment as Galen approached him, eyes wide and happy. Blue was very tall and towered over Galen despite the boy’s recent growth spurt.

  “Hello Blue,” Galen greeted him as he greeted everyone, as if they’d known each other their entire lives. He smiled at Blue, and the man felt like he was the most important person in the world at the moment. A slight smile appeared on Blue’s dark chiseled face and then he reached out and gently placed a hand on Galen’s forehead and closed his eyes. Galen stood still, accepting the man’s touch while Christine and Avigail both fidgeted. Adam, who was sitting on a log next to Vio, watched the entire scene with curiosity. Strange things were happening, things he didn’t understand, but one thing was clear to him, neither Blue nor his family meant Galen any harm…nor did the Newton’s for that matter. How they knew about Galen was beyond him, but he had a sneaking suspicion they were all about to find out in the coming days, for now he was just happy to be with the mysterious woman at his side.

  When Blue opened his eyes once more, the ever p
resent twinkle was more pronounced. He gazed down at Galen, a look of wonder in his eyes. “When Dorothy first spoke of you, I thought you were her spirit guide, but now I see I was wrong. You and Dorothy are spirit brothers, linked in ways beyond this world.”

  Galen nodded, making no attempt to contradict the man standing before him, though Christine could not help but roll her eyes.

  “I would like to hear your story,” Blue said softly, and with great dignity, and then finally removed his hand from the boy’s head. Camille and Marigold were looking at Galen in a way that Christine found strangely disturbing, but he greeted each of them with a bright smile and a long hug.

  “Galen, come sit by me,” she said impulsively as he pulled away from the young Lakota girl. Christine even went so far as to stand, but Galen only turned to her and smiled.

  “No Christine…you should hear this as well,” Galen added softly. “You should know why your R89 gene remains dormant in my system, but we will wait a spell…for the others.”

  Christine’s mouth fell open and she looked over to Adam, panic stricken.

  “I said nothing to him…maybe Paula…” he blurted, defending himself against his sister’s accusing glare. He was about to reaffirm his innocence, when for some unknown reason Vio reached out and took his hand. He stopped talking abruptly and looked down at the small, warm hand that held his own. Christine was not so distracted, and was about to reproach her brother once more.

  “Paula didn’t tell me anything,” Galen interrupted as Adam glanced into Vio’s face. She smiled at him uncertainly but made no move to take back her hand. Adam smiled back and squeezed. Christine’s gaze lingered on her brother. She found she was happy for him, he needed to find someone to break his late wife’s lingering spell, but now she was more interested in what Galen was telling her.

  “I’ve known since Cryogen,” Galen explained, eyes now only for Christine, who was frowning back at him, confused. “It was you Christine,” Galen continued. “You changed me…your additions and your re-sequencing did so.”

  Galen paused for a moment to let Christine take in what he was saying. “You’re like a mother to me…a strange mother to be sure, but a mother nonetheless. You deserve to know.”

  Christine’s heart thumped rapidly in her chest. She’d not told Galen about the incorporation of her own DNA.

  Galen’s eyes remained fixed on Christine’s for a long moment, then drifted to Dorothy’s, who grinned excitedly at him, before his attention moved on to look at everyone perched around the fire. Before he could speak again however, another family walked out of the darkness to join them. It was a family of four, a husband and wife and two adolescent boys, who were traveling south out of North Dakota. Galen welcomed them all with his accustomed enthusiasm and then motioned for them to sit and they did so without the slightest hesitation.

  Lori, the wife, had argued with her husband against coming over. She had chronic back problems which made sitting for any length of time painful, but now that she was here…around the fire…near the young man who stood with the dark lake behind him, she gave her back no thought. Almost immediately she felt better, though for the most part she was unaware that her pain had lessened.

  Soon more were joining them; an old couple from Wisconsin came next. Fred, who, over the winter had a knee replaced, made the walk quite easily. A family from Nebraska followed and then another couple from Arkansas, whose fifteen year old daughter was afflicted with Lupus. After their greetings however, the pain in her joints subsided slowly. Now all five families staying the night at Johnston’s Folddown had inexplicably wandered over to the Newton’s campsite and were sitting around the fire. Most were just curious, but some were throwing apprehensive looks Galen’s direction. All were not sure why they’d come, but felt better once they arrived. The welcome they all shared was honest and deep. There was warmth around the Newton’s campsite that went deeper than just the fire.

  When everyone staying in the campground settled into their places, Galen moved to the far side of the central fire with his back to the lake. He smiled at everyone almost shyly and Christine noticed with alarm that Galen was no longer a boy…he was a teenager now…a young man.

  ‘What the hell were all these people doing here?’ She thought but no answers were forthcoming. She was scared and at a loss and those feelings grew deeper as she glanced around noticing that everyone was looking at Galen oddly, like he was a mystery, good or bad. She fidgeted and was becoming decidedly uncomfortable. She glanced at Adam wildly, but he was speaking softly to the foreign woman at his side, so she swallowed hard and fought down the overwhelming desire to rise and leave this place. But then Galen was smiling at her and she felt herself grow calm…and then he spoke.

  “Hello. My name is Galen…Galen Dawkins,” he told the group. “I am a human boy…a young man, not so different from any of you.” Everyone around him listened attentively and most felt content just being nearby, though not one of them realized why. “But I know the reason why I am different, which is a novelty for any human and I know why I was created. And…I suppose that makes me one giant step ahead of most of you.”

  Christine frowned as she glanced around at the crowd growing nervous once more, and suddenly it was a crowd. Why were they here and why were they paying such close attention to Galen? To them, he was just a teenage boy…hardly interesting. It made no sense at all, and how did Galen know about the R89 gene. She’d never discussed it with him, and in fact, kept it a tight secret. She was growing very anxious. Clearly something had gone wrong. Her manipulation of Galen’s genes was very limited and strictly controlled. Her experiment only involved the aging process but somehow she’d changed much more. She’d added the R89 gene to manipulate that process but clearly that one gene interacted with a host of others in ways she could not have predicted. Not only was the aging process affected, but also Galen’s memory, and clearly his intellect, and she wondered if her meddling had caused other, unforeseen side effects. As a research scientist, Christine understood very well that if you were not very careful and very controlled, genetic research had a way of blowing up in your face, just as any cutting edge research could do.

  “Galen…” she interrupted, suddenly afraid for him and for herself.

  Galen smiled at her. “This,” he said holding up a hand and gesturing toward her, “is Dr. Christine Dawkins. She’s loving, imaginative and brilliant, very brilliant and she helped create me.”

  “She’s your ma?” One of the young boys asked, both had crept close and were now sitting at Galen’s feet.

  “In a manner,” Galen answered and both Adam and Christine were struck by his adult behavior. Galen’s body might be just a bit over two years old but his mind was clearly not. “She works for Cryogen…a genetics company and she used some sample DNA to grow me in her lab.”

  “Whoa!” The boys said in unison, envious and both wished they’d been grown in a lab.

  “What do you mean grown?” Arny Stadler, a hardware store owner from North Dakota asked, somewhat suspicious but far from alarmed. He liked the strange boy who hugged everyone and felt somewhat protective of him. “You mean you’re a clone?”

  Christine bristled, but Galen held up a hand and smiled at her. “No…not a clone,” he answered. “I’m a mixture of man-made genes on an existing genetic framework.”

  “Man-made?” Camille asked.

  “Yes,” Christine interrupted once more, stood and walked over to Galen’s side. “Science is on the brink of putting an end to most genetic diseases and not just the major ailments like Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome and Muscular Dystrophy. We could also help put an end to other abnormalities in patients who are genetically prone to all types of cancer, heart disease, not to mention color blindness…and even the true scourge of mankind, male pattern baldness,” she added playfully, in the hopes of lightening the mood. “Our primary purpose with Galen was to study the effects of aging.”

  “Aging?” Dorothy asked, very surprised.
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  Christine nodded. “Yes, on earth we have an enormous variety of life, and we consider it diverse, but despite the apparent diversity most life on the planet shares a great percentage of their DNA with the other life on Earth. The genetic difference between oak tree and a human being is not as great as you might expect,” she added for emphasis, moving smoothly from research scientist to guest lecturer with practiced ease. “At my lab, what we were trying to understand is, if the majority of the DNA is the same, why do some species live very short lives while others live much longer. The average lifespan of a human being at present is around 75 years, a dog, depending on the breed of course is between 10 and 20 years; for the fruit fly it’s less than two months.”