The Leaves in Winter

by M. C. Miller

  Even if The Project released them, nowhere in the world was ever going to be the same. What kind of home would be possible again? In retrospect, day-to-day troubles and cares of life before any of this happened now appeared idyllic.

  Janis looked up to find Faye repositioning the webcam in front of her.

  “You still there?” asked Faye.

  Jarred out of a reverie, Janis turned back to the video screen but said nothing.

  “Alyssa’s taken off,” reported Faye. “She’s excited to see you. She missed meeting you for lunch.”

  “I know,” admitted Janis. “I couldn’t break away.”

  “Before you go,” prompted Faye. “There’s just one thing…”

  “What is it?”

  Faye vacillated. “It’s about seeing Colin.”

  “Not that again,” snapped Janis. “I told you, Colin and I have an agreement. I do my work and he stays out of my way.”

  “He wants to see both of us. He says he has important information but prefers to tell us in person. I think we should meet with him.”

  “I don’t see why he can’t tell you and then you can tell me.”

  Faye became grave. “There must be a reason. Janis, really, I’ve never seen him this serious before. It must be something major.”

  Janis followed the concern in Faye’s face and tone of voice. “…major.”

  “I really think we should meet with him. We need to know what’s going on.”

  “All right,” Janis relented. “Anything so I can get out of here. Signing off…”

  The video connection ended. Karen, the lab assistant, was long gone. Except for the transfer of pressurized air inside the bulky suit and a weary pull and release of her own breath, Janis suddenly found the lab tomblike in silence and confinement. Being alone in the late hour only amplified the effect.

  Janis stood and paced to the glove box for one last look inside for the night. Through thick safety glass on the near side she stared at samples of 2GenGEN and 3rd Protocol brought together in various containers and Petri dishes to see if they’d interact. Looking down to the far end, Janis could barely see the sectioned-off area of the box where final synthesized versions of 2GenGEN had been inserted into a sputnik and then the sputnik was inserted into the 2nd Protocol version of Ghyvir-C.

  The finality of the accomplishment settled over her. At last she had finished work that was a decade in the making. Not so strangely, there was little joy. Janis thought back. If only Riya Basu were here to see it.

  And then there was 2nd Protocol, the newly crafted select agent that had greatly aided making 2GenGEN contagious. Janis dropped her gaze on thoughts of Knockout Mouse. For obvious reasons, she preferred not to remember him as Kevin Mass.

  She turned away, tired but determined to not allow thoughts to wander into an emotional down spiral. She had to believe that what they were doing was important and would make a difference. In the most ultimate terms, they were simply trying to make the best of a horrific situation. They might not be able to solve the problems in time but maybe it would be possible to engineer some hope from their lab work.

  With a pop and a whoosh, Janis disconnected the air hose feeding her suit and turned towards the door leading to the way out. Now all that remained between her and a good night’s sleep was the required gauntlet of windowless rooms and procedures that all technicians had to endure to enter or exit a BSL4 lab.

  On the way back out, a decontamination shower came first. Janis extended arms and turned around as a spray of chemicals pelted her pressure suit and helmet.

  After drip-drying and walking through an air blast, she stepped through into the Suit Room. There she took off the bulky pressure suit and double gloves and exposed the green scrubs worn underneath. Now she could pass into the Inner Work and Interaction Area, a mid-range confinement and security area that also shared a pressured door into the BSL3 lab space. After that came the changing room, a cramped space where every technician was required to shed their scrubs and walk naked into the second shower room for a less caustic spray.

  After dropping her scrubs into a receptacle for soiled clothes, Janis welcomed the vigorous spray of water against her skin. After the required time, the spray ended and Janis passed through into the locker room. There she put her street clothes back on and headed out into the Outer Work and Interaction Area. Immediately upon stepping out, Janis was greeted by Alyssa running up and giving her a hug.

  “There you are!” yelped Alyssa. “I thought you’d never come out.”

  Janis smoothed back her daughter’s hair. “It takes a while to get in and out.”

  Alyssa peaked into the locker room as the door automatically closed. “What’s it like in there?”

  Janis smirked. “It’s like being inside a tiny submarine locked in a bank vault.”

  Alyssa giggled. “That’s bizarre…”

  “You’re telling me!” Janis headed off to her computer console.

  “You have more to do?” asked Alyssa.

  “I need to backup a couple things; that’s all. Don’t worry; it’ll take two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

  Alyssa grinned. “Or two twitches of a bunny’s nose?”

  “Exactly,” chuckled Janis. Her fingers sped over the keyboard and shifted the mouse. “Sorry about missing lunch today…”

  Alyssa plopped on a chair and rolled over closer. “I know. It’s OK. I got to stay in and bug Faye.”

  The first backup started and Janis shifted attention to a second monitor. “You two have been spending quite a bit of time together. I bet you’re learning a lot. Faye is a good teacher. I’ve seen her instruct newbies in the lab…”

  “Oh, yeah,” agreed Alyssa. “The only problem is, she won’t answer all my questions.”

  Janis furrowed her brow. “Really? Well, I’m sure there’s a good reason…”

  Alyssa was direct. “She says when she’s done with her work, you’ll tell me about it.”

  Janis was all too aware of the topic and Faye’s reason for being reserved about it. Faye’s research from bed was concentrating on the sterility issue. In particular, what about Alyssa had prevented her from becoming sterile and how might her genetic uniqueness be leveraged to find a cure for the rest of the world’s children. Given some of the subject matter, Faye believed it would be best if Janis was the one to explain the particulars to her daughter.

  The second backup started and they could go. But Janis hesitated. Maybe it was time to let Alyssa in on the theory Faye had come up with. Perhaps an overview of what was being researched would be best; it might placate Alyssa’s curiosity while maturing for her the concepts of what the future might have in store for her.

  Janis swiveled round to face Alyssa. “You know that for the past couple of months, Faye and I have been working on different things…”

  “Yeah,” affirmed Alyssa. “You’ve been doing 2GenGEN…”

  “A single-dose version of GenLET that’s spread by a cold virus…”

  “And Faye’s been looking at the sterility thing.”

  “That’s right. More importantly, she’s been looking into your role in solving the problem.”

  “Me?” Alyssa stopped her fidgeting.

  “I told you; you are special.”

  “Yeah, I know. I can have children. Other kids when they grow up won’t be able to.”

  “And why is that?” asked Janis but Alyssa could only shrug. “I was pregnant with you when I caught the Ghyvir-C cold. That Ghyvir-C didn’t have a sputnik in it so I didn’t get inflected with the damaging payload. Because of that, a special immunity got passed to you while you were still inside of me.”

  “I know, you told me that before. But that’s not what Faye won’t tell me.”

  “No,” agreed Janis. “Faye’s been working on some very complex computer models. No one knows about it but the three of us. For now, let’s keep it that way.”

  “Your big boss doesn’t even know?”

  “No, the Proj
ect hasn’t been using our computer models so we haven’t told them yet. Faye’s been putting gobs of data into her computer and defining lots of rules and constants and variables…and out the other end comes what-if answers.”

  Alyssa screwed up her face. “What’s a what-if answer?”

  Janis smiled. “What if you sit on your left leg until it falls asleep and gets all tingly then a bee comes after and you try to run. What will happen?”

  Alyssa grunted. “I’d probably fall over.”

  Janis nodded. “You just gave me a what-if answer. You’re able to answer that because you blended the facts of what you know with realistic rules governing a possible situation. Faye has done the same thing…only about your children.”

  Alyssa’s eyes widened. “My children! I don’t have any kids!”

  “Of course you don’t. But someday you might. And when you do, you’ll pass your genetic code to the next generation.”

  “So why is that special?” asked Alyssa.

  “That’s special because you’re special.” Janis leaned forward and took hold of Alyssa’s hands. “If a fix for sterility isn’t found, you are going to be the last woman who can bear children.” Janis couldn’t help but tearing up. “Faye and I tried to find a fix but our first trial failed. Faye believes her computer model might have discovered why.”

  Seeing the emotion and seriousness on her mother’s face, Alyssa struggled to concentrate. “She got a what-if answer…”

  “That’s right, but not about you – about your children. The computer model told her the reason why the first trial failed is because you are only half of the specialness we need. When you have children, your children’s germ cells will have that completeness. Using those cells, the computer model says the fix might work.”

  “Germ cells?” Alyssa glowered.

  “Not that kind of germ cells. The germ cells I’m talking about are special sex cells; they’re the kind of cells that allow us to reproduce.”

  “So what are you saying?” asked Alyssa, suddenly concerned. “You can’t come up with a fix until I have children?”

  Janis paused. “Unless we can figure out a way to simulate the same chain of interactions in the lab – no, we can’t. Even if we found a way in the lab, so much can go wrong. That’s why the best, the most certain way might be to derive the fix from your children’s germ cells.”

  “But I don’t want any kids…” Alyssa pulled back.

  “Of course you don’t; not right now. That’s why Faye’s working up new models to plan what it would take to do the same thing in the lab.”

  Alyssa shifted nervously. “Is that everything Faye wouldn’t tell me?”

  Details of the topic flooded Janis’ mind. So many of them were overly technical but one in particular had yet to be spoken. It probably would have little significance to Alyssa now, but the thought of what it might mean in years to come gave Janis pause. She tried to not let her inner anxiety show.

  “There’s one last thing. To have a child, an egg and a sperm must come together. You have the egg, a special egg. For your children to have the right kind of germ cells, the kind of cells we can use to make the fix work, Faye’s model predicts the sperm must be equally special.”

  The two of them had had the birds and bees conversation years before. Janis knew a lot of detail in this area wasn’t required.

  Alyssa rolled her eyes and chuckled timidly. “How do you find special sperm?”

  “It has to be from someone who produced the sperm before they were ever infected with Ghyvir-C. That part is critical.”

  Alyssa huffed. “Well that rules out everybody!”

  “No, it doesn’t,” countered Janis. “If the sperm was donated and frozen over thirteen years ago, before Ghyvir-C started infecting people, that kind of sperm would be special.”

  The topic was turning sour for Alyssa. “That’s like weird. I have to get pregnant with old frozen sperm?”

  Janis stood. “You don’t have to do anything. It’s a theory and like I said, Faye is trying to come up with a way to do the same thing in the lab. Besides, what are we still doing here? Didn’t Faye say she had snacks?” Janis forced a lighter mood.

  Alyssa grinned. “They’re good ones too!”

  Just then, a massive concussion buffeted the building above them.

  A roar came from the ceiling.

  The lights flickered and went out.

  The two of them stood in pitch darkness.

  Alyssa screamed as Janis rushed to hug her close.

  Moments later, auxiliary lighting flickered on, then off, then on again.

  All BSL4 labs have redundant, dedicated systems for just about everything. In the moment, Janis was thankful they were close to dedicated BLS4 power and fresh air exchange. She rushed to the phone and punched in the three-digit extension for the security desk.

  She thought she heard a connection but couldn’t be sure.

  “This is Janis Insworth in the sub-basement lab. What’s going on up there?”

  Janis waited. Hearing no response, her heart accelerated. She listened to clicks and dead air before the line got redirected. After one ring, a frantic voice was heard.

  “GPAX Mobile One. Over.”

  “This is Janis Insworth. I’m in the sub-basement lab…”

  “Building Three?”

  “Yes,” blurted Janis. “Who is this?”

  The voice was out of breath. “Shit! Are you alone?”

  “No, my daughter’s with me.”

  “Stay where you are! Right now, you’re in the safest place!”

  “What are you talking about? What just happened?”

  “Listen! Don’t attempt to come to the surface! I repeat – stay where you are!”

  Janis watched the lights dim then flicker. “We’re on auxiliary power but it’s been going on and off.”

  “If the lights go out, you should still have emergency power for air exchange.”

  “Who am I talking to? What’s GPAX?”

  “Locate a fire extinguisher and get to a safe place away from heavy equipment...” The line went dead.

  Again and again the concussions returned. The last blast shook ceiling panels down around them. Janis grabbed her cell phone off the desk and tugged Alyssa towards the entrance to the BSL4 lab.

  “Come on!” shouted Janis. “Follow me.”

  Cowering, Alyssa scurried alongside.

  Janis yanked the heavy door open leading into the locker room. Scurrying inside, she closed the door then jerked a fire extinguisher from the wall and set it on the floor in between their feet.

  Huddled together, the two of them listened as peals of thunder passed overhead. Behind the windowless room, they could hear debris falling.

  Janis felt Alyssa shivering next to her in panic. To hide her own fear, Janis considered a hopeful irony – a lab designed to keep deadly things on the inside might also keep a perilous unknown on the outside.

  “Remember what I said about a submarine in a bank vault?”

  Too afraid to speak, Alyssa could only nod.

  “We’ll be OK. We’re in the submarine.”

  A moment later, auxiliary lighting failed.

  Alyssa squealed and clung tighter in the dark.

  In pitch blackness, Janis closed her eyes

  It was all she could do to fight off terror and intense dread.

  But far worse than the fear – was not knowing.

  Chapter 51

  Grounds Perimeter

  GeLixCo Advanced Research Center

  Under a moonless sky the flicker of roaring flame drew the eye to a patch of land in the distance. Sirens and small arms fire distressed the midnight hour. The narrow service road paralleling the perimeter fence led downhill into blackness. At the fence line a GeLixCo security vehicle sat pockmarked with bullet holes, the left side of its windows blown out. Inside, a pair of security agents manned what was left of their mobile command post.

  Colin Insworth holstered his .45 p
istol and hurried across the conquered high ground. Wincing, he grabbed his left bicep as blood soaked through the strip of cloth ripped from his shirt and used to tie off the flesh wound.

  Nearby, a GeLixCo guard rummaged through the pockets of three dead men dressed in black. The bodies were strewn alongside weapons in a small field at the highest point of the GeLixCo property. Unzipping a satchel, the guard discovered a cache of rocket-propelled grenades. The guard brandished one for Colin to see.

  “We got here just in time,” remarked the guard.

  Colin reached out a bloodied hand. “Give me your binoculars.”

  The guard complied and Colin adjusted the night vision lenses. Stepping to a rocky prominence, he took aim with a viewfinder tinged in surreal green. Zooming in, he had to squint. The fires consuming what was left of Building 3 flared white hot in the night vision field of view. Colin jerked away from the intensity and scanned the darkness. A warm engine flare from another GeLixCo security vehicle swept into view. Farther on, infrared outlines of two guards, sprinting with rifles at the ready, rushed past.

  One of the security agents from the nearby mobile command post ran up to Colin. “Sir, we haven’t been able to secure all access roads...”

  Colin held firm holding the binoculars before his eyes. “Have first responders been notified?”

  “We’ve gotten through to central dispatch but we can’t be sure all field units have gotten the word.”

  “Damn!” snapped Colin. Shifting binoculars farther afield, he searched the dim vastness on the edge of city lights where he knew city streets intersected. As he feared, the flashing red strobes of a fire truck dispatched from the city of Aguadilla came into view. As the truck snaked up into the hills from the city below, Colin searched the blackness around it for heat signatures.

  “There’s one coming up the hill. Keep trying with dispatch!” ordered Colin.