Panspermia Deorum

by Hylton Smith

  “What? Well, I began to think I was pregnant, but I was told a couple of years ago that I was infertile.”

  “Why did you think you were pregnant?”

  “Because I’m a vegetarian, but now I have a constant craving for meat.”

  “Ok, in that case you mustn’t fight it, you’re going to need to eat meat from now on, even raw meat. It’s the only way you’ll survive. And you have to begin to understand that those who look hotter are the same as us, but not necessarily trustworthy. They can be depending on whether they are type A or B. The ones who don’t look hot don’t have the virus yet.”

  “What the hell do you mean, A or B?”

  “Alpha’s are likely to rape you, kill you and maybe even eat you. Betas can either be friendly or prepared to report you to the authorities. Then you’d be assessed as to whether you can become an agent for them, turning in those like us. Look, we’d better get out of here, I can usually tell Alphas from Betas because of my hospital training, and I can teach you to do the same. For now, you need to get off the streets.”

  “Ok, I’ll follow you.”

 

  Chapter 43

  Julien had to excuse himself to take Bondarenko’s call. Elise and Geraldine were enjoying coffee and muffins on the balcony.

  “Hi, Alexei. Do you have good news?”

  “I thought it was no big deal.”

  “Not for me it isn’t, I meant for Eugene.”

  “Well, the old personnel records we have here were of no use at all, and there are not many technicians left here who worked in the microbiology lab at the same time as Brandon Mitchell. But one female researcher does recall some details about him. I got the idea that they might have been seeing each other for a while. She seemed to endorse the others I spoke to about him pretty much keeping his own company, a bit aloof with everyone. Anyway this lady mentioned a German girlfriend he had, and he received calls from her every few days. The more questions I asked, the more I became sure this female researcher was jealous in some way. She said this German girlfriend actually took a trip out here at some point, and there was a hell of an argument between her and Mitchell. She left in a rage according to Suzanne, the researcher. The German woman is apparently known by the name of Therese Kohl. The only other information I could get out of her before she clammed up is that Fraulein Kohl is doing a post-grad course in a London university, but which one she didn’t know. Not much to go on but you should still be able to run down Therese Kohl. Hopefully she is still in contact with Mitchell.”

  “You never disappoint, Alexei, thanks. I’ll pass this on to Eugene and I’m sure he’ll be grateful enough to give you a call. You’ll have to visit us when you get the chance, it would be good to catch up. Let me know if you come to Europe and we can meet up.”

  “Will do, now get back to your slippers and cardigan! I hope you are taking it easy, Julien. You need to after that bypass operation. I am sure Elise will see to that. Goodbye for now.”

  *

  Eugene was in trouble. Having persuaded two of his colleagues to leave Australia for the same reasons, they had an injunction slapped on them minutes after they had given notice to quit. They were asked to sign documents agreeing to make no future reference whatsoever with regard to what was happening inside the exclusion zone. There was no specific date at which the restriction would be lifted, the default effectively meaning that they were gagged in perpetuity.

  They refused such a blanket career wrecking ball attempt and were summarily put under house arrest. Their communication with the outside world was cut off, and they had a sense there was worse to come.

  When Julien didn’t receive his regular call, he tried to ring his son directly but never got past the unobtainable tone. He immediately engaged a diplomat in Paris to determine if there was a problem in Australia. Another week passed and he contacted the Parisian office again. The lack of detailed information bothered him despite the diplomat’s reassurance that everything was proceeding as normal in the outback project. Eugene was apparently still a part of it, although at this time he was on a fact-finding mission in a more remote part of the territory, where there was no signal. Julien decided to travel to Paris and arrive at the consulate unannounced.

  *

  Zlatan and his new friend took temporary refuge in an abandoned shack. “We can rest for a while, but we should move on soon, because we’ll have to keep our heads down when it gets light. Listen, don’t tell me your real name, just pick a first name and you can pose as an immigrant like me. It will help if we get caught and questioned. We just pretend we don’t speak too much English. I’m not going to tell you too much more about what’s going on for now. I know too much already and the least you can be persuaded to confess the better. You mentioned earlier that you thought you were pregnant, and that might happen again. Unlike Alphas, Beta females are driven to breed. Have you had sex recently?”

  “Back off, Mister. My boyfriend knows I can’t have kids. You said you’re a Beta, but you also said Alphas would rape me. Are you some kind of pervert? Maybe we should split.”

  “For hell’s sake calm down. I can help to keep you safe, but if you don’t believe me you can leave at any time. For the record, I don’t want to have sex, you just don’t do it for me. Now, my name is Zlatan, how do you want me to refer to you? Or do you want to piss off?”

  “Sorry, maybe I’m a bit tense, and I’m really hungry. I like Lydia.”

  “Great, let’s get going again. I’m pretty sure we’ll come across a few burrows around here and we can try to catch something to fend off the hunger.

  *

  Cold-calling at the consulate was frowned upon, but when the diplomat heard it was the man who’d saved the planet, he began to think about delegating the problem to his boss. Julien was ushered into the ornate office and asked to sit.

  “Just exactly what do you think we can do for you Mr Delacroix? We have checked this out several times with our people on the ground out there, and they continually assure us that your son is out on field duties where he cannot easily be contacted.”

  “In that case, get one of your people to go to where Eugene is working. Have them take some portable communication technology with them so that my son can reassure me! For goodness sake, I’ve had many a conversation with my people out in space, we’re only talking Australia here.”

  “There is an exclusion zone in place and for good reason. There is a potentially dangerous virus in the area.”

  “Precisely, and that’s what worries me. My son would never have left for some place where he couldn’t contact me without giving me advance notice that he’d miss a call or two. We have that kind of understanding. Now, if you want me to take this further I’ll get my lawyer to speak to someone close to the President. Please yourself. As I see it, you get him to call me, I go out there, or you get a trip to the Elysee Palace.”

  “Let me make a call to Australia first. I have been relying upon my junior staff to handle this. Could you give me a moment of privacy, Mr Delacroix?”

  “Fine, I’ll wait outside, for a moment.”

  Several minutes passed and Julien was invited to return to the office.

  “I’m delighted to tell you that your son will call back on this phone in about twenty minutes. Would you like coffee while we wait?”

  “Why not?”

  *

  Zlatan and Lydia stumbled over a promising burrow after an hour or so. He lit some tumbleweed with his cigarette lighter and pushed it into the mouth of the hide. Forcing more and more dried grass into the aperture produced a thick pall of smoke. He was ready, and blew out the flames, leaving the smoke to begin its suffocating diffusion deeper into the burrow. Several small rodents burst through the tangled grass and Zlatan grabbed a few, motioning for Lydia to do the same. She watched him bite off the heads of three before she followed suit. The colder midnight air was moving in and they gorged on their kill, stripping virtually everything from the fragile bones. It was time to
move on. They came to a trail which had recent tyre marks in each direction. They chose north and finally saw lights on the horizon. When they were within half a mile of them they left the road and approached over the surrounding scrubland. It was a fuel station and a rickety old house.

  “We need to find a water hole, Lydia. We must clean this blood from our faces, and anyway we have to re-hydrate, it’s not good for us to become too thirsty.”

  Chapter 44

  After an agonising wait the consulate phone rang and startled Julien. The handset was passed over to him. He didn’t recognise the voice.

  “Hello, is that Mr Delacroix? Julien Delacroix?”

  “It is, to whom am I speaking?”

  “My name is Leonard Schuster, I am Director-in-Chief of the viral containment unit in our programme here in Australia. I understand you wish to speak to your son, Eugene.”

  “I do, and I need to do that with some urgency. Please put him on the line.”

  “It’s not quite as straightforward as that. We have to get him to a hotspot in the bush where we can connect you. I ask for your patience as we arrange this. It shouldn’t take more than a few more minutes. Now, before you speak with Eugene, I have to ask you not to discuss anything which is related to our programme. I’m sure as a former head of a highly complex technical organisation you know that certain information must not fall into the wrong hands.”

  “Yes, yes, of course. Can we just get on with it? It’s a personal matter I want to talk to my son about.”

  “Very good, Mr Delacroix, I advise you to keep the conversation as brief as possible as the connection could drop out at any time.”

  “Fine.”

  “I understand we can transfer you now, please hold.”

  Dead space prevailed for about thirty seconds.

  “Dad?”

  “Eugene? Hello? I can barely hear you.”

  “Yes, there aren’t many transmitters near here. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

  Julien sensed that something didn’t gel. The last call he’d had from Eugene was in relation to getting back to Lyon.

  “Well, it’s really the other way around. An old university pal of yours contacted me and asked about you. Brendan or Brandon somebody. He wants to hook up with you again. He’s got a new job, I think, and I told him I would check when you could be back home. I didn’t mention where you were, but I know you were planning a break sometime soon. Your mother was hoping it might be for your birthday.”

  “That might not be possible, Dad. Everybody is working flat out here. I’ll let you know when I can make it back to Lyon. In the meantime, let Brendan know I’ll give him a call then.”

  “Ok then, Mum sends her best wishes and Sophie has settled into her apartment close to the city centre. Take care, and try to call me regularly like you used to. Bye for now.”

  “I will, and thanks for getting in touch, sorry about forgetting to tell you I’d be out of reach for a while.”

  Julien picked over the bones of what had been said and just as important, what had not. Eugene had spoken of Brendan deliberately, rather than Brandon. He wouldn’t make such a mistake, and, considering Eugene had asked him to track down Brandon Mitchell, he hadn’t asked for more specific information on his whereabouts. He obviously wanted to avoid anyone else knowing. Julien thanked the consulate staff and asked them to expect another request to contact Eugene if he remained out of reach for much longer.

  “I hope this doesn’t become the norm for me to keep in contact with my son. But, if it does, you can expect me here every week.”

  His parting remark was digested without words, merely an awkward smile. When Julien had left, another call was made to Leonard Schuster.

  “You had better get this situation sorted out immediately. This Delacroix person has tentacles reaching into high places. If you can’t resolve your concern with his son, I won’t get this department involved any further. I’ll advise Delacroix to come and see you in person.” He clashed down the handset.

  *

  Zlatan spotted an old water stand pipe at the rear of the fuel station. It creaked as Zlatan turned the valve to the open position. The flow of tainted water was little more than a dribble. After their hasty clean-up, he and Lydia tentatively approached the front door of the dwelling which was an adjunct of the office. As soon as the door opened it was slammed shut again. Zlatan whispered into Lydia’s ear.

  “Quick, head for that place over there, it looks like a barn or a stable. The man in the house was alarmed by our presence, even though we didn’t get a chance to say anything. Maybe they’ve seen deviants before, or been told about them being dangerous.”

  “But we aren’t dangerous, are we, Zlatan?”

  “Not yet, but that will change. I should be able to warn you in time. I didn’t want to mention this until I could feel the process beginning again, but I suppose now is as good a time as any. If we get to a point of extreme hunger or thirst, we must separate.”

  “But why? I thought we were friends.”

  “We are, but in times of stress, second phase survival will kick in. I might attack you, in fact I will attack you. I would be out of control, responding to stimuli which cannot be resisted. As long as we stay nourished and hydrated this phase could take weeks or even months to begin. That’s why we have to avoid Alphas, before we become Alphas ourselves. At present there is no way humans can prevent this inner struggle being resolved. The chances of Beta characteristics prevailing in this schizophrenic battle are not good. It can happen but the odds are pretty slim.”

  “I don’t think I can handle the thought of becoming something like that. I ate the rodents, but as soon as my hunger was satisfied, it was revolting to think about what I’d just done. I don’t want to go on. Why can’t we hand ourselves in to someone who will help us?”

  “That won’t stop what is happening inside us, Lydia. Just keep faith in me for now. The humans might make a breakthrough.”

  “But you talk about humans, we are humans, surely, or am I going nuts already?”

  “We’re in transition, you have to accept that, no matter how scary it is.”

  Zlatan and Lydia were typical of a small minority of escapees from the exclusion zone. However, there were already reports of transition of others in pockets of bush dwellers who’d been infected indirectly by fauna and flora. Settlements such as Aborigine enclaves were effectively spreading this sperm of the gods.

  The quarantine methodology of the exclusion zone was useless in the face of the ease with which the virus was capable of species jumping. Barbed wire fencing and checkpoints were irrelevant to insects, birds, mammals, marsupials, and especially plant seeds blowing in the wind.

  *

  Following his coded conversation with Eugene, Julien ramped up his search for Brandon Mitchell. He put out feelers in all universities within the defined London area. Registered students’ details could be bought easily, despite it being illegal. The hunt was made a lot simpler because they were looking for a German name. Therese Kohl was located in the cloisters of the London School of Economics.

  Julien flew over to London without delay, having been thoroughly interrogated by Elise. “Eugene needs some information and it’s a bloody site less inconvenient for me than for him to fly from halfway around the world. Just relax, Elise. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Fraulein Kohl was perplexed when she was asked to leave a lecture. She was even further confused when the receptionist said that the man who blew the asteroid out of the skies wanted to meet her.

  “Let me apologise for springing this request on you without prior contact. It’s Therese, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, I am Therese. I am pleased to meet you but I cannot imagine why you are here.”

  “Don’t worry, there’s nothing sinister about it. My son used to work with Brandon Mitchell and I’m led to believe he is, or was your boyfriend.”

  “Ah, yes, Brandon the Invisible.”

  “Oh, does that mean h
e’s no longer your boyfriend?”

  “Not exactly, he is more like my penfriend, he’s never here. Just a moment, is your son Eugene Delacroix?”

  “Yes, that’s him. Brandon worked for Eugene.”

  “I know. Brandon was furious with him for kicking him out of your company. He said at first he would contest it as unfair dismissal, but Brandon often says he will do things and most of them never happen. I don’t think he will want to speak with either you or your son.”

  “I can understand that, Therese, but I believe there might have been some misunderstanding. I was never involved in their spat, but I’m confident I can help Brandon if I can spend a few minutes explaining something to him.”

  “Good luck with that then, he is working in Japan. I can give you his phone number but I am not optimistic that he will talk to you.”

  “I see. Well, I’ll have to take that chance. It’s worth it for me to at least try. I promise you that if he doesn’t want to hear what I have to say, I’ll just leave it at that.”

  “You give me the impression that this is something important, but you have not said what it is.”

  “I don’t actually know the details, and if I did, I couldn’t tell you. Eugene says it is to do with microbiology and Brandon would benefit from speaking with him. It is obviously important because my son is working on this virus problem in Australia. That’s all I can say. If you think it would be better that I don’t speak with him, I must accept that.”

  “I suppose I could call him and ask if he wants to contact you.”

  “That would be much appreciated. When could you do that for me?”

  “Well, with the time difference it would be best to do it now. I will call him.”

  Brandon took a lot of convincing before Therese passed the mobile to Julien.

  “I’m sorry for the intrusion, Brandon. I’m really just the messenger. I knew of your disagreement with my son, but not the detail. He wants to talk to you about some project you worked on because it apparently has relevance to this problem in Australia. He isn’t able to disclose more than that to me, but asked me to find you. He can’t be reached at present in the outback, but hopefully he will be back in Lyon soon. Would you be prepared to at least hear what he has to say? Or do I have to tell him to forget it?”