The Shox Gene Variant

by Bob Cooper

  “Okay. Does Raina know what happened?” Aidan asked.

  “Probably not. I’ll call her when I get home,” Acey said. Before she left, she kissed Aidan long and hard. “I love you,” she whispered.

  ***

  Sue stirred upon hearing the buzz from Raina’s com link. She nudged Raina to answer it, but she grunted and turned over. Sue leaned over and picked it up.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Raina?”

  “No, this is Sue.”

  “Oh, Sue. This is Acey. Is Raina there?”

  “Hold on. I’ll wake her. Is there something wrong?” she asked, shaking Raina.

  “Yes, something terrible. Carina was kidnapped.”

  Her heart sank, and she lowered the com link, staring straight ahead.

  “What’s wrong?” Raina asked in a panic.

  Sue handed her the com link without speaking. She watched Raina fall apart as Acey explained the situation. Sue got out of bed and went into the kitchen to make coffee. It was early in the morning and still dark outside. Raina walked in and sat at the table. Sue handed her a mug of coffee.

  “What the hell happened?” Sue asked.

  Raina relayed the story, and when Sue thought she was finished, she leaned back. “Those poor parents. I can’t imagine what they’re going through.”

  “There’s more to this story,” Raina said. “Remember I told you Hillary was kidnapped.”

  “Yes, you said that you, Aidan, Acey, and Billy rescued her.”

  “We did. It was some whacko cult, The Righteous Way, who kidnapped her. But it wasn’t Hillary they were after. It was her unborn fetus. It was Carina they wanted.”

  “So, they get to relive this all over again. I mean, I know she’s one of the few Star Children that have been scientifically studied and declared the genuine article but other than that, what’s so special about Carina?”

  “They found certain DNA strands in her that haven’t been found in other Star Children. They don’t know what functions they perform, but their testing shows a heightened form of telepathic communication, more so than in the other Star Children.”

  “I think we should go there to help,” Sue said.

  “I offered our help to Acey, but she said it’s best if we stay here.”

  ***

  Carina opened her eyes. Everything was black. The smell of stale sweat from the hood over her head made her want to puke. She held back the urge realizing there was a gag in her mouth. The fuzziness and disorientation made her sicker when she tried to sit up. It was then she realized her hands and feet were bound. She let out a muffled scream in panic, but no one came. She laid there listening to her heart pound. She heard a steady drone but couldn’t decide where she had heard it before. Then it came to her. She was on a spaceship, similar to the one she was on with Dirk. More panic set in and she began to cry. She heard footsteps and raised her head to listen better. A ray of light came through the darkness. Hands grabbed her and yanked her up. The gag was ripped from her mouth.

  “Let go of me! Who are you? What do you want with me?”

  No response. She was pulled to her feet. They steadied her from the effects of the tranquilizing drug. The hood was ripped off, and the light momentarily blinded her.

  “Who are you?” she asked again, struggling with her captors.

  When her eyes became accustomed to the light, she made out two figures dressed in black. “Are we sure, it’s her?” one asked.

  “I believe so but let’s do some tests to be sure. We can’t make any assumptions,” the other one said.

  He opened a small box and took out a needle syringe. Without saying a word, he plunged it in Carina’s neck. Screaming, she attempted to wiggle away, but they held her firm. He withdrew the needle and pushed her down to the floor.

  “Relax, bitch, and don’t cause us trouble. You understand?”

  Carina crawled into a corner and huddled there trying to shake the pain in her neck. They left and the hatch door locked behind them. She knew then that she was on a ship bound for god knows where. It wasn’t long before the ship slowed and landed. The two men came back again, put the smelly hood over her head, and unshackled her feet.

  “Get up and walk with us.”

  They grabbed her arms and pulled her along. A vehicle, which felt like a ground vehicle, took them to their destination. The muted drone of machines hummed in her head. Her hands were freed, and the hood was taken off. They pushed her into a cage-like structure and locked the door. There was little light, and it took a while before she could make out her surroundings. Something stirred in the corner. Carina gave out a muffled cry. “Who’s here?”

  “It’s me, Carina. Jonathan Nelson. Do you remember me?”

  18

  Aidan was at Guard HQ going over the surveillance footage with Captain Tom when Annie and Foster joined them in the office. Foster looked frail and tired.

  “Thanks for joining us,” Captain Tom said.

  “Any luck with the surveillance footage?” Annie asked.

  “We can see the hooded figures approaching Dirk and Carina but can’t see their faces. They had masks on,” Aidan said. “How about the facial recognition scan?”

  “We got a hit. The older guy dining with Gretchen goes by the name Helmut Steiger. He is well-known for his involvement with several neo-Nazi movements, but we lost track of him. It was rumored that he was off world. He is Gretchen’s father,” Foster answered.

  “So he resurfaced, and I hired his daughter, and they used us,” Aidan said, looking at Annie.

  Annie nodded, knowing her father felt embarrassed by the betrayal. “We found out more information. His wife, Gretchen’s mother, left him fifteen years ago. We suspect she couldn’t deal with his radical ideas. If we can find her, she may be able to give us more insight into this guy.”

  “Continue to look for him,” Captain Tom said to Foster. “In the meantime, we’ll bring Gretchen in for questioning.”

  “I doubt she’ll show up for work this morning,” Aidan said, looking at his watch.

  “Okay. I’m leaving for the office now,” Annie said.

  She stood up to leave. Foster watched Annie walk out of the room, mesmerized by her beauty.

  “Officer Foster. We need your attention here,” Captain Tom said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  It reminded Aidan of the same feelings he had felt for Acey when he was in the Guard, when they first met.

  ***

  Acey talked to Raina for over an hour. First and foremost was Carina, but the issue with Aidan crept in.

  “How are you and Aidan doing?”

  “Much better. Unfortunately, it took this tragedy to bring us back together. We still have issues to work out.”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  “I have to go. I’m going over to Hillary’s place to be with her.”

  “Okay, give her our love.”

  “Take care of yourself. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Acey.”

  Raina put the com link down but couldn’t help thinking about Carina. Sue saw her somber look and went to comfort her.

  “Hey, things will work out okay,” she said, putting her arm around her.

  Raina shot her a worried look. “I hope you’re right.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to call Senator Carrington’s wife?”

  “Damn. I forgot all about it. I’ll call her now.”

  “Okay, I’m leaving for work. Call me if there’s any more news about Carina.

  The com link hardly buzzed before Dorthea picked it up. “Raina, I’m glad you called. There’s been a development.”

  “A development?”

  “The recommendations from the Ethics Committee are to be presented to the President this afternoon.”

  “This afternoon?”

  “I know it’s short notice, but it’s the only opening the President had before he meets with the World Council of Science.”

  Raina thought it was stran
ge that Dorthea was telling her this and not the Senator.

  “And one more thing,” Dorthea said. My husband can’t attend so you’ll be meeting with the President alone.”

  ***

  “Jonathan? Are you all right? Everybody’s looking for you.”

  “I’m scared,” he answered, moving closer to her.

  “Where are we? What do they want?”

  “We’re someplace on the moon. I’m not sure where.”

  A shiver hit Carina. Tears were trying to push through, but she held them back. “What do they want with us?”

  Jonathan moved closer. Carina could feel his breath as he whispered. “I’m not sure, but they want me alive. At least for now,” his voice trailing off.

  Carina reached for his hand.

  “They take blood from me every day, and then they inject something into my body that makes me explode into a thousand emotions. It doesn’t last too long, but it’s hell when I go through it.”

  Carina squeezed his hand. Then she froze thinking that would happen to her.

  “But the worst part is that I have these dreams. I see other people. They look just like me.”

  “I had similar dreams. When I was asked by the Citizen Guard to help find you, I had dreams of seeing multiples of you. What does it mean?”

  “I’m not sure, but I believe we’re both here because of who we are – Star Children.”

  “Yes, you’re right. We don’t have anything else in common.”

  “After my parents died and they sent me to live with my aunt and uncle, they sent me to a private school. I missed you,” he said.

  “Yeah, you and I were freaks to the other kids, but at least we had each other. I missed you when you left.”

  “I didn’t care much for the other school. My aunt and uncle thought they were doing the right thing. Then two guys came one day after school and grabbed me on my way home. I had security people taking me to and from school, but they didn’t show up that one day and they took me away,” he said, letting out a muffled sigh. “I know my aunt and uncle must be very worried about me.”

  He doesn’t know, Carina thought. She swallowed and looked at him, working up the courage to tell him. “Jonathan, I have some bad news. Your aunt and uncle were killed. Their mansion was burnt to the ground.”

  ***

  Dirk met Aidan at his office. Annie, Billy, and Hillary were already there. Gretchen was nowhere to be found. They were discussing what the Guard was doing to locate Carina and Jonathan. It wasn’t much. Even though they suspected they were on the moon, they had to be careful of areas claimed by other countries and aliens. War almost broke out fifty years ago over this. The alien greys from Zeta Reticuli brokered a treaty that everyone had lived by so far.

  “I’m waiting for Foster to arrive. He has more information to share,” Aidan said. He glanced over at Billy and Hillary. Billy could barely keep his eyes open, and Hillary's eyes were swollen from crying all night. He thought back to when Hillary was kidnapped. She was reliving the horror all over again.

  Foster came in with Acey right behind him. Aidan got up and yelled to Joey, “Hold all calls,” before closing the conference room door.

  “Here is the latest. Hopefully, Foster can add to what we currently know. We suspect they are being held on the moon. You all know how tricky it can be to snoop around up there without stepping on toes and causing a galactic incident. We also know that Gretchen is nowhere to be found. Annie checked her apartment, and she is gone. We believe she had something to do with the disappearances.”

  Aidan noticed the ‘I told you so’ look on Acey’s face and lowered his eyes knowing he deserved it. Acey stood up and walked over to Aidan with her data link in her hands. She stood as close as she could to Aidan, and he smiled at her while she set up to display the latest surveys of the moon.

  “I have the latest territorial maps from the mining company. It shows who owns what and the terms of the treaties in existence. If we’re going up there, we need to be very careful, or we can trigger an incident that could lead to violence.”

  “But where do we start looking?” Billy asked.

  “That’s a good question,” Annie said, standing up. “If we had Gretchen, we could interrogate her.”

  “You said she was gone,” Hillary said.

  “She is, but we think we found someone else who could help in this regard,” Annie answered, looking at Foster.

  “When doing the facial recognition scans, we were able to identify Gretchen’s father,” Foster said. “I continued to do some digging and came up with the identity of Gretchen’s mother.”

  “How will she help?” Dirk asked.

  “We know that Gretchen’s parents were in a bitter divorce and custody suit from the court filings. If we could find her, she might be able to shed more light on her ex-husband and possibly his involvement with the Fourth Reich.”

  “Do we know where she is?” Aidan asked.

  “No, but Captain Tom has people looking for her.”

  There was a lull in the conversation. Acey spoke up. “I can get some of my mining companies’ resources we have on the moon. It would be better than having the Guard up there snooping around,” she said, looking at Foster.

  “I’ll let Captain Tom know,” he said.

  Billy stood up. “I want to thank you all for everything. Again, my family is beholden to all of you for your help.”

  Before discussing when to meet again, Dirk got up to speak. He struggled to stand and held onto the chair as he got out of his seat. “We are family. This is what we do.”

  ***

  Raina sat outside the oval office, her briefcase on her lap. It was a mystery to her why she was here alone. She wanted to trust Dorthea, but something didn’t feel right. The other committee members had been briefed about the presentation and were okay with Raina presenting the findings to the President. They didn’t know she would be doing it without Senator Carrington. She squirmed in her seat until the secretary announced the President would see her.

  “Mr. President, thank you for seeing me.”

  “Come on in. Have a seat. I understand Chad couldn’t make it and you’re here representing the Ethics Committee.”

  Raina coughed nervously. “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “Well, what do you have?”

  Raina handed him the four-hundred-page full-text version and a twenty-page executive summary.

  “Our recommendations are listed on pages 12 – 20 of the executive summary.”

  He studied the two documents and thumbed through the recommendations. After several minutes, he said, “You and the committee did a fine job. I’m sure I will be able to persuade the World Council of Science to adopt these recommendations.” He tossed the report to the corner of his desk. He sat back and folded his hands on his stomach. “So, the buzz around here is that you’re the darling of the Independent Party.”

  Raina blushed and fidgeted before answering. “That’s just talk, Mr. President. I don’t think …”

  “That’s not what I hear. The other presidential candidates from the major parties are taking you very seriously.”

  Raina was at a loss for words. This presidential talk had gotten way out of hand. She hadn’t made up her mind if she even wanted to run and now the President was questioning her about it.

  “Sir, what do you think I should do? I’m just a Junior Senator from Arizona. Most of the candidates are more seasoned than me. Yet, everyone seems to believe I can give the other candidates a run for their money.”

  The President laughed which perturbed Raina. “If you’re asking my advice, I will give it to you. But the decision must be yours — not mine, not Dorthea Carrington’s or anyone else. I think you have a bright future ahead of you. If you run and lose, you will still gain popularity and respect. You’ll have an opportunity to let people see your vision for this country. But all of this comes at a cost. Your opponents will stop at nothing to dig into your personal life and those of your l
oved ones and blow up your most obscure secrets out of proportion. You need to be able to deal with that, and it’s not easy.”

  The President stood up and walked over to Raina. “One more piece of advice. Don’t trust everything Dorthea Carrington tells you. She has her own agenda.”

  19

  Gretchen sat in a dingy bar off the main drag in New Moon City’s ‘Cultural District’. The District once touted a theatre and an opera house, but fell to the whims of the miners and the space cowboys. All they were interested in was a good time with the possibility of picking up cargo, legal or not, for transport. For the right price, anything could be had.

  Tomorrow she would join her father at the lab to begin phase three – creating the master embryo. But now, there was one thing on her mind – Aidan. The job started as a task from her father. Get close to the Bayberry girl and monitor what the Guard knew about the Fourth Reich. She had it all set up, and it worked perfectly except for one thing.

  “Would you like another?” the bartender asked.

  She pushed the glass to him, and he filled it with a yellow liquid. “Would you like a kick with that?” he asked.

  “Why not?”

  He dumped two small brown pill-like substances that fizzed when they hit the liquid. She swished the glass and downed it in one gulp. The bartender snickered as Gretchen stiffened with eyes rolling back in her head and then convulsed in her seat before relaxing with her head resting on the bar.

  “Good, ha? Want more?”

  “No thanks. That’s all for now.”

  “They don’t call it instant orgasm for nothing,” he said, returning to the other customers who had watched in amusement.

  Moving to a corner booth, she sat there feeling the lingering effects of the drink. Taking out her com link, she brought up pictures of Aidan she had secretly taken. His muscular body and thin smile stood out as she flipped through them several times. When done, she deleted them. I guess I won’t need these anymore.