Steel, Titanium and Guilt: Just Hunter Books I to III

by Robin Craig

  Then he spoke again.

  “This cat, just as each of you, came from a single cell. That one fertilized egg achieves, somehow, the delicate series of orchestrated changes that expresses the right genes in the right place at the right time. The final result is an organism containing billions of cells and dozens of organs all interacting correctly. And in parallel with advances in genome sequencing, scientists were also discovering that ‘somehow’.

  “What we learned was how to turn a normal adult cell into a pluripotent stem cell, which can multiply and diversify into several cell types; and what we learned was how to turn a pluripotent stem cell into a totipotent stem cell, which like a fertilized egg and its immediate descendants can produce any cell in the body; indeed, a whole body.”

  He paused. “It took the human race a thousand generations to progress from cave art to agriculture. It took only three generations to go from the discovery of the double helix to all I have described.

  “At the same time, we were learning how to edit the genes in a living cell.” A long double helix wound through space, a faulty sequence highlighted in red; a repaired sequence, in green, was put into position by molecular machines to replace the faulty one. The view zoomed out to the cell; the cell divided, and divided, and became a new liver free of the genetic defect. “There are many technical challenges. Some genes can be repaired in tissues as they are” – modified viruses delivered their payload of repaired genes to the cells in an organ, restoring normal function. “But many require making stem cells, repairing them then growing them to restore partial function or replace the whole organ. In any case insertion of the new gene has to be precise: put it in the wrong place and you will disrupt other genes, stopping vital functions or causing diseases such as cancer.

  “But those technical problems were solved. The first applications were fixing genetic diseases and creating immunity to viruses.” Images of nightmares from the past – of hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and Tay-Sachs disease – appeared and were banished; engineered cellular immunity stopped AIDS and Ebola in their tracks.

  “And even harder than fixing defects using an existing good version of a gene is knowing how to improve on the normal. But finally, with all that knowledge of comparative genomics and related science, we had the tools to begin to work out how to design new genes and where to put them.” New images flew in: drought and disease resistant crops, salt tolerant plants, disease resistant animals, animals with better or healthier meat or milk and stranger beasts such as a goat with the fur of a mink.

  “As you can see, the next evolution of plants and animals was now within our power. We were at the threshold of new possibilities: to remake creation for the benefit of mankind. To remake mankind itself. To become the best we can be.”

  He paused. “But all that stopped. Do not be deceived. The laws and bans we work under are not for safety, or benefit, or morality. Their sole purpose is to bind us all to the whims of the most irrational: to fulfill the desire of some for power over others. To bring what is possible to man under the control of those with the least wisdom and vision. To put those who know under the rule of those who know nothing, as if ignorance and stupidity grant the right of command and it is knowledge and intelligence that must humbly obey.”

  Then he stopped to look around the audience. “Most of you here tonight would not be alive were it not for advances like the ones I described. I am sure you appreciate what you were given. That is why you fight to ensure that such work continues, as much as it can, and for that I honor you. But you have seen what mankind has achieved. Imagine what we could have achieved if we had been left free to attempt it.” Tagarin’s eyes sought out Miriam’s in the crowd and locked on to them, as if she was personally responsible for those dead years.

  “Perhaps one day we will be free again.”

  Then the images faded and all that was left was a spotlight on Tagarin in the center of the stage, head bowed.

  The audience stood and gave a thunderous ovation. Miriam and Amaro stayed seated: Miriam was too moved to rise; she looked at Amaro and wondered that he seemed untouched. I suppose he already knew all this, she thought: the magnitude of it, the greatness, no longer reaches him.

  Tagarin lifted his head and looked around the room as if returning to the reality of the present. Then he raised his hand in acknowledgement or farewell; the lights faded and he faded with them into the shadows.

  When the applause died down the lights came on and something like normalcy returned to the room, or at least to Miriam. Amaro was looking at her with an odd smile, as if amused by her reaction. Then the music started up, his smile broadened, and he swept her onto the dance floor.

  Her earlier thought about the whirling dance of life came back to Miriam as Amaro whirled her around in a passionate dance on the floor; the nature of his dance was such that perhaps he had not been untouched after all. It returned again later that night as she lay in bed with him in a more intimate dance. It is all a dance of life, she thought: the molecules inside us, the hormones in our blood, the desires of our bodies and the thoughts of our minds. The dance still held her and would not let her go; she was still at one with it: her orgasms were intense as if in celebration of it and she rapidly fell asleep afterwards, the dance continuing in her mind as she slept. In her dreams Tagarin loomed as a grim shadow conducting a dance of molecules and cells, shaping stardust into a giant cat that turned to stare at her with its predator’s eyes. But its pupils were round and its face was a woman’s; it snarled and leapt toward her, but vanished into darkness before it reached her.

  Chapter 27 – History

  Miriam woke to an empty bed and the smell of bacon with overtones of toast and coffee. She rose, wrapped her body and thoughts in a dressing gown and walked into the kitchen, where Amaro was frying bacon. He heard her footsteps and turned.

  “Good morning, my lovely lady,” he said. “Would you care to join me for breakfast?”

  “I would be honored, good sir. You’re looking refreshed.”

  “Any refreshment is largely your doing, my dear. You, of course, look ravishing as always. Though if you would make my happiness complete, perhaps you could loosen the front of that gown a little. Yes, perfect,” he smiled. “Now sit down, and I’ll join you.”

  He brought over a tray with toast, bacon, eggs, orange juice and coffee, and sat down opposite her. He poured her coffee while she collected her breakfast then he turned his face to her.

  “I gather you enjoyed your evening?”

  “Oh, very much! Both there and here,” she added, running her toe up his leg.

  “You seemed quite taken with your friend Dr Tagarin’s talk.”

  “Yes... it was mesmerizing. I knew pieces of it but not the whole picture. And I’ve certainly never seen it presented in quite such a manner. It was like watching a sorcerer calling up the spirits of the Earth.” She paused. “What did you think of him, Amaro?”

  “Oh, he certainly put on a good show. But it was rather self-serving, don’t you think? The way he ended it, fighting a rearguard action in a battle he lost twenty years ago.”

  “About that battle... what do you think? Is Tagarin right – the research should be allowed? Should never have been stopped? Or do you think the laws are a good thing?”

  Amaro shrugged. “Given what I do for a living, you would hardly be surprised if I say we need to prevent excessive genetic alterations of anything. Especially ourselves. Not that it really matters what I think. You and I are just humble functionaries, the cat’s-paws of those in power. If I had a contrary opinion I might want to get another job, but I doubt anyone would care or listen to my reasons. If the redoubtable Dr Tagarin cannot do anything about it, what hope would there be for me? Though given the circles you seem to move in, perhaps your opinion would carry more weight! So what do you think of the issue?”

  Miriam grimaced. “Yeah, right. International woman of influence, that’s me. What do I think? I’m not really sure.
I can see where Tagarin is coming from and he is certainly passionate about it. I just don’t know... but he does seem to have a point.”

  Amaro smiled at her. “Your problem, my dear, is that you have too much empathy. You are so good at getting inside other people’s heads that you risk having their thoughts take root in your own.”

  Miriam smiled at him then turned to her toast. But behind her smile she thought, Do I? Then why can’t I see behind your eyes, my love? I know you want to be with me, that you enjoy my company, that it isn’t just sex for you. But there’s something hard inside you I can’t reach or touch. Have you had some great hurt and are afraid to be hurt again? Is that it? Or is it something else? Are you going to hurt me, after all?

  But all she said was, “I think you overestimate me.” She sipped her coffee for a while then asked, “But, really, what harm can it cause? Oh, I agree that nobody can be allowed to create a super army of ant-men or something like that. But that’s a big jump from making a few people faster, stronger or smarter. There are already lots of people born faster, stronger or smarter than most. Usually they’re the people who become our heroes, not our villains. So… what’s the big deal, really?”

  Amaro looked at her seriously. “It all depends on what you think people are and what you think the limits should be, doesn’t it? There have to be limits – even you admitted that – so it’s a matter of defining them. And on this – well, the people have spoken. If other people disagree then they can’t just go on doing what they want. You work for the law. You of all people should know that.”

  “Obeying the law is a separate issue from knowing what the law should be.”

  “You are very profound this morning.”

  She smiled. “Or maybe just confused. Maybe there’s no difference.”

  “Now you’re being even more profound,” he laughed. “But back to the topic, you have enough trouble with regular villains don’t you? Do you really want to have to fight things designed to be better than you? Especially if they’re not only tougher but smarter? Do you really want to face that in some dark alley one night?”

  Miriam glanced at him, startled. But he just picked up his coffee and sipped it, innocently watching her over the rim through the gently curling steam. No, she thought, don’t be paranoid; he can’t know.

  “But why should they be any worse than any other human? If the ratio is the same: then we’ll have more superheroes than supervillains. And everyone will be enriched by it, just as we are by our regular geniuses.”

  “I think the problem is we don’t really know what we’re doing. Who knows what unknown effects our gene tinkering will have? People are the product of millions of years of evolution. Tagarin and his friends might like to think they know what they are doing, but do they? Maybe a healthy human is the best we can be already. Maybe trying to push the envelope will just push them over the edge. You might find you have more supervillains than superheroes. Maybe you won’t have any superheroes.”

  Miriam looked into the distance, thinking. “Maybe. Maybe. But how will we ever get to know, if we don’t even start? Would we ever have got where we are today if everyone had been afraid to try anything?”

  Amaro let her think; she did not seem to be expecting a reply. Then she continued, “But as you say, my opinions aren’t going to change anything. For now I’m more interested in what makes the remarkable Dr Tagarin tick. Maybe you can help me. What are the facts of his case? I know a bit about it of course. But it’s kind of your field: what do you know about what went on back then? Can you put it in perspective for me?”

  Amaro buttered some toast and chewed it while he gathered his thoughts. “Yes, I can probably flesh things out for you. Frankly, I can see Tagarin’s point too, but it really was his own fault. He overreached. There was a lot of argument at the time among scientists and the public. With all the successes in medicine and more and more improved plants and animals coming off the genetic production line, the most adventurous scientists like Tagarin started turning their attention to the evolution of our own species. Just like he said last night. Why be limited to the historical accidents that had produced the current human form, they argued, if we can make improved humans: faster, stronger, smarter, healthier? They started working on just that.”

  He thought some more, sipping his coffee. Miriam was giving him the same attention she had given Tagarin: his presentation wasn’t as flashy but she had been seized by a desire to learn as much as she could about the topic. This is the key, she thought, though I’m not quite sure where the lock is.

  “The problem was an old one: technology moving faster than public policy. Tagarin’s mistake was in thinking only the technology mattered, that he should ride it as fast and as hard as he could, that the public and the policy would catch up when they could and if they couldn’t it was their problem. But it turned out to be his problem. The people watched the technology like they’d watch a rocket shooting across the sky above them: at first they marveled at the sight, then they wondered what it meant, then they worried it might fall on their heads. The politicians watched the people and when the people started worrying, they started to think about regulating.”

  He stopped. “Do you know where the term ‘geneh’ comes from?” he asked.

  “Not really. It’s just the word everyone uses. It stands for ‘genetically engineered human’ doesn’t it?”

  “That’s half the story, yes. Scientists like Tagarin were busy in their labs doing things to cells and even turning the cells into embryos. Religious activists have always looked askance at embryonic research. But abortion rights were a done deal; nobody was going to go back on that. And the logic of abortion rights is that embryos don’t have rights. If you can kill them for one purpose, why not another? So while government-funded research was still barred from any research on embryos, private companies could and did. Some people didn’t like that. But there’s always someone objecting to anything – even sex.

  “Unfortunately, embryos were one thing. Research was one thing. But when scientists began saying not only why genetic engineering would be good for the human race in theory, but that it might soon be achieved in reality... Well, that proved to be another thing entirely. Blogs were written. Net debates flamed. Sermons were preached. Politicians shouted. The public debate began in earnest.

  “That was when a dynamic young environmental lawyer from California wrote an opinion piece that rocked the nation; the world. She titled it ‘Don’t Let the Geneh Out of the Bottle’ and it let an entirely different genie out of its bottle. She coined the word as the abbreviation you know, pronounced ‘genie’ to fit her theme. And not only did she argue a wide-ranging religious and philosophical case why such research should be banned, she also presented solid evidence that the research was further along than anyone thought: that scientists weren’t merely talking about it, they had already produced engineered human fetuses. It hit every button of the opponents of genetic engineering and quite a few buttons of the ambivalent. The defenders of science in general and this science in particular were, as usual in history, a minority. That lawyer’s fame and infamy exploded. Her career was made. Her name was Lyn Felton. One day, she would become President of the United States.”

  Miriam gasped softly and stared at him, mouth partly open. Oh my God, she thought. Oh my God. The shape she saw in the clues and half leads took on a little more definition. She had known that Felton had been active on the issue but not how intimately involved she had been. She still didn’t know what it meant, but she knew it meant something. Amaro smiled at her, but behind the smile he was also thinking his own secret thoughts: Interesting reaction, my dear; more than one would expect simply from hearing a famous name linked to a casual topic of conversation. You are such a sweet innocent in many ways. He felt his heart go out to her; for once, he was unable to stop it. You’re playing a risky game, Amaro. Fire can burn both ways: I hope you know what you’re doing. Then he smiled. Miriam thought the smile was for her. But he was
remembering a line from an old movie. The fate of two people doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, he thought; we might as well both enjoy what we have while we still have it.

  “Well, she had big ambitions,” he continued, “even before her political career. She wasn’t content with agitating in her own country: she set up an international organization aiming to ban such research everywhere under the auspices of the United Nations. She managed to appeal to a broad audience. The environmental lobbies were already powerful and flocked to her side; the religious movements who were growing in influence around the world joined them. And not just the activists either: I guess her calls for the purity of humanity appealed to something deep in the public psyche. The more cynical of her opponents questioned how much of her enthusiasm was based on her own moral beliefs and how much on the existing morals of the public, but the public was happy either way. I guess that’s the mark of a politician.

  “And as you know, she succeeded. Her opponents were crushed between the lovers of Nature on one side and the lovers of God on the other, with the broad weight of public opinion adding mass to both sides. Whether she had persuaded a majority of people or just a majority of loud voices is for history to decide, I suppose. But the final result was a UN ban on such research and the formation of the Department of Human Genetic Integrity. And on the strength of her notoriety, she became a Senator and eventually our esteemed President.”

  Miriam nodded. “I suppose I should pay more attention to politics.”