Next to Admiral Stark was another Navy man wearing blue cammies. His uniform was impeccably neat, his cap angled perfectly on his head. He had a wide, pale face, his lips drawn into a thin line. He looked about as fun as Ebola.
“This is Captain Rick Mullins. He’ll be leading the expedition.”
Jack’s heart sank. “You’re bailing on us too?”
Stark shook his head. “I’ll be overseeing the operation from CENTCOM. But don’t worry, Jack, you’ll be in good hands. Mullins is a consummate professional.”
Jack forced a grin that looked far more like a grimace. “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”
Nodding, Mullins said: “Do exactly as I say and we won’t have any problems.”
Pompous ass, Jack was thinking but didn’t say. Some guys were all about getting in your face on day one and backing off once they respected you. Stark was a case in point. It was only after Jack had basically blackmailed him into letting the science team stay on the rig that the admiral had lifted the heel of his proverbial boot from Jack’s sensitive parts.
As Admiral Stark led Captain Mullins away to meet the rest of the team, a young ensign approached.
“Dr. Greer?”
“That’s me. Are you joining us as well?”
“No, sir, I have a call for you on the hard line.”
“A call?” he asked, puzzled. Who the hell could be calling him here? Surely Mia hadn’t changed her mind and decided to fly back to join them. Or could it be the media, eager for an interview before they left? “Did they say who it was?
“They wouldn’t, only that it was very important.”
Jack followed the ensign down a long corridor to a room lined with computers on one side and phones on the other. A handful of Navy men and women were inside, speaking to loved ones.
The ensign motioned to a cubicle with a phone and a blinking red light. “They’re on line ten.”
Still uncertain, Jack took a seat, lifted the receiver and pressed the blinking light.
“This is Dr. Jack Greer.”
“Hello, son.”
A pause. “Who is this?”
“It’s your father, Jack. Ike Greer, your own flesh and blood. Saw you on the news yesterday and did some digging along with a little bribing in order to track you down. Don’t be upset. I know this is bad timing, but I couldn’t imagine letting the world end without at least saying hello.”
“Hello. There. Are we done?”
“Stop being such a hardass. This ain’t easy for me either.”
“My mother told me you were dead,” Jack said, feeling the vein on his forehead beginning to bulge. “I did some digging of my own and found out you weren’t dead at all, you were in prison in Texas.”
“That’s right,” Ike said, the tension in the old man’s voice easing a little. “Got out last week and been doing what I can to put my ducks in a line, as they say. Imagine my luck getting released and being told the whole kit and caboodle’s about to go tits up in less than two weeks.” Ike snorted laughter. “And then to find out my only son is as smart as a whip. You know what they say, the apple don’t fall far from the tree.”
“Well, this one did,” Jack said and hung up the phone with enough force to make the chatter in the room fall silent. All eyes turned in his direction as he stood up and stormed out, his right hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist.
Chapter 10
Kolkata, India
Even with the air-conditioning at full tilt, the temperature inside the Ola—India’s answer to Uber—was nearly a hundred degrees. In the front passenger seat sat a rather uncomfortable-looking Agent Ramirez. Sitting to Mia’s left was Agent Chalk, who was busy flipping the toothpick in his mouth end over end, craning his head every so often to see what was holding them up.
“You two shouldn’t have worn suits,” she chided them, not that much could be done about that now.
Ramirez stuck a finger under his collar and pulled his tie loose. Both men were sweating profusely.
They were heading down a major thoroughfare on their way to the Kolkata Research Hospital. But the sights and smells in India were even more intense than what she’d experienced in Kathmandu. The minute you got off the plane, you were assaulted by a humid wave of raw sewage. But the full Indian experience was only getting started. Upon leaving the airport, one was soon travelling along cluttered avenues lined with six- and seven-story tenement buildings. The sidewalks were crammed with masses of human traffic, pushing in every direction, all jostling to make it from shop to shop, each of those brightly-colored with similar-looking signs in shades of yellows, reds and greens.
The roads were even worse. Gridlock in every direction, people on foot or on scooters weaving by. The nonstop honking of horns. It was utter chaos in its purest form, a sight most Westerners had never been exposed to. The only way to fully picture it would be if everyone in America took their cars out on the same day at the same time. Then remove the working street lights and stop signs. Only then could Mia picture a similar scene back home.
The state department had tried to set up a motorcade to escort them, but Mia had refused. It would only have drawn unwanted attention and seeing what they were stuck in, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
Chalk stuck his bald, sweaty head between the two front seats. “The hell is going on up there? We haven’t moved an inch in ten minutes.”
Through the mass of vehicles ahead, Mia caught the sight of two men leading a herd of animals across the street. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was dreaming. She pointed. “I think I know why we’ve stopped.”
Ramirez frowned. “What are those things?”
“They are goats,” the driver said, grinning through a thick white beard at the agent’s ignorance. “This is life in Kolkata. Chaotic and yet at the same time beautiful.”
•••
Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the research hospital. One of Jansson’s assistants, a young, pleasant-looking Indian woman named Aditi, was there to greet them.
“I see you’ve become acquainted with Kolkata’s infamous congestion,” she said jovially, reaching out to shake each of their hands. “No need to worry, cooler temperatures as well as drinks await you inside.” She looked at Mia. “Dr. Jansson is eagerly awaiting your presence. I will take you to her right away.”
Aditi led Mia through the hospital’s reception area to a bank of elevators. Three floors up, the doors opened into a short corridor, at the end of which was a medical lab filled with technicians.
Dr. Jansson spun and smiled when she saw them enter. She removed the latex gloves she was wearing and set them aside as the two women greeted one another.
“You’ve been hard at work, I see,” Mia said, glancing around at long tables filled with vials, Petri dishes and microscopes. “Your team has also grown.”
Jansson’s own grinning face revealed a woman in her fifties who could have passed for someone ten years younger. And yet in spite of her many fine intellectual and physical qualities, there wasn’t a whiff of arrogance about her. “What you see here is only the tip of the iceberg. I would normally give you a tour and tell you to go easy on your first day, but I’m afraid under the circumstances we need all hands on deck. But come, there are things I think you should see first.”
Jansson led Mia into a tiny windowless room. On the ceiling was a digital projector. She turned it on and flicked off the lights. The wall filled with the image of a full chromosome taken with an electron microscope.
“That’s exactly what we found encoded in the blast wave,” she told Jansson with excitement. “Where did you get this from?” Although that information had likely been passed up the governmental chain of command, Mia was doubtful anyone back home had disseminated the discovery just yet.
“It came from our patients with Salzburg.”
“What percentage of those patients are showing signs of the full chromosome?” she asked, surprised and frankly a little worried. The genet
ic changes seemed to be progressing even faster than she had anticipated.
“So far all of them. We’ve run the same tests on domesticated animals and found the exact same structures as well as frequency. ”
Mia sat down and scratched her chin. “And yet only thirty percent of the population at large seems to have any form of the new chromosome. Which suggests no new cases are appearing.”
“So far it looks that way,” Jansson replied as she clicked a button on the remote, producing another image. This one showed a transparent artist’s rendering of the full Salzburg chromosome. On the left was the 47th chromatid, replete with the four genes Mia helped to sequence in Amsterdam. First was the gene COL1, responsible for weakening bones; then TRPP2, which increased sensitivity to the sun; DAF4, a gene that accelerated aging; and finally, SER3, which affected the frontal lobes, greatly diminishing a subject’s ability to speak or reason.
Jansson clicked again. Now the newest arm of the Salzburg chromosome, the 48th chromatid, appeared. Across from the COL1 gene was LRP5, a different version of the same gene, along what geneticists called an allele. In every chromosome, our genes were arranged along the length of each chromatid. On one side were the alleles we inherited from our mother and on the others the allele we inherited from our father. Which of the two competing genes got expressed depended on which was dominant and which was recessive. Of course, since Salzburg was not an inherited chromosome, and since the genes within it seemed to be appearing one by one, it meant the first four genes that showed up were the ones that got expressed. However, LRP5, the gene which coded for denser bone mass, appeared to be dominant, which meant subjects who had previously shown signs of weakened bones would now begin to see the opposite. Throughout the explanation, Mia thought at once of Grant and Zoey, how she had seen both of them experience a significant increase in bone density over the last few days.
“Are you saying the new genes yet to show up will all be dominant?” she asked.
Jansson shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, though it is certainly looking that way.” The doctor then clicked another button. This time, it was a feed from a maternity ward security camera.
“What is this?” Mia asked, uncertain.
“These pregnant women all have the full Salzburg chromosome,” Jansson told her.
“You’ve detected abnormalities, haven’t you?”
Jansson tilted her head. “I’m not sure what to call it. To date we’ve studied dozens of pregnant women with Salzburg, each of them with varying levels of health and fitness. What we don’t yet understand is why every one of them is expecting twins.”
Chapter 11
Washington, D.C.
“This place is too expensive,” Kay protested, looking around at the plush leather chairs and the walls liberally covered with hundred-year-old sketches. Restaurant 1789 was one of the priciest in Washington and also one of the stuffiest. Old English aristocracy seemed to be the theme and even the waiters added to the sense you’d somehow been transported back in time. They looked like butlers, but the food was supposed to be terrific and that was one of the reasons Kay’s fiancé, Derek Johnson, had brought her here.
The other was that it was their three-year anniversary. The small bouquet of flowers he had brought was in a vase on the table next to her. In all the time they’d been dating, Derek had never made a single misstep. He didn’t swear or raise his voice. He never forgot their anniversary or her birthday. He was so thoughtful and kind, not to mention successful. His work as an investment banker had led to a series of promotions and raises. It was all rather sickening really. They had planned their wedding for the following spring and yet right about now she wasn’t so sure they would live to see it.
Derek sat across from her, smiling, oblivious to the impending danger. Six-two and well-muscled, Derek balanced his impressive physique with a baby face. With brown eyes and skin the color of café latte, he was a sight to behold.
“Stop being silly,” he said, taking her hand into his. “Your hands are cold. Are you feeling all right?”
“It’s only a chill,” she lied. She was trying hard to focus on the evening, to forget about the pictures Laydeezman had sent her and the disturbing future they foretold.
“I was worried you were gonna miss our anniversary dinner,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
It took Kay a moment for the comment to register. “Oh, the fashion show in New York. Yeah, I gave it to Sarah. She’s been dying to cover the fashion beat. In exchange I agreed to take her story on the hidden dangers of ergonomic office chairs.”
Derek laughed, his teeth dazzlingly white. “The dangers of ergonomic office chairs. Sounds like a hard-hitting piece.”
Kay squeezed Derek’s hand, her features becoming set. “All joking aside, if I told you something really bad was about to happen, would you agree to run away with me to Vegas and elope?”
Derek’s eyes grew wider. “Are you crazy? What would your parents say? Heck, what would my parents say?”
“For once, I just wish you could be a little selfish.”
Derek’s back straightened, the way it always did when he was feeling attacked. “Have I done something wrong?”
Kay shook her head. “No, of course not. You never do anything wrong. You’re always thinking of everyone’s feelings.” Her voice trailed off.
The waiter approached and Derek waved him away. “Give us another minute or two.” He turned back to Kay, who was staring at him intently.
“I know that look.”
She tilted her head. “What look?”
“That dazed and dreamy look you get when there’s something you’re dying to tell me.”
Kay nibbled at her bottom lip, a terrible habit which tended to crater the inside of her mouth and reveal her true feelings all at once.
“Out with it,” Derek demanded, trying to sound tough, but reaching over to brush her cheek with the back of his hand. “Is it about the carjacking? I heard of a guy who was terrified of dogs before he went to a hypnotist. After a single session he went out and bought a Great Dane.”
Kay smiled weakly. He was trying to cheer her up. “It isn’t the carjacking. I found something out yesterday, something I’ve sworn not to reveal, and it’s eating me up inside.”
He leaned forward, concerned. “Spill it. You can trust me.”
The phone in Kay’s purse pinged and she pulled it out.
“Honey,” he protested, an old note of disappointment in his voice. “I wish for once you could just put that thing away.”
“This could be really important.”
Derek motioned between the two of them. “That might be so, but tonight is our anniversary and to me this is more important.”
Kay grunted her agreement, but continued opening her Facebook messenger app.
In one quick motion, Derek snatched it from her hands and set it on the seat next to him.
Kay glared up in disbelief. “Derek Bradley Johnson, you give me back that phone or I swear…”
He giggled. “If you swear to put it away. For God’s sake, Kay. Seems all you do these days is work, work and more work.”
She held her hand out, palm up and glared at him. “Phone. Now or I walk.” She was bluffing, but he didn’t know that.
“Tell me first.”
Kay crossed her arms and drew in a deep breath. At the table next to them was an older couple. The skin on their arms hung loosely while their faces looked impossibly taut. “So that alien spaceship that’s been plastered all over the news these last few days,” she said, keeping her voice low.
“What about it?” Derek asked, handing Kay her phone back. “Was it a hoax? I’ll bet that it was.”
She shook her head. “I wish it was. Apparently there’s another one out in space and it’s heading this way.”
Derek’s complexion grew two shades lighter. “Heading this way?”
“Apparently the government knows and has been keeping it under wraps.”
“
How long before it gets here?”
“Thirteen days.”
“And when it does?” he asked. “What happens then?”
Kay shook her head. “Nobody knows. But you saw the press conference with those scientists. According to them the ship they found on earth not only killed the dinosaurs, but may also be making people sick.”
“So you’re saying that in less than two weeks we might all be dead?” Derek leaned back in his chair. The couple next to them glanced over, annoyed. “Figure of speech,” he offered apologetically. “Enjoy your meal, folks. By the way, I hear the crème brûlée is to die for.”
Kay fought back a burst of morose laughter. Here they were discussing the end of the world and Derek was still taking time to put people at ease and recommend desserts.
Whispering now, Derek said: “And how is it you know all this?”
“I have a contact in the White House,” she told him.
“White House? Don’t you write for the Lifestyle section?”
“At this point I don’t care so much about that anymore. My new contact says he has something much bigger.”
The skepticism on Derek’s face was unmistakable. “Bigger than the extinction of all life on the planet? How do you know this guy isn’t jerking you around? I mean, he could claim the government’s hiding any number of things.”
Just then a ping sounded at the table next to them. The older gentleman reached into his suit jacket and removed his phone and a pair of reading glasses. A moment later another ping rang out from a different table, followed by two more nearby. Kay and the others in this part of the dining room glanced around as pings and pongs fired off from every direction. It seemed the whole world was texting at once. Kay turned back to see Derek scrolling through his own phone, his face a mask of worry. Kay did the same and saw five texts waiting for her. She went to the one from her father first.
Kayza, have you seen the news?
He always used her first name when he was worried or afraid.
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