“So did you disclose the fact that your father-in-law had a fairly sizable investment in Geneus, no doubt at your suggestion, and that if the company went bankrupt due to Michael’s immune-system project he would have lost a lot of money?”
Anthony looks worried and glances around the room for a moment. “I never suggested that he make that investment, and none of my dealings within the company had anything to do with it. Plenty of board members had shares in the company. I did myself. So did Michael.”
“Not a fifteen percent share, though? Around two hundred million dollars at the time.”
“Not that big a share, no. But again, that did not affect my behavior in the company in any way.”
“But you think the fact that Michael’s wife had HIV-4 did affect his behavior?”
“He was putting the whole company at risk.”
“Yes or no please, Mr Simons.”
“Yes.”
“So, what you’re saying, then, is that the only reason Michael was involved in this project was to save his wife?”
“Maybe not the only reason. But certainly one of the main reasons.”
“So it wasn’t, then, as the prosecution is suggesting, to wipe out humanity?”
Anthony is caught. He looks over towards the prosecution then turns back to Barnaby.
“Answer the question please, Mr Simons,” the judge says, in what appears to be his first swing to my side.
“Well I don’t know—”
“Yes or no please, Mr Simons,” Barnaby says.
“No.”
“Thank you, Mr Simons. That will be all.”
Barnaby smiles as he comes back to our bench and I can’t help smiling with him. No doubt Mr Brown was trying to use Anthony to shed doubt on the morality of my character, but Barnaby skillfully turned this against them. I wait to see if Danny will get up again to question Anthony further, but he doesn’t.
Next up on the stand is Richard. I am not exactly sure why Richard has decided to turn against me. Maybe ASIO threatened him as well. Or maybe he was the one who turned me in in the first place.
Richard is sworn in and after going through the questions of how we met, Mr Brown says, “Mr Grant, can you please tell us about the first experiment you conducted using Mr Khan’s immune system modifications?”
Richard tells them how the mothers of our first batch of modified embryos were attacked by the fetuses growing inside them, and how two of the fetuses died. Danny pulls some images up on the screen of the dead babies.
“Are these the babies in question?” Danny says.
“Yes,” Richard replies.
“So what did you do when these problems started? Did you give them abortions?”
“No. We tried to keep the mothers alive.”
“And were you risking the women’s lives by doing so?”
“Yes, we were.”
“So why didn’t you give them abortions?”
“Michael said they were his instructions. I believe they came from Klaus Hofferman, the CEO of Geneus.”
“But at the time Michael was in charge over there?”
“Yes.”
“So he could have ordered them to be aborted?”
“He may have lost his job, but yes, he could have.”
“Was there anything else that could have been done to better protect those women?” Danny says.
“Yes, I believe there was. I believe that we started the human trials too quickly. I think we should have conducted at least another year of animal trials first. In the animal trials that we did there were a number of deaths. I think this should have been investigated further.”
“And why wasn’t it?”
“I’m not sure. It was Michael’s decision. He wanted to push ahead with the human trials as quickly as possible.”
“Any idea why?”
“There could have been a number of reasons. Scientists like to make decisions based on the greater good, though. What will serve the greater good. And in this case maybe that’s what Michael was doing — risking a few to save the many.”
“Couldn’t it have been to save his wife? Or for the financial state of the company?”
“Objection,” cries Barnaby.
“Sustained,” says the judge, but the question still hangs ominously in the air, and Danny leaves it there for a few moments.
“Well, on to more recent events,” Danny says eventually. “Can you please describe to us in detail the events surrounding the recent problems at the EidoGenesis compound?”
Richard goes on to tell the court everything that happened.
“So, was this something which you think could have been prevented?”
“We never believed it would be a risk,” Richard says, referring to the viral outbreak and the need to quarantine the children.
“And how big a threat do you believe these children might pose — to the general population?”
“The virus that attacked Michael’s wife was fairly benign, but given that it evolved so quickly in such a small group of modified children, I’d say the risk that they’ll create something much more serious is quite high. Especially if there are more of them.”
“If you had been in charge, what would have you done in the situation?”
“I would have alerted the authorities.”
“Thank you. Your honor, that’s all from me.”
“Mr Savoir. Any questions?” the judge says, a weariness in his tone as if he is no longer happy with Barnaby and his choice of client.
“Yes, just a couple, your honor.”
Barnaby goes and stands in front of Richard. “Wasn’t it actually Michael who decided to inject the mothers with immuno-suppressants, defying his orders and helping to save both the mothers and the children?”
“Two of the children died,” Richard says. “So he didn’t save them all. And our instructions were to try to save the mothers using somatic modification. Something we might have been able to do, had we been given a chance. Due to Michael’s intervention, we weren’t given that chance.”
“So it’s your opinion that had Michael not done that, the women would have had just as high a chance of survival?”
“Yes. It is.”
I look at Richard with anger. He knows as well as I do that injecting those mothers with immuno-suppressants was a much safer course of action, and probably stopped almost all of the mothers, and the fetuses, from dying. Why is he saying this? Maybe he really does believe I sabotaged the company for the sake of saving Annie. Not knowing about what really happened with the military — how could he possibly understand me?
“That’s all, your honor.” Barnaby has lost the playful demeanor he had with Anthony. I am not sure if he really is shocked, or if this is simply a display for the jury — remorse on his client’s behalf.
“Aren’t you going to ask him anything else?” I say to Barnaby as he comes back to the table. “He’s lying through his teeth.”
“No,” Barnaby whispers. “The jury’s sympathy is with those women and those babies right at the moment. If we go too hard on him, we’ll get them offside. We have to admit this for the mistake it was and move on.”
That night I go back to my cell despondent. Barnaby explained to me trials are more about manipulating emotions, provoking compassion and identification for the defendant in the hearts and minds of the jury, than who is right or wrong. In this case especially.
It is hard to identify with and have compassion for someone whose reckless actions could easily have caused the deaths of twenty women and their babies, and did actually kill two babies. However good a job I did, however much my work might help to save people, the jury will want to see me punished. And if the only way they can punish me is by calling me guilty for the crimes the government is laying on me, they will do just that.
That night, I am led once again into the interrogation room.
“Okay,” Don says, “this is your last chance, Michael. We know you didn’t mean for that flu to break out, and that you
probably didn’t create those children as a threat to the human race, but if you don’t help us now we can only assume that you do mean for people to die.”
“Why is it okay for the government to wipe out millions for their own suspect purposes, but not for me to do something for the greater good?”
“Governments are elected to make decisions for the greater good, Michael, you have not been. Have you gone completely mad? I hope you don’t think you’re going to get off on an insanity plea.” Don starts to get angry, but then changes track and continues in a softer tone. “Look, Michael, I can understand your anger, I really can. But think about those people you love. Who have helped you. Do you really want them to suffer?”
I take a deep breath. Of course I don’t want them to suffer. I don’t want Dylan or Sophie or indeed anyone else to have to pay for this.
“Michael, think clearly. Think about what you’re doing. You’ve had a difficult time, but do you really want to blame the world for that? Do you really want to take all your anger at this government out on the entire species?”
“And what if I do tell you what you want to know? What will happen then?”
Don smiles, and his body relaxes into the chair with exhaustion. “Then everything gets easier. Easier for you, for your wife, for Dylan, for Sophie, for your modified children, for the New Church populations, for everybody involved. Nobody has to get hurt. We can come to an arrangement. The children can be quarantined on the havens, where you put them so they can’t do any harm. You and Dylan will be free to go and live there too if you like. You won’t be able to stay in this country, but we won’t stop you from living somewhere else. You can live a free life, Michael. You can put all of this behind you and enjoy your life a little. Spend time with your wife. Know what it’s like not to live in fear all the time. Be at peace. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”
The next morning, Dylan is on the witness stand.
Danny Brown stands in front of the jury after Dylan has been sworn in. Dylan has avoided looking at me, but now he glances over at me, giving a tiny shake of his head as he does so, pleading me with his eyes to understand him.
Mr Brown leads Dylan through a range of questions, establishing his identity and his relationship to me. In just over two hours they cover the entire extent of our past, and every one of our conversations about my immune system project.
Finally Danny gets to the damaging part. “Mr Hume, can you describe for the court exactly what it was that Michael said to you on November the eleventh of last year, the last time you saw each other?”
“He asked me if he could use the New Church islands to put his modified children on.”
“And did he tell you why he wanted to do this?”
“He said they posed a threat to society. That they had been responsible for a viral outbreak at the compound they were being kept at, and that they shouldn’t be so close to each other. He said if they were separated, then they’d be safe.”
“Did he explain to you what his purpose was in bringing up these children?”
“He told me that as the world descended into barbarism over the next fifty or so years, following the total collapse of the eco-system, these children and their descendants would be better able to survive than unmodified humans.”
“Did he tell you that it was his plan to try to spread the code for this modification around the world, so that others would be born with it too?”
I wonder where they got this piece of information from. Was Gendigm already spreading the modifications? They must be — or there is no way they could have found out about this. But why are they doing it now, while I’m on trial? Surely they must realize that it will threaten my chances?
Maybe they don’t trust me to keep quiet. Or maybe they have to do it now. Once the trial is done, if the government doesn’t manage to get the information they need here, every government and corporate run state in the world will be after them. If they start releasing the modifications now, while they’ve still got time, there’s a chance they’ll succeed.
“Yes,” Dylan says.
“And did he mention what he thought might happen once these modified children reached a critical mass?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Can you tell me what you think might happen? You’re a trained biologist, are you not?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then?”
“There is a chance that they would start to breed new viruses.”
“That are deadly to unmodified humans?”
“Yes.”
“So do you think it was Michael’s plan for this to happen? That this wasn’t just an accident caused by his work?”
“It wasn’t his plan, no. That is why he wanted to separate and quarantine them — so that they wouldn’t put anyone else at risk. Not only that, but Michael was working on a somatic modification that would protect Homo sapiens from any diseases that these children might breed.”
“But what about as the children grow older? Won’t they present an even greater threat? And how was he going to make sure that everyone on the planet received his somatic modification?”
“I’m really not sure.”
Danny continues to grill Dylan even further about his knowledge of Gendigm, but Dylan doesn’t know any more and gives nothing away.
By the time he is finished, Dylan looks exhausted.
And then it is Barnaby’s turn.
“How long have you been one of the leaders of the New Church for?” Barnaby asks him.
“Approximately two years.”
“And when you were agreeing to testify for the prosecution, were you under any duress?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, were you being threatened with any criminal charges involving this case?”
“I was told that I could be prosecuted as the leader of a terrorist organization, and that because I was involved with Michael, I was just as liable for everything that he was doing as he was.”
“Were any other forms of coercion used?”
Dylan hesitates for a moment, and looks over at his lawyer. “What do you mean by coercion?”
“I mean apart from threatening to prosecute you for Michael’s crimes, did they do anything else to force your testimony?”
Dylan hesitates again, and then looks directly at me. We stare at each other for a long time and I can feel something pass between us through the court room. I shake my head at him, but he answers anyway: “I was locked up for months in solitary confinement. I was told I had to cooperate or I would never get out. That they would charge both of us. They told me that Michael was giving evidence against me, that he was trying to claim the whole thing was funded by the New Church, and that he was willing to testify against me.”
“Objection, your honor,” Brown says. “This wasn’t in the witness statement. This is completely new information.”
“I’ll allow it,” the judge says.
I sit there shocked. An outpouring of love for Dylan pervades me. I know that Dylan is risking his own freedom, that if they think he is trying to sabotage their case they will go after him with everything they’ve got.
“Thank you very much, Mr Hume. That’s all, your honor.” Barnaby walks back to the desk.
“Mr Brown, have you got any further questions?” the judge says.
“Yes, I do, your honor.”
“Go ahead, then.”
Danny stands up and walks towards Dylan like a bull. “Mr Hume, are you suggesting that your statement was falsely given? That everything you said was said only because you were being forced to?”
“I only said it because I was forced to, yes.”
“Does that mean it’s not true?”
Dylan looks across at me. I know this is the moment. If Dylan tells them that it wasn’t true, there is a good chance that I will get off. Unable to prove their case, they will lose. If Dylan says that, though, there is a good chance that he himself will be convicted. The government wi
ll not take lightly to their key witness committing perjury. Dylan and I lock eyes once again, and I shake my head at him.
“Mr Hume, will you answer the question, please?”
“No,” Dylan says.
“No what?”
“No, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.”
“So, despite the way this information was extracted, you are still admitting that everything you told us was the truth?”
“Yes,” Dylan says.
“Thank you, your honor.” Mr Brown turns back to his desk and sits down as if he’s just won the trial.
I feel my body collapsing under me.
Finally, it comes time for us to make our case.
“Michael, would you mind telling the court exactly what you were planning on doing with these modified children of yours?” Barnaby says.
“As you have heard, I have been involved in a project to modify the human immune system to make people more resistant to disease. Having seen my wife suffer from HIV-4, I know how terrifying and debilitating it can be for both the sufferer and the families of someone who has a life-threatening illness. Given that governments are now involved in bio-warfare, and that there are only going to be more diseases than ever in the future, I wanted to create an immune system which would protect future generations against this suffering.”
“And have you succeeded in doing this?”
“Yes, I have.”
“There have been some problems, though, haven’t there?”
“Yes. The modified children have started to breed viruses that are a potential threat to normal, unmodified human beings. Because their tolerance levels to viruses are much higher, the viruses have a chance to mutate when the modified children are in close proximity to one another.”
“Is this something you anticipated might happen?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Why not?”
“Nobody could have. There are always more precautions you can take in experimentation like this, but at some point you have to take a risk. If we didn’t take that risk, cures for many of the world’s diseases would never be found. Cures which save millions of lives.”
“Now that you know it is a risk, why is it that the code for this modification has been made freely available to the public?”
Perfectible Animals: A Post Apocalyptic Technothriller (EidoGenesis Book 1) Page 24
