by KM Fortune
“But I thought scientists were able to make babies in the labs?” she asked.
Matthew stopped pacing and ran a hand through his brown hair. “That’s where the too perfect comes in. Scientists were making genetically engineered fetuses in the lab. Cloning was common practice by this time and the world population, except for a few regions, remained stable. At least for a while.” A look of sadness came over Matthew's face.
“But what happened?” Raven asked quietly.
“It turned out cloning humans was flawed,” Matthew answered sadly. “Genetic engineering seemed to cause serious side effects after even one generation. In fact, the further away we got from authentic human DNA, the worse it got. It wasn't long after the Great Wars took place. Then the Crusades began.” Matthew paused and closed his eyes, remembering. “Finally, almost overnight, the world ended.”
CHAPTER 8
SAMUEL WALKED WITH a purpose. He felt something was not quite right ever since the day Matthew came to him and expressed an interest in digging something out of the ice. When it turned out to be a female homo sapien, Samuel realized his premonitions were well founded. Females were not a part of the necessary makeup of Eden. Or even the land beyond it, he thought while his footsteps echoed loud in the empty hallway. Unlike Matthew, Samuel was a historian by design and he was very well aware of what even a single female could do to bring down mankind. Countless examples stood out in the historical texts Samuel studied and memorized. The inferior half of the human species is destined only to deceive. To destroy us and all we have worked for! Samuel grit his teeth in fury at himself for not acting sooner. And this female is a modern day Eve. He was sure of it. Thankfully, he had convinced The Creator in time.
Samuel turned down one of the colony’s many subterranean corridors. The entire community was built under the earth's surface. Having originally been a United States top secret military research laboratory, it was securely designed near the heart of a mountain. Samuel had actually been born in the facility as had most of the inhabitants. Eden was his only home and he knew how blessed he was to live there. His fifty-three years had been nothing but full of spiritual enlightening and blessed responsibility. Now it was his duty to protect it.
The door to Matthew's laboratory was ahead, down at the end of the hall. I know this will be hard for him, Samuel thought, preparing what he was going to say. Even he had to admit the preserved female was a miraculous find. Matthew had shown great insight in thinking her reproductive organs could be salvaged and the scientific council was swayed by his proposal. However, now nearly three months had passed and Matthew was not able to produce any satisfactory results. His weekly reports included very little progress. The female was not responding to Matthew’s experiments. It is time for this to be done. I will assure him there will be other projects. Samuel approached the door to Matthew’s quarters and laboratory. His research and findings from this experiment will not have been in vain.
RAVEN SAT STARING, seeing nothing in the blankness of the white wall in front of her. Matthew had come to sit near her on the edge of the bed but kept silent. The world had ended. Everyone I ever loved is gone, she thought as a tear ran down her cheek. As painful as it was, in some ways, the new information helped her. It cleared up some questions. Still in many other ways, it brought on more confusion. Matthew had told the story solemnly while she listened with mounting disbelief.
Women the world over had become sterile. Occasionally, one would be found to have a fertile egg in her ovaries. The world’s governments came together and put in place mandatory monthly examinations of every female on the planet in the hopes useable ovum would be produced and discovered. These few precious eggs became highly coveted and, eventually, led to conflict. World dominance began to hinge on which country had more fertile females. Rather than face extinction, countries would invade one another in hopes of capturing hidden “female egg farms.” This led to the first series of the Great Wars. Eventually peace was negotiated and a league of countries signed a treaty to share their stores of frozen eggs and any advances in research toward finding a cure. In the end, the peace was only temporary.
The number of fertile females continued to decline until finally smaller nations not a part of the treaty found ways to secure nuclear weapons to attack neighboring countries if they appeared to have greater access to pure DNA. The larger nations became involved and sides were drawn. This led to the second series of the Great Wars, which was nuclear. The environment was drastically affected. Winter covered the planet. There was no food and no power. Martial law ruled the land. People who could, went underground to survive.
Matthew had paused then. He was obviously saddened by what he was about to say next. Raven, mesmerized by the history he had explained so far, squeezed his hand. “Please continue,” she said. Matthew nodded but looked away.
“And then the Crusades began,” he said.
“The Crusades?” she asked, not understanding.
“Yes, the hunt by survivors to exterminate each other. But it’s not important right now,” he said changing the uncomfortable topic and looking into her face again. “Do you understand what I have explained to you?”
Raven closed her eyes and was quiet. “Is it how you survived? Hiding underground?” Raven finally asked.
Matthew shook his head. “No. I was born after the wars. Here in Eden. I am a clone.” Raven opened her eyes and stared at him, not sure what to make of all of this. While she had slept, the world had come to ruin and now she sat face-to-face with a human clone. A man made in a laboratory yet who looked no different than any other man she had met. It's impossible, she thought. This cannot be true. What if it's a dream? But how could it be? Raven laid there day after day haunted by the occasional random memory, but for the most part remembering nothing from her past. It had to be true and a part of her knew it. Now she understood why Matthew went to such trouble to revive her. By what he described, if she was able to become pregnant and bring a natural baby into the world, to some, she was priceless. But is that what they intend? For me to have a child? She started to ask but before she spoke Matthew quickly raised his hand to silence her.
“Wait,” he whispered. “I hear something. Someone is in the lab.” Matthew stood up and hurried to the door, leaned against it, and listened.
“What's wrong?” Raven whispered sensing the alarm.
“Don't speak. Get under the covers and don't move. No matter what happens, you must pretend you are still asleep, as if you had never wakened.” Raven slid down on the bed and covered herself, suddenly afraid.
“I don't know who it is but it can’t be good. No one visits another in the colony unannounced. Please, absolutely no movement. I'll be right back.” Matthew started to open the door but hesitated and turned back to look at her. Quietly he said. “Promise me, no matter what you hear me say, you will do nothing.” Raven nodded, trusting him, and closed her eyes. Her heart pounded as she heard Matthew leave the room and lock the door.
SAMUEL WAS STANDING in the laboratory with his back turned to Matthew when Matthew entered. By instinct, Matthew had suspected the unplanned visitor would be Samuel. He had taken too much interest in the finding of the female and asked too many questions from the beginning. A sinking feeling settled in Matthew's stomach as he stopped in the doorway. “Looking for me?”
Samuel turned away from the counter full of samples he was looking over and smiled at Matthew. “Yes. I see you are hard at work here.” He waved a hand at the many cultures and test tubes on the shelves around the room. “And I've been asking myself, how is Matthew's project coming?” Matthew frowned and walked into the room to take a seat on a nearby stool. His legs suddenly felt weak and he didn't want Samuel to notice.
“It goes fairly well. I hope to see some real progress in the next week.”
“Really? How interesting. Unfortunately I'm afraid that won't be soon enough.”
“What do you mean?” Matthew asked defensively.
“I spo
ke with The Creator a few moments ago and he expressed concern regarding the female you brought in from the ice. He instructed me to investigate and dispose of the specimen as I see fit.”
Matthew jumped to his feet. “What? But it's too soon! I still have work—” He didn't bother to finish, seeing Samuel shake his head, trying to look sympathetic but knowing he was anything but.
“I know. I know,” Samuel soothed. “I tried to talk him out of it but his mind was made up. The time for your experiment has expired. I wish I could tell you something different, but The Creator has spoken. Now, please show me the female so I can decide what must be done.”
Matthew was dumbstruck. Why would The Creator suddenly decide to destroy the female? It was still early for an experiment as important as this one. He was certain he had kept the woman's true progress a secret. Does The Creator in fact see all as The Book says? Matthew thought. For the first time in his life, he realized he did not believe it. “It can’t be true,” he finally said aloud, sinking back onto the stool beside the workbench. “What will you do with her?” Matthew asked, already knowing the answer but refusing to believe it.
“Ship her to the Collection Station and test if she is a breeder. Basic processing. You know the system,” Samuel replied. Matthew closed his eyes and saw the ugly picture of the Collection Station in his head. He clearly saw the woman he brought back from beyond death cut open so her ovaries could be clipped and harvested.
I can't let that happen, he thought. He opened his eyes. “I will do the removal. Here in the lab, so I can run tests on the ovaries and uterus as well as harvest the eggs,” he argued. “I am familiar enough with the procedure to do it.”
Samuel shook his head. “We can have a sample sent up for you. I want her processed.”
“But they are idiots down there! I don't have confidence they would even send me a sample from the right batch, let alone not mangle her reproductive organs. These eggs could mean a major breakthrough in my research, the colony’s research. I think this specimen was preserved before the sterility plague went global. It's even possible she was never infected.”
Matthew watched as Samuel thought about it. He knew the man was conflicted. What Matthew said made sense and even though Samuel was a historian and not a scientist, he would appreciate the extreme significance of uninfected reproductive organs.
“All right, I see your point. Do the harvesting here if you wish and then send her to be incinerated. But I would like to witness the operation, how soon can you begin?”
“I would like at least another week so -–“
Samuel interrupted him. “Tonight, no later.”
“Tonight?” Matthew repeated, surprised at his brother’s evident rush to destroy the female specimen.
“Yes, tonight. As soon as you are ready. How long do you need to prepare?” Samuel asked.
Matthew was dismayed, trying to quickly think of ways to stall the operation. “I’ll need many hours. I want to get dozens of slides ready and take more samples of her blood and bone marrow. I don’t think I could be ready tonight. It will have to be tomorrow at the earliest, after first congregation. That will give me time to get a few additional pieces of equipment from Harvesting as well.”
Samuel shook his head. “No. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow. It must be tonight. Tell me what you need from Harvesting and I will have it brought up.”
“I can’t possibly be ready in time to do it tonight,” Matthew said firmly. Samuel’s face began to grow red.
“The Creator wants it done immediately, which means tonight. You have two hours to prepare and then we begin or I’ll have the female sent to the Collection Station,” Samuel said, turning for the door, signaling there would be no more opportunity for debate. “I’ll be back to supervise at that time. What do you need sent up from the Collection Station?”
Matthew swallowed. Two hours is not enough time for all I want to learn from the woman from the ice, he thought feeling a hint of panic start to rise in his chest. And not just about her reproductive organs. He realized he wanted to talk to her, to listen to her, to learn from her. Now it would never happen. Matthew sighed in disappointment and frustration. “So be it. I’ll need a cervical incubator case primarily. The scalpels and surgical instruments are available from storage on this level. And...” he paused, not wanting to say the words. “... and the cyanide solution. I don’t keep any of that up here, although I have enough syringes. I will need all of the two hours to get ready for the procedure, Samuel. Perhaps I should just send for you when I am about to begin?”
Samuel walked to the door of the lab. “That will be fine. I’ll be waiting. Two hours, Matthew. I’ll see you then.” Matthew nodded and Samuel left. Matthew dropped his head onto his workbench and sat for a few moments thinking of all which had to be done. He felt overwhelmed and angry. He only had two hours and the task before him was large. And I will have to kill the woman I worked so desperately to save. It’s just not right, Matthew thought raising his head and out of instinct reaching for a set of fresh slides to prepare. She is not like the other specimens the Patrols pick up off the prairies. She is special. “I won’t do it,” Matthew said aloud punching his hand down on the counter and sending a dozen of the glass slides off onto the floor. They shattered as they hit the tiles and Matthew stared down at them. The millions of splintered shards glittering like diamonds in the fluorescent light. “I won’t do it,” he whispered again and he knew what had to be done.
CHAPTER 9
RAVEN KNEW SOMETHING was wrong as soon as she saw Matthew’s face. He trembled as he came toward where she still lay on the bed under the covers. “What is it?” Raven asked, sitting up. “What’s wrong?”
Matthew swallowed hard and sat on the edge of her bed. For a moment, he would not meet her eyes. Finally he looked up and Raven could read turmoil in his face. It scared her but gently she took his hands in hers and waited for the bad news. “They’ve come asking about you,” he explained in a soft voice. “Having you here makes a few of them very nervous and one in particular wants to be rid of you.”
“Who are they?”
“Samuel, Seed of Helen and House of Abraham, mostly, but I suspect he will soon influence the science council if he has not already. Samuel said the decree was handed down by The Creator, but I’m not sure I believe him.”
“The decree?” Raven asked not liking the sound of the word.
Matthew squeezed her hands. “They want to have you harvested,” he said. “And then destroyed.” Raven’s eyes grew wide and fear gripped her.
“Destroyed?” she said softly.
“Yes,” Matthew confirmed. He looked at her with determination in his eyes. “But I won’t stand for it. You are not like the Waste People out on the plains. You are from another time, almost as if from another planet and you don’t deserve this fate.” Matthew looked down, rested his eyes on the hands he held in his. “You’re special. To me and maybe to the world,” he said, almost to himself.
Raven felt a tenderness for the man. Even though she was terrified of what might happen next, she took comfort from his closeness. She waited to hear what was to come next. “I can’t hide you,” he whispered. “But I can get you to the Outside.”
MATTHEW LED RAVEN THROUGH the laboratory and into his private quarters. It was a mortal sin to have her there and Matthew knew he was damning his soul, but at that moment, he did not care. Raven, wrapped in the blanket from her bed, followed him into the small room. “It won’t be easy for you,” Matthew explained. “But it’s your only chance. We have to do this quickly. Samuel will expect me to send for him and when I don’t, he won’t wait long to come find me.” Matthew opened the closet door in his quarters and surveyed the contents. Raven stood behind him and looked over his shoulder at the feeble array of clothes he kept there.
Pulling a pair of pants off the shelf, Matthew handed them to Raven. “Put these on,” he said. Raven did while Matthew rustled through the hanging items. Save for a fe
w lab coats, there was so little to choose from. Finally he settled on his only long sleeved sweater, a lab coat to go over it, another pair of pants, and three pairs of heavy socks. He gave the items to her and then averted his eyes while she finished dressing. He felt foolish in his sudden embarrassment, having seen every inch of her many times before while bringing her back to life, but somehow this situation was different.
RAVEN PULLED THE SWEATER over her head and shrugged on the lab coat. It was a crazy ensemble but Raven felt better to have clothes on again after weeks of being kept naked in the blank walled room.
“I don’t have shoes for you,” Matthew said looking down at his own feet. They were clad in thin paper slippers. “Inside the colony I only wear these. Hopefully the extra socks will do for now.” Matthew went to his bed and pulled the single blanket from it and handed it to Raven. “I don’t have a coat and it will be incredibly cold on the Outside. I know it is not much, but hopefully this extra blanket will help you to stay warm.” Raven watched as he turned in a circle and scanned the room. Running his hands through his hair, he was almost frantic. “There isn’t time to go to supply and find you more appropriate equipment and they would wonder what I was up to if I did anyway. Controlling the external weather gear is one way they monitor who is coming and going from Eden. Even I don’t get to keep my parka and snow boots here in the lab.”
Raven finished pulling on the socks. “I’m ready,” she said. She looked down at herself and saw the baggy trousers with the long lab coat and blankets draped over her shoulders, capped off by stocking feet. All of the sudden the entire situation seemed ridiculous. I’m standing in an underground colony talking to a clone and dressing in his clothes to make an escape, she thought. A grin slowly spread across her face and she laughed. Either I laugh or I am going to go insane right here in this room. “You like?” she asked, turning from left to right to model her mismatched outfit. Matthew turned to look at her. She saw such tenderness and concern in his eyes. Slowly, the smile faded from her face.
