The Janus Legacy

by Lisa von Biela

  Nearly queasy, Jeremy forced himself to take it all in. The room was painted off-white, and was devoid of furnishings. Most of the space was taken up by a barred enclosure that extended from floor to ceiling. Inside the enclosure stood a man dressed in a one-piece sort of hospital gown.

  A man who looked like a younger Ivan.

  Slowly, walking on legs he couldn’t feel, Jeremy stepped forward. The man—the Subject—stood at the front of his enclosure and silently stared back at him. He wore a trusting, innocent look.

  Jeremy didn’t know what to say, or whether to speak at all.

  Tim broke the spell. “He’s pretty much nonverbal. He has achieved adult size due to the nutrition and hormones we’ve provided, but he’s only a couple of years old. We don’t know what he understands.”

  Jeremy turned to Tim and spoke slowly as he tried hard to control his rage at the inhuman, the impossible. “You’ve kept a human being in this…cell…for a couple of years? Like a lab animal?”

  Shaking his head, Glen waved his hand to stop the line of discussion and briskly interrupted. “We grew him from Ivan’s tissue sample, specifically for the purpose of cultivating large and small intestines for eventual transplant. It’s not like he was…born. You need to keep that in mind.”

  Speechless, Jeremy turned back to the Subject. He looked into his eyes, trying to discern what lay behind them.

  The Subject smiled at him.

  CHAPTER 12

  Tim quietly closed the front door behind him. He leaned back against it for a moment and shut his eyes. He wanted to leave the day’s developments at SomaGene behind him, outside that door, but he hadn’t succeeded. Every bit of it continued to replay in his mind even now at home, hours later.

  He tried to savor the few moments of peace and quiet before Katie and Johnnie realized he was home and competed for his time and attention. He was completely exhausted from the tense interplay among himself, Glen and Jeremy today. Each of them was at odds with the other for different reasons, and he could see no way to resolve the conflicting motives. Not now, likely not ever.

  And the Subject. Tim was still haunted by the image in his mind’s eye of how he had smiled at Jeremy. He hadn’t seen him smile like that before; it was almost as if he knew there was some sort of connection between them.

  “There you are! What are you doing, sneaking into your own house?” Katie stood in the kitchen doorway, holding Johnnie on her hip. A curl of her strawberry blonde hair strayed into her eye. She first tried to blow it out of the way, then had to deftly juggle the baby so she could irritably swipe it aside and tuck it behind her ear with one hand. “Well?”

  “It’s been a tough day. I’m just tired, is all.”

  “You’re tired? Try keeping up with this little guy all day. He gets everywhere, and faster than you’d think. I have to run after him constantly.”

  Tim would have gladly traded a day watching Johnnie for the dilemma he now faced at work. Katie thought his job was all glamour, effortlessly transplanting lifesaving organs into rich, grateful clients. She didn’t miss too many opportunities to remind him that she had given up her career as a business development consultant, albeit temporarily, to take care of Johnnie until he was school-aged. The combination of boredom and exhaustion did not work well for her.

  “It was just especially intense today.”

  “Why? What happened? Did a surgery go badly?”

  “Um, yeah. We had one that was a little touch and go.” He didn’t want to lie to her, but he didn’t dare open the door to discussing the real problem. It was way too volatile to even mention outside of SomaGene.

  “Well, it’s OK now?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Well, then why don’t you take Johnnie for his bath while I fix dinner?” She came up to him and before he could say anything more, she’d plopped Johnnie into his arms, given him a quick kiss, and made a beeline to the kitchen to work on dinner. Smelled like the kid came complete with a loaded diaper, too.

  Relieved that Katie hadn’t chosen to pry further into the day’s events, Tim carried Johnnie into the bathroom where all his baby-washing paraphernalia was kept. He started the bath water and changed the little guy’s diaper while he waited for the tub to fill.

  He gently lowered Johnnie into the little plastic safety seat set within the tub. The baby started splashing the water and cackling with delight. Tim smiled. The kid sure did love his bath. He soaped up a soft sponge and started to bathe the wriggling child. Pretty soon he became so focused on bathing little Johnnie and making sure he didn’t slip that his mind was able to unwind a little from the day’s crisis.

  CHAPTER 13

  “Thanks.” Glen tossed several bills on the bar to pay for his gin and tonic. He picked it up, tasted it, then began to survey the room.

  He enjoyed unwinding at the Minnetonka Bistro after a busy day, at least for now while it was still the trendy place to be. In a few months, it would probably be yesterday’s news, replaced by some new hot spot in town.

  The bar area featured a small dance floor, but it was still too early for it to see much use. All the singles stood around the room with their drinks in hand, nodding in time with the dance music being pumped in through the sound system. They all tried to look nonchalant, but every one of them was doing the same as Glen—checking out the other singles of their preferred sex.

  Glen smiled. He loved the game, loved to see what he could come up with for the evening. Some men liked to fish; he liked to chase women and enjoy the evening’s catch. Minnetonka seemed to be loaded with beautiful babes who took exceptional care of themselves. They had tanned and toned bodies from the spa nearby, and they dressed in the latest and slinkiest clothes.

  A tall blonde in a shimmering turquoise minidress soon caught his eye. She stood back in the corner, a bit apart from the others. She lifted her drink slightly and seemed to beckon him. He sauntered over, not wanting to look too impressed or overly anxious.

  “Hi.” She looked up at him from under bangs that fell just below her eyebrows, and smiled. She wore glossy lipstick that was an unabashed shade of blood red.

  “Hi. Don’t think I’ve seen you here before, have I?”

  “No. I just moved here recently. Great place, huh?”

  “Yeah, it is. Gets even more crowded on the weekends, if you can believe it.”

  They exchanged small talk for a while, then made their way to a booth that had opened up. She slid in, and he slid in beside her, rather than across from her. “So, what do you do?”

  “Oh, I’m between jobs at the moment. Just moved here from Chicago. I worked for an insurance company.”

  Glen nodded. “Ah. I work for SomaGene. I’m one of the surgeons there.” He sat back and let SomaGene do its work for him. His position there never failed to impress his dates.

  Her eyes widened. “Wow, really? I’ve heard about them. That must be really exciting work.”

  “Oh, it is. We get to do amazing things every day. People come to us in terrible condition, and they walk out with new lives.”

  She looked down at her drink. “I wish I could do something that important.” She shook her head. “My work at the insurance firm—well, it was really just clerical.” She looked up at him again. “I bet you make really good money there, huh?”

  It was working. “I do. You know, it’s getting really loud in here. Would you like to see my place? It’s only a block or two from here. I could make us a little dinner, if you like.” He placed his hand on the table so the edge of it just touched hers. He noticed she left her hand right there.

  “Sure I would.”

  He opened the door to his apartment. “Well, here it is. Let me open the curtains over there—the windows overlook Lake Minnetonka.” He stepped over and pulled the cords with a little flourish. He’d done this many times, and knew the view would have the desired effect.

  She followed him to the floor-to-ceiling window and stood open-mouthed. “Wow, what a great view!”r />
  Lights from boats on the lake twinkled in the twilight. Some were docked, some were taking an evening cruise.

  “Would you like some wine?” He started toward the kitchen, satisfied he was off to a good start with this one.

  “Yes, thank you.” She glanced around the apartment. “You have a great place here. It’s near everything, and I like your décor. And that view—just amazing.”

  He handed her a glass of wine. “Yeah, I love it here.” As they stood side by side gazing out the window, he slid his arm around her waist. She put her arm around his waist and nestled closer.

  After a few minutes, he lightly ran his hand up her back, to the nape of her neck beneath her long blonde hair, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. He liked how warm and soft she felt. “Why don’t we sit down?” he whispered into her ear as he led her to the trim, Euro-style black leather couch.

  He took their wineglasses and set them down on the low glass and chrome table in front of the couch. Then he took both her hands in his and sat down. He maintained eye contact while trying to gauge her thoughts and what she might be into. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then sat down beside him.

  He reached out and touched her neck. He could feel her tremble ever so slightly. He found himself mesmerized by her blood-red lipstick, the gloss of it, the shape of her mouth. It looked soft, yet firm—and inviting. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She responded by taking him in her arms and kissing him hard, slipping her tongue inside his mouth.

  Pleased to have chosen well for the evening, he reached behind her and slowly unzipped the back of her dress. He reveled in the sound of her quickening breathing. He could feel his own pulse pounding and his body throbbing with anticipation.

  She broke free of his kiss and sat back. She breathed rapidly, her mouth slightly open. She gazed directly into his eyes as she pulled her dress down to her waist in one fluid movement and lay back on the couch, waiting for him.

  He inwardly congratulated himself for getting that vasectomy a few years back. At times like this, he never had to concern himself if the woman was careful about birth control.

  Right now, his pants were painfully constraining him. He hastily removed his clothes and carelessly cast them aside as she watched his every move. Her watching him so intently aroused him even further. Once stripped down, he displayed himself to her, enjoying the way she looked at him.

  “Is this what you want, baby?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I want. Come help me out of this dress first.”

  She lifted her hips as he pulled the dress and her panties the rest of the way off and flung them aside. Naked and panting, she reached for him and pulled him toward her.

  Glen gasped as he felt how warm she was inside. She began to wildly thrust her hips up toward him and he matched her rhythm. He forgot all about who she was, what she was doing, whether she was yet satisfied, and thrust faster and faster until he went over the brink of his own release.

  CHAPTER 14

  Jeremy arrived home late, slammed the front door shut and stomped his way toward the kitchen. He took off his jacket and flung it toward a chair, not noticing he missed it by a foot.

  He’d stormed back to his office right after seeing the Subject, leaving Glen and Tim behind without another word. He just couldn’t be in that room with them another minute. He’d locked himself in his office and spent the last several hours alternately pacing and sitting and wrestling with his own thoughts. He finally left the SomaGene facility a little while ago. His hands still trembled, and he didn’t really remember the drive home.

  He didn’t even know how to begin to deal with the situation. The fact that the project had been kept secret from him paled in comparison to the larger ethical issue that had just fallen into his lap: what to do about his father’s clone?

  Did it make him any less human because he originated from a piece of Ivan’s tissue—because he was cultivated in a lab? Yet, his very development had been highly manipulated. He had achieved adult proportions in less than two years, thanks to whatever cocktail of nutrients and hormones he’d been fed. That made him more of an engineered living thing, like some of the lab animals at SomaGene.

  What would the public think if his existence ever came to light? Some of the animal rights types were always up in arms about keeping primates in the lab and how cruel and unfair it was to experiment on them—as if they were sentient human beings. Those people would have a field day if they learned of this.

  Jeremy leaned against the kitchen counter, hunching his shoulders and bowing his head. He sighed deeply and reached into the cabinet for a glass. Then he stepped over to the shelf where he kept various hard liquors, mostly in case of company. He reached for the vodka, splashed a generous amount into his glass, and took a big swallow. He was not used to hard liquor, let alone straight, and the vodka forged a blazing hot path down his throat and into his stomach. He set down his glass and coughed until tears ran down his face.

  A spasm of pain ripped through his abdomen. He clutched his stomach and groaned, cursing himself for neglecting his meds. His Crohn’s had been relatively quiet lately, and he tried to take the smallest dose possible to keep the side effects at bay. Given this new situation, he figured he’d better go back to full doses to ward off any further stress-provoked attacks.

  As soon as the attack waned, he made his way upstairs to his bathroom. He had moved his things into one of the other bedrooms, choosing to close off his father’s grandiose suite rather than occupy it himself.

  Jeremy took his meds at the sink, then regarded himself in the bathroom mirror for a moment. Ivan had manipulated him into taking over SomaGene—and had deliberately withheld information on this project until it was too late. Jeremy realized he’d unwittingly been made a party to this debacle. His name was now indelibly associated with SomaGene, and so he was now responsible for all that went on.

  Ivan had created the perfect trap. Jeremy dared not reveal the project publicly, and yet he didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t simply end the project and dispose of the Subject as he could a lab asset he no longer required. But what was he supposed to do with him? Did he owe him some sort of meaningful existence?

  Yet there was even more to the trap. Ivan claimed to have done it for him, to possibly help him conquer his Crohn’s and live a normal life. Jeremy glanced at the line of prescription vials adorning his bathroom counter. None of them provided a cure. None of them even offered complete symptomatic relief. All of them came with serious side effects.

  Jeremy mused for a moment on what it would be like to be free of Crohn’s, free of its debilitating effects and his dependence on the meds. It was more than a matter of personal comfort and convenience. It had stymied his career.

  And it could kill. He knew that firsthand.

  Jeremy clutched his head in his hands, as if he could still and organize the warring thoughts swirling in his mind. He needed to talk to someone he could trust, someone who could help make sense of it all. He reached for the cell on his belt.

  “Hello?”

  “Amanda, it’s me, Jeremy. I’ve run across something I…just don’t know how to deal with. I really need to talk to you.”

  A pause. “Why me? Is it something to do with SomaGene? Don’t you have an entire staff there?”

  “It is, and I really can’t discuss this with my staff. They’re part of the…problem.”

  “Well, I don’t know what I can do.”

  “Just hear me out. This is going to sound hard to believe, but I saw it myself, and now I have to figure out what to do. I need you to keep this to yourself, OK?”

  “Well, all right.”

  Jeremy proceeded to explain the situation to Amanda. A long silence ensued.

  “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know this was possible yet on a technical level. Goes without saying you’re on thin ethical ice.”

  “Amanda, I have to ask a big favor of you. I really don’t know what to do, and there is
no one else I can talk to who I trust to keep quiet—and to be a sounding board I can rely on. Would you consider coming up here for the weekend? Just…to talk about this.”

  “Jeremy, I…”

  “I’m not trying to push you into anything. It’s not that. I have a guest bedroom you could use. I just really need to work through this, and a phone call isn’t going to do it.”

  “I can’t just drop everything, and I thought we went over this all before.”

  “I’m only asking for the weekend, just to try to sort this out. Nothing else. Please, Amanda.”

  “Well, all right. Just for the weekend.”

  Jeremy pressed the End button after giving her the address. Thank God she agreed. Maybe with her help I can see a way through this.

  CHAPTER 15

  Amanda set the phone down and let out a frustrated growl. She’d thought her relationship with Jeremy was over and done months ago and had mostly put him out of her mind. She’d loved him at one time, but couldn’t deal with his Crohn’s and all that went with it—the physical toll, the drag on his career, and the baggage from his mother’s death. She just couldn’t picture herself assuming the caretaker role if he sank into decline. Maybe it was chickenshit on her part, sure. But Rick helped her envision a different life for herself, and so she had decided to end her relationship with Jeremy.

  Now this.

  She had no reason to think Jeremy was making this all up, but the story was nonetheless damned difficult to swallow. She shook her head. She didn’t know what she could possibly do about it, what brilliant insight she might be able to contribute. After all, it was his decision. She wasn’t a part of his life any more, but maybe just talking it through would help him figure things out.

  Though she had to admit, she was more than a little curious about the technical details. How had they managed to do it? Could you tell it was a clone by looking? What did it do all day?

  Amanda picked up her phone and dialed Rick. “Hey, about Saturday night. I need to be out of town this weekend, and won’t be able to make it after all.”