Asterion (11 page)

The crowd engages Tom in a question and answer session about their specific needs. They leave the meeting satisfied and hopeful for the future.

CHAPTER 13 - MISSING

Sunday afternoon, Taylor is napping on the couch when he hears a knock on the door. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he stumbles to the door and opens it only to find a small package lying at the threshold. Picking it up, he glances back-and-forth in the hope of seeing who left it on his doorstep.

He opens the note and it is from Christine. “I must stay away for a few days. I think someone is following me and I don’t want him or her to suspect you. I’ll hide out somewhere until I know what’s going on or I lose them. I can’t tell you where. Watch this as soon as you can and be careful. Love, Christine.”

Taylor stands there stunned at what he has just read. Coming to his senses, he looks around again and shuts the door. The familiar sound of various locks echo outside the door. He clutches the data device and drawing the curtains tight, he begins to watch the documentary.

The same narrator from
Unintended Consequences
says, “If you have watched the previous documentary you are ready to witness Leader Burnsom’s latest scheme. Technological advances in the field of genetic engineering will allow Burnsom to create an army of soulless hybrid creatures that will police the country and fight his wars. Their swarm will outnumber any fighting force on the planet. Strong and powerful, they will be able to stand up to most of the automated fighting machines in the army’s arsenal through natural armor, strength, speed and attrition. A top scientist as yet unknown had developed the technology and is about to reveal this abomination to the world and hand this weapon over to Burnsom.”

Taylor sits there with his mouth wide open in mid-bite of his popcorn. He realizes that he is the person the narrator is referring to in the video. He perks up as he realizes that Burnsom and the bureaucracy have deceived him. He starts to worry that he might be a target of the very people he is beginning to support and what about Christine. Are government agents or agents of some other entity following her? He does not have to wait long.

The changing scene catches his attention and the narrator continues, “It may be too late to prevent this atrocity from happening, but it is not too late to prepare. We at the Liberty Coalition need your help. Fellow citizens such as Christians, military and free thinkers are growing in number, but we are not strong enough yet to challenge the status quo. If Burnsom succeeds, we may never have the strength to overcome the oppressive austerity he calls utopia. Education and enlightenment of our fellow citizens is the only way. However, be careful whom you show this to, as our enemies are many. The data device you possess holds the key to further communication. It will inform you when new information is available and dispense that information to you. Guard it well. It is our sword of freedom for all those who seek it.”

With that, the screen goes blank and so does Taylor’s face. He sinks back into the couch and begins to process the many thoughts running through his mind. After a few minutes, his mind snaps back into action mode. “I must find Christine.” He calls her phone, but it goes unanswered.

Taylor heads out the door and to his car to search for her. Feeling a bit paranoid, he feels like someone is watching him or worse, he is in the crosshairs of someone trying to stop him. “Get a hold of yourself.” He reassures himself, “Situational awareness, just like in the military.” His training kicks in and he scans around and moves cautiously with every step. He goes to her apartment. There is no answer at the door and her car is gone. He goes to the parks, restaurants and shopping centers they frequented, but no success. He returns home later that evening. With no answers or leads, he feels helpless. Sitting on his couch, his head in his hands, he strains for one more idea that might help him find her. Tossing and turning that night he finally falls asleep, exhausted from the tough week and the problems he faces now.

Taylor sees an unlit building complex hugging the ground, silhouetted against the last light of dusk. Several long grey clouds hang overhead. Silent sentinels hovering over a foreboding site. He gets the feeling that what he sees is not all there is to this vision. A feeling of foreboding about the evil contained within its walls. Horizontal windows reinforce the linearity of the structure. It is an anonymous place with no name and mystery inside. Taylor enters and walks down wide sanitized halls lit only by the dim lights that follow his motion down the hallway. Brushing against the potted plants generates a small dust cloud. The plastic plants are as lifeless as the building, yet they screamed out warnings to hapless trespassers who mistakenly wandered this way.

Still breathing heavy from his workout, he reaches the lab. He submits to a retinal scan, handprint, key and code challenges to his access to the lab. He enters and the bright surgical lights assault his eyes. He shields his eyes until they adjust to the harsh lighting. The equipment inside, advanced beyond any on the planet hums away driven by multiple super computers. The humming drives into his brain, an unrelenting vice squeezing his ears. His head throbs. He proceeds through the lab to a door labeled with nuclear and biohazard labels. His heart pounds, his fear is growing as he ventures deeper into the lab.

Taylor goes through the same security screen that confronted him at the entrance to the laboratory. The door locks retract with a cold, crisp click and the voice announces, “You have ten seconds to enter the bio-lock.” Entering and closing the door, he undergoes a full body scan. Every part of his body is compared to his master scan in the database. Defeat the security measures up to that point and if you are not legit, security will deal with you. The trespasser, never be heard from again becomes just another missing person to those who knew them.

Entering the maturation chamber where experiments grow and develop after the genetic engineering and incubation processes are completed, he stares into the open crib. Looking at the occupant, he ponders what went wrong. How could this have happened? All the prior experiments had worked out the problems and multiple successes had led Taylor to believe that we are ready for the final iteration of the genetic engineering project. What would he do with the result? What would the result do to them?

As the creature looks back at him from the cage-like crib, studying his face its eyes open wide as if in recognition. Taylor scans the creature from head to toe. Already a week old and weighing eighty pounds the creature’s head resembled the head of a bull, but had the teeth of an omnivore that is more bear-like than bovine. Stretching from its nap, the creature revealed its muscular arms that ended with large hands that are feline-like with extra knuckles that retracted sharp claws. Devoid of fur, the fingertips looked like “Z’s” and the arrangement left the creature with very dexterous fingertips like a humans. Scanning down he observed that its torso is very human, but its legs are bovine. The end of the creature is from the same species as the head. Ending with hoofs on its feet, the creature is a composite of several species. More than he intended.

He wondered about the unexpected results from years of experimentation. What errors contaminated the AutoDNA instrumentation? Is it some sort of corruption? Is it software, hardware or something else? Did the nanotechnology not function as directed? What do you do with the results staring back at you from its bed?

The creature incredulously seems to smile at Taylor and utters the word, “daddy.”

Taylor looks on in shock. You can see the outside for yourself, but it is revealing what is inside.

The alarm clock startles him from his deep sleep. In a cold sweat, he lays there in shock from the dream and what this day might bring him. Choosing his nicest suit and putting it in a garment bag, he heads out the door to the lab. It is still dark outside and shadows lurk around each corner. “Is that a bush or a person?” He thinks as he cautiously moves around the complex to his car. He grabs the door latch and freezes. Letting it go he whips out his keychain light and examines the underneath for tracking and explosive devices. Peering inside of the vehicle, he looks for anything out of place. He opens the door as his heart pounds and checks the controls for tampering. Looking at the hood and trunk latches, he closes his eyes and pulls the levers. The screech of a cat disturbed from his sleeping perch on Taylor’s trunk makes the blood rush to his feet and he feels lightheaded. “Get control man,” he says to himself as he attempts to calm down. “Trust God and know if the worst happens, you will meet Him face-to-face.” He lifts the hood and finds nothing amiss there. Getting into the car, his heart pounds as he turns the key and everything lights up like normal. Putting it into reverse he backs out and heads to the lab. He stays well below the speed limit. No sense taking a chance with speed related devices.

Arriving at the lab, he sees a scene not unlike the one in the dream. He is kind of unnerved by the similarity, but chides himself for letting his imagination take over his thought processes. He enters the maturation chamber and initiates the process to transfer the fetus from the incubation chamber to the larger, portable chamber where he can undergo closer inspection. Maintaining a purified, oxygen atmosphere the uterine device transfers to the incubator for Asterion’s delivery. Splitting open from the bottom a small crack allows the embryonic fluid to gently release into the drains. Once drained, it moves over the conveyor where it opens wider from its top hinge and gingerly deposits a separate pad with Asterion on the conveyor. The conveyor moves the pad with Asterion to the larger bubble incubator. Through the isolation gloves attached to the bubble, Taylor aspirates the creature and its feeble cries let him know he is breathing. It strains as it adjusts its eyes to the light in the lab and focuses on Taylor face. It watches as he cleans him and examines the creature for the first time outside of the uterine chamber. Asterion grabs Taylor’s pinky finger with his tiny hand and squeezes it. Touched by the gesture Taylor smiles until Asterion extends his cat-like claws and poke through Taylor’s glove. “Owe,” Taylor cries and pulls his hand back. “We’ll have to watch out for that move.” Asterion coos and looks at Taylor. He introduces the feeding mechanism into the chamber and Asterion instinctively starts feeding from it. Taylor leaves the maturation chamber and makes his way to the break room.

Sitting at a chair with a cup of much needed coffee, Taylor worries about Christine. He can’t act upon those concerns until the afternoon. It will be a torturous day for him. As he sips away, Devin strolls in on cloud nine.

“Well this is the big day buddy,” Devin crows with a wide grin on his face.

Taylor, not in the mood for celebration shoots back, “Daddy taking you home when he leaves here?”

Devin’s face drops. “Hey, that’s harsh. Look, everyone wants to get ahead. You want to do bigger projects and manage them don’t you. Look, I know you’re exhausted from working and worrying about the project. Take a day or two and try to relax. Asterion is born, so to speak, and it’s just the growing up part now. It will be okay around here.”

“Thanks, I’m sorry for the dig. I’ll be glad when this meeting is over.”

“That’s right, you science types don’t go in for the elbow rubbing and schmoozing with bureaucrats. I did not think about the added stress. Take those days. I insist.” Devin grabs his cup and heads to his office.

Taylor, now alone thinks about his situation and searches for answers. Trent walks in with a new suit, “Isn’t it an exciting day! We finally get some recognition from the bureaucrats.”

Taylor looks puzzled. “You’re ready for the ball.” It dawns on him that Trent acts a lot like most bureaucrats. He realizes that Trent is more interested in climbing up the bureaucrat ladder than the research. Maybe his spy and saboteur is Trent.

Trent quips, “You have to look your best,” as he heads down the hall.

Taylor heads back to the maturation chamber. Asterion is doing well and standing up already. He shows an interest in his surroundings and seems to be exploring and trying to understand his new home. When Asterion sees Taylor, he gets excited and wants to get out of the bubble.

Taylor waves his index finger, “No, no, not yet.”

Asterion seems to reply, “No, no.”

Taylor astonished steps back and wonders if that was a real word or just infantile noises. Taylor realizes that once Asterion is a few days old they can take him out of the chamber and let him mature in the main chamber. They will have to have some sort of protective clothing and face mask to protect themselves from his sharp claws until they can trim them back so that they are not razor sharp. Checking the laboratory database to procure tougher lab coats he discovers that they already have those items in lab inventory. “Seems someone already anticipated this need,” he thinks to himself. That further confirms his suspicions about tampering on this project.

CHAPTER 14 - BIRTHDAY

He calls Christine’s phone again. There is no answer. Taylor thinks aloud, “Why doesn’t she answer?”

“Because I’m right behind you,” Christine replied laughing.

Taylor spins around and takes her up into his arms. “I’m going crazy worrying about you. I didn’t know if you were still alive or dead.”

Christine strains, “Well, if you don’t let go, you’ll squeeze the life out of me for sure.”

Releasing her and holding her shoulders Taylor looks at her over to see if she is okay. “Where did you go? Are you injured?”