Channeling Cleopatra (3 page)

"What others? You mean, you
didn't just do this to yourself? You've . . . uh . . . already
blended others? Did I miss
60
Minutes
the day they aired that
episode?"

"Those wishing to undergo the process are
sworn to secrecy. Even those we told about it initially were."

"Good advertising strategy. Nothing to get
the word spread like telling everybody to keep their mouth shut.
And if it's such a big secret, why are you evading your security
and telling me?"

"We need help, and we feel that you are the
one from whom we should seek it."

"I'm flattered, but it's been a long time
since we've seen each other. What made you think of me after all
these years?"

"Your interest in Egypt, of course. What we
need you to do is represent the company's scientific interests in
Alexandria."

Leda nearly hit the roof of her car.
"Really? But . . . don't you need an expert?"

"You are already an expert in DNA extraction
and fingerprinting. These are the main professional skills we
require. What we need even more is someone we can trust. We have
never had many friends besides each other, Leda. You were one of
the few people in whom Chime confided, and until our blending,
Tsering knew nothing of the confidences Chime shared with you. For
his part, Tsering was very pleased at your absolute secrecy
concerning Chime's surprise birthday party when we were all at
university—"

"So it wasn't my high security clearance
that told you I could keep my mouth shut?" Leda asked.

Chimera laughed. Now that she knew what the
story was with Chimera, Leda felt more comfortable with . . .
them.

"That your government apparently trusted you
with sensitive information was, of course, another mark of your
good character."

"That's right. It's my good character and
patriotism. Had nothing to do with the threat of being thrown in
prison or being shot for a traitor if I blabbed."

Chimera didn't respond to her feeble joke,
just sat looking at her expectantly.

"Okay, so I'm a good egg, and I know how to
do DNA ID, and I love Egyptology. You still haven't told me what
you need that requires someone with those qualifications. I mean,
I'm not even sure I understand why you want to keep your discovery
quiet. It sounds as if it's a pretty monumental breakthrough,
something that could make your reputation."

"It could. Providing we are able to cope
with the publicity, with the ethical objections of fellow
scientists who would demand to see our research and deem our
process risky. And in the United States at least, we might face
prosecution for trying the process on human subjects."

"Oh," Leda said. "That. Yeah. Well, I guess
I see your point when you put it that way. I guess I knew that but
. . . well . . . the other risky experiments I've been involved
with have all been government sponsored, so of course if they screw
up, nobody knew anything, and it didn't happen. And of course, I
never mentioned anything about it either."

Chimera smiled. "Of course not. In addition
to all of those objections, there is the fact that we do not wholly
own our process any longer. In order to develop it, we needed
further funding, and this could only be acquired from a large
company. Fortunately, our old friend Wilhelm Wolfe has been CEO of
Nucore and its affiliates for some time. Wilhelm, when he
understood what we intended to do, had the vision to back us and in
exchange has engaged our participation in the dissemination of the
process to others who wish it. We have discussed the ethical
considerations of the process exhaustively with Wilhelm, and he is
in complete accord with our wishes regarding it. Each applicant for
the blending is usually screened by both of us. If either the
applicant or the donor material they wish is inappropriate, we will
not perform the procedure."

"You mean, like if they wanted to blend with
Hitler or Vlad Dracul or someone evil like that?" Leda asked.

"Exactly."

"And these disappointed clients don't rat on
you?"

"Not so far. Wilhelm has been able to
exercise certain controls through social and economic contacts.
Besides, those who wish such inappropriate blendings would perhaps
not wish it known to their peers what they had in mind."

"Okay, I can see that. Sounds pretty much
like you're going to get discovered sooner or later though."

"Later will be better. Currently, Nucore is
engaged in obtaining a wide spectrum of samples of genetic material
from historical and celebrated figures who would make desirable
donors. In some countries, such as Egypt for instance, the
government would undoubtedly disapprove of the ultimate use of the
samples if they knew about the process."

"Undoubtedly," Leda had to agree. The
present Egyptian government was religiously fundamentalist Islamic,
though economically somewhat more pragmatic than some of the other
fundamentalist Islamic countries. "So, I still need to know: Why
are you telling me all this in secret, and what do you need me for?
I would assume with Wolfie's backing, you could have your
pick."

"We thought we had made it clear, old
friend. We do have our pick, and we pick you." Chimera smiled and
actually patted her hand where it rested on the steering wheel. The
touch felt familiar and friendly, the hand reassuringly warm. Leda
almost expected something ghostly, chill, and ethereal. "Besides,
we cannot involve Wilhelm. What we wish you to help us with is
something we need to keep a secret from him—at least
temporarily."

"But if he's your sponsor, is that
legal?"

"Oh yes. We are not planning to cheat
anyone. It is simply that this is a personal matter," Chimera said.
"We are hoping that the cofferdam Nucore has sponsored across the
eastern harbor of Alexandria may yield identifiable remains of
Cleopatra the seventh. Gretchen Wolfe has asked to be the first
subject to blend with that lady, if a sample becomes
available."

"Gretchen?
As
Cleo-frigging-patra?"
Gretchen Wolfe,
even in her premed days, had been as unassuming, conservative, and
even mousy as her boyfriend Wilhelm was dynamic and magnetic. The
contrast, and Gretchen's obvious adoration of Wilhelm, made the
rather too-earnest young woman touching and likable.

Chimera nodded, and Leda gave a low whistle,
"Well, if she's Cleopatra material, then I'll be the Queen of
Sheba!"

Chimera heaved a slightly put-upon sigh and
asked, "Which one? Of course, we do not yet have the genetic
material from any former queens of Sheba, and it is somewhat beyond
the normal range of salary for such assignments as the one we wish
you to accept; however, special compensations are not out of the
question."

"Chime—Tsering—I mean,
Chimera, please. I'm
kidding.
It's a figure of speech, okay? Geeez, I keep
forgetting you guys were brought up in Tibet and India. Don't take
me so literally."

"We're relieved to hear it."

"It's just that it's kind of a stretch.
Gretchen Wolfe to the queen of the Nile, I mean."

"In our experience, that is the point of the
blending for most recipients. They wish to become augmented, to
supply, through the attributes of the donors, those qualities they
feel they lack. In Gretchen's case, she and Wilhelm have become
estranged over the last few years, as he travels with the company
and she maintains her medical practice. She feels that the ancient
queen possesses certain feminine qualities she lacks, and she
wishes to use these to hold Wilhelm's attention. But she does not
wish Wilhelm to know until afterward. She came directly to us, as a
friend. We come directly to you on her behalf and on ours, for the
reasons we have already mentioned. You can see now perhaps why we
need someone we can trust implicitly to work with us directly if
the sample becomes available?"

"I guess you also need someone who knows
you—and Wolfie and Gretchen—well enough to trust that you aren't
setting me up to commit industrial espionage. Not that I'm sure why
that would be to your benefit. But you see the trust needs to go
more than one way."

Chimera nodded gravely. "Indeed. As for your
qualifications, the line of work in which you've been engaged is
the perfect background for learning our process. We will personally
instruct you in the next stage of the procedure. The work is well
paid, and you will be able to be a part of the large operation
ongoing in Alexandria. Besides Cleopatra, Nucore is interested in
the remains of Alexander the Great, Mark Antony, and the many
scholars who lived and died in that city. The company can see to it
that you are provided with a great deal of corroborative
material—samples from relatives whose gravesites are known, for
instance. Anything else you think you will need, we will try to
provide for you. But you will be working essentially alone and will
be isolated in your purpose.

"Thus far, the findings from the site have
been architectural rather than anthropological. But if and when the
sort of material we desire is uncovered, you must take charge of it
personally and conduct all necessary tests. What do you think?"

"Hmmm. Will Wolfie know you hired me?"

"Oh, yes. In fact, we have already discussed
the possibility with him, and he authorized the background check
that is a prerequisite of employment. But he seemed pleased that
you might join us. Since the assignment calls for only one person,
it is good that person will be someone as experienced and discreet
as we know you to be. We simply wished to have our own private
discussion with you regarding Gretchen's desired blending. All
donor material other than the small amount required for her needs
should naturally go through the usual process."

"Fair enough," Leda had agreed. The rain
still fell beyond the entry to the garage, a glistening beaded
curtain crackling as it hit the pavement. Now, occasionally, the
dark drops were silvered with the beams of headlamps, as a vehicle
drove into the garage. Each time, she apprehensively checked the
rearview mirror. No double rectangles. It was almost ten-thirty and
the eleven-to-seven shift was just arriving. "I guess we shook our
tail. You still hungry?"

Chimera nodded, and Leda headed for the
all-night breakfast place where she and her dad sometimes met when
he was in town. While they were at breakfast, she thought of one
more thing she wanted.

"Look, I would feel better
about this situation if I could have the backup I needed. You say
I'll be alone, and I don't much like that kind of odds
so . . .
"

Chimera's slightly raised brows were the
only indication of concern about the further qualifications.

"Don't worry. No queens this time. But as
you may know, my dad is a semiretired cop. I'd like it if your
company would hire him to do security for the job we were talking
about."

"Do you think he would?"

She nodded thoughtfully while chewing a bite
of pecan waffle. "Yeah. I think so. Laney—that's wife number
five—has invited her mom to come and visit, and Daddy can't stand
her. The mother-in-law, I mean. Besides, he's been looking a little
lumpy and peaked lately. I think he needs a change of climate.
Daddy isn't the kind of guy who should get in a rut, and he hasn't
changed wives or bought a new bike in over a year. Being bored
makes him feel old."

Chimera smiled. "How old is your father now,
Leda?"

"Oh, he's only seventy-two. How about
it?"

"If he agrees and can pass the company
physical, we don't see why not. You can travel together that way.
We will speak to Wilhelm."

CHAPTER 2

Duke Hubbard had been in law enforcement
since the tender age of fifty, when he finally decided he was
getting too old for motorcycle racing and stunt work and needed to
settle down. But training for the Nucore security force was like
undergoing immigration to a foreign country.

In fact, Nucore and several of the other
international conglomerates of similar hugeness and diversity of
interests enjoyed much the same international status as an
individual country plus some additional perks. It was the security
force's job not just to protect the company property but to protect
its prerogatives as well.

He was surprised to learn that company
security, not customs or immigration in the countries where Nucore
had large operations, was in charge of inspecting who and what came
into and left the facility in each country. Since Nucore had what
amounted to its own private air force, with aircraft flying under
the insignia of its various subsidiary holdings, and had in most
cases built as many airstrips and roads to supply its own needs as
the average army, the arrangement made sense.

All of this he learned in the rookie class
in the brand-new Nucore facility outside La Grande. He and Leda
were staying with her scientist buddy, Chimera. It was a relief to
return to the house, kick back, and have a beer. Leda bought the
good stuff. Part of the pleasure of the beer was hearing her yell
every time she found another one missing. It was one of their
little family games.

She spent a lot of time with Chimera down in
the lab, leaving Duke time to read all of the homework for his
rookie class. A bunch of it consisted of learning about electronic
doohickeys, alarm systems, and security devices that the company
employed to guard its premises. Procedural manuals, that kinda
thing. He'd be glad when they got to the part about apprehending,
knocking down, and cuffing somebody.

The first week or so he was in the class,
the younger guys all looked at him like they thought he was some
supervisor auditing the class or was getting ready to be an
instructor or something. When they realized he was just taking the
course along with the rest of them, they acted like he was some
pimple-faced kid who'd been held back twenty grades or so. The
instructor, a beefy young guy about ten years younger than Leda,
called him Pops a lot. Duke was used to that. As usual, the boys
who thought they knew everything weren't even in the loop. He knew
what this mission of Leda's was all about, and why her old man was
the only one she was willing to trust to watch her back. It sounded
far-fetched to him—Cleopatra, for pity's sake! But it was important
to Leda, to Chimera, and apparently to Wolfe's wife, though he
wasn't supposed to know that part. It was the clencher for him
though. Any lady who would go to that kind of extremes to make
herself sexier for her man was all right with him.