Last Days (Last Days Trilogy #1) (8 page)

Reggie tromped her way through the piling snow to her father’s shop, her wet toes reminding her continuously that she needed new boots. Unable to park in his lot, she’d left her pick-up a half a block down the street. She smiled through the weather, though thinking of how easily she’d be able to afford new boots now.

After greeting Grace, the perennial secretary, in the front office, she headed for the garage and was assaulted with the usual noises of men working, and then by the sight of Herbie’s plumber pants crack. She held her breath and inched her way over to her father who was spray painting the side of a car.

She tapped him on the shoulder. “Dad.”

“Hey, Reg.” He kept working.

“I have to talk to you! It’s important!” she shouted. “Can you shut that off?”

“Are you dying?” Kyle yelled.

“No!”

“Seth okay?!”

“Yes!”

“Then just talk loud, because I promised Huey I’d have this done today!”

Reggie folded her arms and hunched down to her father. “I’m going to Chicago to see Marcus for a few days! I leave tomorrow morning! Can you watch Seth until Tuesday?”

“I’ll watch him!” Kyle kept working. Reggie didn’t move. “What about work?”

“I don’t need to work anymore!”

“Oh? Did you hit the lottery?”

“Sort of,” Reggie mumbled. “I’m helping Marcus!”

“How!”

“I’m having the clone baby,” Reggie whispered.

“What was that?”

After glancing sidelong at Herbie, Reggie screamed. “I’m having the baby for Marcus!”

Silence. Kyle stopped painting. Herbie stopped sanding.

With a toss of his tool, Herbie was up and stomping across the garage. “I knew it.” He grabbed his coat and headed to the door. “I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.” The door slammed as he left.

“Damn it, Reg!” Kyle shouted. “If Marcus is going to knock you up, you might wait to tell me until after the Anderson car’s done! Thank you very much!”

“Daddy, I’m not getting knocked up by Marcus.”

“Oh.” Kyle shifted his eyes. “I’ll find Herbie and tell him.”

“I’m getting knocked up for Marcus.”

“Make up your mind, Reggie, either you’re having Marcus’ baby or not. What? Doesn’t he want to make a kid the old fashioned way?”

“You might say that. I’m going to be the surrogate mother for the clone.”

The compressor turned back on and Kyle glared at his daughter. “Over my dead body.”

“Dad!” Reggie shouted as Kyle squatted back down. “I told him yes. And... I’m old enough to make up my own mind!”

“Apparently you’re not!” Kyle yelled.

“They’re sending a plane for me tomorrow! I’ll be on it.”

“Like hell you will!”

“Dad!” Reggie tried to reason. “Marcus needs me! He’s my best friend!”

“I don’t care! He can find someone else!”

‘Last ditch effort’, Reggie thought. “The institute is paying me two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

The compressor went off and Kyle stood up. “When do you leave?”

“It’s a father thing,” Rose told Marcus.

Marcus nodded, looked at his watch, raced to the phone and picked it up. “Yes, I understand.”

“And make sure Reggie...”

Marcus didn’t listen to the rest of what Kyle said, he set down the phone and moved back to his counter. “Tom, make sure the in-vitro tubes are ready. We’re just about there.”

“Yes, all ready,” Tom said.

“Good.” Marcus walked back to the phone. He picked it up. “Yes, I understand.”

“She cannot be...”

Marcus set down the phone and walked across the lab. He bent down to a cooler and unlocked it with a key dangling from his wrist. He opened it and removed a small case. “Batch four. Excuse me.” He walked back to the phone. “I understand.”

“There’s just a lot I need to cover with you,” Kyle said.

“Can you write it down?” Marcus suggested. “Give it to Reg. When she gets here, I’ll give it my thorough review. Right now I have to go. I promise to do whatever you need.” Marcus nodded. “Thanks, Mr. Stevens.” With a slight smile, Marcus hung up the phone and moved back to batch four. “We’re ready.” Marcus carried his prized possession to the main lab, as Rose and Tom followed.

Reggie felt guilty about ignoring the curiosity on her son’s face as he watched her pack. Seth was smart for his age, and surely saw through Reggie’s rambling explanations. But he didn’t know why she was leaving when they always watched wrestling on Monday nights, especially when his grandfather’s girlfriend Marybeth, a.k.a. Church Lady, was around.

“Why are you taking so many clothes?” Seth asked.

“It’s a girl thing. All women pack too much. A woman has to have a selection, you know.” Reggie smiled until a sudden flashback floored her.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered, closed her eyes and saw herself at four watching her mother pack a bag. Reggie had asked her mother the same question. Her mother never came back. Reggie panicked.
Poor Seth
, she thought.
How could she convince him she was returning?
Thinking she saw fright in his young, blue eyes, she sat on the bed. “Seth? Are you worried?”

“Yes.” Seth nodded.

Reggie knew she had to be blunt. “Honey, I don’t want you to worry. I don’t want you to think I’m not coming back. I’m not packing this bag to leave you forever. I’m just going to go away for a few days. That’s all. I’ll be back.”

“I know. Why would you want to leave for good?”

“Seth? Isn’t that what you’re worried about?”

“No.” Seth shook his head. “I’m worried about my game controller. Pap spilled soda on it and now the button’s stuck.”

“Seth.” Reggie softened her voice. “I’m talking really worried stuff. Stuff that worries you about me being gone. Anything about me leaving worry you?”

“No.” Seth shook his head.

“What about what I told you about me and Marcus?”

“It’ll be weird… him being your boyfriend.”

“Not boyfriend. Not yet.” Reggie held up her hand. “We’ll see what happens. See if we can, you know, make it work.”

“Is it because you’re both getting old and lonely and in need of physical companionship that no one else will give you?”

“What? Where in the world did you hear...”

“Pap. That’s what he said about you and Marcus. He told me that’s the reason you’re going to spend time with him. He said Herbie dumped you. Did he?”

“Seth, Herbie and I were never really a couple.”

“Well, it wasn’t very nice to tell the guy you were gonna marry him if you didn’t mean it. Pap told me.”

“Let me tell you a little secret about Pap. He lies.” Reggie stood up from the bed. “He used to beat it into my head that if I kissed a boy before I was eighteen, a neurological chain reaction would occur and I would lose all ability to control my motor functions and I’d pee myself.” She shook her head. “I believed him until I was fifteen.”

“Did someone tell you he was lying?”

“No. I found out on my own. I kissed a boy and nothing happened.”

Seth laughed. “I’m eleven and I don’t even believe that.”

“Pap has a way of brainwashing people.”

“I heard that.” Kyle walked into the bedroom. “You should know I believed everything I told you, Reg.”

“Right.” Reggie smiled and closed her suitcase.

“Hey.” Kyle rubbed Seth’s head. “Hurry up. Big and Hot is on TV for an interview.”

“No way.” Seth darted out of the room.

“Big and Hot?” Reggie, excited, started to follow Seth.

Kyle stopped her. “Not you. I need to talk to you.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope. “You give this to Marcus as soon as you see him.”

Reggie took it. “What is this?”

“Instructions. He’ll know what to do with them. Reg... Just tell me. Are you positive no one is going to know you’re carrying this clone?”

“Positive,” Reggie said. “The institute is saying the mother is in England. I’ll use the cover story that Marcus and I got caught up in a moment of passion.”

Kyle snickered.

“What?”

“Passion?” Kyle laughed. “You and Marcus? No one’ll buy that.”

Reggie’s mouth dropped. “Well, they’ll have to. So there.”

“So there.” Kyle nodded as Seth reappeared. “What’s wrong, Seth?”

“It’s a bee show. Big and Hot isn’t on. Did you lie?”

“Yeah, I did. I needed to talk to your mom.” Kyle told him.

“How come you just didn’t ask me to leave?”

“It’s more fun telling tales.” Kyle moved to the door. “Let’s go get some dinner and let your mom finish up.”

“O.K,” Seth agreed.

“And don’t forget to pack that fancy flip phone Herbie got you. If you’re gonna break his heart, at least use his gift.”

Reggie shook her head and watched her father and son walk from the bedroom. She stepped over to her window and watched the blizzard outside storm just as bad as yesterday. She knew most commercial flights from Cleveland were either canceled or delayed. She wasn’t sure about private jets.

“Mom.” Seth brought her the phone. “It’s my new step-dad.”

“Thanks.” Reggie took the phone and brought it to her ear. “Hey, Herbie.”

“Herbie,” Marcus snapped. “This isn’t Herbie.”

Reggie rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I was zoning out. What’s up? Something wrong?”

“Not at all.” Marcus paused. “We... we got life.”

Reggie clenched the phone. “It worked?”

“Absolutely. Just as I said – batch four.”

“Oh, Marcus, I’m so proud of you. It really worked.”

“Cells began dividing nicely,” he explained. “Now we have to get you here. We have that new procedure to prep your uterus.”

“Prep my uterus? Is that a scientist’s idea of romantic lingo?”

“Ha, ha, ha. No. It’s so you don’t have to get those injections and cuts the time. I’ll tell you what, infertility clinics are gonna love me when FDA approves.”

“It’s not approved. Is it dangerous?”

“Um …  no. But we need to get you here soon.”

“Yeah, if the weather will cooperate...” Reggie looked back out the window. “Oh, my God! It stopped snowing. I mean just now. Oh, shit, Marcus, the sun’s coming out. And fast too. It wasn’t supposed to stop.”

“See, Reg,” Marcus said. “No doubts. We got life from batch four. You said ‘yes’… and your father is dealing with it, and now Mother Nature is coming along for the ride.”

Reggie smiled as the bright sun reflected off the white snow. “I’d say I might have to agree.”

After Reggie hung up, Marcus kept his hands on the phone. Things were going as planned. He couldn’t wait. He even anticipated, with some amusement, Kyle’s instruction list. Stepping back from his phone, Marcus grabbed his pocket recorder and his chicken scratch yellow notepad. Although those notes were his primary operating data, he still had to translate them for Rose to type up and document. He used the recorder to translate this garbled mess into sense.

Marcus pressed ‘record.’ “November twenty-second at 11:22 a.m. Central Standard Time.” Marcus paced and talked. “The cloning process was complete with the generation of the batch four ovum. Eight ovum were successfully asexually fertilized. However, only one remains. Outlook is positive that the single cell fertilization will continue to grow. And using... using... oh wow.” He lowered his notepad as he caught a glimpse of the sun outside the window. “It stopped snowing here, too.” He went to the window, and watched the water drip from the melting snow.

“Dr. Leon.” Rose entered, sounding frantic.

“Rose, did you see?” He pointed out the window. “It stopped snowing.”

“No, I didn’t. Dr. Leon, we have... you have to come to the main lab. It’s the embryo.”

“Shit.” Marcus flew out of the lab. “Did it abort?”

“No.” Rose ran after him to the main lab.

“What’s going on?” Marcus asked as he approached Tom. “Is it all right?”

Tom was mute. He gulped and pushed the in-vitro dish closer to Marcus.

Marcus brought the dish over and studied it. “Oh my God.”

While Marcus’ dreams could hardly be termed normal, the more he immersed himself in the throes of the experiment, the weirder they became. Usually, in a lucid dream-state, Marcus would spend his time figuring it out, as if he were in a good mystery. Why was he there? What did it mean? What caused it?

However, no dream in recent memory was as clear to Marcus as his latest.

The feel of the outdoors engulfed him, the smells, atmosphere, sounds. Marcus got his bearings and spied a dilapidated stable, a dim flickering flame within. It all seemed real, down to the odors of the stable animals.

Suddenly he was in the stable, Reggie standing across from him, both of them garbed in New Testament clothing. He scanned the interior and noticed the trappings and symbolism of Christianity well-represented, all fitting his life and work at present.

But still he laughed.

“Look at us, Reg,” Marcus remarked.

Reggie peered downward, her head shrouded in a veil.

Marcus followed her eyes, and shrieked. “Ha! A manger.”

“Marcus,” she whispered. “Oh, Marcus. Listen to him.”

“Who?”

A soothing male voice answered, “Me.”

Marcus peered up to see a man standing there shadowed. Only his eyes were clear. They were translucent green eyes and Marcus knew them from somewhere.

“You,” Marcus said. “Why are you here?”

“It is not too late, Marcus. It is not too late.”

Should he have recognized the man? Perhaps. Confused, he glanced at Reggie for an answer. When he looked back, the man was gone. “Reg, that was weird.”

Reggie lifted her eyes, “He’s right.”

“Who is he?”

“Our only hope.”

Marcus chuckled. “Not this again. Reg, this is my dream. I have to exercise a little...”

“It’s not too late,” she whispered. “You and me, is this what we’re doing? Will the world know?”

“Will the world know what?” Marcus questioned. “About this dream?”

“No, I mean about him.”

“The guy with the eyes.”

“No, Marcus.” Reggie spoke desperately. “Him.” Nodding down at the manger, she reached inside for the bundle. Suddenly, the covers flung open and a demonic cry squealed out. Like a whipping rope, a long snake’s tongue shot out and snapped a stranglehold around Reggie’s throat.

“Marcus!” she cried.

The eerie, sadistic growl increased in volume. Wanting to help, Marcus tried to reach out, but froze.

Marcus watched in horror as the tongue wrapped tighter around Reggie’s throat, her face turning bluer, her struggles more desperate. “Marcus!”

“Marcus,” the voice snapped him from the dream.

“Shit.” Marcus lifted his head and tried to shake off the dream. “Rose,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“Are you all right?” Rose asked.

“Weird dream.” He sat up. “About Reggie.”

“That is weird,” Rose said. “Reggie just arrived.”

Without hesitation, Marcus flew from his office.

Marcus looked forward to Reggie sharing in his work. Perhaps he’d tell her about the dream. His hands fumbled with the card key. Finally it worked the door unlocked. As he stepped inside, he was struck with the vision of Reggie standing by the window of the makeshift kitchen. She turned.

“You’re here… and early.” He shut his door and rushed to her. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” Reggie accepted a kiss on her cheek and held up her glass. “I stole some of your wine. I knew it’d be awhile till I could drink again. Surprised I’m here so fast? The flight left an hour before schedule.”

“This is great. Reg, I was just dreaming of you.”

“Really? That’s weird.”

“Not as weird as the dream, but... we’ll leave that for another time.” He took the glass from her hand and set it down.

“Oh, hey, no, wait.” Reggie reached for his hand. “Let me finish it.”

Marcus shook his head. “Reg.” He grabbed her arms. “I have something to tell you, and something to give you.” He reached into his back pocket, and handed her an envelope. “For you.”

“Oh, I have one for you... from my Dad.”

“Open mine first.” Marcus said.

“All right.” Reggie tore at the envelope. “Marcus?” She looked inside. “This is a check for five thousand dollars.”

“I tried to get you more, but the institute insisted on only paying for your inconvenience,” he shrugged.

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s for your time. We hired you and you came out. So we paid you for that. However, you’re not going to be the mother,” Marcus explained. “Well... surrogate.”

“Oh.” Reggie’s face dropped. “Okay…” She blinked. “Did you get someone else? Did I do something wrong?”

“No. No.” Marcus reassured her. “In fact, I still want you to be a part. Hell, you
are
a part.”

“I’m lost.”

“See, we fertilized the egg and the cells divided. We planned to implant you with the egg Tuesday, but now...” Marcus paused. “You know what,” he smiled, “I’ll show you. Let’s go.” He took her hand and dragged her from his apartment.

Five minutes later, he hesitated briefly in the hall before the lab. His words rambled as he opened the door, “This is our growth lab-slash-observatory. We had to improvise rather quickly. But it is extraordinary. The product, I mean.”

“Marcus, my head is spinning.”

“Sorry.” He pushed open the door. “Oh, look, Rose and John are on shift.”

They stepped into the long room of the makeshift lab. The observation office they stood in contained computers, and video monitors. In the background a radio played. A long glass window separated them from the lab.

“Rose, John. This is Reggie.” Marcus said, shuffling her through quickly.

Rose swiveled her chair, stood up and extended her hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you. It’s nice to...”

Marcus tugged on Reggie. “Enough niceties. This way.”

“Hey!” Reggie felt her hand pulled from Rose.

“Shh.” Marcus placed his code in the second door by the glass window. It buzzed open. With a rush, he brought her into the lab.

“Marcus, you’re pulling me like a rag doll,” Reggie complained. “God...” She stopped abruptly and gawked.

Marcus smiled. “Exactly.”

Reggie was stunned by the ponderous glass case set in the middle of the room. A large vat of liquid bubbling noisily, lay eight feet long by five deep by three feet wide. A clutch of wires extended from one end.

“I believe you’re burning in hell, Marcus.”

“I don’t believe in hell. Come look. Don’t be scared.” Marcus shoved her closer. “Meet our clone.”

Reggie peeked inside. It resembled a human being. But barely. The two-foot object seemed more like an ivory sculpture to Reggie. Its arms, legs, and face were molded, but not yet finished. “Is it alive?” she asked.

“Very much so,” Marcus answered. “We haven’t a clue how it’s surviving. But it is. We created an artificial amniotic fluid for protection. But that’s about all it’s getting. It doesn’t move or twitch. As you can see, the eyes aren’t formed, but its heart beats steady. No placenta, no means of nutrition. It’s just growing... and at a rate of fifteen point two days per hour.”

“Holy shit.” Reggie said, summoning the nerve to peer closer.

“That was
our
first reaction. Imagine my surprise when four hours post-conception the embryo was already too big to implant. And, Reg,” Marcus leaned closer to her, “By all rights, it should have died. It had no means of protection or survival while we finished this larger womb. We had to place it in a sink.”

“It’s almost frightening.”

“Almost? No, Reg, it’s
very
frightening. There’s no explanation for it. None. This,” he waved his hand over the case, “should never have happened. It goes against everything we planned.”

“Why does that surprise you?” Reggie asked.

“Because it wasn’t supposed to happen like this. A fertilized egg was supposed to be implanted. Nine months later we’d have the baby. We don’t know why this is happening.”

Reggie rolled her eyes. “Gees, I can tell you why.”

“You know? Reg, you’re no scientist.”

“I have common sense. And apparently you don’t. Or you would have thought of it.”

“Thought of what?” Marcus asked.

“Hello? Marcus. You clone an adult, you get an adult. Duh.”

Marcus blinked, stunned. “Duh? Did you just say... duh to me?”

“I did.”

“Reg.” Marcus shook his head. “Clone an adult, get an adult. What kind of thinking is that?”

“Logical.”

“Not scientifically logical.”

Smug, Reggie folded her arms. “Okay, Mr. Scientist, what’s your scientific explanation?”

“I have none, but... do you think it’s possible? Now, don’t laugh, but do you think it’s possible that something... supernatural is going on?”

Reggie paused. “Huh? What? Wait. That’s a Reggie way of thinking, Marcus.”

“That’s why I’m asking you. You always have a weird angle on things. Do you…”

“...think it’s something supernatural that’s causing this?”

Marcus nodded.

She shook her head. “No, I think science has surprised you. You went into unchartered territory and you made a discovery that you didn’t expect. Once again, clone an adult, get an adult.”

Marcus smiled. “So by the ‘Reg’ theory, the clone will be finished when he’s an adult.”

“Or the age of the person you cloned. How fast is it growing again?”

“Fifteen point two days an hour or, one year every day.” Marcus’ eyes widened and he spun to the case. “Shit.”

“What?”

“As if there isn’t enough controversy.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Reg,” Marcus looked at her in horror, “how old was Christ when he died?”

“Thirty-two, supposedly.”

“Exactly. At the rate of one year per day... thirty-two days from now is Christmas.”

Reggie stared back at Marcus, equally stunned. She held up her hand and turned around.

“Reg? Where you going?” Marcus tossed up his hands, exasperated, as he watched her depart the lab without a word.