The Leaves in Winter (38 page)

Knockout Mouse took a moment to consider those in play. “Whoever would do such a thing knew they’d have cover. There are too many hands in the fire. If you make the wrong assumption, you’ll get burned.”

A drifting cloud unveiled the sun. Janis squinted into the glare. “I’m beyond the need to trust. It’s down to things very basic for me now.”

Knockout Mouse followed her line of sight. He watched the cloud begin to dissipate in the air currents. “I know what you mean.”

“In your business, I can’t see there being any trust.”

“What exactly is my business? All these years, I don’t think I’ve had any.”

“You did whatever The Group told you to do.”

“Not any more.”

“You’re not afraid of them?”

“I think I’m finally more afraid of what I’ve become.”

“Malcolm Stowe blackmailed you for most of your life. That only worked because you were so loyal to them. You wanted to protect them.”

“I was also afraid of what they would do. If he had exposed me as the one who gave LALO the GAMA, I would have been worse than an embarrassment to them. They don’t want liabilities on their balance sheet. I was young; I wanted a life.”

“And now?”

“I’ve seen everything from life extension to killer plagues up close. I know better.”

“What changed?”

“I realize I’d rather live one meaningful day than have a long life living a lie.”

“It’s getting harder to do that any more.”

“It has to start somewhere.” Knockout Mouse turned to her. “I told you up in
Vermont
that I was going to try to get a hold of 2nd Protocol. That’s why I had to come here in person – to tell you. I got it and not just the base. I got the whole thing. I had to face you and see if you were willing to take it and work on it.”

“I told you in the boathouse – there’s nothing I can do with 2nd Protocol.”

“Find a way to stop it! Use it to do some good.”

“Easier said than done. Even if I wanted to, I’m not in the position to do anything. You want me to give it to the government?”

“Fuck no! Why give it to nameless people without faces. I didn’t steal it from monsters just to give it to the beast.”

“I don’t have my own lab. What would I do with it?”

“How you use it is up to you. We need to try something, to set things right.”

“What about exposing The Group? Go to the authorities with it; give them names and the evidence to put them away.”

“Like you, I’m beyond trust. You forget, I’ve been on the inside with them for many years. I’ve seen the way they own the authorities.”

“Then give
me
the names and the evidence.”

“Oh yeah, maybe we should post it all on the web for everyone to see. We know how well that turns out.”

The reference to Mass’ memo was succinct. Janis felt the sting of sarcasm. “2nd Protocol caps lifespan. I don’t know what to do with that.”

He challenged her. “Oh, but you know what to do with sterility?”

Janis was taken aback. To be accused of a double standard was missing the main distinction. Working on the fix for sterility involved extinction, and Alyssa. She would not leave her daughter.

Knockout Mouse paced the sand. “What the hell are you working on in the lab? If you don’t want to play god then why did you come willingly to
Mount
Olympus
?”

“It was the only way to be with Alyssa.”

“Excuse me for saying so, but there’s a hell of a lot more at stake and you know it. If you didn’t think so, then why risk everything, dragging around Malcolm’s laptop? Why take the heat testifying before Congress?”

“That was about Mass, about collapsing the population.”

“So what are you working on here? A vaccine for 3rd Protocol? A way to stop the population collapse? No! If that’s what matters to you, then why do you work for them on something else?”

Janis turned away. “They brought me here. They thought she was dying.”

“Excuse me once again, but join the club.”

“There’s only so much I can do!”

Knockout Mouse raced around in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Then look me in the eye and tell me you’re not staying here for any other reason than Alyssa. You’re not playing god in the lab. You’re not trying to reverse sterility. Is that what they told you?”

Janis turned to turn away. Knockout Mouse wasn’t about to let up.

“What kind of conviction do you have? What does it take to convince you; serious shit is about to happen if someone doesn’t take a chance to stop it? How can you walk away from 2nd Protocol when you might be the only one who can help? Does a clear conscience come that easily to you? I guess everything comes too easily for you!”

His last words hit her hard – everything comes too easily for you.

She jerked from his grasp and pushed him back.

“How dare you berate me! You’ve been a mouse all your life, running the maze just the way The Group wanted you to. Don’t lecture me about what needs to be done. Where were you the last twenty years while these assholes were making their plans?”

The words were harsh. Knockout Mouse backed away and stared at her.

“Do whatever the fuck you think you have to. You got what you wanted on the GAMA. Go play god with it. If you change your mind about 2nd Protocol, let me know.” He turned and walked away.

Janis stood a long while and watched him go. She never expected his abrupt departure. With an ache in her chest she wanted to call out after him but couldn’t. Something held her back. He had made her feel like a hypocrite and a coward. Worse of all, he had echoed what Faye had said.

Everything comes too easily for you
.

The anger and hurt was too raw. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

She also couldn’t fathom what she would ever do if given a BSL4 agent that capped lifespan. The offer was immense, if overwhelming.

The only way she would ever be able to work on such a thing was in a proper lab. To do that now meant taking it to Faye and the government Project. But that didn’t guarantee anything. That didn’t mean they’d let her work on it and devise a way to combat it.

Chances are, they’d thank her and then take it away to be handled in secret by others. If that were the case, neither she nor Knockout Mouse could ever be sure what was being done with it. What might The Project learn from 2nd Protocol that could be used in a different way?

Once again, the specter of dual-use deception gave Janis pause.

Knockout Mouse didn’t trust the beast. And neither did she. The last time The Project tried to set things right by sabotaging 1st Protocol, sterility resulted.

She’d be damned before she’d give them 2nd Protocol.

After a few minutes, she walked up the beach to the ruins.

She strolled through the crumbled foundation and rested a hand on one of the remaining walls. The cracked and weathered stone was beautiful but abrasive.

The day had turned to debris, her confidence in shambles.

All around was devastation.

Chapter 36

Comme Chez Soi Restaurant

Place Rouppe 23,
Brussels

The limousine pulled up in front of the restaurant on time for 8 p.m. reservations. Eugene Mass considered the golden light from the familiar windows with fading fascination. An extended meeting near The Grand Place had left him reflective and tired. He wanted nothing more than to settle in for some good food and wine. Whether out on the town or at home, it didn’t matter.

Leah wanted to go out for the evening and so here he was.

As he prepared to exit the car, he wondered if she had been seated already.

In the moment it took to wait for the driver to open up the rear door, the phone rang. Mass considered ignoring it but decided to check caller-id.

It was Samuels from the lab. A call this late in the evening was unexpected. The limo door opened but Mass held up a hand. Seeing that Mass needed a minute, the driver closed the door and waited outside.

Mass accepted the call. “Samuels, working late?”

“Sorry to bother you sir but it was necessary.”

“According to whom?”

“It’s about the tests your wife wanted.”

Mass settled back with a bit more curiosity. “Yes…?”

“I thought you should know, the results are identical to Jayden’s.”

“Are you talking about sterility?” Astonished, Mass failed to mask his alarm.

“Yes. All three cases came back the same.”

“And what about their parents?”

“Same as before. Unaffected.”

Mass took a disquieted moment to absorb all it might mean. The timing of the news couldn’t have been worse. He sighed with aggravation. “Does Leah know?”

“Yes, sir. She checked in with us this afternoon.”

“What a coincidence.”

“Not really, sir. She’s been following test milestones all along. She was well aware we might be getting results today.”

Mass closed his eyes to let them rest. “All three children…were they given the same therapy regimen as their parents?”

“Yes, they all got the same
GenLET
.”

“From the same facility?”

“No, one child came to the lab. The other two went to a clinic.”

“Of course, you’ve kept all of this to yourself.”

“Yes, sir. The subjects believe it was a routine follow-up exam.”

Mass opened his eyes. “Good. We wouldn’t want them alarming the others.”

“No, sir.”

Focused on pressing but grim necessity, Mass switched to damage control. “This is only one test so let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ll need to find another way to verify this. You should get started with that right away.”

“If I may suggest, I believe we might want to broaden the next round of tests to include many more subjects. Looking at three children from the same city is a token effort if we want to nail this down.”

It was not the suggestion Mass wanted to hear; in fact, it sounded like something Leah herself might have suggested to the lab earlier in the day. Mass was infuriated that Samuels would try to offer it up as his own idea.

“If you think it was such a token effort, then why are you wasting my time calling me this late with results?”

“I just meant…”

“You have results that don’t prove anything? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Ah, no sir. I didn’t mean to imply…”

Mass cut him off. “Token efforts are made to placate people. Is that what you think we’re doing?” By getting Samuels to deny the truth, Mass laid down a plausible cover for the little support he had given to the tests. If anything, he looked upon them as little more than fallout from Leah’s psychosomatic troubles.

“No, sir.”

“Has it occurred to you that the more people we involve in these tests, the greater suspicion we’ll generate in the overall population of
GenLET
recipients? We can’t afford a culture of doubt developing within the
GenLET
community.”

“I agree.”

“Then you must also agree that your findings, while interesting, only raise more questions. The prime question I see concerns the parents of the subjects. If
GenLET
therapy caused the sterility, then why aren’t the parents affected? Do you know?”

“Not yet.”

“And that’s the problem. These children were born before their parents received
GenLET
, weren’t they?”

“Why yes, of course.”

“Are you the only one missing the logic of this? If
GenLET
caused the sterility, then you need to find out why it hasn’t made the parents sterile.”

“It’s a much more difficult proposition but plans for that are underway.”

“Good.”

“One more thing, sir. Until we get final answers, I recommend we restrict
GenLET
therapy to adults only.”

“Sounds reasonable. The children will have lots of time to get it later. There’s no sense causing unwarranted alarm. We risk less suspicion if we shut down only part of the program instead of all of it.”

“My thoughts exactly. And we do have confidentiality agreements in place.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then you know what to do….” Mass added a false smile to his voice. “By the way, Samuels, thanks for the heads-up. I’d rather hear such things from you first.”

Mass ended the call before Samuels could answer.

The impertinence of hired scientists irritated Mass to no end. But he needed them and in this case; wanted them on his side. Leah was campaigning behind the scenes for a moratorium on
GenLET
and 3rd Protocol. He couldn’t let her jeopardize either program needlessly. If there was a problem, fix it, but do so in a way that preserved the overall plan. If that meant token studies to placate a worried wife, so be it. Of course the tests were limited in scope; just as Mass wanted. The very least should be done, whatever would calm Leah and put the issue to rest.

The problem was – he never expected any of it to find a real cause for concern.

He stepped out of the car suddenly burdened, in no way ready for the drama of having to argue what must be done now. Entering the restaurant, he was recognized at once by the receptionist and promptly shown to the private dining room.

Leah sat amidst hardwoods and china and inspected a menu.

Mass was abrupt. “I hope you ordered for us.”

“I did.” Leah didn’t look up.

Mass took his seat. “What are we having?”

“Sole stuffed with crab, shrimp in tarragon sauce, the usual trimmings.”

“And the wine?”

“Something appropriate.”

The casual banter was awkward but welcomed by both. Neither wanted to argue, especially in public. The dining room was private but the venue was public. Wait staff would be coming and going. It could never be certain what someone might overhear. Both had so much to say yet felt constrained. On the other hand, the limits imposed by such a setting might help them avoid what otherwise could be heated and ugly. They settled in to their meal knowing full well that the rhythm to their civility was artificial, the structured peace between them fragile.

Leah spoke to
Eugene
’s tension. “You seem preoccupied.”

“Do I?” Mass gave his appetizer his undivided attention.

“I take it you got a call from Samuels.” Leah held her fork up, suspended mid-motion, and awaited a response.

Mass looked up. He hoped to short-circuit an unpleasant scene by summing up, straight to the point. “I know all about it. I agreed to his recommendation to restrict ongoing therapy to adults. I instructed him to verify the results with additional tests.”

Leah finished taking a bite of food. Her gaze dropped in disappointment. “You don’t seem surprised.”

Mass reached for his wine. “Of course I am.”

“How could you be? You’re still allowing adult therapy go ahead.”

“They found no problem with the adults.”

“But you’ve asked for more tests. Obviously, you don’t think they know enough. If that’s so, then all therapy should stop until we know for sure.”

“Likewise, we shouldn’t panic anybody. A sudden stoppage might do just that.”

“You’re worried about how it might look? At a time like this?”

“A time like what?”

Leah pressed her napkin to her lips to hold back emotion. “Think about what this means. Hundreds of children have gotten the therapy. We don’t even know what it might be doing to the parents. Anything else you’ve created with the same research can’t be trusted.”

The veiled reference to 3rd Protocol hit home but Mass was fatigued by the day. The weight of the news conspired with Leah and the wine to disarm him. Left defenseless, he could only plead his case.

“What would you have me do? Stop everything? Give up on
everything
?”

Leah straightened her posture. “Would it be so terrible?”

“You really mean everything. You’d let the population spiral into the perfect storm. How can you abandon New World Harmony?”

“Simple. I’ve gotten a good look at the means to the ends.”

“You see it as so unthinkable but you’re only looking at one side. What if we
don’t
go through with this? You want to trade the unthinkable for the horrific?”

“You don’t know that.”

“I most certainly do. How do you want to spend the next fifty thousand days of extended life? What kind of life will it be if we let the planet go down in flames?”

Leah shook her head. “What you’re suggesting is too big to control. There’s no way you can know for sure how it would all turn out.”

“No one ever does, with anything.”

“Nothing goes as planned. Why is your plan any different?”

“I refuse to be a defeatist. If everyone thought your way, nothing would get accomplished. I try because someone has to. You know what’s going on. You know where it’s headed. Not so long ago you were with me; you wanted to do it.”

“I can’t even think about it now. How could I do it?”

“It’s the lesser of two evils.”

Leah stared at him. “So you admit it’s evil.”

“No more evil than amputating arms and legs to save the body.”

“You are so good at using ethics to justify mayhem. If only you could be sure. But you can’t. No one can.”

“Stopping things in motion can be just a difficult as getting something going.”

Leah saw an opening. “It doesn’t have to be. You have plenty of excuses. Carlos Pena is dead. You can say you have to stop the program while you find another geneticist for the top spot.”

“That could take a while. Recruiting isn’t what it used to be. People are afraid of being the next target.”

“What about the quick-therapy modalities? Janis was working on those but didn’t finish. You know she’s not coming back. You can say we need time for someone else to get up to speed and finish her work. Tell people we’re switching to the quick-therapy method and we’ll resume therapy as soon as it’s done.”

“And never finish it. Is that your idea?”

“No.” Leah waited until a waiter came and went. “I’m not for stopping
GenLET
. I’m for fixing it. I only want to stop the other thing.”

“The other thing.”

“Yes.”

In public, neither of them were about to mention 3rd Protocol by name.

“Even if we solve the problem? Even if we rule out its involvement?”

Leah nodded. “Fix
GenLET
. Stop everything else.”

“You’re not thinking it through.”