The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) (36 page)

“We’re almost finished with the semester,” Professor Adams finally said. “You are still making straight A’s?”

“They haven’t changed since last week when we met in your office,” Willow said. 

Professor Adams grinned at this. “No, I suppose they haven’t.”

Willow took a sip of coffee. It burned her tongue a little, but the distraction was welcome. 

“Willow, I asked you to coffee because I want to talk to you about something.”

She felt her insides drop. This was it. He was about to express his feelings for her. What if he wanted her to accept his feelings and return them? If she didn’t, would he hurt her college career by giving her a bad grade? Would he do everything in his power to make her fail?

“Okay,” Willow said. 

“You’re a bright student,” he continued. “Honestly, I’ve become rather fond of you. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I find you different from any of the other students.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re smarter. You have a curiosity that is unmatched. You ask questions in class that most professors wouldn’t think to ask.”

He stopped talking for a moment, looking down at the cup resting between his hands as though he was choosing his words carefully. 

“I’m loo">ppeking for an apprentice of sorts. Someone who can follow after me in what I’m doing.”

“You have plenty of lab assistants, Professor, I don’t think I have the time…”

“I don’t mean a lab assistant,” he interrupted. “I mean someone who could start working with me now while they are in school. When school is finished, you could stay on with me on one of my research projects.”

“Microbiology isn’t really my focus,” Willow said. “Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy your class and I’m learning a lot, but I just don’t think I’m the one you’re looking for.”

“Do you know what I do outside of teaching?” Professor Adams asked. 

“Research?”

“Yes,” he said. “Specifically cures for various illnesses. In order to create cures, sometimes you also have to create strains of viruses in order to better understand what you’re dealing with.”

Willow waited a moment in silence for him to continue. She couldn’t know why he was telling her all this. This whole night had been completely turned around. She had gone from thoughts of romance to questions about devoting her entire professional life to one of his projects.

“I’ve come across a particularly deadly virus,” he said. “It’s something that I’m not sure would be entirely legal to work with, just to be honest with you.”

Willow didn’t say anything to this. She could feel her heart beginning to pound harder and faster. Part of her was excited about the mystery presented to her, but another part of her felt a sense of danger in his words. What exactly did Professor Adams want her to do?

“You know most people don’t know that I’m also a big history buff, particularly in the field of archeology,” he continued. “That’s what I studied for a long time. On one of my digs I came across something very intriguing.”

“I thought you were going to talk about viruses,” Willow said. 

“I know, I’m sorry,” he said with a smile. “What I have to say is all over the place, but I hope you’ll hear me out.”

“I haven’t left yet,” she said. 

He smiled again, looking into his cup. “Years ago, I came across some writings that spoke of extra terrestrials that visited Earth. Of course, the writings didn’t refer to them as extra terrestrials, but that’s what it came down to. These beings were much like we humans except they possessed extraordinary powers. Each of them could move things with their minds, move at super speeds, had the strength of machines. They could look into the future. They could read people’s minds. They could communicate from great distances with only a thought.”

“Super humans,” Willow said. 

“Yes. Better than that, they had powers to heal. And better than healing powers, all of them possessed the power of long life.”

“Are you saying they were immortal?”

“There was never a record of any dying of natural causes,” he said. “Eventually these people mated with humans. But the offspring didn’t possess the same power as their parents from the stars. At least, not all of them. Most had some powers; others had none at all. And for some reason that I never found, these aliens left Earth, never to return.” He held up a finger, not even looking at Willow now. “But I believe their bloodlines still live on.”

Willow shook her head at this. “What kind of writings? Where did you find them?"

“They came up in different forms all over the world,” Professor Adams answered. “Scrolls. Stone paintings. You name it.” 

“So, you believe what was written?” Willow asked. 

Professo"2e “Sr Adams looked at her with eyebrows lowered. “Of course. These were not written as fictional texts.”

“Forgive my skepticism, but why haven’t we ever heard of these people?”

Professor Adams sat forward. “Because of skeptics like you. In the realm of historians, people know about these texts, but say they point to gods or mythical beings such as Zeus or Hercules. The Greeks and Romans didn’t simply create gods out of thin air. I believe these countless stories of people with god-like powers were based on true events. There are plenty of well-known texts that said gods mated with humans, but they are counted as legend. But these were not gods at all. They were an advanced race from another galaxy.”

“So what makes you think they’re real? Why do you say the bloodlines still live?”

“Research.”

Willow waited for the rest of the answer.

“For the past ten years, apart from creating viruses for research, I’ve done nothing else but study abnormal physical behaviors in people across the globe. You can always find psychics, people with abnormal strength, weird stuff. Some of these are legitimate. Some of these people live with their powers as if it were normal.”

“And I repeat, how come we never hear of these people?”

“They are few and far between. Also, most of them don’t want to be found and many other people don’t want to believe they exist. It’s too crazy for the average person to accept. But the other answer is that you
do
hear about these people. Often times it’s after some great tragedy. People able to lift heavy objects to save their loved ones. People who were able to hold their breath for a long time because they were trapped under water.”

“I don’t buy it,” Willow said. Of course everything inside of her was curious about what he said. Part of her
wanted
all of this to be true, but it couldn’t be. It was nothing but pure fiction. Where was his proof? 

“I didn’t think you would take my word for it,” he said. “I came prepared for the fact that you wouldn’t. That’s why I want to show you something.”

Willow stared deep into Professor Adams’ eyes, unsure of what he was about to say or do, unsure if she even wanted to know. What he was claiming was bizarre.

“I’ve got a subject.”

“You know one?”

“I’ve got one,” he repeated. “He’s a man, but he is a Starborn.”

“Starborn?” Willow asked. 

“Oh, sorry. That’s the name that I’ve given them. Starborn. People born of the stars so to speak. Descendants of these otherworldly people.” 

“And what is his magnificent power?” she asked sarcastically. 

“Life,” Professor Adams said softly. “This man looks no older than sixty years, but he is about two hundred years old.”

“There’s no way that’s true,” Willow said. 

“But it is. When I was told about him, I didn’t believe it either. But science can prove an age, and through tests I found that he is around two hundred years old.”

The look on Willow’s face made Professor Adams smile. She wasn’t convinced. 

“I could tell by a process called methylation,” he said. “It’s a chemical alteration in our DNA. All I need is a saliva sample to be able to study a person’s genome and determine an age within five years. The man is about two hundred.”

Willow sat in silence for a moment, wondering how any of this could be true. What reason would Professor Adams have to tell her a lie? Why would he make all of this up?

“When you say that you have one, you mean you kidnappen y couldd him?” Willow asked. 

Professor Adams’ eyebrows furrowed sharply. “Of course not. He came willingly after I talked to him. He understands that his life can lead to long lives for millions of others.”

“So, that’s what you’re working on? Immortality?”

“This Starborn could be the key to long life for all of us, Willow. A person that can resist all diseases. A person that never gets sick. A person that can only be killed by outside physical means.”

“And you’re going to kill him?”

“I’m going to test him,” he said. He looked around to see if anyone was listening. “I don’t feel safe here. I mean, I don’t think we should talk of this anymore. Come to my lab with me. I will show you.”

Willow knew she had to. She knew she couldn’t pass up this opportunity, but she also knew this was the kind of stuff that landed people in prison for a long time. Even if the man that Professor Adams had in his lab wanted to die, that didn’t mean it was right. But if the professor did find the key to long life and made it available to people, would it matter? Wouldn’t people glaze over the details of how they gained immortality and just accept it willingly?

Willow stood from the table as Professor Adams did the same. “I will go and see what you are talking about. That doesn’t mean I’m willing to work with you on this, but you’ve got me curious.”

“I knew I would,” he said. “I’ll take you in my car.”

The drive took only a few minutes. It was a few minutes of silence for the most part. Willow felt so awkward going to Professor Adams’ lab. The fact that he had some human locked down, ready to die gave her the creeps. But if this man really was over two hundred years old, she knew she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see him, maybe even talk to him. 

The building was locked, but professor Adams had his own set of keys. Exit signs were the only lights illuminating the hallways. She followed him down several flights of stairs until they were in a portion of the building without windows. The basement. 

“I specifically asked for the entire lower level for my research,” he said as they walked through the entrance of his gigantic laboratory. “The university wanted to give me an upper level lab, but I insisted on the basement.”

“Why?” Willow asked. 

“Privacy,” he said. “No one bothers me down here. No one accidentally comes down, looking for one of their classes. Only those that are supposed to be here come.”

Willow nodded, still thinking that he was a bit mad at this point. A secret lab with a human test subject? All of this was starting to get weird. For some reason, Willow wished that Jessi were around. She would have probably talked Willow out of going down into the lab, or maybe she would have told Professor Adams that he was crazy and that he needed to leave young college girls alone. But Willow didn’t really want her to be there. Maybe if she wasn’t pregnant. Who knew if this could all become seriously dangerous? It’s not like Willow really even knew Professor Adams well enough to know what he was capable of. 

The room was filled with various tables and instruments. Coolers and drawers lined the walls, as did doors to various other rooms. Something that was strikingly strange about the whole place was how clean it was. Every inch was completely spotless. This was contrary to most labs that Willow had gone into over the past couple of semesters. Students were not the best keepers of their lab equipment, and truthfully, neither were the professors.

He led Willow to a table near the center of the room and gestured a hand for her to sit at one of the chairs. Before she sat, she couldn’tshefessors. help but notice a very large number of lab rats in various containers that filled the entire side wall of the laboratory. Some of them seemed normal, but most were ravenous, biting at the plastic walls to try and get out. They looked like they were half rotten too. She didn’t want to look at them, but like a bad wreck, she couldn’t help but stare.

“Looks like you have a pest problem,” she said jokingly. 

“Before I show you the test subject, I first need to tell you about the virus I created,” he said, ignoring her remark.

“Okay,” Willow said, unable to grasp the connection between the two.

“I call it the grey cell virus,” he said. “When injected into the bloodstream, the subject dies within twenty-four hours. The virus had started out as an attempt to create a vaccination, but when testing it on the rats it had the opposite effect.”

“Why do you call it the grey cell virus?” Willow asked. 

“The white lab rats started to turn an ashy, grey color. Then they died. Then they turned completely grey. Then they reanimated.”

“Reanimated?”

Professor Adams nodded. “They also became highly aggressive, wanting nothing but to eat. I put on protective gear and placed them in a cage with normal lab rats. Within minutes, the non-infected lab rats were either eaten completely or badly injured. The injured ones soon died, but they too reanimated.”

“What would be the point in making such a virus?” Willow asked. 

He nodded. “It was meant to be a super vaccine. One that protected people from just about any disease you could imagine. Influenza. HIV. Even cancer.”

“But it didn’t work,” Willow said. 

Professor Adams grinned and shook his head. “It had the opposite effect. It attacked good cells in the body. Then the subjects died. The virus doesn’t want to die with the subject however, so it found a way to basically jumpstart the nervous system.” He pointed at the rats. “Their brains function enough to move and desire meat. That’s about it. But it is the virus’ way of living on. Passing from one subject to the next.”   

Willow sat with her eyes staring straight ahead at the rats in their containers. What Professor Adams had suggested could be very dangerous indeed. 

“I have no reason to doubt that we humans would suffer the same effect as the rats should we come in contact with the virus.”

“How is the virus passed from one subject to another? It’s not airborne is it?”