Wired (12 page)

19

Desh
sat in stunned silence, replaying the word in his head to be sure he had heard
correctly. A flying insect slammed into the windshield like a tiny missile and
became an instant smear. “Immortality,” he repeated finally, shaking his head
dubiously. “Impossible.”

“Yeah,
so is amping up your own IQ,” shot back Smith. “And no, she hasn’t achieved it.
Yet. But it’s only a matter of time. She has managed to
double
the span
of human life, though. Not immortality, but certainly good enough to win the
high school science fair,” he added wryly.

“You’re
sure about this?”

Smith
nodded. “You can never be positive until the first person treated lives to be a
hundred and sixty, but I understand the animal and early human evidence is
pretty strong.”

“How
does she do it?”

“Hell
if I know. It takes an injection, repeated once a year. I have no idea what it
does. All I know is that it slows aging to a crawl, so that a man of seventy
will have all the physical characteristics and abilities of a man of
thirty-five.”

“Remarkable,”
said Desh in wonder.

“We
believe she sees immortality as a three stage process. She’s already completed
the first stage. The second stage would be to design microscopic nanorobots
that would be injected into the bloodstream, patrolling and repairing the body
and replicating themselves as necessary. A vast army of tiny MDs. This could
theoretically extend the lifespan five hundred years or more.” He paused. “The
third stage, her ultimate goal, would be set up an artificial matrix into which
she can transfer her intellect. She could repeat this process any number of
times. That would be closer to true immortality.”

“What
do you mean by an artificial matrix to transfer her intellect? Are you saying
she plans to transfer her consciousness someday into an artificial body? Turn
herself into some kind of cyborg?”

“I
don’t know. Maybe. Maybe she’ll just clone herself every fifty years and transfer
her consciousness into a younger version of herself. And what we think she’s
trying to do may never be possible. Even for her. But that’s beside the point. The
key for our discussion now is that she has already managed to do the
impossible: doubling human life expectancy.”

Incredible,
thought Desh, as he allowed himself to truly consider the earth shattering
implications of this discovery. More than incredible—surreal. But as he thought
about it, it all made perfectly logical sense. If he assumed Kira Miller really
could optimize her mind and become autistic-savant-like in every area of
thought, she wouldn’t focus these transcendent abilities on solving pedestrian
problems. No, she would go after the ultimate prize: conquering death. The
ultimate Holy Grail of the species. And she was a genius in gene therapy even
before any enhancements.

Now
the journals Kira had been receiving at home made perfect sense.
Human Brain
Mapping
.
The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
. Both would be quite
useful in her efforts to rewire her own brain. But she had also subscribed to a
journal having to do with gerontology, the branch of science that dealt with
the aging process. Desh had found this odd at the time, but hadn’t thought any
more of it. But now the pieces of the puzzle seemed to be fitting together
quite nicely.

Desh
pulled himself from his reverie. “But if she was able to accomplish something
like this,” he said, “why didn’t she announce it? She’d be recognized as the
greatest scientist in history. She’d be an instant billionaire as well.”

“You
don’t really
get
her yet, do you?” said Smith in frustration. “She
doesn’t get off on extending life or bringing joy to the world. She gets off on
the opposite. Think Adolph Hitler, not Florence Nightingale.” He paused. “Kira
Miller has discovered the ultimate leverage. She can amass wealth and power
beyond imagining. Every person on the planet wants to delay their aging. And
she’s the only game in town. If she takes her treatment public, anyone who pays
for it can have extended life. But if she keeps it and only doles it out to a
select few, she can acquire a level of power that goes far beyond mere money.”

Desh
nodded grimly. People had gone to extraordinary lengths throughout history in
the pursuit of money alone, but that would pale to the lengths to which they
would go for the fountain of youth.

“By
using her treatment as currency, we’re convinced she has a number of powerful
people in her pocket already,” said Smith. “Including a mole in USASOC.” He
shook his head in frustration. “Although it isn’t as if anyone she’s treating
is announcing themselves. She controls supply, so if they do anything to cross
her, she cuts them off. Bye-bye fountain of youth.”

“Has
anyone come forward?”

“Only
one. And not willingly. A billionaire industrialist who helped finance her
early on.”

Desh
pursed his lips in thought. “What about intelligence enhancement? Is she
leveraging this in the same way?”

“Doesn’t
have to. Extending life gives her all the power she needs. As far as we know
she’s keeping enhanced IQ all to herself. Right now she’s the goose that lays
the golden eggs. The
only
such goose in existence. She can leverage the
fruits of her enhanced genius, but why give up her golden-egg laying monopoly?”

“Makes
sense,” allowed Desh.

“Besides,”
added Smith, “she’d have far fewer takers for this therapy. People tend to get
nervous about a treatment that screws with their brain chemistry. You can’t
make dramatic changes to the brain without risking irreversible changes in
personality.” He shook his head in disgust. “Others might not be as eager as
she is to transform themselves into something not quite human.”

Desh
knew that if Kira was to be believed, she was far from eager to undertake any
further transformations. In fact, she claimed to be horrified by what her
treatment was doing to her and determined to never transform herself again. Whether
this was true or not remained to be seen.

They
drove on for several minutes as Desh tried to get his mind around the immense
implications of what he had been told. Finally, he broke the silence. “Now I
understand why you had the colonel make sure I didn’t go after her once I found
her. And why your men were using tranquilizer darts. You can’t risk harming the
only being in existence who knows the location of the fountain of youth.”

“That’s
right.”

“And
if I did catch her, you were worried that she'd hypnotize me with her charm or
bribe me. That’s what you were getting at when you asked if she had offered me
anything. You wanted to know if she tried to buy me off with promises of
extended life.”

“Yes.
She would have had to convince you it really worked, have you talk to some of
her other, ah . . . clients, that sort of thing, but I did wonder if she had at
least raised the prospect.”

“She
didn’t say a single word about it.”

“I
believe you. Perhaps she would have if we hadn’t intervened.” He paused and
then sighed heavily. “But you see what we’re up against. How can you trust
anyone when she can offer them the keys to the fountain of youth?”

“Which
is why you didn’t share the entire truth with Colonel Connelly,” said Desh
knowingly. “And why you kept me under surveillance.”

“Exactly.
I don’t trust
anyone
where Kira
Miller is concerned. If you ignored Connelly’s instructions and captured her,
she could offer you the ultimate bribe to gain her freedom. At that point there
is no guarantee that you would follow through and call us in. We didn’t want to
leave that to your discretion.”

That
could well have been her plan, Desh realized. She had told him her goal was to
recruit him to her side, perhaps their discussion was prelude to her revealing
what she considered the ultimate recruiting tool.

“I
can’t be bought,” said Desh firmly. “Even with extended life.”

Smith
nodded. “Again, I believe you. Your military records show that you are a man of
impeccable integrity, Mr. Desh. But even so, any man who says he wouldn’t be at
least a tiny bit tempted to drink from the fountain is a liar.”

“Including
you?”

“Including
me,” acknowledged Smith.

Desh
pursed his lips in thought. Smith had referred to his military records and said
they spoke to his integrity. But Kira had claimed to have made a thorough study
of him, including these records. If this was true, she would have known how
highly he valued his integrity. In fact, she had said that this trait, among
others, was the reason she wanted to recruit him in the first place. But if
this were the case, she would have known any attempt at a bribe, regardless of
the lure, would have failed. So maybe this hadn’t been her plan, after all.

Smith
had cleared up some questions but many more remained.

“So
what about the terrorist connection and Ebola plot,” said Desh. “Is this just a
fabrication? Did you invent it to get everyone hunting for her?”

“I
wish this were the case,” said Smith gravely. He yanked the steering wheel to
the left to avoid a grisly mass of fur and blood the headlights had suddenly
revealed ahead of them. “But I’m afraid it’s very real,” he continued a few
seconds later, the car steady once again as the unrecognizable road-kill
receded behind them. “And with her abilities you can be sure the attack will
succeed.”

Desh
looked confused. “But why would she work with terrorists?” he asked. “It
doesn’t make any sense. What can she gain from a bio-weapons attack? She has
all the money and power she could want.”

“You
would think,” agreed Smith. “But apparently not. We don’t know what her angle
is on the Ebola plot. But rest assured, whatever it is, it moves her agenda
forward. She’s a far better chess player than we are. Just because we can’t
understand one of her moves doesn’t mean it’s random.” He shrugged. “Maybe she
plans on blackmailing the government to call off the attack in the eleventh
hour. Maybe she wants to get in bed with powerful people on both sides of the
war on terror for her own ends. We don’t know. All we know is that the threat
is very real and she’s behind it. Stopping this attack is still the primary
purpose of the Op, regardless of any other reason we have for wanting her.”

Desh
shook his head irritably. “That’s bullshit and you know it!” he snapped. “Getting
the secret of extended life is the primary purpose of the Op.” Before Smith
could respond he added, “Suppose I had her in my sights, and I knew for certain
that killing her would end the bioterror threat. Would you have me pull the
trigger?”

“It’s
not as easy as that,” replied Smith. “We need to know what she knows about the
Ebola plot. Taking her alive could well be the only way to stop it.”

“You’re
ducking the question. I asked a hypothetical. Would you support killing her if
you knew,
with
certainty
, that this would end the threat? Suppose,
even, it was the
only
way to end the threat.” He stared intently at the
wiry driver. “Well?”

Smith
hesitated. “It still isn’t that simple. If you killed her, you might stop the
murder of several million people, but at the expense of extended life for all
of humankind now and in future generations. Where do you draw the line? Would
you save two million people from dying an average of thirty years sooner than
otherwise, even if you knew it was at the cost of preventing more than six
billion
people, in this generation alone, from living longer? Say an average of
seventy
years
longer?”

“I
see,” said Desh in disgust. “So it’s just a tradeoff. An easily solved mathematical
calculation.”

“Not
necessarily. But there are important considerations that need to be made. Who’s
to say that humanity will ever have this chance again?”

“So
if two million people have to be sacrificed for the greater good, so be it?”

“Look,
the point is we’re talking about a hypothetical here. It’s unlikely that
killing her will stop the bioterror threat. In fact, it’s more likely that
killing her before she can be interrogated will
end
any chance we’ll
ever have of stopping it. So no tradeoff needs to be made. Capturing her alive
is critical to stopping the Ebola threat
and
to getting the secret of
life extension.”

“Maybe,”
said Desh dubiously. “But I doubt it. She’s the only one capable of perfecting
the virus they’re planning to use. Unless it’s ready to go, everything I know
tells me that killing her will end the threat. But regardless of whether you
believe that or not, just do me the favor of not pretending this is mostly
about bioterror.”

Smith
frowned. “Even if I conceded your point, how does this change anything? Kira
Miller is still out there somewhere, and we have to find her.” He paused and
then added pointedly, “And you could be the key. She took a huge risk capturing
you. The question is . . . why?”

“I
don’t have any idea.”

“Another
move that doesn’t make any sense,” said Smith in frustration. “If all she
wanted was muscle, she could have as much as she needed at any time. You’re not
wealthy or highly-placed. As good as you are, with her brilliance and resources
and unknown benefactors, you had very little chance of finding her. Given
everything we know, you don’t merit even becoming a pawn in her chess game, let
alone a piece of higher value. But the risk she took was uncharacteristic, so
we must be missing something.”

“I’m
just as mystified as you are.”

“I
doubt we’ll ever figure it out,” said Smith. “Her enhanced mind can work on a
plane that we can’t come close to reaching. The question is,” he added
pointedly, “are you still important to her for some reason?”