RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (3 page)

He had lost Elizabeth to the cancer and now he resented the fact that science came through with a way to live forever when it
was too late for her, go figure.  Out of his resentment he had turned his back on the idea that this could be real, or that God had blessed humanity with the ability to discover such a thing.  “
If God did this, then why? And why now?”
 

Was it just the natural course of things or were we humans playing God?  He didn’t know, but he knew he was going to find out.  He and Bobby were very close and he believed that if he spent some time with him alone and talked with him one on one, he was sure he could get the answer.

If Bobby wasn’t Bobby then he knew he didn’t want to go on living any longer and would just rather go on to heaven to be with Elizabeth.  If Bobby was all there and normal, then he might consider going through with the Restoration.  He loved him very much and wanted to see him grow up and he wanted to spend time with him but not some empty shell.  Alan Kerrington arrived at the hospital at 7:45 that morning and by 8:20 he had his answer.  He walked into Bobby’s room and was greeted by Bobby in the usual manner.  Bobby was already a tall sturdy young man at age sixteen.  He had brownish blonde hair and blue eyes.  He actually carried a great resemblance to Alan in his younger days.  He had his Mother’s smile but other than that he was nearly a dead ringer for a sixteen-year-old Alan.

“Gramps!”
Bobby shouted, when he saw Alan coming in.  “I’m so glad you came, I’m really getting bored with this place.  How about we get outta here and go shoot some hoops?”  Alan could hardly believe his ears; it was Bobby all right.  Bobby asked if he would show him that trick hook shot again just as soon as he could get home. 

Bobby didn’t shut up for at least five minutes.  When he finally did, he looked at his grandpa who was sitting there smiling at him speechless. 

“What? What is it?  Am I talking too much?”  Grandpa Kerrington looked at him for a second.

“You know I can’t believe I am saying this Bobby but I’m going to do it.” 

“You mean Restoration?” 

“Yes!  I’m gonna do it.” 

Then Bobby remembered.

“But Gramps, you took your Lifecorder all apart?” 

“Don’t worry young man that wasn’t mine, it belonged to a friend of mine that passed recently.  I got a call from his daughter after he died.  She wanted me to go get some of his things because he told her that he wanted me to have anything in his place that I might want.” 

“The funny thing is the only thing I took was his Lifecorder.  I just wanted to see what was in the darned thing.  My friend had one for years but decided that he didn’t want to go on living and wanted to just pass away normally.  Until yesterday, I thought that was what I wanted too.  I was up all night and realized that I can go to heaven later and if it’s eternal like I really believe that it is, then my lovely Elizabeth, your Grandma, will still be there waiting for me when I get there.  Right now I just want to stay here with you but I had to see for myself that it was really you Bobby.  Now I know what I want and I’m gonna do it.  I’m going to go through with Restoration.”

Bobby was so happy he couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.  Just then Dodge and Linsey appeared in the door with a very surprised look on their faces.  Dodge was a little concerned and came in quickly.

“Dad what are you doing here already?”  Alan was already up with his arms open moving toward them. 

“Come here you big clod!  I’m gonna stick around for a few more decades and make you two youngsters stay in line.”  He was already embracing his son and gesturing with one arm for Linsey to get in there for the group hug. 

“Oh Dad!
  You made our day!”  Said Linsey. 

“You didn’t really think I’d leave a sweetheart like you to fend for yourself with this guy did ya?” 

Everyone started laughing and joking and didn’t stop for a good while.  The commotion caused two of the nurses to pop their heads in just to see what was going on and Alan noticed them. 

“Hey ladies, I’m getting restored like some old rusty truck.  You better watch out!”

The two nurses laughed while swishing their hands at him in  dismissive gestures and shook their heads as they went on down the hall.

“Wow, Dad, didn’t know you had that in you!”

After everyone settled down a bit, Bobby filled them in on what to expect in the process with the pink goop.  They all visited for an hour and then decided it best to leave so that Bobby could rest.

While Dodge took his Father across town to register for his procedure, Linsey had a very nice conversation with the nurse and then the doctor about what to expect when Bobby got home.  The “Doc” took Bobby’s vitals and answered some questions that Bobby had about getting his strength back, gaining weight, and getting out of there.

On the ride across town Dodge and his father were having a serious conversation about how much time Alan had, and whether or not he had the time to get his clone matured to an appropriate age for him to make the switch. 

“There’s no way I want to be a kid again,” Said Alan.  I want to be at least 50 in my new body.  It would be awkward if I were younger than my own son!” 

Dodge chuckled as he imagined that situation and how comical and weird it would be. 

“Okay Dad, let’s go see the staff at the Life Center and see what they have to say about your current condition and your potential second mid-life crisis.”

  “Oh very funny Son, you’ll think mid-life crisis when I get in that new body, I’ll be able to whoop you again, young man!” 

They both laughed, but beneath his laughter Dodge was a little bit concerned that his Father might have waited too long and didn’t have enough time left to get his clone matured for the procedure.  He had noticed that his father coughed a lot of the time and had to excuse himself frequently because of his fits.  He had not seen any real spark of life in him for a very long time until today at the hospital. 

They arrived at the Life Center branch nearest to Alan’s house and signed in.  In just five minutes they were called in for a consultation, and much to their surprise they were assured that they could mature Alan’s clone to the age of fifty in just eight weeks.  Even if Alan’s condition were to worsen suddenly, they could go ahead and transfer the data from the Lifecorder at a moment’s notice and keep the clone in the process of accelerated aging until the process was complete. 

The only thing Alan would miss would be the time he was under sedation while the clone completed the process which would be no different from taking a vacation and missing out on a few things happening back at home.  They both learned something else that they didn’t know either.  Even though a clone could be developed to an older age, the restored person always
feels much better than they did at the same age before restoration and the logic was very simple.  The new clone body had no wear and tear on it at all, no scars, no injuries, no bad food, no cigarettes, nothing bad that a normal fifty-year-old person might have. 

This made Alan feel pretty good about what was happening.  He had many health problems due to his hard work as a mason after he left the military.  For many years he had worn out his body and now with the lung cancer he felt terrible.  He knew it would be a relief to have a new body with no pain.  Alan had an appointment the next day to bring in his Lifecorder for a check up to make sure everything was in order with it.  Barring any problems, he would be given the green light to be restored.

Chapter 2
   
 
On the other side of town in room 331, Bobby was forcing down his lunch, another delicious plate of pink goop, yum!  He hated the way that it tasted but he knew he had to eat it to get stronger and get out of there.  His friend Matt was coming up to see him so he wanted to get that stuff down before Matt and his mother got there.  If he was going to get sick, he wanted to do it before he had visitors.  He got it down all right but then he thought it was going to come right back up, so he got out of bed and started toward the bathroom that was just a few feet away.  He made it, but by the time he got there the nausea feeling had subsided a bit, so he sat on the toilet looking at his feet trying to beat the urge. 

He was amazed at how nice his toenails looked.  He got some nail fungus while on a camping trip two years ago and was having trouble getting rid of it.  Now he had brand-new feet and they looked really nice again like they did when he was younger.  He was looking at them in amazement.  “
I wonder if my scar is gone?”
When he was eight, he had his appendix removed and he had a big scar from the operation.  He closed the bathroom door, stood in front of the full length mirror on the back of the door, and removed the thin hospital gown. 

Just as he expected, no scar!  Did this mean he had his appendix? 
“Well duh
,” he laughed out loud at himself.  Of course he had it, he had a whole new body!  Man!  What a mind job!  He still couldn’t believe it.  Hit by a car, killed dead, and now back again.  The thought of it suddenly brought back the memory of the whole incident and this time it was very clear.  His stomach started to churn again and he thought for sure he would lose it.  He heard voices, it was Matt and his mother coming into the room. 

“Hello, anyone home?”

“I’m in the bathroom, I’ll be right out.”  He looked at himself in the mirror again.  “
I’m awfully thin.
”  He didn’t have the muscle mass that his old body had.  The Government Issue clones didn’t get much nutrients while in suspension, just enough to be healthy.  “
Good way for fat people to get skinny.”

He sat back down on the toilet for a moment to rest his legs, he really wanted to make it to the bed without having to crawl or ask for help.  He slunk the robe back on and stood up while quickly opening the door.  He walked out to the bed as fast as possible in an effort to make it all the way there.  He almost made it.  Grabbing onto the chair, he managed a couple more steps, and got to the bed rail.  Matt jumped up.

“Hey Buddy let me help you there,” he said.

Bobby was a little embarrassed but was glad his friend was there to catch him. 

He and Matt were really close and always helped each other out.  One year they had gone to summer camp together.  It was a camp that specialized in canoe trips to remote places of Michigan.  It was in the spring right after school and the weather turned quite cold in the middle of the trip.  Matt got very ill after their group capsized their canoe in the cold water.  Bobby made it back into the boat first with two other boys then quickly went to Matt’s rescue. 

Matt wasn’t a very strong swimmer back then and Bobby knew it, so he got to him just a fast as he could,
helping him into the canoe.  Matt was up all night sick with a fever and a bad earache so Bobby stayed up with him talking to him and getting him whatever he needed.  Since then they had been very close, just as close as any brothers could ever be.  Both boys had older sisters but no brothers so it was even more natural for them to be like brothers. 

As soon as Bobby got back into bed the two boys started talking about all the things they would do when Bobby got home, they talked for almost two hours about all the things they did together while growing up.

“I know you would probably like to forget it,” said Bobby, “But what exactly did you see when I got hit?”

Matt swallowed uncomfortably and paused for a second to think.

“Well it happened so fast, I saw that it was going to happen but it was too late.  I saw Butch chasing that cat just as you went up for the ball.  Then I saw Stacey’s car and it looked like he was about to swerve left to miss butch until he saw you and then he swerved right instead.  He hit the brakes really hard but it was still not enough to avoid the accident.” 

Bobby could hear the quiver in Matt’s
voice, he knew he was getting choked up so he did his best impression of Stacey.

“Stay out the street Nancy!”  That brought a little grin across Matt’s freckled face.  He was a good-looking kid that took allot after his Mother, he had reddish brown hair and green eyes and looked ornery as could be but he really wasn’t, he was actually very polite and very quiet until he got to know you.  

Matt came back with, “You won’t hear Stacey say that ever again!”   And they laughed about it again only to avoid being serious.  Bobby figured they could talk about it later, it was still too soon for Matt.  How gruesome it must have been seeing his best friend getting killed by a car. 

Bobby felt like he had cheated death and now he knew how those other people felt that he saw on TV.  There were quite a few stories on the evening news about both children and adults that had gone through Restoration and he wondered what it must be like, now he knew first hand.  They went on visiting for about an hour.  After that Matt and his Mother said their goodbye’s and left Bobby to rest.

Across town Dodge and his Father were just leaving LifeTech.  On the way out they saw a man in the waiting room with no legs and missing one hand, he also had a large scar on his right cheek.  Alan noticed that the man was not much younger than himself and he had a green shirt on with an Army Strong logo.  Alan stopped to speak with him.

“Excuse me Sir,” he said, “Are you a veteran?”