The Delta Chain (49 page)

‘Right now it
doesn
’
t matter, as long as all these
efforts help us find the man.
’

‘Amen to that,
’
said O
’
Malley.

All four men in the black sedan
stiffened when they heard the siren.

Tannen was driving.
Asquith, Donnelly and Westmeyer were in the car. The other members
of Asquith
’
s team and
Erickson
’
s hunting party were in other
vehicles, further along the highway.

Asquith
’
s main concern was hoping that none of those vehicles were
stopped or their occupants questioned. He didn
’
t know what had happened to Stephen Hunter,
who
’
d failed to join them as
they
’
d hurriedly left the Institute. That
was just one of the many wild cards forced on him by the
crisis.

Tannen flashed a concerned look
at Asquith.

‘Pull over,
’
Asquith said.
‘
We
’
ve no need to run from the
police. Remember, we don
’
t know
what
’
s happened back at the Institute. We
left for our flight to the U.S. before anything
happened.
’

Moments later a police
patrol officer with a short, solid build looked through their side
window.
‘
I
’
m
looking for a Mr. William Westmeyer and a Mr. Jackson
Donnelly.
’

‘I
’
m Westmeyer.
’
He stepped from the
car, followed by Donnelly.

‘Bad news
I
’
m afraid, sir. Your Institute has
suffered severe damage and we were asked to intercept you with the
news. Your admin officer advised us you
’
d
left in hire cars, headed for Brisbane, to catch a flight to the
States.
’

Damn, thought Asquith,
watching from the back seat. Damn. He hadn
’
t allowed for the local police moving this quickly.
He
’
d intended to be out of the country
while the task force and the local cops were still floundering
about. The use of rental cars had been meant to make their
departure appear innocent and coincidental.

It had proved to be a
miscalculation.

‘Has anyone been hurt,
officer?
’
Donnelly asked.

‘Uncertain, sir.
Apparently your security people received a warning and it seems an
evacuation was completed before the explosion.
’

‘Good Lord.
’
Westmeyer
’
s shoulders
slumped. He was still as good at play-acting as he ever was.
‘
This is…dreadful. A disaster.
’

Asquith alighted from the
car, shaking the hand of the patrol officer. He introduced
himself.
‘
I
’
m
organising the think tank that Mr. Westmeyer and his colleagues
have been invited to attend.
’

The patrolman nodded.

Asquith turned to
Westmeyer.
‘
An incredible shock, William.
I understand, of course, if you can
’
t
travel to Chicago with me at this time.
’

‘Mr. Westmeyer,
’
the patrolman said,
‘
we
’
ve been asked to escort you
back to Northern Rocks. A special task force is looking into this
and will need to interview all your staff, including yourself and
Mr. Donnelly.
’

‘Of course, of
course.
’

‘You can easily delay
heading to the seminar for 36 hours,
’
Asquith said helpfully.
‘
So you
can always decide to attend at that time, should you feel
that
’
s still possible.
’

‘Sounds like the best
solution,
’
Donnelly said.

‘Sir,
’
the policeman addressed Asquith this time,
‘
I have a special request from the task force
superintendent, that all members of Mr.
Westmeyer
’
s travelling party are required
in Northern Rocks to assist with enquiries.
’
The police officer seemed a little embarrassed having to
make the point, but his tone was firm.
‘
That includes the occupants of the other vehicles that were
hired. They
’
re all currently being
intercepted and escorted back.
’

‘Surely this
isn
’
t necessary-
’
Westmeyer began.

‘According to my orders,
yes it is, sir.
’

‘Are we being placed under
arrest?
’
Asquith demanded.

‘I have warrants for your
arrests, but the superintendent would prefer us not to invoke them.
He feels it would be better for all concerned if you were able to
co-operate of your own free will at this time.
’

‘Then of course, we
will.
’
Asquith was seething inside.
Strike and counter strike, cleverly played. He
’
d been checkmated, manoeuvred into co-operating with the
local authorities.

Tannen had said nothing
all this time, remaining in the background. He
’
d wanted to stay with Erickson, and wished now that he had.
Asquith had been annoyed that both Hunter and Erickson had
disappeared on him, but now it seemed that was the better
choice.

Once they were back in the
car, heading off with the police vehicle right behind them, Tannen
said,
‘
What the hell do we do
now?
’

‘Shut up, Tannen.
’
Asquith
’
s tone was
condescending, his lips curled into an animal snarl.
‘
Let me think.
’

It was when his back was
against the wall that Asquith
’
s lethal
military mind went into overdrive.

It was a moment of sheer
horror for Adam, Elizabeth and Daniel: the scream; the long
reptilian bodies in the watery half-light; the jaw clamping down
over Daniel
’
s arm.

Adam was momentarily distracted
by a bright silvery glint. It was from a twisted piece of metal,
part of the wreckage littering the subterranean maze.

Adam picked it up and
rushed forward, slamming the jagged edge of the metal junk deep
into the crocodile
’
s left eye. The
creature reared back, its jaw going slack and releasing the
boy
’
s arm. Blood pumped from the eye as
the reptile writhed in pain, thrashing and rolling repeatedly in
the shallow river.

A deep, bloody gash ran
the full length of Daniel
’
s arm. Adam
grabbed him by his good arm and pulled Elizabeth toward him at the
same time.

‘Go!
’

They ran back, away from the
rushing water and the crocodiles that were now flooding into the
area.

But Adam could not see where
they were running. He could see walls of stone, he could see pools
of light, but mostly there was darkness and no clear points of
reference, just grotesque shapes in the shadows. And deep recesses
that were pitch black. Water ran everywhere and the crocodiles,
freed from whatever had held them, could be all over the caverns.
Hungry, vicious, in their element, ready to strike.

They had no defence against
them.

Kate fell flat on her back
on the roof of the elevator car, the impact knocking the breath
from her lungs. She coughed and moaned as Hunter took her by the
hand.
‘
Kate, Kate, my God, are you
okay?
’

‘Yes…
’
Slowly she sat up. She looked up at the doors above, then
to Stephen.

‘I think
we
’
re stuck here for the time being,
Kate.
’

She
didn
’
t reply. She breathed deeply and
slowly, the nervous energy finally dropping away. Tears filled her
eyes as she thought of Markham, lying below, and Adam. Where was
Adam? What were the chances now he was even alive?

‘Just who are those
bastards that did this?
’

‘The men behind the
Institute. Nexus. Some kind of breakaway research unit, hiding
inside U.S. Defence. All the other investors are just kept around
for show. The real money, the real control comes from Nexus and a
guy called Logan Asquith. But you were right the first time.
They
’
re just bastards.
’

‘And the Delta
Chain?
’

‘Let me try and
explain
–
in layman
’
s terms, as best I can.
’

‘Don
’
t patronize me, Stephen. Just tell me.
’

‘Okay. You probably know
that most of the molecules in the human DNA strand are not used.
They once had a function but whatever those functions were
they
’
ve long since been lost.
’

‘I
’
ve heard that somewhere, yeah.
’

‘The main molecules of use
to us, now, are in chains of amino acids we call proteins. The
haemoglobin in our blood is just one of those proteins.
It
’
s made up of two amino acid chains. Of
the thirteen hundred amino acids we have, only five are different
from our closest relative in the animal world, the chimpanzee. Just
five amino acids that make us human. Three of these are in a
particular enzyme, one is in a molecule protein, and the fifth is
in our blood, in a haemoglobin chain we call the Delta
Chain.

‘We
’
ve been using that chain for our recombinant DNA, splicing
human and crocodile haemoglobin.
’

‘I gather
there
’
s some purpose to this.
’

‘In biogenetics, Kate,
differences in the chemistry of proteins has long been used as a
kind of evolutionary road map, flagging how mankind developed, how
we separated from other species…
’

‘Like the
chimpanzee.
’

‘Yes. But going much
further back than that. All life on earth started in the oceans.
Variations in the DNA of different species can help scientists
determine how mutations occurred, splitting into different species
right back near the dawn of time.
’

Kate was aware of a quaver in
his voice, an excitement. This was his passion.

‘Okay,
’
said Kate, focusing.
‘
So when
mutations caused a new species to evolve, certain functions within
our human genes, within our DNA strand, became…
’
She searched her mind for the right word.

‘Dormant,
’
Hunter completed the thought. He snapped his
fingers.
‘
You
’
ve got it, understood it, just like that.
’

‘Spare me, Stephen.
Just…tell me, explain this Delta Chain project.
’
Her anger was coming and going in flashes, punctuated by
her need to know the truth. To make sense of everything that had
happened.

‘With recombinant DNA,
geneticists have been able to splice different human genes together
to create genes with enhanced functions, super-genes if you like,
the intention being to recreate proteins,
reactivate
dormant genes
within the DNA strand. Abilities that humans once had, long ago,
could be returned to us.
’

‘And
that
’
s what Delta Chain is
about?
’

‘Partly. But only partly.
Don
’
t you see? That
’
s the reason for the crocodiles, for their blood being
drawn and kept in tanks, for the haemoglobin…
’

‘No, I
don
’
t see anything.
’

‘William and I had the
same vision. That
’
s why he sought me out
and brought me in on his project. He was much further along, but I
was working on related experiments he believed fitted the overall
pattern. With DataStorming accelerating our research a
thousand-fold, we were in the very final stages…
’

‘Not just because of
DataStorming,
’
Kate said, the final
pieces of the puzzle falling into place,
‘
but because you
’
ve been
experimenting with human guinea pigs, haven
’
t you…?
’

‘Think,
Kate…
visualise
…there
is only a small percentage difference between the DNA of human and
crocodile haemoglobin. Crocs breathe air, but are capable of
storing large amounts of oxygen in their blood, enabling them to
exist underwater for long periods.’

‘So
that
’
s it.
’
Kate sucked in deep mouthfuls of air as though trying to
cleanse her system of this twisted vision.
‘
Creating a hybrid blood gene so that people could store
oxygen and survive underwater for …
’

‘Twenty minutes. A real
breakthrough, but eventually
–
hours,
Kate. Hours.
’

‘You infused young people
with samples of their own blood
–
with
their haemoglobin genetically altered. You experimented on them one
at a time, to see how long they lasted underwater.
’
There was no inflection in
Kate
’
s voice. A steady, icy monotone, a
study in deep revulsion. She could taste bile in her mouth.
‘
You were prepared to sacrifice young lives for
some stupid vision.
’