Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (23 page)

Dana had
done a remarkable job of keeping the embryos alive for over a month and where
Lee had failed, she had succeeded. They were stronger and healthier, according
to Lee’s note comparison from his first attempts. The true test would come
tomorrow, when they reached the stage in which the embryos always died. Lee was
confident they would survive this time with his new nutrient formula and Dana’s
constant nurturing. Their environment had just not been satisfactory to the
tiny creatures in the previous trials and though not much had changed, they
were thriving at a stage where before they would have been weakening.

“What will
you do with them if they live? Dana asked.

“Use them
for the next phase of the experiment. Their altered genes will be ideal,” Lee
answered.

“You do
realize that they will be real babies don’t you? And what is the next phase
anyway?”

Lee didn’t
answer right away but seemed thoughtful.

“We will
discuss the next phase when we come to it,” he said.

Dana got the
notion he was hesitant to share his plans with her which meant that he wasn’t
sure if she could yet handle his final goal.

“Lee, you
can tell me things. I won’t run away screaming, especially since I can’t go
anywhere…unless…you’re afraid I might try to stop you.”

Lee looked
down and adjusted his glasses, clearly taken aback that she could tell what he
was thinking.

“Is it so
bad?” she asked.

It was so
bad, but Lee made a snap decision to let her in on the full scope of the
project anyway. She was right, she had nowhere to go and he could certainly use
an extra pair of hands on the next phase. Camden, who was on board with phase
one, would have never conceded to
phase
two, but Dana
was different, her ambition muted her morality. And if the project
was
too much for her to accept, she
could be physically overpowered.

“I will tell
you,” Lee said. “These embryos are not destined to grow past a certain point.”

“What!! So
you will just kill them?” Dana’s reaction was stronger than she had intended.

Surprisingly
though, Lee remained calm and continued.

“No. No.
They will be held in a stasis, preserved for study and DNA extraction. I need
them alive, but obviously I cannot have babies here.”

“Hmmm,” Dana
replied. Lee was agitated that he could not tell what
she
was thinking.

“It must be
this way,” he added.

Dana took a
couple of deep breaths and folded her arms across her chest.

“I’m glad
they will not die,” she said in a soft voice and stared quietly for a moment in
the direction of the little creatures that had become such a large part of her
new life here. They were living beings
who
responded
to her singing and her warmth. She’d spent time every day holding each tube
close to her body.

“And how
will their DNA be used in phase two?” Dana asked.

“I need
living samples with my specific gene alterations…to supply the cells when I
find the right mixture to re-animate tissue samples, what you were working on
before the embryos. Then the process can be applied to create clones of
specific samples. There is a slight possibility of accelerating the growth
rate, and then I will employ the memory transfer, which is still in quite a
primitive stage of development.”

“Lee…
are
you talking about raising the dead here?” Dana asked
with a horrified expression. Lee opened his mouth to respond, but said nothing
more. He closed his mouth and shifted his eyes away from her.

“Well,
that’s just…that’s just…well, I don’t know what that is.” Dana chewed on her
finger and started walking in circles. “Why would you do that? I mean, I guess
there are a hundred reasons why, but the thought of it just makes me want to
throw up!”

Lee was not
pleased at all with her reaction and checked out of the conversation.

“I am going
in the back to work. You need to monitor the project now. Tomorrow is crucial.”

Lee stomped
off in a huff. Dana stood there with her mouth gaping debating whether or not
to follow him and force him to continue the conversation. She understood why he
hadn’t shared this with her before and if she wasn’t trapped here like a rat,
he might never have told her. Her lab duties could be performed without needing
to know the desired outcome. For that, she felt special.
 
I
wonder if Camden Riles even knows,
she thought.

Dana had a
difficult time concentrating on her work that afternoon. She even considered
letting the little embryos die rather than complete their strange destiny, but
she knew Lee would not forgive her for that. And since she was responsible for
that government detective’s death, she needed his sanctuary. She would be
locked up for years, not to mention the interrogation she would be put through
about whatever was in the case that now resided in a locked lab and occupied
most of Lee’s time. Dana still wasn’t privy to those secrets and after her
reaction today, didn’t expect to be anytime in the near future. She had a hunch
Bearden knew and that, combined with Lee’s revelation, made her stomach twist
and contract. Dana had never felt so alone in her entire life. While she
adjusted protein levels in the little tubes she thought about how uncomfortable
it must have been for Lee to speak so openly to her.
 
She wished she hadn’t looked so disturbed by what he had to
say. The isolation was clearly affecting her ability to keep a level head. But
raising the dead was way beyond anything she’d mentally prepared herself for
when she got the job. She wondered what his motive was.
Why would someone who doesn’t care to be around people choose to create
so much life? Maybe there is no motive, maybe he just picked the most
impossible thing he could think of and ran with it.
Although,
Lee is too purposeful to not have a reason.
Her mind wandered around
the rest of the day and most of the night. She mostly wanted justification for
her actions here, now that she knew where they were leading.

The embryos
did survive the night with Dana’s constant attention. She had not slept at all
and this new day would be vital to the continuation of Lee’s madness. They had
not spoken to each other since he stormed out yesterday. He had also worked
through the night, in the locked Lab E with the stolen contents of Camden’s
case. Dana had given some thought to how she would approach him today. She felt
really strange inside when she thought about his plan, but the more she
thought, the more her curiosity prevailed. Her mind was made up, she would
commit completely to helping him succeed.

When Dana
heard the lab door open, she put down the tube she was observing and rushed
back to offer him some tea. Her knee was almost healed now and she could limp
at a moderate pace.

“Lee! Lee…”
she called, “How was your night? I was just going to make some tea for you.”

“You were?” Lee
asked with genuine surprise. He looked tired. His hair was sticking out in all
directions and his glasses were sideways on his face. His wrinkled shirt was
half un-tucked and one of his shoes was untied.

“You look
like you could use a rest, Lee, before our big day starts.”

“Yes. I
think so,” he said and followed her to the kitchen. He sat while Dana prepared
some tea. She was glad he wasn’t resisting being with her.

“You look
awful,” Lee said out of the blue.

“What?” Dana
couldn’t believe he noticed her looks. “Well, I’ve been up all night monitoring
the
emb
…the
er
…project.” As
of last night, Dana had stopped referring to them as anything synonymous with
babies.

“You did?”

“Why
wouldn’t you assume that? And if you thought I might not, why weren’t you there
to do it?” Dana asked.

“In case you
were right about your reaction. I believe Camden would stop me from
proceeding
any further. The fact that you didn’t is
remarkable.”

“So you were
willing to risk the whole thing over my decision?”

“There was
no real risk. They would have made it through the night with or without you. I
know that from experience. Today is the day that matters. If you plan to
continue to assist me, get some rest and meet me in one hour. There is a lot to
do and I need you to be awake.”

Lee took his
tea and went to his office for a nap.

Dana was
deeply confused. Had Lee just tested her? If so, she had obviously passed.
Satisfied with this notion, Dana dragged her tired body to the bathroom and
caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She did look awful. Half her hair
was in a frizzy wad on top of her head and her eye make-up had run down her
face, making her look like the walking dead. Exhausted, Dana laughed at the
irony of the image. She splashed some cold water on her face and went to lie
down on Camden’s couch, which she had now officially claimed as her bed.

Five hours
later, panic filled Tripple Laboratories.

“The
environment is not strong enough, Lee! They need a proper womb.”

“Dammit,
Dana! I can see that,” Lee said and scratched his head.

They were
quiet for twelve straight minutes, just staring at each other. Their crucial
day was not going well. The embryos were not dying, but they were weakening
rapidly.

“I have an
idea,” Lee said finally. “Keep them alive.”

“How?”

“Do whatever
you have to do. Make your noises or something,” Lee said.

With that,
Lee bustled out, back to Lab E.

“For how
long?” Dana yelled after him.” Getting no answer from Lee, she threw her hands
up in the air and huffed and puffed around the lab. She stared at the little
creatures struggling to survive. She hated them.

A couple
hours later, she heard the door to the lab open and in walked Bearden. She
smiled when she saw him and he beamed. His reaction reminded Dana that she
hated him, too and her smile turned directly into a scowl.

“What are
you doing here?” she asked.

“Lee called
me, said it was urgent.
Whatcha
got in those tubes?”

“None of
your business, Sergeant,” she said and moved her body to the front of the table
to block as much as she could from view. Bearden laughed.

“I’m sure
I’ll know soon enough. I told you, Lee trusts me…maybe more than you.”

“I doubt
that,” she said. “He’s in the back, Lab E.
You
’ll have
to knock, I’m sure it’s locked.”

Bearden
lifted his eyebrows and winked at her when he walked away. Dana rolled her
eyes, not being able to help the coy smile that appeared at the corner of her
mouth. She turned her focus back to the embryos. They were still alive, but
just barely. She adjusted the temperature of their tubes and dimmed the light
over their table. Then, she moved to another section of the lab where she had
begun experimenting with a number of materials, from organic to artificial, to
develop a more suitable environment for the little things.

When Bearden
came back out to the main lab there was a slightly disturbed look on his face.
Since this was typically how he looked after meeting privately with Lee, it did
not alarm Dana.

“Hey,” he
said. “Are those the genetically altered babies?” He pointed to the tubes in
the dark corner of the lab.

“Lee told
you,” she answered.

“Yes. And if
they are stable, he wants to tell you something, too.”

Dana’s eyes
lit up with fervor as she responded,

“They’re
stable. Let’s go.” She felt a flutter in her stomach knowing that Lee was
finally going to share with her what he had been working with back there. The
mystery item from Camden’s case that Bearden knew about and she didn’t. Truth
was
,
she was a little glad that Bearden knew about her
project. It took a weight off of her somehow. Even if the embryos did not
survive, this was still a groundbreaking day for Tripple Laboratories; a three
person collaborative was being born.

Back at the
TRU Building, Mace Magner was running out of space to keep the activated
bio-machines where they could remain confined and separate from one another. He
resorted to clearing out supply closets and having stone cubicles built around
the edges of the sub basement. Everyone in the weaponry unit was helping to
implement the new safety training procedures. And everyone was on his or her
guard as word about the dead soldier had spread throughout the unit. There was
a definite tension in the air and it had carried over to the other side of the
atrium. Scientists working with biomer bonding and the catalyst, who had never
set foot in the weaponry department, felt strained. The once bubbly
conversation, that was typical for the atrium, had turned into worried
whispers. When two or more soldiers came through the doors from the weaponry
side, the place fell quiet from scientists trying to hear pieces of their
conversations. It was obvious from their faces and the extra long hours the
soldiers were working, that something was wrong. A few scientists who had been
working with the biomer for years, developed some theories about what could be
happening, but not one of them imagined the scope of the weapons on the other
side of the wall or that the biomer had developed a sort of awareness. All of
the scientists, however, had recognized that their democratically elected team
leader and catalyst discoverer, Sergeant Bearden Leitner, was spending less and
less time in the lab and had suddenly gained access to the weapons side of the
building. On three separate occasions, different scientists, who felt close to
Bearden, had approached the subject with him, but Bearden was completely
unwilling to share anything with them, outside of the work in the atrium.
Naturally, his silence and separateness from the team put his co-workers on
their guard when he was there.
 
Bearden tried to act normal in spite of his new clearance, but he hated
the cold shoulders and the whispers. No one was inviting him out for beers
after work anymore, and he sat alone at lunch. And since he had no real family
to speak of, his mother died ten years ago and he never knew his father, he
felt isolated from everything that brought him happiness.