Gravity. Part 33

"What did you find out?" Jack answered the question. "We know Chimera has human, mouse, and amphibian DNA. But USAMRIID won't tell us what other DNA is on the genome. They won't tell us what Chimera really is, or where it comes from."

"You told me last night the bug was sent up in a SeaScience payload. A culture of Archaeons."

"That's what we thought. But Archaeons are not dangerous organisms. They're incapable of causing disease in humansa"that's why the experiment was accepted by NASA. Something about this particular Archaeon is different. Something SeaScience didn't tell us."

"What do you mean, different?"

"Where it came from. The Galapagos Rift." Blankens.h.i.+p shook his head. "I don't see the significance."

"This culture was discovered by scientists aboard the vessel Gabriella, a s.h.i.+p belonging to SeaScience. One of those was a Dr. Stephen Ahearn, who was flown out to Gabriella, apparently as a last-minute consultant. Within a week, he was dead. His minisub became trapped at the bottom of the rift, and he suffocated." Blankens.h.i.+p said nothing, but his gaze remained focused on Jack's.

"Dr. Ahearn was known for his research on tekt.i.tes," said Jack. "Those are gla.s.sy fragments produced whenever a meteor collides with the earth. That was Dr. Ahearn's field of expertise. The geology of meteors and asteroids." Still Blankens.h.i.+p said nothing. Why isn't he reacting?

Jack wondered. Doesn't he understand what this means?

"SeaScience flew Ahearn to the Galapagos because they needed a geologist's opinion," said Jack. "They needed confirmation of what they'd found on the sea floor. An asteroid." Blankens.h.i.+p's face had gone rigid. He turned and walked toward the kitchen.

Jack and Gordon followed him. "That's why the White House is so scared of Chimera!" said Jack. "They know where it comes from. They know what it is." Blankens.h.i.+p picked up the telephone and dialed. A moment later, he said, "This is JSC director Kenneth Blankens.h.i.+p. I speak to Jared Profitt. Yes, I know what time it is. This is an emergency, so if you could connect me to his homea" There was a moment's silence. Then he said into the phone, "They know. No, did not tell them. They found out on their own." A pause. "Jack McCallum and Gordon Obie. Yes, sir, they're standing right here in my kitchen." He handed the receiver to Jack. "He wants to speak to you."

Jack took the phone. "This is McCallum."

"How many people know?" was the first thing Jared Profitt asked him.

That question instantly told Jack how sensitive this information was. He said, "Our medical people know. And a few people in Life Sciences." That was all he'd say, he knew better than to name names.

"Can you all keep it quiet?" asked Profitt.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On whether your people cooperate with us. Share information with us."

"What do you want, Dr. McCallum?"

"Full disclosure. Everything you've learned about Chimera. The autopsy results. The data from your clinical trials."

"And if we don't share? What happens?"

"My colleagues at NASA start faxing every news agency in the country."

"Telling them what, exactly?"

"The truth. That this organism is not terrestrial." There was a long silence. Jack could hear his own heartbeat thudding in the receiver.

Have we guessed right? Have we really uncovered the truth?

Profitt said, "I'll authorize Dr. Roman to tell you everything. He'll be expecting you at White Sands." The phone went dead.

Jack hung up and looked at Blankens.h.i.+p. "How long have you known?" Blankens.h.i.+p's silence only fueled Jack's anger. He took a threatening step forward, and Blankens.h.i.+p backed up against the wall. "How long have you known?"

"Onlya"only a few days. I was sworn to secrecy!"

"Those were our people dying up there!"

"I had no choice! This has got everyone terrified! The White House. Defense." Blankens.h.i.+p took a deep breath and looked Jack straight in the eye. "You'll understand what I'm talking about. When you get to White Sands."

August 20

With one end gripped in her teeth, Emma yanked the tourniquet tight, and the veins of her left arm plumped up like blue worms beneath the pale skin. She gave her antecubital vein a quick swipe with alcohol and winced at the p.r.i.c.k of the needle. Like a junkie desperate for a fix, she injected the entire contents of the syringe, releasing the tourniquet halfway through. When she was finished, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift as she imagined the HCG molecules, like tiny stars of hope, coursing up her veins, into her heart and lungs. streaming out into arteries and capillaries. She imagined she could already feel its effect, the headache melting away, the hot flames of her fever smothered to a dying glow. Three doses left, she thought. Three more days.

She imagined herself drifting out of her own body, and she saw herself, as though from a distance, curled up like a mottled a coffin. A bubble of mucus spilling out of her mouth, breaking into bright squirming threads like maggots.

Abruptly she opened her eyes and realized that she had been sleeping.

Dreaming. Her s.h.i.+rt was saturated with sweat. It was a good sign. It meant that her fever had eased off.

She ma.s.saged her temples, trying to force out the images from her dream, but she could not, reality and nightmares had merged into one.

She stripped off the sweat-soaked s.h.i.+rt and put on a clean one from Diana's locker. Despite the bad dreams, that brief nap had refreshed her, and she was alert again, ready to search for new solutions. She floated into the U.S. Lab and pulled up all the files on the computer.

It was an extraterrestrial organism, Todd Cutler had informed her, and everything NASA now knew about the life-form had been transmitted to her onboard computers. She reviewed the files, hoping to find some new inspiration, some approach that no one else had thought of. Everything she read was dismally familiar.

She opened the genome file. A nucleotide sequence spilled across the monitor in an unending stream of As, Cs, Ts, and Gs.

Here was Chimera's genetic codea"parts of it, anyway. The parts USAMRIID had chosen to share with NASA. She stared, hypnotized, as the lines of code marched down the screen. This was the essence of the alien life-form now growing inside her. It was the key to the enemy. If only she knew how to use it.

The key.

She suddenly thought of what Jack had said earlier, about hormones. In order for a hormone to work, it has to bind to a receptor on the target cell. It's like a key in search of just the lock in which to fit.

Why would a mammalian hormone like HCG suppress the reproduction of an alien life-form? she wondered. Why would an extraterrestrial organism, so foreign to anything on earth, properly fitting locks to our keys?

On the computer, the nucleotide sequence had finished scrolling to the end. She stared at the blinking cursor and of the earth-born species whose DNA had been raided by Chimera.

By acquiring those new genes, this alien life-form had become part human. Part mouse. Part amphibian.

She got on the comm with Houston. "I need to speak to somebody in Life Sciences," she said.

"Any one in particular?" asked Capcom.

"An amphibian expert."

"Stand by, Watson." Ten minutes later, a Dr. w.a.n.g from NASA Life Sciences came on the loop. "You had a question about amphibians?" he asked.

"Yes, about Rana pipiens, the northern leopard frog."

"What can I tell you about it?"

"What happens if you expose the leopard frog to human hormones?"

"Any hormone in particular?"

"Estrogen, for instance. Or HCG." Dr. w.a.n.g answered without hesitation.

"Amphibians in general are adversely affected by environmental estrogens. It's been quite a bit, actually. A number of experts think the worldwide decline in frog populations is due to estrogenlike substances polluting streams and ponds."

"What estrogenlike substances?"

"Certain pesticides, for instance, can mimic estrogens. They disrupt the frogs' endocrine systems, making it impossible for them to reproduce or thrive."

"So it doesn't actually kill them."

"No, it just disrupts reproduction."

"Are frogs in particular sensitive to this?"

"Oh, yes. Far more than mammals. Plus, frogs have permeable skin, so they're susceptible to toxins in general. That's sort of their, well, Achilles' heel." Achilles' heel. She fell silent for a moment, thinking about that.

"Dr. Watson?" said w.a.n.g. "You have any other questions?"

"Yes. Is there any disease or toxin that would kill a frog, but not harm a mammal?"

"That's an interesting question. When it comes to toxins, it would depend on the dose. You give a little a.r.s.enic to a frog, you'd kill it. But a.r.s.enic would kill a man as well, if he's given a larger dose. Then again, there are microbial diseases, certain bacteria viruses, that only kill frogs. I'm not a physician, so I'm not absolutely certain they're harmless to humans, buta""

"Viruses?" she cut in. "Which ones?"

"Well, Ranaviruses, for instance."

"I've never heard of those."

"Only amphibian experts are familiar with them. They're DNA viruses. Part of the Iridovirus family. We think they're the cause of the tadpole edema syndrome. The tadpoles swell up and hemorrhage."

"And that's fatal to them?"

"Very much so."

"Does this virus kill people as well?"

"I don't know. I don't think anyone does. I do know Ranaviruses have killed off whole populations of frogs around the world." The Achilles' heel, she thought. I've found it.

By adding the leopard frog's DNA to its own genome, Chimera had become part amphibian. It had also acquired an amphibian's vulnerabilities .

She said, "Is there any way to obtain live samples of one of these Ranaviruses? To test against Chimera?"

There was a long silence. "I get it," said Dr. w.a.n.g. "No one's tried that yet. No one's even considereda""

"Can you get the virus?" she cut in.

"Yes. I know two amphibian research labs in California who are working with live Ranaviruses."

"Then do it. And get hold of Jack McCallum. He needs to know about this."

"He and Gordon Obie just left for White Sands. I'll reach them there."

Tumbleweeds skittered across the road, swept along in a stinging cloud of sand. The men drove past the guardhouse, past the electrified fence, and into the barren Army compound. Jack and Gordon stepped out of the vehicle and squinted up at the sky. The sky was a dusky orange, obscured by windblown dust. The color of sunset, not high noon. They had managed to catch only a few hours of sleep before they'd taken off from Ellington, and it hurt Jack's eyes just to see the light of day.

"This way, gentlemen," the driver said.

They followed the soldier into the building.

It was a different reception from the last time Jack had visited.

This time the Army escort was polite and respectful. This time Dr. Isaac Roman was waiting at the front desk, although he did not look particularly happy about their arrival.

"Only you are allowed to come with me, Dr. McCallum," he said. "Mr. Obie will have to wait here. That was the agreement.

"I made no such agreement," said Jack.

"Mr. Profitt did, on your behalf. He's the only reason you're being allowed in this building. I haven't a great deal of time, let's get this over with." He turned and walked to the elevators.

"Now, there's your standard Army-issue a.s.shole," said Gordon.

"Go on. I'll wait here."

Jack followed Roman into the elevator.

"First stop is subbas.e.m.e.nt level two," said Roman, "where we house our animal trials." The elevator door opened, and they confronted a wall of gla.s.s. It was a viewing window.

Jack approached the window and stared at the laboratory beyond. Inside were a dozen workers wearing biocontamination suits. Cages held spider monkeys and dogs. Right beside the window were gla.s.s-enclosed rat cages.

Roman pointed to the rats.

"You'll notice each cage is labeled with the date and time they were infected. I can think of no better way to ill.u.s.trate Chimera's nature."

In the Day 1 cage, the six rats appeared healthy, vigorously spinning their exercise wheels.

In the cage labeled "Day 2," the first signs of illness appeared.

Two of the six rats were s.h.i.+vering, their eyes a bright blood-red.

The other four were huddled in a lethargic heap.

"The first two days," said Dr. Roman, "is Chimera's reproductive phase. You understand, this is completely opposite to what we see on earth. Usually a life-form must reach maturity before it begins to reproduce. Chimera reproduces first, and then begins to mature. It divides at a rapid rate, producing up to a hundred of itself by forty-eight hours. They start out microscopic in sizea"not visible to the naked eye. Small enough so that you could breathe them in, or absorb them through your mucous membranes, and not even know you've been exposed."