The Shox Gene Variant Read online

***

  Sue was waiting for Raina in the kitchen, finalizing dinner. She poured the wine, and when Raina walked in, she handed her a glass and kissed her.

  “So how did it go?” she asked, putting dinner on the table.

  “It went very well. He was impressed with my work and said he would mention me to the President. He also asked us to a holiday party at his house.”

  “Wow! That’s great! Who is he?”

  “Senator Chad Carrington,” she answered, taking another sip of wine.

  Sue stood there with the pot roast in her hands and stared.

  “What? Senator Chad Carrington? The one who’s a senior member of Family Life Ministries?”

  “I guess. Why?”

  “Because they are anti-gay.”

  ***

  Aidan came home exhausted. Acey was working on the company’s first-quarter projections when he reached behind her and kissed her neck. She arched back, enjoying the attention.

  “Are you hungry? I saved you some casserole,” she said.

  “Yes, I’ll get it.”

  “No. Have a seat. I’ll get it,” Acey said. “How about a drink?”

  “Thanks. A beer would be fine.”

  “What’s Annie doing tonight?”

  “I think she has a date.”

  “Is it the same guy we saw her with at your office party?”

  “I doubt it. She doesn’t talk much about her dating life to me.”

  “Have you ever asked?”

  “Come on, Acey. She’s an adult. I don’t want to pry.”

  Acey shook her head and put a steaming casserole and a beer on the table. She should have known better. Aidan was a private person, and it was difficult for him to have these conversations, even with his daughter. Annie was the same way.

  “I thought we could go camping like we used to do,” Acey said, changing the subject.

  “When?”

  “I’m home for the next two weeks before I have to leave. When are you free?”

  “I’m not. Now that we are all working on the Nelson case, it would be hard to get away. Besides, I have a new employee. I can’t leave her alone.”

  Acey sat down across from Aidan and watched him eat. “How’s she working out?”

  “Good, so far. She catches on quick.”

  “Where is she from?”

  “Seattle.”

  “Why did she come down here for a job?”

  Aidan took the last bite of food, washed it down with the remaining beer and belched. “She had news clippings of Dirk’s trial and what we did to save him. We were folk heroes to her and when she saw the ad, she jumped at the chance to work with us.”

  Acey raised an eyebrow. “Really? Folk heroes, ha?”

  “That’s what she said.” Aidan walked over to Acey and sat next to her. “Why the sudden interest in Gretchen?” he asked, putting his arm around her.

  “Oh, just curious,” Acey said, snuggling closer.

  “Do I detect a little jealousy?” he asked, kissing her.

  “Me? Jealous? No way,” she responded, after kissing him back.

  “You got nothing to worry about. Let’s go to bed.”

  Acey wasn’t convinced.

  ***

  Gretchen was rushing to finish dressing when her com link buzzed. The encryption app popped up and prompted her for a facial scan. Gretchen held the link to her face, and the app glowed green allowing her to retrieve a message. It was from her father. Meet us tonight at seven-thirty at the usual place. Phase two initiated. She acknowledged it and left for work. When she walked in, Annie was already there downloading everything there was about the Nelson family.

  “Grab a chair. I found some interesting poop on the Nelson’s.”

  Gretchen poured a cup of coffee and sat down. “Where did you get this?”

  “I hacked into their psychiatrist’s medical files. Not much security around the servers, so it was an easy hack. But don’t tell my father. He doesn’t like me doing stuff like this.”

  “My lips are sealed.”

  The two large monitors on the wall began displaying information on Jonathan C. Nelson III. They sat there reading and taking notes.

  After two hours of work, they discussed what they found.

  “This kid was screwed up,” Gretchen said. “Deep Schizophrenia with delusions, hallucinations, and trouble with thinking logically. He claims to hear voices and can visualize other places and events.”

  “Yes. That used to be called remote viewing in the olden days but now we recognize it as one of the ‘gifts’ from the boy’s alien genetic makeup.”

  It took them all day to come up with a detailed profile of Jonathan. The plan was to give it to Carina to see if she could use the information in locating him. Gretchen knew that Carina was a threat she would have to deal with. Before leaving work that night, she copied the data and headed to the restaurant owned by one of the members of the cult. In the back room, she met her father.

  “We’re ready for the phase two trial clone,” he said. “In this phase of the project, we’re mainly interested in enhancing the boy’s telepathic communication skills. This will allow all clones to communicate with each other. We are also trying to understand how to make these clones more physically powerful, but we are not there yet.”

  “Maybe this will help,” Gretchen said, handing the device containing the data from work. “We found a complete psychiatric profile, as well as a complete breakdown and analysis of the boy’s genetic makeup. Included in this analysis is a detailed study of the unusual proteins found in his alien strands. This may be helpful to our scientists.”

  “I’m sure it will,” her father said.

  “One more thing. The Bayberry girl is working with the Citizen Guard and us on this case.”

  “That could be trouble.”

  “Yes, but I think I can use her to our advantage.”

  He stood up to leave. “You never cease to amaze me, my daughter.”

  9

  After school, Carina was in her room rummaging through a stack of books Hillary had given her. Some belonged to her grandmother, but most were Hillary’s. Carina could tell because they had her innermost thoughts and feelings written in the margins. And even though Hillary and Carina talked about the ‘gifts’ that they possessed, it wasn’t until she began studying these books did she understand the power and responsibility she had. It was terrifying, but also felt exhilarating.

  Looking up the term Aryan on her tablet, she found a reference. Around 1500 BC, nomadic cattle herders from Central Asia settled in the Indus Valley. These nomads were known as the Aryans. Popular myth has it that the Aryans were unstoppable invaders who took over the Indian subcontinent, but there was no evidence to prove that. She also found a vague reference to Aryan legitimacy in an old book on ancient religions her mother gave her. Reading through the book, she discovered that the Zoroastrian religion is the ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran which still survives in isolated areas and in India. The term Airyana Vaejah, which translates as ‘Aryan expanse,’ refers to the mythical homeland of the Iranian people and was considered the center of the world. This gave the term, Aryan, a certain amount of respectability, but did not associate any racial or status meaning to it. It wasn’t until the dawn of the 20th century that the term Aryan had become equated with nobility and superiority. This Indo-Iranian term came to be used for Indo-European peoples. The thinking went that ancient European peoples spread out from the frigid north to conquer all of Eurasia. These ancient peoples were the Aryans.

  The more ancient something was, the more legitimate and more superior it was thought to be. Thus, the Germans declared themselves the descendants of the old noble Aryan race who once ruled all of Eurasia. Aryans had become associated with racial hierarchies that consider white, blonde, blue-eyed people to be superior. This belief has served as a handy propaganda tool for expressing racist sentiments in seeming historical realities. When Adolf Hitler took control of Germany, he used t
his pseudo-science as propaganda for the Nazis to achieve their political ends. He coined the term, the ‘Third Reich’ meaning "third regime or empire," the Nazi designation of Germany and its regime from 1933-45. Historically, the First Reich was the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. The Second Reich included the German Empire from 1871-1918.

  Carina was mesmerized by the evil-doings of the Nazis and their plans for world domination. The killing of over six million Jews was horrific enough, but then she read an account of establishing a ‘Fourth Reich’ after the Nazis were defeated in World War II. Secret United States documents uncovered by a Jewish human rights group had proved the existence of a Nazi support group that sought to smuggle people and gold out of Germany in 1945 and worked for the establishment of a Fourth Reich. There were reports of a meeting in France in August 1944. This meeting, attended by Nazis who escaped Germany at the end of the war, established Project Safehaven. They planned to smuggle gold, patents, and art out of Germany, along with top industrialists. Meanwhile, the Nazi Party would re-establish itself in Germany as an underground movement.

  Billy saw the light on in Carina’s room. He knocked.

  “Come in.”

  “Hey. It’s late. You have school tomorrow.” He noticed a worried look on Carina’s face. “Are you all right?’

  Carina sighed. “Yes. I was reading about this group that calls themselves the ‘Fourth Reich’. It’s scary to think that people today want to carry out what was started by that evil guy, Adolf Hitler.”

  Billy sat next to her. “It is scary. And if you don’t want to work on this with the Guard, that’s all right. You don’t have to. Get ready for bed. It’s late.”

  As she lay in bed, visions of thousands of soldiers goose-stepping in unison marched through her head.

  ***

  Annie was late for work. Aidan watched her scurry in and head over to the coffee pot, pouring herself a large cup. After a huge gulp, she steadied herself at the counter before downing the rest of the coffee. She was pouring a second cup when Aidan walked over.

  “Are you all right?”

  She looked up at him and forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  “I said I was fine. Now leave me alone!”

  Aidan was shocked. Joey looked up from his desk, and Gretchen strained to see the drama unfolding. He started to continue questioning her but decided to back off.

  “Okay. I’ll be in my office if you want to talk.”

  For Annie to act like this was totally out of character. Something was wrong. In his office, he called Acey.

  “Acey, have you talked to Annie lately?”

  “I talked to her yesterday. Why?”

  “She came to work late this morning looking upset, and when I asked her if she was okay, she took my head off.”

  “Hmmm. I wonder if this has anything to do with the guy she’s been dating.”

  Aidan thought for a second. “You mean the guy from the Citizen Guard? Fred or Frank or something.”

  “His name is Private Foster Evans, and he’s as strait-laced as they come,” Acey said, chuckling and remembering how she met Aidan when he worked for the Guard many years ago. He was the same way. “How about I call her later and take her to lunch?”

  “That sounds good.”

  Putting his com link down, he looked up to see Gretchen standing in the doorway. “Come on in.”

  Gretchen sat at his desk and handed him a folder. She leaned over enough to give him a good view of her cleavage from her low-cut white blouse. Aidan caught a glimpse and then nervously focused on the folder in his hand.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s the autopsy report from Nelson’s Aunt and Uncle.”

  Aidan looked past the gruesome pictures of badly burned bodies and took out the Coroner’s report. He read through the first page and looked up at her. She had the prettiest smile.

  “Not much in here that we didn’t already know.”

  “Yes. The only thing to note is the weapon used in the killings. A low-intensity laser disruptor.”

  “You’re basic Saturday Night Special which could be bought on any street corner for a few hundred credits,” Aidan said.

  Gretchen nodded her head agreeing. “Captain Tom said there was no other forensic evidence found due to the intense heat from the fire. Is the Bayberry girl going to help us?”

  “She is. She’s in school now. I’ll contact her parents and see if she has anything for us.”

  Gretchen nodded and stood up. “Oh, one more thing. How about lunch this afternoon? I want to talk to you about some ideas I have.”

  Aidan felt the heat from his flushed cheeks. “Yeah, sure. Around noon. Come and get me.”

  He watched her body sway out the door. In the privacy of her office, Gretchen called her father. “There is nothing in the Coroner’s Report that points to us. Also, the Bayberry girl is coming in to help. I’ll be there and contact you with what happens.”

  “Excellent, my daughter. The cloning is underway. When complete, we can see for ourselves the results of our future.”

  ***

  Dirk walked towards the school not knowing if he would make it. Since it was over two miles from his house, he left early enough to give himself plenty of time to rest along the way. Norma forbade him to drive, so it was either a cab or walk. He chose to walk to give him time to think about what to say. He laid low after the accident and hadn’t called Carina. She had contacted him several times and he felt guilty not returning her calls. She held him in such high esteem and then to let her down with the stupid accident that nearly killed them both weighed heavy on his mind. As the school came into sight, he stopped one last time to figure out what he would say to her. He would start with an apology

  He heard the school bell ring and watched the kids pouring out of the building. As he approached, Carina came out by herself. When she saw him, she ran into his arms almost knocking him over.

  “Gramps! How are you feeling? Are you okay? Why didn’t you call me back?”

  “I’m sorry,” he replied, breaking away from her embrace. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.”

  “How about some ice cream. I’d like to talk.”

  “Okay. There’s a place around the corner.”

  She held his hand as they entered an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. The homemade ice cream and candies were made fresh daily and not by a food synthesizer. It cost more, but was well worth it.

  “I come here when I want to be alone,” she said.

  Dirk looked at the menu. “How about Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce and Spanish Peanuts,” he said to the clerk.

  “That sounds good. I’ll have the same,” Carina said.

  They sat in a booth in the back. Carina watched as Dirk struggled with the words. He was always so confident and knew what to say. Seeing him like this upset her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He hesitated and let out a long sigh. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I should have never taken you …”

  “Of course, you should have,” she said, cutting him off. “It’s not your fault. It was the best trip I’ve ever been on, and if it weren’t for the stupid accident, everything would have been great.”

  “No, Carina. I’m the adult, and I put you in harm’s way. I’m so ashamed of what I did.”

  The ice cream came, and they ate their delicious treat before Carina spoke.

  “That was so good! We have to come here more often.”

  Dirk nodded in agreement and wiped his mouth.

  “Can we forget the bad part of the trip and just remember the good stuff.”

  “Okay,” Dirk said. “But I won’t be able to do that again.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll never forget the experience for as long as I live.”

  He smiled at her.

  “I’m helping Aidan and Annie on their big case. They asked for me, and Mom and Dad said I co
uld help.”

  “You mean the Nelson case?”

  “Yes. I’ve been getting some visions which don’t make sense to me, but maybe they will to them. One of the visions I had was of Aidan at the mansion the day of the fire.”

  “Wow, so they think you can help?”

  “Yes, I’m meeting with them tomorrow.”

  Dirk wasn’t sure he liked her getting involved, but continued to encourage her. They talked more, and when it was time to leave, Dirk doubted he could walk back. After calling a cab, they waited outside on the corner. When it came, he opened the door to let her in. It was a short ride. He promised to see her more often. Before she got out, she looked at him.

  “Aunt Raina called me three times. I haven’t called her back,” she said, looking down at the floor.

  “You should. She needs all your love and support.”

  “I know, but I don’t know what to say.”

  “You will. I promise. Just call her.”

  10

  Acey sipped a glass of Merlot while waiting for Annie to show up at the restaurant for lunch. When Annie walked in, she kissed her cheek.

  “Sorry I’m late, Mom. Let’s order. I’m famished.”

  The server brought a glass of wine for Annie, and they ordered.

  “I can’t stay long. The Bayberrys are coming over to see what Carina can do in the Nelson case.”

  “How’s that going?”

  “The Guard said they have no new leads, but they’re still chasing down some old ones.”

  Acey asked, “How’s the new woman working out?”

  “She’s okay, I guess.”

  Acey looked at her funny. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. She seems a little too gung-ho if you know what I mean. Always going out of her way to do things, especially when Dad is around.”

  Acey bit her tongue and changed the subject. “How are you and Foster doing?”

  “Fine, I thought, until a couple of days ago.”

  “What happened?”

  A pained look came across Annie’s face. “He dumped me. No excuse. No nothing. I know we’ve been seeing each other for only four months, but I had a good feeling about him.”