Spliced, Page 3
Frank Booker
“I can’t believe Bill is dead,” said Jason. He was holding the phone, staring at in with unbelief. “He called from the hospital this morning and everything seemed fine.”
“What happened?”
“The doctor said he had another massive heart attack this afternoon. He didn’t survive it. He just … just went away.”
Lori was numb with shock. “He was the best of us,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears. “He was the life and breath of the splicing project. Without him you and I would not be. None of us would.” Her body was racked with sobs. She felt a desolation of soul that seemed endless. “He made so much happen with his insights into the fundamentals of humanity and how it transcended the physical.”
“I’m not naïve enough to think the disappointment about our reception here is what caused his heart attack, but it may have played a role,” said Jason.
“He was deeply disappointed with the media reaction to our existence. We knew he was at risk, but we didn’t know how much. He kept all of that to himself. I guess he didn’t want to worry us. Damn it!” She was angry, now, angry that Bill could abandon them. “There was a part of him that always treated us as children. Even when we surpassed him in his science, and in physical abilities he couldn’t let go of the fact he ‘created’ us.” Lori was sobbing with grief and anger and loss.
“He kept talking about the advantages our smaller size gave us, and the reporters were only interested in the sensational aspects of our size.” said Jason.
“And then the religious reporters got involved. They were talking about blasphemy and the abomination in God’s eyes we represented. The demonstrations as we left the studio were pretty ugly. I’m surprised there wasn’t more violence.”
“The real disappointment came when the UN refused to consider our petition to address the General Assembly.”
“He knew gene splicing on human beings was illegal in many countries, including the US. Since he didn’t actually do it here, the authorities have no basis for arresting him. That is, until the immigration people got involved. When we talked on the phone last night he was pretty clear he did not want us to be taken into custody. He felt the government would experiment on us as if we were guinea pigs.”
“The hospital said he had a daughter who was going to claim the body.” said Jason. “We can’t even take him back with us to bury him with the honor he deserves. He told us if anything were to happen to him, we should get back to Brazil without being taken. How does he expect us to do that? We can’t fly, because they’ll be watching the airports. We can’t take the bus or train for the same reason. The whole country could be on the lookout for us. What’ll we do?”
“Walk,” said Lori.
“Are you crazy? It’s over 5000 miles to the enclave. And we are in a strange country with people looking for us. We don’t exactly blend in.”
“I scoped it out last night,” said Lori. The Appalachian Trail is about 40 miles north of New York City we could make that in one night, even carrying a pack.”
“The rest of the trip would take us four months!”
“I know. But it’s the surest way. As long as we stay out of sight we’ll be all right. We can travel the Appalachian Trail and other wilderness areas by day, and when we have to be in more urban areas we can travel at night. We both know enough about foraging and hunting, so we can get all the food we need. It’s fall, so we should have good hiking weather until we get farther south.”
“I’m glad we’re in this together Lori.”
“So am I Jason. Whatever we have in front of us, we’ll deal with it together. Let’s start laying out our packs.”
“I wondered why you brought all that survival gear with us. I just thought it was you being all military.”
“Jason, that was Bill’s idea. I guess he knew as much as anyone how this could go awry. He’s the one who wanted us to be prepared if anything happened to him. I thought he was just trying to appeal to my need for security.”
Jason was still shaken up over the loss of Bill, but he seemed to be getting himself under control. Lori had never really completely lost control. She felt a responsibility to the mission and to Jason to get them home safely.
They went into the bedroom and pulled out their luggage. Lori rummaged around and laid out a backpack for each of them. She began to assemble what was necessary. Clean underwear and socks, sturdy walking shoes, trail mix, water bottles, and jerky. They each had a slingshot and were proficient in using them, having often been tasked with hunting small game for the enclave’s use in the communal dining facility. They each had a hunting knife.
“We’ll have to cut walking staffs when we get on the trail,” said Lori. “Bill’s cane is still here. We can use that for now if we have to.”
“Good idea. I’m not as good at stick-fighting as you are. Let’s hope we won’t have to resort to that kind of defense.”
“Let’s get these packs filled. We can cover everything with our shelter halves, and be ready to go as soon as it gets dark.”
“It’s almost seven now. Let’s grab a bite before we take off.”
“Make sure you hydrate yourself. We’ll probably be able to find water on the trail, and we can carry enough to last until we get there.”
There was a sharp, sudden knocking on the door. They froze and looked at each other.
“Who is it?” Jason was pretty sure it was no one they wanted to see right then.
“We’re friends of Bill’s. He asked us to check in to see if you were all right.”
“Where is Bill?” asked Jason. He could sense the falseness in the voice.
“He’s waiting for us to bring you to him.”
“Just a minute.” Jason rattled the chain lock while Lori got Bill’s cane from the bedroom. She nodded to him and he opened the door. “Thank god you’ve come,” he said. “We’ve been so afraid. Come in, please.” The door swung into the room and revealed two large men in dark suits. Jason gestured for them to come in.
“Bill will need his cane,” said Lori. She held it up so the men could see it. Jason could see she was ready to use it so he closed the door and turned to face the man closest to him. He smiled at the man and with a sudden leap, launched a kick which landed squarely on his solar plexus. The breath seemed to run out of the man and he staggered back. Jason followed through with a vicious kick to his groin. As he bent over, Jason kicked him squarely in the face. The man dropped sideways, like a stone. His partner snapped out of his lethargy as he realized what was happening, and reached for his side-arm. Lori swung the cane down hard on his wrist. She could hear the bones crack. The man screamed in pain, and Lori swung the cane again hitting the man squarely on his temple. As he went down Lori sent another kick to his head. The fight had lasted 30 seconds and both men were unconscious.
“Now what do we do?” asked Jason.
“We have to tie them up,” said Lori. “We can’t have them following us.” She checked each man for a pulse, and found strong steady beats from both. “They’re okay, but they’re going to be pissed off when they come to. And mine has a broken hand. We’ve got to be very careful from here on. They won’t be so easily fooled next time. Law enforcement of any kind is going to be difficult for us to deal with.” Lori searched through her backpack and came up with two lengths of rope. She used them to tie each of the men’s feet together. She searched and found handcuffs the men carried, which she used to cuff each man’s hands behind his back. Then she looked through their pockets and pulled out credentials which identified them as Federal Immigration agents. She got washcloths from the bathroom and gagged each man then pulled pillowcases over their heads and tied them at the neck to blindfold them.
“We’ve got to get our packs and get out of here,” she said.
“You suppose they have anybody for backup on the street?”
“We can go down to the basement and out the door to the alley,” she said as she searched both men for cell phones, radios, car keys, and keys to the handcuffs. Sh
e took the cell phones, removed the batteries and put them back into the men’s’ pockets. “If they do have anybody waiting, they’ll probably be looking for us at the front door or the back door. It’s getting pretty dark now, so we should be able to get away. We’ll use the stairs in case someone is watching the lobby.”
They completely bypassed the main floor and went into the basement. There they found a bulkhead door that was barred from the inside. They opened it and crept noiselessly into the night-darkened alley.
“Wait here,” Lori said. She shed her backpack and crept slowly to the edge of the alley. She scanned the street, looking for the car the men arrived in. She found it parked directly in front of the apartment building, empty. She examined all the other cars and found none of them occupied. She went back to Jason and picked up her backpack and the cane. “I’ll wait here,” she said. “It looks like the coast is clear but I’m not sure. You head west and then head north at the corner. If anybody follows you I’ll have to come up behind them and take them out,” said Lori. “I’ll follow as soon as you turn the corner if the coast is clear. Wait for me just around the corner.
Jason walked to the end of the alley, stepped, out onto the street and began walking towards the corner. Both she and Jason were antennas, tuned in to the possibility of any movement on the street. The coast looked clear. Jason made the corner and turned. Holding her breath, Lori stepped out onto the street and followed. As they came together at the corner, they began walking north at a good clip.
“It looks like they really underestimated us,” said Jason.”
“We can’t rest on our laurels,” said Lori. “We have to be super vigilant until we get out of the city. Any contact with authorities is going to end badly.” They began walking in the warm fall night.
September 21, 2027, 01:30
New Jersey
“What happened?”
“The doctor said he had another massive heart attack this afternoon. He didn’t survive it. He just … just went away.”
Lori was numb with shock. “He was the best of us,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears. “He was the life and breath of the splicing project. Without him you and I would not be. None of us would.” Her body was racked with sobs. She felt a desolation of soul that seemed endless. “He made so much happen with his insights into the fundamentals of humanity and how it transcended the physical.”
“I’m not naïve enough to think the disappointment about our reception here is what caused his heart attack, but it may have played a role,” said Jason.
“He was deeply disappointed with the media reaction to our existence. We knew he was at risk, but we didn’t know how much. He kept all of that to himself. I guess he didn’t want to worry us. Damn it!” She was angry, now, angry that Bill could abandon them. “There was a part of him that always treated us as children. Even when we surpassed him in his science, and in physical abilities he couldn’t let go of the fact he ‘created’ us.” Lori was sobbing with grief and anger and loss.
“He kept talking about the advantages our smaller size gave us, and the reporters were only interested in the sensational aspects of our size.” said Jason.
“And then the religious reporters got involved. They were talking about blasphemy and the abomination in God’s eyes we represented. The demonstrations as we left the studio were pretty ugly. I’m surprised there wasn’t more violence.”
“The real disappointment came when the UN refused to consider our petition to address the General Assembly.”
“He knew gene splicing on human beings was illegal in many countries, including the US. Since he didn’t actually do it here, the authorities have no basis for arresting him. That is, until the immigration people got involved. When we talked on the phone last night he was pretty clear he did not want us to be taken into custody. He felt the government would experiment on us as if we were guinea pigs.”
“The hospital said he had a daughter who was going to claim the body.” said Jason. “We can’t even take him back with us to bury him with the honor he deserves. He told us if anything were to happen to him, we should get back to Brazil without being taken. How does he expect us to do that? We can’t fly, because they’ll be watching the airports. We can’t take the bus or train for the same reason. The whole country could be on the lookout for us. What’ll we do?”
“Walk,” said Lori.
“Are you crazy? It’s over 5000 miles to the enclave. And we are in a strange country with people looking for us. We don’t exactly blend in.”
“I scoped it out last night,” said Lori. The Appalachian Trail is about 40 miles north of New York City we could make that in one night, even carrying a pack.”
“The rest of the trip would take us four months!”
“I know. But it’s the surest way. As long as we stay out of sight we’ll be all right. We can travel the Appalachian Trail and other wilderness areas by day, and when we have to be in more urban areas we can travel at night. We both know enough about foraging and hunting, so we can get all the food we need. It’s fall, so we should have good hiking weather until we get farther south.”
“I’m glad we’re in this together Lori.”
“So am I Jason. Whatever we have in front of us, we’ll deal with it together. Let’s start laying out our packs.”
“I wondered why you brought all that survival gear with us. I just thought it was you being all military.”
“Jason, that was Bill’s idea. I guess he knew as much as anyone how this could go awry. He’s the one who wanted us to be prepared if anything happened to him. I thought he was just trying to appeal to my need for security.”
Jason was still shaken up over the loss of Bill, but he seemed to be getting himself under control. Lori had never really completely lost control. She felt a responsibility to the mission and to Jason to get them home safely.
They went into the bedroom and pulled out their luggage. Lori rummaged around and laid out a backpack for each of them. She began to assemble what was necessary. Clean underwear and socks, sturdy walking shoes, trail mix, water bottles, and jerky. They each had a slingshot and were proficient in using them, having often been tasked with hunting small game for the enclave’s use in the communal dining facility. They each had a hunting knife.
“We’ll have to cut walking staffs when we get on the trail,” said Lori. “Bill’s cane is still here. We can use that for now if we have to.”
“Good idea. I’m not as good at stick-fighting as you are. Let’s hope we won’t have to resort to that kind of defense.”
“Let’s get these packs filled. We can cover everything with our shelter halves, and be ready to go as soon as it gets dark.”
“It’s almost seven now. Let’s grab a bite before we take off.”
“Make sure you hydrate yourself. We’ll probably be able to find water on the trail, and we can carry enough to last until we get there.”
There was a sharp, sudden knocking on the door. They froze and looked at each other.
“Who is it?” Jason was pretty sure it was no one they wanted to see right then.
“We’re friends of Bill’s. He asked us to check in to see if you were all right.”
“Where is Bill?” asked Jason. He could sense the falseness in the voice.
“He’s waiting for us to bring you to him.”
“Just a minute.” Jason rattled the chain lock while Lori got Bill’s cane from the bedroom. She nodded to him and he opened the door. “Thank god you’ve come,” he said. “We’ve been so afraid. Come in, please.” The door swung into the room and revealed two large men in dark suits. Jason gestured for them to come in.
“Bill will need his cane,” said Lori. She held it up so the men could see it. Jason could see she was ready to use it so he closed the door and turned to face the man closest to him. He smiled at the man and with a sudden leap, launched a kick which landed squarely on his solar plexus. The breath seemed to run out of the man and he staggered back. Jason followed through with a vicious kick to his groin. As he bent over, Jason kicked him squarely in the face. The man dropped sideways, like a stone. His partner snapped out of his lethargy as he realized what was happening, and reached for his side-arm. Lori swung the cane down hard on his wrist. She could hear the bones crack. The man screamed in pain, and Lori swung the cane again hitting the man squarely on his temple. As he went down Lori sent another kick to his head. The fight had lasted 30 seconds and both men were unconscious.
“Now what do we do?” asked Jason.
“We have to tie them up,” said Lori. “We can’t have them following us.” She checked each man for a pulse, and found strong steady beats from both. “They’re okay, but they’re going to be pissed off when they come to. And mine has a broken hand. We’ve got to be very careful from here on. They won’t be so easily fooled next time. Law enforcement of any kind is going to be difficult for us to deal with.” Lori searched through her backpack and came up with two lengths of rope. She used them to tie each of the men’s feet together. She searched and found handcuffs the men carried, which she used to cuff each man’s hands behind his back. Then she looked through their pockets and pulled out credentials which identified them as Federal Immigration agents. She got washcloths from the bathroom and gagged each man then pulled pillowcases over their heads and tied them at the neck to blindfold them.
“We’ve got to get our packs and get out of here,” she said.
“You suppose they have anybody for backup on the street?”
“We can go down to the basement and out the door to the alley,” she said as she searched both men for cell phones, radios, car keys, and keys to the handcuffs. Sh
e took the cell phones, removed the batteries and put them back into the men’s’ pockets. “If they do have anybody waiting, they’ll probably be looking for us at the front door or the back door. It’s getting pretty dark now, so we should be able to get away. We’ll use the stairs in case someone is watching the lobby.”
They completely bypassed the main floor and went into the basement. There they found a bulkhead door that was barred from the inside. They opened it and crept noiselessly into the night-darkened alley.
“Wait here,” Lori said. She shed her backpack and crept slowly to the edge of the alley. She scanned the street, looking for the car the men arrived in. She found it parked directly in front of the apartment building, empty. She examined all the other cars and found none of them occupied. She went back to Jason and picked up her backpack and the cane. “I’ll wait here,” she said. “It looks like the coast is clear but I’m not sure. You head west and then head north at the corner. If anybody follows you I’ll have to come up behind them and take them out,” said Lori. “I’ll follow as soon as you turn the corner if the coast is clear. Wait for me just around the corner.
Jason walked to the end of the alley, stepped, out onto the street and began walking towards the corner. Both she and Jason were antennas, tuned in to the possibility of any movement on the street. The coast looked clear. Jason made the corner and turned. Holding her breath, Lori stepped out onto the street and followed. As they came together at the corner, they began walking north at a good clip.
“It looks like they really underestimated us,” said Jason.”
“We can’t rest on our laurels,” said Lori. “We have to be super vigilant until we get out of the city. Any contact with authorities is going to end badly.” They began walking in the warm fall night.
September 21, 2027, 01:30
New Jersey
