THE FOREVER GENE (THE SCIONS OF EARTH Book 1) (9 page)

"This is my wife, Priscilla, and my technical director, Chunky, er, Charles Tyler," stammered David.  "Please, join us."

After they had all taken their seats and ordered a round of drinks, the ambassador spoke.  "I am sure you are wondering why I asked to meet with you.  If you will permit me, I will get business out of the way, so that we can enjoy our meal."

"What a good idea, ambassador," said Pris, recovering her composure.

He reached into a fold of his robes and produced a small metallic device, which he placed in the middle of the table.

Anything technological was sure to draw Chunky's attention.  "Is that one of your cloaking devices?" he asked curiously.

"It is," said the ambassador.  "It will shield our conversation from anyone not sitting at this table.  I apologise for having to resort to such measures, but I would prefer that our conversation remain private."

"We understand, ambassador," said David.  "In our business we are accustomed to keeping things strictly confidential."

The ambassador reached out and pressed down on the top of the device with a slender finger.  This produced no noticeable effect, but the ambassador seemed satisfied that he could now speak freely.

"As you probably know from interviews I have given in your media, our race is facing a serious genetic crisis.  Although our individual longevity is increasing, our females are becoming less and less fertile.  If the decline is not arrested, our race will ultimately die out altogether.  Our genetic analysts have failed to solve the problem so far, and although they have not abandoned their efforts, they have hit a brick wall, as you say here on Earth.  Roughly one hundred and fifty of your years ago, our Ancient Council adopted a radical new strategy.  Until then, our focus on the problem had been inwards.  It was believed that our analytical approach would ultimately lead to a solution.  But eventually the situation reached a point where we had to consider the possibility that our existing genetic technology was at a dead end."

Two nervous young waitresses approached with their drinks.  After they had left, the ambassador continued.  "So it was decided to extend our search outwards.  Expeditions have been sent out to locate and contact other races.  Our task is to study promising civilisations, from afar at first, to identify genetic characteristics or technology which may offer us the insight we are lacking.

"As you may imagine, our voyages of discovery have been fascinating.  Some galaxies are teeming with life; others are almost devoid of it.  What you call the Milky Way falls into the latter category, which is probably why your race has believed for so long that you are alone in the universe.

"In some of the more populous galaxies, neighbouring races have already contacted each other, mostly for the purposes of trade, but there have been some who have set out on expeditions of conquest.  Those expeditions have tended to fail; defeated mainly by the vast distances of space.  So far we have found no other mode of space travel as sophisticated as our star drive.  We have been very careful to restrict this technology to races which share our peaceful values.  The last thing we want is to facilitate interstellar warfare."

It occurred to David that, given its history, humanity was the last race which should be gifted such technology.  The ambassador paused to sip some water and Ko spoke for the first time.

"The ambassador digresses from the subject at hand. We have already expressed our wish to study the family system of your race.  However that is not the only thing which has led us to your planet.  There are two aspects of your society which are very advanced for a race at your stage of development.  One is your weaponry.  The power and variety of the arms you have developed is morbidly impressive and we will seek assurances as to its non-deployment off-planet before allowing you access to the star drive.  However that is a discussion for another day.

"The other aspect is your genetic technology, at the forefront of which is your company, Dr Herald.  Your speciality, artificial genes which are designed specifically for individuals, is a field which our analysts have traditionally ignored.  It has always been believed that artificially altering the genetic characteristics of individuals cannot have an effect on the race as a whole.  However our Ancient Council has instructed us to explore the potential of any alternatives we encounter. Your technique represents such an alternative and we have resolved to ask you to develop an artificial gene for us."

David was surprised.  He had wondered at first whether it was the Forever Gene which had drawn the interest of the ambassador.  He had dismissed the idea immediately, assuming that the Faerie Folk's genetic technology was far more advanced than anything on Earth.  The geneticist in him, intrigued by the prospect of studying the genome of extra-terrestrial beings, quickly overcame his surprise.  "I must say, I don't know what I expected you to propose, but it wasn't that."  He looked from the ambassador to Ko and back again.  "I am not sure if we can help you, but we will sure give it a try."

The ambassador smiled his disconcerting smile.  "Thank you, Dr Herald, I was hoping you would say that.  But before you make a commitment, there is a qualification to our request.  For some time, an unpopular theory has been gaining credibility among our analysts.  Ko is one of its chief proponents.  According to this theory, our increasing longevity is at the root of the problem.  On our travels we have observed that shorter-lived peoples tend to reproduce efficiently. These findings have added a great deal of weight to the theory, weight that we can no longer ignore.  The logical conclusion drawn by the theory is that we must reverse our longevity."  He paused.  "I'm sure you can understand why the whole idea is unpopular.

"The only way for us to test this theory is to reduce the lifespan of a test subject to ascertain whether this affects the subject's ability to reproduce.  We have certain legal and ethical barriers which prevent our analysts from even developing such technology, let alone experimenting with it.  The only way for us to carry out the research is to ask someone else to do it for us."

He paused and glanced meaningfully around the table.  "You have already developed technology to slow down the aging process in individuals.  We want you to use the same technology to speed it up; a Forever Gene in reverse."

David was astonished.  Pris and Chunky's expressions mirrored his reaction.

"Of course, we do not expect to benefit from your company's resources for nothing.  We are more than willing to make payment.  We have no money, but we are prepared to offer you what we have already used to recompense the Mongolian and Thai governments for the expenses they have incurred on our behalf; our building technology.  We are aware of your company's programme of expansion around the world and propose that we build you a hard-water facility in the city of your choice.  We believe that this will be mutually beneficial.  Your company will gain a great deal of media exposure, and the credibility of our technology will be enhanced by its association with a commercial enterprise of your stature."

David didn't know what to say.  There were so many things to consider, not least of which was the reputation of the Factory.  How would public opinion view a gene which shortened life instead of extending it?  The process itself would be relatively simple.  The subject's DNA would be mapped and a synthetic gene manufactured in the usual way.  Then, instead of programming it to erase the memory of the age control genes, it could be programmed to simulate additional memory.  The age control genes would be stimulated into acting at a faster rate.

He looked at Chunky and could almost see the same thoughts crossing his mind.

Pris had a completely different reaction.  "Are you saying that you want us to shorten the life of one of your people, ambassador?  Who would that be?"

CHAPTER FIVE

She hadn't expected to become so attached to the Grand Palace.  In the mornings, before its gates were opened to the public, she explored its ornately decorated buildings and serenely beautiful gardens and courtyards.  Solitude was something she hadn't experienced much in her life and she found herself enjoying it.  It was oddly soothing to focus on surroundings which were so complex in their detail and yet evoked such simple feelings of pleasure.  She had never thought of herself as introspective, but the six weeks she had spent living in the Palace had given her a new perspective.

The King himself had taken her on a tour of the inner court, an area not open to the public and rarely seen by anyone outside the royal family.  The intricate paintings and tapestries covering the walls and ceilings of the immaculately kept rooms fascinated her.  She had never seen anything like it.  At first glance the congested depictions of diverse gods and goddesses, angels and demons, heroes and heroines, seemed chaotic, but when she studied any particular scene she found that she was able to follow the story encapsulated within it.  The King was so impressed by her interest that he ordered she be given access to the inner court whenever she wished.

This morning, when she left the guest quarters, it was raining lightly.  She didn't mind the rain; it was refreshing in the unrelenting heat of the city.  As usual, none of the others showed any interest in where she was going so early.  In the beginning she had spoken to some of them about her observations, but had been met with blank expressions.  Now she was secretly happy to be left alone whenever she went out.

She headed towards her favourite place within the Palace grounds; the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  The temple itself was a complex of shrines, spires, statues and even an ancient library.  Before entering the temple she headed for the part of its outer wall she had visited yesterday.  The entire wall was covered with elaborate painted illustrations of myth and legend and she had set herself the task of studying the entire epic, section by section.  So far, she had made it almost half-way round.

After poring over the day's chosen section, she walked around to the entrance which faced the back of the chapel housing the Emerald Buddha itself.  By then the attendant had arrived and she bowed gracefully to him.  He returned the bow.  Although they had exchanged this greeting almost every day for weeks, they had never said a word to each other.  Despite this, or perhaps because of it, she felt that they had developed a deeply personal connection.

She passed through the entrance, dwarfed by the demonic statues guarding it, and moved along the covered corridor along the side of the chapel.  She turned the corner and went up the steps and through the front door, which the attendant always left open for her.  Once inside she stopped, arrested by the majesty of the Emerald Buddha among the soaring columns of the cavernous hall.  It sat cross-legged on a massive gilded altar, attended by tall golden angels arrayed around its base.  She had seen it many times, but didn't think that she would ever become tired of the spectacle.  Whenever she came into the chapel she noticed something new.  This morning she was struck by the way the large eyes and sculpted cheek-bones of the angels mirrored the features of her own face.

Deeply engrossed, she was surprised to hear someone approaching and even more surprised when she turned around to see that it was the attendant.  He hadn't approached her before and she found herself hoping that he wouldn't speak, as if that would somehow destroy the purity of the relationship between them.

"Someone has come with a message for you", he said in a disappointingly nasal voice.

She followed him back to the entrance, to find one of Ko's analysts waiting impatiently.  The attendant had obviously not been prepared to afford him the same privilege of entry that she enjoyed.

"The ambassador wishes to see you immediately," he said and hurried away without waiting for her.

When they had arrived in Bangkok to begin work on the housing project, the Thai government had faced the thorny problem of where to house the Faerie Folk.  Their safety and privacy could not be guaranteed at a hotel, but a more secure location, such as an army base, would not have accommodation of the desired quality.  It was the King of Thailand who had come up with the ideal venue; the Grand Palace.  It was one of the most secure areas in Bangkok.  No ordinary Thai would dream of violating its sanctity and any foreigner who tried would find that its serene beauty hid a ring of steel it was unwise to test. Within its grounds was the magnificent Boromphiman Mansion, which was sometimes used to accommodate visiting dignitaries.  Its large, airy rooms were perfect for the Faerie Folk.

Vi walked back to the mansion slowly, resenting the intrusion into her time of contemplation, and wondering why.  Coming from a society which valued co-operative behaviour above all else, it was unusual for individuals to develop rebellious tendencies.  Her companions were completely disinterested in their surroundings and concerned only with carrying out their allotted responsibilities.  Perhaps that was the problem.  She didn't have much to do with the building project itself and found herself carrying out mundane tasks, such as arranging meetings for the ambassador.  It would make more sense for her to be sent back to the facility in Mongolia.  Perhaps that was why she had been summoned.  She tried not to think about how it would feel to have to leave the Palace.

By the time she entered the exquisitely furnished sitting room which the ambassador was using as his base of operations, she was feeling apprehensive.  Her mood wasn't improved by presence of the surly Ko, who always looked at her with such disdain, and the aloof Physician Ti.  As head translator on the expedition, she was technically equal to them in rank, but the two of them were far older than she and had accompanied the ambassador on many expeditions before this one.

The ambassador seemed pre-occupied, although he greeted her warmly as he always did.  Ko brusquely dismissed everyone else in the room, leaving the four of them alone.  She realised belatedly that this was an unscheduled senior command conference.

Before speaking, the ambassador waved them into comfortable armchairs and then insisted on pouring each of them a refreshing drink.  Vi's apprehension grew; the ambassador did not usually conduct conferences this way.  Equally surprising was Ko's restraint; he would ordinarily have expressed some impatience by now.  The ambassador sat down, a rather ungainly operation in which he had to fold his long legs almost in half in order to get down to the level of the chair.

"So, translator, have your studies of human art forms yielded any new understanding of their society?"

She wasn't surprised that he knew exactly what she had been doing.  "Yes, ambassador, I have discovered that they have an extraordinarily well developed storytelling tradition, which manifests itself in an impressive array of different genres.  Their artworks, for example, are designed not only to be pleasing in appearance.  They also tell stories.  The stories themselves are often composed of many layers and it takes time to decipher the true meanings within them."

Sitting opposite Ko, she was aware of his growing irritation, which he continued to suppress.  He was not interested in the artworks of what he considered to be a primitive race.  He was of the view that, once the language of a client race had been adequately decoded and taught to the members of the expedition, the translator's task was at an end.  If he had been in charge of the expedition he wouldn't have sent her back to the facility, he would have sent her back to the ship.

She decided to prolong his annoyance.  "Even their factual reports, such as the ones which appear on the Personet news channels, are structured and presented as if they are stories.  These stories are based on what are perceived to be facts.  But most humans are not content with factual stories.  They are endlessly making up fictional ones.  These fictional stories are told in many different ways.  Some of them are presented in written narrative form, some are acted out in recorded plays which they call 'movies', and others are set to music and sung.  These 'songs', as they are called, appear to tell the simplest stories but are perhaps the most complex of all.  I haven't begun to appreciate the way the music and words complement each other.

"The amazing thing is that the humans seem to have no difficulty differentiating the factual stories from the fictional ones.  Or perhaps they can't tell the difference and don't care.  They even delight in stories which are a mixture of fact and fiction.  I am beginning to think that they are a far more complex race than we have given them credit for."

Ko couldn't contain himself any longer.  "They are nothing more than ignorant barbarians," he spat.

Happy with her small victory over him, she didn't respond.

The ambassador cut in smoothly.  "An opportunity has presented itself to us.  As you know, Ko and I met with the representatives of the enterprise which produces the so-called Forever Gene.  Ti has conducted some preliminary studies of this technology and has sent the results to the Ancient Council.  We have now received instructions to proceed with a trial."

He sat back, and Ti levered himself to his feet.  The physician was the oldest member of the expedition and his long, bone-white hair was thin and brittle.  He spoke calmly and deliberately.

"We are all well aware of the theory of longevity reversal, which Ko espouses.  We have heard him speak of it many times.  Dr Herald and his companions have confirmed that they are capable of manufacturing a synthetic gene, compatible with our physiology, which will accelerate the aging process.  Ko believes that the fertility of a female implanted with this gene will be enhanced.  The question is, by how much?  The Ancient Council has instructed us to select a female with a low fertility rating for the trial."

He paused and looked down at her.  "Your rating meets the criteria necessary to optimise the results of the trial.  I shall accompany you to Dr Herald's facility in the United States to ensure that you are treated with the utmost care and dignity.  I shall also observe the procedure closely so that, once the trial has run its course, its effect on your longevity can be reversed."

He paused again.  "If possible."

There was silence in the room and she realised that the meeting was over.

Ko stood up abruptly.  "I have matters to attend to," he said and left the room.  Ti followed him, deep in thought.

"The Ancient Council appreciates the sacrifice you are being asked to make," the ambassador said into the silence.  Hi tone was not unkind.  "If this trial succeeds, you will be credited with having played a major part in ensuring the future of our civilisation.  You will be venerated and, in due course, will probably be called to serve on the Council itself.  I cannot make you any guarantee, of course, but it would be the most appropriate way to honour your contribution."

There was silence again.  When she finally spoke, her voice was strangely hoarse, as if she had been screaming.  "When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning.  Ti has made the arrangements."

"Then please excuse me.  I should go and see to my duties."

The ambassador said nothing more and she got up and left the room.  Her first impulse was to go back to the temple wall to have a last look at its artwork.  But that would break her heart, as the humans would say, and instead she wandered through the interconnecting rooms of the mansion to give herself time to order her thoughts.

She could not fault the logic of the Ancient Council's decision.  Nor could she question the right of the expedition's leader to select her for the trial.  She had committed herself to the expedition in exchange for the unexpected chance of living a life beyond the reproduction centre.  Having done so, it was her duty to do whatever was in the interests of the mission.  She was the only female member of the expedition and had a low fertility rating.  If another female was sent for, the selection and preparation process would take up unnecessary time.  There was relatively little of importance for a translator to do at this stage of the mission and its other translators were capable of carrying out the necessary functions. 

She found herself in a thickly carpeted drawing room in a wing of the mansion which was not being used.  She stopped and was about to go back when she heard Ti speaking calmly and deliberately from an adjacent room.

"Can we not negotiate with them; offer them more technology in exchange for their help?  Surely this isn't necessary."

She heard a sharp hiss, a sign of irritation which Ko habitually made deep in the back of his throat.  "You have seen what they are like!  Look what happened on the first day they encountered us.  Two of their nations were prepared to go to war simply to prevent each other from getting their hands on us."

"Yes, but is this the only way?"

"It is the fastest way.  We are running out of time.  If you have no stomach for it, I will find someone who has."

Ti's hiss in response was a warning that Ko had gone too far.  "Do not question my commitment.  You, of all of us, know what I have done for the sake of our civilisation!"

Although she didn't understand the exchange, Vi got the feeling that this was a conversation she was not meant to hear.  She turned and walked quietly back the way she had come, the carpets muffling the sound of her long strides.  She had never heard Ti so animated and wondered whether they were talking about the upcoming trial.  But why were they discussing it when the humans had already agreed to help?  She gave up pondering the strange conversation and confined her thoughts to preparing for her trip.