The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (10 page)

BOOK: The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1)
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“Wait, if you knew that only one in twenty children born were
going to be virile, why don’t you have hundreds of people in your group?” Jack
felt like he didn’t really want the answer to this, but he had to ask.

“Good question, Jack, I have to say I am amazed by your
ability to pick up on the details.” Jack didn’t even blink; he didn’t want this
conversation derailed until he had the details he needed to process it all. Teague
continued, “First off, when those of us who founded this community escaped the
cities during the wars, we didn’t leave empty handed. We brought along some
tech, and between us we had some decent medical expertise. We had several women
but only one fertile man, and it didn’t take long before he had fathered
several children, none of which were fertile themselves. Our resources were
very limited at first, and we just couldn’t support too many children. So we
worked on the problem in the way we knew how. We attacked it from two angles:
first was finding more fertile men, and second was ensuring that the children
they had were all fertile. The first required us building machines to search
for signs of human life, the second involved developing a method to detect
infertile children before the pregnancy was too far along, and terminate any
that weren’t going to give us the results we needed.”

“Good Lord, is there no end to the immorality?” Jack felt
ill again, a feeling he was growing used to during this conversation.

“Jack, you have to understand that the survival of humanity
was at stake here, this was not a decision we took lightly.”

“Doc, you don’t have to defend your actions with me.”

“I know, Jack, I know.” Jack could see the pain on his face
so he let it go. “Anyway, even after we found a few fertile men in the
survivors, it was rare to have a birth around here. We could have had more, but
it would have resulted in inbreeding, so the population only grew with the
discovery of more fertile men. We have had a few successful births through the
exchange program, but overall things were not developing as fast as we would
have liked. At the rate we were going, there was little hope of humanity
surviving in the long run.

“We estimate that there are about forty eight hundred people
that we know of out there, less than five percent of the males are virile. There
are more on other continents, but our best guess puts the world population of
humanity below ten thousand people.”

This was staggering. Jack had traveled a good portion of the
world in his life and had a very good idea for how big this planet was. To
spread ten thousand people out over that kind if expanse was almost certainly
going to lead to extinction, even if they could reproduce, which they pretty much
couldn’t, at least not at a rate that was ever going to support any real growth
of population.

“Doc, this is a grim story and I would love to learn more
about it later. For now, I would like to know how this leads back to me.”

Teague had stood up to refill his glass and offered to
refill Jack’s. After this conversation Jack was ready to try one of those beers
but it was still too early. “Four years ago the nuclear reactor in that
facility started to malfunction. The electromagnetic noise from the faulty
generator was detected by one of our probes while searching for signs of life. We
sent a party to the area formerly known as Montana to find out if it was
another group of survivors, and instead we found that facility. Only about half
the bodies are in good enough shape to clone. Mostly the early ones are in bad
shape because the chemicals used to prevent cell damage when they froze the
bodies, was insufficient. The last body was added in 2010 when they closed the
facility, and that was the first one we were able to bring back. We have since
recovered about fifty more people, mostly men, but some women too. You are the
oldest successful recovery to date. We now have over thirty children in our
population, and over seventy percent of the men are virile.” With that, Teague
sat back and fell silent, waiting for Jack to absorb it all.

 

* * *

 

It was beyond overwhelming. He felt exhausted even though he
had just been sitting here the whole time listening and thinking. He knew it
would take time for him to really absorb it all and be able to think things
through. He excused himself to use the restroom. His mind was too occupied to
pay attention to the amazing technology in the bathroom.

Foremost in his mind was that he had been given another
chance at life. In the short time since waking up he hadn’t once thought of
this situation as bad for him, after all if he weren’t here he would be dead. But
what did that really mean?

What happened when he died? Did he go to heaven? Did heaven
exist? The thing is, he didn’t know because he is not really the Jack Taggart
that died in 1967 from cancer. If he died again without losing his brain, there
is a chance that they will bring him back again. But it won’t be
him
, it
will be a copy of him that thinks it’s him.
If there is a heaven,
I
will still get a chance to meet Peter at the gates of heaven,
he thought.

Next he thought about the reason he was here.
Hell, I am
one of the last men on earth capable of fathering a child
. At first that
made him grin. Then a cold realization hit him.
Is this why Wendy came to
his room last night?
That would be a huge disappointment, despite the
briefness of the encounter, he felt a chemistry with her he hadn’t felt since
he met Jenny. As he got back to the kitchen, he was brimming with questions.

“So when you talked about the cultural changes in the
communities after the virus, how does that affect
this
community? Do the
virile men spend their time having sex with the women?”

Teague looked like he had expected the question. “It is true
that there are some expectations here, and I can assure you that the culture
will require some getting used to, but we will get into those details later. Frankly
I am surprised with you Jack, most of the men we have brought back were
extremely happy about this part, but you have shown reservation from the first
time I mentioned it. Your generation is obviously far different from the others.”
This was no surprise to Jack, he saw where things were headed long before he
even learned about the cancer. “I suspect you are looking for a second answer
as well, perhaps regarding last evening?” Jack didn’t need to answer, it was
probably written all over his face. “I can’t tell you Wendy’s motive, but what
she did is not only acceptable to us, but encouraged. I
can
tell you
that she was under a lot of pressure to get pregnant, and until you have
impregnated more women, she will have a unique child that can spread the gene
pool. In our community that will elevate her standing as well as help the
community greatly. In many ways it is perhaps the most key aspect of our
society right now. As I said, it’s all about the survival of humanity..”

“You sound pretty sure that our…
tryst
will lead to a
child being born. Isn’t there a high probability that even if she gets pregnant
from me that you will abort her…
our
baby?” There was a dangerous tone
to his voice. Regardless of the situation, Jack would risk anything and
everything to prevent anyone here from harming a child of his, born or not.

Teague seemed to pick up on this and chose his words
carefully, “There was a third element in our effort to ensure the survival of
humanity: looking for a cure for the virus. We have not found a cure, but we
have found something of equal value, at least now that we found the facility in
Montana. We have an immunization. You were immunized when you were brought
back, and you can be assured that any child you father will be immune to the
virus and able to have children of its own.”

 

* * *

 

At least one weight was lifted from his shoulders. He needed
to be alone, to think about everything, to process and figure out how he felt
about it all. Before he did that though, he needed to answer one more question.

“Doc, tell me one more thing. Is this the only reason you
brought me back? To have babies and spread my seed?”

It was a legitimate question; one that Teague obviously wasn’t
sure whether to answer. After a few moments, he said, “I won’t lie to you Jack.
We are hoping that you are a solution to a problem, maybe even to a lot of
problems. We select people to bring back based on both their potential worth to
the community and the chance that recovery will be successful. We are trying to
rebuild humanity, but in order to do that we have to survive first. Rest assured,
Jack, you will have a lot of value to this community and quite possibly the
whole world, but let’s just start out by worrying about tomorrow.”

It was a vague answer, but good enough for Jack, at least for
now.

In some ways, he was disappointed. Even if he fell in love
with one woman, it would be expected,
hell, his duty
, to be unfaithful
to her. At some point he would need to consider the fate of his friends and
family and mourn his loss, even though they lost him, not the other way around.
And the memory of his wife and child were still very vivid and a part of his
personality.

However, there was some excitement brimming in the back of
his mind at the thought of fathering another child, or even more children. Any
fear of having to relive the horror of losing a child was surpassed by the hope
of another chance to experience what he once lost. In fact, despite the
potential challenges, he had a chance to experience love again, and that alone
made it all worth it.

For the first time in nearly two years, Jack was truly
excited about his future.

              
Chapter 14

The past few days had been a whirlwind. He hadn’t even come
to terms with having cancer, let alone everything since waking up in this
strange environment. Before leaving him alone with his thoughts, Teague gave
him one of the ‘clipboards’ he had been using. “I will show you more of how to
use it later, but for now, if you want to make notes on any questions that you
come up with, just write them on here as if it’s a piece of paper.” He showed
him by writing a few words. As he wrote them on the surface of the pad, they
appeared at the top of the page, neatly typed and even formatted properly.

“Jesus Teague, make this thing answer the phone and you
could eliminate secretaries altogether.” He said it offhand, but two things hit
him as the words left his mouth. The first was that this was no longer 1966 and
he would no longer be able to use that time frame as a reference for pretty
much anything he thought he knew. Second, it dawned on him that he could
probably not even comprehend the way society changed in the years immediately following
his death, let alone the changes since the war. He voiced his concerns

It was obvious Teague didn’t want to get into it right now. “Look
Jack, you’ve been bombarded with information, and it will take some time for
your brain to process it all. Just write down any questions that come up and we
can talk about them later.” Teague then walked him down the hall to another
room. It was a bedroom, about ten foot square, with a small bed, a table and
chair, a small set of drawers, and a sink and mirror like the one in the
restroom, only this one had regular water faucet. The mirror opened to reveal a
small cabinet built into the wall. It was filled with toiletries. He showed
Jack how to use the light switch, and how to control the temperature in the
room. “Feel free to explore the complex, or just go back to your room and lie
down. This is a small community, and for all intents and purposes, everyone knows
everyone else. Most people like to meet the latest reborn, so don’t be
surprised if those you meet are interested in getting to know you. Just carry
your datapad with you; with it we can locate you if something happens or contact
you if we need to talk. I would probably recommend just getting some rest if
you can, however. It is amazing what the brain can do subconsciously to process
stuff like this, especially when you are resting. If you need me for anything,
just tap the icon I put at the bottom left of your datapad.” He pointed to a
little symbol that looked like a stethoscope wrapped around a red cross.

“Is that what you call people like me? Reborn? And this is
called a datapad? And the symbol here is called an icon?” The terminology was
completely new to Jack. “I can see that I’m going to be learning a new
language.” He said it in a lighthearted fashion, but he knew it would be tough
for the first few weeks.

“Jack, I know it will be difficult, and the learning curve
will be high, but I can assure you that not only will you pick it all up fairly
quickly, but you will be a great asset to us. Is there anything else before I
leave you? I have some work to attend to – saving humanity is a busy business.”
Teague chuckled at his own grim humor but Jack’s attention was elsewhere. His
mind was already wandering back to the many subjects they had discussed.

“No, no, I think I can handle it. Thanks Teague.” He didn’t
even notice the man leave.

Jack sat heavily in the chair and jumped back up with a yelp
when it started moving. A little freaked out, he stared at the chair as if it
was possessed. Looking around the room as if he were making sure nobody was
watching, he tentatively touched chair. It didn’t move this time. He set the
datapad on the desk and slowly backed into the chair. The moment his weight was
in the seat he felt the bottom and back begin to move. His curiosity kept him
from leaping out this time, and after a few seconds the movement stopped. He
was sitting rigidly, waiting for something more to happen. The foolishness of
his actions sank in, and he relaxed back into the chair. It began to move again
and he tensed, then forced himself to relax again. When the chair stopped
moving, he was amazed. This was perhaps the most comfortable chair he had ever
sat in. He tested it by leaning back, slouching, leaning forward, and then
sitting back again, and each time he shifted position the chair adjusted itself
to be just as comfortable. “Damn I could get used to this.”

He leaned back and started mentally reviewing the last
twenty four hours, beginning with the latest information and working his way
back. He jotted notes as he went, and soon, all the questions he wanted to
address were written down. The list was substantial, and he knew getting
answers would only lead to more questions.

He settled back in the chair a little further and, while
pondering his fate, drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Jack woke a few hours later, slowly easing himself out of
the chair, fully expecting to be stiff and sore. Somehow, he wasn’t all that
surprised to find he felt no different than if he had slept on the bed. His
internal clock told him it was dinner time, and the sound of his stomach
rumbling confirmed it.

He found the kitchen empty. He didn’t even know if people
here ate meals in the same intervals as in 1966, so he wasn’t really surprised.
It also dawned on him that maybe the rest of the residents didn’t eat in a
community kitchen or even live on this level. He didn’t even venture to guess. There
was a bowl in the cabinet, and he used the food dispenser as he had seen Teague
do it earlier today. This time it tasted of meat loaf – in an odd sort of way. He
was about to fill his cup with water when he remembered the ‘beer’ in the
refrigerator. There were fifteen bottles in there, and he felt a little guilty
as he took one, remembering how Teague had said it was in short supply. “Bah,
screw it. I need a drink after all this anyway.” He said it to nobody, as
nobody was in the room, but it alleviated his guilt just enough for him to open
the bottle and take a sip. He grunted as it hit his mouth. It was far from
beer, there was no doubt of that. It was heavily carbonated and almost went out
his nose. He sputtered and coughed after swallowing, and said, once again to
nobody in particular, “Smooth.”

“You know, drinking that stuff can decrease your sex drive.”
The voice startled him and he almost dropped the bottle. He turned around to
see Wendy standing there, wearing the typical casual attire, which looked like
surgeon’s ‘scrubs’. She walked into the room, took the bottle from him and took
a long pull.

“Christ Wendy you scared the shit outta me.” He took the
bottle back and sat down to eat. She sat across from him, watching him eat. He
decided you didn’t so much ‘eat’ this food as you ‘gummed’ it. He looked at her
after swallowing and asked, “Are you stalking me?”

“Not at all” she said, “I was just out looking for a good
lay, and came across you.” Jack choked on his food at that comment, coughed a
few times, and took another drink to clear his throat. Wendy laughed, and he
realized that she was just pulling his leg. “Actually I was sort of waiting for
you to come in and eat. I didn’t want to interrupt your rest, I figured you
needed it. The first couple days can be a lot to take in and can really wear
you out. I mostly slept my first week.”

Jack was happy she had come to visit with him. He was not
entirely comfortable with the idea that she wanted to have his baby or that
other women would be wanting, even expecting, the same thing, but there was a
familiarity about her that he did find comforting. On top of this there was
that feeling that he hadn’t felt since the day he had met his former wife, or
since the day she had died. He wanted that feeling to last. Jack was a bit old
fashioned, and although he never had a hard time getting women, he had never
abused that ability and slept around. In fact, he had only ‘been’ with a half
dozen women in his life. There was his wife Jenny, Wendy of course, a girlfriend
when he was sixteen that he had convinced to take his virginity before he went
off to die in the war, a couple flings in the military before he met Jen, and
one young Japanese woman that he had hired to do his housework when stationed
in Japan before Korea. He had been pleasantly surprised that housework was not
the only thing she did for the monthly pay. He felt a little odd at first with
that one, but it wasn’t like she was a prostitute off the streets that he had
picked up one night, so he didn’t feel too bad about it. When he was a young
enlisted man, he saw too many of his buddies come back from leave with diseases
brought on by their need to satiate their pent up lust. He never felt the risk
was worth the embarrassment of having to face a military nurse with a sore
penis, not to mention the possibility of having to live with some disease for
the rest of his life. He’d had a handful of girlfriends with whom he had
not
slept with throughout that time, but he was never really good at the
relationship part, so without the sex, those didn’t last too long, at least not
until Jenny.

“So you’re one of us Wendy? A ‘reborn’?” He didn’t know
anything about her, aside from the carnal knowledge he had acquired the night
before.

“Yes. I was brought back four months ago.” She opened her
mouth to continue, but stopped, her brow scrunching up. Hesitantly, she said,
“I still feel awkward referring to my death as a point of reference in my life,
and it’s even worse in conversation.”

He understood. “So how did you die?” He wasn’t sure if it
was appropriate to ask, as it might be a very personal thing for some people.

“Well, according to my records, I went down in an Apache.” She
saw the confusion on his face and explained, “It’s a helicopter. I was a
helicopter mechanic in the Army, and I liked to go out with the pilot after
fixing the aircraft to make sure things were working correctly. The first time
I went up, the pilot had been raising a ruckus after learning that a female
mechanic had been the last one turning a wrench on his bird. I confronted him,
and in an effort to get him to trust my work, offered to go up with him on the
first flight. Once we were in the air and he had done some maneuvers to assure
himself that everything was as good as new, he decided to show off. He did some
light aerobatics, put us into a couple dives, and finally put us back on the
tarmac as gently as laying a baby in a crib. I fell in love with flying that
day, and used the whole ‘test flight’ idea to get up in the air as often as I
could. It wasn’t hard to get what I wanted from the pilots, and soon I had them
teaching me to fly. I took some ground school courses, and eventually got my
pilots license.” Wendy stopped suddenly, as if she hadn’t meant to open up like
that. Jack was engrossed in the story and motioned for her to continue.

“Being a female, the male pilots were keen to show off their
piloting skills when I went on flights with them. Although the details in my
record were a bit vague, I figure it was most likely that one of these pilots
was trying to impress me and got us all killed. Of course, anything could have
happened. For all I know, I may have been sneaking some stick time, and made a
mistake. The military saw fit to just call it a mechanical failure, with no
further detail. The pilot survived, I made it to the hospital but died from
severe internal injuries.”

The concept of female enlisted mixing with the male enlisted
in typical military roles was foreign to Jack. There were women in the military
when he was around, but mostly as nurses or secretarial staff. He didn’t want
to offend her by asking the wrong question, but he really wanted to know how
that worked. “It must have been hard, being a woman in the Army. During my time
the only women that were enlisted were basically secretaries and nurses, and
they had it rough enough. I can’t even imagine one being in the common ranks
with other men.” He hoped he didn’t sound too chauvinistic with that comment. The
women’s liberation movement had just gone mainstream in ‘66, and Jack was
sympathetic to their cause. He knew there were plenty of women qualified to do
more than type and look pretty, and they should have their fair shake. He
wondered if they were allowed to be regular soldiers too.

She smiled, and Jack got the sense she recognized his
consideration in choosing his words carefully. Despite his interest in the
conversation, it was hard work paying attention when she smiled like that. He
felt like he could spend the rest of his life just watching her smile. “It wasn’t
too bad by the time I joined. There were seven women in my platoon. Women were
allowed most jobs, but not overseas combat soldiers. They always thought the
enemy would use us against the men, either by targeting the women or by
capturing and using us as bait. I joined to get money for college, and found
myself on my third re-enlistment getting prepared to go to Iraq as a behind the
lines support mechanic, but I guess I never made it there.”

The only woman Jack had ever met who aspired to be a
mechanic was a beefy, butch dike. Granted, in his time if a woman was
interested in that sort of thing, she was ridiculed. Learning that Wendy was
passionate about roles which, in his time, were exclusive to men, fascinated
him. On some level, he probably suspected this was just an infatuation brought
about by his recent hormonal changes combined with the need to latch on to
someone emotionally after all the trauma he had been through in recent days,
but right now, he wanted nothing more than to continue this conversation. “So
how old were you when you... uh –”

“Died? I was twenty seven. I liked the military and decided
to stick with it. It was a much more peaceful time than when you were in the
military. I never expected I would have to go to war. When I was told I would
be going, it seemed unreal to me. I knew the chances of seeing any real action
were slim, but it definitely made me see my military career in a whole new
light. I went through the same combat training everyone else did, and I was
pretty sure if it ever came down to a fight I could handle it, but even at the
time I never thought it would happen.”

BOOK: The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1)
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