A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3) (18 page)

“What ever happened to Drew?” Erik asked.

Rachel glanced at Jack and Dave, who nodded for her to continue. “Um, Drew didn’t make it.”

“Didn’t make it where?” I asked. “Out of Iceland?”
 

“No. He’s—he’s deceased. GlobalLife insisted that we test the combined DNA in him. But his body rejected it.”

I looked at Erik, then back at Rachel. “What combined DNA? You don’t mean—”

“Yes, the DNA from you and Erik,” Jack interrupted. “From the material they collected from you both. They took samples from the embryo they created.”

I wished I hadn’t asked. I was finally putting some distance between the whole fake pregnancy thing and then Jack has to mention an embryo with Colin sitting there.
 

“I never liked Drew, but that really sucks,” Erik said. “So basically, Sam and I killed him.”
 

“No. Of course not, Erik,” Jack said. “It was GlobalLife who killed him. They’re desperate to make this technology work. They didn’t care about sacrificing Drew for the cause. Rachel, did they try the combined DNA in anyone else?”
 

She sighed. “Yes. They rounded up a bunch of guys from a state prison and injected it into them. They all died instantly. The newspapers said it was food poisoning that killed them.”

“What about just my DNA alone?” I asked her. “Drew said they took my DNA samples and filled in that missing section, but hadn’t tested it yet.”
 

“They put samples of the enhanced genes from both you and Erik into another group of prisoners. At first the men got sick, but eventually they died.”

I shuddered just thinking about it. The DNA that was inside Erik and me had killed people. And yet he and I were able to walk around with it. So what was it really doing to us? Would it eventually kill us, too?

“Are you saying that nothing is working?” Dave asked Rachel.

“Correct. And honestly, even I didn’t know the project was going so poorly until that dinner with Drew. As the head of public relations, I interviewed many of the top scientists at GlobalLife. They all said everything was going well. They assured me that the Founders could start receiving injections of the DNA as early as spring. But that was just what Drew told them to say.”

“So now what? If it doesn’t work, what’s their plan?” Jack asked.

“GlobalLife has put all testing of the embryonic DNA on hold. But they’re going to continue to try to make the DNA from Sam work. And I’m sure they’ll try Erik’s as well. A team of GlobalLife geneticists is working with the software developers to see if they can write code to help prevent the rejection that’s causing all of these deaths.”

“But there’s no guarantee that will work either,” Dave pointed out. “The software can’t fix the problems brought on by these altered genes, Sam and Erik being the exception to the rule. Those genes just weren’t meant to be in humans. It’s as simple as that.”

“Which brings me to my next topic,” Rachel said. “One way we’re trying to stop this project is by telling the Founders that this technology doesn’t work and never will. We obviously can’t just come out and say this. So we’ve begun spreading rumors.”

“What do you mean?” Erik asked.

“We’re getting the word out that inserting altered genetic material in the body causes rejection that could be fatal. Keep in mind that the Founders don’t know the origin of the genes that GlobalLife is selling them. They just think the genes have a new genetic sequencing that creates these superhuman abilities. And they’ve been told it’s perfectly safe. But once the Founders find out the risks involved, the executives at GlobalLife will have some explaining to do. It might just kill the whole project. It will definitely slow down the funding. People may even start to demand their money back.”

“How are these rumors starting?” Dave asked.

“A few of the people in our group have already posted fake studies online showing how DNA manipulation caused immediate death in animal testing. They also posted some articles about how using software to control the behavior of genes doesn’t work and could be dangerous.”

“I’m sure the Founders aren’t sitting around reading stuff on the Internet,” I said.

“No, not the Founders themselves. But they have investment advisors who do just that. They search for this type of information so they can advise their clients to stay in or get out of a certain investment. When they see these negative studies and articles, they’ll alert the Founders. And that may cause them to start questioning GlobalLife as to whether the information they’re giving out is true.”

“It only takes one influential person to start asking questions and the whole stack of cards comes tumbling down,” Jack added.
 

“That doesn’t mean the project will end,” Erik said. “GlobalLife will just keep testing the genes and trying to make them work.”

Dave shook his head. “If their funding is limited, their research is limited. Believe me, I know. Lack of funding is the reason I sold my research company years ago. GlobalLife is a huge corporation, but they can’t continue to divert dollars into this project if it continues to fail. That’s why they need investors.”

Rachel stood up. “Even if their funding runs dry, that doesn’t change our goal. We still need to get the alien genes from GlobalLife and destroy them. And then get the remaining material from Owens.” She went to get her coat. “I have an early meeting, so I need to go.”

Jack followed her to the door. “What’s this arrangement you have with Owens?”

“It’s the same one you have with him. He thinks I’m helping him get the genes. And now I’m also helping him keep an eye on you guys. I just need to keep feeding him information to gain his trust. Eventually he’ll tell me where he’s stored the gene samples he took from Iceland. He’s already starting to slip and tell me things. I think he’s beginning to lose it in his old age. That’s why he’s taking those ridiculous longevity treatments. He thinks they’ll buy him another 100 or more years of life.”

“What are the treatments?” Jack asked.

“Some combination of pills and injections. I don’t know all the details. It’s a creation of GlobalLife Pharmaceuticals. It’s not on the market yet. Probably never will be. If it works it will be reserved for the few who can afford it. Or those deemed important enough to live for another century. Owens is in the early trial. He’s taking a huge risk. They don’t even know the side effects of this yet. He’s just desperate to keep living as long as possible.”

“Why do you think he’s losing it?” I asked.
 

“Oh, just silly things he says. Like he’s completely obsessed with getting you and Erik—” she stopped, noticing Colin sitting next to me. “Never mind.”

“Obsessed with what?” Erik asked.

“He’s uh, he just thinks that you and Sam should be together like you were before. You know, like you were at the Iceland facility. He really bought into the whole golden couple thing. That’s all.”
 

Colin got up and left the room.
 

“Sorry,” Rachel whispered to me as she was leaving.
 

The next morning I went to talk to Colin, but he was already gone. He was meeting with Aiden to go over exactly what to say to Emily. I couldn’t get that photo of Emily out of my head. I wondered if Colin was secretly looking forward to hanging out with her. I was having a hard enough time getting his attention. And now I had competition.

After breakfast, Abigail arrived along with her sidekick, Hadley, a gangly thirtysomething neuroscientist with wire-rimmed glasses and messy black hair. He brought some equipment in that looked similar to the type used at the GlobalLife lab in Minnesota. I got nervous just seeing it.
 

Erik came in the room and noticed me staring at the machines. “It’s okay, Sam. You’re not at GlobalLife.”

“I know. I just can’t help reacting when I see that stuff. Too many bad memories.”

“It’s just some machines. No big deal.” He put his arm around me, then quickly took it away. “I forgot. I can’t do that. Your boyfriend might see.”

“He’s gone already. And he’s not my boyfriend. In fact, he’ll probably end up liking that Emily girl. And by the way, thanks a lot for saying she’s hot. Like I needed him to hear that, Erik.”

He smiled. “She
is
hot. What did you want me to do? Lie?”

Abigail walked up behind us. “Are you two ready to get started?”

Before we could answer, Dave walked in wearing dress pants and a dress shirt. I’d rarely seen him dress up like that. “Abigail, nice to see you.” I could smell his cologne as soon as he entered the room. “I’ll be working downstairs, but before I get started, can I get you something? Coffee? Tea?”

“Or me?” Erik muttered. I jabbed him in the ribcage.

“Oh, no thank you, David.” Abigail smiled at him. “We have a lot of work to do, so we need to get started.”

“Of course. Go right ahead.”
 

Erik coughed, trying to hide the laughter he could barely hold in. That made me laugh, too, and soon I was coughing to conceal it.

“Is something wrong?” Abigail asked. “You two aren’t getting sick are you? Because that could indicate something is—”

“No, we’re not sick,” Erik answered, composing himself.
 

“Are you ready for me yet?” Brittany came out of the side bedroom.
 

Abigail nodded. “Yes, dear, come sit down.” She turned to us. “Brittany is going to be the mind that you’ll try to get into today.”

“What? No. Brittany can’t be involved in this,” I insisted. “It could hurt her.”

“It doesn’t do anything to the other person,” Abigail explained. “They just lose memory of the time in which you’re in their head.”

Brittany sat down. “Relax, Sam. I don’t care. I don’t have anything else to do.”

Hadley hooked Erik and me up to the brain wave monitoring machine while Abigail gave us instructions on how to enter another person’s mind. Even though I’d done it before with the police officer, I wasn’t able to get it to work. Erik and I tried for hours with no luck. We ended our practice later that afternoon.
 

Abigail didn’t seem at all concerned that we hadn’t made any progress. “I didn’t expect much today. It’s a difficult skill and it’s new to both of you. Just take it easy tonight. Rest your minds and we’ll work on it again tomorrow. It may take weeks before anything happens.”

“Weeks? We have to do this for weeks?” Erik was already bored after a day of this.
 

“You need to learn how to control this ability,” Abigail reminded him. “As we saw with Sam, this can damage the brain. You need to be able to turn it off if it starts automatically.”

Abigail began packing up her equipment. I wondered if I should get Dave so he could say goodbye, but he was already racing up the stairs.
 

“Leaving so soon, Abigail?” he asked, out of breath. “Let me walk you out.”
 

They left, with Hadley right behind.

Erik headed to the kitchen. “I’m getting something to eat. You guys want anything?”

“I do.” Brittany followed him.

The front door opened and Colin walked in. He was all smiles and in way too good a mood. “Hey, Sam.”

“Hi. How did it go?”

“Great! Couldn’t have gone any better!” He set his backpack down and headed to the kitchen.
 

“Wait. Tell me what happened.”

He turned back. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. Was she nice?”

“Yeah, really nice. I actually feel bad lying to her like this. She talked a little about school. She seems really smart. Takes all AP classes. She’s into math and science. Just like you, Sam. Oh, and she’s talented, too.”

“Wow. Sounds like you talked a—”

“You should hear her sing. She’s so good. And she plays guitar. Writes her own music. She played three songs for me at the coffee shop.”

I stared at Colin, shocked at how he was going on and on about this girl. “Did you just go over and talk to her?”

“No. I was sitting at a table and she came over and introduced herself. I was a little surprised when she just came up to me like that but I guess she’s just friendly.”

Was he really that clueless? She wasn’t being friendly. She was totally hitting on him! Colin was way too good looking. I knew his warm brown eyes and welcoming smile would invite her over without him even saying a word.

“Did she ask you a bunch of questions?”

“Yes, but I had the scripted answers memorized, so that wasn’t a problem. I asked her some questions, but I didn’t want to push it too much the first day. She talked about her family a little. She said her dad works in genetics and that he travels a lot. Her mom moved to England after the divorce and never came back. Emily hasn’t talked to her for years.”

“So she has baggage,” I said, trying to find at least one fault for this girl.

“No, she’s over it. She said she’s forgiven her mom and moved on from all that.”

“Of course she has,” I muttered.
 

“She doesn’t want to—what were her words? She doesn’t want to live in a circle of negativity. That was it. Sounds like a song lyric, doesn’t it? I should tell her that tomorrow.”

“You’re seeing her tomorrow?”

“Every day this week. That was the plan. I told Emily I’m new in town and that l was going to start hanging out at the coffee shop after school.”

“Hey, Colin. How’d it go?” Erik walked in with a can of soda and a bag of chips.

“Perfect. Emily was great.”

Erik smiled. “And? Was she as hot as her photo?”

Colin smiled but didn’t answer. Erik sat down next to me, still staring at Colin. “Hotter than her photo? Damn, I gotta see this girl! Take a new photo of her. Full body shot.”

“No. I’m not doing that.”

“Then describe her to me!”

I jabbed Erik’s side. He ignored me.

Colin kept smiling. “She’s uh, in good shape. Let’s leave it at that.”

“What the hell? I need more than that! What was she—”

“Excuse me,” I interrupted, “but girls are more than just a body. And it doesn’t matter what she looks like. Colin’s only there to get information from her.”