Days' End (6 page)

Nysa thought this decorative touch to be a bit eccentric, but on the other hand, if she were going to be in this room for the remainder of the project, it would be nice to have the illusion of an outside world. Going up and down the elevator all the time just to see outside would get a bit tiresome. She undressed quickly, grabbed the letter off of her pillow, and headed back to the bathroom. She turned off the water and slowly stepped in, savoring the feel of the hot water as she lowered herself into the steaming tub. She then opened the letter and read:

“Dr. Knight,

Welcome to your temporary home. If you find anything lacking, please contact Bekki using the various intercom systems located throughout your rooms. Just dial #6. She is available 24 hours a day for anything you might want or need. Please make yourself at home. Dinner will be served this evening at 6:00. Please join everyone for an introductory meeting and cocktail hour on level B-2. It will be your first chance to meet and introduce yourself to your new colleagues before beginning the project Monday morning. I look forward to seeing what you are capable of. Again, welcome.

Sincerely,

Mr. Scario”

She refolded the letter, placed it on the side of the tub, and slouched down into the warm and fragrant water. Along with her skin’s natural oils, the day’s stress seemed to ooze from her pores. Nysa stayed in for as long as she dared without risking prune-like fingers. The last thing she wanted to do was meet her new coworkers and give them a raisiny handshake. She drained the tub and rinsed off before climbing out and drying off.

After putting on a new white blouse and pair of black slacks, Nysa finished her preparations for the evening. Looking at herself in the mirror, Nysa had to smile as she realized how closely her own wardrobe of black slacks and white blouses resembled that of her old boss, Dr Larson. She’d have to remember to talk to Bekki about expanding her clothing options. When she was finished with her hair and makeup, Nysa left her room and headed to the elevator.

As she waited for the elevator to arrive, the door at the other end of the hall opened. Out walked an attractive young woman with long, brown hair. Nysa guessed she was in her mid-twenties. She had a bit of a Mediterranean look to her. She was wearing a beautiful black dress that showed off her slender figure. Even the harsh fluorescent lighting of the hallway could not deface her perfect olive skin. The woman made her way gracefully down the hallway to where Nysa stood.

“Good evening. How are you?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Well, thank you,” answered Nysa, “and you?”

“Can’t complain. I’m Jacqueline. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“And you.” Nysa shook her hand. “I’m Nysa.”

A jarring ding announced the arrival of the elevator. As the elevator doors closed behind them, Nysa pushed the button for level B-2.

“So, where are you from?” Nysa asked.

“Just north of Philadelphia, a small town that’s the home of the Andrettis, if you’re a racing fan. That’s about our only claim to fame. How about you?”

“Venice, California, home of Venice Beach and probably half of the homeless and gang populations of Los Angeles. Beautiful place, really.”

Jacqueline smirked.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again,” Nysa said as the elevator came to a stop. She turned to Jacqueline and smiled. Grabbing and shaking her hand once more, Nysa asked, “Since we live right down the hall from one another, what do you say we grab some breakfast tomorrow? Six-thirty work for you?”

Jacqueline gave a shy smile and nodded.

“Great,” Nysa exclaimed. “See you tomorrow morning then.” She stepped out into the banquet hall.

Nysa did a quick scan of the room and, as expected, recognized only Dr. Leyden standing close by, leaning against the wall, avoiding the crowds. He nodded in her direction, acknowledging her, and continued brooding. Small groups had formed around the room as doctors and lab assistants who knew one another, whether personally or by reputation, met up or introduced themselves. A bar was set up across from the elevator, the dining area and lounge opening up to her left.

Jacqueline brushed past her and headed straight to the bar. Nysa wandered through the room. Each of the places at the tables had a small card with a name. She searched the room until she found her seat. She then meandered to the bar where a small line had formed. She made small talk with a lab technician from Arizona. She finally arrived at the front of the line and politely ordered a vodka and cranberry.

“Very good,” the bartender replied dryly, grabbing the necessary bottles.

Nysa had the distinct impression that the bartender was having a rough evening having to deal with the enormous egos of some of the world’s best doctors. She dug into her purse and dropped a ten on the bar. Not a life-changing amount by any means, but certainly a gesture of appreciation. The bartender gave her a warm smile and thanked her.

Mr. Stevens entered the room and proceed to a podium placed on the small stage at the back of the room. Dressed in a black, three-piece, pin-striped suit, Nysa could see the shine on his shoes from where she stood. He stood, confident and still, waiting for the conversations to die down. When the last person fell silent, Mr. Stevens began.

“Welcome, everyone, to Mr. Scario’s private laboratories. Each of you was selected for very specific reasons—some for being a leader in your field, some to do the legwork, some for other miscellaneous tasks.” Mr. Stevens strode to the front of the stage and gazed at the audience. “You all have one thing in common: you are exemplary workers. Mr. Scario expects nothing less.” Quick glances were exchanged among those nearest him. Mr. Stevens continued. “When you retire to your rooms this evening, you will find a letter advising you of the location of your work area. Your room key will also access the appropriate floor of your laboratory. Tomorrow at 8:00 A.M. please be there for a tour of your work area and to request any additional equipment that you may need. The specifics of your task will be given to you when you arrive at your laboratory. I’m sorry I don’t have any time to answer questions this evening. I’ll be available tomorrow to answer what I can. Thank you for your time and enjoy your evening.”

He left the stage and exited out the door through which he had entered.

The Great Mortality continues its destruction. I have taken to plundering the homes of the dead as it’s easily done. Nobody else will go inside so I can take what I want without consequences. I fear I have become the man everyone believed me to be. Although I know my actions are wrong, I no longer care. What punishment can be worse than this curse I continue to live with? Is there no end?

January 31, 7:55 AM

Nysa’s main lab was on Level B-6, Room 1. The room was enormous, but situated in such a way that minimized the amount of walking that would be necessary going back and forth between machines and desks. She didn’t expect to need any additional equipment, as the room seemed to contain everything, even some machines she couldn’t yet identify. She made her way through the various work desks, centrifuge machines, PCR machines, and supply cabinets, running her hand over the spotless counters and equipment, pausing occasionally to inspect something.

There were three other individuals in the room. She recognized Dr. Leyden, who was fiddling with one of the PCR machines. Two younger women were standing at one end of the work desks speaking softly to one another. At precisely 8:00 A.M., Mr. Stevens entered the lab and approached Nysa.

“Dr. Knight, a pleasure to see you again. Welcome to your main lab. Levels B-5 through B-10 of this facility are all laboratories. As the project lead, you are in charge of all of them, but you will be spending most of your time here.” He made a sweeping gesture to the massive room. “You have oversight responsibility in all areas of this project, but your primary duty will be the extraction of the DNA we will be using for this task. Tomorrow morning you will be provided with some samples containing blood and hair.” Mr. Stevens paced continuously among the workstations as he spoke. “The reason you were selected for this assignment is that Mr. Scario believes you to be one of only a handful of people who will be able to retrieve the sufficient amount of DNA necessary for the reassembly of the fragmented DNA and subsequent replication. This is the most crucial part of the whole process. If you are unsuccessful in your task, the DNA we are attempting to obtain and restore will be lost forever. Do you have any questions for me at this point in time?” as he finally came to a stop near the elevators.

“Plenty,” Nysa stammered, “but first let me meet the rest of the team, settle myself in, and then if I still have questions I track you down. Agreed?”

“Very well. Good luck, Dr. Knight.” Mr. Stevens turned and left the room. Nysa stood for a moment watching him go. She had been momentarily overwhelmed at the enormity of her task and especially at his statement that the DNA would be lost forever should she make a mistake. She fought off the panic building in her chest.

Nysa meandered slowly through the lab, eyes shifting back and forth trying to take it all in. She checked the supply cabinets to ensure the proper equipment, enzymes, and chemicals were available to her. Of course, they were. She eventually arrived at the desk where the young women eyed her intently.

“Good morning,” Nysa said, shaking hands with each of them. “I’m Nysa Knight.”

“I knew it was you,” replied the shorter of the two. “She wasn’t sure, but I knew as soon as I saw you. I’m Mary Alice and this is Laura. We’re your assistants. We’ve got quite a broad range of experience between the two of us, so we’ll be able to help you with just about anything you might need. You name it and I’m sure one of us will be able to lend a hand.”

Laura interrupted. “Mary Alice and I studied together at Yale. We were just discussing the advances you made in the field. I must say it’s refreshing to see a woman making breakthroughs. And not to sound like a brown-noser,” Laura shifted her weight and blushed, “but you are an inspiration to those of us trying to be taken seriously in this field.”

“Thank you, I’m flattered. Hopefully when this project succeeds, you will have made names for yourselves as well. If this experiment is as revolutionary as it is secretive, I’m sure we all will have our pick of jobs. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mary Alice, and I look forward to working with you. You, too, Laura.” Nysa smiled at each of them and continued her review of the facility.

She arrived at the PCR machine, a device used in the replication of DNA fragments. Dr. Leyden was still tinkering with the machine. “Good morning,” she greeted him.

“Any new details on what exactly we are doing here?” he inquired.

“Nothing more than we already knew. We’re cloning something. According to Mr. Stevens, I’ll be getting some samples with blood and hair tomorrow morning. Once I extract the DNA we need, I guess we’ll know a bit more. At least we’ll be able to narrow it down to human or animal. Have you heard anything?”

“Nothing concrete, but with this much expertise floating around, and all the secrecy, I don’t think we’ll be cloning his dog. If I were a gambling man, I would put my money on an extinct species, but probably a human,” he replied while continuing to examine the equipment. He made minor adjustments to the machine and then spun his chair around to look at her. Smoothing his hair back he continued. “It’s the only explanation for why we’re all here under the conditions that have been set.”

She was shocked into silence. Nysa had formulated her own speculations about their work, but to hear it verbalized so bluntly took her off-guard.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” she stammered and walked away.

Nysa spent the rest of the morning visiting the other levels of the building, inspecting the equipment, and introducing herself to the other doctors and assistants on the various floors. Dr. Leyden had been right when he said there was a lot of expertise here. Of the doctors she had met that morning, she had recognized almost all of them as leaders in cloning-related fields. Dr. David Eisenhauer and his wife, Alice, for example, had almost single-handedly perfected the nuclear transfer technique used in the cloning process. When there was a question in the scientific community related to this process, these two were the ones you went to.

Dr. Stephen Phipps, while recognized as very knowledgeable in his field, was avoided by most other doctors. He had developed a reputation for thinking a little too far outside the box. Some of his most recent publications were outlandish at best, in most of the medical community’s opinions, and were published more due to respect for his previous work than for his current contributions. Still, he was one of the best when it came to the identification of, care for, and implantation of viable embryos. He had spent most of his career researching various fertility treatments.

The complex itself was amazing. After a brief tour she’d already discovered the medical facility on level B-4, a fully loaded day spa on B-3, and three restaurants, a cafeteria, and a bar on level 2. She found out upon her arrival on the second floor that the three restaurants were of different ethnic origins. Maybe this place won’t be so bad after all, she thought. Nysa strolled to the cafeteria, grabbed a sandwich, bag of chips, and a Diet Coke and went back downstairs to the lobby. She stepped out of the elevator and walked to the front desk where Bekki stood patiently.

“Is there a place outside where I can sit and eat lunch? A picnic bench or table of some sort? It’s such a beautiful day, and I’d hate to spend all of it inside.”