THE FOREVER GENE (THE SCIONS OF EARTH Book 1) (2 page)

Although the anticipated issues were soon raised, and the expected debates followed, the question which seemed to fascinate most people was; if you had the Forever Gene, how old were you?  Did you remain the age you were when you had the treatment or did you age at a slower rate than normal?  It turned out that the correct answer was the one David had given at the first press conference; no-one knew.  Theoretically, the Forever Gene could operate indefinitely, but it would take decades of research before it could be determined whether a patient continued to age and, if so, at what rate.

David and Chunky were the first to have the treatment, David when he was thirty-nine and Chunky when he was thirty-seven.  They agreed between them that Pris should wait until any potential side effects became apparent, and she could not convince them otherwise.  But when she turned thirty-nine a few years later, she gave David an ultimatum.  She would not marry him if she became an old woman while he remained a young man.  So the following year he popped the question and Pris had the treatment.

By then the Factory was regularly churning out genetically modified patients and worldwide demand for the treatment was growing.  Branches of the Factory had been opened in London, Munich, Tokyo and Beijing and plans were underway for many more. 

One of the elevator chute doors opened and David stepped onto the air-vortex, which whisked him upwards.  Thankfully, he no longer felt queasy looking out through the transparent sides of the chute as he ascended on a cushion of air.  Penelope, not 'Penny' she had insisted from day one, greeted him earnestly from behind her desk in the plush reception area of the ninth floor. Chunky called her Penny all the time, of course, but she never seemed to correct him.

"Morning Penelope, have the Andersons arrived yet?" 

"Not yet, sir, Mrs Anderson called and said their airbus was delayed but they should be here by nine-thirty.  I'll bring your coffee right in."  She bustled away efficiently and he went into his office.

Spacious and uncluttered, it was the office of a successful man.  His elegant mahogany desk was on the right-hand side of the doorway and the consultation lounge with its wall-screen and comfortable chairs was on the left.  The two longer walls of the office were covered floor to ceiling by dark wood-panelled bookshelves packed with row upon row of old fashioned books.  They were mostly hard-covers; mainly biographies, histories and classics, but there was also a large section of dog-eared paperback novels, many of dubious literary quality.  No artificial illumination was necessary on sunny days as the whole room was artfully lit by the skylight.

He glanced at the readout on his Audio Visual Information Centre and saw that he had time to catch up on more news before the Andersons arrived.  "Activate," he commanded, and walked over to the desk while the AVIC connected itself to his 'link.  Using the touchscreen panel on the desk surface, he called up the latest news bulletin on his desk-screen.  The same voice he had heard earlier spoke from the system's virtual surround transmitter.

"This is Qara-Chinua of Mongolia Today.  I am reporting from the Achtan Hospital in Ulan Bator."  The reporter was a young Mongolian woman dressed warmly in a light brown leather jacket and matching short leather boots. She was standing just outside the main entrance to the hospital, next to an ambulance bay.  The backdrop of the camera shot showed a tight police cordon around the building.

"In a few minutes we will bring you a statement from the Administrator.  We are hoping that she will give us preliminary results of the DNA tests of the four strangers.  They are presently quarantined in a private ward.  We have ascertained from eyewitnesses that the strangers entered the city from the direction of the Bogdkhan National Park.  For the information of our international viewers, the park is a protected area of approximately 42 000 hectares to the south of the City. It contains a number of mountain peaks and is heavily forested in some places.  We have heard that divisions of the Mongolian army have been mobilised and are securing the perimeter of the park.  We do not know yet whether this is for military or medical reasons.  We are hoping for word from the president or the prime minister shortly."

She put a hand over the 'mote in her right ear and listened intently for a few seconds.  Her voice rose with excitement.  "We have just heard that the administrator's statement will be made in the hospital's conference room.  No other Personet crews have arrived here yet, so it will be broadcast exclusively by Mongolia Today."

A short while later the main doors opened and a hospital official could be seen beckoning her from within.  She hurried into the reception area, her camera and sound crew following, and was led up a flight of stairs and into a conference room.  She stopped just inside the doorway and was silent as the camera panned briefly across the room, taking in the polished hardwood floor, pale lilac walls and oval conference table in the centre.  There were nine or ten people dressed in hospital uniforms present, all clustered around the end of the table near the door.  An officious matron showed the reporter to a seat near the head of the table on the far side.  Her camera man took up position over her shoulder and her sound technician carefully placed wireless microphones around the table.

After a few minutes the administrator, a grey-haired woman, hurried into the room accompanied by three laboratory technicians in white smocks.  She took up the seat at the head of the table and the technicians arranged themselves in chairs opposite the camera.  She glanced nervously at the camera and cleared her throat.

"Sain'uu" she said, before continuing hesitantly in English.  "I am Bolormaa, administrative head of this hospital.  There is a lot of interest in the strangers who have chosen to visit us this morning.  I have even been telephoned by President Ganzorig from his office in the city.  He has been given the preliminary results of our DNA tests and he has instructed me to make the results and certain other facts known publicly as soon as possible. He is concerned about the wild speculation taking place."

The harassed expression on the administrator's face suggested that she was already heartily sick of the whole affair and hoped that making the facts known would deflect the spotlight of attention away from her hospital.

"First, I must make it absolutely clear that the strangers came to us voluntarily and that it was they who asked for the DNA tests.  We have extended them every courtesy that visitors to our country usually receive and we have acceded to all of their requests as best as we have been able.  It is true that they are under quarantine, but this too was at their suggestion."

David hardly noticed when Penelope came in with his coffee.  She didn't say anything about the Andersons having arrived, so he continued watching.

The administrator gestured to one of the laboratory technicians, who slid a yellow document folder towards her across the table.  She slid a pair of old fashioned spectacles onto her nose and opened the folder.  She took out four single sheets of paper and spread them out in front of her.

"I must stress that these are just preliminary results.  It is well known that the DNA of all of the species on Earth, including ours, is very similar.  For example, there is a difference of just a few percent between our DNA and that of apes.  What we have been able to ascertain so far is that the strangers' DNA is far less comparable.  We have yet to calculate the percentage accurately but, at this stage, we think it is approximately sixty-five percent.  This explains why their physiology resembles ours in many ways, but is significantly different in others."

She turned to the camera and frowned.  "I am not qualified to tell you what this means or what should happen next.  That is for the strangers and the government to decide.  The strangers have not told us yet where they are from or why they are here.  They asked us to do the tests first and promised to explain afterwards.  President Ganzorig is on his way to the hospital and the strangers have said that they will speak to him when he arrives."

She began to stand up, obviously hoping to make a fast getaway, but the Personet reporter was having none of it.  "Please, Madam Administrator, can you tell us what the strangers look like and what language they speak?"

The administrator hesitated.  "I am not good at descriptions and you will soon see them for yourself.  I can confirm that they have the same number of eyes, ears, arms and legs as we do. They are on average about half a metre taller than us and their skin is a grey-green colour.  Their eyes are large and bright and their ears are set quite high on the sides of their heads. Their faces are narrow and their hair is white.  We do not know how old they are.  They have been speaking to us in English, although the tone of their voices is higher and softer than ours."

"So they look a bit like... elves," said the reporter light-heartedly.  This precipitated another frown from the administrator and the reporter moved on hurriedly.  "What about the quarantine, ma'am, is there any danger of the strangers infecting us?"

"We have found no evidence that they are carrying any infectious organisms.  We are more concerned that they will be infected by us, so they have been quarantined for their own safety.  Now please excuse me, I must prepare to meet with the president."  She stood abruptly and left the room, followed by her staff.

The reporter turned to the camera, searching for something appropriately dramatic to say to end the bulletin.  "Well, it seems that we are being visited by the Faerie Folk.  We return you to the studio while we await President Ganzorig's arrival."

The feed from Mongolia Today ended and the picture cut back to the CNN studio, where the news anchor began introducing a series of hastily assembled experts.

Penelope's voice cut in on David's 'mote.  "The Andersons are on their way up, sir."

"Thanks," he said and commanded the AVIC to activate the wall-screen and queue the Forever Gene video, gulping down his coffee at the same time.  He rose from his desk as Penelope showed in Mr and Mrs Anderson.

"Hello, I'm David Herald, welcome to Boston," he said as he led them to the lounge area.  I hope you had a pleasant journey."

"Vernon Anderson."  The tall, dark haired and slightly overweight man spoke in a loud Texan drawl.  "And this is my wife Kimberley."  She was small with short blonde hair and smiled at him as she took his hand lightly.

The introductions over, David was able to relax slightly.  He was not very comfortable with small talk.  The difficulty he always had with interviewing patients was that he already knew a great deal about them.  Any potential patient was required to submit a lengthy application form and undergo a comprehensive medical examination.  It was difficult to politely ask after a person's health when you already knew more about it than he or she did.  He knew that Vernon was forty-nine years old and had been diagnosed with minor cardiac arrhythmia.  Kimberley had been a schoolteacher until her marriage to Vernon and she had given up her career to have and bring up four children.  They ranged from eleven to nineteen years of age.

Penelope came in with coffee for Kimberley and orange juice for Vernon.  David launched his presentation.  "You already know that we are satisfied with your general health and that your applications have been approved.  I have seen the results of your tests and our medical examiner reports that you are both good candidates.  The purpose of this interview is to ensure that you fully understand the treatment and its effects."

"Look, I know that the medical report says that my arrhythmia will not prevent me from having the treatment, but will it be fully effective?"  Vernon hadn't got where he was in the oil business without being able to get straight to the point.  His recently diagnosed condition worried him and David suspected that this was what had prompted him to consider having the Forever Gene.  Arrhythmia was not uncommon, but could in rare cases lead to serious heart problems.  By now, David was well versed in dealing with concerns of this nature, and he switched smoothly into reassurance mode.

"No, it won't affect your treatment at all.  The first thing you should know about the Forever Gene is that it simply prevents you from aging.  There is a debate going on about whether it slows down the aging process or stops it altogether.  We won't know the answer for decades, perhaps even centuries, but our current research indicates that the gene will extend a person's life indefinitely.  The short video you are about to see will explain how it works.  The gene does have its limits, however.  It will not reverse the aging process, so the bad news is that it won't cure any physiological problems that you already have.  The good news is that they are unlikely to get any worse.  Even better news is that you will not develop any degenerative conditions that you don't have now.  So your arrhythmia will stay with you but it will not cause a heart attack.  This doesn't mean that you are invulnerable.  You can still be killed or injured if you are hit by a car or fall down some stairs."

Kimberley sat forward, her hands clasped nervously together.  "What about our children, Dr Herald?  How will this affect them?"  The question which most concerned Kimberley was also not new to David.

"Kimberley, your children will continue to age normally.  We believe that this is a good thing.  Children should be allowed to complete their physical development naturally.  What you are probably thinking is that it would be very strange if they caught up with and overtook you in age.  What the wider social effects of something like that may be, we don't yet know.  The solution is for your children to have the treatment too, although you will have to wait until they are old enough.  The government has passed a law saying that people may not have the treatment before they turn twenty-five years old.  We support this law as it is impossible to determine the long-term effects on a child.  Even before the law was passed we would not treat anyone under twenty-one."