The Immortality Virus (11 page)

Margaret Lacklin’s tomb did not stand out in any way. It was neither the biggest nor the smallest, and like every other plot in the cemetery, it had tall grasses and flowers growing wildly around it.

Grace stared at the dates. “Margaret Lacklin, born November 25, 1977 died March 6, 2050.”

She had not lasted long after the diary entries stopped. Maybe that’s why he stopped recording them. Grace wondered if she had died from natural causes or if her children had found her and had her put down.

If so, and if he had early warning, it might have caused him to snap and kill his co-workers, knowing their research could no longer help her.

The tombstone was double-headed. The other side read, “Jordan Lacklin, born December 10, 1973.” It did not have a date of death, but that did not mean Jordan was alive. Jordan would never be buried next to his wife, not in this day and age.

Grace had been standing there for nearly five minutes when she noticed Jason still looking at her. “Thanks, I’ve found it okay now.”

“I thought I could help you find your way out at the end. You wouldn’t want to get lost in here when the sun is about to set.”

The sun was nearing the western edge of the horizon. Many believed nighttime was for the dead, that somehow the veil between life and death thinned, and their ghosts roamed free to haunt the living. “How long have you lived here?”

“Not long, actually.” he said. “Found this place about a month ago.”

“You ever seen a ghost?”

“Oh yes,” he said.

“So why do you still live here?”

He shrugged. “Where else should I go? My whole family’s dead.” He scowled when he said that, and Grace thought he must have felt abandoned by them. She found herself wondering how old he was. She rarely asked since it was considered impolite. With the exception of old timers, alive before aging stopped, and children, not yet to the point of decaying towards old age, everyone looked about twenty-five, give or take five years.

“You still got family?” Jason asked.

“My mom’s alive,” Grace said. “And my sister and some nieces and nephews.”

“You’re lucky, then. Don’t take them for granted. Come on, let me get you out of here before the spirits come out.”

Grace didn’t argue the merits of believing in spooks. Just then, she wanted to get out of the cold cemetery and back to her warm apartment.

Then she remembered she’d have to go back to Sam’s apartment. This could turn out to be a very long night.

Since Grace didn’t have a key or the code to Sam’s apartment, it was just as well that he returned before she did. He didn’t look happy, though.

“Where have you been? I’ve been frantic–worried that th–that someone got you.”

“That who got me?” Grace asked, though she thought she knew.

“Nobody,” Sam said. “Matt did not put those bugs in your apartment. He’s sent a team over there to clean it out.”

“You think The Establishment bugged my apartment, don’t you?” Grace asked.

“Why would they do that?” Sam looked at the floor as he said that. He was a terrible liar.

Grace wasn’t too bad at lying when she had to be. “I asked Matt about The Establishment. They were my biggest concern in taking this job. He lied to me, didn’t he?”

“Grace–”

“What would happen if I quit? I can return the money first thing in the morning.” She knew perfectly well she wouldn’t survive twenty-four hours if she quit. The only question would be whether Matt’s people or The Establishment got to her first. But she didn’t want Sam to know she knew any of that.

“You can’t!” Sam’s horror at the idea told Grace everything she needed to know to confirm Matt’s deadly intentions should she not go through with this. “Why would you want to? You knew this would be dangerous when you took the job, but the potential rewards if you succeed! We’ve got a powerful man behind us, Grace, but we need you.” He paused and added, “Would you really quit?”

Grace saw the disappointment mirrored in his eyes and felt a small stab of guilt. For a split second, she considered telling him everything–about the secondary job The Establishment wanted her to do, about them taking her to the police station–but she just couldn’t. Not then, anyway.

“No, I won’t quit,” Grace said. “You’re right. This is more important than danger.” She paused and then added, for good measure, “I just got scared.”

Sam made a motion as if to hug her, but Grace pulled away. “I better head back to my apartment if Matt’s sending a team there. I’ll see you later.”

She turned to go.

“Wait!”

Grace paused, but did not turn. She could feel Sam standing behind her, a little too close for comfort.

“Have you ever thought, I mean, did you ever regret…”

“Don’t,” Grace said. She couldn’t deal with the rest of that sentence right now. Without another word, she walked out the door.

* * *

Grace arrived at her apartment just as Matt’s team did. She let them in and waited impatiently for them to sweep the apartment, watching them all the while for signs of double dealing. She did not want to find out they had added surveillance equipment.

Finally, after a two-hour search that lasted until past midnight, the supervisor said they were done. “You must have done a pretty good job yourself, because we only found two more devices. Your computer should be safe now, too.”

“Thanks.” Grace showed them out.

She put some water on the stove to make tea–at least, that’s what the store called it–and changed into her most comfortable pair of pajamas. She had every intention of going straight to bed after she drank her tea but she was too keyed up. She wasn’t sure she could ever sleep again.

“Sam,” Grace said. “I need you to do a search for Jordan Lacklin’s descendants, especially Alexander Lacklin.”

“Working,” Sam chirped.

While she waited, Grace drank her tea, and flipped through the channels on her holoset. The images looked strange in two dimensions, and somewhat blurry. Most of the time, she could only hear and not see, but most of the time she only turned it on for noise so it suited her just fine. Maybe she would buy a new set with all the money Matt paid her.

If she lived.

Most of the news programs still had reports of William Edgers and his Chicago takeover. Various rumors had him heading next to Memphis or St. Louis, but Governor Adams thought Kansas City wouldn’t be too far down on the list. He was heading to St. Louis in the morning to discuss a mutual defense treaty with a dozen other city states from Houston to Detroit.

They were really worried. The city states didn’t like to cooperate on anything.

“Search complete!” It took Grace a moment to remember what she had asked Sam to do.

“Display records,” Grace said, turning toward the terminal and trying to put the city’s problems out of her mind.

Jordan had two children: Ethan and Kevin. Kevin had died years ago in a pro-death bombing at a downtown Kansas City baseball game. No one went to live sports games any longer; it was too much of a target. This had happened almost three hundred years ago.

Ethan did not have a death certificate listed, but neither did he have a current address. What he did have listed were news articles, including recent news articles, that cited him as a major player in the St. Louis Establishment and a more minor player in national politics. There were a number of pictures of him available, showing a handsome old-timer with wavy brown hair, green eyes, and a face that made him look trustworthy. The only signs of age were a few lines around his mouth and eyes. If he had gray hair, he colored it.

She skimmed a few headlines, until one caught her attention:

One Woman, One Child

New national legislation proposes to limit the number of children each woman can have to one.

Vocal pro-life advocate Ethan Lacklin, who has pushed through numerous laws barring aging research, has now proposed his own solution to the exploding population. “We can be smart and still enjoy all the benefits of long life,” Lacklin said.

The bill would require a woman to be sterilized immediately after the birth of her first child.

Current legislation allows each couple to have two children, but the concept of a couple is poorly defined, and there is little enforcement of this law, especially among the poor who do not see a doctor to have their babies.

Critics of the legislation point to enforcement problems with measures currently on the books, as well as problems tracking the billions of people without proper medical care.

Grace snorted. The only people who adhered to the current law were those with a sense of honor about adding children to the population. The wealthy ignored it, and even the middle class didn’t have too much trouble having extra babies through changing doctors, forging medical records, etcetera.

Still, the article did give her some food for thought. Even if she could find Ethan Lacklin, he might not be the best person to track down for tips on finding his father. Aside from the fact that Jordan had hated this son, it sounded like Ethan was exactly the wrong sort of person to get wind of what she might be after.

Matt had suggested Alexander, though, and from what she had heard on the diary, she agreed. She was just about to call up the results for the grandchildren when the vidphone buzzed.

Grace checked the time: 12:30 a.m. Who would call at this hour?

She answered without screening the call. An instant later, she regretted that decision. “Mom! What on Earth made you call at 12:30 in the morning?”

The woman who glared at Grace from the other end of the vidphone looked a lot like Grace, down to the same indistinguishable twenty-something age, but with a few obvious distortions, such as the menacing glare.

“I can’t get you if I call at normal hours. I’ve called every day for a week and have you returned my calls? No! I thought if I tried you now, you’d be sure to be home.

“Why don’t you ever return my calls? We have a new baby in the family, and you won’t even call to ask what the baby’s name is or if he’s healthy.”

Grace blinked a few times, her face turning slightly pink. Her mother could get very self-righteous at times, but when she had a boyfriend, she wouldn’t return Grace’s calls. Then she had the nerve to get angry when she felt lonely and wanted some company.

“What’s the baby’s name?” Grace asked, controlling her temper. “Is he healthy?”

“His mother named him Frank. What an awful name. It sort of sounds dirty, don’t you think? But the baby’s beautiful. He’s got a full head of black hair. Can you believe it? It looks wild.”

“How’s Charity?” Grace asked, maintaining her polite tone. She was interested, despite herself.

“Happy, of course. She’s disappointed that they won’t let her come to see the baby yet. Too many people wanting to come see him, they said she’d have to wait. Charity’s found a new man to hole up with for a while. I don’t know if that’s a good idea. They always seem to break her heart, don’t they?”

Grace didn’t answer. Now she understood why her mother had tried to call so many times lately–Charity was probably too busy for her.

Her mother went on after a short silence. “But maybe I shouldn’t talk like that. At least she keeps giving love a try. When are you going to find a nice man to settle down with? You mention a bit here and there, but the only one you’ve ever been crazy about was that one you met in college…the one who broke your heart so bad you won’t give it to anyone else.”

“Sam,” Grace said dully.

“I remember his name. I didn’t see fit to remind you. It’s been decades, Grace. You could still find love. It’s just too bad you never had children. It really is. Charity’s got a legacy, and what do you have?”

“I have to go,” Grace said. “I’ve got a big case to work on.”

Her mother’s face fell a little. “You’re pushing me off again, aren’t you? It’s because of what I said about the kids. I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have said that. It was always your decision and I respect that. One of these days my mouth is really going to get me into trouble…”

“Good-bye, Mom, I love you,” Grace said.

“Good-bye.”

“Vidphone off,” Grace said.

She stared blankly at the news report on the holo. Her mother had the most uncanny way of making her feel even worse about precisely what had been bothering her that day. Did she have some kind of mother radar to know today was the worst day in the world to bring up Sam and children?

Think about the case.
Maybe Jordan’s grandkids would know where he was. Grace knew where her mom’s mom was, anyway. She had no idea where either her father or his parents were. He had left her before she had a clear memory of him. For all she knew, he was dead. Part of her thought “good riddance,” but another part of her longed for the days when fathers used to stay with their children and help raise them.

“A bombing in Independence, Missouri killed at least two hundred people this morning,” the news anchor was saying. “No word, yet, on who was responsible. Authorities suspect pro-death activists. Now over to Larry for our traffic report.”

Grace stared at her terminal for a long while, but she just couldn’t finish this tonight. She couldn’t exactly do anything about Alexander or the other grandkids until morning anyway. She may as well get a good night’s sleep.