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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:
Zane hears his phone ring and recognizes Mya’s image when he answers. “Hey, where are you?”
“I’m just pulling up to your facility.”
“I’m glad you decided to stop by. Park in front of the office and I’ll meet you there.”
A few moments later, Zane hurries out through the front door and recognizes the man standing with Mya, but not the tall blond man with them. “I’m glad you showed up, Alex. You’re not going to believe what’s going to happen.”
“I heard Vesta was going to brief a bunch of representatives today. Can you tell me about it?” He looks over Zane’s shoulder and sees Okana winking at him.
“Of course. It’s going to be known to the public soon, anyway. We can talk on the way to my testing area.”
Alex indicates the blond man. “This is my best friend, Okana. He’s part of my group of advisors.”
Zane shakes hands. “It’s nice to meet you. Follow me and I’ll show you around my facility.”
Alex listens to Zane talk about what they already know as they move past the deserted reception desk and along a short hallway. He is relieved when Zane doesn’t leave out any of the details of the meeting.
Zane gives his visitors a conspiratorial expression. “Of course, we’re not going to tell the public about the genetic requirements. People are going to panic about the comet, anyway, so why add fuel to the fire, right?”
Mya clenches her fists at her side to keep from blurting out her feelings on the issue. “So why is it so urgent that I come here?”
Zane spins around and smiles as he grabs her shoulders. “Because not only do you have the GC117 gene and zero Neanderthal but also one I’ve never seen before, and I’ve done over sixty thousand tests from around the world. I’m calling it the GC118 gene.”
Mya isn’t sure what to think of this new development. “If the GC117 gene is good for health and longevity, what does the GC118 do?”
“I have no idea. I’m hoping my friends at the GEN9 DNA Synthesis Lab can figure it out.”
Before today, Okana has never considered having his DNA tested, but now he is curious. “Can you check mine while I’m here?”
“Of course.” Zane turns to Alex. “We might as well do yours while you’re here.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not planning on leaving with Vesta and her friends so there’s no sense wasting your time.”
Mya smiles up at Alex. “Now’s the chance to prove me wrong about your Neanderthal percentage.”
Alex grins at her. “All right.”
Zane leads them to the end of the hallway, pushes open the doors, and walks inside to a young woman sitting at the first test station. “Vickie, can you do a test on my friends for me?”
Vickie Madison stands and smiles up at the handsome blond man. “What’s your name, cowboy?”
Okana grins down at the red-haired, large woman with dark-framed glasses. “Okana. What do you want me to do?”
Vickie raises an eyebrow. “Oh, lots of things, big boy.” She reaches into a drawer and brings out two small plastic tubes, holding one out to Okana. “But for now, just spit in here.”
When Okana is done, Alex takes the other tube and does the same before handing it back to Vickie. “How long does it take?”
“About fifteen minutes.”
Zane indicates the doors to his friends. “Let’s go to my office. She’ll let us know when she has the results.”
Zane leads them into his office and shows the sofa and chairs to his guests. “Vesta gave me some new equipment so I can do that initial test in less than a second.”
Alex sits on the sofa next to Mya. “Are you saying her ship was here?”
“Yes, it suddenly appeared in the back lot, she got in, and it vanished.”
Alex realizes that the technology is far more advanced than his spaceship. He wonders if Vesta’s main ship has any type of weapons. He can only hope that her intentions are truly what she claims. “You’ve spent some time alone with her. Do you think she’s sincere?”
“Yes, I do. The only thing I don’t like about Vesta and Paul is his ability to read my mind. I’m not too keen on the idea of someone being inside my head.”
“How did it affect you the first time?” Alex asks.
“It wasn’t unpleasant, if that’s what you mean.”
Vickie is smiling as she enters Zane’s office. “Here are the results of the tests. You’re not going to believe it.”
Zane takes the small electronic tablet and studies the data while Vickie leaves the room. “Well, Okana. You have the GC117 gene, and three percent Neanderthal DNA. You also have the HERC2/OCA2 gene, which gives you your blue eyes.” He flips to the next screen and looks over at Alex. “I can’t believe it. You have the GC117 and the GC118 gene like Mya, but you also have an unknown genetic tag on your HERC2/OCA2 gene. I’ve never seen one like this before. Are you sure you were born here on earth?”
Alex grins. “Positive. The way I understand it, we all have unused DNA left over from our evolution into Homo sapiens.”
“That’s correct, but Vesta told us they have brought other humans here in the past. There is no trace of Neanderthal in your sample, so maybe your genealogy leads back to one of them. In any case, that makes you unique from the rest of us.”
Alex already knows that much from what he learned during the Pandora incident. “You said that Mya’s GC118 was the only one out of sixty-thousand people tested, but there are what, over seven billion of us living on this little planet? I’m sure there are more people with that gene.”
“I guess we’ll find out by the time we’re done.”
“When will Vesta be back?”
“In two days.”
“Do me a favor. Tell her I want to be taken to her ship.”
Zane stares at Alex for a moment. “I doubt she’ll agree. She doesn’t like you.”
Alex chuckles. “The feeling is mutual.”
“I don’t understand what you have against her, Alex. She’s just trying to help us.”
“That’s what the Trojans thought and look what happened to them. Just give her my message and let me know what she says.”
“All right. Do you want to see the rest of my operation?”
“I thought all you did was test DNA.”
“Oh, no. That is only the first stage. Follow me.”
Alex walks beside Zane as they leave the room and enter the hallway. A moment later, he follows him into a much larger room with dozens of people sitting in front of computer monitors, but no test equipment.
Zane indicates his employees. “This is where we search social media sites for information. Originally, I was doing this for the clandestine services around the world to track down terrorists. Three months ago, I invested a ton of money to upgrade my data storage capacity, and we began searching all the social media sites using names submitted with the DNA samples for an ancestry background.”
Alex stares at the rows of black computer cabinets with small flashing colored lights. “For what purpose?”
“My original intent was to offer my customers a fully formed family tree for an extra fee. Now we have lists of anyone remotely related to those people, but I haven’t offered the service to any of them just yet. Under the current circumstances, I doubt anyone will want to know to whom they are related anymore, so it was all a waste of money. I suppose it doesn’t matter, since I won’t be around to spend any of it, anyway. I meet all the prerequisites needed to join the new colony, and I’m going with them.”
Mya strolls between the rows of people, looking at the images on their monitors. All of them show pictures of individuals posing with family, friends, and pets. “This is why I don’t post personal stuff on social media. It’s like an invasion of privacy.”
Zane is following her. “I’m sure they know that whatever they post will be seen by the public, so it’s not a violation of privacy. If they don’t want it known to everyone, they should not have posted it.”
“I know, but it still doesn’t seem right.”
Alex has an interesting thought. “Who has access to all this information?”
“Just me and my employees, and it can’t be uploaded to individuals. The only information we share is related to suspected terrorists and their relatives, and only with the clandestine services. Why do you ask?”
“Will Vesta have access to it?”
“Yes, and she wants me to do it for all the volunteers as part of the vetting process.”
“That’s interesting.”
Zane gives Alex a quizzical stare. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing really. I suppose it’s necessary. She wouldn’t want a psychopath as part of the new colony.”
“I agree. The governments want to do their own background checks for her, but that would take too long. We only have thirteen days.”
“Is this your entire operation?”
“Yes, for the discovery program. My research facility is at a different location.”
“All right. Well, thank you for the tour, and I hope you’ll keep me posted on your progress.”
Zane smiles and holds out his hand. “Vesta is the one who has a problem with you, not me. I like you, Alex.” He reaches out to the blond man. “And it is nice to meet you, too, Mister Okana.”
“It’s just Okana,” he says as he accepts the handshake. “Same here.”
Zane strolls with his friends out to the parking lot and stops to say goodbye to Mya. “I hope you’re considering going with us to a new planet. I’m sure we could use an archeologist.”
“I’ll keep it in mind as an option. So long, Zane.”
Zane remains standing in the parking lot as his new friends drive away. Suddenly an image appears in his mind. He hurries back into the building to the new equipment. He instantly knows how the seven pieces fit together. When he is done, it is a miniature assembly line for testing DNA samples. There is also an adapter cord to connect it with a human-built computer.
He is still baffled by the other equipment and the Y-shaped piece of something resembling plastic. He leaves the assembled unit on the table and puts the other pieces back into a case, then closes and locks the door behind him as he leaves the office.
***
Once they are driving out of the parking lot, Alex brings out his phone to call Holly, and put it on speaker. “We had a nice visit with Zane.” He explains what he had learned. “It seems Vesta and her ship will be gone for two days. What happened after the meeting?”
“It took a while for all the representatives to come to an agreement on how much to tell the public. Tonight on prime time, our President is going to make the announcement to the world that the visitors came here looking for volunteers to repopulate a distant planet. The information will include the part about needing a DNA test through Zane’s program and a background check. All the details will be posted in newspapers and on social media.”
Alex remembers hearing the British representative voice his objections during the meeting. “Are you sure none of the representatives will leak the truth about the specific genetic requirements on social media?”
“I can’t be positive about that. That’s why I hate politicians. Nevertheless, they agree that if we are going to save our species, we need to save the best people for the job. They did bring up a valid point that I agree with concerning Zane. I don’t like the idea of just one person making the decisions on who goes and who stays. That’s too much power for one man to have over an entire species.”
Alex knows that isn’t the situation. “I’m not worried about Zane. He’s just Vesta’s puppet, but she gave him some advanced alien technology and we all know how fast things can get out of control when it ends up in the wrong hands.”
Mya can no longer restrain her frustration and leans forward between the seats. “It’s wrong not telling people about the comet.”
Alex winces and spins around to stare at Mya until she leans back in her seat.
“Is that Mya?” Holly asks in a stern voice.
Alex turns and stares out the front window. “Yes, she was our only way into Zane’s facility.” The line is silent for a moment. “And yes, she listened to the meeting with us, but it’s not an issue.”
Mya leans forward again. “I won’t say anything, Holly. I gave Alex my word, but I just think people have the right to know about this.”
“They will be told eventually, but for the moment, there isn’t anything they can do about it so why start a panic. We have eight months to change its course. If we fail, then we’ll tell everyone the bad news.”
“But that’s still not fair. There are a lot of people who will not volunteer to join the colony because they don’t know they may die if they stay here.”
“That’s not up to me, Mya.”
Mya heaves a deep sigh of frustration. “I know, and I’m sorry for lashing out at you.”
Alex turns off the speaker, brings the phone up to his ear, and indicates for Mya to lean back so he can talk in private. “Vesta won’t be back for two days, but when she does, I’d like to use our ship to check out her main ship.”
Holly thinks about it for a moment. “Let me talk to David about the cloaking system first. What are your plans until then?”
“I’ll catch a ride back to the base.”
“All right.”
The connection ends and Alex puts the phone away. After fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence, he turns on the stereo. Along the way, he thinks about how big Vesta’s spaceship would need to be to carry five-hundred people and it would be immense. Of course, he has no idea how their technology works. He adds it to the list of questions for Vesta when she returns.
Two hours later, Okana takes the exit for Fort Collins and drives into the visitor parking lot at the base to let Mya and Alex out of the SUV. He rolls down his window as his friends moved up beside him. “It was nice meeting you, Mya. Take care.”
Mya leans in and gives Okana a quick hug. “You, too.”
When Mya steps back, Alex leans in close. “I’ll catch a military hop to Fallon, Nevada to see a friend before I head back to Groom Lake. I’ll meet you there in two days. We’re going for a ride.”
“Got it. See you there.”
When Okana drives away, Mya indicates her car. “If I remember right, it’s my turn to buy you dinner.”
“Let me check in and see when the next flight is available before we leave. I’ll be right back.”
When Alex walks toward the security building, Mya leans back against her car and stares after him, wondering what he really does for a living.