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Lucian wore only briefs and lay beneath a thin sheet on a cold gurney. Sweat beaded from his pores and drenched the sheet in spite of the frigid room temperature. His body spasms intensified. Kat leaned over with tears in her eyes. She placed one hand on his forehead and gripped his right hand with the other.
“Don’t cry,” Lucian said in a weak voice. “I’m not going away.”
She looked at the incubation chamber. Thick liquid slowly filled the glass walls.
“You may not survive this,” she said.
“I certainly won’t live if Helmsby doesn’t try it.”
Dr. Helmsby walked to the side of Lucian’s bed. He thumped a syringe to get the excess air bubbles to rise to the top. He pushed the plunger and squeezed out the remaining bubbles.
“Lucian, this will hurt. It will probably feel like ice entering your bloodstream.”
Lucian forced a smile. “Can’t be worse than the pain I’m experiencing right now.”
“The incubation chamber will cryopreserve your body until I develop a cure for your condition.”
Kat wiped her eyes. “How long will that take?”
Helmsby shrugged. “I don’t know, but I promise I’ll work around the clock to find a cure to correct his genetic flaws.”
Carpenter stepped into the room.
Lucian raised his head, smiled, and eased back onto the gurney.
Carpenter stepped beside Kat.
“I guess you’ll be relieved now,” Lucian said to Carpenter.
“About what?” Carpenter asked.
“Justice is finally served.”
Carpenter shook his head. “Lucian, there’s no justice here. I know the truth.”
“That being?” Lucian asked.
“You never killed Godfrey, the guards, or the other senator.”
Lucian nodded slowly. A frown crept across his brow. “So they finally told you?”
“Yes,” Carpenter said. “I met with Godfrey in private.”
“Kat’s eyebrows rose. “So it is true?”
“Yes,” Lucian replied.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kat asked.
“I couldn’t. I had to protect Godfrey. If anyone knew . . .”
“And that’s greatly appreciated,” Godfrey said, stepping into the room.
Lucian gave a weak smile. “Good to see you.”
“How are you holding up?” Godfrey asked.
“Not too well, apparently.”
Godfrey squeezed Lucian’s shoulder. “You’re in Dr. Helmsby’s hands now. He’ll figure out something. We’ll provide him with whatever resources necessary. For what you’ve done, and Carpenter, you’re both heroes and heroes should be honored. At all costs.”
Godfrey turned to Carpenter and offered his hand. Carpenter hesitated for several seconds before shaking the senator’s hand.
“Again,” Godfrey said. “I’m sorry that situations like ours presented themselves the way they did. It appears everything is on track now.”
Carpenter gave a slight nod and watched Godfrey head for the door.
At the door, Godfrey paused to look at Lucian. “See you on the other side.”
Lucian nodded.
Godfrey left the room.
Kat smiled at Lucian, then turned to face Carpenter. “You don’t seem too happy.”
“I’m not happy with how they kept all this information from me. I’m glad to know Lucian has been on our side from the beginning,” Carpenter said. With sad eyes, he looked at Lucian. “I’m sorry to have pursued you with as much aggression as I did.”
Lucian forced a grin. “It was all part of the plan. You were doing your job.”
“It’s never been a part of my procedure to harass an innocent man.”
“Well, since they told you and Godfrey has come out of hiding, it means we must be close to ending the rogue scientists.” Lucian coughed violently until his face flushed red. When the coughing subsided, he took a deep breath.
Carpenter looked at Helmsby. “Is he going to be okay?”
Helmsby shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I probably won’t know for quite some time.”
“There must be something we can do,” Kat said.
“Research first,” Helmsby said. “Solutions follow.”
“Have they captured Matthews yet?” Kat asked Carpenter.
“No. What’s worse is that Lydia has disappeared, and we still have had no way to contact her,” Carpenter said.
Lucian said. “She’ll find Matthews.”
“I suspect that’s what she’s attempting to do.”
“And when she does,” Lucian said. “She’ll kill him.”
Carpenter sighed. “I have no doubt.”
Helmsby took Lucian’s right hand and helped pull him into a seated position. “Kat, help me walk Lucian to the prep chair.”
Lucian stepped gingerly onto the floor. Kat wrapped Lucian’s left arm around her shoulders to support some of his weight. He walked like an elderly man. Without their assistance, he’d have fallen.
After he sat down, Carpenter pulled some folded papers from his jacket pocket. “I have something you two need to sign.”
“What?” Lucian said.
“These are official adoption papers granting you sole guardianship for Paul and Paula,” he replied.
Tears flowed from Kat’s eyes. “How?”
“I called in a few favors. Everything is legal.” Carpenter said, winking at them.
“Thanks,” Lucian said with a weak smile.
Kat threw her arms around Carpenter’s neck and squeezed tightly. “Thank you so much!”
“It’s the least I could do,” he said.
Helmsby stepped beside Lucian. He took slender plastic tubes and coated them with clear lubricant.
“This won’t be pleasant,” Helmsby said. “Try to remain still.”
Helmsby slid a tube in each of Lucian’s nostrils. He then taped electrodes to Lucian’s chest and his temples. A few minutes later, he inserted an I.V. needle at the back of his left wrist.
“What are these for?” Lucian whispered.
“We’re taking every precaution to keep your body monitored at all times. This procedure is hazardous, even for you.”
Kat squeezed Lucian’s hand.
Helmsby smiled at her. “Are you ready?”
Lucian nodded.
Helmsby took a syringe. “Give her one last kiss before we put you under.”
Kat pressed her lips against Lucian’s. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her tightly around the waist.
She leaned back and looked into his eyes. “I love you. Helmsby’s going to fix you. I’ll be here when you awaken.”
Lucian smiled. “I love you, too.”
Helmsby injected the needle and pushed the sedative into Lucian’s bloodstream. “You have about five minutes before you’re out, so let’s get you inside the chamber.”
Lucian nodded and pushed himself to his feet. Kat tucked her arm under his and led him to the narrow metal stairs at the side of the chamber. He took each step with care, using the handrails for support. At the top of the stairs, he sat down and placed his feet into the warm nutrient-based substance.
Helmsby stood on the stairs behind him. “Before you plunge into the liquid, insert the mouth piece.”
Lucian gave a weak nod. Helmsby knelt beside him and connected the I.V. tube to the rig. He then attached rubber-coated wires to each of the electrode attachments and moved the bundled wires over the top of the tank.
Helmsby clasped Lucian’s shoulder. “You’re ready. The sedative should kick in soon.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
Lucian lowered himself into the tank. Helmsby sealed the door shut. The liquid was at Lucian’s waist. Kat stood at the front of the tank with her hands pressed against the glass. Lucian positioned his feet and put his right hand against hers.
Tears made Kat’s mascara run.
The warm liquid filled the tank. Lucian’s eyes closed a few seconds before the nutrient-based fluid reached his nose. The heart monitor showed a decreased rhythm in his heartbeat.
“He’s asleep, Kat,” Helmsby said.
Carpenter squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Fighting tears, she turned and pressed her face against Carpenter’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head.
“I can’t go through this again,” she said. “I can’t survive this.”
“He’s not dead,” Carpenter whispered.
“He’s not with me, either.”
“I know.”
Helmsby cleared his throat and walked to them. “I have an idea that just might work.”
“What?” Kat asked.
“The notion is absurd, and you’ll probably object to submitting Lucian to such a test, but I believe it might actually reverse his condition.”
“What is it?”
“You remember the assassins Steven Matthews manipulated?”
“Those damned zombie-like creatures?” Kat asked.
“Yes. Matthews incorporated a mutant gene that regenerates dead tissue.”
Kat frowned. “You can’t turn Lucian into something so hideous.”
“I’d never do anything like that. But if I could somehow splice the regeneration trait into Lucian’s cellular makeup, it should be enough to reverse his condition.”
“How could you without transforming him into something similar to them?”
“Kat, Lucian’s telomeres are too short for his cells to properly divide and replenish themselves. I’m assuming that the enhancers are no longer working. I need to confirm that with Dr. Brockton. But if we add Matthews’ regeneration trait, we’d eliminate Lucian’s need for enhancement drugs. The regeneration agent will keep his cells healthy and alive. Just like the ones Brockton took from GenTech.”
“He’d become immortal?”
Helmsby rubbed the stubble on his chin and smiled, entertaining the thought. “I can’t guarantee that he’d become immortal, but he’d be stronger and healthier than he has been in the past six to seven months.”
“Can you guarantee he won’t look like those zombie men?”
He smiled. “Now that I can guarantee.”
Carpenter frowned. “How?”
“The men Matthews used were corpses that he reanimated. Lucian’s alive, so his appearance won’t be compromised. He’s already a genetic miracle. In fact, his ability to heal from serious wounds is nearly the same as the regeneration trait. The flaws he suffers are from being the clone of Lucas at age forty.”
Kat folded her arms and looked at Lucian. “Did you discuss this with him before he went under?”
“Unfortunately, no. The idea hit me just minutes ago. But you’re his wife. You’d have to make this medical decision for him.”
“Damn,” she whispered. Her eyes revealed her confusion.
“Take some time to think it over,” Helmsby said. “A few hours or even a day, if necessary.”
“You really believe this will work?”
“I see no way it can fail.”
Kat walked to the chamber and pressed her hand to the glass. The strongest man she’d ever known floated helplessly. She couldn’t bear losing him, but she couldn’t justify allowing machines to keep her husband alive, either. That kind of desperation weighed heavy on the soul.
Already she missed the warmth of his eyes, the strength of his embrace, and his soothing voice whenever she was troubled or alarmed. She had grown used to sleeping beside him. Until he was cured, she didn’t believe she’d have a peaceful night’s sleep.
“Do it,” she said.
Helmsby smiled. “Call Dr. Brockton.”
“Why?”
“I need some of those tissue samples he stole from GenTech.”
Kat turned. Her face paled. Her heart dropped. “He doesn’t have them. He destroyed them in an incinerator. He feared they’d fall into the wrong hands if he didn’t.”
“Call him,” Helmsby said. “If he’s every bit the scientist I am, and I suspect he is, he saved some of those tissue samples.”
Kat took her cellphone from her back pocket and hit autodial. “I hope you’re right.”
***
Kat stepped outside the laboratory. She wiped away hot tears, waiting for Brockton to answer. Several rings later, he finally did.
“Hello? Kat?”
“Yes,” she said, sobbing.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s Lucian.”
“What happened?”
She tried to answer but instead, she cried even harder.
“Kat?” Brockton asked. “Is Lucian still alive?”
Kat took a deep breath. “Yes. We’re at Helmsby’s lab.”
“Okay, that’s good. How is Lucian?”
“Helmsby has placed him into an incubation chamber.”
“What? Things are that severe?”
“Yes,” Kat replied.
“Has Helmsby mentioned anything that might help Lucian?”
“He has an idea, but he needs your assistance.”
“Anything,” Brockton said. “What does he need?”
“He needs those tissue cultures that Lucian took from GenTech.”
“Why?”
“He thinks they’ll reverse Lucian’s aging processes.”
“Kat, you know I incinerated them.”
Kat sobbed and wiped more tears away. “I know. That’s what I told Helmsby. But—”
“But what?”
“He seems to believe you kept some of them somewhere.”
“Why does he think I kept some of them?”
“Helmsby said that if you’re as much a scientist as he is, you would have.”
Brockton chuckled.
“What’s funny?” she asked.
“Apparently he knows me pretty well.”
“So you did keep some tissue samples?”
“Of course. But I never thought there was a way they’d help Lucian. Otherwise I might have experimented with them.”
Kat allowed a brief smile while wiping her eyes. “How long would it take for you to get them here?”
“Where are you?” Brockton asked.
“Louisville, Kentucky.”
“Louisville?”
“Yes.”
“It shouldn’t take more than six hours at the most.”
“Great.”
“Kat?”
“Yes?”
“Hang in there, okay? I’ll bring these immediately. Between Helmsby and myself, we’re going to find a way to have Lucian around for a long time. Okay?”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Kat disconnected the call and returned to the laboratory. The tears returned when she saw Lucian in the chamber. His suspended body looked lifeless in the fluid.
“Well?” Carpenter asked.
Kat beamed a smile in spite of the tears. She nodded. “He kept some of the cultures.”
“See?” Helmsby said. “A good scientist always keeps samples. How soon will he have them here?”
“About six hours.”
Helmsby smiled. “Perfect! Now, why don’t you and Carpenter get something to eat or some coffee? Get out of here and let you attention focus on something less stressful.”
Carpenter put his arm around Kat’s shoulders and gave a tight side hug. “He’s right. Being in here isn’t good for you.”
“I promised Lucian I’d be here.”
“I know. But getting some food and coffee won’t take too long. We can come right back.”
Helmsby nodded. “It may still be a day or so before Brockton and I can formulate a serum to bring Lucian out of his induced comatose state.”
“That long?” she asked.
Helmsby shrugged. “Or longer. Some things are best not rushed. Our analysis must be thorough so we don’t actually do more damage than good.”
“That’s true,” Carpenter said.
Kat closed her eyes. Tears crept down her cheeks. “I . . . miss him so much.”
Carpenter nodded. “I know you do. But, at least he’s still alive, and they are closer to finding a reversal to his condition.”
Kat nodded. “I know. Things are more optimistic than fifteen minutes ago. I probably need to eat.”
“That a girl,” Carpenter said. “Come on, let’s go.”
She glanced at Lucian and walked alongside Carpenter. When it came to prayers, she was a loss for words. Her continued hope had faded, and she didn’t know how she’d cope with the ache in her chest. All she knew was that she needed Lucian more now than ever before.