The Black Silent

CHAPTER 42

The Sinclairs were good people, Midwestern stock whose ancestors had been covered-wagon settlers. Retired, they lived year-round on Cormorant Bay Road. It was an idyllic setting, the house painted in pastels from the era of Elvis Presley and a sweeping water view. All they needed was an Edsel. Without a doubt, the Sinclairs were with their children in Seattle for Thanksgiving. Nobody was going to check.

Haley showed Sam the large new RV parked by their home.

"Could be tough to hot-wire," Sam said.

"I don't think you'll have to," Haley said. "They loaned it to us a while back so we could put up some visiting scientists. I know where they have a key inside it, I think. All you gotta do is break in through the side window."

"Oh, my God," Ben groaned. "Have we sunk this low?"

"Some of us have," Haley said. Sam figured she was still a bit pissed about the experimenting on people.

It worked just the way Haley said it would. There was a horn alarm and Sam yanked the wires on the horn. Now they'd stolen an RV, if they couldn't convince somebody that it was borrowed.

They drove the Sinclairs' RV to the end of Deer Harbor Road into a large cul-de-sac.

When they parked at the bottom of the street, the deputies were just arriving and starting to screen people.

Sam and Nelson had gotten the bleeding stopped on Stu's leg and applied a dressing, but Stu was in no condition to go anywhere. Sam took a moment to look out through the RV's curtained windows. Attracted by motion, his eye went to the outer docks, and in the distance he saw someone standing behind a piling. It was Frick, gesticulating and talking with a tall man. Sam recalled the guards at Sanker talking about a second-in-command.

Khan, if he remembered correctly.

Luckily, the RV remained on the far side of the deputies' search wave. A deputy was still a hundred feet off and approaching when Sam, Haley, and Ben made for the boat. The RV started up and headed out. The deputy made no attempt to stop either the RV or Sam's group.

When Sam had almost reached the Whaler, Frick realized what was happening and began screaming, the phone to his ear.

Once in the Whaler, they wasted no time. After casting off, they applied the power, pulling away from the docks and heading to the far side of the bay. Sam saw Frick and Khan each raise a pistol and fire repeatedly. Several bullets hit their craft above the waterline, but none connected with flesh.

Sam turned sharply and headed right for Frick and the sheriff's boat.

"Get down," he shouted at Haley and Ben. Khan seemed to have reloaded quickly. As he took aim, Sam raised the Uzi, hoping it wouldn't misfire. The man's rapid fire drove Sam to the floor and peppered the foredeck of the Whaler, but not before Sam had put a burst under the bow of the San Juan sheriff's boat.

The opposing fire stopped. Reloading, Sam thought.

Swinging the Whaler in a partial turn, Sam put another burst into the Orcas Island deputy's boat as well. It was almost painful to imagine the bullets popping through the aluminum hull.

Sam was almost certain that the Lopez boat was at West Sound Harbor.

Now they had the head start they needed.

Succumbing to exhaustion and the extreme cold of still-sodden clothes, Sam gave Ben the helm and retreated to the Whaler's tiny cabin, where a diesel forced-air heater created momentary nirvana. The others still wore dry clothes, having stepped off the boat and onto shore. After they had lifted the dead captain's body to the beach, Sam had forced himself to take the Alice B. away from the shore and swim one last time.

Sam got naked and dried off; then he lucked out when he found a pair of swimming trunks. No doubt the owner used them when he had to go under the boat and cut a fouled line on the prop. Sam knew he was right about the trunks when he found a diving mask in the next drawer down. He put on the swimsuit, and after he had wrung the water from his clothes, he hung them in front of the heater outlet. He kept the cabin door open so that he could hear Haley and Ben. The size of the boat was such that he sat only two feet away from the helm.

Haley had clearly gotten over the hurt of Ben's keeping secrets from her. She nuzzled against Ben while he touched her hair. As if reading Sam's mind, she told Ben, "I forgive you."

Ben's craggy face broke into a half-smile. "But I haven't asked for forgiveness."

She punched his thigh. "I'll give it to you just the same."

Ben put his hand on hers, and she unclenched the fist, hugging him harder.

"I've always been a bit of a renegade. In the end the government won't care that I bought these men more time than their genetics had ordained. The bureaucrats will huff and puff and then want the secret. It's the way things are."

"Can't you tell me how you did it?" Haley said.

"Did what?"

"Don't be coy." She pulled away and looked in Ben's eyes. "Used Arcs to lengthen human life. Everything."

"Essentially," Ben said, "we looked at the problems that humans have and that Arcs don't. We then tried to think of ways to emulate the DNA protection that Arcs enjoy. It's counterintuitive because we burn oxygen, and oxidation destroys our DNA. Arcs don't use oxygen."

"People rust. Arcs don't. Right?"

"Exactly." Ben smiled. "But it gets complicated quickly when you try to understand why."

While Sam listened, he glanced at the nearly flat wake as they passed Reef Island in the Wasp group. Even the small islands had trees and one a resident hawk, another an eagle.

There was no sign of any boat following yet. Sam imagined Frick cursing two leaking sheriff's boats and a third coming all the way around from West Sound. Though the leaking boats would still float, they'd be slowed significantly; each bullet hole would be a fountain-at speed, a geyser.

"The simple answer is that we activated a gene," Ben was saying. "Human mitochondria, it turns out, have an extra crumb of DNA that's not functional. In the Arc it is functional. We activated it in humans with an Arc peptide that controls the production of the Arc protein. Kind of like a hormone-which is just how it acts in humans."

"Is that what you were doing with the vat?" Haley asked. "Making Arc hormone?"

"Mm-hmm. We found this unusual gene in a deep-mud/ deep-ocean Arc. At least we think so. I'll get to that in a moment. There was no point in trying to grow those particular Arcs, because they live under tremendous pressure and they reproduce very slowly."

"So you used a related Arc species and changed its genetic makeup to include the Arc gene you wanted?" Haley guessed.

"Very good. The Arc we used reproduces much faster. That's why we have the vat in the cave. It grows Arcs in an oxygen-free environment in three atmospheres of pressure- the equivalent of one hundred feet underwater."

Haley leaned forward for more, the eager protegee completely absorbed in the scientific process.

"Part of the joke there is that we had thousands and thousands of Arc genes from numerous drilling rigs, all brought up under pressure. Through an unfortunate string of circumstances we don't know exactly where the magic gene came from."

"You mean you have the Arc, but you don't know where to find more?"

"It's not even that good. Now all we have is yet another Arc species that has been genetically modified to contain the original special Arc gene."

"These would be the Arcs you kept a sample of?"

"Right," Ben said. "Unlike their deep-sea cousins, these Arcs can be mass-produced somewhat quickly, and I do have a supply of the necessary peptide in a Seattle lab. But that's just the product. The only place I have the gene that produces the peptide is in the genetically engineered Arc."

Sam wondered whether Ben had hidden the flask of the genetically engineered Arcs on his person or elsewhere. As if reading his mind, Haley asked that very question of Ben.

Ben smiled and opened his coat and removed what looked to be a custom-made flask. It was roughly two inches thick, flat in appearance, and a little larger in surface area than a phone book. It could be strapped to Ben's chest using shoulder straps.

"Of course, having this on me," Ben said, "leaves me with an obvious problem. I can't have Frick catching us and somehow getting these." He patted the flask. "That's the first problem. Frick aside, I have no place to multiply them at the moment. And no idea where to find the original Arc that naturally carries the gene."

"But you found them once," Haley said.

"Yes, and I'm sure someone will find them again," Ben said. "Most of the Arcs were in the North Sea, but others came from off South America, southern California, and even from below stagnant freshwater ponds."

Haley didn't look like she wanted to believe in the enormity of the task. "There must be some way to trace… I mean forensics.. mud…?"

"All long gone, and nothing saved. Everything's gone now, except what's in the flask,"

Ben said, "and if for any reason we can't mass-produce it, we could spend the next one hundred years looking for the special Arc, the original, and still never find it."

Haley groaned. "The Sargasso stew. That's why you want a Venter-like system, to sort through gazillions of Arc genes."

"You got it."

Carefully Ben handed the heavy flask to Haley. After she had examined it for a moment, Ben spoke again, his tone different. "Maybe I should lose these Arcs."

Haley cradled the container in her hands. "You don't think the world's ready for it."

"Look at us. Look at Frick, willing to murder. Look at the subjects, moved to kidnapping by their paranoia. Who can you trust? The government?"

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know."

Sam knew there was an underlying, damnable truth. Humankind could sometimes only take so much good stuff; then it had to digest it before it could advance. Like nuclear energy, for example. During the digestion, just about anything could happen, and it usually wasn't good.

"We discovered antibiotics without murder and mayhem," Haley said as if reading Sam's mind.

"I'm afraid the fountain of youth has a lot more food for greed and the lust to live, than do ordinary discoveries. Antibiotics only cure a disease until the next resistant disease or aging gets you."

Haley remained silent, as did Ben. The Whaler was now just south of the Wasp Islands.

Sam stepped out of the cabin and scanned the horizon for a moment. Still no sign of a sheriff's boat. There were breaks in the overcast and with them came a little sun.

"We read about the manifesto," Sam said, breaking the silence. "No surprise that the government wouldn't play ball, but I'm curious about the thinking behind your manifesto."

Ben sighed and sat back in his seat, looking as if he'd suddenly aged a bit.

"Nelson called me an idealist. I suppose he's right. It was beautiful, at least to me."

"What?" Haley asked, turning to face him and putting her hand on his knee.

Ben shrugged and snorted a small laugh. "Everything. Nothing. You read about methane mining, other alternative-energy sources, energy potential, and the risks involved. Yes?"

They both nodded. "Some of it, we tried to learn; there's a lot of material," Haley said.

"Did you read about the other alternative-energy sources, like tidal, methane from coal mines, and solar?"

They shook their heads.

"Well, you couldn't be expected to find it all in twenty-four hours. It's an extensive and grand scheme. For me, it was a beautiful integration, like the symmetry of a snowflake.

The secrets of the Archaea. ARCLES means abundance, replenishment, climate, longevity, energy, and security. It's a global cycle, and it begins with mining the methane and other alternative-energy sources. You do that in a planned way, with government oversight, and you not only get massive energy benefits, but you reduce the long-term risk of methane eruptions. Everybody agrees that greenhouse effect is going to materialize if you put enough junk in the air; it's just a question of whether it has started yet to cause global warming. To me, that's not the issue.

"Anyway, back to the point. Greenhouse gases will be an issue if we keep emitting volumes of CO. If methane escapes in abundance, the CO will be a bigger issue. We need to learn to cope with it.

"We must get over the notion that if it's natural, it's good. Polio is natural; cancer is natural; tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes and forest fires are natural; ice ages are natural. We're moving into the age where humankind must begin to act as the custodian of its environment. It requires thoughtful leaders. Probably an oxymoron."

"We read about possible thermonuclear methane release." Ben waved his hand as if to dismiss it. "Good political talk to stimulate methane research. Some of the guys calculated that one well-placed nuclear device in the right deep-sea trench could start a chain reaction of methane release, but in the end I didn't think this was the key risk for our planet. After all, it's hard to heat enough water or change enough water pressure or salinity even with an atomic weapon. No… the risk is elsewhere."

"We read about asphyxiation, conflagrations," Haley said.

"I'm not a big believer in the instantaneous, all-at-once methane release theory.

Although I believe it happens, and could theoretically happen perhaps from deep-sea events like volcanoes or the giant hot-vent system under the ocean undergoing a change, as it has in the past. These natural furnaces can really heat water and it only takes a few degrees and the changing of ocean currents and the like-not many realize it, but a five-degree change in ocean temperatures could release half the methane on the planet.

Startling.

"But more likely than quick release in a matter of days, I think-given our knowledge of history and prehistory-is that the methane will be released more gradually. Is being released gradually. Global warming has already started or will start if our emissions continue. We have cars running all over the planet, and at some point.." Ben shrugged.

"So the methane release would only exacerbate it. Once atmospheric warming starts, it triggers more methane release. It's a potentially bad cycle.

"I think the real catastrophe is climate change, though it will happen over time-slowly, in human time."

"Will mining the methane help?" Haley asked.

"A little. But my vision is this: you finish the cycle by growing plankton or scrubbing the air in other ways. We know how to take CO, make water vapor, and dispose of the 2 carbon in the ground."

Ben appeared transported by this grand scheme of his. This dream. ARCLES. Sam nodded, although he knew the devil was in the details.

"Did your colleagues buy the whole ARCLES vision?" Haley asked.

"We were all excited about it. We saw the longevity benefit as the reward for humankind's improved stewardship of the planet. It was ambitious, I know, but-"

"Longevity's also the biggest problem," Sam said.

"True," Ben said. "When you make old age a disease, you create mind-bending, psychological, political, and social issues."

"I can see that," Sam said.

"There's always hope," Haley said. "But then there's always wrinkles too."

Sam and Ben chuckled, despite the difficult truth.

Then Ben paused, giving her a look of Santa-like reassurance. In that moment only the two of them existed in their universe.

"Helen told me why my discovery would captivate so many. And really it's why we are here today being chased by crazy people."

Haley put her hand on Ben's and waited.

"Well, it's not that profound," he said. "It is because we get older faster than we think."

Ben waited to let that sink in. "When I was a little boy, ten years old, standing by a big old madrona over by the old lime kiln, on Orcas, I thought about time. I think it was my first virginal experience with the subject. I reasoned that I could only remember back a few years and yet it seemed quite a while that I had been around. To my way of thinking at ten, getting to thirty would be many multiples of my conscious life remembered. And so I concluded that as a practical matter I just didn't have to worry about getting old.

After that time by the lime kiln, there were many such good days; many winters of fireside reading, summers of sun and blue water, many happy years with Helen and you.

I was still surprised. I got older faster than I thought and, so in a way, I felt I needed to make some bargain for more. It is the bane of conscious life that it wants to hear the cry of another grandchild, taste next season's wine, watch the latest meteor shower, listen to one more Messiah. Even such banal things as next year's Super Bowl sound good. But there's no one to bargain with. It was my dream to find a way to make that bargain-not just for me, but for millions. Now I may dump that dream overboard in San Juan Channel because living with the rotting carcass of selfish humanity seems worse, for the moment, than dying. Or maybe I shouldn't be such a pessimist. Maybe a democracy can handle it."

No one said anything for a long moment.

"So now we have to deal with Glaucus," Ben said, his eyes clear and purposeful again.

"Other than the flask of Arcs, and what I have stored in my brain, he's the clearest existing path to the Arc regimen."

"But aren't you going to tell me how the aging formula works?" Haley asked. "For God's sake, I've earned it. Spit it out!"

Ben smiled as if it really didn't matter how it all worked. "Well, for God's sake, I might be doing you something of a disservice. But you're a young scientist. I remember what that's like. So a quick explanation. We do five things, or work on five systems, if you will. Mostly it's rooted in protecting your DNA and stimulating cellular regeneration without causing cancer. We first limit a primary source of damage to human DNA by limiting free radicals; we then make the DNA itself less susceptible to damage; we then slow the cellular clock that controls the number of times a cell can divide; we give powerful mitogens, which some people call growth hormones; and we influence cardiovascular health by making lipo protein molecules larger, and bad cholesterol lower and good cholesterol higher."

"How does it work?" she prodded.

"We know the result of activating the gene, we've been discussing. We're getting the additional uncoupler protein molecule that does indeed limit free radicals by altering the mitochondrial cell wall. With the treatment the mitochondria leak much less unused oxygen. It is the ultimate antioxidant supplement, and it really works.

"This Arc peptide hormone superactivates yet another apparently silent gene in your genome. I say apparently because we don't know what else it might do. This gene we call Arc Two, even though it's not known in Arcs, and we call the hormone that activates it 'Arc stimulator' or 'AS.' AS induces the gene Arc Two to express a protein that creates a sort of shield for your DNA. You could think of it as a toughening agent or genome copy insurance."

Sam wasn't following the science anymore, but he was interested in the bottom line, which he sensed was coming. Haley, on the other hand, was obviously transported, so he didn't dare interrupt with basic questions.

"In scientific terms," Ben said, "AS causes alternative splicing of the Arc Two RNA, giving rise to a molecule that stops meiosis and greatly reduces abnormal recombinations in human DNA. It significantly affects the nuclear chromatin structures into which DNA is packaged, although we haven't finished analyzing how it does that.

So the tightly packed DNA in the reorganized chromatin will not replicate for purposes of sexual reproduction and it pretty much won't allow the abnormal recombinations of DNA that often result in cancer. Cancer is still possible, but unlikely. But here's the good part: recombinations run by the immune system are largely unaffected."

"You can't make babies, then, once the AS hormone's induced the Arc Two gene?"

Haley said.

"Yes. That's right."

"Glaucus was your first subject, then, and can't reproduce."

"Yes. We've given Glaucus the effect of the Arc gene by in vitro gene infusion. That's not the important thing about Glaucus. There's a homologous gene in humans that stimulates cell growth. But it's much more active in octopuses."

"Don't tell me you used an octopus hormone to stimulate a human gene?"

"Oh no. A combination of other human hormones that we discovered by studying octopuses. They exist in humans in infinitesimal quantities and are related to the common growth hormones already used by physicians. We produce the super-hormone in transgenic bacteria."

"That's part of what the bacteria were making in the lab," Haley said.

The motors throbbed on a calm sea. Over the stern, Sam watched as a bald eagle dragged its talons across the water but missed its prey.

"Yes, exactly," Ben continued. "Glaucus and his huge size are a good example of a different part of the regimen attributable to the growth hormones. Octopuses in the wild have gotten five hundred pounds in four years and started at the size of a rice grain.

Compare that to people. The hormones we use in the Arc regimen have the advantage they don't lose their effectiveness over time and they are self-limiting. On the regimen you won't develop endless muscle, for example. No cancer, because we altered the chromatin. Big muscles- light workouts."

"Oh, so you don't lose muscle mass as you age."

"Bingo," Ben said. "Except, actually, you hardly age in any usual sense for a long time."

"Okay. Then?"

"Another reason we age is because telomeres in each cell of our body get shorter with time."

"So you're about to tell me you can slow the shortening of telomeres by activating telomerase without getting cancer," Haley said. "You can use powerful cell reproduction stimulators without inducing cancer?"

"Exactly."

Sam saw that they were approaching their destination. He moved to the wheel.

"What's next?"

"Next is pedestrian, but necessary. Even thirty-five-year-olds have arteriosclerosis resulting in damage to the arteries. We learned how to increase the size of lipo protein molecules in your blood and lower bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol."

"And that's the end of it?"

"That's it, dear-except for a few thousand details."

Haley thought a moment. "We can release Glaucus because he can't reproduce."

"Bingo," Ben said.

As they entered Friday Harbor, Sam saw no boats about; they were safe, for the moment.

Now all they had to do was dump an impotent octopus into the Pacific and stop a money-mad, crooked cop from hurting anyone else. The first sounded simple enough.

The second, not so much.

Sam looked at Haley. She was actually caressing the flask. If they succeeded with Glaucus and Frick, then they could decide what to do about the Arcs.