EARTH PLAN (12 page)

CHAPTER 21

Charles worked at his new job for the better part of a year, learning the way things were done and how to fit in to the environment there. He passed by his first three months, the standard “probation” term just fine—though, he always wondered why companies hired people if they were not sure about them in the first place. Just another head-shaking thing about working in a big company, he decided.

The people at his job were similar to most jobs he ever held; some were idiots, some were fools, and only a very few were worth talking to. Those few he considered worth his time kept to themselves, mostly. At first he thought it was just because he was new, but there was something else in the air that made the people he worked with keep to themselves and be tight-lipped about anything work related. It was that the company did a lot of sensitive and secret work for different industries and branches of the military, so when a new employee came onboard they were an unknown quantity for some time—much longer than at a regular job without the classified elements.

Most of his work consisted of verifying the genetic work of others in the company, mainly on neural growths. They were brain cells of various animals used to learn more about making the next generation of computers, but he was starting to wonder if the work was really ethical anymore. He thought it was bad enough that animals were used for this, but to what ends would this research be put?

The experiments were steps along the way to creating an artificial intelligence, though these were biological, so they were still playing with actual living things here. He wondered at the fate of the cells in the culture dishes he had to analyze. Did any of them have consciousness? Wasn't that the goal of all the research?

He decided to take a closer look at some of the more advanced specimens and performed extra tests that he was not asked to do. This was not standard procedure, and he feared he might get in trouble for it, but he knew he could cover his ass if he claimed he had some questions about the samples that needed solving, like contamination issues.

He did actually suspect that the samples had come in contact with some cells from one of the researchers, as he found what looked like human DNA mixed in with one of the samples of a neutral growth.

When he did the test screening for human DNA, he was shocked to find out that not only was the contamination indeed human DNA, but the whole neutral growth appeared to be a type of human cells!

Charles stepped back from the table in a daze, looking up from the microscope in a hurry. He puzzled, Could this be correct? He double checked, then checked a few more times. The results remained the same.

It was from humans. All of it.

He had a hard time believing that it was all by chance. Maybe for the flake of skin he found in the sample, but not for the whole sample itself! There was just no way. No wonder the lab has a policy of not conducting any other tests than those that were asked for, he thought. It was like they didn’t want anyone straying off the beaten path. The only conclusion he could draw was that the use of the human DNA was deliberate, and he was not meant to find out about it. And, he couldn’t talk about it, either, due to his work confidentially restrictions.

But now he had found out, and he wasn't going to stop there. He kept a small piece of the culture as a sample and wrote up his report that all was normal. He didn't like to have to lie, but he knew that he had been lied to when he was told they were animal cells; someone didn’t want the truth known. In the course of his job, if he’d just done the standard procedures, he’d never have found out that they were human cells. So, if he didn't let on, then they wouldn't know that he knew.

Still, there were legal issues to consider. It was a crime to use human cells in such experiments, and by not reporting his findings to the authorities he could be labelled as an accessory to the crime. But if he spoke out then he would lose his job in a heartbeat. He thought, The experiments like this will continue here or elsewhere, probably in some secret lab—they’re probably going on there now. Would it be worth it to talk? He'd have to think that one over.

He finished up his regular testing and filled out the report, then handed the report and sample over to the next division for their further testing. He wondered, Will they find what I’ve found? Or had they found it before in other samples and kept quiet? Just how long has it been going on? He would keep investigating on his own, if and until, he thought it would be wise to ask his boss to launch a formal investigation in the findings. But, he had to feel him out first to gauge his opinions on such things.

In the cafeteria at work, Charles waited in the lunch line. It was the best lunch place of its type he had ever seen, and the word “cafeteria” didn’t do it justice in his opinion; that word brought up images of sticky plastic trays, bad food, and stale milk from his grade school days. No, this was a full-service restaurant, actually several of them together, capable of making many meals at once with the multiple grills, stoves, and ovens.

There were chefs working behind the counters, real chefs who knew how to make delicious food! It was no wonder almost no one left the facility for meals during the workday. That was planned, Charles thought. More employee productivity if they don’t have to leave the property. Bastards. But the food was good, he had to admit.

He found his boss sitting alone and pulled up to his table, tray in hand. “Hi, Mister Dacks. Mind if I join you?” Charles asked.

“Not at all. Go ahead. And, call me John,” his boss said, clearing away the newspaper he had been reading.

“Thanks,” Charles said, putting down his heavy tray loaded up with food.

“They make quite the meal here, don’t they?”

“They do! I’m starved. Ran out of the house without breakfast today.”

“No one to make it for you, huh?” His boss smiled.

“Not yet. But maybe with what I’m making at this job I’ll be able to attract a good woman.”

“Yeah, there is that. How’s it going anyway? Still liking it?”

“Oh yeah,” Charles said. He thought, What else can I say?

“Good. Your work is good.”

“Thank you.”

They munched on their food and looked around. It was busy. Several people passed by and waved to them.

“You know,” his boss said, “I’m drafting up the plan for the next quarter. Is there anything you’d like to put on the list as far as new lab equipment?”

Charles felt his heart sink. He had thought for a moment he was going to be asked what project he wanted to work on next. “Oh, not really, no. We’re well equipped.”

“Good, good,” his boss said, distractedly.

This might be my chance, Charles thought. “Say, I’ve been reading some of the articles about DNA date signatures. There are some that I think are far older than we’ve realized. Even far older than humans have been around for, they believe.”

“Oh yeah?” his boss scoffed. “And just how would human DNA exist before humans did?”

“I’m not sure. But that’s what the findings say. It could be the result of asteroid impacts with human genomes on them, in the distant past.”

“I don’t buy it, Charles. And evolution doesn’t support it. Anyway, that’s way out of our area of inquiry, as you well know by now.”

Charles nodded. “I know. I just thought it was interesting, and if we’re getting new equipment, it might be fun to look into it.” There’s no way I’m going to get to do what I want here, he realized, his hopes dashed.

“Sure. Unfounded speculation can be fun, but I don’t think so.”

“Mmm, hmm.” Charles put more of the food into his mouth, but it was purely mechanical now; all the pleasure had gone out of it. The rest of his meal was just about getting calories into him so he could function a few more hours at work.

He thought, Developing God knows what,, for what weapons system? He was sure he was working on weapons now, as everything was so secret, and he had to have his security clearance bumped up. Then, there were the military men who kept showing up at the lab, not even hiding it, in their uniforms. Charles had felt like quitting a few times already, but he had just bought a new house and a new car. Roped in by the money, he thought. How sad. I gotta find a way out.

“Well, time to get back,” his boss said and checked his watch. He smiled tightly, picked up his tray, then stood up. “See you later.” He walked off quickly.

“Yes, see you later,” Charles echoed back. Just like a parrot, he thought. Well, that’s what they want here, so I’ll be a good parrot until I can leave. Man, what am I gonna do? He didn’t even finish all of his food, but it was time to get back to work.

He went back to his lab, swiped his security card on the door and entered the sterile environment. Sterile like their souls around here, he thought. Why didn’t I see it sooner?

CHAPTER 22

Charles spent his time off reading more of the alternative research journals that were reporting the findings about DNA being far older than had been suspected. There were a number of researchers working either independently or for companies who were interested in their results. Not a military place like I’m working at, he thought.

He wanted to contact some of these cutting edge researchers, but he dare not do it while he was still employed by his current company HPD. He suspected they had been surveilling his communications, both for security leaks and to vet him for his security clearance upgrades. It made sense that once they started spying on him that they wouldn’t stop. So, he decided to not leave any tracks for them to find until he had resigned. But he had a house and a car to pay off before that.

He sighed, there on his couch in his empty house. Maybe I can sell the house and car, he thought. And take a big loss. He’d not had either of them long. The house would not have had time to go up in value, and the car would just keep going down; but he knew that about most cars. Unless it was a classic car it was just a money loser. No, he planned to hang onto the house, at least for the time being. If things got tight with money, he could always put it on the market. The longer he held onto it, the better his chances of making some money.

He woke up the next morning and had a hard time getting out of bed. He thought about what was happening at his job and knew it was not where he wanted to spend the rest of his career. But was the time right to go? Might as well, he thought, my boss doesn’t care what I want. He’s not even honouring the work contract—maybe I should sue? But do I want to sue a company with so many government and military contacts? As he got ready for work that day, he made his plan to quit.

First, he’d need a sample of the human DNA to prove his findings, and it would also serve as a protective hedge in case anyone from the lab tried to come after him. Maybe I’m being paranoid, he thought, but better to be a bit paranoid and be prepared, than be unprepared. He took the remaining culture from the day before out of the freezer and made some slides to go under the electron microscope. Thankfully, they left him alone most of the time, so he could do what he had to do.

He pretended to be going over the results again, just in case he was being watched. There were cameras in the lab. He turned his back to them and slipped a couple of the slides, inside sealed baggies, into his pocket, then resumed his work.

He was thinking up his resignation letter when a new batch of cultures arrived for him to test. He thanked the person who’d walked them over—from where, he didn’t know; they never told him. The time he’d asked he was told it was over his security level. So, they were keeping him in the dark. The cultures could have been grown on a military base someplace, deep in one of their underground labs, or right under his feet, hundreds of feet down, he had no way of knowing.

He put the distracting thoughts out of his mind and resolved to finish the day, when he would hand in his resignation letter on the way out. He got back to work checking the new cultures. They were about the same as last time, containing the curious human DNA that was not supposed to be there. He was looking at them under the electron microscope when he saw something that made him freeze.

“What…?” he gasped.

He saw the same symbol on a DNA strand in the culture that he’d seen in the DNA of the cave people on his LSD trip, the three green circles intertwined. He’d never have found it unless he knew where to look, which he was doing just to check.

But that had just been a hallucination, he told himself. Well, maybe not, he had to start to admit. But how was that possible? His mind boggled, and he felt himself starting to sweat. This was throwing a huge wrench in his plan to quit his job that day, and in his whole view of life and consciousness.

He sat there for a while, staring into the microscope, checking and rechecking. The three circles were there alright, and they weren’t going away. “But how? How?” he muttered to himself and shook his head.

Finally, he took a sample of the symbol and put it on a slide, which he slipped into his pocket, too. Should he report this symbol? Did they know about it? How could they not? He didn’t know, but since he was leaving anyway he figured he didn’t want to give them any help.

He was considering this development to be some kind of breakthrough in his life, and he didn’t want his employers to understand it anymore than they might already. Lord knows what they’d do with the information, he thought.

He decided to not quit that day, as he had a burning desire to look into this strange finding, and without a lab at his disposal he’d be stuck. I’ll keep working here until I get access to another lab, or they fire me, he told himself. He wrote up the report, testing for the things they wanted him to test for and ignoring the rest.

They probably know about the anomalies, he thought, and are testing me to see if I deviate from their protocols and find out for myself. That could be.

It could also be that they didn’t know about the things he had found. It was hard for him to go on, knowing what he knew, but he was unsure of how to deal with it all. He thought, I’ll just keep collecting samples and take them home, then I’ll have something to go on.

It was risky to remove material from the lab but under the circumstances he felt it was worth the risk. It wasn’t every day that he found banned human DNA in test samples and then had altered DNA from an acid trip appear in real life! He needed someone to talk to and thought about who he could tell.