The River (32 page)

The men from the Centre had hunted down
Diana Smith
, and she barely managed to escape without being shot. Desperate and terrified, she turned to the one person she didn't think they would connect her to. Phoebe gave her a small fortune, money that she had stashed away for a 'rainy day'.

She smiled, remembering Phoebe's insistence.

It ain't raining, honey. It's a goddamn flash flood!

Del flicked another look at her watch.

Time to get going.

She walked across the street, her feet dragging tiredly. She stepped into the medical centre, stopping at the receptionist's booth where she filled out a form. After her name was called, she followed a woman into a tiny room and sat on the examining table.

Since her return from the Nahanni, she had been experiencing some unusual symptoms. Not quite the same as her normal MS exacerbations. Overall, she felt good. She suspected she was in remission. But at times, she felt drained and sometimes her legs ached. It was just…different.

Dr. Massé entered the room. In his hands, he held a folder―Jade Hawker's medical history. Of course, most of it was falsified, thanks to one of Phoebe's contacts, but Del couldn't conceal the MS.

The doctor greeted her with a hesitant smile.

"We have your tests results back. But I am a bit confused."

She was taken aback. "Why? I just need a prescription refill."

Dr. Massé walked toward a small cabinet. "Because of your MS?"

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Yes."

The doctor turned, handed her a paper gown.

"Mademoiselle Hawker, you know what your problem is. And it isn't MS."

He studied her so carefully that she had an awful thought.

What if he is linked to the Centre?

Dr. Massé left the room and she quickly stripped off her blouse and slacks. Fighting with the paper-thin hospital gown, she twisted sharply, trying to tie the laces. She made it to the top before realizing that she had missed one on the left.

With a nervous sigh, she started again.

The doctor knocked on the door. "This way, please."

She followed him to a room at the end of the hall where she was greeted by a friendly, blond-haired technician.

"Make yourself comfortable on the examining table, please."

Within minutes, Del was staring at something inconceivable.

"But I don't understand…"

The technician eyed her oddly. "What's not to understand?"

"I-I'm…it's not possible."

"What are you saying, mademoiselle?"

"I'm saying this can't be right!"

The technician nodded slowly.

Hot tears flooded down Del's cheeks.

Oh…my…God!

Delila Hawthorne―aka Jade Hawker―was pregnant.

She could make out the head, the tiny fingers and feet. And the heart. She heard it beating, strong and fast.

Blip-blip, blip-blip…

She was floored.

For years, she thought she couldn't get pregnant. A surgeon had made sure of that. The only explanation she could think of was that the injection of Ankh serum had healed her previous surgery. Her father had said that he had healed after a bullet wound.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Miki had asked an eternity ago.

Del gaped at the tiny baby―
Jake's
baby.

A baby conceived in 2031, but who would be born in 2006.

I believe in life. Not eternal life―just life.

"Is your husband here?" the technician asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"He's…away. On a trip."

Blip-blip, blip-blip, blip-blip…

Suddenly, Del scrunched her face.

Something flashed near the baby's head.

There!

A thin vein of pale blue light flickered over the baby's body.

"Something's wrong! I saw a light."

The technician moved closer to the monitor. "Everything's fine."

Del looked again, searching.

The light was gone.

What the hell?

She had a sudden flash of memory―something Schroeder and her father had said. Only one person could cross back at a time…
one
set of DNA.

She stared at her stomach, terrified of what that meant.

"You're finished," the technician said, moving to the door.

Del's head jerked. "Wait! What about my MS medication?"

Frowning, the woman picked up the folder, opened it. A minute later, she beamed a huge smile. "You don't have MS."

Del's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm in remission?"

"No. You don't
have
MS. You're perfectly healthy."

The woman whirled on one heel and left the room.

Shocked, Del got dressed and grabbed her belongings. Outside, she slipped on the sunglasses and breathed deeply, dazed by the technician's words.

Somehow, miraculously, her MS had disappeared.

And
she was pregnant.

Deliriously happy, she weaved her way through the throng of tourists that swarmed the city for Carnaval de Québec. Strangers surrounded her, passed her, jostled her. She hid behind the glasses studying their faces as they passed by, searching for the one she waited for―the one she ached for.

Jake…

A cold wind sent shivers up her spine.

She flicked a look across the icy street at an electric billboard three stories up. Bio-Tec Canada's new DNA ankh logo dominated the screen.

She looked away, trembling.

"How does that saying go?" she muttered to herself. "The past is history, the future is a mystery, and the present is a gift. That's why it's called…
present
."

Well, the future wasn't such a mystery to her anymore. She had to forget it. Forget everything she knew and focus on the present.

A face in the crowd drew her attention and she hissed in a breath.

Wait! Is that…?

The face vanished, melting into the background…a ghost.

Impossible!

She shook her head and smiled sadly, losing herself in the mob.

She was once haunted by shadows of people who flitted in and out of her life. Now her life was haunted by a river.

A river of ghosts.

References:

Besides months of research on the Internet, I found the following books or papers vital to the realistic authenticity of
The River
:

Robert A. Freitas Jr.,
Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology: A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell
,
Artificial Cells, Blood Substitutes, and Immobil. Biotech.
26(1998):411-430. www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/Respirocytes.html.

Robert A. Freitas Jr.,
Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities
,
Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999. www.nanomedicine.com.

K. Eric Drexler,
Engines of Creation:
The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, ©1986

Kathleen Meyer,
How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art
, ©1994

R.M. Patterson,
Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni
, ©1989

Peter Jowett and Neil Hartling,
Nahanni River Guide
, ©2003

Nahanni River Adventures,
Nahanni River Adventures: Headless Creek Cooks Manual
, ©2003

To Book A Nahanni Adventure:

Nahanni River Adventures

Eco-River Expeditions From Alaska to Nunavut

P.O. Box 31203 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Canada Y1A 5P7

Reservations: 1(800) 297-6927

Phone (867) 668-3180 Fax (867) 668-3056

www.nahanni.com

[email protected]

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