The Wayfarer King (48 page)

He froze for a moment and turned his head slowly to her. For an instant, a chill thickened the air between them. Then a smile warmed his face. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I believe the saphers deserve a life outside of that complex, living free in the world and choosing for themselves.” He picked up another lug nut and began to screw it on. “But I don’t think the research you’re doing there is unethical.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Believe me, every time someone dies and leaves a dog or cat homeless, I thank Henry Marsh for making the saphers in the first place. They’re our only hope against Molio, you know? A vaccine from their blood or something. It’s something to dream about, anyway.” He lowered the car onto the spare and began to tighten the lug nuts.

“A vaccine wouldn’t work.”

“I keep hearing that, but I don’t get it. Why not?”

“Because of how moliovirus functions. Our immune system fights it just fine. The problem is that the virus releases lethal toxins when it dies. We don’t have a defense against them.”

“Listen, Katie,” he said, standing. “I was on my way to grab some dinner. I’d love it if you’d join me.”

She checked the time on the integrated chronometrical-cellular technology device — the inccet — on her wrist, trying to think of a reason to decline without being impolite.

“You could think of it as repayment for the tire,” he said.

Damn him. “Okay, sure. I’ll meet you somewhere and buy your dinner.”

“No, no.” He put the flat tire and jack into her trunk and closed the lid. “I didn’t mean to suggest you should pick up the tab. I hoped you could explain the virus stuff to me. I wouldn’t let a lady pay for my meal. Call me old-fashioned.”

Oh, please. She probably earned twice what he did. “Where to?”

“How about Lucky’s Grill on Bell Road?”

Her stomach growled, urging her to accept. “All right. Meet you there.”

As she navigated the barren streets to the sports lounge to meet Mike, Katie scanned the empty husks of dead businesses: the pizza restaurant where she’d gotten her first job as a teenager, the gas station where she’d gassed up her scooter on the way to school, the Dairy Queen where she and her friends had gone to escape the hot summer days.

Phoenix was such a different city now, thirteen years later, because of Molio. She passed a street where her first boyfriend had lived. He’d been only seventeen when he died. More than half her high school graduating class was dead now. The world population was down to three and a half billion, and most projections estimated
Homo sapiens sapiens
would be extinct by 2075. She saw this in the thousands of obituaries published every day, in the darkened, vacant homes on her street, in the boarded-up businesses littering the city, and in the faces of those who’d lost their loved ones to this disease.

She parked in the restaurant’s sparse lot and went inside. Mike wasn’t there. She checked her inccet. If he didn’t show up in five minutes, she’d leave.

The dim lights in the pub only added to the dreariness of the near-empty lounge. Several televisions suspended from the ceiling were tuned to a sports channel. Katie didn’t care for sports but found herself drawn to the cheering, the crowd, the fantasy that all was well with the world. The waitress, dressed up as a referee, hustled across the floor, carrying with her the smells of beer and burgers.

A car pulled into the lot and powered down. A man got out and jogged to the door. Mike walked in and smiled when he met Katie’s eyes. “I was afraid you’d ditch me.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” she said with a grin.

They took a seat in a quiet booth and ordered sandwiches and soda, making small talk about the Diamondbacks baseball game playing above them while they got settled.

“Forgive my ignorance,” Mike said, resting his forearms on the table between them. “I didn’t pay much attention in science class, so I never understood Molio and how it works. I hope you don’t mind me bombarding you with questions. I haven’t met a real scientist since my high school chemistry teacher.”

“I don’t mind. I’m not much of a teacher, but I’ll try.” She spent the next ten minutes explaining how viruses located receptive human cells, injected their DNA and used the cell’s own natural reproduction system to multiply and spread.

Mike’s lip curled. “That’s nasty.”

Katie nodded. “Viruses are scary little buggers but fascinating. Our bodies have a defense for this, though: our immune system. Human T-cells are designed to run around our bloodstream looking for invaders like the moliovirus. When they find the invaders, they destroy them.”

“That’s where the toxins come in?”

“Right. When moliovirus dies, it releases three toxins that attack our organs, including the skin, causing Moliomyositis.”

“Yeah,” Mike said, “but it seems like we could use drugs to suppress the immune system and avoid getting Molio at all. I’d rather be blind than dead.”

“When moliovirus is allowed to run rampant, it eventually heads to the lymph nodes where it mutates, causing a hematologic cancer, a cancer of the blood. Believe it or not, Molio is a less painful, more humane death.”

“Oh, damn. I never knew that. So we really are doomed.”

The waitress arrived with their sandwiches and refilled their drinks. “Holler if you need anything else,” she said before scurrying away.

“Why don’t the saphers have this problem?”

“We substituted reptilian DNA to remove the protein the moliovirus sticks to. Because saphers don’t have any cells with the target protein, the virus is practically inert. When the virus particle gets into their bloodstream, their immune system destroys it like ours does, but the toxins aren’t in great enough quantities to do any harm—”

“Because the virus hasn’t been reproducing!” Mike said, slapping the table.

“Exactly,” Katie said, pleased her student grasped the material.

“Finally, I understand. You’re a great teacher, Katie. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Thanks. I taught an undergraduate biology class while I was working on my master’s degree, but that was a while ago.”

“So now we come to the big question. The one you knew I was going to ask.” He winked as he shoved a french fry into his mouth.

Katie slumped in her seat.
Here it comes.
“All right, let’s get it over with.”

“If the saphers can’t cure us, what good are they?”

That wasn’t the question she was expecting. She cocked her head. Was that malice in his tone? “
Homo sapiens sapiens
is projected to be extinct in about fifty years. If there’s a sentient species remaining, one that could continue to work toward eradicating the virus, they could bring us back.”

“Can they be gestational carriers for humans like humans are for them?”

It was an excellent question. “We don’t know yet.” If the reason the females kept miscarrying was due to a defect in their reproduction system, the answer would be no, not until the problem was identified and fixed. Answering that question was part of her job.

“Well, if they can, why would they? They’d have the whole planet to themselves.”

“That’s true,” she said, “but if no sentient species remained, then there’s absolutely no hope for us. Saphers could at least pick up where we left off, even if we never returned. Our existence wouldn’t simply be forgotten.”

“If we’re not around to remember, who cares?”

“Don’t you want to leave a legacy? Leave your thumbprint on the world?”

Mike smiled a funny, private smile. “You say the saphers are a sentient species, but you keep them caged like animals.”

The back of her neck prickled. “No, the Center provides a very pleasant living environment for them. It’s like a college campus with a dormitory, recreational facilities, administrative offices and classrooms. In fact, their education never stops because we have so much collective knowledge to impart before we hand them the keys, so to speak.”

He took a bite and continued talking, covering his mouth with his fist. “Sorry. I don’t mean to offend you. I think keeping them imprisoned is unjust, and I’m the kind of person who has to speak out against injustices.”

“Perceived injustices,” Katie said.

“All right, I’ll grant you that, but until I see for myself, I have to go by what I read, and what I’ve read is that saphers don’t want to be imprisoned.”

“What you’ve read is propaganda distributed by Freedom for All Peoples. If you saw the saphers and talked to them, you’d know they’re happy at the Center.”

“Say,” he said, eyeing her mischievously. “Could you arrange to give me a tour? I’d give anything to meet a sapher in person.”

“I doubt it,” Katie said. “We’ve got rules and protocols to follow. We have to assure the saphers’ and the public’s safety above all else.”

“You have some public relations issues with all the demonstrating and bad press you’ve been getting lately, right? Letting a Freedom volunteer in to see the facility and talk to saphers wouldn’t be a bad move. What if I went back to the leaders of Freedom and told them what I saw? Told them how the saphers live and whether they seem happy?” He leaned forward with bright, dancing eyes, clearly excited about this idea.

Katie raised her eyebrows. He definitely had a point, and he seemed more reasonable than most who protested the Center's work. “Remember today was my first day on the job. I don’t have any pull there.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?”

“I guess not. They’ll probably say no, but I’ll ask.”

“You’re a gem. Thank you.”

“It’s getting late,” she said, “and I do have to work in the morning.” She thanked him for the meal and conversation as he walked her to her car. The sky was dark gray-blue with a smattering of stars unclouded by the lights of the shrinking city around them.

“Let me give you my number.” He held his inccet near hers and transmitted his contact information to her, and she gave him hers as well. “It’ll be under M for McLoughlin.”

“As will mine — for Marsh.”

Mike’s eyes went wide. “Are you related to Henry Marsh?”

“He’s my dad.”

Mike gasped. “I had no idea I was in the presence of royalty. Forgive me, m’lady. You’ve bestowed upon me a great honor by blessing me with your loveliness for these two hours. I shall phone you soon.” He took her hand and placed a soft kiss on its back.

Katie pressed her lips into a smile. The words were romantic but something in his tone sounded less than sincere. “Good night, Mike. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“The pleasure was mine.” He bowed and stood back while she got in her car. As she drove out of the parking lot, he waved.

A gust from the air conditioner sent a chill across her flesh.