Chapel’s blood went cold. He couldn’t believe it.
“You wanted us to kill each other,” Ian said. It was the first time he’d spoken since Taggart began.
“We wanted you to be fighters. And when you fought each other — well.” Taggart made an expansive gesture. “That was just Darwinian selection. The strongest survive. The most fit. We needed you fit.”
“Not everyone agreed with you,” Chapel pointed out. “Dr. Bryant seems to have changed her mind about things. She left you and went on to spend the rest of her life trying to make amends for what she’d done.”
“She lost her detachment, yes,” Taggart agreed. “She started thinking of the chimeras as humans. As children. Well, she was a woman. She was genetically coded for that kind of sentimentality.”
Julia leaped up, her face red with anger. “Dad—” she began, but Chapel gestured for her to wait a moment.
“Not just Dr. Bryant. The CIA didn’t like it, either. They decided at some point, maybe when Malcolm ran away, that the project was too dangerous. Especially since there was no more Soviet Union, and no real possibility of nuclear winter. They decided to shut you down. Kill everyone involved to keep it secret. They’ve spun a cover story, claiming the chimeras are infected with some kind of virus. They’re killing anyone who might possibly be infected, even though we’ve figured out there is no virus.”
Taggart said nothing.
He didn’t need to. His face went white. His hands stayed frozen in the air.
“There is no virus,” Chapel repeated.
“Dad,” Julia said. “Dad — answer him! Tell him there’s no virus!”
Taggart slowly shook his head. “I can’t do that,” he said.
DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, ALASKA: APRIL 15, T+83:44
“There is a virus,” Chapel breathed.
He’d been so sure. He’d been certain it was a ruse. But they’d told him the truth all along. The chimeras were carrying a virus, a man-made pathogen, and they could infect anyone they came in contact with.
Laughing Boy wasn’t using it as an excuse. He was cleaning up a very real mess.
Ian leaned forward against the cables that bound him. He looked very interested. On the other side of the room, Julia let out a little whimper.
“There had to be,” Taggart said, softly.
“What do you mean?” Chapel demanded.
“It’s… it’s how it’s done. There was no other way. We wrote the code, the one percent of the genome that had to change to create a chimera from human gametes. We assembled the code in a virus. A virus doesn’t reproduce on its own. It needs a host. It latches on to a cell and injects its DNA into the cell’s nucleus. The cell has no defense against this; it can’t tell one strand of DNA from another. So it replicates the viral DNA exactly. Over and over again. The virus we used to create the chimeras was designed to target egg and sperm cells only. It takes over the normal egg, say, and turns it into a chimera egg. When the egg is fertilized, it develops into something like Ian here, not a human embryo. Look, this is all very basic stuff, it’s the foundation for gene therapy and—”
“Then skip to the part where the chimeras are still carrying the virus,” Chapel told him.
“Well… they have to. To do what they’re designed for. The chimera DNA has to be copied exactly, or the much more robust, more proven human DNA will take over. The chimera virus has to spread so that any normal human who reproduces with a chimera will bear a chimera child.”
“Wait — you wanted them to reproduce?”
“Yes, of course,” Taggart said, blinking. “Oh. I see. You thought our insurance policy was supposed to survive on its own. You thought our two hundred male specimens were supposed to be the entire batch, that they would survive when the rest of us died.” He seemed to find the idea amusing. “That wouldn’t do us much good, would it? They’re all male. They would only last one generation.”
“Wait,” Julia said. It looked like she’d figured this out. “Just wait.”
“In the event of a nuclear war, the chimeras would have been released into the survivor population,” Taggart explained. “They would have mated with female survivors — human female survivors — and produced chimera offspring, which would breed true. We couldn’t afford to have their children be human. So the virus remains in their systems. It looks for other hosts, hosts that can allow it to reproduce. It looks for human sperm and egg cells.”
“And it spreads through any bodily fluid contact,” Chapel said.
“Well, yes. It would be nice if it only passed on through sexual contact, that would be more elegant, but—”
“Anyone who gets infected has chimera babies?” Julia demanded. “Anyone? And all their babies are chimeras like him?” She jabbed a finger toward Ian. “Dad — you fucked up. You really fucked up!”
“Julia, sit down and watch your language,” Taggart commanded.
“No. No, I will not,” she said, striding toward him.
Chapel grabbed her arm. “Dr. Taggart. You and your wife, and Ellie Pechowski, all had constant contact with the chimeras at Camp Putnam. How is it you were able to avoid becoming infected? Is there a vaccine against the virus?”
“Not exactly a vaccine,” Taggart said.
“Then — what? A cure? A treatment?”
“You could call it that. I had a vasectomy and Helen had her tubes tied. Ellie was already in menopause when she came to work at the camp.”
A chill ran down Chapel’s spine. So that was the nature of the virus. Angel had been told it had a long incubation period and it was hard to detect. She couldn’t have known the whole truth. The virus would sit dormant in the body of anyone it infected, lie there waiting for them to have children. Only then would it manifest itself. There would be no symptoms, no warning. Just, one day, a little baby would be born… and blink its nictitating membranes. That would be the only way to know you had it.
“Dad, I always knew you were an asshole, but—”
“What are you going on about, Julia? Why are you talking this way?”
“Because I probably have it, Dad. I probably have your fucking virus! Tell me, were you looking forward to having grandchildren? How about grandmonsters instead?”
“What? I… what?” Taggart said, his face as white as the snow outside.
DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, ALASKA: APRIL 15, T+83:44
“Enough,” Chapel said.
They all turned to stare at him.
“This isn’t getting us to where we need to be. So there is a virus. That’s good to know, but it doesn’t change anything. We still need to get you out of here, Dr. Taggart. I have no doubt the CIA is sending men here right now to kill you. They’re trying to shut up anyone with knowledge about the chimeras or Camp Putnam or Project Darling Green. They’re done trying to pay you off with grant money — the virus, and the escape of the chimeras, has given them the excuse they need to just kill you. Julia and I are in the same boat.”
“So you came here to protect me?” Taggart asked.
“I came here to extract you,” Chapel said. “We need to move you to a safe location. The problem is, we’re still not sure exactly where that might be. The CIA has a long reach. Moving you to Canada won’t be enough… I need to talk to somebody.”