"You believe I can overcome this?"
"Not at all," he said with a chuckle. "I would prefer to follow a different path. Something less conventional."
"How about nAG proteins?" Maddox said. Motivated by the compulsion to impress the man, he continued before Ridley could respond. "When a salamander loses a limb, blastema cells clump around the wound. Blastema cells can form bones, organs, brains — anything. Humans have them as embryos, but stop generating them after birth. The cells grow and divide, eventually becoming the amputated structure. The nAG protein directs the blastema cells, telling them what to become: muscle, veins, skin, etcetera. If we can find the human version of adult blastema cells and trigger the nAG proteins to communicate certain signals, the potential human regeneration is fantastic. But salamanders take more than a month to regrow a limb less than an inch long. The duration would be much longer for humans. Maybe a lifetime. But I'm sure that's a hurdle we can jump when we get to it. With these resources I imagine I should be able to unlock just about any secret."
Ridley just cocked an eyebrow. "Not bad. Perhaps worth pursuing while we hunt down my pet project."
Maddox did his best to suppress a sigh. Inwardly he shouted for
Ridley to get to the point, but all he managed was a timid, "And that is?"
The big man smiled without a hint of malice for the first time. "The fountain of youth isn't some waterfall out here in the jungle, Mad-dox," he said, then pointed at his chest. "I want to live forever, and the key to that treasure is locked away inside our DNA. In our genetics. And in our past."
"You want to live forever?"
"Who doesn't?" he said. "But I really just want to live long enough to take this company as far as it can go. I'm an entrepreneur at heart, and my vision for this company has always been beyond its means, even now. You unlock the secret to regeneration and I might just live long enough to see my dreams come to fruition. We'll make a boatload of money, too."
Maddox almost laughed, but then realized the man was completely serious. He'd never considered that regeneration in the extreme could vastly extend lives, never mind immortality.
"How well do you know Greek mythology?"
Maddox folded his hands and leaned back. "Better than most I suppose. It fascinated me as a child after watching Clash of the Titans. But my knowledge is based on personal research, not actual academics."
Ridley nodded. "There was a… creature. Perhaps one of a kind. Perhaps the last of its kind. Who knows. What's important is that this creature had the ability to regenerate limbs, including its neck and head, very quickly."
"And you think this creature still lives today or its offspring still live today?"
"No. If it were still alive, we'd know. The myth states that it was killed… by Hercules."
"I see," Maddox said, wondering if Richard Ridley was losing his mind.
Ridley saw the doubt in his eyes and became very serious. "Do not mistake me for a crackpot, Maddox. I have uncovered manuscripts beyond the legend of Hercules. Documents that have nothing to do with the legend. Records of ravaged herds. Destroyed villages. Missing hunting parties. For centuries no one knew what caused all the death and destruction. Not until Hercules, that is."
He stood, walked to a wall safe, punched in a key code, and opened the solid metal door. He removed a thick glass case that held a single, aged document. "I bought this document on the black market for one hundred thousand dollars before knowing it was authentic. Knowing what I know now, I would have done anything to obtain it… and on two occasions, a rival group, whose identity I have yet to discover, tried to take it from me. It is truly priceless. As some have proven, it's worth dying for." He sat again and held the case out for Maddox to inspect.
"What language is this?"
"Greek. It's been dated to 460 B.C., mere years after Hercules's fabled encounter with the creature. Far too soon for legend to have set in."
Maddox stared at the document. Its age and plainness somehow lent credence to Ridley's claim.
"It makes no mention of Hercules, though it clearly insinuates someone killed the beast. It offers only a description of the creature, so that it might be identified and dealt with properly should one be encountered again."
"An ancient field guide," Maddox said, beginning to feel the first pangs of excitement.
"Precisely. And do you know what I found?"
Maddox waited in silence. He clearly had no idea.
"The description of the creature in this purely historical text is nearly identical to the mythological description. Perhaps the feats of Hercules have been exaggerated through time and legend, but the details of the beast were so fantastic to begin with that no one in the past twenty-five hundred years felt the need to exaggerate its appearance or abilities. Because of this I am compelled to believe that many of the other aspects of the story are also real. Based on the details of the myth, finding the creature's burial place may be possible. If the creature has been well preserved, recovering its DNA would change everything we know about physical regeneration. Mr. Maddox, we must find the Beast of Lerna's final resting place and extract its DNA. The prize is eternal life."
"Lerna…" Maddox leaned forward, his eyes wide with realization. "My God. You're talking about the Hydra."
Ridley smiled wide and toothy.
"That's… crazy."
Ridley chuckled. "And that's exactly what I'd expect a scientist to say." He locked his eyes on Maddox's. "The great scientists of human history all had something in common. Einstein. Galileo. Da Vinci. Hawking…. Imagination. They are all brilliant scientists, but they also had the guts to tap what was previously considered fantasy, science fiction, heresy. If the human race didn't pursue the impossible we'd still be staring up at the moon having never set foot on it."
Maddox knew he was right. He'd gone down that path when he regenerated his own finger. But even if the Hydra had existed, they would still have to locate its grave and extract viable DNA. It just didn't seem possible.
"Let me put it to you this way: Would you rather take a risk on something, that if successful will propel your name to the top of the list of great scientists, or would you rather it play it safe and return to a company that takes credit for your work? Remembered or forgotten?"
"You really believe in this?"
"I'm staking my eternal life on it."
Maddox smiled. He would have said yes because of the pay alone, but if Ridley turned out to be right, he might not only get his name into the history books, but also live long enough to see it. "I'm in."
TWO
On the previous Monday, George Pierce had begun his workweek as usual. At eight a.m. he lectured to his ancient history undergrad class at the University of Athens. The subject had been the rise of Athenian influence. Lecturing never thrilled him and the subject was bland; the real interesting work usually happened postlunch, when he oversaw the archaeological efforts on a recently discovered shipwreck off the island of Antikythera, where a fortress had also been discovered. They had found evidence of repeated attacks on the citadel, with perpetrators and defenders being identified as Rhodians, Spartans, Macedonians, and Romans going back to the time period Pierce most loved, 2000 B.C. and earlier — the time of myth and legend — which is why the shipwreck fascinated and excited him.
He had yet to voice his theory on the ship's identity, as it would be extremely controversial. He had evidence that supported his ideas, but nothing concrete. For that he would need the ship's nameplate or, even more unlikely, a log book. But three months of recovering artifacts and cataloging them at the university had yielded little. His single most compelling piece of evidence, an iron medallion, was being kept safe and secret by his colleague Agustina Gallo, one of the few people he trusted in all of Greece.