Chapter Twenty-Four
The Confrontation
Dr. Lincoln's transport flew to the enemy campsite, hovered for a second, then landed. The mad doctor stepped out of the vehicle then entered the command tent. Inside the tent was a clone in a captain's uniform. The number 1 was displayed on a band around his upper arm.
“Captain, what is that sound I hear?” he said. “It is a voice coming from, from where?”
“The refugee camp is emitting the message,” One said.
“How? It sounds like it is from a transmission, yet it sounds in my skull.”
“They are transmitting a magnetic resonance that vibrates our coms. We can't block it out yet. Our men are trying.”
“Men?” he said. “You are not men. You are better than men. That is what will enable us to keep control of America despite our few numbers. We have the strength, the brains and the weapons.”
“Yes sir,” he said. “And what are your orders?”
“I have sent a general message to the numan refugee leaders. I have demanded the surrender of three people. Matthew, Joyce and Gene.”
“After they surrender the three, what are we to do?”
“Destroy the refuge, of course. They are our enemies. They are not even human. They are only masses of tissue meant for abortion.”
“Yes, sir,” he said. “They are masses of tissue that must be aborted. And what shall we do with the three masses of tissue that you named?”
“I have something special planned for them. They are to be taken to our Headquarters in D.C. I will abort them personally, using a puller from my clinic.”
“Sir, they are also clones, are they not?”
“And who told you? All you have to know is that they are our enemies. They must be killed.”
“Sir, Matthew has a brain patterned after yours. Joyce is your daughter. Gene is your double.”
“I never told you that,” the doctor said. “Who has been supplying you with this information?”
“Sir, the numan camp has been sending us detailed files.”
“Captain One. I am your creator. I don't destroy my creations. I am your leader. You will obey my instructions. Invade the numan camp, capture the three specified numans and destroy the rest.”
“Sir: They have powerful weapons. There will be a great slaughter on both sides. In my estimation, the conflict will last about ten seconds and none will come out alive on either side.”
“One. How is that possible? We can overwhelm them!”
“Sir, there are some concerns among the ranks about the need to destroy the refuge when they pose no threat to us. They have been hiding from people who have called them numans. They don't consider us their enemies. Now that the law of the land has been changed, they just want to rejoin the society around them. Why must we destroy them?”
“Captain One,” the doctor said sternly. “You will destroy them because I am your leader. You will follow my orders or I will personally order your execution. Do you understand? And get this blasted noise to stop. What are they saying?” The doctor listened carefully for a second. “It sounds like Gene.”
Gene’s voice was loud and clear. “The doctor, even though I am his genetic double, and although we are identical to our father, used me for experimentation. He harvested my body for his personal organ bank. He removed over fifteen percent of my brain for study and experimentation. You may be interested to know that it was my brain tissue he used to make your brain pattern. Technically you are not even his brain clones.
“He has always abused and hated me. Why? I guess he thought I was a bag of spare parts. Heee heee, yaaa yaaaaa. I give testimony that he has no care for anyone in the world. He is incapable of concern for any but himself. He will abuse and destroy you as he has done all others. But before your deaths at his hand, he will use you for his own bastard purposes. He will not only use you, he will use you up - until there is nothing left of you!”
“Lies!” the doctor shouted. “I am your savior! I am your Christ! I gave you eternal life! I have the power over life and death!” Lincoln took a device from his pocket, a small rectangular metal box, and pressed the button on its top. He waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened. “Damn! Their dampening field!” He listened further.
“I am Joyce. The doctor thought I was dead, having died when he self-destructed his mansion. When he found out I survived, he wanted to destroy me. I suppose I just don’t fit into his plans anymore. He murdered his father when he was twenty-one years old. He killed my mother because she was Aryan and he is black. He didn't care for his wife of over thirty years. He is out to kill me. He won't care for you either. Follow him and you will die like us. You know why he likes the colors red and white? Red is the color of blood. White is the color of bones.”
The next voice they heard was Matthew’s. “I am Matthew. Like you, I am a clone. I have the body of John Deal and the brain of Dr. Lincoln. He almost tortured me to death when I was young. I was rescued. He is out to kill me again, because I fought to stop his murder of millions of people throughout America. He aborted children up to the age of sixteen - and accepted extra fees to kill older ones. The methods he used are described in the files you have in your possession. Examine them well. If he is capable of these atrocities, he is capable of doing the same to you. It is dangerous to be the follower of a despot when you have the choice of simply walking away and joining a free society.
“Keep in mind that there are over a million clones in America that were born to infertile women. Clones are well accepted as equals in this great land. You'll be able to get jobs, marry, live in luxury. And your skills will be needed to rebuild America after a short, but destructive, civil war. As one clone to another: welcome to the land of opportunity. Put down your weapons and walk away from certain destruction.
“And, as it is sung even today in an old spiritual song, let these be your words: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty! I'm free at last!’”
The next sound Dr. Lincoln heard was a song, “Jewel in the Universe.”
“I am free.
I have dignity.
I am a jewel in the universe.
Unique in every way.
Yeah, I am strong
When I am singular!
And I swear that I will do things in my own way.
Life is a new adventure every single day.
Like a diamond in a field
Shining brightly, twinkling lightly.
I will never yield
To forces which seek to bind me tightly.
I am free.
I have dignity.
No one can take that away.
I'm the future, and I'm here to stay.”
“No! No!” Lincoln yelled. He sent and emergency message through his com. “Attack! Attack now! Destroy them! Captains! Respond!”
“I am free.
I have dignity.
I am a jewel in the universe.
Unique in every way.”
“Attack! I give you a direct order! Attack! Fire your weapons at will!
We must destroy the enemy! Attack!”
“Yeah, I am strong
When I am singular!
And I swear that I will do things in my own way.
Life is a new adventure every single day.”
“This is Dr. Henry Lincoln! I order you to destroy the numan refuge! Destroy them immediately!” Then he turned to his captain. “Go outside. Find out what's happening and report back to me.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, then exited the tent. Within seconds, the doctor heard a loud, hearty laugh.
“What is it?” he said. “I order you to report! Now!”
“Come see for yourself,” Captain One said.
Dr. Lincoln carefully stepped outside the tent. He saw Captain One standing atop an armored vehicle so that he might get an unobstructed view of the camp. Dr. Lincoln climbed up and stood beside him. “They're dancing,” he said. “My clones. They are dancing.”
The doctor stood speechless. Then he could not contain himself. He also began a laugh. One that was loud and long. The laugh of a madman. One that would challenge the cry of Harold.
And the army joined in the song.
“I am free.
I have dignity.
I am a jewel in the universe.
Unique in every way.
Yeah, I am strong
When I am singular!
And I swear that I will do things in my own way.
Life is a new adventure every single day.
Like a diamond in a field
Shining brightly, twinkling lightly.
I will never yield
To forces which seek to bind me tightly.
“I am free.
I have dignity.
No one can take that away.
I'm the future, and I'm here to stay.”
In the refugee camp, Matthew spoke to Peter. “Do you think it worked?”
“How could it not have? You see them. They have no hatred, though they were taught to hate. They are every bit capable of making good choices despite their origins and training.”
“What about the doctor?”
“I think he's stopped for now. He has no army. He's hated by just about everyone in the entire world. The Aryan elite are probably suffering or dying from withdrawal symptoms. Where can he go? What can he do?”
“Jenny. He's a multi-billionaire. I'm sure he has power and influence somewhere. I don't think we've seen the last of him.”
“You may be right. You know, I'm almost afraid to think of what he might be capable of next. But you know how it goes. I bet you a lot of governments will confiscate or freeze his assets. Most people will boycott his products and services. He’s ruined. It may take some time but it is inevitable. He will fall.”
“Sir!” A teen resident of the refuge rushed in. “Lincoln's craft has taken off. He's escaping. What do you want us to do?”
“I'm not Commander Pock, but I'd say let him go. It’s too risky to fire shots now. Anyway, he could do us no more harm.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The New Plan
Lincoln sat at his desk in the office of his secret sanctuary. It was a huge underground facility he had created just for this cause. It was fully stocked and self-sufficient. He knew he could stay there as long as he wanted to until he could make arrangement to go back to Cuba.
He had accessed Mary Shelly's story about the creature created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
“Hmmm, interesting,” he said to himself. “Hmmm. The man, if he were real, would be a great asset instead of just an inspiration. He didn't have the tools to do the job right.”
Dr. Lincoln delved into his personal notes. “Here's a good combination. The body of Bohannas: my brain, of course. But John Deal had particularly good eye sight.” He examined the characteristics of the genetics of twenty individuals in his data bank. Then he examined the genetic characteristics of animals and insects as discovered by scientists before him. “In the late twentieth century people transplanted genes from a glow worm to make flowers glow in the dark. Then they made a pig glow. They gave a duck teeth by turning on dormant gene sequences from its evolutionary history. The genes from an arctic fish were placed in a tomato which yielded tomatoes that would not freeze during the coldest winters and would flourish in cold climates.”
Suddenly, it dawned upon Dr. Lincoln. “Inactive gene sequences from evolutionary history. . . . I had neglected the possibility.”
He examined the records of studies into the area of genetic manipulation. “Transplant certain genes from a robin to a chicken, the chicken sings. Restart other gene sequences that are responsible for gigantism and the hen grows to the size of an ostrich. It lays huge eggs. Place the genes of a chameleon into a bat and it will change color when resting on green or brown surfaces.” He searched some more. “Cows grow wool like lambs. Goats grow sacks like marsupials. Apples the size of watermelons that never rot or freeze. The potential is limitless. And mountains of information are right here for the picking. Some of this I simply hadn’t considered earlier.”
Dr. Lincoln opened a computer program that displayed a virtual gene sequencer. It was designed to manufacture genetic material from amino acids and bases according to information the user inputs. Dr. Lincoln used his com to access the World Information Bank's files.
“A bit of one animal here. A bit of a plant there.” He fervently sent one instruction after another into the computer program, downloading information directly from the Internet into his com. “Mary Shelly! Thank you for your inspiration. As Einstein used to say, 'Imagination is more important than knowledge.'”
Dr. Lincoln toiled for hours, well into the night. Finally the new day dawned. The beeping of the com woke the doctor, who was sprawled across his desk. He sat up, rubbed the sand out of his eyes and looked at the data that had accumulated. The image of a creature was projected in front of him. “Hmmm. That looks promising. But it can be improved.”
He began his work anew. Days passed, then weeks. He scarcely left his office. He had his meals brought into him. He used the facilities in his lab to bathe. He slept on the lab's couch. His obsession about the new project was virtually limitless. One version after another of his creation appeared before him as a hologram. He examined each one with the eye of a scientist, comparing the choices and judging the compatibility of the assembled parts.
A month past, then more time. Finally, after six weeks, the doctor made an entry into his personal log. “Finished. By George, I think I've got it. Bipedal, the eyes of an eagle, the olfactory sense of a blood hound, the arm and leg muscles of a gorilla. Enhancements from twenty six species. Forget about making a better human. My creation is better than anything this world has ever seen.”
Before him stood the holographic image of a hulking creature eight feet in stature. More in appearance like an ape than any other creature from which it was made, yet modified and enhanced at every turn. It's bulky, powerful limbs; its thick bone structure; its greatly enhanced brain capacity made it a formidable creation.
“One day, soon, my son,” he said to the image, “you'll be more than a hologram. You'll exist as pure perfection. Forget youth serum. You'll be born immortal, ageless. No one will be able to stand in your way.”
The doctor paused and examined his model very closely. He shook his head and tightened his lips. “Maybe just a few more enhancements,” he mused, “But that will have to wait until tomorrow.” The doctor laid down on the sofa for a well-deserved rest, his omnipresent father
hanging on the wall just above him.
