Syndrome

back.

'Hey,' she said, trying to muster a matter-of-fact air, 'how's it going? Do you remember me?'

'I don't think she recognizes you,' Stone said in a stage whisper. 'I wish I knew more about the biology of the brain, but I think there's some kind of aggressive replacement of memory synapses under way. I think it's one of those LIFO things. Last in/first out. She's regressing chronologically, but in reverse. Maybe she's lost use of language, the way Alzheimer's patients do. I don't know.'

Ally felt herself near to tears. 'Van de Vliet was going to use antibodies from me to try to. . something.'

'That was always a long shot,' he said. 'But now the preliminary tests he's just done on you indicate that the level of enzyme in you can be controlled very accurately. He's very excited.'

She turned back to him. 'How do you know all this?'

'I've become part of the story, Ally. That's not supposed to happen, but this is the only way to get it all firsthand. I have toliveit. And guess what, I now know enough to write the book I've been waiting all my life to write. I have the punch line.'

'Which is?'

'Stem cell technology goes to the very origin of life, and it may turn out that for once Mother Naturecanbe fooled. Dr. Vee's venturing into areas now where evenhedoesn't know what's going on. Ally, what's happening in this room is the biggest medical story since. . Nothing begins to compare.'

Stone had lost it. There was true madness about him now.

She walked back over to Kristen and leaned over and kissed her. Kristen stared at her in unfocused confusion, but then she smiled.

'I'm alone in here. Will you take me outside? I want to find my mother.'

The voice was that of a five-year-old and it sent a chill through Alexa. The 'grown-up' memory cells in her brain had been replaced by blanks. It was 'last in/first out' and thirty-plus years of life experience were being replaced with brand-new nothingness.

The Syndrome. Time had to move in one direction or the other. The body either went forward or in reverse. There was no equilibrium.

Then she had a further thought. Winston Bartlett was not going to let this Beta disaster run to its natural conclusion- a horrifying exposure to the world. He was going to intervene. Kristen was not about to leave this room in her current condition. Either she left cured-which seemed wholly implausible at this point-or she departed in a manner that left no trace.

Then yet another thought crossed her befuddled mind. She and Stone knew about Kristen. What does that mean forus?

'Stone, we can't leave her here.'

'What are you proposing we do?' he queried. 'Take her to an ER somewhere? Frankly, I don't know how you would describe her problem to an emergency room admissions staffer.'

'I'll think of something.'

'By the way, Ally, so you should know, she's wearing diapers. This is the real deal.'

'And how do you figure in all this?'

'I told you. I'm going to be the James Boswell of stem cell technology. I'm going to report on this miracle from the inside. But now, Ally, if the Beta procedure is going to succeed you have to be the one to make it happen.'

She looked at him, still stunned by the wildness in his yes.And she had a feeling like her heart was being wrenched out.

'You're working with them, aren't you?' She was fuming with anger. She no longer knew who could be trusted. He'd taken leave of his senses. Or had his senses been taken from him? Which was it?

'I'm thinking about you. And hopefully about us. You're being offered something you'd be a fool to turn down. That's all I have to say.' He took her hand and helped her back into the wheelchair. Then he whispered, 'Let's get out of here.'

He quickly opened the door and rolled her out into the empty hall. When he closed the door behind them, he whispered again. 'Didn't you see the surveillance camera and microphone in there? There's one in the room where they had me locked up. They just put them in.'

'To watch Kristen?'

'And me. I heard Bartlett and Van de Vliet talking. If any of this Beta screw-up with her gets out of this building, Bartlett's conglomerate is toast.' He bent over near to her and continued whispering. 'Listen, we don't have much time. They've got your procedure scheduled for later on tonight. I'm still somewhat of a zombie from something they gave me, but maybe I can help get you out of here. Let me tell you what I've found out so far. Van de Vliet gave you a low-dosage version of the Beta procedure, in hopes he could harvest telomerase antibodies and use them on Bartlett. But there was only a trace. He did inject those into Bartlett, but he doesn't think it's enough to have any effect. So now Bartlett is demanding he give you a massive dose of telomerase. Van de Vliet is freaked about the risks, but Bartlett thinks it's his only chance to head off having what happened to Kristen happen to him too. However, what Bartlett doesn't know is that Van de Vliet has just finished a new computer simulation and he thinks he's finally figured out how to do a successful Beta procedure. For him, that's the Holy Grail.'

'How do you know all this?'

'I heard him talking to his assistant Debra. I was supposed to be sedated. The reason he wants to perform it on you is because he now has so much data on you, as a result of the first procedure. He thinks he's got a real shot at redemption. Ally, if he's calculated wrong, you could end up like Kristen.'

'What aboutyou?' she asked. 'You should get out too.'

'I should, but. . Look, I've been trying to get in here for a long time. Now I'm finally in. You could say I'm under duress, but I'm here and this is where it's happening. If I get out alive, I have a hell of a story.'

Is he thinking clearly?she wondered. He seems to be drifting in and out of a mental cloud.What is wrong with him?

'Stone, there's an emergency door on the first level of the basement. If we can get up there, we might be able to escape. And while we're doing it, you might want to seriously reconsider staying in this place. We've both seen Kristen. What makes you think they're planning on either of us ever living to tell that tale?'

'I'm having some trouble thinking just now.' He was helping her out of the wheelchair. 'But I do know you've got to disappear. Whatever plans they have for me remain to be seen, but I know exactly what's in store for you. So come on and try to walk. We can't use the elevator, but there's a fire door at the other end of the hall, which leads up to the lab floor.'

It's probably alarmed, she thought. Then what do we do?

Walking was easier than she'd expected. The strength was rapidly coming back in her legs. But more than that, there was no sense of tightness in her chest as she might have expected. She was always aware of traces of stenosis, but now she felt nothing. Maybe there were miracles.

The hallway was dimly lit and, she wondered,is a surveillance camera tracking our every move?

'Shit,' Stone announced when they reached the fire door, 'it's alarmed.'

That's exactly what I was afraid of, she thought.

'Any chance they're bluffing?'

'Don't think so.' He pointed. 'That little red diode says it's hot.'

God, she thoughtwe've got to get out of here. 'Maybe we could just make a dash for it?'

He looked at her and shook his head. 'Like you're in shape todash? No, what's called for is stealth.'

He was pulling out his wallet. 'The thing about these card readers, some of them, like those that get you into bank ATMs, sometimes will open for other cards. I've got four kinds of plastic. Might as well give them a try.'

'Well, just hurry.' She leaned against the wall. 'I'm starting to get weak.'

He slipped his Visa through and nothing happened. He immediately tried MasterCard. Again nothing.

'Maybe I should try my all-purpose bankcard.' He slipped a Chase plastic through, but once more nothing happened.