MuTerra

another.”

“I thought you were going to keep more in reserve,” Mr. Bishop said accusingly.

“We only need one. Just make it the ’right’ one,” he replied evenly.

The two men looked at each other understanding that there was no point in argument, or unnecessary diversions. They each played their part, and they would continue to do so until they had achieved their ultimate goal.

“Keith,” Mr. Bishop said.

“Is that because he is your son, or the right person for the task,” Maddow asked.

“Both. He has always been able to overcome anything he was faced with. He is also someone I can control. As long as his wife is happy, he is happy. And as long as his wife is safe, he will do what is asked of him.”

Dr. Maddow nodded his head in understanding. “I suggest you tell him as little as possible. I’ll keep his wife busy while he is undergoing treatment. Let me know when he is ready.”

“Tomorrow morning. If there is a problem, then I’ll select someone else and have them ready. But this needs to be done now.”

?

The problem with humanity was aging. Man could learn a wealth of information during his life, only to pass on a limited amount of that knowledge to the successive generations. Even with that vast amount of accumulated knowledge, it still takes years of dedicated study to understand everything that preceded them, giving them less time to add to it.

The government financed their scientific researchers to undertake unprecedented, and even unethical, steps to develop a modern ‘fountain of youth.’ Dr. Martin Maddow, molecular biologist, and clinical director for project F.O.Y. spent more than thirty years with some of the nation’s top scientists attempting to manipulate the genes that control cellular activity.

Cellular multiplication had to be kept from degenerating with time and age. Also, genetic and health factors had to be self-adjusting in order to limit the effects of environment and heredity. In a perfect state of existence, free of disease and environmental stress, a body should be able to regenerate itself in perpetuity. Since it was impossible to achieve the necessary control over the environment, focus turned within. The determination was made to target two biological aspects: cellular regeneration, and the lymphatic system. It was theorized that if cellular regeneration could continue without interruption, or decrease, in an environment free of disease and internal stressors, then the body would continue to not only live, but live in the same condition that existed at the time of treatment. In other words, a man treated at the age of twenty-five would continue to look, feel, and have the same abilities and traits of that twenty-five year old regardless of what age he lived to be; possibly to infinity.

Each scientist worked independently with only Dr. Maddow being aware of the cumulative results. They were released from duty after each advancement that they made, and replaced to keep the integrity of the project intact. In some instances, Dr. Maddow himself furthered the work so as not to allow sensitive information to find its way into university labs and other independent facilities that provided their talented members. The closer he came to achieving his goals, the more reclusive and silent he was when it came time to report to his superiors, save one. He was working with only a few assistants, none of which was from outside organizations, by the time congressional oversight had all but pulled the plug on financing the program. It did not matter to him as he had achieved what they all thought was impossible.

He chemically spliced a planarian gene with a similar human gene. When this was introduced with a human stem cell, it resulted in daughter cells, which replicated the properties of regeneration found in the planaria. With this ability, he was able genetically to reengineer human DNA. By doing so, he eliminated the natural errors within normal DNA replication and the effects they produced. Not only was continuous, error free DNA replication possible, but also the regeneration of damaged cells, eliminating the decay and aging of organs and body tissue.

The second phase of this process was introducing the planarian gene with a hematopoietic cell. This success culminated in an intra-osseous infusion. By having such regenerative abilities within the bone marrow, the host would be virtually disease free, and have an immune system capable of fighting any form of known infection or other intrusion. When he was sure of the results, he became the first test subject. The one person who had discovered sufficient details about his work, not by his own understanding of genetics, but rather by being shrewd enough to have a spy amongst his staff, was a lieutenant colonel named Frank Bishop who, in time, became the second subject. Together they officially shut down project F.O.Y. They had remained in close professional contact ever since.

?

Keith’s father called earlier in the day and asked him to come by his apartment when he was through. It had been relatively quiet, for the security department, ever since the killings and the subsequent expulsion of someone many of them had known. It was a reminder of the consequences that had to be paid for such actions. Keith did not disagree with the punishment; it was however, an indicator of the significance in the role he and his men played. At least people didn’t have guns in here, he thought. When he reached his father’s apartment, the door was opened before he could signal his presence, probably a security camera.

“Hello son,” he said extending his hand, “Come on in.”

Son, not Keith; he must want something.

“Have a seat, I’ll be right with you,” he said as he turned to leave the room.

His father’s apartment was only slightly larger than his own. Keith did not concern himself about such things, and probably would not have even noticed this difference if it was not for Terri commenting on it the last time they were there. Things like that mattered to her. His father returned with two glasses filled to about an inch deep with an amber colored liquid Keith assumed was Scotch whiskey. He handed one to Keith and took a seat. They both took a sip enjoying the warmth of the highly controlled, and hard to come by, liquid.

“Okay. I got the Scotch, and the friendly welcome. What is it you want dad,” Keith said directly.

His father smiled and said, “We need someone to undergo some important treatments before we can safely return to the outside.”

“Who’s we?”

“The board of directors of course; but in a sense, everyone inside.”

“I assume you have me in mind for this job. Why me?”

“I can’t think of anyone more capable or trustworthy.”

Keith was not exactly buying that line, but his father was not known for flattery either. “What do you need me to do?”

“Go outside,” his father said evenly.

Keith raised his eyes in surprise, “Isn’t that a little bit dangerous, in fact suicidal?”

“In the condition you are in now, yes.”

“Condition; what do you mean ‘condition‘?”

“I don’t plan on sacrificing you son. In fact, just the opposite; you would undergo a procedure which would make the environmental factors outside harmless to you.”

“Why don’t you just treat everyone and we can all leave,” Keith responded.

“Because we can only do one treatment, otherwise we would. An element to the procedure must be obtained from outside. To do this, we not only need someone to go out there, we also need him to come back.”

“How sure are you that this will work?”

“One-hundred percent.”

Keith raised his eyes in question, “What makes you so certain?”

Frank Bishop took another sip from his glass, and considered his next words before replying. “How old do you think Dr. Maddow is,” he asked his son.

“I don’t know. I’d guess a few years older than you. Why,” he said wondering where the conversation was going.

“He is seventy-five.”

“He sure looks good for his age.”

“It is more than looks Keith. I’ve known Martin for almost twenty-five years. He looks the same now, as he did when I first met him. He is as healthy now as he was then. The man is a genius. And I mean that in a literal