Prophet of Bones by Ted Kosmatka

Author:Ted Kosmatka [Kosmatka, Ted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery & Thriller
ISBN: 9780805096170
Google: tohcwJQcXvkC
Amazon: 0805096175
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 2014-07-22T12:00:00+00:00

24

Paul followed Janus down the hall, arms full of sample tray, being careful not to spill the gel.

It was Paul’s sixth week of training, and he’d finally been assigned to a project. “The Endangered Species Project” Janus had called it, saying the words slowly so that Paul would understand the gravity of the task. For some kinds of scientists, conservation was ideology. Save an animal, and it was like saving the world, one unit at a time. Paul envied men who felt this way. It had been a long time since he’d believed the world could be saved as easily as that.

Paul watched Janus run the samples. They were working with bald eagle DNA, testing the degree of heterozygosity of an inbred population in Colorado. They loaded the assays into the machine and hit the button.

“Pay attention to this,” Janus said. “This is the thing you watch for.”

Janus was tall. Almost as tall as Paul, so they were looking nearly eye to eye as they stood there in front of the machine. Janus seemed to have gotten used to the eye patch now, that earlier flash of pity now replaced by a nearly constant look of irritation.

“You put in a sample, and the machine spits out data. Then you plug the data into a program. The rule of thumb is, heterozygosity good, homozygosity bad.”

“Got it,” Paul said. As if he’d needed to be told.

“Too much homozygosity leads to a paucity of immunity haplotypes. Like cheetahs. All practically twins, a bottleneck within a bottleneck. These eagles might not be much better.”

Paul nodded. Despite appearances, the genes of men, he knew, like the genes of eagles, were less diverse than most species. A function of our creation, some said. Man, after all, had been made on the last day. Made in His perfect image.

Paul put the samples of eagle DNA in the tray and hit the button.

* * *

“I’m going to lunch,” Janus said.

“Go ahead,” Paul said, without looking up from his work. “I’ll finish up this batch.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’d rather get it done.”

“Okay.” Janus left.

When Janus was out the door, Paul continued to work. He waited two minutes, counting to one hundred and twenty in his head. After a hundred and twenty seconds, he figured that Janus had made it to the elevator. If he’d gotten that far, there was a good chance that he wouldn’t turn around and pop back into the lab for some reason. Paul put down his samples and rushed across the room to the forgotten drawer. He pulled out the old Tylenol bottle at the back.

He dumped the lozenge into his hand.

For a moment, his breath caught in his chest.

It had been a long time since he’d looked at the sample. For the last several weeks, he’d almost been able to pretend that none of it was happening, if he wanted to. But now, here it was.

Green and smooth to the touch. The lozenge was made of a special protein membrane, vacuum-sealed with a pocket in the middle.

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