Free The Chimera Vector by Nathan M Farrugia Page A

BMontoya
    Enter password:
    SQL> SELECT family_name FROM pseudogenes WHERE nucleotides = 13571;
    C_REMCOG
    SQL> _
    ‘I have one pseudogene family listed with the specific amount,’ Benito said. ‘But we don’t have the—’
    ‘Open it,’ Denton snapped.
    Benito pulled up the data on the cluster.
    Pseudogene Family id: C_APSY_AXTL
    Class: Chimera
    Expression: _
    Transcription effects: _
    Family members: 2
    ‘Good. Our family of Chimera vectors,’ Denton said. ‘Show me one of the family members.’
    Benito did as ordered without saying a word.
    Member #001: Essential Psychopathy
    Name: C_APSY
    Gene map locus: Human.chrXp11.23
    Start: ********
    Stop: *******
    Strand: *
    Type: Allelic variant type.0003
    Parent Protein Accession Num: C_APSY*****
    Parent Protein Name: C_APSY*****
    Parent Gene ID: *
    Genome Build: ***
    Denton stared at the screen in earnest. He was close. ‘Where are the chromosomal locations?’
    Benito shook his head. ‘It’s encrypted. I can’t find out.’
    Denton rubbed his inch-long beard. It was overdue for a trim. ‘That’s good,’ he said. ‘The car’s locked and the key to unlock it is in the fucking car.’
    Benito frowned. ‘And the key-maker is dead.’
    Denton ground his teeth. ‘Run it against the subjects’ genomes. See if there’s a match in their DNA. Wait, that’s too long. Narrow it down. All operatives. No, all current operatives.’
    Benito’s fingers pecked furiously at the keyboard. Denton waited for the results to come up onscreen.
    SQL> SELECT * FROM Operatives WHERE Genome = “13571”;
    No matches.
    SQL> _
    Benito pushed his glasses up again. ‘Colonel, what exactly are you—’
    ‘Staff,’ Denton said, pointing at the front-end node. ‘Run it against the DNA of anyone who’s ever been assigned to Project GATE.’
    Benito worked the keyboard in silence.
    SQL> SELECT * FROM Staff WHERE Genome = “13571”;
    No matches.
    SQL> _
    Denton ground his molars with slow, steady precision. ‘Pull up McLoughlin’s record.’
    Benito typed some more, then leaned in to double-check his query. ‘That’s strange. She’s not on here.’
    He tried the same query again.
    Denton could see it was met with the same result.
    He shook his head, partly in frustration and partly in admiration. ‘Search for all projects. Everywhere.’
    No matches.
    Denton laughed. A little too loudly. ‘The bitch used her own DNA.’

Chapter 8
    Sophia peeked around the corner, into the living room. The man with the shaved head from the Argus Foundation stood there, briefcase in one hand. There was another man who stayed outside the apartment. He had rosy cheeks and a thick mop of hair. The bald man called him Major.
    The bald man handed the briefcase to Mama. She placed it on a chair, then tucked wisps of hair under her shawl.
    ‘Welcome to Kamýk,’ she said. ‘I am sorry for this heat. The pipes are very hot and we have to open the windows even in—’ She spotted Sophia and a smile appeared under her squashed nose. ‘Sophia! The lovely man from the Argus is here to see you.’
    Reluctantly, Sophia stepped out where Baldie could see her.
    He smiled at her. ‘Hello, Sophia. It’s good to see you again.’
    He mopped sweat from his shiny forehead with a handkerchief.
    ‘Are you excited?’ Mama said. ‘Today you go to the smart school.’
    ‘It’s not called the smart school, Mama.’ Sophia rolled her eyes. ‘It’s the Argus Foundation.’
    She pronounced it slowly and carefully to impress Baldie. He nodded but didn’t seem overly impressed. Did she say it wrong? She didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she clasped them in front of her and fidgeted. Her stomach was spinning with butterflies: pink butterflies of happiness and blue ones of nervousness. The blue ones were winning.
    She’d been picked out because she’d done very well in her tests at school. Baldie had been watching. They must watch all the schools to pick out the clever children, she thought.
    During