Chapter 5

ID: 1762291   (Rated: 13+) Artifact Man  A thriller, new age, sci-fi novel about a strange man found in the desert. by Hyperiongate

ID: 1762334   (Rated: E) Chapter 4  The Artifact is uncovered. The military steps in. by Hyperiongate

2:00 pm, Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Reno, Nevada

Lise got up early in the afternoon after having only slept a couple of hours. Only complete exhaustion had allowed her to sleep at all. Her first thought, Today is the day! No calls while she slept meant that JD11 had managed to survive the last few hours. If he could only hold on a little longer, they would take his treatment to the next, highly experimental stage.

And there was Jack Barton.

How did he get into my head? Lise thought as she climbed into the shower. He was just a flash in the pan, a moment in time at the end of a very long night. He was nothing. And yet she couldn’t stop her heart from beating just a little faster at the idea of him stopping by the hospital a little later that day like he said he would.

She pushed Jack aside.

He’s just another disappointment waiting to happen, she thought to herself.

Anyway, JD11 was her top priority. In keeping with past practices, she once again put work ahead of relationships.

Today was too big a day for distractions. This was what her professional life had been leading up to. This was not time to think about romantic disappointments. Still, she gave Jack one last thought and smiled.

Thirty minutes later, she was heading into the hospital.

The team was assembled and waiting when she arrived. All of them were visibly excited. If this technology worked, it would have practical applications well beyond treating burn victims. The ability to regenerate skin was just the first step. Someday the application might be developed into an effective cure for skin cancer. Even the sagging skin of old age may one day be a thing of the past.

It was time to put this thing to the test. Turning to Dr. Shepherd she said, “Ben, what’s the status of the TIG Solution?”

“The fermentation cycle is well underway and should be completed in a few more hours. At that time, the bio-density will be at the optimum levels for sustaining growth. Right now, the DNA strands are above one billion parts per liter. All chemical components are well within standards. We’re ready to fill the tank with the oxygenated pretreatment solution at any time,” Shepherd said, barely able to hide his excitement.

Lise turned to Dr Ruiz who was in charge of the mechanics surrounding the tank itself. “How are you looking, Paul?”

“The tank, pumps and all monitoring systems are ready for Immersion. All backup systems have been verified.” Dr. Ruiz, ever the professional, kept his enthusiasm tightly under wraps.

Lise continued around the room. Every doctor and nurse checked in as being ready to go. All of the training was paying off. They had really come together on this project. Like a finely tuned engine, they were purring along on all cylinders. Even the newest addition, nurse’s aide Annie Franklin, was beginning to make small, yet noticeable, contributions as she hustled about assisting the other doctors. Whenever someone needed something, Annie was there with it before they thought to ask. Lise made a mental note to keep an eye on this promising young nursing assistant.

The pre-immersion briefing lasted for the better part of an hour. Everything had to be perfect before JD11 was unwrapped and lowered into the TIG tank.

The rest of the afternoon flew by. Thoughts of Jack popped in every now and then but after a while, it became apparent that he was a no-show. She didn’t dwell on the thought much. She and her team were too busy making history.

At 8:32 p.m., Dr. Lise Marshall pushed a button that sent a small trickle current of electricity into the gelatin that held JD11 in suspension. This final step was all the signaling needed by the DNA enriched solution. Almost immediately, at a microscopic level, the strands began to reproduce and interact with JD11’s horribly disfigured body. No one understood completely how the process worked. The entire concept was based on the idea that nature knew better than man as to what needed to be done. The doctors had created an environment where nature had all of the tools it would need to take whatever course it chose.

The neutrally buoyant body of patient JD11 floated in the center of the large glass tank, midway between the surface and the bottom. Numerous wires were attached to his body, enabling the staff to monitor his vital signs as well as the progression of the treatment. Conspicuously absent was any sort of breathing apparatus. The amniotic-like fluid contained sufficient dissolved oxygen to allow the patient to breathe while submerged. His lungs had been charged with the fluid and a small pump inserted near his lungs ensured a constant flow of the enriched liquid.

No one knew how long the regenerative process would take. The estimates ran from several weeks up to nine months, the length of time the body’s original growth signals took to make a healthy baby. In the meantime, Lise and her staff would keep a constant eye on his progress or lack thereof.

Once everything was checked and checked again, there was nothing left to do but wait. Lise sent her team home for the night. She stayed in the observation room until Annie showed up for the night shift. Lise was impressed by the load of text books the young woman had brought along to keep herself busy during the long slow hours of the night. This young woman was definitely going places.

As she exited the hospital, Lise failed to notice the burly maintenance man who whispered into his collar. Nor did she notice the green van with a logo from a carpet cleaning company on its side as she pulled out of the parking lot. The van, with seeming coincidence, pulled out right behind her and followed at a discrete distance.

Fifteen minutes later, Lise pulled into her driveway; the unseen green van was still a couple of blocks back. It never made it to her street as there was no need for it there. An electrical utility truck was already parked two houses down. Inside the truck, men listened and watched the woman they had been assigned to both investigate and protect.

As she piddled around getting ready for bed, Lise paused to stand in front of the mirror to look at her thirty-five year old body. Her five-foot, two-inch frame was still as taut as it had been when she graduated from Johns Hopkins more than a decade ago. Her black hair would occasionally betray her with the odd grey strand, but for the most part, she was happy with what she saw.

She wondered about who her patient was. She made a note to call the sheriff to see how his investigation was going. One thought led to another and soon, Jack Barton made his way back into her head and not for the first time that day.

He said he would and there was something about him that made her certain he would keep his word. But in the end, he disappointed; just like every other man before him.

I don’t have time for you, she thought, trying to push him aside. It proved to be a case of the harder she pushed the more clear the man’s image became. Why you, Jack Barton? As she began to fall asleep, she momentarily put all of the pieces together. JD11, herself and Jack – They were all linked. The thought left her as soon as it came and Lise drifted off to sleep.

That night Lise dreamt of a tall handsome mad with a kind face. His brown eyes had a kindness to them. In her dream, she felt safe and content in his presence. They were walking through a forest together, hand in hand and all was well with the world. In an instant, everything changed. They were no longer in a forest but in a large building. There were fires and explosions everywhere. She had somehow lost contact with the man and was running terrified through the burning hallways. Suddenly he was there. She took his hand and together they ran from the building. She knew it wasn’t over; that she would have to keep on running. Somehow that was okay so long as he was with her.

Lise woke with a start. She could still see him in her mind’s eye. She could still feel him in her chest. She wrapped herself in her arms and lay back, staring at the ceiling. Jack Barton had a bigger grip on her than she had thought.


1:00 am, Wednesday, March 17th
Renown Medical Facility, Reno, Nevada

Nursing assistant Annie Franklin sat at the monitoring console in the observation booth overlooking her new patient. Her chart had said that JD11 was Code Blue probable. This meant his chances of surviving from one minute to the next were deemed slim by those that knew way more about medicine than her. She looked out the observation window at the badly damaged body floating in the tank. It was a site that was going to take some getting used to. She wondered if her patient was even remotely aware of his condition.

Everyone seemed to be excited about this particular patient. Supposedly it had to do with some fancy new treatment. It wasn’t really part of her job to understand anything more than what she needed to do if the patient flat lined.

Annie looked out over the vast amount of information at her disposal and slumped in frustration. For as long as she could remember, she had wanted to be a nurse. Now, at the tender age of twenty, she was failing the nursing curriculum offered at the local junior college. It was not from lack of effort; she just found it hard to learn everything they expected her to learn. It was overwhelming.

She worked at the hospital as a nursing assistant in hopes that the experience would somehow improve her grades at school. So far, this didn’t seem to be having much of an impact. At least it paid enough to keep her in school.

Her plans for tonight were simple: Study and, if needed, push a button if JD11 went Code Blue. Once that button was pushed, she would begin recalling the burn team associated with this case. This was standard operating procedure. However, Annie felt this was a long way from being a standard patient. JD11 was something special. She stood up and looked at her charge as he lay there fighting to survive, or not. It was hard to tell.

It was almost a sure thing that he was not in any pain; given the amount of drugs being pumped into him. For a moment, Annie felt oddly envious. He had no care in the world. His only task was to lay there and dream; or whatever it was that people in coma’s did. She tried to imaging what it would be like to be him. She closed her eyes and reached out.

“Who are you?” She said out loud.

Annie felt a momentary chill. Her mind filled with the thought, I don’t know who I am.

Her eye’s popped open in surprise. Did that really just happen? She thought.

After a moment, the thought passed, unremembered. Annie sat down and picked up a text book, her companion for the night. She plowed through the first couple of pages, the words jumbling in her head without real meaning. A few pages later, she began to feel some sense of understanding. Thoughts like “of course” or “I see it now” began to make their way into her mind. The pages began to turn faster and faster as she soaked up the material. How could I have not understood this before? she thought.

ID: 1762428   (Rated: 13+) Chapter 6  Jack and Sheriff Tucker meet with Colonel Lanier to be briefed at Nellis AFB. by Hyperiongate