Project Cyrano: A Genetic Engineering Technothriller (Genetic Engineering, TechnoThriller) by Amy Taylor

 
    Chapter 1
     
    Sky Discovery
     
    Jeffrey McKusick, world famous geneticist and head of the Human Gene Therapy Project at Stanford University, stared out the plane window in complete and utter boredom. His two younger colleagues, reclining in their enveloping, padded chairs, occupied themselves with gleaming electronic tablets or hologram games. He glared at Special Agent Catalina Sosa, a relatively short woman of Argentinean descent.
     
    Sosa glanced at the geneticist out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Five years they’ve worked together and he never changed. He always hated the uneventful return after a mission. “Mader tells me it’ll only take another hour or so, McKusick.”
     
    He scowled. “We’ve been on this plane for two hours.”
     
    “Two hours is fine time when it’s from Greenland to northeastern Canada. Why not read a book or something? You complain about being bored after the mission we just did?”
     
    McKusick turned back to the window. Then he jumped up in surprise and put his palms against the glass. “Sosa, look at this.”
     
    She hauled herself out of her chair and went to the window. Her head just met the geneticist’s shoulders, which were broad and thick from his Virginian lineage. “What? Is it an eagle?”
     
    “No, that.” He pointed towards a grayish cloud. “There’s something up there.”
     
    “Yes. It’s a cloud.”
     
    He glared at her. “There is something there. I saw it. Tell Mader to fly to the cloud.”
     
    Sosa lifted her eyebrows. “I always knew you were slightly crazy, McKusick, but now you’re seeing things. Are you sure your brown hair hasn’t turned gray?”
     
    McKusick walked past her and limped up to the cockpit, favoring his left ankle. “Mader.”
     
    The pilot inclined his head back at him, though the holographic helmet prevented McKusick from seeing any of his expressions. “I told Sosa we’ll be there…”
     
    “I want you to go somewhere.”
     
    Mader removed his helmet. He had the high cheekbones and red-tan skin of a Native American, with a few well-placed war scars to add a bit of flair. “Pardon?”
     
    The geneticist ran his hand down his face. “You heard me, Mader. There. Fly into that cloud. I bet we’ll find something worth looking into.”
     
    Shaking his head, Mader put his helmet back on and the plane veered to starboard. McKusick crossed his arms over his chest. The cloud grew larger and larger until it filled up the sky, and the plane glided into its ethereal embrace. Then the plane catapulted to the side, sending McKusick slamming into a series of control panels. Lights flickered. The panels went dim.
     
    Sosa dashed into the cockpit. “What happened? McKusick, what did you do?”
     
    “I didn’t do anything.”
     
    Mader fought to regain control of the plane. His hands darted over the machinery, pushing buttons and inputting commands. The lights flickered back on as the aircraft slowly rolled back to a level position.
     
    Anders, a tall, thin Scandinavian man, poked his head in. “You may want to look at this. I think McKusick found something.” His eyes gleamed with a curious and mischievous fervency.
     
    Even Mader got out of his chair and everyone went to the large set of windows on the left side of the place. Sosa touched the glass with trembling fingers.
     
    An expansive floating platform, perhaps ten square miles, spread out before them. There were massive geodesic domes, some in metal, some in glass, and scores of towers, some two hundred feet tall, but all monumental and black. Pulsing gravity engines glittered blue and green. But everything else was vacant and empty, lifeless, with a fine sheen of moisture reflecting the light of the sun. Bolts of blue energy occasionally flashed in the distance. This facility boasted an electromagnetic field. There were no planes on the docking platform, no internal lights or guards at the doors.
     
    Mader said, “I guess I’ll land.”
     
    Sosa