Monkey Games
By Vince Coyner
Chapter 9. La Playa Arena
The flight was a little over an hour and surprisingly smooth given that they had to fly over the last remnants of the storm. It was early afternoon when they arrived. Robert Shipply, the chief of the security detachment was there with two stewards to meet the plane. “Hi Laura! Welcome to La Playa Arena” he said as Laura stepped off of the plane, followed by Jonathan. “Thanks Robert” she replied. She was his direct supervisor and the two knew each other well, having interacted with one another a number of times both at South Centre as well at other Alexander Resources locations. Robert took the two of them to the research compound in one of the facility’s Range Rovers. Laura silently thanked whoever put the compound so close to the airstrip because if it had been much farther away she felt she might be forced to strangle Robert who could be annoyingly talkative.
For Jonathan, he enjoyed the ride as it was the second new form of transportation he had experienced that day. He looked around in amazement. La Playa Arena was much different than Aislado. There were many more buildings, there was no volcano in the middle of it and there were, it seemed to Jonathan, a thousand people were milling about, (in reality less than a dozen) most wearing clothes he had never seen. Laura had been in just about every Alexander Resources facility in the world and other than South Centre, this one was the easily the most impressive. Set approximately a hundred yards from a rocky bluff that lead to the ocean below, it had a brilliant white façade and a red tile roof that matched a thousand summer homes she had seen in The Algarve in Portugal. A properly uniform home in the Algarve included white walls, a blue pool, a patio and a red tile roof and this facility would have fit right in. As the Algarve was a favorite summer retreat of the British, Laura wondered if Albert had been the force behind the design. The interior was even more spectacular, with a foyer that would have been just as appropriate in four star hotel as it was here in this research facility. The entrance lead to a faux two story foyer where the second story was in reality simply door shaped windows that allowed in nothing but brilliant light. From the Foyer were six hallways, three on each side. The hallways on one side led to the small bedroom suites and various offices while on the other side the hallways led to the larger bedroom suites as well as the labs and offices. The third hallway on each side of the foyer led to either side of the pool, which was located beyond the meeting rooms and study, which were directly across the foyer from the entrance. Jonathan stood at the center of the foyer and looked around in awe...
Alex, Albert and David had arrived on earlier that morning. Alexander’s progress had been amazing. In less than a week he had regained almost complete movement above his waist and could talk, albeit with a very gravely voice. Albert said that the doctors too were amazed by his progress and they were convinced that it was only because Alex kept himself in such tremendous shape. The biggest concern for doctors was his weak breathing which had persisted after the accident. It sounded strange, but he was lucky, in that the accident left him with a perfect spinal break and the cord itself was pinched just at the break, keeping the spinal fluid from leaking. That fortuitous fact is what allowed him to retain feeling and movement above the break, which was at the base of the spine. The important consequence of this “lucky” break was that his lungs and heart still functioned properly without outside assistance. He retained movement and feeling from the waist up, although sitting up caused him to grow tired quickly. Alex was taken to his bedroom to get some sleep and Albert immediately set about making arrangements for the planned events.
Robert showed Laura and Jonathan to their rooms down the hallway on the left where the smaller bedroom suites were located. Jonathan’s room was halfway down one the left while Laura’s was at the very end on the right . As soon as Robert said goodbye Laura left her room and went to Jonathan’s. Sitting on the bed he looked up at her through the open door. He smiled pensively, like a child sitting alone in the classroom on the first day of school. He shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands “What now?” “I’m not sure” she replied. “Let me go and find out and I’ll be right back.” Looking at him sitting there rather uncomfortably, she added “Try and relax,” knowing of course that he could do no such thing. She turned and went to look for Albert, whom she found in the study. He was standing behind a desk talking, but there was no one in the room. He saw her and waved her in, picking up the headset. He had been using the speakerphone but now he obviously didn’t want her to hear both ends of the conversation. “No, don’t you let those bastards see a single file until Laura and Franklin get there.” He said as he smiled at her. “Got it?” He boomed into the phone not really wanting or expecting an answer. He got one nonetheless and said “Good! Now get them the hell out of that office.” He hung up the phone. “Hi Laura” he said as he walked over and took her hand and kissed her on the cheek. “How is Jonathan?” he asked, “Pretty nervous?” he added, not waiting for a replay. “Well, he did fine on the plane and I think now he is just soaking in what’s around.” “How’s Alex” she added. “He’s fine, he’s just resting.”
Changing subjects she asked, “What was that all about?” referring to the conversation she had walked in on and in which her name had been mentioned. “Oh, that” he said, “that is unfortunately the reason I’m going to have to ask you to delay your vacation again.” She tilted her head ever so slightly in a questioning manner. “I need you to return to Paris tomorrow. The wolves are circling.” He explained that an emergency situation had arisen as it relates to the management of Alexander Resources. In light of Alex’s accident there were a number of outside directors who were trying to make an end run on management. A number of years ago Alex had a paragraph inserted into the company bylaws stating that if the Chairman and CEO were ever incapacitated for over 72 hours, the vice chairman of the board would take control of the company until he was able to demonstrate his fitness for management. Now, the Vice Chairman has exercised that clause and says that he is running the company. The board has become very unhappy with Alex over the last few years because he’s cut dividends at Acxisis.” Laura nodded at the mention of Acxisis, Alexander Resources’ publicly traded subsidiary that was, by law, majority owned by the foundations represented on the Alexander Resources board. Albert continued as Laura nodded her head in recognition of Acxisis. “As Alexander cut back dividends at Acxisis, the foundations felt the pinch to their bottom lines. Now, this is they want to take control and change the policy. If they succeed they could bleed billions of dollars from our research coffers within months.” Laura was familiar with the renegade members of the board and the fact that they had tried to take over various elements of Alexander Resources on numerous occasions. Typically they did so by utilizing some obscure element of securities law in one country or another. While Alexander always admitted that the way he structured Alexander Resources board was one of the few mistakes he had ever made in business, he never worried about it because he was always in control.
Despite Albert’s concerns for the boardroom chaos, Laura was taken aback by his request that she return so quickly and simply muttered “OK, no problem.” That was a lie. It really was a problem, but she’d figure out how to deal with that later. If nothing else she could go and handle the situation in Paris and then tell Albert that she wanted to return to La Playa Arena for a formal security review. Putting those thoughts behind her she wanted to focus on Jonathan and Alex, although Albert was not done. “The boat carrying jet fuel should arrive around 10:00 tomorrow morning and you and Jack can leave soon thereafter,” he said. “OK, no problem” she said again, hoping that Albert did not notice her trying to pacify him so that they could talk about what she wanted, Jonathan. “Now what’s going on with Jonathan and Alex?” she asked. “Well, we will all have dinner tonight” he replied and then continued “and then tomorrow morning David will start Jonathan’s physical.” Albert was of course referring to David Smith, who had accompanied Alex and he from Paris. Laura knew he was on the island but had not yet run into him. Albert continued, “After the physical is done tomorrow or Tuesday, both Jonathan and Alex will start on a liquid diet for about three days. They can’t have any solid foods for 72 hours before the transfusion begins. Sebring will arrive on Tuesday as well and the procedure should take place on Friday morning. While the transfusion will only take three hours, the drips will take another nine and the whole thing should be done in about twelve. Then both will have to rest for about three days and by next Tuesday both should be in good shape. Jonathan will stay here a couple more days and he should be back on Aislado by Friday or whenever the team feels he’s ready he’ll head back. Alex will probably return to Paris at about the same time.
She looked down at her watch, which said it was 6:00 PM and looked up to Albert. “What time is it here right now?” He looked at his watch and smiled, “You know, I don’t even know, I’m still on Paris time.” He picked up the phone and barked into the mouthpiece “What time is it.” 7:00 the voice on the other end of the phone replied. “Thank you.” he said before hanging the phone up. It’s 7:00. We’ll eat in fifteen minutes. I’ll get Alex and you bring Jonathan and we’ll meet next door in the dining room.
Laura went back to Jonathan’s room. The door was still open and he was still sitting exactly as she had left him. “Are you ready?” she asked. Somewhat startled, he bolted to his feet and said “Sure.” Realizing he wasn’t sure what they were supposed to be doing the asked, “For what?” “We’re going to have dinner with Alex and Albert,” she said. “Do you know who he is?” she asked about Alex, knowing that he knew a little about Albert. “No, but I assume he has something to do with my being here, but I’m not sure.” “Well, we’re going to meet them now.” She was flustered because she didn’t know what to say about him, or really Albert for that matter. She didn’t have enough time to go into details but she didn’t want to leave him hanging. “Look,” she said, “if everything isn’t cleared up by the end of the night, I’ll tell you everything.” “OK?” she asked waiting for a nod from Jonathan. He nodded and she said “Good, it’s time to go.”
As they walked to the foyer they passed David Smith. “Hello Dr. Smith” Jonathan said as he passed. “Why hello Jonathan,” he responded, “how are you feeling? It has been some time.” “I’m good thank you” Jonathan replied, shaking the doctor’s hand. “Yes, it has been a while. It’s good to see a familiar face.” Jonathan added. Although the last time he was there was approximately two years ago, David had come to the island probably a dozen times over the last twenty years as part of the teams that gave Jonathan his bi-annual checkups. Jonathan had always liked Dr. Smith, particularly as he had always brought him lollipops when he was a child. “You don’t have any lollipops do you?” Jonathan said with a smile. “No, not today,” David replied. Albert was coming down the hall, from behind Laura and Jonathan. He gave David a subtle nod, which David knew meant that he should leave. “Well, Jonathan, have a good dinner.” he said abruptly and turned to leave, adding “You too Laura.” Before Jonathan could ask him if he wanted to have dinner with them, David was around the corner and there was a booming “Hello, Jonathan” coming from behind him. “My name is Albert and it is nice to finally meet you. I’m an old friend of Sebring’s.” “Yes, he has mentioned you. It is nice to meet you as well.” Gesturing towards the dining room located at the rear of the foyer, Albert said “Shall we have dinner?” As the three began to move towards the dining room Laura asked “Is Alex going to be joining us?” “No, I’m afraid he won’t be. I just talked to him and he’s not feeling very well. He sends his apologies but he’s sure he will be feeling much better in the morning.” Albert opened the glass door to the dining room that looked like it doubled as a conference room. Rather staid, it had a brilliant view of the ocean although at this hour there was not much light left to be seen over the horizon. The three sat down at the end of the enormous table that had been set for only three. As soon as they sat down a waiter clad in white walked in from the adjacent kitchen with three plates. The dinner was grilled mahi and rice. Albert wanted to make sure that nothing too rich or exotic was served, as he didn’t want to upset Jonathan’s relatively inexperienced digestive system. Throughout dinner Albert wanted to make small talk about the flight, the food and even the weather, practically everything except what Jonathan really wanted to talk about, which was how he came to be on that island at that time. Not that Jonathan asked any questions, because he didn’t. He really didn’t have a clue as to where to start. Finally, after dinner was over Albert asked Laura and Jonathan if they would like some dessert. “Well, if neither of you mind, I’m going to have a cigar and a brandy.” Neither of course minded and the waiter brought out a bottle of Courvoisier VSOP and three snifters. “Shall we sit out on the terrace?” he asked as he gestured towards the doors leading outside. He opened the humidor next to the bar and reached in and pulled out a El Corojo, considered by some to be the best cigar in the world, from the Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba. He sat down gesturing to the two chairs facing him as he lit his cigar. “Please, have a seat.” Both Laura and Jonathan sat in the comfortable bamboo chairs, but neither one of them was particularly comfortable. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Albert spoke up “Well, Jonathan, I know you probably have a million questions.” Jonathan nodded his head. “Well, I’m not going to answer all of them tonight. I can tell you a few things however. Tomorrow you, Alex and I will sit down with our team of doctors and explain exactly what the situation is and what you should expect. The thing I want you to know more than anything else is that on our team we have collected literally the world’s best doctors in their specific fields.” Jonathan looked over at Laura and she nodded her head. They were indeed the best doctors in the world. She knew they were amongst the world’s most sought after doctors and had been meeting annually for an Alexander Resources research symposium for over twenty years. Albert continued, “we will all sit down together and explain everything and answer any of your questions.” “The only thing I’ll tell you tonight is that you are indeed a lucky man. You have two of the best men I’ve ever met looking after you.” He continued, “One is Sebring and the other is Alexander Cooke.” “Did Sebring ever tell you how we met?” Nodding his head, Jonathan “It was in Beirut wasn’t it?” “Indeed, it was, a little over twenty years ago. We met at the Church of St. John the Baptist. Beirut was a difficult place then. It was a far cry from its glory, but at the time it still had remnants of order, but they were being torn away, fast. You know, that is actually where your name came from.” “Really?” Jonathan asked. He looked at Jonathan and nodded his head. “Really” Albert responded. “You were born about four months later. Alex, your father, didn’t have a clue what to name you, and Sebring suggested Jonathan, after that magnificent church.” “Like I said, I can’t tell you everything, nor can I answer all of your questions, particularly the whys. I wouldn’t feel comfortable answering those questions, but I’m certain that Alexander is prepared to answer all of them. But that is for tomorrow. Tonight I’ll tell you a couple of things. The first, and perhaps most important thing is that you were the product of a passionate union between Alex and your mother Brooke. The two met twenty-two years ago in Australia when Alex had gone there to establish our Sydney research facility. Your mother was a beautiful woman, smart and charming. She was one of the doctors we were considering hiring to run the facility. The two began a whirlwind romance and were married three months after they met. They lived in Sydney and your mother became pregnant with you.” Jonathan was riveted by all of this. He knew that his mother had died at childbirth, but he never knew much else. Sebring never wanted to talk about what ever became of Jonathan’s family. In reality, Sebring could never bring himself to tell Jonathan about his family because of he despised Alex. Not for anything he had ever done to him, on the contrary, Alex had been completely polite and graceful the few times they had met. No, Sebring despised Alex for the way he treated his own son, Jonathan. Although Sebring could not have loved Jonathan any more if he had been from his own blood, he found it appalling that simply because his son had a disease that he would banish him to an island somewhere and never have any contact with him. Ever. Albert had said that it was because Alex could not take seeing Jonathan because he blamed him for Brooke’s death. “I know” Albert would say “I know it’s crazy, but you have to understand, Alex has this strange obsession with death and he wants nothing to do with it.” “He’s not abandoning him” Albert would go on, “he’s giving him everything that he could need to eventually grow up safely, and he is spending millions of dollars to find a cure.” “Sebring” Albert would say so often “give the man a break, he simply can’t bring himself to look at Brooke’s death in the face, and that is what he saw when he looked at Jonathan.” Sebring never believed that, but he would always let the subject drop if it came up.
Albert continued speaking to Jonathan, “Sebring never told you any of this because he was afraid you would feel somehow responsible for your mother’s death, which you weren’t. She went into shock. There was nothing anyone could have done.” Jonathan sat with his head in his hands. He was not crying, but he felt a very strange feeling of exhaustion. “I’m sorry about all of this Jonathan. I realize this is probably not the best time in the world for you to hear something like this, but in all honesty, there would likely never have been a good time. Alexander will talk with you tomorrow and explain everything. I know this must be very strange for you, but you have to believe me, everything from Sebring to the bi-annual physicals to the women were done with only one thought in mind, what was best for you. It may seem very strange now, but I promise, in time it will all make much more sense.” Albert stood up and put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. “Jonathan, the world holds wonders you’ve never imagined were possible and everything it has to offer will be yours for the taking in six months. You will finally be able to visit all of those places that Sebring has told you about. There will be nothing you can’t do, there will be no place you can’t go once you are healthy. I hope you will find it in your heart to give Alex a chance to make up for the time he now realizes he’s missed.” Jonathan looked up at Albert and nodded his head without saying anything. Albert looked at his watch, which read 9:45 and said “I know this has been a very hectic day.” “I don’t know about the two of you but I’m on my way to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” He walked to the door and turned around, “Laura, the fuel is scheduled to arrive earlier than expected so Jack thinks you can take off around 9 AM. Have a good night.” He then turned back around and walked through he door, never noticing the startled look on Jonathan’s face at the news that Laura would be leaving in the morning. Jonathan looked over at Laura and she raised her finger near her mouth and shook her head, signaling that he should not say anything. Laura then suddenly got to her feet and rushed to the door. Pulling it open she said “Albert.” He turned. “I want to check a couple of things online before I go to bed. Is there a computer with Internet access I can use?” Albert thought for a moment and replied “Yes, I think the one in the secretary’s office is online. I’ll tell the guard, he’ll show you the way.” “Thank you” she said, closing the door. She turned and Jonathan was staring at her. “What does he mean you have a flight to catch in the morning?” “There’s a mutiny going on in the Alexander Resources boardroom and I have to go and sort things out. I’m leaving for Paris in the morning. As soon as I get that straightened out I will be back I promise. I hope that I can be back by Friday or Saturday, but I just don’t know.” She walked around behind him so that he was between her and the window. Looking out into the foyer to make sure that Albert was not coming back she put her hands on his shoulder and neck. “Sweetheart, you will be fine. Like Albert said, they have some great doctors here to take care of you. I know David, he is probably the best neurologist in the world,” she said as she massaged his neck. “Besides, Sebring will be here on Tuesday.” He reached up and held her hands tightly to his neck and closed his eyes. He didn’t want her to go. He didn’t want her to go tonight. He stood up and turned to look at her. He clasped her face in his hands. “Will you stay with me tonight?” he asked. She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly “I don’t know, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea with everyone walking around and the security guard sitting right off the hallway.” She still couldn’t figure out why, but she simply knew that it was a bad idea to let on that there was something between them. He looked at her and said, “I don’t care about any of that. I care about you.” “I know” she said, “I feel the same way but we have to be practical. Until we know when I’ll be getting back, I don’t want to upset the apple cart.” He looked at her quizzically at the reference. “There are a lot of things going on right now and I don’t want to mess anything up.” “All right then” he said, “but I want to see you first thing in the morning.” He added, “You know, I’m actually a little more tired than I thought I would be.” “Well, given the day you’ve had, that doesn’t surprise me,” said Laura. As they approached the door, Laura stopped Jonathan in front of that part of the wall that sat between the door and the panel window. Certain that no one could see them, she turned toward Jonathan and whispered, “I want you to know that there is no place in the world I would rather be tonight than right beside you.” He smiled as his heart jumped at the sentiments that mirrored his own. “I’ll try and get there, but don’t wait for me.” With that she opened the door. As they walked through the foyer, they were so close the backs of their hands kept brushing against one another, but neither one grasped the other. Laura was being very cautious; she didn’t want anyone to see them holding hands or exchanging any kind of affection. They stopped at the guard’s desk. Laura reached out squeezed one of Jonathan’s hands in a supportive rather than romantic way. “Well Jonathan” she said, “I know you’ve had a rather chaotic day so I’m sure you won’t have much difficulty getting to sleep.” “Thanks Laura, I appreciate all of the help” he replied, understanding the sudden formality was for the benefit of the guard on duty. He turned and went to his room.
Laura turned to the guard. “Hi, I’m Laura” she said, extending her hand but not really interested in making small talk “Albert mentioned there was a secretary’s office around here where I could get on the Internet. Can you tell me where it is please?” “Yes ma’am, it is down that hallway there,” he said, pointing to the hallway on the other side of the foyer from the one Jonathan had just walked down. “It is the second door on the right. Albert had me to open it for you so you can just walk right in.” “Thank you” she said as she started down the hallway.
At a minimum she needed a copy of the bylaws, but what she really wanted was to get some news about exactly what the hell was going on back there. She knew that anybody in Paris would be loath to talk on the phone about what was going because one never knew who was listening. But she figured they would be far more open to discussing the problems via Instant Message, which was silent. She logged into her IM account and tried to find a couple of people. No one was online. She looked at her watch, which read 10:00. She realized it was lunchtime in Paris and there would be no one to get hold of for at least an hour. The next thing she did was to remotely log into her personal server at the office and pull up a copy of the company by-laws. It took her a couple of minutes because the security system she had installed utilized the 1024-bit encryption, the most powerful encryption offering available. It was almost as secure as storing the company’s records on the moon, but a lot more accessible. She printed the bylaws and started to go over them. After three times losing her place she realized she could not concentrate on that oblique language right now. There was way too much going on and she was too tired. She decided to play a game of solitaire and waste some time while until someone showed up on her IM Buddy List. As she stared at the computer’s brilliant monitor she wondered how the hell they had gotten a 19-inch flat panel here at the end of the earth while she still had a box like 17-inch CRT monitor on her desk. She quickly realized that she spends so little time at her desk that she barely sees it anyway. She looked around for a solitaire icon but couldn’t find one. Lots of companies removed the icon so employees would not be tempted to waste hours a day playing the highly addictive game. She decided to search for the Games folder in the computer’s file listing. She typed in ’Games’ at the Search prompt and hit enter. The fast machine returned the results in a split second. “Damn” she said, there wasn’t a Games folder, which meant that the game had likely been removed. There was a folder with Games in the name, but it was called Monkey Games. She decided that she would simply search for a solitaire file. Often times the game folder was deleted but the individual games remained. She typed ’solitaire’ in the Search box and hit enter once more. Again, nothing. “Damn” she said as she looked at her watch. It was only 10:15, which meant that there was obviously still no one at the office with whom she could talk. Suddenly she remembered that she would have to cancel the new reservations she had made for the Hotel de la Paix on the way to the airport. As the taxi was taking her to Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris, she had called the hotel and told them that she was not going to be arriving as scheduled. She had them push back the reservation for a week. Now she was obviously not going to make that either. As a frequent and very much appreciated guest of the Hotel de la Paix (particularly by the staff) Laura was allowed to make reservations or cancel them at anytime, even online at the hotel’s website. Typically she simply logged onto their site and left a message stating her arrival date and time and the concierge would arrange everything from airport transportation to lift tickets. She didn’t even have to tell them when she was leaving. She was welcome to stay as long as she liked. This time unfortunately she was canceling the reservation, which she knew would prompt a note and a flower to be sent to her office at South Centre by Hanns, the bell captain. He was a wonderful old man who always had a wonderful smile that lit up every day. He had been sending her thank you notes, birthday greetings and Christmas cards since she first made his acquaintance. She had always assumed that he did that with all of the five star hotel’s guests, but in reality while everyone did receive a thank you card and flower, everything else was just for her. He was smitten with her the moment she first walked in the door about four years ago. She was the spitting image of a girl he had known forty years before. He always liked to imagine that Laura was her daughter and she was a living greeting card from her mother. While he knew it was not true, the two hit it off from the start and both enjoyed maintaining the ruse. After canceling her reservation she still had another half an hour before anyone was back at their desks. She looked at the computer and tried to think of another game that might be there, as she was not particularly enthusiastic about surfing the web and needed a half an hour of mindless distraction. No poker. No chess. Nothing. When she couldn’t find any other games she remembered the Monkey Games folder. She looked on the desktop for a Monkey Games icon but there wasn’t one so she went back to the search prompt and pulled up the folder again. Clicking on the folder presented her with a number of files, none of which was a game. Instead, the files were Word documents. For the hell of it she clicked on the file named Monkey Games file just to see what it was. It was a document about 50 pages long. She began to read and discovered that while everything dealt with monkeys, these certainly weren’t games. The document chronicled organ transplant research. Given that the actual medical part of Alexander Resources never really fascinated her, she went to close the file. Accidentally clicking the full-screen tab rather than the close button, she suddenly found herself drawn into the document.
The data discussed studies on stem cell research and organ rejection experiments done on a number of pairs of primates. What she found particularly compelling was the fact that according to the data, the primates were clones. “Impossible” she said to herself. It had only been within the last decade that Dolly the Sheep had been cloned. There must have been something wrong here because these files discussed cloning of monkeys that went back over 20 years. She found herself inexplicably compelled to keep reading. The document talked about the cloning work starting more than thirty years before and that many of the first tests were done at South Centre. “Amazing” she thought. She had always known that one of the fundamental areas of study for Alexander Research was organ transplant rejection. Here this file talked specifically to that idea. The cloning almost seemed to be an aside. The goal was to fight organ rejection and cloning seemed to be the solution. The file discussed pairs of a variety of animals that had been cloned, but the primary focus apparently was the use of primates. The file discussed the progression over the years of organs and muscles and even bones being transplanted from one clone to another. Each transplant would be more complex than the last and the outcome was always the same. In every single case of a cloned organ being transplanted between clones, the transplanted organ took with no rejection. Laura knew this was of supreme importance because beyond finding a sufficient supply of donated organs, rejection remained the most difficult aspect of transplants.
All of this caused her to recall a quote she had heard some years ago not long after she arrived in Paris. There had been a great deal of public criticism of cloning research. One of the scientists who had spoken at a conference supporting cloning and stem cell research was quoted as saying, “The most efficient way to avoid organ rejection was to replace the organ with a copy of itself”. She remembers thinking that that made a lot of sense, given that Alexander Resources began life as a research facility looking for drugs that inhibited rejection in organ transplants. Research data on this subject matter was not unusual, but what was unusual was the extent to which they had obviously been successful.
As the success continued, the transplants became more and more complex, from multiple organ combinations to age differences between the clones to even clones of clones. She read on with fascination as through trial and error she read about the almost machinelike progress they made. At the end she found herself in awe. She had known that science could do a lot, but she had never really delved that deep into the actual medical workings of Alexander Resources to notice one way or another.
Upon closing the Word document she looked at her watch. It would be about 15 minutes before anyone would be back at their desks. She surveyed the Monkey Games folder and noticed a file called Popeye, with a tiny picture of the rather robust cartoon character smiling. She didn’t have a clue what it would be, but she decided to click on it anyway. What she found was utterly unexpected, but nothing but consuming. The icon opened an Excel spreadsheet that chronicled the results of the bi-annual physicals given to Jonathan over the last decade. The final entry detailed the results from his last exam, less than three months before. The file paid particular attention to his nerve structure. The further she read, the less this document seemed to make sense. According to it, Jonathan was in perfect health, literally. Beyond simply being in perfect health physiologically, he was an almost perfect anatomical specimen. From cardiovascular efficiency to physical strength to dexterity to reflex control he was almost a perfect specimen of a man. She thought to herself about the physical closeness she had shared with him over the last 48 hours. Sebring had certainly done a phenomenal job in turning him into a modern day Hercules. She wondered why there was no mention of his disease.
Suddenly she became very aware of her tiredness and she knew that it be no use trying to start an IM conversation with anyone at South Centre. She would simply talk to them Tuesday as she would arrive too late tomorrow night. She didn’t know if it was the last 48 hours catching up with her or just the jumble of emotions but either way she knew she had to get some sleep. She turned the computer off and walked out the door, locking it behind her. “Good night” she said as she passed the guard desk. Knowing that he would likely be looking at her the entire time, she decided there was no way she was going to go into Jonathan’s room. As she turned into her room she looked at the guard just to see if she was right. She was. She waved and went into the room and fell face forward on the bed. Half asleep, half not, her mind wandered. While she was not prone to falling in love after just 48 hours, she had certainly done it this time. She was sure it was not a good idea to mention their relationship to anyone right now, although for the life of her she was not entirely sure why. That damn file with his physical data only made matters worse. The whole damn situation was just a little strange. In the fog that comes on the cusp of sleep she didn’t know for sure if there was anything there or if it was just her naturally inquisitive mind that was finding shadows where none existed. She knew there was no way of getting out of leaving that morning, but she was determined to make sure she was back here in less than a week. She wanted to stay and wait on the results of Jonathan’s treatment but she could feel that somehow that was not going to happen. Besides, Sebring would be here in two days.
She had a gift, although sometimes she thought it was something of a curse. Regardless of what time she went to bed, her body always woke her six hours after she started sleeping. When she was not alone that could offer a pleasant way to start the day as she thought there were few things in life that could compete with making love in the morning in that semi-conscious state where nothing in the world has yet to come into focus and the only people in the world are you and the person in your arms. On the far more frequent days when she woke up alone it seemed more like a curse. Today she was definitely alone.
As she rolled out of bed she went to the bathroom and took a shower, starting with hot water then slowly turning it cold so that when she emerged from the steam filled room she was fully awake. After getting dressed into clothes she had taken from Aislado, she walked to the dining room. It was 7:00 and Jack was leaving through the dining room. He had been talking with Albert and Alexander who were out on the patio that connected the building and the pool. He smiled at Laura and said “The boat came in a little early so should be ready to leave at 10:00. Is that OK?” he asked, but they both knew it was rhetorical. She smiled and said “Sure.” “Great.” he said, “ I’ll see you then,” as he turned and left.
“How nice to see you Laura” Alexander said with his typical greeting as sat in his wheelchair half in the dining room half on the patio. “Thank you for all of your assistance. I do greatly appreciate it”.
She walked around the table to say hello. As she was walking around to greet him, Alexander raised his left hand to shake hers in a familial and friendly way. Without realizing it, she took note of contours of his arm. His arm was perfectly shaped and his veins were a Red Cross nurse’s dream. She also noticed a small birthmark on the inside of his forearm. It was not a large birthmark, but was conspicuous because of its shape. It was about the size of a quarter in diameter with a dark crescent bisected by a straight line. She found it quite interesting because Jonathan had the same birthmark. It looked more like a tattoo than a birthmark, but it was definitely the latter. As it was not her intention to discuss her rendezvous with Jonathan, she didn’t mention the similarity. Alex was gracious, as he had always been. Although the David wasn’t allowing him any solid foods, the kitchen would be happy to make her whatever she might want. “Thank you” she said. As Albert began to push him out to the far end of the pool where the sun was just beginning to come up, Alex said stopped him and looked up at Laura once again. “I just wanted to thank you again for putting off your well deserved rest to bring my son to the island. After you get back to Paris and solve this board problem, why don’t you take a couple of weeks off and go wherever you want? It doesn’t matter where. On me.” She looked at him with a face that conveyed nothing about her reaction to what was certainly a generous offer. “Before you can protest” Alex said, although he saw no sign of protest or anything else, “I insist and I will hear no arguments.” “Thank you very much Alex.” she responded, “That is very kind of you. It was no problem. Jonathan is a very nice young man.” “Yes, he is. Thank you.” She knew better than to ask him about how he knew what kind of a young man Jonathan was, having never met him. Alex did not speak about family and there was no getting around it. Last night was the first time she had ever heard the story of Brooke, and that had come from Albert. “Is he out here?” she asked, looking around? “No” said Albert, “He got up about two hours ago and David took him over to the lab to give him a sedative and begin the physical. Apparently he couldn’t sleep all night. “Well, that’s not surprising given the day he had yesterday and what he was expecting today” Laura said, trying as hard as she could to hide the disappointment she was sure was scrawled across her face. “Well, I know David will take good care of him” she said. After an awkward moment of silence where no one knew what to say, Laura broke the silence, saying she was sorry to hear about his accident and that he looked in good spirits and great health given the traumatic events of the last week. Albert once again began to wheel Alexander out to the end of the patio where the sun was just hitting the pool, which was interestingly filled with salt water. A salt water filled pool was something Alex had wanted for years since he first saw one in the Vanderbilt’s Breakers mansion in Newport RI many years before. Unlike the Vanderilts, the water temperature here was kept like at a temperature of 115 degrees. Short of the Roman baths heated by natural springs scattered across Europe, this pool was undoubtedly the most comfortable body of water in the world, particularly for a 65 year old man trying to recover from such a tremendous injury. Laura thought it a bit unusual that a doctor considered it appropriate that someone with an injury such as Alex’s to be in salt water. Nonetheless, as Albert and one of the security personnel lowered him into the water, it was obvious that Alex enjoyed it tremendously. The water was only two feet deep at the shallow end so he could relax and sit in the corner for hours, which was exactly what he had planned on doing.
Laura smiled and said “Well, if you’ll excuse me now, I want to walk down to the beach for a moment before I fly back to rainy Paris.” She wanted to clear her head and she thought a walk on the beach might help. While she would love to have gone swimming, she limited herself to walking in the gentle surf. The swimming for the day was being done in her head. She kept going over the events of the last four days. There were so many contradictions or things that seemed to be out of place, but she couldn’t quite figure out why. Something just didn’t seem right, but she realized that a big part of the confusion might be feelings for Jonathan getting in the way. Feeling like a schoolgirl was not something she had done much of while she was actually in school so she found its appearance now particularly annoying. Nonetheless, she couldn’t get the feeling of unease out of her mind.
Returning from her walk she passed Alexander as he relaxed in the pool. She commented that he looked very comfortable and that he must be feeling better. He said that the salt was nature’s best medicine and that he was indeed feeling good. In a voice whose ring Laura thought laid somewhere between rhapsodic and melancholy, Alexander reflected that he was “sitting in paradise with a clear head, a cold vodka and great book” (he held up his copy of Universe in a Nutshell; Stephen W. Hawking) “What more could he want?” he questioned.
Indeed, what more could he want? She wondered what this man who had been so vital and vigorous, both in mind and body would do now that half of his limp body was confined to a wheelchair. She imagined he must feel like Superman in the comic book, where he weeps as he watches his father lay dying in his bed “I’m the most powerful person in the world and I can’t do anything at all!” No doubt Alexander had always carried himself with the confidence of Superman. If there was ever someone who had the drive and the resources to find a way to repair the damage, it was Alex. After all, had he not spent the last thirty years funding the science of regeneration of the body?
Those thoughts were crossing her mind as she continued toward the doorway that opened into the foyer, just as she approached the door she smiled at Alexander, who had paused for a moment. He continued, “Besides, I have complete use of the most important organ in the human body.” As he spoke Alexander tapped his index finger against his temple, which she knew meant his brain. She never saw the smile that he was wearing. Against the sea of white that was his robe, his birthmark drew her focus like the white nose on a midnight-black cat. Suddenly everything started to move in slow motion. She felt like she had been hit by a train. It was like a blinding light had been switched on and illuminated the darkness of a pitch-black room. She was having a difficult time maintaining her own movement forward. In that fraction of a second everything became clear. It was like watching all of the cards fall into place in a game of solitaire after flipping over the nine of clubs that had kept everything from moving forward.
So many thoughts of the last 72 hours rushed into her head at once. Why had Alexander never contacted Jonathan? Why was it so important for Alexander to meet Jonathan now? Why had the results of the physical pronounced him literally perfectly fit? Why were there no comments in those results about his condition? How could a man with such a weak immune system maintain the regimen Jonathan had followed over the last twenty years? As all of the pieces seemed to fall into place, the quote that was jogged into her memory last night by the Monkey Games file posted itself in the center of her consciousness: “The most efficient way to avoid organ rejection was to replace the organ with a copy of itself.” Her mind immediately went back to the file itself. The doctors apparently considered a brain transplant as the Brass Ring. If that could be done that meant that every organ in the body could be transplanted. Through trial and error on a variety of animals from mice to rabbits to dogs, the surgeons discovered that using stem cells from a fetus of the corresponding species to coat the nerve endings of the brain just prior to removal extended the time allowable between harvest and transplant dramatically. This coating slowed the neuron flow allowing for a more precise extraction and implantation maneuvers. As the process of reconnecting the nerve endings required great accuracy, this extra time made the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful transplant. This was particularly true with the complex array of neurological circuitry involved with primates. When the process was perfected in less sophisticated animals it was time to apply what they had learned. The teams went through 14 sets of chimpanzees until they were successful with their first primate brain transplant. The “original” chimpanzee was named Jeffery. He was 10 years old when he was cloned. William was his clone. The transplant was done when William was three years old. Jeffery was picked because he was among the smartest apes in the compound, which Laura realized was the facility she had just visited in the Ivory Coast. Not only did Jeffery have a vocabulary of over 100 words; he was by far the most intelligent when it came to problem solving. William on the other hand never had any intellectual training at all. What he was trained at was gymnastics and a variety of tasks that required a great deal of manual dexterity such as balancing a spinning basketball on a finger or kicking a soccer ball on his knee.
The operation was a spectacular success. It took 2 days for William to regain consciousness. It took another 2 weeks for him to regain complete motor control, although he was able to speak after just a couple days. Through a variety of mobility and skills tests, it became clear that the transplant had been a resounding success. The primary goal of the experiment was to see if Jeffrey’s 13 year old brain could be transplanted into William’s 3-year-old body. Once that was a success it was critical to understand what characteristics the resulting chimp would carry. It soon became clear that the team had succeeded to a degree they had hoped for but not seriously considered. The chimp that now had Jeffrey’s brain in William’s body had both the intellectual capacity of Jeffrey and the physical traits William. On a series of exams his scores literally mirrored those of Jeffrey before the operation and exceeded by far the scores William had previously achieved. In addition it became clear that he also retained all of the physical abilities that William had, including both dexterity and reflexes. The joyous doctors realized that they could not have crafted a more desirable outcome if they had wanted to. Literally they had taken the best capabilities of two different chimps and created one who was superior to both.
Suddenly the thought that careened to the center of her mind was the one she had as Jonathan lay across her lap as she leaned against the headboard of the bed the first night they had made love. He was glistening with sweat as she ran her hands over the contours of his shoulders and kissed every ridge of his perfectly muscled back. As the moonlight danced with every breath he took, it occurred to her that he was so perfect it was as if he had been created rather than born. That was it... He was created... It was right there in Monkey Games: Jeffery and William; Alexander and Jonathan. Jonathan WAS Alexander.
Monkey Games... Jonathan was Alexander’s clone. Unimaginable... She didn’t know how or why, but it was obvious now... William and Jeffery were simply the trial runs... The accident had no doubt rushed up their timetable, but the conclusion was unmistakable... Just like they had done with the monkeys, they were going to transfer Alexander’s brain into his a new body... Jonathan’s. She was right, it was not just by chance that Jonathan was in perfect shape, it was by design, he was actually raised to have the perfect body... For Alexander to use.
Unbelievable... in her entire life she had never heard of such a coldly calculated plan. How many people were in on it? It had to have been more than twenty years in the making. How many people knew about it? Albert? Yes! David Smith? Yes! Jack? She didn’t know. Most importantly, Sebring? How much did he know? He had to know something. She had no idea what the answers to any of those questions. They kept running through her head. For what seemed like an eternity, images and voices of lies and deceits flashed through her head, followed by an array of roads to be taken. Although she felt like she had been standing there immobilized in front of Alex and Albert for an hour, in reality the elapsed time was only a matter of seconds and Alexander never saw the sign of recognition on her face. As she waved goodbye to he and Albert, she knew there was no way she was leaving that island alone.
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