Jane tripped over a large knot of roots from a nearby tree, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing face plant. Engrossed in the discussion, Jane hadn’t noticed that they had just entered the small grove of trees. “Of course, money alone won’t make this a success,” she continued. “We also need a way to speed up the process. We’ve already reduced the incubation period to 30 minutes. However, we still need the host plant to grow, react to the environment, and then live or die. If we can accelerate this process and have shorter generations, we can iterate on an organism more quickly, combining beneficial traits in order to design the desired organism.”
Dr. Forrester stopped next to a giant oak tree, its base occluded by a wall of tall reeds and bushes. Jane’s feet were getting tired, but there was nowhere to sit, and she certainly wasn’t going to plop down on the ground unless Dr. Forrester did so first. “Of course, this is all conjecture,” continued Jane. We haven’t had the resources to truly explore these paths.”
“That’s why I’ve asked you here,” Dr. Forrester said. “Haven’t you wondered what we’re doing in the middle of nowhere?”
“Well, somewhat,” Jane said cautiously. “I assumed this was a spot that you found relaxing.”
“I don’t relax,” Dr. Forrester said blankly. “Stop and listen,” she continued. “Really listen.”
Jane let her ears settle into the silence of nature until they discovered the sounds of nature. “I hear leaves rustling in the wind, some birds chirping far off in the distance, maybe some creatures moving in the bushes,” Jane said.
“No, listen harder. Listen closer,” Dr. Forrester said.
Jane sat in silence for a while, trying to focus her ears on the trees around her. And then she heard it, faintly at first, but then it grew stronger as she concentrated. There was a hum in the background, an electrical hum. “There’s an AC power source here,” she said.
“Yes,” Dr. Forrester said. She walked towards the large oak tree and swept the reeds to the side. They moved away, as if on rails. When she touched the bark of the tree, it slid aside, revealing an elevator door. “Welcome to the central laboratories of the ICCF.”
************
The elevator seemed to take an eternity. But to be fair, Jane had no idea how far down they were going. As if reading her mind, Dr. Forrester explained, “These elevators are sixty years old, but don’t worry. They work just fine. This complex was built in the late nineteen sixties during the Cold War as a nuclear bunker. The idea was that if the Russians fired a nuclear missile at Washington, the President and his top advisers could hide here and run World War III from inside. We’re going down deep enough to survive a nuclear bomb. A long elevator trip isn’t a bad compromise.”
Jane blinked twice. “How did you manage to get a nuclear bunker as a lab?”
“When the President asked me to direct the ICCF, he made it clear that this would be a covert operation for at least the first few years. He didn’t want to try to get Congressional funding for the operation. Plus, he wanted us to have the freedom to engage other nations and broker carbon reduction deals without everything becoming a large media frenzy. Carbon emissions are tied to energy policy which can be a very sensitive topic, especially for China and India. Negotiations need to be held in private since no one wants to be viewed as being bought off by the Americans. We’re the bad guys in this arena, still responsible for over half of global carbon emissions.”
“Well, surely there’s an easier way to keep things out of sight than hiding in a fallout shelter,” insisted Jane. She was beginning to get a bit claustrophobic, feeling the weight of tons of rock and soil above her head.
“Of course there is,” Dr. Forrester retorted. “But when I found out this bunker was just sitting here, unused, I had to take it. It had everything we needed: space, power, state-of-the-art environmental controls, and a high speed communications network. And there was something about reusing ancient military infrastructure and working hidden beneath nature that really appealed to me.”
Jane had to admit that there was a certain elegance to the idea. The lab would certainly have a low impact on the surrounding environment. At that moment, the elevator finally reached its destination, its doors opening to reveal a typical looking office space.
“These are the administrative offices and security,” Dr. Forrester said, stepping out of the elevator and waving at the guards behind the front desk. “Follow me. We need to take a separate elevator to reach the laboratory levels.”
Dr. Forrester guided Jane past the front desk and around the corner to another elevator. This one was a freight elevator easily large enough to hold the environmental test chambers she used in her research. Now that she thought about it, the elevator hidden in the oak tree was much too small to hold large equipment. There must be another entrance somewhere. Somehow the thought of an alternate entrance made her feel less claustrophobic.
“There are four floors for labs,” Dr. Forrester explained as they got in the elevator. “We’re going first to level one for a visit with Dr. Patchow. After that I’ll take you to meet a few more researchers before showing you level four.”
Dr. Patchow was a short, older gentleman who spoke with a thick Russian accent. Surprisingly, he wore thick wire-frame glasses, an odd relic in the days of laser eye correction. “Welcome to my lab, Dr. Ingram,” he said warmly. His lab was easily twice the size of her lab back in California. Lab assistants lined the walls like sailors on an aircraft carrier, all watching her arrival.
“Come look, come look.” He gestured them over to a lab bench where a microscope had been prepared. Of course they could have just displayed the digital image on any of the dozen or so monitors in the lab, but Dr. Patchow insisted that she look directly into the lens. When she saw what was happening, she realized why. She was looking at what appeared to be regular plant cells on a petri dish. They were going through all the normal cell functions like molecule transport, energy conversion, and even reproduction. But it was happening at an incredible rate, possibly 10 to 20 times normal speeds.
“This is for real?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” Patchow answered, beaming with pride. “What you see are our first examples of accelerated development and reproduction of plant cells. I won’t tell you our little secret now.” He chuckled. “But I assure you that this is just the beginning of what we will be able to do.”
************
Three hours later, Jane was exhausted. Adrenaline had kept her going in the beginning, but now her brain was full, and her body was crashing. She had met with half a dozen biologists, ecologists, and geneticists, all with fascinating research that could enable great strides in her own work. And then Dr. Forrester had shown her the fourth floor. It was a vast space, fully four to five times the size of her current lab. It had nearly a dozen state-of-the-art environmental chambers, each larger than any she had seen before. Dr. Forrester claimed they were specially made for the military, and no lab in the world had comparable equipment. And best of all, the rest of the space would be hers to design. The entire fourth floor would be hers.
Dr. Forrester led Jane back to the main elevator that ran back to the surface. It was now obvious to Jane that this wasn’t a funding interview. It was her first day at a new job. They had already set up the lab for her research, and the other scientists were surprisingly familiar with her work. She had spent the last few hours discussing how to collaborate with the other researchers who all assumed she would be joining the team. To be honest, Jane couldn’t see how she could turn this one down. It was truly an opportunity of a lifetime.
“So, what do you think? Is this everything you’ll need?” Dr. Forrester asked.
“I’ll still need time,” Jane said. “Even with all these resources, we’re not going to work miracles overnight.”
“I know this endeavor will take decades, maybe even centuries,” Dr. Forrester replied. “You focus on your research. The rest of the foundation will work on delaying any majo
r climate change catastrophes for as long as we can. Hopefully it’ll be enough.”
They were standing outside now, walking steadily towards the Lexus, which was just beyond hearing range. “So it’s settled,” Dr. Forrester said. “We’ll move you and your family out to a nearby town here in Virginia and raise your current salary by 25%. Give us a list of the equipment you need, and it’ll be installed by the time you arrive. We’ll pull a few research assistants from the other labs to help you. I’ll see you here again in three weeks.”
“No,” Jane said. Dr. Forrester almost lost her step. She wasn’t used to hearing the word “no.” Jane had surprised herself as well, but thus committed, she didn’t waver. “My current research assistants are critical to my work,” she explained. “I will need to retain all of them at a 25% increase in salary and have them moved out here as well.” She paused, the silence deafening, and then continued, “Otherwise, you can fund my research back in San Francisco.”
Dr. Forrester studied Jane intently for a moment as if willing her to break. Then she relented. “Very well. You may have your people. Arrange to have everyone here in two weeks.”
Then a smile finally crept onto her face. “And please,” she said. “Call me Fran.”
************
On the flight back to San Francisco, Jane flipped through the entertainment selections on her console. Cooking shows, the news, sitcoms, and movies all flipped by without drawing her attention. Her mind was pumped full of adrenaline, unable to focus on a single thought, yet bursting with energy. She walked around the cabin to disperse some of her energy. Twenty rows behind her, she saw a bald head sticking up far above the others, almost pressed up against the call button. The man she had run into at the airport on the way to Washington was crammed into a coach seat between an old lady and a teenager listening to his headphones. What were the odds? The man didn’t look up when she walked past.
Back in her seat, she imagined telling her team the good news. The look on her team’s faces would be all the reward she needed. She had saved the lab. Mai-lin, George, and Mark, all of them would be so glad that they could continue their work.
But that thought wasn’t the cause of the persistent inner glow that threatened to break through her professional facade and make her dance with joy. She clutched the tiny globe that hung around her neck. “I’m finally going to make a difference, Paul,” she whispered to herself. “I’m going to keep our Earth safe.”
Chapter 8: The Institute
Flora’s muscles ached. Her stomach ached. Her head ached. She had spent most of her life waking up after falling from various heights to find new bruises and scratches along her body and the occasional broken bone. And yet her body had never complained this loudly before. But still, it was all worth it. She closed her eyes and thought back to the events that followed their entry into the Institute.
************
Garland, Crick, Mendel, Flora, Stalk, Bunsen, Kava and Aster followed Chase and the ancient scholar excitedly into the mountain cave. The walls were uniform and polished smooth, clearly not the work of nature. Flora saw that bundles of vines stretched along the ceiling. As they descended further into the cave and the sunlight disappeared, the vines began to glow, providing a smooth yellow light that filled the passageway.
They reached an intersection where another passageway crossed their path. Chase ignored the other passageway, continuing to lead them forward. Flora noticed that they were now walking slightly uphill.
“Insulation by elevation,” Mendel murmured. Sure enough, it was getting warmer. The dip in the passageway must help prevent the heat from escaping to the outside. Soon, it was comfortably warm, the heat possibly coming from more Arum plants. Abundant plant life adorned the walls. Aside from the seemingly endless network of vines, there were also other small plants clinging onto mud patches in the wall. A cluster of plants smiled at her, a living mural of welcome planted onto the stone walls.
At the next intersection, they turned right, stopping at a pair of doorways across the hall from each other. “These will be your temporary living quarters,” Chase said. “Boys on the left. Girls on the right.” He turned to leave.
“Wait, I’m the leader,” Garland said. “Shouldn’t I-.”
“Leader?” The old scholar suddenly said. “Cohorts have no leaders.”
“Oh right, about that,” Chase said. “There is no leader.”
“What?” Garland said. “But you-.”
“I made it up,” Chase said. “You guys seemed so lazy. I thought it would put a little fire beneath your feet.”
“Why you little -,” Crick said, moving towards Chase menacingly. But Chase hid himself behind the ancient scholar, who froze them all with a single stare.
“There is no leader,” the scholar repeated. “But when the time comes, there will be,” he added. Then he turned and walked away.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Crick asked.
“It means you should shut up and listen to me,” Chase said. “Now rest up. I’ll come get you in a bit.”
Flora was so tired and famished that she wasted no time and walked immediately into the room on the right. There she found three beds and an equal number of matching desks and chairs in an otherwise bare room. The same vines she had seen in the hallways lit up the room. She dropped her pack next to the furthest bed and collapsed onto the mattress, saying, “Oh, I really deserve this bed right now.”
Kava and Aster joined her as the boys went into their own room. Lying on the bed, Flora stared at the ceiling and said to no one in particular, “I can’t believe I’m in the Institute.”
“Me too.” Aster added.
“They certainly made us work to get here,” Flora added.
“And now we know we deserve to be here,” Aster concluded.
A very short while later, they were interrupted by the sound of a gratingly familiar voice.
“Rise and shine lazy bums,” Chase called from the hallway. “It’s time for the feast.”
Flora’s ears perked up, but it was her growling stomach that yanked her out of bed. Kava and Aster must have been famished as well, for all three of them managed to get out the door in under ten seconds. The boys showed up just a few moments later.
“I’m glad you finally made it,” Chase continued. “I’ve been waiting for this feast for a whole year.”
“Well, you certainly didn’t help us,” Crick complained.
“Which we appreciate,” interjected Garland. “We passed all the trials by virtue of our skills alone.”
“Yeah yeah, bravo,” Chase said impatiently. “Right this way, oh great scholars.” He led them back to the main passage and then turned right, leading them further into the Institute.
“Wow, how did they carve these passageways into the mountain like this?” Flora asked.
“Now is not the time for talking,” Chase objected. “Now is the time for walking.” Flora couldn’t help thinking how much this nine year old boy resembled her mother. She hoped she’d meet someone at the Institute who would be more willing to answer questions.
After a few minutes of silent walking, they began to see natural sunlight up ahead. The passageway became shallower and then finally opened out into a small crop of large oak trees. As they walked out from their branches and into a lush green meadow, they could see that the oak trees formed a ring a hundred meters in diameter around a circular meadow sprinkled with wildflowers. Behind the circle of trees, large mountains rose in the background. Flora looked around to see that they were surrounded on all sides by rock walls that stretched hundreds of feet in the air. Along the circle of trees, she could see other paths which must lead into caves similar to the one they had just walked out of. The meadow was like a miniature version of the valley of Terrene.
Flora looked up at the sky. The setting sun reflected on lines that stretched across her vision. Flora’s jaw dropped. There was a ceiling of glass suspended above them. That must be why i
t was so warm in this meadow. She prodded Aster, who was standing next to her, and pointed at the sky, never once looking away from the magnificent glass ceiling. But Aster wasn’t looking up. She was looking at all the people in the meadow.
“Welcome to the Glasshouse,” Chase announced as everyone began to clap.
The sound was deafening. Hundreds of pairs of hands clapped in unison, growing from a random clamor into a steady beat. As Chase led them towards the center of the meadow, she could see that the crowd was seated at round tables arranged in a circle. Each table seated eight people, all of whom wore the white robes of the scholars along with colored scarves. The people on their right wore green scarves. The ones on their left wore blue. Chase led the new recruits to an empty table in the center of the circle and gestured for them to sit. He then disappeared into the crowd.
At that point someone announced, “The 325th cohort has arrived. Let us eat and be merry!”
People all around them cheered and began digging into the food at their tables. Flora noticed that the scholars on all sides of them wore different colored scarves. Aside from the sections of blue and green scarves they had walked past, there was also a red, a yellow, and a black section. From above, the crowd must look like a pie with five colorful slices with the eight of them in the middle of it all.
Bunsen had already started eating. “I have no idea what this is,” he said, shoving a yellow-colored biscuit-like substance into his mouth, “but it tastes wonderful.” Soon they were all wildly stuffing food into their mouths, even Garland. Some of it was familiar, like broccoli and bread, but many of the dips and baked goods were completely foreign to Flora. Bunsen was right though: everything was excellent.
After they had fully stuffed themselves, clear glasses filled with dark red wine appeared on the table. Flora had drunk wine only one other time in her life, at the wedding of one of her older cousins. That was several years ago, and all she could remember was that she had poured the wine out onto the ground after just one sip, causing her mother to scold her for wasting such a valuable treat. But she was eager to try some now. The wine looked so elegant in the delicate glasses on their table.