“People think of evolution as a long, slow process,” Sarah Madison said. “They think of dinosaurs turning into birds, neanderthals being replaced by cro-magnons. But there are times when evolution can happen in sudden bursts and shifts. A new species can develop due to mutation, from radiation or the pressure to change.”
Mark Adams nodded. “And you think that’s what your discovery means? A new species of humans is coming?”
“The signs are there. We’ve gone about as far as we can; the only obvious answer is the next step.”
Mark thought about what she said. He’d done plenty of his own research into genetic engineering as a biologist, whereas her specialty was anthropology. He thought in terms of the present, she thought long term.
“Even so, doesn’t that take a long time, by our standards? And people aren’t just genes.”
“That’s what I want to prove.” Madison became more excited. “If we could give it a push, so to speak, we could get a glimpse of our future. We could see what we might become.”
Mark still wasn’t entirely convinced. “Maybe we’re better off not knowing,” he warned her. “It does sound like you might be getting into playing God territory.”
Madison snorted. “God is a human invention. We made him up to explain how the universe worked.”
Mark sighed. They’d had this sort of argument before, and he didn’t want to rehash it, especially since their personal relationship was moving beyond the dating and dinner stage. “All right,” he acknowledged. “So, what’s your plan for giving evolution a push?”
“I just want to tweak a test subject’s genes a little bit, create new strands of DNA. That’s why I’ve been going down to the zoo. I’ve been able to gain access to one of their chimpanzees, who’s dying. I fibbed a little bit-I told them it was for cancer research. The chimp will be at the lab tomorrow. I want to give her a small dose of radiation with a radiology scanner, and record the results as they happen.”
Mark wasn’t sure how he felt about what she was proposing. “Are you sure that’s ethical?” the animal rights people might not like it.”
“It’s perfectly harmless-no different than giving a test to a human patient. Besides, she’s terminally ill, and knows it. Animals always know when they’re going to die.”
That was true enough. “Okay. I guess I’m in. I just hope you don’t get more than you bargain for.”
Sarah smiled confidently. “It’ll only take about an hour. Trust me, nothing will go wrong.”
Mark helped Sarah in the university’s radiology lab as they sedated the chimpanzee and began the test. Sarah had been right-the poor ape was dying, and clearly not in good shape. Maybe they were helping to ease its suffering as the end came near, he thought.
Mark went into the adjoining observation room where he watched Sarah begin bombarding the chimp with the radiation. It was a repetitive process-first the rads, then the measurements and results. This might work after all, Mark thought as he watched and waited. No different than using a human patient. But they usually gave consent, another part of him said.
Mark was cataloging her results when the room was suddenly flooded with a burst of light. Startled, he looked up and saw Sarah leaning against the wall, looking dazed and started. Alarmed, he opened the lab door and went in.
“What happened?” he asked. “There was a light. Are you okay?” He looked at the scanner table. It was empty. “Where’d your patient go?”
Sarah came to her senses. “I…I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead. “I gave her a dose…that’s all I remember.”
They both looked at the empty table. “So where the hell did she go?” Mark asked again. “What did we do? What did we really do?”
“Maybe…maybe we gave her what she wanted. A way to move beyond her pain, to become something new…”
”But what?”
Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know. But I saw something in her readings right before it happened. Something about her body changed. It became something different, something new. Maybe I helped her take the next step by giving her a push.”
“A push to where?” Mark persisted.
Sarah looked at him, then back to the table. “Somewhere else,” she answered. “Somewhere to what we might become.”
THE END