Back at the TXP Facility, Sarah woke up early the next morning, showered, and dressed in a pair of black slacks and a matching shirt. She wanted to change something about her appearance, something to help her feel more focused on the task ahead of her. Her hair was a prime candidate. Normally, her locks were wavy with a slight curl at the ends. Not frizzy or too curly, and she liked to use a flat iron for a distinct look. She felt it gave her a professional or more serious air. But she didn't have a flat iron in her subterranean room, so that was a no-go this morning. She would have to send Wolf out to fetch one for her. Instead, for the time being, she chose an all-black wardrobe as her agent of change, except for the one thing she couldn't forego: a white lab jacket.
She donned the jacket, made her way to subfloor number thirteen, and entered the lab before Dr. Frazier or Wolf got out of bed. She skipped breakfast and the morning run that usually got her investigative juices churning. The time was four thirty-eight, and the sun wasn't even up—not that she could see it from this subterranean lair. But she needed to think and sort out the mystery of unlocking the serum's full benefits, and in order to do that, she needed to be alone, away from distractions like Wolf and his stupid badgering, and Dr. Frazier's incessant staring over her shoulder. Everyone wanted to crack this thing wide open, but it wouldn't happen without putting in the work.
The most recent events in Sarah's journey of discovery all happened so fast. It was like a blur. The cargo plane trip to Iceland, a tangle with a Greenland shark, and a return flight back to the States. Sarah and Wolf had disembarked from the autopilot plane at an abandoned missile silo somewhere in the Midwest on a flat stretch of farmland growing wheat. Maybe Kansas or Nebraska? Who knew? They took an elevator lift to what amounted to another underground supply station and hitched a ride back to the TXP Facility on The Bullet.
Sarah had three tasks ahead of her: analyze the tissue sample from the Greenland shark, study the regenerating ability of the immortal jellyfish, and then turn the microscope on herself. She was impatient, but she would force herself to focus on that order. She didn't need to get ahead of herself. She was a scientist, and she needed structure to function.
The Ocean Blue Corporation had performed extensive studies on great barracudas. Sarah witnessed firsthand what their experiments did to the marine life in the Bahamas, Tahiti, and Australia, including the atrocious effects on the great barracuda, and all the fish those monstrous creatures consumed with their aggressive feeding behavior. Sixty years ago, the U.S. and Australian governments deemed Ocean Blue's research classified information. Though they kept it secret, they documented it well. Human growth hormone altered and enhanced the barracuda's size, strength, and ability to heal from injury and disease. Sarah achieved immortality from that version of the serum. That was all it took. But as far as she knew, it didn't accomplish that for other people, only strength and healing, intended to create a superhuman army for a rogue general to overthrow his communist government.
Sarah was unique.
Once Admiral Jax discovered her unique abnormality, he had her kidnapped and taken away to the space station, Arcturus, so she could fix the current version of the serum. The Wolf version. The one with monstrous side effects. The same serum they used on Jake to encourage her to work harder. Playing God had its consequences. Something had gone wrong at the genetic level. That's where Sarah came in now. She had to find out what the problem was, and correct it, or at least figure out a way around it.
Sarah dialed in her focus on the three tasks before her.
First, the Greenland shark.
She had a sudden flashback of her tangle with the creature in the cold depths of the Northern Atlantic. That was quite an adventure. The trip rekindled a spark of her love for the ocean. It had been years since her last scuba dive or use of a submersible.
Sarah lifted the handle of the storage freezer and opened the heavy door. Inside, she removed a stainless-steel cylinder about the size of a small flashlight. For preservation, the contents had been freeze-dried in seventy-five percent ethanol at minus twenty-eight degrees Celsius, or about eighteen degrees below zero, Fahrenheit.
She slipped on a pair of latex gloves, the elastic ends snapping tight on her wrists. She unscrewed the cylinder lid and then used tweezers to remove the shark sample for DNA analysis.
The solid core of tissue resembled the white fibrous interior of a crimson red marker with most of the ink dried out. With a trained eye, Sarah transferred the sample to a vial, then to a sequencing machine, and began the process of gene mapping. The analysis would be complete in less than fifteen minutes. The Next Gen Corporation manufactured the sequencer—the latest design—the most accurate and efficient DNA machine ever created. Next Gen seemed to play a part in almost every invention.
To pass time while she waited, Sarah pulled up the internet on the lab computer. She browsed an article on SeaLab.com that covered an in-depth study of the Greenland shark. It mentioned what many scientists had speculated, that cold water slows down the shark's growth and biochemical activity. Then it dove into another arena altogether. Genetic tests had confirmed the fish possessed anti-aging genes which destroyed molecules that damaged DNA. The genes even helped overcome infections and extend its longevity of life. But something else registered with Sarah. The study revealed that the extreme cold water actually triggered the genes into action.
With still a few more minutes of gene sequencing left, Sarah brought up the TXP Facility's computer network. If she was going to perfect the current serum, then she needed to look at its predecessor—the Ocean Blue version. This should have been simple. She did a search, found the files, and clicked on the link.
A pop-up box appeared. It read, Access Restricted, Password Required.
Sarah knew she could spend hours trying to open the file, so she removed her phone from her lab jacket. The sleek design was nothing more than a transparent piece of glass that lit up when she held it in her palm. Under normal circumstances, the device wouldn't pick up a signal this deep underground, but TXP had its own encrypted, internal signal that only registered inside the facility.
She tapped Wolf's number on her recent call list and waited for him to answer. "I need a password to look at the Ocean Blue research. Why?"
Wolf's silence filled the other end of the line.
Sarah felt a twinge of uneasiness. "Hello?"
"What time is it?" Wolf's raspy voice replied.
"Why is it restricted?"
"Okay. Yeah. That could be a problem."
"Why is that?"
"Because I'll need to get permission from Admiral Jax. I'll call you back in a few."
"Okay, but hurry."
Wolf clicked off and Sarah set the phone on the lab table with a bit of a huff. That was strange. She had been on the TXP network before and encountered no problems. They had given her access to the computer, and she had perused other files with no previous issues. After all, it was her lab. Wolf's words.
A moment later, the sequencing machine finished with a chime. She stepped over to the attached monitor and keyboard. On the screen, a window box asked her to click okay in order to view the DNA text string. Using the mouse, she did just that, and then opted to see the strand itself. This view showed a 3D image of the curling strand—an endless stretch of code viewed in sections.
Next Gen's technology made DNA analysis user friendly. Sarah selected the search parameters and let the computer do the rest. She chose Genetic Sequencing. Then, under that tab, a long list of specific parameters appeared in alphabetical order. Anti-aging was near the top. The complex machine sequenced, analyzed, and mapped genetic code—built with the ability to scan and identify precise areas of DNA samples. It even pinged a message on the screen that labeled the sample as a Greenland shark, without Sarah inputting that information into the computer. An artificially intelligent brain, so-to-speak, operated the core processor. This thing was super smart.
Just as the computer started to breakdown the DNA strand for gene mapping, Wolf barged into the lab.
"We need to go for a walk," he said. "There's something I need to show you."
"I thought you were going to get me access to the Ocean Blue files."
"About that..." He hesitated, like he was dreading what he had to tell her about what he knew. His jaw twitched. "Why see it on a computer when you can see it in person?"
Sarah's face grew warm, and her eyes burned at Wolf. She ground her teeth and exhaled a harsh breath through her nostrils. They had been hiding this from me the entire time. Right under my nose.
"Your reaction is exactly why I thought we needed to wait till the last possible moment to tell you the truth about the Ocean Blue research. Remember our encounter sixty years ago in Australia? The first time we met?"
"Yes, I remember," Sarah said, the words grumbling over her lips.
With a side glance, Wolf tightened his brows and gestured toward the door. "Let's go see the source of the Ocean Blue research... in the flesh?"