Captive

Chapter 28

Regan and Freddie returned to the city much later than anticipated, and it made more sense for them to crash for a few hours and go to work together than it did for Regan to drop Freddie at his place and head to hers. She had a drawer at his apartment with a few essentials—deodorant, toothbrush, change of work clothes, etc. When they reached his abode, both their cell phones were dead. They grabbed their chargers and plugged in; however, the couple was exhausted and did not bother to check their emails or text messages. That could wait until morning, and if Madeline had a problem, they would just explain that they had no service out in the country, which was true. Freddie felt odd being in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service. It bothered him for the first two hours, but after that, he was fine with the lack of communication. He found it peaceful, and he completely understood why Regan liked to escape to her parents' house when she could. It was quiet and liberating.

The couple climbed into bed and snuggled up to each other in hopes of catching a solid four hours of sleep before waking and heading to work. Regan was out instantly; driving seemed to take it out of her. Freddie followed closely behind, barely able to keep his eyes open for the last half hour of the journey. He fought sleep to keep Regan awake while she drove. He was thankful to be in his warm bed with the woman he loved. She smelled of country air and shampoo, and she looked beautiful in one of his T-shirts that she wore to bed.

Morning came all too quickly, and they rushed to get ready for work. They stopped for coffee and opted for large cups because they both knew it was going to be a long day. When they reached the laboratory, the couple kissed and parted for their separate departments, knowing that they would see each other at lunch and after quitting time. Freddie tried very hard to not think about what Regan did throughout her day because it often hurt when he remembered that she destroyed his work. He plopped down in his office chair and opened his laptop. Outlook was riddled with emails from various co-workers and his boss. He started with the flagged priority messages first. They were all from Madeline. The first two were for updates on cells growing for several organ transplants. The third was for a project from Dr. Spencer Lewis, which he waited to open. The other three from Madeline all corresponded to the Lewis request asking for confirmation of the assignment. Freddie rolled his eyes and clicked a reply to his boss. He apologized for his tardy response and explained that he was without cell phone service the night before. He would start the project immediately. Then Freddie went back to the forwarded email from Dr. Spencer Lewis/Nathan Jones and read the message and attachment:

Madeline,

I need your guy to do what he does best. I've attached the subject's personnel file. Please forward this to him and have him respond immediately.

Thank you,

Spencer

The attachment contained Vincent Matthews' personnel information. Freddie's face turned white. All the planning from the previous night had now been thwarted. Moreover, the lab technician had no idea how he would tell his girlfriend that he had to clone her brother. Freddie jumped from his chair and paced around the desk, staring at the message on the laptop. He needed to talk to Regan, but he knew he could not do so on the premises because everything was monitored. He also knew he could not stall project commencement. If he did, he could either be reprimanded, or worse, Spencer and Madeline would find out that Regan—his girlfriend—was the subject in question's sister (if they did not already know). Freddie was not familiar with secrecy or sabotage, and he felt his throat starting to swell shut. His flight mechanism was taking over, and panic would soon approach. He sent his girlfriend a text message that said, We need to have lunch off-campus today. Meet you at the park across the street. I'll bring sandwiches. Twenty minutes later, she replied and acknowledged that they would meet at their favorite spot.

He then set about preparing the laboratory for the required-and-completely-unenthusiastic task of fulfilling Dr. Spencer's request. Freddie trudged to the personnel sample storage room, pulled Vincent's file, and slowly walked back to his tables. He brewed a cup of coffee before he sterilized his equipment and organized his tool cart. The geneticist moved slower than usual; it was clear that he lacked the spark and desire he typically felt when he prepared to create life. This assignment was disheartening, and Freddie felt utterly detached from his work. Every movement, motion, and step was mechanical; no love or care emanated from him as he dropped empty eggs into petri-dishes. He prayed lunch would come before he would have to decode the subject's DNA and plug it into the computer program.

Noon came, just as the DNA had finished decoding. Freddie, usually unwilling to walk away from a project at such a crucial point, decided he could enter the helix structure into the computer after he met with Regan. Perhaps she would have advice or some idea concerning what he should actually do with the project. He saved his work, put the petri-dishes in the freezer, and grabbed his wallet before leaving his work space. Freddie purchased two drinks and sandwiches from the cart vendor in the lobby before bounding across the street to the park. He walked to the fountain where Regan was already waiting. He handed her one of the sandwiches and a Coke.

She read the expression on his face and asked, "What's wrong?" Freddie did not speak for some time. "Well?" she prodded.

"Madeline sent me a request last night. It was from Spencer," he said as he unwrapped and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Okay?"

"It's for your brother." Regan choked on her bite as Freddie continued, "Spencer wants me to replicate Vincent. He sent me the information last night, but I didn't see it since my phone died." Regan did not respond. "I don't know what to do, Regan," he whined. Freddie felt tears in the corners of his eyes.

There was silence for several moments before Regan pulled out her phone and called her brother. Freddie listened as she talked to Vincent. The man on the other end of the phone did not seem to understand what his sister was saying to him, but by the end of the conversation, there seemed to be some clarity. Regan hung up the phone and spoke to her boyfriend. "He wants you to continue with the project. I told him it takes about a month for the cells to gestate, which gives him some time to get his side of the plan finished. He said that if you don't do as your told, then it's going to draw attention. We will deal with the clone when the time comes."

"I'm so sorry," Freddie whispered as he started to cry. "I didn't want this to happen."

Regan hugged him, "I understand, and it's okay. We have to do this. We need to do this if we want everything else to work." Eventually, Freddie calmed enough to finish his lunch and head back to the facility. He and his girlfriend parted ways once again, and he went back to his desk. The rest of the afternoon was spent plugging in DNA code, adding hair samples to unfertilized eggs, and watching cells multiply. A fetal Vincent Matthews began to grow in a makeshift womb, and hours later, the infant boy was moved from its comfortable amniotic fluid to the sleeping chamber where he would spend the next few months growing into an exact copy of his girlfriend's older brother.