"Are you thinking I'm trying to corrupt you?" Shannon teased mischievously.
I had no idea how she could joke in the midst of a crisis, but it did break the tension between us.
On the surface we appeared to be like any other romantic couple enjoying dinner in Milestones, well, that is, aside from our contemplating violating The Official Secrets Act, and the fact that this was only our first 'official- date...more or less.
"I will admit it does feel like a scene from an Ian Fleming spy novel," I smiled bleakly.
"My sentiments exactly," she chuckled.
We lapsed back into silence again until finally she decided to come right to the point.
"You're probably deciding whether or not to listen, weighing the prospect of serving a life sentence in prison against lending a sympathetic ear to a friend."
"No, not really," I replied, shaking my head. "You're much more than a friend and you're upset and need to work through a challenging situation. You're worth any risk I might face."
My reply caught her off guard and tears began to well up in her eyes.
"You know, Blake, that might be the kindest remark anyone has ever made to me—I‘m touched you'd place my well being ahead of any serious consequences you might suffer for helping me."
Actually, I surprised myself for being so honest and direct with her, but the situation seemed serious and I honestly cared more about her feelings than any embarrassment I might feel.
"Why don't you just start at the beginning and tell me what issues you're confronting?"
She nodded, took a deep breath and started in.
"The main problem is Emmett Barnes," she began.
The hackles on my back immediately rose up.
"He didn't come on to you or harass you in any way, did he?"
She smiled, amused by my desire to protect her.
”I’m touched you're willing to defend my honour, but if you feared Barnes was sexually aggressive, no, there was nothing like that. In a way, that would have been easier to rebuff because the man totally creeps me out.”
Now I was totally confused. I couldn’t for the life of me imagine what nefarious scheme Barnes could possibly have conceived regarding Neanderthal research to upset her so completely.
“You’re going to have to just come right out and tell me,” I said, exasperated, “I have no idea what Barnes could be contemplaing.”
“He wants to clone a Neanderthal embryo and implant it in a surrogate chimp mother.”
My jaw dropped. I thought I was going to be ill. I wasn’t sure what Shannon was telling me was even scientifically possible.
“Now this situation with Barnes is actually sounding like a plot from an improbable horror film,” I told her. “Surely, the man can’t be serious. He sounds totally out of his mind like some kind of cliched mad scientist.”
“I would have thought so too, except or the fact that we recovered Neanderthal remains that were so exceptionally well-preserved that we were able to completly sequence the Neanderthal genome. Barnes’ is totally committed to the de-extinction movement and wants to bring Neanderthals back from the dead. He not only has the means but the funding to accomplish this.”
I shook with real fear at the thought.
“But we’re not talking about reviving passener pigeons or wooly mammoths, we’re talking about playing God and resurrecting an extinct human being just to satisfy our scientific curiosity—so Barnes can make a name for himself.”
She looked at me with an expression that conveyed a sense of futility and utter desperation.
“That’s exactly the situation we’re facing.”
