Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Tuesday, August 16, 2086

The Manor, Massachusetts

10:02 AM

Courtney Cruz stared blankly into space as the girl on her left prattled on about how her new business was doing so well and that she had never been happier. Screw all of this, she thought. That girl has never had to work a day in her happy life.

Courtney, who at 21 had pioneered better food production by cloning only the best of each crop and livestock, was officially done with life, and it was only ten o'clock on a Monday. I have better things to do, she thought, already planning her exit. She elegantly reached for her crocodile-leather purse, carefully setting a timer to go off in 5… 4… 3…

Courtney muttered an apology as a call came in through her wrist-comm, just as the alarm went off inside her purse. "Sorry, I've got to take this," she muttered as she stood up and exited the room. I'm going to take a spa day, she decided. 

"Yes?" Courtney asked. 

An unfamiliar male voice replied, "Is this Courtney Cruz?"

"That's me." she said briskly.

"There's a problem with the BASE."

"Why does the Bureau of Animal Science and Ethics need me for? This isn't just more bullshit about my cows, right? I already told them, beef is safe for replication…"

"No. A scientist is claiming that your beef allowed a tiger to become pregnant."

"What?" Courtney sighed in irritation. 

"A shuttle will be arriving within ten minutes. Be prepared, Miss Cruz- the BASE isn't happy about this."

Courtney snapped off her wrist comm and groaned. So much for that spa day.

⦓⦔

Tuesday August 16 2086

BASE, New York

1:43 PM

"Courtney Cruz." A nearly frantic young woman (Courtney estimated that she was in her mid-twenties) raced to greet her as she stepped off the hover.

"That's me." Courtney held out her hand, but the woman briskly turned. 

"There's no time for introductions- Tanni is going to give birth in less than ten hours and we're vastly unprepared. I'm Dr. Nadia Chase, head of Wild Cat Studies here at BASE." Nadia beckoned Courtney to follow her, setting a rapid pace. 

"Tanni?"

"The tiger. Whatever's happening with her, she's going through her pregnancy at an alarming rate. We need to figure out what's going on before she gives birth."

"But- the normal gestation period is, what, 100 days?"

"Just about. But Tanni's is under three."

"No way."

Nadia led Courtney to her lab. "See these photos?"

Courtney inspected them. In one, a seemingly normal tiger reclined in her enclosure. In the second, however, the tiger was frothing at the mouth. Her eyes were wild, and her abdomen was vastly swollen.

"My God."

Nadia whirled to face Courtney. "It's your beef that did it. I know it is. I just need proof."

Courtney gaped at the scientist's bluntness. "Impossible. My beef is the best out there- no artificial hormones or biocontaminants-"

Nadia threw another photograph in front of Courtney. "Look at this. The microscopic slide of your beef compared to the regular beef Tanni was eating until a few days ago."

Courtney grinned. "It's more nutritious. Better for consumption. That's the only difference. It's the supreme food, and I've given the world access to it."

Nadia frowned. "Wrong. I took a sample of your beef and fed it to a lab rat right after I found out Tanni was pregnant. As of three in the morning, it was injured." She pointed out a small wire cage in the corner. "Now look at it."

Courtney peered between the bars at the small white rat. Its white coat, while tinged pink around its hip from the blood of supposed injury, was pure and intact. The rat scurried around, apparently without pain or discomfort. "How…" 

Then she laughed. "Nice work. You think you can just dab a little blood onto a lab rat and claim it healed?"

Nadia grimaced. "Take a look at this." Camera footage began to play on a screen. Nadia Chase appeared, bedraggled and obviously exhausted. The timestamp read 3:07 AM on 8/16/86. Nadia's trembling voice said, "Time is 3:07, first incision on Rat 20993B, crossing the right hip." The scalpel in her hand sliced into the limp rat. Real-life Nadia moaned slightly as blood oozed out of the fine line in the rat's hip.

"See?" Nadia said. Courtney was speechless. 

"And that- that's the same rat?"

"Each one has a unique tattoo from when it's a month old. Look." Nadia reached into the cage and gently picked up the rat. Across its stomach was, in fine text, 20993B.

"My God." Courtney slumped down on a lab stool. "But my testing-"

Nadia bent down and looked Courtney in the eyes. "Your testing doesn't mean shit. You think people will want to feed their kids beef laced with who-knows-what? If your cattle can heal nearly mortal wounds-"

Courtney's eyes went wide with the implication. "So could the others."

The two women stared at each other in silence. 

A sudden roar from an adjacent room startled them out of their reverie. "Tanni!" gasped Nadia, racing towards the door.

Scott Watts burst through the door. "Doctor! Tanni's hungry again and we're running low on supplies. And Doctor Carlson is trying to get a team of birthers out here but the closest one won't make it until tomorrow. They're in China genetically engineering panda cubs, for God's sake." 

Then he stopped his train of blathering. "Courtney Cruz? I thought you were in Massachusetts!"

She gave him a wan grin. "No. I was flown out here by BASE."

Nadia frowned. "The press demanded it. You're going to have a lot of explaining to do to the media. They're waiting for you outside."

**Remember to like this chapter and add this to your stories if you want to keep up with Nadia and the gang!