SAMPLE FROM WORKING DRAFT OF NEXT THRILLER
Chapter Three—Singularity
NOTE: The app I use for these newsletters doesn't allow for indenting new paragraphs. The actual books are form perfect.
Dr. William Nishioki, an internationally renowned geneticist, was exploring the joys of his retirement. He lived in a modest bungalow on a shady street in a new retirement community south of Santa Cruz, California. Nishioki was enjoying the relaxed lifestyle of a financially comfortable retiree until the afternoon when three stocky Chinese men knocked on his door intending to harm him. It was bad timing on their part.
Nishioki, a lifelong student and master-level practitioner of the Japanese martial art Aikido, had been practicing kata when the assailants arrived. He answered the door wearing a well-used and faded gi, his favorite. His obi, or sash, which indicated the practitioner’s skill level, originally had been black. Now it was so old and tattered it was hard to distinguish the color.
Unless combined with some other fighting style, Aikido was purely defensive, but when a master like Nishioki performed its techniques, the effects on the attacker were brutal. The three would-be abductors, although trained in Chinese martial arts including Shaolin Wushu, Eagle Claw Kung Fu, and Wing Chun, were no match for the seventy-seven-year-old retired professor and retreated in haste.
Nishioki sensed it hadn’t been a random attack. There would be another one, and this time there would be more attackers, and they would be better prepared. He called the only person he knew could help him.
* * *
Some twenty years earlier, Nishioki and his late colleague and fellow geneticist Jacob Horowitz had discovered a unique genetic marker, an alteration of a certain DNA sequence on a specific chromosome. Although the individuals who possessed this trait were extremely rare, the marker could be detected and used to identify those few. Why these individuals were vastly more genetically evolved than those who did not possess this genetic trait was an as-yet unsolved mystery of science.
Nishioki and Horowitz discovered that in those who had this marker, their muscle fiber was denser, giving them much greater strength. Their larger hearts and lungs provided the ability to process oxygen faster. Their bones were thicker and vastly stronger. Because their nervous systems transmitted signals faster in their brains and throughout their bodies, their reaction times were stunningly faster, and their powers of deductive and abductive reasoning were superior to all other human beings. Nishioki and Horowitz developed theories about why these unique individuals had developed this specific genetic sequence, but they remained just that—theories.
Horowitz had been an atheist, but Nishioki’s favorite theory was that after 160,000 to 200,000 years on Earth, Homo sapiens’ greed, lust for power, immorality, endless progressions of wars, and inhumanity toward its own species had worn out God’s patience. The consequence of fostering the Almighty’s disfavor was the appearance of a new species of hominin, which the two geneticists named Homo maximus. Just as Neanderthals and Denisovans were eliminated by Homo sapiens, Nishioki and Horowitz believed this new species of human, Homo maximus, eventually would replace Homo sapiens completely.
Rumors of the geneticists’ astonishing discovery quickly reached the ever-probing ears of the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology. The Agency’s director assigned a Specialized Skills Officer, Clifford Levell, from the Agency’s Special Operations Group (SOG) to investigate the matter. Levell and a Marine Corps colonel named Roscoe “Buster” McCoy met with Nishioki and Horowitz at their offices in the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility at the University of California at Davis.
Once convinced that the geneticists’ discovery was genuine, the CIA created a special branch within SOG named Department X. Its purpose was to be the last resort should diplomacy fail to discourage enemies of the U.S. from endangering the nation’s interests. Nishioki and Horowitz were hired to assist the department in identifying these extraordinary genetic freaks. Nineteen young men, aged 17 to 18 years old, were identified and recruited. Fifteen survived the almost inhuman training regimen. They were called the Sleeping Dogs after Chaucer’s ancient imperative to “let sleeping dogs lie.” If an enemy of the U.S. “woke” the Dogs, that enemy would be destroyed. Six Sleeping Dogs remained after the initial mission. With their training and genetic superiority, they became the deadliest, most terrifying covert operatives in history.
A short while later, a newly elected president, fearing the international backlash that would result if the existence of Department X and its activities were discovered, ordered it shut down and the Sleeping Dogs eliminated with extreme prejudice. Through the actions of Levell and McCoy, the six young men escaped their fates and went underground for almost two decades.
During this period, a group of wealthy individuals in commerce and industry joined with highly placed members of the military and Congress to form a shadow government. They named it the Society of Adam Smith, or SAS, in homage to Smith’s classical liberalism, including the rule of law, small government, and free trade. Their common denominator was the firm belief that America was being run by a Deep State of far left-wing extremists determined to establish a Marxist one-world state. The financial power behind the SAS primarily was multibillionaire brothers Alfred, Hermann, and Tomas Mueller.
The SAS appointed Cliff Levell as director with now-Major General Roscoe “Buster” McCoy as military advisor. Their concern ran so deep they resurrected the Sleeping Dogs unit. With Nishioki’s assistance, a seventh member was identified in Australia and added to the unit. The Deep State’s fear of the SAS, particularly Levell and the Sleeping Dogs, was so great it used every unscrupulous act possible to destroy them and the SAS. Its efforts had enjoyed great success. The Dogs again went underground. Levell confined himself in a well-fortified mansion guarded 24/7 by a team of elite covert operations veterans. Under immense pressure from the Deep State, most of the influential members of SAS withdrew from the organization. Only the extraordinarily wealthy Mueller brothers continued in their support of the SAS, but only through heavily encrypted means using countless straw companies and organizations.
* * *
Immediately following the attack by the three Chinese men in his home, Professor Nishioki contacted Clifford Levell on a special phone Levell had provided in case of a situation like this one.
Levell came on the line in his familiar raspy voice and gruff tone. It always reminded the geneticist of Clint Eastwood as Gunnery Sgt. Hightower in the film Heartbreak Ridge. “Always nice to hear from you, Bill. How’s sunny California?”
“Sometimes there are clouds,” Nishioki responded. “Like today. A few moments ago, I was attacked in my home by three men I believe to be of Chinese origin.”
“What! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Cliff, although I believe my assailants will retain painful reminders of our encounter.”
Levell could sense the smile of satisfaction in Bill Nishioki’s voice. “Knowing your long history of involvement in Aikido, Bill, I’m sure the bastards got what they deserved. But I’m concerned. Do you think there’s a likelihood they’ll return?”
“If they came here for the reason I suspect they did, yes, they most certainly will try again. And soon.”
Levell shifted gears. “Why do you believe them to be Chinese?”
“They spoke in Mandarin.”
“You said you thought you knew the reason they attacked you. What is it?”
“It involves Communist China’s gene-editing program using CRISPR-Cas9. Are you familiar with it, Cliff?”
“Vaguely. That sci-fi crap is above my pay grade.”
“I understand. Relatively speaking, few individuals who aren’t accomplished geneticists understand gene-editing. I’ll try to explain it in as simple terms as I can.
“Essentially, gene-editing, as the Chinese are using it, is the alteration of genetic material, in this instance a DNA sequence, of a living human being. The purpose is to make specific improvements to some characteristic, such as physical strength or mental acuity. The two basic components of the process are Cas9, an endonuclease that cuts both strands of DNA of the targeted gene, and a section of RNA to guide it to the target.”
“Christ, Bill, is that really the simplified version or are you fucking with me?”
Nishioki chuckled. “If you thought that was word salad, imagine what a geneticist’s life is like.”
“No thanks, just get to the point of the ChiComs’ interest in you.”
“As we both have seen in the intel recently supplied to us by SAS sources, the Communist Chinese have made significant advancements in gene-editing technology.”
“You’re referring to their so-called super soldiers.”
“Yes.”
“How in hell did the Chinese get so much more advanced at this than we are?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not surprising when you consider China’s advanced laboratory capabilities and remarkable investment in science and technology like AI and gene-editing. Couple this with China’s unscrupulousness and asymmetry in ethics, and their advantage will only increase over time.”
“So, I’m guessing here,” Levell said. "Because of your experience with our own genetic freaks, the Sleeping Dogs, China wants the benefits of your knowledge.”
“That is what I believe.”
“It makes sense. It also suggests the Chinese are having issues with their products or processes, and want your input in solving it.”
“Yes, those also are my thoughts, Cliff, but my experiences are entirely different from theirs. The Sleeping Dogs are far superior genetically to the rest of us, as I suspect the Chinese super soldiers also are. But unlike the Chinese, the Dogs aren’t the product of a laboratory. They are as G…, Mother Nature had made them.” Nishioki had never been certain where Levell, a man who was reticent on personal subjects, stood on the subject of religion.
“But who is superior, our Sleeping Dogs or the Chinese lab rats?”
Nishioki sighed into the mouthpiece of his phone. “I don’t know, but if I were a betting man, I’d be tempted to place my money on the Dogs.”
“Why?”
“It’s the natural product versus man-made argument. We know the Dogs are the product of the natural evolution of the human species. Conversely, these Chinese were altered by scientists. There is no way of knowing what Pandora’s Box of medical issues may have been opened in the process.”
“Such as?” Levell asked.
“Potentially, the Chinese scientists may unintentionally have edited parts of the genome which could cause harmful mutations, genetic disorders, even cancer. Also, introducing foreign elements in the editing process could trigger immune responses leading to rejection of the modified cells. The long-term effects of genetic modifications are unknown. There may be unexpected side effects, increased susceptibility to other diseases, reduced lifespans, a plethora of health complications.”
There was a pause while Levell digested what Nishioki had told him, then, “I suspect these concerns of the Chinese motivated their interest in you. You said you expect them to come back, and so do I. You may not be able to help them, but they don’t know that. We need to get you someplace safe—a place that has round-the-clock protection.”
There was a hesitancy on Nishioki’s part. “It sounds like you are describing a prison, Cliff.”
Now it was Levell who chuckled. “Just the opposite, Bill. It’s a lush tropical resort.”