Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

so. It’s probably illegal,” Ignatowski replied. “At a neighboring property, there’s a legitimate coffee plantation. They probably expanded to the unused land, hoping no one would notice.”

“So, no one puts their money on Madagascar?” Bishop asked.

On the screen, all three shook their heads.

“That leaves us with the Galápagos Islands,” De Cremonese concluded.

“Birthplace of evolution,” Bishop confirmed. “What were the two properties you mentioned?”

“Darwin Island and the Finch Bay Hotel on Santa Cruz Island,” Ignatowski answered. “I’ve looked up the island. It’s one of the smaller, not so significant ones belonging to the Galápagos. Not even half a square mile and far north, away from the main island group. There’s no permanent human population. In fact, planes aren’t even allowed to land on it. It’s a rare bird sanctuary. There’s only some diving tourism.”

“Sounds like a perfect place if you wanted to hide something,” Ignatowski concluded.

“And the hotel?” De Cremonese asked.

“I looked at that,” Lindsey answered. “A four-star hotel by National Geographic designated to be one of the most unique lodges of the world.”

“Sounds expensive,” Bishop said.

“That I didn’t check,” Lindsey replied. “What I did notice was that the hotel proprietor has the same name as the witness on the property deed.”

“A friend of Mulder’s?” De Cremonese asked.

“Could very well be,” Lindsey agreed.

“So that leaves us with....” Bishop paused for a moment.

“What was that about a time constraint in your message?” Ignatowski asked.

“Mulder’s former partner, Lancaster, told us that Mulder was in a hurry to get out of the country.”

“Did he say why?” Monroe asked.

“Not really. Some kind of project,” Bishop replied. “So, if we want to find Jennifer and find out what’s going on, our best bet would be to go to the Galápagos.”

“Sure seems like it,” Lindsey concurred.

“Let’s finish lunch first.” Bishop smiled. “I don’t know if the Beagle’s still available, but who’s in for a Darwinian trip?”

Chapter 29 – The Intron Design

The window in the otherwise gray concrete room overlooked the green fields of the island. Some one hundred feet in the distance, the horizon dipped into the sea, where the constant riotous barks from the fur seals were the only thing that drowned out the sound of the waves bashing the cliffs. Between the building and the sea, visible just above the grass, a five-foot-long tortoise raised its neck, slowly finding its way. In the giant Daisy Scalesia trees that surrounded the compound, frigate birds—with their iridescent purple, sparkling tinted black feathers and puffed up red throat—cried out their mating calls.

Jennifer sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window, realizing the beauty of the scenery, and how she could have enjoyed it if she didn’t feel like a prisoner. Hell, she was a prisoner. The only difference with being in jail was that she was allowed to wander around the compound and the island. Contact with the outside world wasn’t allowed, and she was still uncertain where this all would end. She was unsure if any of her attempts to contact and alert the outside world had been received or intercepted. Time after time, she had asked Eldin Mulder what his plans were for her, but he never really said. He never even confronted her with her discovery of what happened in the caverns in Peru. She was almost sure her discovery hadn’t gone unnoticed, yet Mulder never challenged her. He was just as nice and seemingly open as he’d always been. Soon, he said when they came to the island. Soon, he’ll give me a choice. And then, if I still want to, I could go wherever I want to. She wondered if that were true.

A loud pounding on the door disturbed her thoughts and she sat up straight. “Yes,” she called out. “Come in.”

The door swung open. “Forgive me for banging so loud.” Mulder stood in the doorway. “I was already knocking on your door for a minute or so. Did I wake you?”

“No, I was looking outside. Must have been lost in thought.” She shook her head a couple of times. “What can I do for you?”

“May I come in?”

Jennifer pointed to the chair at the desk opposite her bed.

“Thank you,” Mulder said as he sat down.

“What do you want?” The tone of her voice shifted.

“I just came by to see you and tell you that the choice I told you about is forthcoming, in twenty-four hours.”

“You still didn’t tell me what choice that is.”

“Hmm,” Mulder grunted. “You’ll know in an hour or so. Please indulge me just a little while longer. You know about my work, don’t you?”

“What part of your work is that?”

“My work with genetics.”

Jennifer thought for a moment and decided this was as good a time as any to speak out. “You mean your experiment on my brain or the experiments you conducted on those poor people in Peru?”

Mulder smirked. “I mean, my efforts to create a better future for the human race.”

“What’s a better future?”

“You’ve got to see that our world is dying. Our planet is vastly overpopulated, a problem that grows by the day. We’re poisoning ourselves and our food supplies. We’re contracting and transferring more and more animal viruses that could—and will—kill us. Our bodies can’t keep up with the speed of technological advances.”

“And you know how to correct all those problems?” Jennifer faked a smile.

“Do you have any idea how special your treatment has been? Do you have any idea what we had to do to get here, and what implications your success brought to our search?”

Jennifer tilted her head.

“What do you know about DNA?”

Jennifer gave half a shrug. “I know DNA is a molecule that contains the genetic code of organisms and tells cells what proteins to make.”

“Correct. DNA transcribes into RNA, that translates into proteins. But do you also know that DNA consists of exons and introns?”

Jennifer shook her head.

“Longer and shorter stretches of exons encode DNA that creates proteins. But those stretches are discontinuous and interspersed with long stretches of non-coding DNA called introns. These introns are edited out after