Waking the Zed - By ML Katz Page 0,4
the lights. Under the bright laboratory lights the capsules almost started to look as if they had bodies encased in some sort of jewels. Pam entertained the cynical thought that the image would make a good selling point for one of Future Faith’s brochures.
Pam watched carefully as Dr. Klein carefully monitored the procedure. Pam supposed this was merely some routine experiment, but she did note that the doctor’s eyes almost looked shiny from excitement. It’s good that she, at least, is enthusiastic about her job. Pam noticed that the older woman’s bright eyed expression seemed to shave years off of her face. She looked more like the press photos Pam found on the Internet when she had first researched Future Faith Cryonics.
For once, Dr. Klein almost looked cheerful and youthful. Pam knew that Dr. Klein had been regarded as a beautiful woman a couple of decades ago when she’d first risen to prominence in her field. Now, I guess she’s still what my folks would call a handsome woman. But when she’s happy I can still see her beauty. I guess her disposition accounts for the fact that she never married. Even as Pam entertained that thought she dismissed it as unfair.
Without looking up from her work, the doctor said, “I need you to set the timer to slowly raise the temperature to seventy-two degrees over the course of three hours. Just set it to automatically spread the temperature adjustments equally over time.”
“Dr. Klein, you don’t mean to unfreeze them, do you?”
“I do,” the doctor said flatly. She did not even bother to look up and meet Pam’s eyes.
“I thought you had a contract to keep these people frozen and preserved until they could be revived? If you raise the solution to room temperature, they’ll surely degrade quickly.” By degrade, Pam meant rot. In her opinion, returning a body to the elements should be something that was done under ground and out of sight. She frowned, wondering again just how badly she really needed this job. “You can’t just experiment on them like this. Do you have some way to preserve them without freezing?”
“Ms. Stone, I have a contract to preserve them until they can be revived,” Dr. Klein said, smiling placidly. She spoke softly and slowly as if she was explaining multiplication to a dull child. Her tone almost sounded musical to Pam though it was certainly intended to be biting. “If they are revived, their own body mechanisms will keep them from degrading just as yours do. You don’t have to walk around in a freezer suit, right?”
“Of course I don’t.” Pam answered as if Dr. Klein had really required an answer.
The doctor put her hands on her hips and looked directly at Pam. “Future Faith also has a mission to work on reviving them. That is also part of the contract. Otherwise this would just be a very expensive cemetery. Is that what you think this is, Ms. Stone?”
“You actually believe you can revive these people right now?” Pamela asked, plainly aghast. She knew the futility of arguing her point with this stubborn woman, but she could not stop the words from escaping her mouth. “Do you actually think you can wake them up? They were declared dead several months ago.”
“Listen, while I have been paying you fifty dollars an hour to make jokes and perform tasks that any bright eighth grader could be trained to do, I have been working on real science. You must be familiar with my reputation. Why else would you have coveted this internship so much?” She cocked her head, waiting for an answer. Pam had no argument. They both knew she had pursued the internship as a bright mark on her resume as well as a generous paycheck.
Then the doctor gestured with her hands as if she were holding an expanding globe. “My serum can regenerate the damage and actually grow new life. I will certainly let you review my papers later, but right now it has to be a closely guarded secret. I’m sure you can understand that.”
“Why does it have to be a secret?” Pam asked. “Wouldn’t the scientific community want to hear about something like this?” Is it because you know it’s either a charade or nuts?
“Don’t take offense, Ms. Stone, but you obviously took this position because you needed the money. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Many students find themselves in your position. But as you might guess, this formula could be priceless.”
Pam sighed. This woman