In The Defendant's Chair Read online

  “Come on, baby,” her husband coached again.

  “One more, Marty, just one more,” the doctor repeated.

  With one last, deep breath, Marty gave it all she had. As she pushed, she screamed as the flesh between her legs tore. A nurse gasped as blood drained from Marty’s already strained and weakened body.

  “My God!” the nurse yelled. “What’s happening? Something’s wrong.”

  “Marty,” the doctor said. “I need you to quit pushing. Stop pushing, Marty.”

  “What’s wrong?” Marty screamed. “What’s going on?”

  Her husband stared at her. The doctor’s eyes grew wide as the baby’s head crowned.

  “Marty, stop pushing,” the doctor demanded.

  From somewhere in the room another nurse gasped as the baby’s head emerged. But it was much larger than anyone expected.

  “My God,” the doctor whispered. “My God…”

  “What is it, David?” Marty asked. “Is our baby all right?”

  The doctor guided the baby out of the mother’s torn and bloody body. The nurse wrapped the baby in a warm blanket.

  “The baby’s fine,” the doctor said, but her hands were shaking.

  “I don’t hear any crying,” Marty yelled. “The baby’s not crying.”

  “She’s breathing,” the doctor said.

  “David,” Marty cried. “I want to see our baby. Please don’t let our baby die.”

  The nurse held the small bundle in her arms and gazed into the child’s face. The baby whined a high-pitch shrill and reached out her tiny hands as though searching for her mother. The father stood speechless and stared at the doctor. “I want my baby,” Marty demanded.

  The doctor glanced up at the father who nodded slowly. Tears spilled as he watched the nurse walk around the bed. The doctor worked hard to repair the damage caused from the larger than expected baby.

  “Give me my baby!” Marty yelled reaching out.

  The nurse placed the small bundle in the mother’s arms and stepped back. Marty pulled back the soft blanket. The tiny yellow-haired girl stared up into her mother’s eyes and reached out her hand. Marty gazed into the small round pink and yellow face and screamed. The nurse seized the small bundle and rushed to the neo-natal intensive care.

  The doctor ordered a sedative for Marty and asked a nurse to take the father into another room. As she continued to work on the severely ripped and bleeding mother, the doctor’s eyes filled with tears. Never in her seventeen-year career had she seen such a deformity. If the child survived it would be a miracle. She knew the child was the result of in-vitro fertilization, but that should not have caused such an abnormality. She would have to run tests to be sure, but she was positive nothing could or would explain what she had just witnessed.

  Chapter 4

  “HELLO EARLY, I’M Dr. Derrier and I’ve been assigned to your case. What an interesting and lovely name, Early. I don’t believe I’ve ever known anyone with that name.”

  Early sat on the bed ignoring the doctor and stared blankly out the window. She was hoping silently to herself the dark would engulf her again, take her away, or kill her. Although she heard everything the woman was saying, it seemed as though she heard nothing. If Early spoke a word now, it would only make her nightmare become real.

  “Early?” Derrier asked as she pulled up a chair. “I’m here to help you. Honest. But you’ll need to trust me. I can’t help if you don’t trust me.”

  Early glanced into the woman’s eyes. She was young, maybe about mid-twenties or so. Dark hair that when untied probably fell down her back to her waist. She had a nice figure, neither heavy nor slim. The hand with a silver wedding band also held a writing pen. Obviously she’s left-handed, which means she’s more creative than scientific. A butterfly pendant hung from the woman’s neck on a gold chain. She isn’t much for matching. A silver wedding band should be complimented by a silver chain. Early turned to stare out the window again, hoping to fade back into the dark and quiet.

  “Early, please,” Derrier pleaded. “Please talk to me.”

  Early didn’t smile; she couldn’t smile, but she couldn’t frown either. She simply gazed more deeply into the young doctor’s eyes. The pain that transferred from one woman to the other was immense and Derrier shuttered. As the doctor rubbed the sides of her arms, Early turned back to the bleakness of the window to stare into nothing.

  “My God,” Derrier whispered. “Who did this to you?”

  Chapter 5

  “GOOD MORNING, MR. and Mrs. Starling, I’m Eugene Spangleholtz. How are you doing today?”

  “Doing?” David huffed. “How can we be doing anything?” David fell to the floor and cried into his hands as Marty lay quietly in bed. Shock was splattered all over her face. Her eyes were red and swollen. Spangleholtz studied the young couple to decide exactly how he should approach their problem.

  Spangleholtz cleared his throat and asked, “I noticed you haven’t named your little girl yet. Did you decide on a name?”

  “Name?” David screeched from the floor. “How do you name a monster?”

  “Your little girl is not a monster, Mr. Starling,” Spangleholtz said. “She has a few medical issues I’ll agree, but I can guarantee you she is no monster.”

  David raised his head and gave the doctor a venomous look. The doctor returned the man’s outlandish views by ignoring him. A nurse knocked at the door and entered carrying a small bundle.

  “Thank you, Susan,” the doctor said reaching out to take the baby.

  Spangleholtz smiled as he noticed the parents were watching when he took custody of the little girl.

  “Now, do you still want to tell me you don’t want to name your precious baby?” he asked with a smile.

  David started to cry again into his hands. But Marty spoke slowly, stumbling over her words. “Marie Elizabeth,” she stuttered. “Her name is Marie Elizabeth.”

  “Oh no you don’t!” David scolded, struggling to get to his feet. “That name is for my daughter, and that… that… thing is not my daughter.”

  The doctor placed the little bundle in Marty’s arms. A tear ran down her face as she pulled back the blanket to get a better view of the little girl. She was not small by any means. Marie Elizabeth weighed in at a little over twelve pounds and was almost thirty-one inches long. A light yellow fuzz tickled the top of her head with a beautiful lock of white and gold hair trailing down her back. She had the most beautiful green eyes Spangleholtz had ever seen. The more the mother held her daughter, the better chance he had of Marty loving her.

  “David, she’s beautiful,” Marty sighed. “She’s so long. No wonder I was hurting so much.” Marty giggled as she gazed at her daughter.

  “Beautiful? That thing is anything but beautiful!”

  “Shhhh,” Marty whispered. “You’ll frighten her. Hi baby, I’m your mommy.”

  “Well I’m not her god damn daddy,” David protested as he stormed angrily out of the room.

  “She is fully functional, Mrs. Starling,” Spangleholtz said. “We did have to insert a tube to help her breathe. A slight defect within her sinus cavities from what the X-rays show. Surgery will fix that when she’s a little older. But for now we’ll teach you how to feed her. Other than that, she’s perfectly healthy. And believe me when I tell you she is your daughter.”

  “What caused this?” Marty asked. “What will she look like when she’s older?”

  “We’re not sure yet,” he answered. “But she’ll be beautiful in her own way.”

  Two nurses arrived to teach Marty how to feed and care for her daughter’s special needs. Spangleholtz excused himself and left the hospital wing to stand in the fresh air on the balcony, which was a favorite gathering place for hospital visitors and staff. Spangleholtz saw David there pacing nervously from one end of the balcony to the other. The man looked agitated and irritated, clutching his forehead and mumbling to himself. The doctor calmly tapped on his cell phone and spoke clearly.


  “Dr. Spangleholtz here. I must speak with Zarek… thank you… Zarek… yes the delivery went fine, just fine… no, he didn’t take it well at all, would you? Yes I believe he will be a problem… yes, yes, but… she’s doing very well and I believe she’s bonding with the child… yes… a transport would be good about this time… no we’re making sure they remain isolated… yes… don’t blame me, damn it, I still can’t believe you allowed them to travel this far into the pregnancy, such a risk… I’ve done all I can here… yes I can do that… no that will not be a problem… this evening would be fine… thank you… goodbye.”

  Spangleholtz left the windy balcony and walked past two men sipping on coffee just inside the door. As he passed, he nodded ever so slightly then headed to the elevator to make arrangements for the immediate transportation of the mother and baby to a specialty hospital in upper Washington state.

  As Spangleholtz waited for the elevator, chaos erupted on the balcony behind him. There were gasps as staff and visitors leaned over the balcony rail to look below. Splayed on the ground was a man, facedown in a pool of blood.

  Several doctors and nurses rushed to the scene and worked desperately to revive the now deceased father of little Marie Elizabeth Starling. Apparently he jumped to his early demise. It seemed he just couldn’t handle the anguish of having a deformed child. A little girl with an extraordinarily large head, and a slightly protruding sinus cavity and jaw bone. A little girl with thick beautiful lips and cheeks—hard, not soft. Tiny golden pointed ears resting against a large but well-shaped head. Baby soft white and gold hair trailing down her back all the way to her blonde little tail. She had all ten fingers. Her hands were perfect, but it was her feet… they looked more like tiny hooves.

  Chapter 6

  “TAKE THIS,” TYLER said holding two cups of hot coffee in her hands.

  “Thanks,” Caiden mumbled taking a sip.

  Tyler Brighten sat her cup down next to her wireless mouse to stretch her arms. “Is it always this quiet around here?”

  “Yes,” Caiden snickered but then smiled. “So, how do you like it here so far?”

  “It’s okay, just very quiet.” Tyler took another sip as she studied her computer screen. “This is really a cool job.”

  “Yes it is. I never imagined I’d have a job like this. Did you?” Caiden asked with his eyes glued to his screen. “I mean while you were in college?”

  “Nope. In fact I never thought my career would be sitting in front of a huge computer all day either,” Tyler added. “All my time used to be spent in the bio lab at college. But now…”

  The DNA string Tyler and Caiden were studying in 3-D slowly rotated. Several keys allowed them to zoom in or out and spin the string in any direction. Even though she’d only worked at the Barker Institute for a little over six months, Tyler was still having a hard time believing she was actually paid to be here. The work was fun and fascinating. Every day was more like an adventure than a job, and Tyler could hardly wait to get there each morning.

  “Wait a minute,” Tyler whispered as she zoomed in closer on the one strand of the DNA.

  “What is it?” Caiden asked.

  “The alignments are overlapping,” Tyler declared.

  “That’s impossible,” Caiden surmised. “What quadrant are you looking at?”

  “I’m in eighty-six.” Tyler kept her eyes locked tightly to the screen.

  Caiden became flustered when he couldn’t find the same place on his screen. After rolling his chair across the room to look over her shoulder, he whispered into her ear. “Wow that is definitely an overlap.”

  “But…” Tyler whispered. “If such an overlap is present, then the sequence assembly algorithm should have detected it. This has to be a false cut.”

  “No, it’s definitely an overlap,” Caiden whispered.

  Tyler rubbed her eyes and sat back in her chair. “Let me think for a minute.”

  “Why are we whispering?” Caiden asked in a low voice.

  “I have no idea,” Tyler replied with a giggle.

  The two sat in silence watching as the mutated DNA wobbled eerily on the computer screen glittering with exuberant colors as though it was mocking them to figure it out. They both scratched their heads as they contemplated the situation. Their questions to each other seemed more like they were reconfirming their strange conclusions than actually expecting an answer. Something wasn’t adding up and she couldn’t figure out what that was. Tyler tried hard to remember her college lectures. DNA was normally stable and predictive. After a few minutes, it came to her.

  “The validation algorithm for ordered restriction maps. That’s it, because it serves to establish the quality of an assembled DNA sequence by comparing it with an ordered restriction map,” Tyler stated. “This isn’t right… there’s no correlation here… none.”

  “What’s your doctorate in?” Caiden asked.

  “Molecular DNA,” Tyler replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because the answer is so obvious and you’re not seeing it.”

  “And you do?”

  “I’m not quite sure exactly what I’m seeing, but it’s the only explanation,” Caiden answered. “And if my conclusions are correct, we have a major issue.”

  With a frown planted firmly upon her face, Tyler leaned in closer to the computer screen. After squinting for a few seconds, she saw exactly what Caiden was talking about. She shouted out before she realized what she had said, “Oh my God. This DNA has been tinkered with, and it’s mutating!”

  “Yes, you got it,” Caiden replied with his finger pointing to the screen. “But what exactly was it tinkered with?”

  “No, the real question is,” Tyler said, now with a serious edge in her voice, “Who owns this DNA and when was it spliced?”

  Chapter 7

  THE EXPLOSION ROCKED an area of about five hundred miles and left behind a crater more than ten miles wide and half as deep. What was once pristine wilderness now resembled a rocky desert basin similar to the ones found on any deserted moon or dead planet. Lewis studied the strange pictures scattered across his desk. He burped and acid rose in his throat. He slapped his chest several times.

  “Might want to watch what you eat these days,” Dr. Allen Greghardt mused as he entered the large but comfortable room. “I’ve always loved these big windows,” he added, walking towards them to admire the view.

  Lewis left the eerie pictures on his desk and followed Greghardt. Lewis also knew this was a clue he wanted to talk and bounce ideas between them. The sun was almost at its full height and a light breeze tickled the trees as they swayed in the rhythm of the day.

  “This is nice,” Greghardt remarked. “Real nice.”

  Lewis nodded his head as he marveled at the scenery below. It seemed every year the plants and flowers surprised them with ever larger blooms and brighter colors.

  Greghardt turned from the windows and said, “I need a drink. Join me?”

  “It’s still a little early don’t you think?”

  Picking up a glass Greghardt turned toward Lewis and added, “Not today my friend… not today.”

  “Fine,” Lewis sighed at his boss. “Pour me one too.”

  They sat on opposing sofas staring blankly at each other. After a couple gulps of the precious golden liquid, Greghardt said. “Well, is it a secret?”

  “Is what a secret?” Lewis answered sipping his drink.

  “Your list of travelers.”

  “Oh, not at all. I’ve decided to send Agents Brighten, Clarke and Harris. They’ll play the part of nosey tourists. Just there to check things out…the usual.”

  “Very laid back attitude don’t you think? Is that what you’re aiming for?” Greghardt asked.

  * * * * * *

  You’re watching Another Day and I’m Jackie Peters live from Prestonia, West Virginia. A quaint little spot in the county of Webster. This place was a bustling mining town from 1907 until in the 1920s when the coal ran out. We’re not sure of the exact po
pulation, but we’re told it’s about five thousand. As you can see from the devastation behind me, the blast must have been massive…”

  The television displayed pictures of the recent destruction as the woman tried to ignore them and concentrate on her duties as president of the United States.

  “Yes, Madam President?” The voice from the intercom acknowledged someone was still alive and attending her needs.

  “Tina, my nerves are growing short, very short.”

  “I’ll be right there, Madam President.”

  And before Vivian Strickland could put the phone back onto its holder, Tina entered the room ready for just about anything.

  “Madam President?” Tina asked, afraid as to what was going to be asked of her this time.

  “Please, Tina, I need you to make this happen. Call my cabinet together at once, but not everyone. Let’s see… I definitely want David, Homeland Security,” Strickland counted on her fingers as she spoke, “And Katrina, Department of Agriculture… and Colonel Jenkins, Department of Defense… oh, and my chief of staff, and the vice president….” She sighed and stared at Tina with a forlorn look of help me in her eyes.

  Tina had seen this look many times before, a look that only meant one thing—Strickland believed she was in way over her head. But today seemed different; she looked even more frightened and worse, alone.

  “Madam President, how about I just gather everyone for a special session,” Tina suggested.

  Strickland had a vague expression but nodded in agreement.

  “Why don’t you take a rest and maybe half a tranquilizer? It’ll take some time to get them here even if I send personal jets. You’ll need a clear mind for this. Get some rest.”

  “Thanks, Tina,” Strickland replied as she walked toward her private quarters.

  “I’ll come get you about an hour before the meeting so you can be ready.”

  “Thank you so much, Tina.” Strickland stopped at the door and asked in almost a whisper, “What in the hell is going on out there?”