Сергей Шкребка – Patient Zero. The Immortality Trap (страница 2)

“I’m not judging.” Patrick placed his mug on the floor and extended his healthy, ulcer-free arm to me. “I can see the stuff works. Thanks in advance, Mark. I respect you for going first. Now, go ahead, inject.”

I swabbed his dry, peeling skin with an alcohol wipe and found a vein beneath it. The needle slid in easily; I injected two cc’s of the cloudy liquid. Patrick didn’t even flinch.

“Do you have dreams?” he asked suddenly, staring at the wall as I taped the injection site.

“Could he possibly know about the dreams too? No. Nonsense.”

“Dreams? Of course.” My voice trembled more than I would have liked.

“Well, that’s good,” he said. “From day one here, I dream of my daughter almost every night. Such vivid dreams, like I’m back in childhood. If your stuff doesn’t cloud them, I’ll be the happiest man on Mars.”

I reached for the bandage to dress the wound after all, but Patrick carefully, although the strength in his paw could have easily broken my wrist, moved my hand aside.

“Forget it, Doc. Don’t worry.”

“Patrick, the ulcer needs to be covered, otherwise…”

“I’m sure this damn thing will heal by tomorrow morning.”

I looked at the weeping edge of the ulcer, at the gray, dying tissue around the edges, and wanted to object — but the confidence resonating in his voice made me keep silent.

He stood up, clapped me on the shoulder with his huge palm, making the instrument tray clang and nearly fly to the floor, and left.

The next morning, the ulcer had indeed closed.

In three days, his skin would begin to turn pink. In five, all ulcers would completely disappear. And in a month… but let’s take things in order.

Within ten days, I had signed consent forms from all expedition members in my hands.

I vaccinated everyone. Annika Ngwenya, the communications officer, wept with hope as the needle entered her vein. Marek Kowalski, the geologist, grimly joked about “blood and milk.” Liam Chen, the biologist, recorded everything on camera for future generations. They didn’t even suspect that standing before them was patient zero, holding a syringe.

As a formality, I made the last signature on the list for myself.

That night, I opened the encrypted file and added:

“March 14, 2033. Eleven people vaccinated.”

“Not for the protocol, for posterity: Observation period for patient zero — 731 days. Side effects: Physical condition ideal. Biological age stabilized at ~30 years. Reason unknown. Continuing observation.”

At that moment, only Patrick Swanson suspects I was the first. No one else.

I closed the file and lay down in my bunk. The life support system hummed its endless lullaby. Somewhere beyond the wall, Patrick was already asleep; he was to be the first to walk the path I had walked two years ago.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

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