The admission surprised her, not because it seemed the likeliest explanation for Mengele’s longevity — he was at least a hundred — but because it was hard for her to believe that there was a line he wouldn’t cross.
“Even before he reached adulthood, it became apparent that something was wrong. Castor was aging.” Tyndareus tapped the joystick, swinging the chair around to face her. “Tell me, child. Are you as well versed in the sciences as you are in other areas? Are you perhaps familiar with telomeres?”
“Telomeres. That sounds Greek. ‘End parts?’”
The word felt familiar, but before she could search her memory, Tyndareus went on. “Telomeres are nucleotide sequences found on the end of chromosomes. TTAGGG, repeating thousands of times on each and every chromosome in each and every cell of the human body. They serve as buffers, protecting the genetic code of the chromosomes from damage during the process of cellular reproduction. It may help you to think of chromosomes as shoelaces, and the telomeres as the plastic wrapped around the end to keep them from fraying—”
“They’re called ‘aglets,’” Fiona murmured.
“In complex life forms, every time a cell divides, and the DNA code is duplicated, the telomere chain loses a link. After a lifetime of cellular reproduction, the telomeres eventually break down completely, after which genetic damage begins to occur.”
“And the shoelace frays.”
“That genetic damage is what we call ‘aging.’ The role telomeres play in the aging process was only discovered a decade ago, far too late to be of any use to me in my research.”
Fiona was able to guess the rest. “When you cloned yourself, your telomeres were already getting pretty short. Castor was already an old man when he was born.”
“The rapid cellular growth of early childhood and puberty intensified the process, causing him to age even faster. The decay, both physical and mental, accelerated with each passing year, until his death. He knew the fate that awaited him, and so he drew off the Jewish agents who were pursuing me, while I built…” He gestured around the room. “All of this.
“I wasn’t able to save him,” he continued, his voice showing more emotion than she would have believed possible. “I have labored for nearly forty years to find a way to bring him back to me.”
“And that’s what Kenner promised you.”
“In the old days, we learned many things about the ancient world. The so-called mysteries. And we heard rumors about the man remembered in legend as Hercules. We knew that there was a group working to erase all evidence of his existence. When Dr. Kenner approached me with information about the Herculean Society and the possibility that he might be able to uncover its secrets, I wondered at his ability to deliver, but I never doubted the veracity of his claims.”
Fiona could only assume that ‘we’ meant the Nazis. “If he told you that he can bring the dead back to life, then you should. Even Hercules was never able to do that.”
“The bond I share with Castor did not end with his death.” Tyndareus gave a patient smile. “Dr. Kenner believes, as do I, that the creatures Hercules fought in his so-called Labors, were the product of genetic experimentation, made possible by a source. A mutagenic agent that allows the DNA of two or more different creatures to be combined, producing something greater than the sum of their parts. The ancients knew where the source was, though they did not comprehend how to use it or control its creations. They called it Echidna.”
“The Mother of All Monsters.” If what Tyndareus said was true, given what she knew about the chthonic monsters, then how would that help Tyndareus bring his clone back to life? The answer came to her a moment later. “You want to combine your DNA with…” She nodded to the bones. “His.”
Tyndareus’s smile was answer enough. “Echidna will allow me to create a new form — Gemini — reuniting me with my twin, and modern genetic engineering techniques will allow me to overcome the problem of telomerase deficiency.”
Fiona thought back to her conversation with Gallo on that particular topic. “Echidna lived in the Underworld. Kenner isn’t going to find anything in South America. All that map will do is take him to the Amazon city.”
“He believes that he can find information there that will lead him to Echidna.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “Do you know where it is?”
Fiona felt the chill return. This was it, the moment of reckoning. If she refused him, she was dead, and despite what she had just told him, there was a very real possibility that Kenner would be able to follow the clues to find the entrance to the Underworld. But if she helped the old man…?
“I sense your hesitation,” he said. “You believe I am some kind of monster.”
She jerked her head over her shoulder, nodding toward his gallery of horrors. “Pretty much.”
“Everything I did was for the greater good of humanity. My research opened new frontiers of understanding. Though the medical and scientific community would never admit it, my work at Birkenau made possible nearly every significant medical advance of the last century. Finding Echidna will be the key to the advances of the next.”
Fiona was unmoved by the grandiose claim. Tyndareus would be able to do what he suggested, but he would use it as a weapon to enslave or destroy anyone he deemed unfit, feeding them to his carnivorous plants. But that was a long range problem. The question of what to do now remained.
Live dog or dead lion? The answer was simple enough. A live dog could still bite.
“Show me the map.”
38
Pierce tackled Carter, throwing them both backward, off the artificial island and into the shallow water near where Lazarus lay. The two flying shapes swooped past them, and even in the low light, Pierce could make out the distinctive outlines of wings and tail feathers. Birds, but not like any birds he had ever seen before.
The birds wheeled around and lined up for another pass.
“Down!” Pierce shouted, and then he plunged his head under the surface.
A strange rapid-fire popping noise reverberated through the water. He felt a series of percussion claps against his back, and then a searing pain stabbed through his right butt cheek. He howled into the water and thrust his head above the surface. He reached back, groping for the site of the wound. His fingers brushed against something that sent a fresh throb of pain through his buttocks. Whatever had caused the injury was still there, sticking out of him like an arrow.
The natives of the Amazon hunted with blow darts and arrows, and often tipped their missiles with poison. But other than the pain of the puncture wound, he felt nothing. He had been attacked, but not by natives.
Something moved beside him, bringing him back to the moment. Carter had her arms around an unresponsive Lazarus, holding his head up out of the water. Pierce saw that she was uninjured, and then it occurred to him that the danger was not yet past. He glanced skyward and saw two dark shapes silhouetted against the violet sky, turning slow circles like vultures.
“Come on,” he said through clenched teeth. “We need to get to the trees.”
Carter seemed about ready to protest, but then nodded. “Help me with him.”
Careful not to jostle the projectile lodged in the meat of his buttocks, Pierce looped one of Lazarus’s massive arms around his shoulders. Carter took the other, and they headed for the nearest stand of cypress trees. It was more than two hundred yards away, and with the added burden of Lazarus’s dead weight, they made slow progress. At first, Pierce thought he could feel the skewering object digging deeper with every step and the tingle of poison spreading through his veins — both sensations were probably just in his imagination — but before they had gone a quarter of the way, his foot snagged on a submerged root. He stumbled, and as he pitched forward into the water, he felt Lazarus go down, taking Carter with him.