\u201cComposite lineage objective achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read the words until they seemed detached from meaning.<\/p>\n
Dana did not try to interpret them immediately. That was one reason I trusted her. She had learned that every time we guessed what Richard meant, the documents eventually revealed something stranger and more deliberate.<\/p>\n
Luke's reconstructed embryo had used my nuclear material, Carter's sperm, and an enucleated donor egg that retained mitochondrial DNA from Rose Holloway, Margaret's mother.<\/p>\n
Three genetic sources.<\/p>\n
One child.<\/p>\n
Richard had not simply preserved a Sterling descendant.<\/p>\n
He had assembled one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat legal reason could there possibly be for doing that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone I can think of.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust reason?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMedical?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly experimental.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why call it lineage?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana turned the page.<\/p>\n
The Meridian note contained no explanation.<\/p>\n
Just technical abbreviations, developmental measurements, and those four words.<\/p>\n
Composite lineage objective achieved.<\/p>\n
I called Margaret.<\/p>\n
She answered on the second ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you recognize the phrase composite lineage?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you see that?\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeridian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard promised that project ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat project?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell me what you do know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I want to show you something.\u201d<\/p>\n
An hour later, Margaret arrived at Rachel's house carrying a narrow wooden box.<\/p>\n
She looked smaller than I remembered from family holidays.<\/p>\n
Richard had always occupied space around her so completely that I had mistaken quietness for passivity.<\/p>\n
Now I wondered how much she had simply survived.<\/p>\n
She placed the box on the kitchen table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took this from Richard's study after the board suspended him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you have lawful access?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's my house too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fair.<\/p>\n
Margaret opened the box.<\/p>\n
Inside were photographs.<\/p>\n
Old ones.<\/p>\n
Richard and Robert as boys.<\/p>\n
Henry Sterling beside an enormous black automobile.<\/p>\n
Margaret holding baby Carter.<\/p>\n
Adrian as a toddler, though his photograph had been placed separately.<\/p>\n
Then several medical diagrams.<\/p>\n
Family trees.<\/p>\n
One heading appeared repeatedly.<\/p>\n
HOLLOWAY-STERLING CONSOLIDATION.<\/p>\n
I looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother came from money.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Holloways owned manufacturing businesses in Pennsylvania. Most disappeared through mergers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause my marriage to Richard was partly strategic.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean arranged?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot formally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily encouraged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStrongly.\u201d<\/p>\n
She touched the diagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cHenry Sterling wanted access to Holloway capital and industrial relationships. My father wanted Sterling distribution contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you and Richard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were twenty-three.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answered enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you love him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret smiled sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually. Or I believed I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Carter was born, Henry called him the consolidation child.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he combined both families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Richard didn't invent that concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe inherited it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd perfected it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words chilled me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy use Rose's egg material in Luke?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother underwent fertility treatment after I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted another child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStored eggs?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe handled parts of her estate after she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Another deceased person's reproductive material falling into his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Rose consent to research?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Luke contains material from another person who never agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt tired beyond anger.<\/p>\n
Richard had built his system from the silence of the dead and the deception of the living.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was the composite project supposed to accomplish?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret pulled out a handwritten letter.<\/p>\n
Richard's writing.<\/p>\n
Dated eleven years ago.<\/p>\n
One paragraph had been underlined.<\/p>\n
Carter represents the natural consolidation of Sterling and Holloway interests, but his reproductive limitations make preservation uncertain. Technology may permit restoration of both lines in a successor without depending upon chance.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cRestoration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana read over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to recreate Carter's combined inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGenetically,\u201d Margaret said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuke.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
But something still bothered me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy my nuclear DNA?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Richard liked you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes this worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were healthy. Intelligent. You challenged Carter without embarrassing him publicly. You came from a stable family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAttributes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSelection criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret did not argue.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe once told me you corrected weaknesses in both families.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn't his daughter-in-law. I was breeding stock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have understood sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know he preserved my eggs?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about donor substitution?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected after Emma.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said before that you didn't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know details.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is becoming everyone's favorite distinction.\u201d<\/p>\n
She accepted the rebuke.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you suspect?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Richard had interfered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was too satisfied after Emma was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSatisfied?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stopped pressuring Carter about another pregnancy for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because two daughters had proved Adrian's line could produce healthy children.<\/p>\n
Data.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ask him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the family had options.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ask what that meant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me never to interfere with matters I didn't understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was afraid of being wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer hurt precisely because it was plausible.<\/p>\n
Fear of being wrong had protected Richard almost as effectively as deliberate loyalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have asked me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have warned me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven without proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not defend herself.<\/p>\n
That made anger harder to hold.<\/p>\n
Margaret removed one final photograph.<\/p>\n
Richard standing beside a laboratory monitor.<\/p>\n
On the monitor was an embryo image.<\/p>\n
Written on the back:<\/p>\n
C-1 composite viable.<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuke?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard's locked drawer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas this the photograph you remembered him bringing from Colorado?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where is that one?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found it too.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached into the box.<\/p>\n
The photograph showed a baby.<\/p>\n
Not Luke.<\/p>\n
A newborn wrapped in a white hospital blanket.<\/p>\n
No identifying information except a date.<\/p>\n
October 18, 2022.<\/p>\n
A month before Sadie's recorded embryo transfer.<\/p>\n
I looked at Dana.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadie wasn't born yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLuke was already years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret whispered, \u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the back, Richard had written two words.<\/p>\n
Robert restored.<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
Robert.<\/p>\n
His dead brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does restored mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana was already photographing the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe another child using Robert's sample.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Sadie?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer transfer happened later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there was another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret covered her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that photograph meant something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was it taken?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana enlarged details.<\/p>\n
A hospital bracelet was partially visible.<\/p>\n
Only three characters readable.<\/p>\n
7K4.<\/p>\n
Not enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Richard have created another child from Robert's sperm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith whose egg?\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Then Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Richard said something once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Lauren's line solved Carter. Another source would solve Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin crawled.<\/p>\n
Another maternal source.<\/p>\n
Another woman.<\/p>\n
Another child.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana searched the box.<\/p>\n
One envelope remained.<\/p>\n
Inside was an old family tree.<\/p>\n
Robert's branch.<\/p>\n
Matthew.<\/p>\n
His deceased son.<\/p>\n
Then a handwritten dotted line leading to an unnamed box.<\/p>\n
Male.<\/p>\n
2022.<\/p>\n
The date matched the photograph.<\/p>\n
Beside it:<\/p>\n
R-line continuity independent of M.<\/p>\n
\u201cM,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew,\u201d Dana replied.<\/p>\n
Richard had created another Robert-line male descendant without Matthew.<\/p>\n
A substitute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wasn't he used for the trust instead of Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe because nobody knew he existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps the child's legal status made him unusable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr the mother wouldn't cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret whispered, \u201cRichard said he lost something important in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the Colorado trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came home furious and said, \u2018She took him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe.\u201d<\/p>\n
A mother.<\/p>\n
Not a clinic.<\/p>\n
Not a researcher.<\/p>\n
Someone had taken the child away from Richard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he say who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me it was business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Everything was business when truth would expose him.<\/p>\n
Dana's investigators began searching the date, hospitals, fertility programs, and Robert-linked samples.<\/p>\n
By afternoon, one connection emerged.<\/p>\n
A Meridian researcher had left Colorado abruptly in late 2022.<\/p>\n
Dr. Elena Park.<\/p>\n
Embryologist.<\/p>\n
Former reproductive endocrinology fellow.<\/p>\n
She disappeared from professional publications afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecipient?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPortland.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cContact her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana did.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Another call.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then an email.<\/p>\n
Dr. Park replied with one sentence.<\/p>\n
If Lauren Sterling is involved, Richard has finally lost control.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk about the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana typed.<\/p>\n
The response came three minutes later.<\/p>\n
The child is safe. Richard has no legal or physical access to him.<\/p>\n
I breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dana asked.<\/p>\n
Another response.<\/p>\n
Not over email.<\/p>\n
We arranged a secure call.<\/p>\n
Elena appeared without video.<\/p>\n
Her voice was calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard told me you would eventually find the research trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know you had the child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he Robert's biological son?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is his mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour egg?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour pregnancy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou willingly created a child with sperm from a dead man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe embryo already existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCreated by whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeridian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour egg?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout consent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy oocytes had been donated for research. Not reproduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another stolen boundary.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert's sperm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot until later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy carry the pregnancy?\u201d<\/p>\n
A long silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Richard wanted the embryo destroyed after genetic testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe child carried a trait Richard considered unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCardiomyopathy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was female.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the photograph says male.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe embryo was initially reported female because of a laboratory error.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Richard ordered destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI discovered the sex report was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Richard change his mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted the embryo once he knew it was male.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had already decided I would not let him control its fate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou transferred it to yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that legal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The admission came without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI violated protocol.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause every legal channel was compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Dana.<\/p>\n
Elena continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believed I was rescuing biological material from destruction. I did not fully understand what becoming pregnant would mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you carried him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNoah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another child.<\/p>\n
Noah Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes he have medical problems?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo major problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCardiac variant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPositive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Richard know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he monitor him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything he could without exposing himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThreats to my license.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCustody?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claimed the embryo belonged to a trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you leave Colorado?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo disappear from his reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy Portland?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Noah know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows he was born through assisted reproduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Matthew know Noah exists?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot unless you've told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Dana.<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you contact Robert's family?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich family?\u201d<\/p>\n
Fair question.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know whether he was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard made everyone look unsafe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you speak with him now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not yes.<\/p>\n
Not no.<\/p>\n
Her choice.<\/p>\n
I respected it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want from me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're not genetically related to Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Richard's scheme connected all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then Elena said, \u201cYou still don't understand the composite project.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat am I missing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLuke wasn't the objective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was proof of concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hit hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cProof that reconstruction worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena inhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard wanted to recreate an embryo from someone who could no longer produce reproductive material.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of dead Robert.<\/p>\n
Rose Holloway.<\/p>\n
Stored samples.<\/p>\n
Preserved nuclear material.<\/p>\n
Then I understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena answered quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry Sterling.<\/p>\n
\u201cComposite lineage objective achieved.\u201d I read the words until they seemed detached from meaning. Dana did not try to interpret them immediately. That was one reason I trusted her. She … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27778,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27743\/revisions\/27778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}