Lucy Read online

  “The ranch?”

  “Yes. Luke and I have a ranch in New Mexico. It’s very comfortable and there’s lots of space. We have two old horses. I like to swim and hike. I think the girls would enjoy it. I can come out and pick you up in the plane if you like. Anytime. Just think it over.”

  “How generous of you.”

  “Well, frankly, I could use the company.”

  “I’ll definitely talk to the girls about it.”

  “Good. Good. The ranch is a nice place to get away. You’ll all be completely safe there, too.”

  “Thank you, Ruth. I’ll let you know.”

  “Okay, then. Call me anytime.”

  “Goodbye, Ruth.”

  Jenny returned to the table, lost in thought. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to get away for a while. She was about to tell the girls when Lucy handed her a letter bearing the seal of the United States Senate. Jenny read it.

  “What is it?” Amanda asked.

  “They’re having hearings,” Lucy said. “They want me to come. Senator Martin Cochrain of Connecticut says he wants to protect my rights.”

  “Well, good,” Jenny said. “Good for him.”

  “Wanna go, Mom?”

  “Definitely.”

  Wherever they went people crowded around and pressed in, asking for autographs, snapping photographs with their phones. Lucy was able to read most of the people, who were simply curious, and clearly friendly. But there were outliers in the crowds, and Lucy could not help thinking about John Lennon, stepping out of his car in front of the Dakota on a normal evening, when a madman who thought he was Holden Caulfield shoved through the crowd and shot him in the back. Growing up in the forest, she knew what it meant to be careful and vigilant. But in the forest there were rules. Here it was wide open. There was no common language of intentions.

  When Lucy first arrived in the United States, she thought she would never make it. When she met Amanda and settled in at school, she began to think that things would be all right. But she could no longer see into the future now. She couldn’t imagine how she would go forward—into college and life. Would she marry and settle down? Where? There had been a moment at the senior prom with Weston Temple when she thought perhaps she might.

  Lucy had had such fun preparing for prom with Jenny and Amanda. They went downtown to shop, and in Bloomingdale’s Lucy fell in love with a sage green dress, which Amanda called her “gownless evening strap” because it showed so much back. Amanda was exquisite in red.

  In the weeks before prom, Weston had taught Lucy how to dance. They practiced in the wrestling gym after everyone had left. Slick and sweaty from practice, wearing tights, they would hold each other. “Now, lady, just make your mind a blank and let your feet make that box. One, two, three, four …” She had a difficult time concentrating when he held her that way.

  Then came the day of the dance. Amanda and Lucy slept in. After breakfast Jenny took them to have their hair and fingernails and even their toenails done. By evening they had showered and had done each other’s makeup. They stood in their bras and panties before the full-length mirror, their things scattered everywhere.

  “There it is, cupcake,” Amanda said. “You are hot-hot-hot.”

  “I want hips,” Lucy said, looking at her slim body. “My arms are too muscular. I want to be a woman.”

  “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

  The dance was glorious. It took place in a great vaulted terrace, and a brilliant white light was spinning, flashing, randomly singling out faces, breasts, elbows, bare backs, buttocks, and torrents of blond hair. The room was air conditioned but the bodies all gleamed with sweat as they poured out their chemical messages. The hormonal aromas overwhelmed even the artificial perfumes as the couples twirled, clasped together in the dim light. On the stage the band leapt and sang. Lucy thought of those nights of the rain dance in the forest, when the elders would break branches and fling themselves about for all to watch, inciting them to join in.

  With their small athletic bodies, Weston and Lucy fit precisely to each other, like two hands praying. Weston’s pelvis was pressed against Lucy’s, and she had no choice, it seemed. She pressed back as if she would simply tumble over backward if she didn’t equalize the strain of that invisible force between them. Then, just as she thought that she might pass out or explode from the whirling forces and chemicals and lights, it was over. All too soon the room brightened. And then they were just a random group of boys and girls once more, staring around them, blinking in the light, attempting to assess what had just happened.

  Late, going home in the limousine with Amanda and Matt, Lucy thought, I could learn to love this life. I could learn to love this boy. She tried to imagine what her father must have been thinking when he decided to create her. Didn’t he think she might want all this? Lucy had blindly loved him because he was her father, her teacher. And now it made her sad and sometimes angry to think that perhaps all she had been to him was a piece of his great plan. But no, Lucy thought. She had fond memories of what a good father he had been, too. She knew in her heart that he loved her. It was in his notebooks, along with his deep and growing doubts about what he was doing. “What if I’m not there when she needs me?” he had once written. And on Lucy’s tenth birthday: “What a glorious child the forest has given us!” He loved her, of that she had no doubt. He celebrated her. It was so confusing. She wished that she could have crawled into his brain just once to know what it was like to be him.

  The limousine dropped Weston off at his house, and on the steps they kissed. Weston pressed against Lucy, and she felt the same thrilling rush from her legs to her stomach that she had felt the first time they wrestled. It was all she could do not to throw him to the ground and jump on top of him, and that thought made Lucy laugh out loud right in the middle of their kiss. Then Lucy felt a tender sadness overtake her, because her laughter had clearly embarrassed him. He must have thought that she was laughing at his kiss. Lucy realized that she had completely destroyed the moment. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I’m sorry, Wes. I wasn’t laughing at you, I swear.” But he quickly muttered goodnight and went inside.

  When she returned to the limousine, Matt and Amanda were kissing. They jerked apart as Lucy opened the door.

  “Don’t let me harsh your mellow,” Lucy said.

  “Way to pick up on the lingo, Lucy,” Amanda said.

  “Nah, that’s okay, Luce,” Matt said. “You didn’t assassinate my penguin. Just surprised us, that’s all.”

  The car dropped Matt off, and the driver took the girls home in the early-morning hours. Amanda and Lucy lay in bed, exhausted but unable to sleep. The evening had given Lucy a vision. She saw a shining beam of light that could carry her into her own future. She saw how she had truly come out of the jungle and into this crazy culture. She could see herself growing up and getting married and living a regular life.

  But that had been months ago. Now she couldn’t imagine any of it. When word came out about who she was, Weston, poor boy, had phoned her. “Lady, I can’t see you anymore. I want to, believe me. But my parents threatened not to send me to college. They’ll take my car away. I’m sorry, lady.”

  Lucy’s first thought was that Weston was shallow. But then she realized that he was a part of his own culture just as she was a part of hers. Their worlds were separated by an unbridgeable gulf that they had dared to cross. It was no good.

  Amanda, too, had suffered. Her mother had all but disowned her. Her father gave her money, but she had effectively come to live with Lucy and Jenny after her eighteenth birthday. Lucy was glad for that. But she also feared that if Amanda continued on with her, then Amanda, too, might be doomed.

  On a Thursday night Jenny and Lucy drove to the University of Chicago. They were under the impression that they were going to some sort of event where there would be other students, but that turned out not to be the case. Charles Revere, the chairman of Jenny’s department, met them at the entrance
and ushered them into a grand office. Though he was smiling and polite, Lucy could sense that his intentions toward Jenny were bad. Green-shaded library lamps glowed dimly on either side of a broad leather-covered desk. A small man with a bald head and a red bow tie sat behind it like an icon in a shrine. He was as bland as a rock, giving off no messages at all, it seemed. Jenny and Lucy sat on a leather couch and Revere sat on a claw-footed chair. Once they were introduced and the niceties were out of the way, Jenny said, “Charlie, what is this? I thought this was some sort of orientation event. Clearly it’s not.”

  The provost, whose name was Dr. Edmund Tanner, cleared his throat and began, “No, I’m afraid not, Dr. Lowe. I’m sorry if there was any confusion. You see, this whole business about Lucy’s lineage has caused considerable consternation in the university.”

  “Is that so?” Jenny asked.

  “Yes. Consternation of a sort that a university cannot abide, I’m afraid. There are deep questions that this raises. Deep philosophical questions and also practical issues. Even legal ones. And I’m afraid these questions are going to take some time to resolve.”

  “I don’t quite—”

  “One of our largest benefactors has threatened to withdraw all of his family’s support, for example, if we allow Lucy to matriculate here.”

  “Why?”

  “Precisely,” said the provost. “We don’t know all the whys and wherefores at the moment, but as the provost here, it’s my duty to safeguard the institution.”

  “Isn’t it your duty to safeguard the people in the institution, too?” Jenny asked.

  “Yes, that, too. And in doing so, at least until some questions are answered as to Lucy’s status, I’m afraid we’re not going to be able to let her attend school here.”

  “I see,” Jenny said.

  Lucy was unable to speak. She felt hollow inside. What the man was saying didn’t surprise her, but she felt as if something had been taken out of her, stolen from that deep place where she kept her secret hopes and dreams.

  “Jenny,” Revere interjected, “we’re going to have to ask you to take a leave of absence while things are decided.”

  “What?” She couldn’t conceal her surprise. “What does my work have to do with this?”

  “Everything, I’m afraid,” said the provost. “You see, there are ethical issues here about the provenance of this … well, about where exactly Lucy came from and who is responsible for the fact of her existence.”

  “Charlie, what on earth are you two talking about?”

  Revere answered. “We’re talking about the issue of whether you were involved in Lucy’s creation, or whether you simply stumbled upon the work of your colleague, Dr. Stone, as you claim.”

  “Are you suggesting that I somehow bred Lucy?”

  “I’m not suggesting it,” Revere said. “There are people in the academic community, however, who find it difficult to believe that two primatologists, working on the same subject a few miles from each other for years, could fail to know about each other’s work. Some find your altruism in adopting her suspicious in and of itself.”

  “We were two days’ walk apart, and he pointedly avoided my efforts to get to know him.”

  The provost intervened. “Dr. Lowe, I’m sure what you say is true. But we have to conclusively resolve the issue. The creation of a human-animal hybrid is a serious breach of ethics and probably illegal as well. In truth, we have to determine—and forgive me for saying this, but the question has been raised—we have to determine whether or not you actually gave birth to Lucy.”

  “Jesus Christ.” Jenny was on her feet now. “Any competent doctor could tell that I’ve never given birth.”

  “Then I’m sure you’ll be vindicated on that point,” the provost said. “But that still leaves many other issues unresolved.”

  Jenny stood up and grabbed Lucy’s hand. “Come on, Lucy. Let’s get out of here.” When they reached the door, Jenny stopped and turned. Lucy had never seen her so angry. “Charlie, don’t be an idiot.” He angled his chin up at her, his steel spectacles picking up the green glow of the library lamp. “You didn’t have to stage this farce. You know that we have Stone’s notebooks and that they document everything in great detail.”

  “Yes. But there’s still the business about how Lucy got into the United States. Meece gave some indication that it wasn’t entirely legitimate.”

  “So you see, Dr. Lowe,” said the provost. “We have to investigate all of these matters.”

  At home that night Jenny alternately ranted and went silent. Then she’d admonish herself, grumbling, “We knew this was coming. What did I expect?”

  In the morning, the Chicago Tribune ran this headline on its front page: “Illinois High School Association Strips Jungle Girl of Title.”

  Lucy was squatting in a corner of her room. Her face was in her hands. Amanda’s hand was on her shoulder. Lucy was trying not to cry. The world seemed to be spinning. “I hate this place. I want to die.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “I’m glad they took the title away.” She sobbed as she spoke. “I cheated. Just being me is cheating.”

  Amanda sat on the floor beside Lucy and wrapped her arms around her. She buried her face in her hair. “Lucy. You just did what you had to do. We all do what we have to do sooner or later. I love you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. We’ll find you a school, and I’ll go there, too. That’s how much I care.”

  Lucy raised her head and looked at her with tears in her eyes. “You’d do that?” Amanda nodded.

  25

  MEMORANDUM

  FROM: Louis Eisner, DVM, PhD

  The Alamogordo Primate Facility

  P.O. Box 956, Holloman AFB, NM 88330

  TO: Captain Wilson Colvin, MD, MPH

  U.S. Navy Medical Corps

  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

  DARPA Defense Sciences Office

  3701 North Fairfax Drive

  Arlington, VA 22203-1714

  SUBJECT: Research Proposal, human-animal hybrid specimen

  1. Organization of Research

  The undersigned is cognizant of DARPA’s interest in developing potential warfighting and other capabilities based on the study of the subject hybrid. It is the opinion of The Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) that clarification of the neurological source of the hybrid’s special abilities will greatly assist in shaping a strategy for this research.

  Chimpanzees, bonobos, and the other great apes enjoy their superior agility and strength by dint of the anatomy and neurophysiology of their brains, not through any special characteristics of their muscles. Human and chimp/bonobo musculature are virtually identical. The difference lies in the restraining effect of the neocortex, especially the frontal cortex, in humans. Indeed, there are documented cases in which humans have demonstrated strength as great as that of chimps in extreme situations, many of them in battlefield settings.

  Therefore, in order to maximize the value of the proposed research, it would be logical to first determine the anatomical configuration and physiological processes that take place in the hybrid brain under various conditions of extreme stress.

  As you are no doubt aware, fMRI and PET scan technology, while extremely valuable, are limited in scope. The gold standard for this type of in-depth brain research is direct implantation of microelectronic sensors. APF is the premier facility of its kind for this type of research, having been engaged in it with higher primates for many decades.

  A five-stage process for maximizing the research harvest is therefore proposed by this facility:

  First, that the hybrid be brought here at the earliest opportunity.

  Second, that a craniotomy be performed with extensive implantation of microelectronic sensors throughout the neocortex and motor-sensory areas of interest to DARPA.

  Third, that thorough mapping and testing be done at APF to provide baseline data for the appropriate research arms of DARPA. This would include the most d
etailed anatomical and neurophysiological picture of the hybrid brain possible, along with response times, stress hormone responses, and brain mapping during extreme stress events, such as waterboarding.

  Fourth, an implantable miniaturized monitoring device will be interfaced with the electronic sensors so that the hybrid’s actions and reactions can be monitored wirelessly under simulated battlefield conditions.

  AND

  Fifth, at that point the hybrid will be delivered to a USNORTHCOM-or DARPA-designated facility fully equipped for field exercises in which all the military objectives for research can be realized in the most effective manner possible.

  It is the considered opinion of this facility that this five-point plan will maximize this unique opportunity.

  2. Legal Considerations

  The legal counsel of APF, after consultation with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security, makes the following recommendation:

  The presence of the human-animal hybrid within the borders of the United States, along with the stated purpose of her presence here, can be viewed—at least technically—as an act of terrorism. Taking that view would effectively sweep away any presumed rights and associated difficulties for interested researchers. Inasmuch as the stated reason for the existence of this hybrid was to displace the human race, it would appear that there is prima facie evidence of intent to commit acts that are “dangerous to human life,” as well as “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population,” as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2331(5).

  Under provisions of the USA Patriot Act it is clear that the appropriate authorities have the right to seize and place subjects at their discretion without any obligation to report their whereabouts, health, or legal status.

  However, should Senate Bill 5251, the so-called “Lucy Bill,” pass, all legal considerations would be irrelevant, since the subject hybrid would be declared, de jure, an animal and not a human.

  In that regard, it is noted for the record that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the federal Animal Welfare Act (the only legislation that might influence this decision), has no jurisdiction over APF, as the Animal Welfare Act specifically exempts U.S. government research facilities, which are free to handle animal specimens as they see fit.