Christ Clone by David McLeod Read Free Book Online Page B

we'd be messing with Mother Nature, and I knew we'd be doing things the general public would object to — even though we all know they need us. But this . . . this is totally immoral. Doctor Zudermeister, are you really that desperate to get back to the coalface?'
    Klaus looked shocked, more because he felt exposed than at the implied insult. 'Mr Schultz, I have no idea what you're talking about!'
He tried to compose himself, but he felt the redness begin to rise in his cheeks and sweat start to bead on the back of his neck.
    'Oh come on. It's well known among your staff that you'd rather be doing the experiments than writing about them. Why don't you simply resign from your position instead of coming up with a depraved project like this? It's just fucking . . .'
    'Please! Calm down, Raynard,' the chairman interrupted.
'Remember where you are. This is an open forum for us all to discuss this issue.' With Raynard silenced, the chairman continued, 'However,
I think it would be best to conduct this poll in an anonymous manner; that may make it more comfortable for everyone. Could you all please write either for or against on the notepad in front of you and pass it to me. We already know there will be at least one against, don't we, Mr
Schultz?' He smiled at Raynard.
    All nine men wrote their votes, turned over their pads, and passed them to the chairman who read out the responses.
    'First one is a for,' he said, placing it face-up on the table. 'Second one, for.' He put this on top of the first. 'Third is against.' He placed this face-up beside the other two. Klaus could see it was written in big block capitals and he assumed it was Raynard's. Fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh were all for, and all joined the first pile. 'Eighth is . . .
seems you're not alone, Raynard,' he said as he turned up a second vote against. He put this on top of the other vote, then turned up the final vote. 'Last but not least, another for.
    'So we do have a debate on our hands. I guess I knew as soon as
Klaus started talking this wasn't going to be an easy decision. I think we should reconvene this afternoon. We've already heard the case for the proposition from Klaus; Raynard, can you put together a rebuttal by say, four o'clock?'
    Raynard nodded slowly. He clearly didn't want to get drawn into a debate.
    'Well, thank you Klaus for such a stimulating topic. Gentlemen, if you will all return here at four o'clock, with open minds, we'll try to reach a decision.' The chairman picked up the pads in front of him, tapped them on the table and left the room. The moment the door closed, the conversation in the room resumed with a vengeance.
    'So who else is with me on this?' Raynard, his back to Klaus, asked the others.
    They shrugged their shoulders in unison and looked at each other.
    'So, you're telling me that whoever it is, is happy enough to express their discomfort on paper, but isn't man enough to voice it publicly?'
He shook his head in disgust.
    'I believe you're looking for me!'
    They all turned to look at Klaus.
    'You? What the . . . ? Why?' Raynard's head may have been full of questions, but he couldn't put a sentence together.
    'Don't get too excited, Raynard; I have all the same concerns you do, possibly even more . . . I've had more time to think about them.'
    'What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?' Raynard hissed. The others took this as their cue to leave.
    Klaus waited until the last board member had gone and then offered
Raynard a seat. 'Listen, the whole thing terrifies me. I have very little idea how to go about getting this thing started. Yes, I'm sure — well
I think I am — that we can do the science. But getting the artefact for the source DNA is a real challenge; getting someone to volunteer to be the host mother, that scares me; but all of that pales into insignificance compared to . . .' he paused. 'Let's just say we can pull this off; let's just say for one moment that we manage to produce a clone of a