Life Blood---XXII---Page No 71

"My program?" I stared back at him, feeling a jolt. With my thoughts completely focused on Sarah, the last thing on my mind was my own baby.

"Now that you're here"—he smiled—"there's no reason we

shouldn't proceed. This is, after all, a place of miracles."

Right. You let Sarah destroy her mind and now you want me
to . . .

Don't even think about it.

"I have to tell you, I'm not overly impressed thus far with your 'program,' " I said. "First I passed out in your clinic, and then my doctor in New York told me those drugs Ramala gave me are highly illegal, and for good reason."

"What is 'legal' is more often than not the judgment of medical
reactionaries." He dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand.
"My work has moved far beyond anything the FDA has ever
dreamed of." Then his look turned grave. "I hope you'll give me a
chance to try to help you. I've been giving your case a lot of
thought since our first examination, about what we should do. But
first let me ask you . . . do you have a partner who could come
here soon?"

Okay, maybe the thing to do was appear to play along for a while, move under his radar, and then get Sarah and split.
        "It's a possibility."

He smiled again. "Excellent. If this person can come here

to the clinic for a . . . deposit, then we could put you on a fast-track schedule."

"One thing at a time. First I'd like to know exactly what it is you have in mind." Would his "program" include stringing me out on the toad drug, the way he'd done with Sarah?

"Of course." He leaned forward in his chair. "I believe that,
given your history, an in-vitro procedure would have the highest
chance of success. You undoubtedly know how it works. We
remove a number of eggs by aspiration and grade them for
maturity and viability, after which we fertilize them to begin
embryos growing. Then we pick the most promising for
implantation."

"In vitro is invasive and dangerous and there's a lot that can go wrong." I genuinely hated the idea.

"To some extent." He examined his watch for a moment, then
looked up. "But let me just say this. Since any reproductive
therapy, particularly in vitro, is strongly dependent on the factor of
timing, I've developed experimental compounds down here that
can regulate egg maturities very precisely. It minimizes a lot of
uncertainties, which is why we're so lucky you're . . ." He paused.
"Look, the first thing we need to do is put you on a strict regimen
of diet and spiritual discipline, using my system for regulating your
Chi, your energy flows. Then, if you respond we can start thinking
about the procedure. And should you eventually decide you want
to go ahead and you can have your partner come here, we could
possibly have everything done in just a few days."
        "Well, you can forget about me taking any 'experimental
compounds.' " How long could I stall him?

"Morgan, there's more to this." His look grew pained. "It's

awkward to bring it up, but your presence here creates no small
difficulty for me. I told you certain people in the military high
command have concerns about the film you're making. And then
the next thing they know, you show up here. It's just going to
heighten their paranoia. But if I can convince them you're here for
fertility treatment . . . In any case, it's important that nothing you,
or I, do is at odds with that presumption. I hope it's true, but even
if you chose to forgo it, I still need to put you on my normal
regimen. You understand."

That's baloney. Somebody had me brought to Baalum.

Whoever did it knows full well why I'm here. The problem is, I still don't know what they really want.

"Well, you can say I've come to take Sarah home," I told him. "That seems reason enough."

"The other story is simpler to explain." He took a last bite of
gazpacho, then rested his pewter spoon on the table. "Take my
word for it."

"And what if I don't choose to go along with this charade?"

"We would both be in jeopardy. They're entirely capable of . . . things I'd rather not have to elaborate on."

I sat there, feeling a chill envelop the room. How was I going to get out of this place?

"By the way, a while ago Sarah mentioned something about a

'ceremony.' What's that—?"