“No arguing you two,” Candace said. “Just tell me how it’s done. I’ve been curious from day one, but everything has been so hush-hush. Kevin’s explained the science to me, but I still don’t understand the logistics.”

“Kevin gets a bone-marrow sample from a client,” Melanie said. “From that, he isolates a cell preparing to divide so that the chromosomes are condensed, preferably a stem cell if I’m correct.”

“It’s pretty rare to find a stem cell,” Kevin said.

“Well, then you tell her what you do,” Melanie said to Kevin, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’ll get it all balled up.”

“I work with a transponase that I discovered almost seven years ago,” Kevin said. “It catalyzes the homologous transposition or crossing over of the short arms of chromosome six.”

“What’s the short arm of chromosome six?” Candace asked.

“Chromosomes have what’s called a centromere that divides them into two segments,” Melanie explained. “Chromosome six has particularly unequal segments. The little ones are called the short arms.”

“Thank you,” Candace said.

“So…” Kevin said, trying to organize his thoughts. “What I do is add my secret transponase to a client’s cell that is preparing to divide. But I don’t let the crossing-over go to completion. I halt it with the two short arms detached from their respective chromosomes. Then I extract them.”

“Wow!” Candace remarked. “You actually take these tiny, tiny strands out of the nucleus. How on earth can you do that!”

“That’s another story,” Kevin said. “Actually I use a monoclonal antibody system that recognizes the backside of the transponase.”

“This is getting over my head,” Candace said.

“Well, forget how he gets the short arms out,” Melanie said. “Just accept it.”

“Okay,” Candace said. “What do you do with these detached short arms?”

Kevin pointed toward Melanie. “I wait for her to work her magic.”

“It’s not magic,” Melanie said. “I’m just a technician. I apply in vitro fertilization techniques to the bonobos, the same techniques that were developed to increase the fertility of captive mountain gorillas. Actually, Kevin and I have to coordinate our efforts because what he wants is a fertilized egg that has yet to divide. Timing is important.”

“I want it just ready to divide,” Kevin said. “So it’s Melanie’s schedule that determines mine. I don’t start my part until she gives me the green light. When she delivers the zygote, I repeat exactly the same procedure that I’d just done with the client’s cell. After removing the bonobo short arms, I inject the client’s short arms into the zygote. Thanks to the transponase they hook right up exactly where they are supposed to be.”

“And that’s it?” Candace said.

“Well, no,” Kevin admitted. “Actually I introduce four transponases, not one. The short arm of chromosome six is the major segment that we’re transferring, but we also transfer a relatively small part of chromosomes nine, twelve, and fourteen. These carry the genes for the ABO blood groups and a few other minor histocompatibility antigens like CD-31 adhesion molecules. But that gets too complicated. Just think about chromosome six. It’s the most important part.”

“That’s because chromosome six contains the genes that make up the major histocompatibility complex,” Candace said knowledgeably.

“Exactly,” Kevin said. He was impressed and smitten. Not only was Candace socially adept, she was also smart and informed.

“Would this protocol work with other animals?” Candace asked.

“What kind would you have in mind?” Kevin asked.

“Pigs,” Candace said. “I know other centers in the U.S. and England have been trying to reduce the destructive effect of complement in transplantation with pig organs by inserting a human gene.”

“Compared with what we are doing that’s like using leeches,” Melanie said. “It’s so old-fashioned because it is treating the symptom, not eliminating its cause.”

“It’s true,” Kevin said. “In our protocol there is no immunological reaction to worry about. Histocompatibility-wise we’re offering an immunological double, especially if I can incorporate a few more of the minor antigens.”

“I don’t know why you are agonizing over them,” Melanie said. “In our first three transplants the clients haven’t had any rejection reaction at all. Zilch!”

“I want it perfect,” Kevin said.

“I’m asking about pigs for several reasons,” Candace said. “First, I think using bonobos may offend some people. Second, I understand there aren’t very many of them.”

“That’s true,” Kevin said. “The total world population of bonobos is only about twenty thousand.”

“That’s my point,” Candace said. “Whereas pigs are slaughtered for bacon by the hundred of thousands.”

“I don’t think my system would work with pigs,” Kevin said. “I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it. The reason it works so well in bonobos, or chimps for that matter, is that their genomes and ours are so similar. In fact, they differ by only one and a half percent.”

“That’s all?” Candace questioned. She was amazed.

“It’s kind of humbling, isn’t it,” Kevin said.

“It’s more than humbling,” Candace said.

“It’s indicative of how close bonobos, chimps, and humans are evolutionarily,” Melanie said. “It’s thought we and our primate cousins have descended from a common ancestor who lived around seven million years ago.”

“That underscores the ethical question about using them,” Candace said, “and why some people might be offended by their use. They look so human. I mean, doesn’t it bother you guys when one of them has to be sacrificed?”

“This liver transplant with Mr. Winchester is only the second that required a sacrifice,” Melanie said. “The other two were kidneys, and the animals are fine.”

“Well, how did this case make you feel?” Candace asked. “Most of us on the surgical team were more upset this time even though we thought we were prepared, especially since it was the second sacrifice.”

Kevin looked at Melanie. His mouth had gone dry. Candace was forcing him to face an issue he’d struggled to avoid. It was part of the reason the smoke coming from Isla Francesca upset him so much.

“Yeah, it bothers me,” Melanie said. “But I guess I’m so thrilled with the involved science and what it can do for a patient, that I try not to think about it. Besides, we never expect to have to use many of them. They are more like insurance in case the clients might need them. We don’t accept people who already need transplant organs unless they can wait the three plus years it takes for their double to come of age. And we don’t have to interact with these creatures. They live off on an island by themselves. That’s by design so that no one here has the chance to form emotional bonds of any sort.”

Kevin swallowed with difficulty. In his mind’s eye he could see the smoke lazily snaking its way into the dull, leaden sky. He could also imagine the stressed bonobo picking up a rock and throwing it with deadly accuracy at the pygmy during the retrieval process.

“What’s the term when animals have human genes incorporated into them?” Candace asked.

“Transgenic,” Melanie said.

“Right,” Candace said. “I just wish we could be using transgenic pigs instead of bonobos. This procedure bothers me. As much as I like the money and the GenSys stock, I’m not so sure I’m going to stick with the program.”

“They’re not going to like that,” Melanie said. “Remember, you signed a contract. I understand they are sticklers about holding people to their original agreements.”

Candace shrugged. “I’ll give them back all the stock, options included. I can live without it. I’ll just have to see how I feel. I’d be much happier if we were using pigs. When we put that last bonobo under anesthesia, I could have sworn he was trying to communicate with us. We had to use a ton of sedative.”