—Sugar?
—Yep. There’s sugar in life. If the sugar is the one we call deoxyribose, you get deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. If the sugar is ribose, a simpler sugar, you get RNA, which can also store information, but isn’t as stable as DNA. The aliens have a very similar genetic makeup, but their nucleotides use a different sugar, a form of what we call arabinose.
—ANA.
—Exactly.
—And that is the only difference?
—Not quite. Each nucleotide also has a base. In DNA…Are you sure you want to hear this?
—Please.
—In DNA, there are four possible bases: cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine, which we just call C, G, A, and T. That’s the genetic alphabet. The alien genetic code doesn’t use A but something called diaminopurine. It makes their genetic code a little more stable than ours.
—Is it compatible with our DNA?
—Maybe. It’s close enough the two might be able to talk to each other.
—So there is nothing really interesting about the differences.
—Are you kidding? This is probably one of the greatest discoveries we’ve ever made. People thought DNA was pretty much the only way you could get life. We’ve been wondering whether life could evolve from an RNA base. It’s just recently that people have been able to play with the makeup of nucleic acids. We can make ANA in a lab, we’ve done it with a bunch of different sugars. We can make diaminopurine. We can make all this! But to see it occur naturally in the universe in complex life-forms so similar to us…Now we know there’s nothing really special about DNA. We can change the ingredients and still have a recipe for life. Do you understand what I’m saying? We’re this close to understanding how life came about. How you go from a thing to a living thing. It’s—
—Fascinating?
—It’s not just fascinating. It’s awe-inspiring. It’s…Genesis.
—It touches you.
—Yes. It’s—
—That seems like a completely human reaction to me.
—…I guess they made a good copy. I know what you’re trying to do, but I don’t think I’m a robot. Having feelings doesn’t make me less of a fraud.
—Does it not? I was not drawing attention to the fact that you can experience emotions, but to what triggered this emotional response. It may be my limited knowledge, but it seems to me you were moved by the fact that the building blocks for life can take many forms. Was it not the point you were making? That there is nothing fundamentally unique about DNA, no magic involved? You were saying that no matter the ingredients, life can shape itself from any molecular structure stable enough to hold information and replicate itself. You were moved because you were able to decompose something you thought was impenetrable into elements you can understand.
—Yes.
—Then should you not feel the same awe over what happened to you? Why would the realization that something as unique as you can be reduced to a stable configuration of atoms not bring you the same satisfaction? I know nothing of genetics, so I am not moved as you are by the discoveries you describe, but I find you extraordinary, and I am absolutely humbled by the thought of something so complex and nuanced being remade from the very fabric of the universe. If your faith is what is torturing you, you should find the miracle in there.
—…
—Think about it.
—Your phone is vibrating.
—It does not matter.
—You should answer. It might be important.
—I am here for you.
—Pick up. I promise I won’t do anything stupid.
—Very well…Yes?…When?…I am on my way.
—What is it?
—Something that unfortunately requires my immediate attention.
—You can go.
—I will not leave you alone. I can ask Ms. Resnik to come and keep you company but I would rather you came with me. Your assistance may be needed.
—What’s going on?
—Themis has disappeared.
—What?
—Will you come with me?
—Yes. Let’s go!
—Dr. Franklin. The gun? Please?
FILE NO. 1529
INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN KARA RESNIK, EARTH DEFENSE CORPS
Location: EDC Headquarters, New York, NY
[Were the hangar doors closed?]
{Do you rememb—}
—Everyone, stop! One at a time. Euge…General, you go.
[When did you notice that Themis was missing?]
—Really? Like, five minutes ago, when I called you. You think I went for a manicure first?
[Watch your tone, Captain Resnik…]
I’m trying, but we’re wasting time. Yes, Rose?
{Were the hangar doors closed the whole time?}
Yeah they were. I’m telling you, he didn’t go for a stroll. He can’t walk Themis without me, she falls.
—Ms. Resnik, are you certain Themis was inside the hangar this morning?
—Yes! She was here like ten minutes ago. I saw her. I talked to Vincent!
—Please tell us everything that you remember.
—What I remember? It just happened! Is anyone listening?
—We are now.
—Vincent got up real early this morning, said he wanted to try a few things by himself so he let me sleep in. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I read a little, then I headed here. I radioed him. He was in the sphere. I asked if he’d had breakfast, he said no. I told him I’d bring bagels up. I went into the kitchen, and when I came back, they were gone.
—Are you certain you are not forgetting anything? The smallest detail could be important.
—Yes! I mean…He said he wasn’t hungry. I told him it’d be a shame to let the bagels go bad—he brings them back from Montréal when he visits. We don’t have a freezer here…He said OK. I made bagels! Do you wanna know what I put on them? Cream cheese and raspberry jam. Then Themis was gone, with my husband inside. Happy?
—I am now. Details about the condiments were unnecessary.
—I think that was the first time I’ve called him my husband, not as a joke…We have to find him!
—We will. Dr. Franklin, can you tell us where Themis is located at this moment?
{There’s nothing on the GPS.}
Could it be malfunctioning?
{We’re picking up everything else. Just not Themis.}