"Are these folks children or not? Are they the missing people?"
From the podium, Miranda Sena could not see the face of the reporter who had asked that question. Too many faces packed the Sandia labs auditorium, too much glare from the forest of TV lights. She stood alone, although other members of the task force sat at a long table to her left. She sighed inwardly and poured ice water into a glass from a pitcher on the table. She had worn the wrong clothes for this task; the dark suit sucked in the heat from the TV lights like a sponge.
"As I have said, we are willing to say they are the essence of the missing people. They retain all memories of their past lives, all memories of their families, their childhoods, the schools they attended, the cars they drove, the jobs they had. The memories are complete in the sense that long-term memory is selective where only bits and pieces are recalled and a spouse or parent has to fill in the missing pieces. This is normal in a human mind. It can retain only so much. If every chi–person in the group could remember every little detail about their lives, we would be suspicious. To reiterate: Yes, the individuals in this group are the missing adults, in a different form—"
"Are they human?" She didn't see the questioner on that one, either, but she didn't need to: Allan Goth, commentator/reporter for one of the Christian networks whose voice was heard by ten million people daily (he said).
"In many physiological terms, yes," she said, noting in a corner of her mind the cold of the water glass against her palm. "The trouble is, those systems are not at the point they should be in terms of chronological age. Every physiological system—endocrine, digestive, cardiopulmonary, reproductive—has regressed, or has been regressed, to the developmental stage of about a nine-year-old—no younger than eight, no older than ten. This includes sexual organs, which are now in prepubescent states. All but one of the women had had sexual relations pre-incident, and their hymens have not been replaced, but that's a poor indicator anyway. Circumcised men have not had foreskins replaced. In all other aspects, however, signs of sexual intercourse and childbirth have been eliminated, including secondary sexual characteristics—beards, pubic hair, some muscle development. No wrinkles, no scars, no moles, no acne, no blemishes of any kind. Better than newborn babies, even. Vision for each is rated at 20/20 or better, so none need glasses or contact lenses anymore." She sipped some water.
"Some of the factors do not match completely what you would expect to find in a nine-year-old child. Tonsils removed from ten of the people have been restored, but appendices removed from four of the seventeen have not. This seems to suggest the Holn couldn't find a use for the appendix, either." She was surprised at the low laughter that greeted that remark.
"What about the thymus?" The question came from a Swedish medical reporter Miranda knew only by accent.
"Good question. The thymus is one of two main factors showing no differentiation. The gland in each of the seventeen remains shrunken as we would expect in adults, although the tissue itself has been devolved back to the lymphoid type instead of the fat cells of maturity. T-cell production is at the balance required, with lymphocyte production nominal. Some numbers show the immune system response perhaps a little sharper, a little more aggressive, but we still aren't—"
"The bones! Why don't you ask about the bones?" The shout came from a man with thick gray hair and mustache at the opposite end of the table: Dr. Samuel Innes, at last showing up as a member of the task force.
"What about the bones?" an AP reporter asked.
"Ask her, ask her."
"Dr. Sena?"
"Well, the bones are smaller—"
"Piffle!" Dr. Innes exploded. The lenses and faces turned away from her to him. "Science fiction! Fantasy! You cannot shrink bones and maintain integrity! You cannot scale back a femur and expect it to function. It is impossible! You cannot change an adult into a child!"
"Dr. Sena?" The lenses and faces swung back.
"Not only are the bones smaller, they have changed form." She deliberately refrained from looking at Dr. Innes. "In babies, bones are mostly cartilage, soft material, because a growing human needs flexibility. Cartilage turns to bone gradually as a child grows. Final ossification doesn't start until maturity, when the body reaches full height. In these seventeen people, the bones are cartilage where we would expect it: at the ends of the long bones, for instance, and in the fingers. The sacral vertebrae have been separated into the individual bones of childhood. Plus, the ends of the ribs where they meet the sternum are cartilage again. The sternum itself—the breastbone—is nearly the last bone to stop growing and ossify. Careful examination shows this bone, this large, protective structure, has been renewed into flexible cartilage with the potential for regrowth. Even the fontanelles, the seams in the skull that allow a brain to grow, show the flexibility we lose as adults."
"That is amazing. Really amazing." Dr. Innes began the statement glaring at her, but as the lenses and faces again focused on him, he turned in their direction. "The Holn visited this planet for what, six years? And in those years, the suggestion goes, they learned enough about humans to turn some of us into children. This is outrageous! Why would they do such a thing in the first place? They never left the ship in all those years. For the love of God, will you people begin to look at this seriously? We don't know what we're dealing with here." Dr. Innes slowed to take a breath. Miranda surprised herself by jumping in.
"Actually, they did these people many favors." The focal point shifted back. "Other than the tonsils, a woman who had had her gall bladder removed now has it back, and a man has three toes back he lost in his first childhood. The most amazing case is the man who lost his bladder to cancer. Removal of the bladder often takes more than just that organ. Sometimes the prostate is removed or damaged so the patient becomes impotent. This man has it all back—his bladder, his prostate and all connecting tubes and vessels. And all organs are organic—no artificial material was used whatsoever. There's no sign the operation ever took place. We have not found anything artificial or mechanical in any of these bodies. Nothing exotic. All cells, all tissues, suggest human origin."
"Very miraculous. Very heartwarming, indeed," Dr. Innes said, and the focus swung again. "Have you pointed out that all of these children are exactly the same height? Fifty-two point one inches, four feet and a tad more than four inches, a hundred and thirty-two and a tad centimeters. And they all weigh within a few grams of each other. This suggests to me they were poured into molds like . . . like cookie-cutter kids."
"For what purpose?" asked Marinka Svoboda of CNN.
"To spy on us, maybe? To report on the condition of the planet to the mother ship as advance preparation for an invasion, perhaps?" Dr. Innes mopped his brow. "Or, more likely, to plant seeds that will grow like weeds and spread among the population until we humans have been replaced with-with whatever it is they left here. The important question, the only important question, is, are these people really human, do they think—"
"That question touches on the other factor I mentioned as seemingly unchanged: their brains." Miranda straightened, set down the glass and put both hands on the podium as eyes organic and inorganic swung back to her. "Let me tell you another thing about the gentleman who got his bladder back. As we age, our brains lose neural cells because those cells do not regenerate. By the time you're in your seventies, you might have lost five to twenty percent of these cells. This man is seventy-nine years old. However, PET, CT, MRI, MFM, and other scans show he has regained brain mass. Regained it. He has the brain of a nine-year-old, a young, healthy brain. What does this mean for him? A new life—"
Dr. Innes jumped to his feet. "Even more proof he's an alien—"
"I wish you would refrain from using that word." Miranda, staring directly at Dr. Innes, was testing her mother's axiom that a calm, steady voice could outshout a screamer. "We do not know for sure if these are their real bodies or something manufactured."
"Are they human?" Goth again. "Please answer the question. You have been talking like you believe these . . . these children are—have been the people who are missing. Will you state right now, before God and all these witnesses and the witnesses across America and the world, that you believe those people now inhabit childlike bodies?"
"I have come very close to saying that many times, I believe. The reason—"
"Will you state—"
"The reason," she said louder, "I don't say it outright is because I'm not sure yet. We have only two months' study so far, too soon to be taking rock-hard positions. That's one of the vexations of science. I can't make a flat statement like that until I study more evidence. However, I will say I'm leaning in that direction, barring evidence to the contrary."
"We have heard the reunions with families didn't go very well." The Svoboda woman again.
"What did you expect? Whatever else these people are, their physiologies have changed drastically. Some parents look younger than their children. Wives, husbands, suddenly find themselves married to children. Parents who had raised their children to adulthood are faced with the possibility of starting almost all over again. Yes, the reunions didn't go well, but some wild and deep emotions have been washing over those people. Actually, it's a bit encouraging that the emotional blowups weren't worse than they were."
"And what happens now?" Kinsea Lee of NBC shouted. "Are you going to release the group? If so, into whose custody?"
"That question hasn't been resolved yet. We on the task force would like to continue observation for a while longer, first to make sure each individual has recovered enough emotionally to handle the new situation, and second, to make sure there are no physiological difficulties that might crop up." Now that's a nice way of dancing around the central issue. "Plus, there's a raft of legal questions that have to be answered. Dr. Rolstein and I have been consulting with HHS attorneys who are reviewing the situation with the Alden Commission. As a personal view, I do not think it is wise to let them out into the mainstream just yet."
"Well, at least we agree on something," Dr. Innes said. "We have too many questions as yet unanswered. And we don't know the long-term effects of the procedure, whatever procedure it was, on the psychological stability of each person. And we should isolate them anyway because they are aliens and should not be let loose into the general population."
"Are you suggesting they be kept locked away for the rest of their lives?" A CBS reporter asked.
"Not 'locked away,' certainly, but kept isolated, probably for a long time, until we can determine if they pose a threat to society. We should not let them breed with any humans, because, you see, that's how they'll eventually replace the human race. It would take hundreds of generations, but it would be inevitable."
"Dr. Sena, do you agree?"
"So far, though we haven't found evidence to suggest an alien physiology—"
"We haven't found anything to deny it, yet, either," Dr. Innes said.
"True—"
"But the result, the organism we see as a result of the experiment, is an alien concept. A turning back of the biological clock? That goes against everything we've known about the workings of the universe, both in science and religion."
"You have to ask—" But Allan Goth cut her off.
"The fact that the main scientists of the task force disagree so sharply seems to show you know nothing and are floundering about—"
"And I can see from that statement, sir, you are totally ignorant of how science works." Miranda turned so she faced the direction of the voice. "It would be a lot more dangerous if we scientists sat up here in perfect harmony. Then there would be no information forthcoming because we would not consider any data or theories contrary to our stated position. The fact that Dr. Innes disagrees with me, and is not shy in saying so, is evidence that we are exploring every question, every angle possible because we are seeking truth. An egghead concept, I know, but that's the way science advances, that is the way we will advance. If for no other reason than those seventeen people whose lives have been turned upside down deserve the truth." She took a breath, let it out. "From the big folk who now control their destinies."
* * *
[["Video Journal captured this exclusive video of three of the Seventeen relaxing in a courtyard at an Albuquerque hospital. They have been identified as Perry Jerzy Stangle, by the tree, Sandra Denise Mellinfield and Edward Samuel Thompson. At the time these pictures were taken, they were eating lunch of grilled chicken, corn on the cob, a salad, and chocolate cake for dessert. A real child-pleaser.
"Our source tells us that the one who calls himself Eddie Thompson also calls himself the 'token black,' and was fifty-two years old at the time of capture by the aliens. We also have learned that one of the so-called children is gay, but we haven't been able to identify him. Spokespersons for the Holn Effect Task Force say nothing is ready to be announced yet, but that something could be forthcoming soon.
"Video Journal will keep abreast of the latest developments, and as soon as we can get some more clandestine pictures, we'll damn sure show them to you."]]