believed.”
Martin tapped his screen and it changed to show a black and white picture of a woman seated at a laboratory bench, microscope in front of her. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, wisps flying out.
“Stopes called for compulsory sterilization of those unfit for parenthood,” Martin continued. “When her son married a short-sighted woman, she cut him out of her will and after her death, a large amount of her money went to the Eugenics Society, now called the Galton Institute for obvious reasons.”
Jake was still puzzled.
“So some upper class Brits liked the idea of eugenics because they didn’t want more useless mouths to feed. But that doesn’t make it something that was accepted everywhere, does it?”
Martin shook his head.
“Incorrect Jake. It was huge in America, which is where Hitler got his ideas from. The original sterilization of ‘unfit’ people started in the USA, with over 64,000 people sterilized by the various states. The Nazis used this example as justification of their own sterilization regime and this was expanded into the ideas of racial purity that still persist today.”
“But eugenics was never supposed to be the basis for genocide,” Morgan said. “It’s important to remember that. In America and Britain, it didn’t turn into killing those considered unfit, merely that they shouldn’t have children.”
“And how does eugenics relate to our current investigation?” Jake asked, frustration evident in his voice.
“I agree with Martin that it makes sense if there are two prongs to the fulfillment of the prophecy,” Morgan replied. “If a quarter of the world must die, then who are they, and who will be saved? For that scale of attack there needs to be a huge plan in place and the prophecy mentions sword, famine, plague and wild beasts, so there’s quite a scope of options to carry it out.”
“As I said, plague would be easiest,” Martin replied. “There’s plenty of nasty viruses around.”
Morgan paced as she spoke.
“Hmm, yes, perhaps, but there is a theological motivation behind this so I would suspect something less biological and more religious in nature. For example, why were Thanatos interested in the Pentecost stones?”
“Think about it,” replied Jake. “If you wanted to ensure some people died and others lived, the Pentecost stones were evidence of a way to resurrect, to heal as well as to destroy. But they’ve clearly moved onto other things now.”
His phone began to buzz. He ignored it.
“Racial targeting or religious destruction was exactly what Hitler aimed to do to the Jews. My father and I would have been included in the destruction,” Morgan noted.
Martin sat down, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
“Me too. I’m considered defective, not worth breeding into the next generation. People like me would have also been destroyed.”
Martin’s phone buzzed next. He also ignored it, engrossed in the discussion.
“So, we can see the arguments for this in a truly ideological sense,” Morgan continued. “I mean we would all improve the human race if we could, but it can’t be done without gross violation of human rights. Thanatos seems to be emerging as a self-appointed God-like organization deciding who deserves to live or die. So how might this be done, and how can we stop it?”
The desk phone started to ring and the ‘Jaws’ suspense music filled the room. Martin grimaced.
“That’s Marietti. Guess it’s urgent. Something must have happened.”
Zoebios Head Office, Paris, France. 1.25pm
The door to the anteroom opened and Maria looked up. Armen Harghada walked in, and brought with him an atmosphere of regret that sank her heart. His face was set in a mask but she knew he was never sent to talk to successful funding candidates. Even as he stood in the doorway, she was already calculating what she could do next to salvage her research, perhaps take it to another
Martin tapped his screen and it changed to show a black and white picture of a woman seated at a laboratory bench, microscope in front of her. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, wisps flying out.
“Stopes called for compulsory sterilization of those unfit for parenthood,” Martin continued. “When her son married a short-sighted woman, she cut him out of her will and after her death, a large amount of her money went to the Eugenics Society, now called the Galton Institute for obvious reasons.”
Jake was still puzzled.
“So some upper class Brits liked the idea of eugenics because they didn’t want more useless mouths to feed. But that doesn’t make it something that was accepted everywhere, does it?”
Martin shook his head.
“Incorrect Jake. It was huge in America, which is where Hitler got his ideas from. The original sterilization of ‘unfit’ people started in the USA, with over 64,000 people sterilized by the various states. The Nazis used this example as justification of their own sterilization regime and this was expanded into the ideas of racial purity that still persist today.”
“But eugenics was never supposed to be the basis for genocide,” Morgan said. “It’s important to remember that. In America and Britain, it didn’t turn into killing those considered unfit, merely that they shouldn’t have children.”
“And how does eugenics relate to our current investigation?” Jake asked, frustration evident in his voice.
“I agree with Martin that it makes sense if there are two prongs to the fulfillment of the prophecy,” Morgan replied. “If a quarter of the world must die, then who are they, and who will be saved? For that scale of attack there needs to be a huge plan in place and the prophecy mentions sword, famine, plague and wild beasts, so there’s quite a scope of options to carry it out.”
“As I said, plague would be easiest,” Martin replied. “There’s plenty of nasty viruses around.”
Morgan paced as she spoke.
“Hmm, yes, perhaps, but there is a theological motivation behind this so I would suspect something less biological and more religious in nature. For example, why were Thanatos interested in the Pentecost stones?”
“Think about it,” replied Jake. “If you wanted to ensure some people died and others lived, the Pentecost stones were evidence of a way to resurrect, to heal as well as to destroy. But they’ve clearly moved onto other things now.”
His phone began to buzz. He ignored it.
“Racial targeting or religious destruction was exactly what Hitler aimed to do to the Jews. My father and I would have been included in the destruction,” Morgan noted.
Martin sat down, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
“Me too. I’m considered defective, not worth breeding into the next generation. People like me would have also been destroyed.”
Martin’s phone buzzed next. He also ignored it, engrossed in the discussion.
“So, we can see the arguments for this in a truly ideological sense,” Morgan continued. “I mean we would all improve the human race if we could, but it can’t be done without gross violation of human rights. Thanatos seems to be emerging as a self-appointed God-like organization deciding who deserves to live or die. So how might this be done, and how can we stop it?”
The desk phone started to ring and the ‘Jaws’ suspense music filled the room. Martin grimaced.
“That’s Marietti. Guess it’s urgent. Something must have happened.”
Zoebios Head Office, Paris, France. 1.25pm
The door to the anteroom opened and Maria looked up. Armen Harghada walked in, and brought with him an atmosphere of regret that sank her heart. His face was set in a mask but she knew he was never sent to talk to successful funding candidates. Even as he stood in the doorway, she was already calculating what she could do next to salvage her research, perhaps take it to another
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