EVOL

            The American military officer couldn’t believe his eyes,  the object on his atmospheric detection grid,  was moving at an incredible speed across his screen.  After a short hesitation, to be sure he was seeing, what he was seeing, he turns to the captain.                             
         “Captain, I think you better have a look at this.”
         “What is it officer?”  the captain asks, rising to his feet.
         “We have a bogey.”  The officer quickly taps his fingers across his keypad,  “I’m calculating its trajectory now sir.”                                                                                                                  “Can you tell if it’s a missile?”
         “No, sir.”  Trying to give the captain a better explanation he said,  “If it is sir, it’s moving faster  then any, known missile.”
         “Damn those Iranians.”  The captain said.  Leaning over the officer, staring rigidly at the screen.  “I never in a million years, thought they would be stupid enough to fire a nuke.”
         The officer informs the captain,  “I have an impact site sir, it should land in Peru, South America.”
         “Get a team together, the captain said, looking over at his first officer, I want to know what the hell that thing is; and if I should tell the President, we’re at war.”


         A woman stands in front of a podium, at the center of the stage.  She is tall and thin, wearing a navy blue jumpsuit.  Looking out at the packed auditorium, she taps the microphone, to test if it’s on.  News reporting camera-bots, are hovering around, trying to find a clear view.
         “Hello everyone.  My name is Carol Thompson head of the Noble Prize delegate.  I am proud to introduce you to a very special man.  Most of you I’m sure already know of  his achievements, and with the help of  his assistants and years of hard work, he has developed the cure for cancer.  Please give a warm welcome to Dr. Joseph Teller, head of disease control.”
         The crowd begins to cheer, with anticipation.  Dr. Teller an older man in his late sixties, with thick white hair, is standing offstage next to his lead assistant Adam, a thin young man with dark hair. With a slight look of embarrassment on his kind face, he glances over at Adam and without a word, carefully ambles out onto the stage.  One of the camera-bots, reporting for the nations, largest news station, mechanically speaks to the home viewers,  “Dr. Joseph Teller is widely known as the greatest scientist alive, possibly the greatest that has ever lived.”  Once he is spotted, the large crowd in attendance rises to their feet, roaring with applause.  The camera-bots zoom back and forth, flashing their bright white camera bulbs.
         “Thank you,”  He said, in a humbled tone.  The crowd continues clapping, appearing to ignore him.  “Thank you - please.”  The rhythm of the clapping begins to break up, finally coming to an end.  “Thank you.  I am extremely honored to be here with you today.”  He scans the crowd.  “But the real honor belongs to all of the men that came before me,  the men that spent their entire lives fighting this terrible illness.  Because, without their hard work,  I would not be standing here,  before you now.”
          The large crowd,  throws their hands in the air with applause.  After receiving the award, and giving his thanks to the crowd.  The Doctor leaves the stage.  While heading back, he is cut off and greeted by a military officer.  Shaking hands, they speak for a moment, Dr. Teller nods to the official, shaking the mans hand again, he walks back over to Adam.
         “We need to get back to the lab, so I can get a team together,”  Dr. Teller said.
         “What’s wrong, is everything ok?”
         “I’m not sure.  The officer said it was urgent,  they need  me and my team to meet them in Peru.”
         “Peru?”  Adam asks, wondering what the government, needs with Dr. Teller.  And in the jungle of all places.                              
         “Yes.  That’s all the information he could give me,” Dr. Teller explains, as they climb into his waiting hovo-car, and leave the ceremony.
                                                                                                     
         Dr. Tellers team is waiting in the lab back at the University of Massachusetts.  Along with Adam is Sophia, an attractive woman with long auburn hair, that frames her petite face.  The third and final member is Damien, a stocky man with chubby features, and a blonde crew-cut.  The three hand picked assistants, are waiting patiently, for Dr. Teller to arrive with further instructions.  All but Damien.  Damien is tapping his fingers, on the hard wood table.  Adam swears he is doing it, just to get under his skin.  That was just the type of guy Damien was. Adam doesn’t let on, that it’s bothering him.  Instead, he glances over at Sophia.  After working with Damien for awhile now.  Adam and Sophia have learned to speak to one another, using only a look. 
         “So what’s this all about?”  Damien asked Adam, sarcastically.
         “I told you.  The government wanted Dr. Teller, to meet them in Peru.  That’s all we know.”
         “Well, I just figured you would know more.  Seeing as though you were with him, at the ceremony.”
         “He told you twice now what he knows,” Sophia added.                                        
         “All I’m saying is that it seems weird, they would tell him to meet them in Peru, without any explanation.”
         “Look. Dr. Teller should be here any minute now.  You can ask him about it,” Adam said.
         Sophia turns to Adam giving him a look of pity for Damien.

         The lab door opens.  Dr. Teller walking in turns to them and smiles.
           “Hello everyone, he said, I’m glad to see you all made it here on time.  As for me on the other hand, I’ve been running late ever since that award business.  I can’t get ten steps, without one of those reporting contraptions asking me a million questions.”
            “Well, you are famous now Dr. Teller,”  Sophia said, teasingly.
            “Hah,”  the doctor chuckles.  “By tomorrow they will all have forgotten about me.  They can remember every team that won the last fifty Super Bowls.  But ask them who last received the Nobel prize, and they can’t tell you.  It’s just as well though.  I never went into this field to become famous.”
            The doctor runs his thin fingers through his hair,  “Well I suppose we better get going, he said, I’d like to get out of here, before more of those reporting cans, show up.  It seems that one of them got pictures of the officer and myself, talking backstage at the ceremony.  Now rumors are flying, I’m helping the government, in some secret plans against Iran.”
         “Why don’t you just tell them nothing’s going on,  Damien chimes in, that’s what I would have done”
         Adam shaking his head said,  “And tell the media, he was asked to go to South America.  And he has no idea why?”
         “Why don’t you mind your business,”  Damien snaps back.  “I was talking to Dr. Teller.”
         “What do you expect, when you make a dumb comment like that,”  Sophia added.
         Damien now red in the face said,  “Why do you always have to speak for Adam”
         “Hey guys, come on now,”  Dr. Teller cut in.  “I feel as though I’m watching my grand- children.  Besides our transport is waiting.  We need to get going.”
                                                                                                                                                                 The cylindrical shaped transport cut swiftly through the sky.  Dr. Teller is in the cabin, speaking to the pilot about the coordinates.  Damien is laying on the bench, trying to sleep before arriving.  While Adam and Sophia are standing against the railing, looking out of the transports large, six by twenty plasma window.  Adam watching the ground below zoom by in a blur, has a hard look on his face.
                                                                                                                                                                     “What’s wrong, Sophia said, are the heights getting to you?”                                                            “No.  I just got a -
          “Just got a, what?”  She looked him in the eye thoughtfully.
          “I just got a strange feeling,” he said.  “It’s hard to explain.  It’s like I’m standing on a small chunk of ice, floating in the arctic.  If I lean too far to any side, it will flip. And at the same time the ice is melting, closing in on me.”  He laughs shrugging it off.  “Your probably right, I’m probably just nervous about flying.”
         “Well if it makes you feel any better, I saw Damien asking the copilot, if he had any motion-sickness meds,”  Sophia said, smirking.
         They both watch Damien laying on the bench, rubbing his forehead and laugh.
         “Ok everyone, we’re approaching the landing site now,”  Dr. Teller announced, coming from the cockpit.
         “About time,”  Damien groans, sitting up he puts on his jacket, he was using as a pillow.
                                                                                                                                                     The transport touches down on the outskirts of the jungle.  The door opens, and the walk ramp extends out.  Right away they’re greeted by an officer, with another man in civilian clothes.
                                                                                                                                                           “Hello doctor, I’m Captain Borsein and this is Dr. Frank Coleman, an archeologist from the University of  Michigan,” Capt. Borsein greeted, offering Dr. Teller his hand. 
         “It’s a pleasure,”  Dr. Teller replied, shaking the captains hand.
         “Dr. Coleman will lead you to the impact site from here, the captain said.  “I can leave a couple of my security officers behind with you, if you’d like.”
         “No thank you captain, I don’t think that will be necessary,”  Dr. Teller replied.
         “Very good then gentlemen, I will be heading out- oh, doctor, if you find anything you think the military might be interested in, please don’t hesitate to contact us,” Capt. Borsein concluded, waving his men from their positions.
         “So, what’s all this hubbub about anyhow?”  Dr. Teller asked Dr. Coleman, an average built man, with a greying red beard, wearing horned rimmed glasses.
            “Captain Borsein asked me to help guide them through the jungle, Dr. Coleman said.  “All I know is, they were tracking something on radar, and they thought it landed in here.  But after searching all morning, they didn’t find anything important.  As far as they were concerned.”
              “Then why do they need me down here?”  Dr. Teller asked.
              “Actually it was my idea to call you down. Dr. Coleman said.  “They didn’t find anything, they were concerned with.  What we did find however, I thought you would be very interested in.”
         “Really, Dr. Teller said, and what might that be?”
            “I’m not sure you would believe me if I told you, so I will just let you see it for yourself.” Smiling.  Dr. Coleman walks over to his equipment, and prepares his pack.
         
         Dr. Teller rejoins the team as they’re putting on their hovo-packs.
         “Ok guys, make sure you all stay close to the group, we don’t need anyone getting separated; it’s awfully easy to get lost in this jungle, Dr. Teller said.  “Damien, I’d like you to get the equipment.”
         Damien glaring over at Adam like it was his idea, mumbles to himself,  “Yeah, that figures, god forbid he ask Adam to carry anything.”  Kicking at the dirt, he walks over and loads the equipment onto the hovo-sled.

         Once they are in the air, hovering thirty- feet above the jungle.  Sophia moves over next to Adam,  “Look,  isn’t it beautiful up here, she said,  it’s like an ocean of trees.”                                        They Watch birds of all sizes and colors, fly from one tree to another.
         “It’s not the view that bothers me, it’s the falling part,”  He said, smiling.                                        Dr. Coleman motions downward with his hand, to a clearing in the thick jungle, as he  descends to the ground.
         The first thing they notice after landing, are all the strange sounds  that seemed to echo through the jungle.
         Damien, swatting at imaginary bugs complains,  “It’s hot and humid in this place.”
         Already used to his complaints, the group ignores him.  Stepping through the tall plants, they follow behind Dr. Coleman.
         “It’s right down here in this ravine,”  Dr. Coleman said, taking his flashlight from his belt.  “You’ll wanna put your flashlights on.  It gets pretty dark down here.”
         As they move further down the ravine, the tall trees squeeze out the last of the suns light, turning the jungle floor to night.
         Adam looks over at Dr. Teller,  “Do you think maybe it’s a meteor?”
         “I’m not sure, but I was kind of thinking the same thing.”
         Damien rolled his eyes and said,  “I think it’s a UFO.  And the little guys, with big heads are waiting to trap us.”
         The group laughs.  While continuing down the ravine.  Damien noticing a light up ahead said,  “Well at least the military left a light on for us.”
         Dr. Coleman hearing that, turns to the group and smiles mysteriously.  Adam catching the gesture, looks over at Sophia and whispers, “What was that all about?” 
            Sophia nudges her shoulders up in the air, with a curious look.  After passing a large tree trunk, Dr. Teller stops dead in his tracks.                                                     
         “My heavens, will you take a look at that,”  Dr. Teller said, dumfounded.
         There standing in an alcove, was a large flower that looked like a five-foot tall daisy.  The light they thought was a military lamp, was actually the flower glowing a bright white.  The group gathers around the flower in amazement.
         “How can it glow like that?”  Sophia said, baffled.
         “I haven’t the slightest idea,”  Dr. Teller said.  Leaning over to get a closer look at the flower.  “I’ve seen plants in the deepest parts of the ocean that glowed a neon, but I’ve never seen a flower that glows bright white on land.”
         “I’ve searched the entire area for others,” Dr. Coleman said.  “I’m not sure where that thing came from, but it seems to be the only one.”
         “Adam, grab me a vacuum case would you,”  Dr. Teller said, not taking his eyes off the strange plant.
         Adam returns from the hovo-sled with the case, and kneels down next to the doctor.  Using a scalpel and tweezers, Dr. Teller removes a seed from the flower bud.  Carefully he places the seed into the case and pushes a button.  The case begins sealing out the air.
         “What would you like me to put for a description?”  Adam said.
         Dr. Teller pauses and thinks,  “Put energetic, vegetation, omitting, light.”
         Adam writes it out, and in abbreviations writes in thick pen; Evol.

         Having returned from the jungle.  Dr. Teller and Adam are back at the university lab analyzing the Evol seed under the spectra-scope.  Trying to understand more about the unusual  plant.                                                                                                                                                                “The cells are multiplying at an astonishing rate,” Dr. Teller said.  Zooming in on the seed, with the powerful scope.  “It’s grown twice the size from when we first found it.”
            “Maybe it gets its energy from oxygen,” Adam offered, something he thought Dr. Teller might have overlooked.
            “Yes, perhaps.  But at this rate of growth it should be larger.”
            “It was in the vacuum case, Adam reminds him, that could have stalled its growth.”
            “Ah, of course.  How could’ve I  missed that,”  he said, rubbing his tired eyes.
            Adam yawning said,  “well I’m beat, think I’ll call it a night.”
            “Ok then, have a goodnight Adam.  I ‘m gonna stick around a little longer, I’ve just located the cell’s nucleus.”  Focusing on the seed intently.  “Have a goodnight.”
            “You to doctor, don’t work too hard and try to get some sleep.”
           
            After working on the Evol seed awhile longer, Dr. Teller leans back in his chair checking the time.  Realizing he missed dinner, he decides to go to the lounge for something to eat.  Paying the machine, he takes his coffee and sandwich back to his lab.  To continue his work. Opening the door, he walks in and stops suddenly, as if walking into an invisible wall.  Dropping the coffee and sandwich on the floor, his mouth hangs open.
          “Dear god.  How in the?”
          Not believing his eyes.  There on the table, where he had left the Evol seed.  It was now completely covered with thick vines.  The tentacles are moving right before his eyes.  Reaching down to the floor, they continue moving out in all directions.  Along the surface of the vines, dark blood- red flowers with black centers, begin sprouting.  Shocked, not knowing what to do, he runs to the telephone on his desk and calls Adam.  The phone rings a few times and picks up.
        “Hello-
        “Adam! It’s-
        “You’ve reached Adam, sorry I’m not able to take your call now, please leave a message.”
        “Damn.  Adam It’s Dr. Teller, call me as soon as you get this. It’s about the Evol seed.”
          Beep.
          Thinking to himself, he must not be home yet.  He hears the lab door close behind him.  Turning to see who it is;  he notices the Evol vines have grown across the room and worked their way up the door.  Feeling trapped.  Dr. Teller heads to the door to leave the room, quickly filling with tentacles.  Stepping over a tentacle, he hesitates  a second looking back, swearing it reached up at him.  Pushing the thought from his mind, he opens the door.  Before he was able to leave the room, a tentacle that climbed the wall, sprayed a fine purple mist from its flowers.  Breathing heavily, he sucks in the mist, instantly becoming dizzy.  Stumbling into the hallway, he manages to close the door behind him.  As he tries to make his way to the elevator, his body gets weaker. Now struggling to walk, he leans against the wall to help hold him up.  His eyelids feel like lead weights. Fighting an overwhelming urge to sleep, he forces out one word before falling to the floor, “help.”

         Adam arrives at the University just as they’re moving Dr. Teller into a waiting ambulance.
         “What happened?”  Adam asks the EMT, checking Dr. Tellers pulse.                                  “This gentleman, the EMT points to Roosevelt the maintenance man, found the doctor unconscious on the floor.”
          “Is he gonna be ok?”
          “He isn’t responding, and his pulse is very weak,”  the EMT said, guiding the Gurney into the ambulance.
         “Where will you be taking him?”
         “Mercy hospital, in Brookdale,”  he said, climbing into the ambulance.  He quickly takes off with the lights flashing.
         “Did you see him before he collapsed?”  Adam asks Roosevelt.
         “No.  I was locking up a room, when I heard him call for help,”  he said, with a worried look on his face.
         “Can you show me where you found him?”
         Roosevelt lead Adam to the third floor hallway.  While Adam was scanning the spot Dr. Teller fell, Roosevelt noticed a Styrofoam coffee cup a few doors down.
         “Sir, look over there,” he said, pointing to the cup.
         Adam bends over to pick up the cup, laying in front of the lab door.  When they hear the sound of glass shattering.  Adam glances over at Roosevelt, and quickly pulls the door open.
         “What in the hell is that,”  Roosevelt gasps, jumping back.
         Adam unable to speak, watches as the Evol plant moves through the broken window and out into the hall.                                                                                                                                                Roosevelt yells,  “The goddamned thing is coming after us.”                                          “Hurry call the police,” Adam said.  “And make sure everyone is out of the building.”            Roosevelt runs to the elevator; while Adam gets to a phone in a nearby room.  Picking up the phone, Adam dials out Sophia’s number.                                        
         “Hello.”
         “Sophia!  There was an accident at the lab Dr. Teller is hurt and they took-
            Adam was speaking so fast, his words all ran together.
         “Wait, slow down,” Sophia broke in.  “What happened to Dr. Teller?”
         “The Evol seed, it’s growing and it’s moving. I think it somehow hurt Dr. Teller.”
         “How could it hurt the doctor,”  she says, unable to comprehend  what she’s hearing.
         “Look.  I don’t have time; meet me at the Mercy hospital in Brookdale.  I will explain it to you there.”
         Sophia, suddenly struck by the severity of the situation, replied in a panicked voice,  “Ok, I’m leaving now.”  Hanging up the phone.
         Adam leaves the room.  Looking back down the hall, he notices Evol has made its way out of the lab, moving further down the hallway.  Using the elevator; he makes his way to the first floor and exits the building.  Outside he watches as the police and a group of firefighters approach Evol; which has already managed to spread from the third floor lab window, out into the Universities court yard.  Two of the firefighters with axes are hacking at Evol.  They succeed in stopping some of the tentacles, but more quickly take their place.  Adam watches, as the two firemen fall to the ground in a cloud of purple mist.  He hears the fire chief yelling to his men,  “Pull back! Everyone get back!”
         Watching as another firefighter, trying to rescue his fallen friend, collapsed within the mist.  Adam instantly realizes what has happened to Dr. Teller.  Adam thought to himself, what have we done. Who knows how far this thing will spread, and if we can ever stop it.  Maybe the military can use napalm; but the people laying within the vines would definitely be killed.  There has to be another way to stop this thing.  If we can help the doctor, he will figure out a way.  I have to get to the hospital.  He could be our only chance.
                   
         Entering through the main door of Mercy hospital, Adam hears Sophia call his name.
         “Adam what’s going on?”  Her eyes are red and puffy, she looked like she had been crying for sometime.                                                                                                               
         “I got a message from Dr. Teller,” Adam said.  “He was out of breath, trying to tell me something was happening with the Evol plant.  I tried to call him back and there was no answer, so I went to the University.  The Evol plant Sophia, it’s growing.  It was moving outside of the building.  The police and firemen couldn’t stop it from spreading.”
         “What do you mean it was moving?”  She asked.
         “Just that, the plant is growing tentacles and spreading.”
         “And you think the plant, had something to do with Dr. Teller?”
         “Yes.  As I was leaving, the firemen were trying to hold it back but they passed out.  The plant is spraying some kind of a toxin into the air.  The plant started in Dr. Tellers lab.”
         Just then Damien arrived, pushing his way through the doors, cutting through a group of people leaving.
         “What in the hell is going on?”  Damien asked, accusingly.
         Adam unable to deal with him, walks over to the waiting area and sits with his hands covering his face.  Sophia explains the situation to Damien, and they walk over to Adam.
         “What room is the doctor in?  Damian asks. Can we see him?”
         “He’s in room four twelve,” Sophia said.  “But we can’t see him, the nurse said she would let me know, if his condition changed.”
         “This is ridiculous,”  Damien said, pacing back and forth.
         “Here she comes now.”
         The nurse.  A small older lady holding a clipboard approaches the group.
         “Hello, she said, we have an update on Dr. Joseph Teller.”  Choosing her words carefully.
         “I’m sorry, but we had to put him on a ventilator, he’s having trouble breathing.  The doctors are afraid he could slip into a coma.  He’s being monitored closely.  I’m sorry, I don’t have any good news at this time.”
         The nurse glances over at Damien pacing and lowers her eyes to the floor, expecting a remark from the clearly agitated man.  Damien noticing the easy target lets it go, knowing she is only the messenger.
         Adam nudges Sophia, pointing to the emergency entrance,  “Look it’s the firemen from the University,” he said.
         The EMT lifting the firefighter onto a hospital bed, spoke to the woman behind the desk, “This man needs to see a doctor fast, his pulse is fading.”
         “This isn’t good,”  Sophia said, looking back at Adam with wide eyes.
         “I think this is just the beginning,”  he said, with a somber look on his face.
         A balding old man in the waiting room, gets up and changes the television to the local news station.  Right away everyone is brought to attention, by the unusually tense tone of the reporting-bot.
         “As you can see behind me, the strange plant continues to spread.  Believed to have originated at the University of Massachusetts, the plant covers everything in its path.  Police are asking everyone that lives by the east end, in and around Lombard street, to evacuate their homes immediately.  The plant is believed to be extremely toxic,”  the reporting-bot rattles.
         Sophia watching as the Evol plant creeps up a house in the background of the cameras view, is suddenly struck with terror.
         “Oh my god, Sophia said, jumping from her seat, that’s where my parents live.  I have to make sure they get out of there.”                                                                                                                    Adam grabs her wrist, as she turns to run out of the hospital.
         “You can’t,” he said.  “It’s too dangerous.  The police will make sure they get out.”
         “I’m not gonna sit here and hope they get out.  I have to go Adam.”
         Sophia pulls her arm from his grip, and heads out.
         “Well then I’m going with you.”
         “No, this is my decision.  I’m going alone. I can handle it.”
         “Sophia stop!”
         “Please Adam, I have to go.  I will be right back, I promise,”  she said, running through the doors to the parking lot.
         “Well I’m not sitting here, with my hands on my ass, Damien said, I’m going up to his room to see how he is.  You coming?”
         Adam feeling helpless, follows Damien; ignoring the hospital rules.

         Dr. Teller looks twenty years older laying in the hospital bed.  His face is sunken in, his skin is pale white, dry and flaky.  The heart monitor beeps at a slow steady rate, as the ventilator forces air into his weakened lungs.
         “The old man doesn’t look so good,”  Damien said, looking away unable to watch the doctor struggle for life.
         Adam stares down at  Dr. Teller with glazed eyes and vacant features.
         “He was like a father to me, he said.  “He can’t die.  You have to fight this.”  Adam’s voice cracks, as the tears well up and roll down his face.
         “I’m going back to the University to get a sample of the plant,” Adam said, fiercely. “Maybe they can make an antidote.”
         Damien replies quickly,  “I’ll drive.”  Figuring anything is better then standing around this hospital.

         Sophia in her small sporty hovo-car has no trouble getting into her parents neighborhood, all of the traffic is heading out.  On the ground, she watches people running to get away from the deadly plant.  Paramedics help people infected by the plant, into the ambulance.  While keeping others out, the unlucky ones without vehicles, people desperately looking for a ride out of town.  As she moves deeper into town, she notices the plant has covered most of the houses; she gasps in horror, at all of the people that had been trapped by the plant; she figures it must be hundreds of bodies all laying in the yards.                                                                                                              Continuing on, she finds a clearing a block from her parents house.  Setting the hovo-car down in the park, she quickly makes her way down the road.  Off to her right, just across the street the Evol plant was moving into a house through a broken window.  Feeling panicked, she picks up the pace fearing the worst.  Please, god let them be ok, she thought.  They have a hovo-car, so there is a good chance they got out, she tells herself, trying to stay calm.  Crossing the intersection, she runs down her parents street. Once the house is in view, she feels slightly relieved.  There is no sight of the plant around the home.  But as she gets twenty yards from the house she notices her parents hovo-car is still parked on the launch pad.  Unable to control herself now, she starts crying in a fit of fear and rage.  With the fear taking over, her legs start to get weak.  Forcing the crippling emotions aside, she runs to the front door and tests the doorknob, but it’s locked.  She screams,  “Mom! Dad!” Slamming on the door with her fist.  “Can you hear me, it’s Sophia, open the door!”  Without an answer, she runs around the side of the house to try the back door.  Turning the corner, she notices a suitcase on the ground by the steps, leading to the launch pad.  Sophia thought, I’m not too late.  They’re leaving now.  She turns the corner to the back of the house, and like a frozen hand had reached into her chest squeezing her heart to a stop.  She saw her parents on the ground surrounded by Evols tentacles.  “Mom! Dad!,”  She yelled, in a blood curdling scream.  Without thinking, she bends over to pull them up.  Evol fights her off lashing out at her, spraying the deadly toxin into the air.  Sophia throws herself backwards.  Getting to her feet she runs from the house, while stumbling she manages to stay standing and heads back up the street, toward her hovo-car.

         The sun begins to set as Damien and Adam approach the university.  They make a couple of passes, unable to find a safe place to land.
         “How do you suppose your gonna get close enough to get a sample,”  Damien asks.
         Adam looking out of the hovo-car window, knows that is a good question.  It looks like every square inch of the building and ground is covered with vines.  His stomach feels sick when he notices a few bodies laying in the court yard.  At that moment his thoughts are on Sophia, he knew it would be dangerous for her to go into town; but after seeing just how far the Evol plant has spread, he really starts to worry about her safety.
         “Well,”  Damien said, impatiently.
         “I don’t know,”  Adam said, annoyed.  “Let me think.”
         Looking around Adam spots a hovo-pack on the backseat.
         “I’ll use this hovo-pack,”  he said.  “And fly down and get the sample.”
         “Are you nuts, you’ll never make it back,”  Damien said,  “Besides, the power source is almost drained.  There might be five minutes left, if you’re lucky.”
         “What, do you have a better idea, because I don’t.  This could be Dr. Tellers only chance.”
         Without saying another word, Damien reaches in the back seat grabbing a small pill shaped sample case.
         “Here, you can put the seed in this,”  he said.  “But I still think this is crazy.”
         
         In the parking lot of Mercy hospital, the security guard sits on his stool watching the cars come and go.  Irritated, he gets up to ask a woman parked in the emergency lane to move her vehicle.  Approaching the hovo-car, he spots something out of his peripheral vision moving in the bushes.  After asking the woman to move her vehicle, he turns to investigate the source of the movement.
         “Hello?”  he said.  “Is someone in there?”
         Moving the shrubs aside, he sees the Evol tentacles whipping back and fourth.  Before he has a chance to react, the tentacles grab his ankle pulling him to the ground.  With a thud, his back slams the ground knocking the air from his lungs.  Struggling to regain his breath, he breathes in the toxic mist.  Using his walkie-talkie, he tries to call for help.
         Another guard stationed at the main door, notices the fallen guard on the grass.  Frozen with fear he watches the plant move out into the parking lot.  His first thought was to try and rescue the man.  But heading out, he soon realizes it’s too late.  The plant is moving quickly toward the hospital.
         He yells over to a group of people sitting outside on a bench,  “Get inside!  The plants coming this way!”

         While the guards are securing the hospital doors, Dr. Tellers heart monitor alarm goes off. The nurse on duty rushes into the room.
         “Oh, my,”  she said, in a state of disbelief.
         Staring at the hospital bed where Dr. Teller was laying, the form now only slightly looked like the doctor.  Now he was completely covered in a beige crust, resembling a thousand-year-old mummy, that had just been raised from a tomb.  Reaching over she pushes the emergency com-line button.  “I need a doctor in room four twelve, immediately,” the nurse said.

         Sophia walking back to her hovo-car, feels her anguish grow as the sun completely sets on the horizon.  Crossing the intersection.  She has difficultly focusing her eyes, in the pitch black park.  In the distance, she can make out a shape.  Sophia’s only thought now is getting out of this darkness; and back to Adam where it is safe.  She picks up her pace running in the direction of the dark mass of the hovo-car.  As Sophia approaches the vehicle; the moon moves out from behind the thick clouds, shedding a soft glowing light onto the car.  Sophia panics, as she can now see her hovo-car, is completely engulfed in Evols long deadly vines.
         Running as fast as her legs will take her; she makes her way out of the park.  Running out into the road, she almost runs into the Evol plant that is directly in front of her.  Forced to make a quick left turn. Sophia heads down the center of a  small side street; she can make out the movements of Evol in the darkness all around  her.  Coming to the end of the street, she stops to catch her breath. But she can hear Evol creeping in on her, forcing her to keep moving.  As she scans the area, Sophia spots a radio tower a few houses down.  Thinking to herself, I have to get to that tower.  There is no way, I will be able to run from this plant much longer.  If I can get to the top of that radio tower, perhaps someone will notice me, and I will be rescued.
         Making her way through the radio tower yard, she leaps over Evols tentacles blocking her path.  The vines change their direction, following behind her.  As she reaches the tower, she grabs a hold of the lowest beam, pulling herself up.  Evol, now moving in on all directions, surrounds the base of the radio tower.  Reaching out grabbing the next beam.  Sophia,  feels as though her weight has doubled.  She looks down in terror, to find Evol has fastened around her ankle in a tight grip.  Screaming, she tries to pull herself up; but there is no use.  Evol is too strong for her.  With her hands gripping the beam with all of her strength, they begin to turn white and burn from the pull.  One by one, her fingers lose their grip; until finally she cannot hold on any longer.  Falling back into the waiting tentacles Sophia screams,  “Adam!”

         Adam and Damien make another pass over the Evol plant.  Adam straps on the hovo-pack.                                                                                                                                                                “Ok,”  Adam said.  “Get me as close to the plant as you can.”
         “Yeah, I’m trying to.  Are you sure this is the only way?  You can be killed by that thing.”
         “Look,  Adam said, I have to do this, so just stay close to me.  It will just take me a few seconds, to get the seed.”
         Adam unlocks the hovo-car door, standing on the edge of the vehicle; he starts the power on the hovo-pack, jumping out into the dark night sky.  Adam floating down toward Evol, finds a small clearing in the vines.  As soon as his feet touch the ground, he takes the pill case from his pocket.  Holding his breath, he looks up at Damien, making sure he is still close by and quickly moves over to Evol.  Knowing he can only hold his breath for so long, he must act fast.  Kneeling down he takes a seed from a still tentacle.  As he is about to put the seed into the metal pill case; Evol moves, whipping a tentacle across his chest, knocking him backwards.  Adam quickly regains his composure, snatching up the pill case, he places the seed inside and seals the case. With the metal case secured back in his pocket, he pushes the start button on the hovo-pack.  Nothing happens.  Trying to remain calm he continues to press the ignition button.  Evol completely surrounding Adam, moves in on him.
         Above he hears Damien yelling,  “come on!  Get out of there!”
         As Evol raps around his leg, the hovo-pack finally starts.  Adam pulling the flight controls back as fast as he can, lifts off of the ground.  Twenty feet above the ground, the Evol tentacle tightens around his legs.  Adam yells out in pain as he is jolted to a sudden stop.  Feeling as though his body had been torn in two, he struggles to regain his breath.  With no choice he is forced to take the toxic mist into his lungs.  Adam looks around feeling as though he is trapped in a nightmare; his thoughts swim through his mind.  Falling deeper into the strange dream world, all he wants to do is sleep.  A long peaceful sleep.  Suddenly Adam is stirred from this peaceful dream, by the loud beeping alarm on the hovo-pack.  Once again the feeling of panic returns.  Looking down he notices the power source on the hovo-pack is almost drained.  Shaking his legs, he is unable to loosen Evols grip.  Hearing Damien above him screaming with helplessness, Adam realizes what he must do.  Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out the metal pill case; knowing he has a short time before passing out, he yells up to Damien.
         “Damien, move closer,” he said, forcing the words out.
         Damien moves in as close to Adam as he can.  Holding the hovo-car still, he reaches out for his hand.
         “Damien, it’s too late for me.  The toxin is already in my lungs.”
         Not wanting to accept it; Damien yells,  “don’t give up, you hear me.  Your coming back with me, so grab my goddam hand!”
         Adam gulping for one last breath of air said,  “Take the seed back to the hospital, so they can find a cure.”  Struggling to stay awake.  “And tell Sophia, I love her.”
         With the last bit of energy in his body; Adam throws the pill case into the hovo-car.  And with a calmness washing over him, like nothing he had ever felt before.  The hovo-pack died. And he fell to the ground, with the Evol vines reaching up toward him.  The last thought in Adams mind was an image of Sophia, the way she looked when they first met. 
         Damien screaming down to Adam; stares at his lifeless body entangled in the vines. Knowing there is nothing he can do for him now; Damien closes the hovo-car door and heads back to the hospital.

         Back at the hospital, in Dr. Tellers room; the doctors are racing to save his life.
         Dr. Tellers heart monitor hums in a long steady beep.  The doctor looks over at the nurse, in a discouraged, beaten voice he said,  “Time of death, ten forty p.m.”

         Damien flying through the night sky, as fast as he can back to the hospital; notices the Evol plant is everywhere.  The hospital is completely surrounded.  Landing on the roof of the hospital, Damien quickly makes his way out of the hovo-car, and down the winding staircase.  Running into Dr. Tellers hospital room.  Right away, Damien can feel the dark tension in the air.  Holding out the pill case, containing the seed toward the doctor in the room, he said,  “I’ve brought something that could help Dr. Teller, and the others.”                                                                  The doctor with a grim expression on his face, stared at Damien.  He struggled  to find the right words to explain that Dr. Teller had passed away.  Before he could get the words out.                        Damien said,  “What?  What’s going on doctor?”
         Damien walked over to Dr. Tellers bed, and pulled the curtains aside.  The metal pill case dropped from his hand, hitting the floor with a sharp ringing sound.  Stumbling backwards with his back against the wall, he felt numb.  The doctor spoke, but Damien could not make out the words, everything was a blur.  His legs gave out and he slid down the wall to a slumped sitting position.  With his hands covering his face, he thought to himself, their all dead, everyone is going to die.  Why didn’t we just leave that plant, where we found it.  They would all still be alive.  As he thought about his time with Dr. Teller, Adam and Sophia.  He became filled, with an overwhelming sense of regret.  All wasted he thought, the only thing that mattered to me I wasted, by acting like a jerk.  I allowed jealousy into my heart, and I let it rule my life.  Now it’s all gone.  If anyone deserved to die, it should have been me.  Damien was shaken from his thoughts, by the voice of a woman out in the hallway.  He could hear her screaming the plant was moving down the hall.  Filled with guilt, Damien made no attempt to move, he stayed slumped on the floor where he was.       
         Then the doctor in the hospital room yelled,  “Look!”  Startling Damien from his haze of guilt.  Looking up at the doctor, Damien saw the doctor looking over at Dr. Tellers bed, with wide eyes and gaping jaw.  Damien following the doctors line of sight, noticed that the decaying, yellowed form of Dr. Teller had begun to glow.  First a dull light, it quickly increased in intensity.  Glowing brighter, beams of light broke through cracks in the incrusted form.  Filling the room with a blinding white light.  As the light died down, Damien and the doctor could make out the form of a glowing being, floating above the shattered remains of Dr. Teller.  Frozen with awe at what he was watching.  Damien failed to notice that the Evol plant, had made its way into the room, and was moving up his leg.  Looking down at the plant Damien started to panic,  when he heard a familiar voice speak to him, the voice of Dr. Teller. 
         “Do not be afraid Damien,” the glowing being said.  “The plant will not hurt you.”
         Astonished.  Damien replied, “Is that you Dr. Teller?”
         “Yes it is me.  It is beautiful.  There is only the feeling of love, that surrounds me now,”  Dr. Teller said.

         Damien, trusting Dr. Teller gave into the Evol plant, allowing the purple mist to enter his lungs.  Right away the mist took effect.  Feeling a great sense of calm, his body relaxed, so relaxed he could not feel anything around him.  Damien’s mind was released.  Reaching up and out in all directions, all questions had found their answers.  With complete understanding, he could see mans beginning and end.  He saw the beauty in life.  Damien could even see, the beauty in what he thought was pain and suffering.  He knew now, the purpose of all things.  And as his thoughts swam out, he noticed a light.  With a strong attachment to this light, he approached it and stepped through, falling into his sleep.

         The glowing being of Joseph Teller, moved out of his hospital room.  Floating through the wall, and out into the night sky above the town.  And as if the plant, covering the town had been expecting him.  It began to glow, filling the landscape in a pastel light of blues, pinks and white.

         In the distance, a cocoon broke open, pouring out light.  From the empty shell, Sophia floated up into the sky.  Sophia, watching the horizon, saw beings all around her, released into the night air.  Feeling a presence from behind her, she turns to look. 
         “Hello, Sophia,” Adam said, floating closer to her.
         “Adam!”
         Filled with a strong love for each other, Adam reached out for Sophia’s hand.  As they held hands, a small blue spark of light, fell from their hands.  Gently falling to the ground, the blue spark of light settled on a flower petal of the Evol vine.  The petal holding the spark of light, began to close, guiding the spark into its center.  In its place a bubble took shape.  Inside the bubble Adam and Sophia could see something growing.  Instantly realizing what it was.  Adam and Sophia both smiled, as they gazed upon their child.

                                                 *            *            *
                                                                                                                                                                       Adam holding the metal pill shaped container, with the Evol seed inside, spoke to his son,  “That my son, is the story of mans evolution and your birth.”  Handing his son Sebastian, the Evol seed.  “Have you decided where you will plant the seed, my son?”
         “Yes, father,” Sebastian replied.  “There is a planet, in the Orion star system that is ready for the gift of Evol.”