After two stories far flung in space, I want to bring the science fiction closer to home, closer to now. This is a high-tech thriller along the lines of Michael Crichton and The X-Files.
For my novel Assemblers of Infinity with Doug Beason, I did a lot of research in advances in nanotechnology, including some of the remarkable medical possibilities, possibly even leading to immortality. During that research, I had the idea for this story, a medical experiment gone wrong, a research animal on the run. This was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, my first pro short story sale in many years.
The idea was so strong in my mind, though, when I was asked to write a third X-Files novel, I went back to it and adapted the core story to a full-fledged adventure. But this story is always the “right” version to me.