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In a secluded valley thirty-three miles northwest of Woodridge Academy was SunRay Farm. You wouldn’t know it was a farm if you saw it. There were no animals, no green pastures, and no crops—at least, none that grew big enough for anyone to see with the naked eye.
Instead, what you would see—if you made it past the armed guards, past the electric fence topped with barbed wire, past the alarms and security cameras—would be rows and rows of giant storage tanks. You also wouldn’t be able to see the network of tunnels and underground pipes connecting the storage tanks to the main laboratory, also underground.
Hardly anyone in Heath Cliff knew about SunRay Farm, and certainly not Tamaya or her friends. Those who had heard of it had only vague ideas about what was going on there. They might have heard of Biolene but probably didn’t know exactly what it was.
A little more than a year before—that is, about a year before Tamaya Dhilwaddi cut her hair and started the fifth grade—the United States Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment held a series of secret hearings regarding SunRay Farm and Biolene.
The following testimony is excerpted from that inquiry:
Senator Wright: You worked at SunRay Farm for two years before being fired, is that correct?
Dr. Marc Humbard: No, that is not correct. They never fired me.
Senator Wright: I’m sorry. I’d been informed—
Dr. Marc Humbard: Well, they may have tried to fire me, but I’d already quit. I just hadn’t told anyone yet.
Senator Wright: I see.
Senator Foote: But you no longer work there?
Dr. Marc Humbard: I couldn’t be in the same room with Fitzy a minute longer! The man’s crazy. And when I say crazy , I mean one hundred percent bananas.
Senator Wright: Are you referring to Jonathan Fitzman, the inventor of Biolene?
Dr. Marc Humbard: Everyone thinks he’s some kind of genius, but who did all the work? Me, that’s who! Or at least, I would have, if he had let me. He’d pace around the lab, muttering to himself, his arms flailing. It was impossible for the rest of us to concentrate. He’d sing songs! And if you asked him to stop, he’d look at you like you were the one who was crazy! He wouldn’t even know he was singing. And then, out of the blue, he’d slap the side of his head and shout, “No, no, no!” And suddenly I’d have to stop everything I’d been working on and start all over again.
Senator Wright: Yes, we’ve heard that Mr. Fitzman can be a bit…eccentric.
Senator Foote: Which is one reason why we are concerned about Biolene. Is it truly a viable alternative to gasoline?
Senator Wright: This country needs clean energy, but is it safe?
Dr. Marc Humbard: Clean energy? Is that what they’re calling it? There’s nothing clean about it. It’s an abomination of nature! You want to know what they’re doing at SunRay Farm? You really want to know? Because I know. I know!
Senator Foote: Yes, we want to know. That’s why you’ve been called before this committee, Mr. Humbard.
Dr. Marc Humbard: Doctor.
Senator Foote: Excuse me?
Dr. Marc Humbard: It’s “Dr. Humbard,” not “Mr. Humbard.” I have a PhD in microbiology.
Senator Wright: Our apologies. Tell us, please, Dr. Humbard, what are they doing at SunRay Farm that you find so abominable?
Dr. Marc Humbard: They have created a new form of life, never seen before.
Senator Wright: A kind of high-energy bacteria, as I understand it. To be used as fuel.
Dr. Marc Humbard: Not bacteria. Slime mold. People always confuse the two. Both are microscopic, but they are really quite different. We began with simple slime mold, but Fitzy altered its DNA to create something new: a single-celled living creature that is totally unnatural to this planet. SunRay Farm is now growing these man-made microorganisms—these tiny Frankensteins—so that they can burn them alive inside automobile engines.
Senator Foote: Burn them alive? Don’t you think that’s a bit strong, Dr. Humbard? We’re talking about microbes here. After all, every time I wash my hands or brush my teeth, I kill hundreds of thousands of bacteria.
Dr. Marc Humbard: Just because they’re small doesn’t mean their lives aren’t worthwhile. SunRay Farm is creating life for the sole purpose of destroying it.
Senator Wright: But isn’t that what all farmers do?