One of my fondest memories as a kid is watching the movie FANTASTIC VOYAGE. In it, a group of scientists and their ultra-futuristic laser-packing “submarine” are reduced to cell size and injected into the blood vessels of a world diplomat in order to destroy a blood clot in his brain.
What would a FANTASTIC VOYAGE: Breast Cancer look like? I’m going to write a novel here, short chapter by short chapter and I’m going to include the latest research and I’m going to imagine the entire story here for your delectation. Likely it WON’T be once a month…
Dr. Olubunmi Nwagbara – Ohloo to her close friends, Dr. O to those who wouldn’t try her last name for fear of offending her – nodded to Kim Lin Ghandi, world-renowned philosopher and The Last Hope For World Peace studied a renowned breast cancer researcher and physician. “Later, then.”
But Kim Lin – Lily – had turned her head away and it had relaxed in sleep. Ohloo whispered, “Sorry.”
Striding from the room, she quickly discovered that she had a following. Besides the guard the hospital had assigned, there were two others, one with reporter’s credentials on a tag, the other obviously another security guard.
Ohloo stopped and pointed at the hospital guard, “You, I have no choice but to accept because Lex Luthor sent you, right?”
The young man blinked in startlement. “Uh…Mr…”
Ohloo relented, “Mr. Benton assigned you to protect me. Do you have a name?”
He said, “Uh…Steven Mark.”
Ohloo nodded, then pointed to the second security guard and said, “Who do you represent and what’s your name?”
The young woman snapped to attention and stated, “Bai Zhen Xu, secondary security detachment for The People’s Republic of China assigned to the ambassador Kim Lin Anzan.”
Ohloo nodded, “No nonsense; atheist; probably trained in a thousand ways to kill and detain a human being?”
The young woman finally looked confused rather than stoic. Ohloo nodded and said, “Human, too. Good. You can stay. Coordinate your defense with Mr. Mark, here.” She pointed at the reporter, “What are you doing here?”
The young man sniffed and said, “I’m here to bring the truth to world – this is all a set up for some sort of publicity stunt for the Mayo. I’ll be the...”
Ohloo glanced at Steven and Bai Zhen and said, “You’re first duty will be to remove this reporter from my presence and make sure the scumbag never sets foot in this medical center again.”
The security guards glanced at each other, then turned on the reporter who backed away, saying, “I’m recording this for...”
“Make sure you scramble the recording device. But don’t scramble his brains. I’d like to see what he can do without the technology.”
Steven and Bai Zhen picked the reporter up under the arms and when he tried to squirm away, Bai Zhen did something to him that elicited a squeak as he dropped into unconsciousness. As they dragged the limp figure away, Ohloo heard Steven say, “That was really well done. Could you teach me how to do it?”
Bai Zhen replied, “It took many years of practice, but as we will be serving the doctor and the last hope for world peace together, I will endeavor to teach you the…” they disappeared around a corner.
Ohloo smiled. One down; a billion more details to go over. She tapped the wrist band she used instead of a cellphone and called Alex. He answered immediately. She said, “I’d like to start assembling the team for the procedure.”
“‘The procedure’? You make it sound like it’s an appendectomy rather than the most risky surgery undertaken since the first heart transplant!”
“It’s just possible that you’re right, old friend. But look where we are today.”
“I’m not even sure the Board is all together for this. There are a million questions people still have…”
“You’re the Chief Administrator – administrate them away.”
“I can’t make legitimate objections disappear!”
“No, but you can find someone who might be able to explain the process to the Board and the public as well.”
“Who exactly would that be?”
Ohloo sniffed, “You know as well as I do."
“Not The Crackpot!”
“He knows and understands the remote submarine process as well as anyone.”
“He’s a fundamentalist Christian! How’s that going to go over with our shareholders – and the rest of the planet?”
Ohloo shrugged, “He may be a wild-eyed fanatic in his heart, but his reporting has always been flawless and he’s brought more people in to the popularized science camp than he’s brought into the fanatic camp.”
“Thank Darwin for small wonders,” Alex said.
Ohloo smiled, “You’ll get him then?”
Soft snort followed by, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Steven and Bai Zhen joined her once she got out of the elevator she’d taken down to the Medical Center’s sub levels. She nodded to them and said, “I think the excrement is about to encounter the air circulation device.”
Image: http://medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/Fantastic-Voyage-200x290.jpg
