“That’s true,” Kevin said. “The total world population of bonobos is only about twenty thousand.”

“That’s my point,” Candace said. “Whereas pigs are slaughtered for bacon by the hundred of thousands.”

“I don’t think my system would work with pigs,” Kevin said. “I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it. The reason it works so well in bonobos, or chimps for that matter, is that their genomes and ours are so similar. In fact, they differ by only one and a half percent.”

“That’s all?” Candace questioned. She was amazed.

“It’s kind of humbling, isn’t it,” Kevin said.

“It’s more than humbling,” Candace said.

“It’s indicative of how close bonobos, chimps, and humans are evolutionarily,” Melanie said. “It’s thought we and our primate cousins have descended from a common ancestor who lived around seven million years ago.”

“That underscores the ethical question about using them,” Candace said, “and why some people might be offended by their use. They look so human. I mean, doesn’t it bother you guys when one of them has to be sacrificed?”

“This liver transplant with Mr. Winchester is only the second that required a sacrifice,” Melanie said. “The other two were kidneys, and the animals are fine.”

“Well, how did this case make you feel?” Candace asked. “Most of us on the surgical team were more upset this time even though we thought we were prepared, especially since it was the second sacrifice.”

Kevin looked at Melanie. His mouth had gone dry. Candace was forcing him to face an issue he’d struggled to avoid. It was part of the reason the smoke coming from Isla Francesca upset him so much.

“Yeah, it bothers me,” Melanie said. “But I guess I’m so thrilled with the involved science and what it can do for a patient, that I try not to think about it. Besides, we never expect to have to use many of them. They are more like insurance in case the clients might need them. We don’t accept people who already need transplant organs unless they can wait the three plus years it takes for their double to come of age. And we don’t have to interact with these creatures. They live off on an island by themselves. That’s by design so that no one here has the chance to form emotional bonds of any sort.”

Kevin swallowed with difficulty. In his mind’s eye he could see the smoke lazily snaking its way into the dull, leaden sky. He could also imagine the stressed bonobo picking up a rock and throwing it with deadly accuracy at the pygmy during the retrieval process.

“What’s the term when animals have human genes incorporated into them?” Candace asked.

“Transgenic,” Melanie said.

“Right,” Candace said. “I just wish we could be using transgenic pigs instead of bonobos. This procedure bothers me. As much as I like the money and the GenSys stock, I’m not so sure I’m going to stick with the program.”

“They’re not going to like that,” Melanie said. “Remember, you signed a contract. I understand they are sticklers about holding people to their original agreements.”