Rollback

"So," said McGavin, "short lifespans are something only technologically unsophisticated races will be subject to. How long after a race develops radio do you think it is before they decode DNA, or whatever their genetic material is? How long before they develop blood transfusions and organ transplantation and tissue cloning? How long before they cure cancer and heart disease, or whatever comparable ailments sloppy evolution has left them prey to? A hundred years? Two hundred? Doubtless no more than three or four, right? Right?"

He looked at Sarah, presumably expecting her to nod. She didn’t, and, after a moment, he went on anyway. "Just as every race we contact almost certainly must have had radio longer than we have, every race we contact will almost certainly have extended their lifespans way beyond whatever paltry handful of years nature originally dealt them." He spread his arms. "No, it stands to reason: communication between two planets isn’t something one generation starts, another continues, and still another picks up after that. Even with the long time frames imposed by the speed of light, interstellar communication is still almost certainly communication between individuals. And you, Dr. Halifax, are our individual. You already proved, all those years ago, that you know how they think. Nobody else managed that."

Her voice was soft. "I — I’m happy to be the, um, the public face for our reply to the current message, if you think that’s necessary, but after that…" She lifted her narrow shoulders slightly as if to say the rest was obvious.

"No," said McGavin. "We need to keep you around for a good long time."

Sarah was nervous; Don could tell, even if McGavin couldn’t. She lifted her glass and swirled the contents so that the ice cubes clinked together. "What are you going to do? Have me stuffed and put on display ?"

"Goodness, no."

"Then what?" Don demanded.

"Rejuvenation," said McGavin.

"Pardon me?" said Sarah.

"Rejuvenation; a rollback. We’ll make you young again. Surely you’ve heard about the process."

Don had indeed heard about it, and doubtless Sarah had, too. But only a couple of hundred people had undergone the procedure so far, and they’d all been stinking rich.

Sarah reached forward and set her glass down on the granite desktop, next to where McGavin was leaning. Her hand was shaking. "That… that costs a fortune," she said.

"I have a fortune," said McGavin simply.

"But… but… I don’t know," said Sarah. "I’m — I mean, does it work?"

"Look at me," said McGavin, spreading his arms again. "I’m sixty-two years old, according to my birth certificate. But my cells, my telomeres, my free-radical levels, and every other indicator say I’m twenty-five. And, if anything, I feel younger even than that."

Don’s jaw must have been hanging open in surprise. "You thought I’d had a facelift, or something like that?" McGavin said, looking at him. "Plastic surgery is like a software patch. It’s a quick, kludgy fix, and it often creates more problems than it solves. But rejuvenation, well, that’s like a code rewrite — it’s a real fix. You don’t just look young again; you are young." His thin eyebrows climbed his wide forehead. "And that’s what I’m offering you. The full-blown rejuvenation treatment."

Sarah looked shocked, and it was a moment before she spoke. "But… but this is ridiculous," she said at last. "Nobody even knows if it really works. I mean, sure, you look younger, maybe you even feel younger, but the treatment has only been available for a short time. No one who’s had it yet has lived appreciably longer than a natural lifespan. There’s no proof that this process really extends your life."

McGavin made a dismissive gesture. "There have been lots of rollback tests with lab animals. They all became young again, and then aged forward perfectly normally.

We’ve seen mice and even prosimians live out their entire lengthened lifespans without difficulty. As for humans, well, except for a few oddball indicators like growth rings in my teeth, my physicians tell me that I’m now physiologically twenty-five, and am aging forward naturally from that point." He spread his arms.

"Believe me, it works. And I’m offering it to you."

"Mr. McGavin," Don said, "I really don’t think that—"

"Not without Don," Sarah said.

"What?" said McGavin and Don simultaneously.

"Not without Don," Sarah repeated. Her voice had a firmness Don hadn’t heard for years. "I won’t even consider this unless you also offer the same thing to my husband."

McGavin pushed himself forward until he was standing. He walked behind his desk, turning his back on them, and looked out at his sprawling empire. "This is a very expensive procedure, Sarah."

"And you’re a very rich man," she replied.

Don looked at McGavin’s back, more or less silhouetted against the bright sky. At last, McGavin spoke. "I envy you, Don."

"Why?"

"To have a wife who loves you so much. I understand the two of you have been married for over fifty years."

"Sixty," said Don, "as of two days ago."