Manville and Lindstrom lay on two lab tables inside a laboratory. Both were nude. Neither was restrained because they were unconscious.
A large bald man in a lab coat looked pleased with himself.
The man called himself Socrates Prometheus, after the Greek philosopher and the Greek god who supposedly created man from clay.
Prometheus had observed the seaplane crash-land. The electromagnetic beam on his island had scrambled the plane's instrumentation, disabled the radio, and caused fuel starvation in the engines.
The first stages of his plan had worked nearly perfectly.
He was pleased to find the two occupants were unconscious, but alive, and actually not seriously injured. Nevertheless, just in case, he injected sedatives to make sure they remained unconscious when he got them to his lab.
Besides the electromagnetic beam, Prometheus' island had technology no place on Earth had. A small nuclear generator provided electric power for the island, including the ventilation and filtering system for the germ-free lab. A computer half the size of American supercomputers controlled most of the island's mechanical functions.
A similar-sized computer powered the laboratory. Had Lindstrom been conscious, she would have stood in awe at the analytical capabilities of the laboratory. The 10 largest hospitals and the 10 largest universities in the U.S. didn't possess as much combined diagnostic and analytical abilities as Prometheus' laboratory. And no one on the planet possessed any of Prometheus's genetic modification abilities.
Instead of being an observer, Lindstrom, along with Manville, was the object of Prometheus' work.
Prometheus admired the two nude bodies. Dana was a model of classic Nordic beauty, with her curves narrowing from her hips to her waist, then widening again past her breasts to her shoulders. Her large breasts rose and fell with her even breathing.
Lance looked like a runner or swimmer, not muscle-bound, but physically built more for endurance than for power, with long arms and legs. His penis lay below his stomach, pointing toward his navel.
Standing next to Prometheus was a female assistant, wearing a lab coat as did Prometheus. She was more curvy and had larger breasts than Dana.
"This is how the human body reproduces, Athena. The male produces sperm," he said, holding up Lance's testicles, "which is delivered through the penis," and he held up Lance's penis, "into the woman's uterus."
He reached to the other table, pointing at Dana's vagina, then above it to where her uterus would be. "One of his sperm penetrates one of her eggs, and fertilization occurs. The fertilized egg is implanted into the uterine wall, cell division occurs, and in approximately nine of your months is the birth. Elementary biology."
Prometheus turned to Athena. "But there is more to human reproduction than that. Much more. And this is key to what we are trying to do."
Prometheus walked over to Dana's nude body. He put his hand inside Dana between her legs.
"She is a virgin," said Prometheus. "We can conclude that she has little in the way of sexual experience. But ... come here."
Athena stood in front of the table.
"Examine her body, Athena. Note how and where it is similar to yours."
Athena opened her lab coat. Prometheus had told her to wear nothing underneath it.
Athena noticed that Dana had smaller breasts than hers. Dana was also taller, and her hips were not as wide as Athena's. Dana's blonde hair ran to her shoulders, while Athena's black hair ran past the middle of her back. Athena also noticed her pubic hair was thicker than Dana's.
Athena touched Dana's left breast, first gently, than more firmly. Dana's nipples began to grow and harden, though Dana remained unconscious.
Athena reached inside her lab coat and held her own left breast. She tweaked her nipple, then Dana's. She noticed her own nipples hardening in the same way Dana's were hardening.
"You see the nature of attraction," said Prometheus. "Reproduction occurs only between the male and the female of the species. But in some cases, females can be attracted to their own sex. As can males.
"Reproduction is far more than a biological process. In order to reproduce, humans must be attracted to each other. This involves biochemical responses that humans do not know exist. Those are imperative for our efforts."
Prometheus took a syringe, held it above Dana's abdomen, then plunged it in two inches above her genitalia. He pulled the plunger upward, extracted fluid, and then pulled it out.
"We're going to extract from each of them these biochemicals, and transfer them into each other's bodies," said Prometheus. "I believe this will make them biochemically attracted to each other.
"To begin, we need a sample of her genital secretions. The best way to get them is to stimulate her."
Athena moved to the end of the table. She took Dana's ankles in her hands and moved them to the corners of the table to open her legs.
"I think you'll find you can stimulate another woman in the same way you can stimulate yourself," said Prometheus.