Spiral: Book One of the Spiral in Time Read Online Free PDF Page A

attention of his audience. This was about universal questions everyone asked at one time or another:
    Where did I come from? Who were my ancestors?
    Germaine felt a thrill run through her body as though all her cells had just awakened.
    “Our DNA does not fade like an ancient parchment; it does not rust in the ground like the sword of a warrior long dead. Our DNA history does not fade or disintegrate like some fragile artifact. It walks around on two legs and pulses through our veins daily. It even lives in ancient bones. Women’s living mitochondrial DNA holds the code that tells us where we all came from.” He nodded toward the screen.
    “It is something only women can tell us.”
    A smattering of applause broke out. Germaine recognized a few of the more militant feminist archaeologists and anthropologists, anxious to hear any information that supported a larger role of women in history. Historically, women were almost invisible. Patriarchy ruled supreme—even women’s last names were taken from their men.
    “Women carry a message of our history from the mother of us all—the first woman, Eve, if you wish to call her that. Eventually, it all goes back to her.”
    An iconic image of Eve by some Renaissance painter floated onto the screen behind Dr. Sykes. There was a profound, attentive silence in the room. To some, the story of Eve was Biblical truth, a story recorded by an ancient tribe to explain their beginnings in the deep past. Now, Sykes was saying it might indeed be literal and true, but in quite a different way. One woman, at the beginning of time, could be scientifically traced as the original mother of everyone.
    “So what are you today? Where did “you” start? Are you African? Did your blood come from the Saxons? The Vikings? Or, as many people today like to think, from the Celts—those legendary people everyone wants to claim as ancestors? Women are the only way to answer those questions. You don’t always come from where you think you did. But, you are all your mother’s children.
    “You are a direct descendent from a clan mother who lived thousands of years ago. You might be from ...”
    A new slide flashed on the big screen. It was a map of Europe and the names of seven women were written large in different locations.
    “These are the seven clan mothers and the probable locations of their origins.” Each name was highlighted in a different color as he pointed to them with the laser: Ursula, Tara, Katrine, Helena, Velda, Xenia, and Jasmine.
    “Of course, these are names we have conjured up to illustrate the scientific reality and show the seven European clans. Mitochondrial DNA traces go back deep in ancient time. And, as you can see, come from many different parts of Europe.”
    Germaine nodded. She always felt sure of her heritage. She only had to look in the mirror. Everyone from her mother’s side had been from Germany and the Celtic homeland was thought by many to be in the Alps near the Danube River. Her father’s ancestors all came from Ireland, another Celtic land.
    She looked at the names on the map. That would make her clan mother Tara or Katrine.
    Dr. Sykes stopped that thought. “You may think you can identify your clan mother, but remember, these names represent women who lived thousands of years ago. And people migrated all over the continent. You can’t really tell without a DNA test.” Everyone laughed.
    The Adonis leaned back in his chair and made a comment to Moira in a low voice. She giggled, leaned forward and whispered something back. Her hand rested on his shoulder.
    Oh! So that’s how it’s going to be, Germaine thought, and felt a twinge of regret. Her sexual feelings had jumped to the alert; this blond Adonis was interesting to her in ways she had not felt for a while.
    Later, when they came to the question-and-answer time, someone asked, “Would I recognize a blood-clan relative if I met them?”
    “A question everyone asks and ponders sooner or later,”