"What?"
He punched up the voicemail and glared at her. "Someone called me at three AM and I turned my ringer off."
"Oh?" She gave him her best look of innocence.
He ignored her and listened to the message.
"Hey, Hutch. Sorry to bug you on Sunday, but we scored some DNA on the samples. I'll be in the lab if you want to come down and have a look."
"Well, I'll be damned." He pulled up the second message.
"Weird results here, Hutch. Swing by when you can."
Hutch put his phone away and took a big bite of his burger.
"Well, tell me."
"We got DNA." He chased the bite with beer and took another. He wanted to rush to the lab, but wouldn't waste a perfectly good lunch.
"That's good. So what is it?"
"No idea yet, but Bob said it's weird."
"Well, weird is good, too, right?" She bit her lip and cocked her head. "Right?"
"Yes, Persephone, weird is good."
What did you get?"
Bob turned as Hutch entered the lab and started putting on isolation gear. Before the mask hid is features, he saw the excitement there. He wished he had better news.
"More than we bargained for, I think." Bob finished what he was doing, put his pipettor aside, and picked up his logbook. "You want the long version or the Cliff notes?"
"Short version first."
Bob described his results so far; the spectrophotometer readings indicating the presence of DNA in the samples, and the muddled results of the first sequence. As it turned out, very little of the two strands of DNA were similar, but there was a lot of crossing over, short shared segments, then longer ones that were different.
"I think we have contamination, but I can't figure out from where."
"Was this a tooth or the debris from inside?"
"A tooth, why?"
"Plaque, maybe." Hutch looked at the sequencer. "What are you running now?"
"I just started one of the debris samples." Bob went to the sequencer and looked at the results. "This one's better, but there's still a lot of doubling. Not as bad as the first, but…"
"It's still too much to get a decent sequence. If you're going to run a search in Genbank, you need a clean run of three or four hundred bases."
"Well, we're not getting that." Bob pointed to the screen, which showed a significant percentage of doubling in the signal. "Not even close."
"We've got to figure out what's going on here." Hutch leaned back and Bob knew what he was going to say. "Clone these two into E-Coli and get solid runs of both strands. Then do a search on Genbank."
Bob cringed. "It'll take a week or so."
"Well, you can sequence the rest of what you've got in the meantime. If you get a solid segment from that, you can run a search on it. Otherwise, we're cloning."
"Roger will-co, boss." Bob stood and stretched, then realized that there was a little more information that Hutch might be interested in. "Oh, and I went by Aleksi's place. I brought her some food. She's really looking rough. Fever, chills, aches, the whole bit."
"Did she cancel her labs?"
"Monday's, but not the comp zoo one yet. She thinks she'll kick it by Wednesday."
"Not likely." Hutch's brow furrowed. "I could probably take her Wednesday lab, but I've got a big meeting on Thursday."
"Don't look at me! I don't know crap about comparative zoology. I barely passed it as an undergrad!" That wasn't exactly true; he'd gotten a B. He just hated dissections.
"Really? Well, you know what they say: you never really learn something until you teach it." Bob could see Hutch's evil grin right through his mask. "Maybe fall semester."
"I knew I shouldn't have opened my mouth!"
"I'll make sure Aleksi's lab is covered, don't worry. I just hope she kicks this quick, otherwise we're going to get behind."
"Well, don't tell her that. I think she's feeling guilty enough already."
"I thought she would be." Hutch headed for the door. "No worries, Bob. We'll sort it all out and get things back on track soon enough." He peeled out of his gear and looked back. "And don't push yourself too hard. The last think I need is two sick students."
"No worries there, doc. I'm the lazy one, remember?"
Hutch just laughed as the door closed behind him.
Gi-gi's warm palm against Persephone's head brought her memories to the fore. The rotating image of the CT scan, the photographs of the curved canine teeth, Hutch's scent as he leaned close, the warm tingle in her stomach with his thigh under her hand.
Her eyes snapped open with the piercing headache and she jerked away. She'd given too much. "I'm sorry. I was only…"
"Be at ease, child." Those thin lips drew up in the corners. "Enjoy your youth. Your pleasure pleases me."
Persephone hid her embarrassment behind a mask of submission.
"This thing they've found…I've never seen anything like it before." That, coming from Gi-gi, meant that it was unknown to the world of science. "There are…myths, however, that speak of such creatures."
"Myths?" Persephone knew from experience that there were often cores of truth in myths.
"Yes…Kur, in Sumer, for one." The ancient woman's eyes fluttered, a sign of fatigue. "The specimen…acquire it for me."
"That will be difficult." Stealing a six-hundred-pound specimen from a lab in the MCZ would be more than difficult. More like impossible. And it would put Hutch's career on the line. "Would a…piece of the specimen suffice?"
"No. All of it. We must not let this be found by the government…any government. They can't be trusted with such treasures."
Persephone swallowed hard. The things I do for this family… "I'll do my best."
15
Aleksi woke to full daylight streaming in the windows and a blur of memories. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up. She had slept, really slept, for the first time in days. Her bedclothes were dry and warm; no fever, no sweats, and no memories of recent fever dreams. She still ached, but that was probably due to so long in bed.
"Thank God." She checked the time; just past nine in the morning, but she honestly didn't know what day it was. She did know two things, however: she was ravenous, and she really had to pee.
"Julie?" No answer.
Her laptop lay on the coffee table, so she opened it and turned it on. While it booted, she took all the rumpled blankets and her pillow to her bedroom and dumped them in a pile. Laundry would wait. She stripped off her pajamas, grabbed a clean robe and hurried to the bathroom. When she was done with nature's call, she washed her face and hands, and caught her reflection in the mirror.
"Not quite so deathly." She had some color at least, even though her hair resembled a rat's nest. She stopped by the kitchen to start coffee and went to her computer. The date in the corner said the twenty-second, Wednesday.
"Shit!"
She'd lost a whole day somehow. Her Comparative Zoology lab was scheduled for ten AM today. She pulled up her email and scanned the messages. All but two of her freshman biology lab students agreed on the time she set for a make-up lab, and those two had already made up the lab in another section. Good. Then she saw the message from Hutch titled Comp Zoo Lab.
"Double shit!" She pulled it up.
Aleksi,
Looks like you're not going to make Wednesday's lab. There is no one to cover, so I'll take it for you. Hope you feel better soon.
Hutch.
She checked the clock again; it was quarter after nine. She could just make it. She grabbed her cell phone, punched Hutch's number and dashed for the shower. He picked up on the third ring.
"Aleksi! How are you?"
"Hi Hutch. I'm good. I just woke up." She turned the water on and dropped her robe. "Fever's gone and I just read your email. I can make the lab, so you don't have to cover."
"You sure? I talked to Bob yesterday, and he said you were out cold."
"I was. I finally got some sleep, and the fever broke. I'm
fine. I can make the lab, but I've got to hurry, so…" She felt the water, but it took forever to get hot.
"But you've been out, Aleksi. You haven't had time to review the material."
"I've got last semester's notes on my computer and the lab's already set up. I can do this, Hutch. It's the worm lab, right?"
"Yeah, it is. Well, okay. If you're sure…"
"I'm sure, Hutch. Thanks." Another thought struck her as she stepped into the finally hot spray. She turned, trying to keep her phone dry. "I'll call you after the lab. I'd like to get caught up."
"To tell you the truth, Aleksi, I'm swamped. I've got a huge meeting tomorrow on the pipeline project. Catch up with Bob, and I'll meet with you both on Friday."
"All right. Oh, and thanks for offering to cover, Hutch. Oliver would never have done something like that."
"Not a problem, Aleksi. I'm just glad you're feeling better."
She signed off and took the fastest shower in human history. Clean, she dashed to the kitchen in a towel, threw some bread in the toaster and cracked two eggs into a skillet. Four thick slices of bacon joined the eggs. She put a cover on the skillet, grabbed a few vegies for Iggy and took them to his cage. He ignored her, obviously despondent for being ignored for three days.
"Sorry, buddy. Mom will be back in a few hours, and we'll play, okay." He blinked, ignored the food and lashed his tail. "Fine. Be that way."
Back in the kitchen, she poured coffee and willed her breakfast to cook faster. Impatient, she got dressed while it cooked. When her toast popped up, she tilted the contents of the skillet onto the two crisped slices and dug in. The bread tasted a little funny, but the loaf hadn't looked moldy. She shrugged and wolfed it down between sips of coffee. Reasonably sated, she filled a travel cup, put the plate and skillet in the sink, grabbed her coat and bag, and left the apartment.
In the sink, raw egg dripped from the cold skillet. In her rush, Aleksi had not turned on the stove.
The Comparative Zoology lab started off like clockwork, but it seemed to Aleksi that the clock was running at half speed. She flashed through the introduction, the syllabus, the quiz schedule, grading, and make-up options in barely ten minutes.
"Any questions?" She scanned the twenty faces. They looked a little stunned. One of the faces in the back looked vaguely familiar, then another student raised her hand. "Yes?"
"Um, I didn't get the syllabus email."
"Your email address?" As the girl gave it, Aleksi typed it in, attached the syllabus and sent it. "You've got it now. You might want to check to make sure the lab coordinator has your correct email. Anything else?"
There were no other questions.
"All right, then. Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, and Annelida. Pair up and boot up your workstation computers and the dissecting scopes. Gloves are on that bench, and our wormy subjects are in the buckets over there. Please take one of each and follow the dissection guide on your workstations. If you have any questions, problems, or anything at all, speak up."
She guided them through the dissections using diagrams and illustrations projected from her computer onto a screen at the head of the classroom, using a laser pointer as she walked around the class, offering help, advice, and generally keeping everyone on track. She found herself listening to several low-voiced conversations as she talked, and picked out the students who seemed genuinely interested versus those who were just going through the motions.
The fellow she thought she'd recognized surprised her as she passed his table.
"Hello, Aleksi."
"You're…" His face registered, and she gaped in surprise. "Derrick? You're in Comparative Zoology?"
"Surprised to see me?" He smiled, his teeth perfectly white, perfectly straight. The girl he had paired with looked from him to Aleksi with wide eyes.
"Yes." She shrugged off her surprise. "I thought you worked for Dr. Neilson."
"Oh, that's just until my grad school application goes through. I'll be in the paleosciences program next year." That smile again.
"Really! Why are you taking Comparative Zoology then?"
"Oh, I finished up at Princeton and took a year off. I'm taking Comp Zoo as a non-degree course. It gives me a chance to check out the programs and pick an advisor, and I can maintain my student status. You know."
"Sure." She certainly understood why he wanted to maintain his student status. Deferring loans and the student healthcare perks were reasons enough. "You didn't take Comp Zoo as an undergrad?"
"No, but I didn't have to." He shrugged. "I was going to do med school but changed my mind."
"Oh." She knew what that meant, too. He'd bombed his MCATs. "Well, good to see you."
"Hey, I'd like to talk to you after class about advisors, if you don't mind. It's tough to know the sharks from the tuna, if you know what I mean."
"I'm really kind of swamped today." That wasn't a lie. She had five days to catch up on.
"Let me just buy you a coffee. It won't take long, I promise." That smile again…
Aleksi suppressed a shiver and hoped she wasn't having a relapse. "Sure. Okay." She said it more to end the conversation during class than any real desire to help him out. Something about Derrick gave her the creeps.
She kept up her instructions as she circulated the room. Whenever he caught her eye, he smiled with those perfect teeth and sat up in his chair a little. In fact, every time she looked his way, he was looking at her.
I so don't need this. She smiled briefly back, thinking that she better nip his interest in the bud. She was too busy to deal with a creepy stalker. The notion that she would never have thought about blowing off a stalker a week ago didn't enter her mind.
Something's different… Derrick considered Aleksi critically, analyzing, composing his plan. The mousy woman he remembered seemed to have lost her fear. When she looked at him he could see discomfort, but the fear, that anxiety, was missing. Doesn't matter. She's my way in, that's all. A year from now she'll be a strung-out addict selling herself on the street, and I'll be working her project. All I have to do is play her right.
He worked through the ridiculous class, cutting open the worms and dazzling the young woman he'd paired with. One never knew when one might need a pawn. The class ended and he accepted the girl's phone number, promising to call her to study. Then he waited outside for Aleksi.
"Still up for coffee?"
She jerked at his question, her eyes snapping to his in surprise, pupils dilated. "Oh, Derrick. Right. I'd forgotten. You know, I'm just slammed in the lab. I've been out a few days, and I've got a ton of catching up to do."
"I'll throw in a bagel. Come on, I found a great little place. I just want to pick your brain about advisors." He gave her his best smile again and watched her eyes. Her pupils constricted, and she looked away, then back. Unease, apprehension, yes, but no fear or anxiety.
"All right." She shouldered her bag. "But I might opt for a piece of pizza instead of a bagel."
"Great!"
As they walked to Dudley Café, he regaled her with his life story. Magna cum laude from Princeton, Ivy League family back four generations. "Old money, you know." He made a face like being rich was a curse.
She just nodded and seemed disinterested. He didn't understand. Money and prestige generally lit women up like a white phosphorous grenade. Maybe she was a dyke. That would make this more difficult.
"So, you're working with Dr. Hutchinson." They sat down at a free table, he with coffee, and she with two slices of meat-lover's pizza. "How's that going?"
"Good." She picked meat and cheese off the crust with her fingertips.
"He's the environmentalist guy, isn't he? Working to block that trans-Canada pipeline?"
"Um, I don't really know much about his work outside the university, but he's already got five students, so I don't know if he'll be taking anyone new."
"Oh? That sucks. He's popular."
"Is he?" She shrugged.
"I thought I might get my pick, but it looks
like all the good advisors are overloaded." He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, smiling again. "Got any recommendations?"
"That depends on what you're interested in?"
He launched into a detailed dissertation of his entire research plan, utterly fabricated, of course. She nodded and kept stuffing meat and cheese into her mouth, sipping coffee. He worked his way around to working at the MCZ, and how that had opened his eyes to the wonders of paleontology. Then he popped the question.
"I heard that you found something that was mislabeled in the repository? Some long-lost specimen from Kamchatka?" Her eyes darted up from her plate. "What was that all about?"
"It was mislabeled in Russia and ended up here." She shrugged again as if she didn't care. "We got an outside donation to look into it, but we don't know much yet."
"Wow, what a blunder. I almost took the heat for that mislabeling until Neilson told everyone about that diary you found."
Her eyes flashed up again. "How did you find out about the diary?"
He didn't like that tone but covered easily. "Oh, Neilson showed me the pictures you sent him. Pretty freaky stuff."
She looked down and shrugged. "Just a case of mistaken identity, I think. Happens all the time." She ate some more then paused and looked up as if she'd just had an epiphany. "You know, I think you might have something in common with Dr. Oliver. You should look at her research and see if it fits your interest."
"Really?" He smiled, wondering if she'd shifted subjects to throw him off, but he'd asked her about advisors, so he couldn't easily defer. "You think so?"
I'm so going to hell for this, Aleksi thought. "Oh, absolutely! She's really brilliant, and I happen to know she's got an opening for a graduate student."
"Wow. Thanks!" He gave her that smile again, and she swallowed hard.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but I really do have to run. I'm swamped." Aleksi stood up. "Thanks for the Pizza."
"Oh, okay. Sure. No problem." He stood. "See you around."
Dragon Dreams Page 13