"Excuse me, Alex-and-rovna Ry-chen-ka?" The clerk's mutilation of Aleksi's name drew their attention. "Someone will see you. Please go to room four, down that hall."
"Thank you." She stood and turning to Hutch. "And thank you, Hutch. I'm okay now. I just needed someone…you know."
"I know, Aleksi. I know it sounds stupid, but don't worry. You'll get through this."
She smiled and went down the hall to room four and knocked. A voice from inside said, "Come in," so she turned the latch and opened the door. The man seated behind a small desk looked barely old enough to be out of med school. She took a deep breath and went in.
Before the door closed behind her, she heard Hutch whisper, "Excuse me, but make sure the doctor does a toxin and drug screen."
Great, she thought as the door clicked closed.
Hutch left the medical center more worried than ever. He had no idea what kind of psychosis or dementia was affecting Aleksi, but hysterical strength was definitely a part of it. His arm still ached where she'd grasped it. He glanced at his watch and muttered a curse. It was already nine in the morning, and he was supposed to be in his office. Congressman Twain was coming by to talk about the opposition to the pipeline project at nine thirty, and Hutch hadn't even had his first cup of coffee.
He swung by Buckminster's, picked up a large coffee and Danish, and hurried to his office. By the time he got through half of his email, there was a knock on the door.
"Good morning, Hutch."
"Congressman Twain! Good morning!" He stood and shook the man's hand. "Thanks for coming by. Please, have a seat."
"Thank me when you hear what I've got to say." He took a seat and a deep breath. "The opposition from the other side of the aisle has intensified, and I'm not sure it's in our best interest to continue in this format."
"And by, 'in this format,' you mean exactly what?" Hutch lumped one more worry onto what had already become a worry-filled morning.
"I mean our intervention, as it stands, will be defeated. We may be able to do an end around, however, if we piggyback something on another bill. If we put verbiage into something with more support that will block an element of the pipeline, we have a chance." The congressman outlined his proposal, and Hutch saw the wisdom in it. The other bill, an infrastructure initiative that had broad backing on both sides of the aisle, was sure to pass, and the elements that would interfere with the pipeline could be linked to infrastructure with some imaginative verbiage. "On another note, I think I may have found you some funding for that other project. The Russian mystery find? That's got some real front-page potential; nothing like a little international mystery to drum up support."
"Really?" Hutch was flabbergasted. "I knew you found it interesting, but I haven't even submitted a grant yet. We have some money from a private sponsor, but beyond that…"
"Well, this could be good for you, then. This wouldn't be like an NSF grant. More like an investigation into multi-national resources sponsored by our government with matching funds from the Russian National Park Commission. I'd like to talk to you and Aleksi about it if she's available."
"She's not available this morning. She's not feeling well." That was the truth, at least.
"Well, the finagling with the infrastructure bill is going to take some time, and if Aleksi's not available, maybe we can set up a meeting for later."
"Excuse me." The interruption drew their attention, and Hutch blinked at the vaguely familiar face. "Derrick Penningly, Dr. Hutchinson. We met the other day when I was looking for Dr. Oliver. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just heard you talking about the project Aleksi told me about, and I thought I might save you some time."
"Aleksi told you about her project?" That didn't sound likely.
"Well, sort of." He stepped into the room and held out a hand to the congressman. "Nice to meet you, Congressman Twain. I've been looking for an advisor for next year, and Aleksi said there might be a space opening up with Dr. Hutchinson, and outlined what was happening with the mystery specimen. We thought there might be enough data for two dissertations. I'd be two years behind her, so I thought if I offered my help on the beginning phases, since she's short of time, I would have time to work up a secondary project that rode her coattails, so to speak." The young man smiled disarmingly, and Twain looked at Hutch with a raised eyebrow.
"I spoke to Aleksi this morning, and she didn't mention this."
"Well, she's been a little busy and not feeling well. It must have slipped her mind."
"We'll have to sit down with Aleksi and talk about this, Derrick. I generally pick my own students, and I have a full complement right now." This didn't sound like something Aleksi would do, but then Aleksi wasn't acting like herself.
"Oh, I understand, but I really wouldn't be coming on board until the fall, and Lonnie Westinghouse will be done by then, so you'll be down to four. Until then, I would just be free labor. Just let me tell you my ideas, and you can decide later if you want to take me on, but I am familiar with the project."
"I see no reason not to sit down and talk about it, Hutch." Twain looked at his wristwatch.
"All right." Hutch pulled up the research plan on his computer. "I've got a lecture at eleven, but we'll talk and see what you've got, Derrick. If we can pull in the funding that Congressman Twain mentioned, there might be room for two on the project."
"Excellent!" the congressman said with a smile.
"Cool!" Derrick beamed and pulled out a tablet computer. "Well, first of all, you know that Aleksi has come up with nothing that matched the tooth morphology. I've set up an imaging database from the MCZ files that should help us there…"
Aleksi left the medical center frustrated, hungry, and tired of being poked and prodded. The doctor—a third-year resident physician—had been mystified by her symptoms. She was running a very high temperature, near 105 degrees, but was showing no other fever symptoms. They took blood and urine samples, and an embarrassing number of swabs to culture for possible infections. He had no explanation for the discoloration of her nails and sounded like he didn't believe her about the color of her irises, even when she showed him her driver's license and pointed to the entry for eye color. He'd looked in her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and just shrugged. As to her psychological issues, he simply shrugged again and mentioned stress.
When he suggested admitting her to the hospital, however, she'd balked. She had too much work to do to get stuck in a hospital bed, and she felt fine. Since she was lucid and not a danger to herself or others, they couldn't force her to be admitted. The blood work and cultures would take a couple of days, but he gave her a prescription for a broad-spectrum antibiotic and told her to watch her temperature closely.
She stopped by a deli, picked up a half-pound of sliced ham and ate it on the way to Hutch's office. He wasn't there, but that wasn't unusual, so she went to the lab and got to work. The familiar tasks of chipping away layers of rock to uncover the secrets hidden within quickly soothed her tumultuous thoughts, and she lost track of time.
20
She recognizes some of them; the pudgy desk clerk at the gym, Derrick Penningly, the young doctor with a needle in his hand, a boy she knew in college who had tried to convince her that she really did want to have sex with him…they're all around her, trying to grab her, hurt her…She won't let them. She has to fight…
Flesh parts like a tearing sheet, bones snap like sticks, and faces are torn away, but underneath there are only gnashing teeth and reaching claws. She strikes, claws, fights to get free…
Aleksi?"
Aleksi snapped awake, unsure of where she was. She wore lab gear; mask, gloves, gown, and her arms and neck ached. She'd been working late, and didn't remember putting her head down on the lab bench. She glanced at the time; it was seven-thirty, but there was sunlight in the lab windows. It was seven-thirty in the morning.
"Aleksi? Are you here?" It sounded like Hutch.
"Hutch? Yeah!" She shook her head, banishing the horrible dream from her mind. All the faces,
teeth, claws…she shuddered. She doffed her mask and goggles and parted the plastic sheet. Hutch stood at the lab door.
"Aleksi? Are you okay?" He stepped in looking fresh scrubbed, but also worried. "I tried your cell and emailed you, but got no answer."
"I'm fine. I just wanted to get an early start this morning." She didn't want him to know she'd spent the night in the lab; his opinion of her was damaged enough. "With the time I lost at the med center yesterday, I'm feeling a little behind. I didn't even think to check email, and my phone is in my bag. I don't know why I didn't hear it."
"No big deal. I'm on the run, but I've got some good news. I met with Congressman Twain yesterday about the pipeline project, and he mentioned the possibility for some funding for the Russian sample."
"Really?" That was good news. "Did you tell Bob?"
"Just by email. Twain wanted to discuss it and you were out, but then Derrick showed up and mentioned that you'd talked to him about the project."
"Derrick?" She wondered for a moment if she'd heard him right. "Derrick Penningly?"
"Yeah. He seems pretty sharp, actually, and knew the project like the back of his hand. He doesn't have quite the skill set that you or Bob do, but he's eager, and had some good ideas. I wanted to say, though, that talking to him about this before coming to me was not what I generally like from my students. I'm not saying we shouldn't bring him on board, but come to me first next time, okay?"
"But, I didn't…" Her mind was spinning, still muddled with sleep. What the hell had Derrick told him? A surge of anger infused her.
"Don't worry about it, Aleksi. Like I said, the guy's sharp, and he had Twain eating out of his hand. If we can get the funding, there could be more for a follow-up project, and even a field expedition to look over the recovery site, with matching funds from the Russians. This could really be big, and with Derrick coming on two years after you, there really wouldn't be much of a conflict. He's willing to work as a volunteer during spring and summer semesters, so by fall he'll be ready to jump in with both feet."
"I…um…" She thought furiously; she had mentioned the project to Derrick a week ago, but only in passing. For him to have gotten the kind of details that Hutch was alluding to, he must have talked to someone else, too. Maybe Bob? She had not suggested that he come on board as one of Hutch's graduate students, at least not that she remembered. His face swam in her mind, grinning, laughing. Had she? "I think we should all get together to clear up some misunderstandings, Hutch."
"That's fine, but it'll have to be later in the week. I've got legal stuff to do and maybe even a trip down to Washington. This pipeline thing needs work."
"That'll be fine." She needed to talk with Bob and then find Derrick. Her nails pressed against her palms to the point of pain, and she backed off the pressure. "I'll check my phone. Sorry I missed your calls." That, at least, was truer than he would ever know.
"Right." He gave her a smile which suddenly faded. "I almost forgot to ask how things went at the med center."
"Oh, the usual. They took a million samples and gave me a prescription for antibiotics." She shrugged, trying to play it down. "They won't have lab results until Tuesday or so. I feel fine, just…well, you know, different."
"Okay, well, let me know how things come out." He turned to go, then turned back. "And take it easy, Aleksi. Stress can do more damage than a virus."
"Yeah, I know." She wasn't about to tell him about the stress she was feeling right now, and the irrepressible urge to rip Derrick Penningly into tiny bloody chunks of meat.
When Hutch was gone, Aleksi went back and checked her phone. The battery was dead, so she plugged it in and turned it on, then checked her email on her computer. There were two messages from Hutch and one from Bob among the usual student correspondence. Hutch's were straight forward and obviously sent from his phone, asking her to call him.
Bob's was more pointed. It read, "Got email from Hutch about Derrick. We need to talk, ASAP!"
"Shit," she muttered and picked up her phone. He picked up on the first ring.
"Aleksi! What the hell's going on?" He sounded pissed.
"Hi, Bob. Look, something's wrong with this, and I've got to get it straightened out. Can we meet for breakfast? I'm starving and I need coffee."
"Sure. How about Dudley?" His voice was a little calmer, at least.
"I can be there in ten minutes."
"Okay. Okay, I'll see you there."
She packed up her computer, left her phone sitting there to charge and left the lab. The weather had turned relatively warm again, melting the snow to a mire of slush. She didn't even bother buttoning her coat; she needed to cool off and think. By the time she walked into Dudley Café, her head was clearer. The smell of coffee and food helped. She ordered two breakfast sandwiches and a large coffee. By the time she found a seat, Bob was coming in through the door. He didn't even go to the counter but came right over and sat down.
"So, what the hell is going on, Aleksi? I got an email from Hutch yesterday that you invited this Derrick guy in on the project." Bob's voice was loud and angry. "That you did it without going to him first."
"Hang on and listen, Bob." She tried to keep her temper down; she wasn't mad at Bob and understood his mood. "I told Derrick about the project, but not any details, and I didn't invite him aboard. Something's up, and I needed to talk to you before I get it figured out. Did Derrick talk to you, at all? Ask you for any information?"
"No, he did not talk to me, and he told Hutch he got everything from you. Everything, including my sequencing results and the ash analysis, the morphology data that you worked up, all of the imaging files, and the journal translation." His face was flushed, and she could see the pulse pounding at his neck. "Tell me how the fuck he got all that if you didn't give it to him, Aleksi? Is that why you set me up with Julie, so you could take this project and pair up with this Derrick guy?"
"What?" She stared at him in shock. "No, that is not why I set you up with Julie! I thought you liked her, and I know she likes you. That has nothing to do with this! Derrick is a jerk, and he's trying to horn in on our project! I'm going to find him and tell him to back off, or I'll get him expelled. I don't know where he got all that data, but he didn't get it from me!"
Both of their voices were raised now, enough that they were drawing stares.
"Well, I don't have a copy of the journal translation, and Hutch and Quinton are the only others who do. If you didn't give it to him, how the hell did he get it?"
"Quinton maybe. He works at the MCZ, you know."
"Then why say he got if from you?"
"I don't know, Bob, but I'm going to find out. You've got to trust me on this! I didn't give him anything."
"I'll trust you when you tell this jerk to fuck off, Aleksi!" He stood so quickly that his chair clattered over. "Until then, don't expect any more help from me on your project!"
He stormed out of the café amid the stares of several of the other diners.
Aleksi tried to eat and let her temper cool. She didn't know how Derrick had gotten so much information, but it certainly had not been from her. There was no way she would have forgotten giving him their data. She finished her coffee, tossing the two naked English muffins in the trash on the way out, determined to find out what was going on.
Unfortunately, finding Derrick Penningly was like trying to grab her own shadow. Aleksi had his email address from her class roster, and fired off a terse note, telling him that she needed to speak to him immediately. She got no response. He had no other contact information on file, and his number was unlisted, so she had to wait. She found it hard to concentrate on her work that afternoon and ended up going home early. When she got there, however, Julie met her with a sour look.
"So, what did you say to Bob to get him so upset?"
"There's a guy trying to butt into our project." Aleksi put her bag down, headed for the kitchen and opened the fridge, but nothing looked good. "He told Hutch that I invited him to come on bo
ard. He has all kinds of information on the project that he said I gave him, which convinced Hutch that he was telling the truth, so Hutch told Bob." She slammed the refrigerator door and leaned against the counter, her arms folded and her hands clenched. "Bob thinks I'm trying to undercut him, but it's not true. I've got to find this jerk and warn him off."
"Bob's really upset." Julie had her arms folded and shoulders hunched in a defensive posture, and her eyes were red.
"What's wrong, Julie? What did he say?"
"He asked me if I knew a guy named Derrick Penningly, and if I was working with you to screw him over."
"He said that?"
"Well, not in so many words, but that was the gist of it." Julie sniffed.
"Oh, Julie. I'm sorry." Aleksi went to her, reaching out to offer some support, but Julie backed away. "I'll get this straightened out, I promise."
"Do that." Julie turned and went to her bedroom door and turned back. "I like Bob, Aleksi. I like him a lot. If I find out you set us up just to play some game, you'll be looking for a new roommate."
The door closed with a stomach-wrenching finality.
"Great!" Aleksi ground her teeth as she went back to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator again but there was still nothing that looked good. Her stomach clenched on nothing, and she tried the freezer. She took out a package of hamburger and put it in the microwave to thaw, then went to retrieve her phone from her bag. "Enough of this bullshit." She punched in Hutch's cell number.
"Aleksi? What's up?"
"Sorry to call on a Saturday night, Hutch, but I need to talk to you for a second about Derrick."
"I'm a little busy, Aleksi. If this can wait…" His voice was hushed, and she heard sounds in the background, a woman's voice.
"Look, Bob's really mad, and so am I. I didn't ask Derrick to come on board, and I didn't give him any of my data or the journal. I don't know how he got them, but it wasn't from me. I don't have his phone number, and he won't answer my emails."
Dragon Dreams Page 18