Insects 3: Specimen
Page 3
“Of course. No response.”
“Jason says that’s the way he is now.”
“But Jason talks to him, right?”
“Yeah, but you have to remember that he only came back this week.”
“Two days ago, to be exact.”
“So, maybe he’s busy. He’s got a lot of catching up to do in his lab. You know, with Cox running things—for reasons unknown Jason’s not in charge— not much is getting done. Jason said the new assistant hires have nothing to do so they’re just goofing off when Cox isn’t around, which is most of the time.”
“I just wish he’d call, just to say hello. Makes me think he’s ignoring me on purpose,” Duncan said.
“I don’t think it’s about you,” Boyd said. “The man has issues.”
Duncan knew that his peer wasn’t the only one with problems. Nearly a month into his tenure at Biodynamism he had yet to produce any results. Certainly, with page after page of notes from his assistants, and the video they recorded, he’d learned much about how blaberus behaved in isolation. Their glass habitats were large enough that they could roam. They contained hiding places made of piles of sticks and leaves that they assembled into refuges. Often, when they detected movement in the lab, the bugs scuttled under the structures that they’d fashioned. They were so good at hiding that Duncan’s assistants often feared that they had somehow escaped when they couldn’t locate them quickly. It was impossible to determine how long they rested. Insects don’t sleep, as such. Instead they enter a period of deep rest called torpor. Because blaberus was a hybrid with mostly insect and reptilian features, Duncan couldn’t assume it behaved more like a reptile than an insect. What he learned from his assistant’s observations was that the males and female were nocturnal and diurnal, that they seemed to grab rest several times during the day but did not spend extended periods in torpor. There were other findings as well, but none of them had anything to do with producing offspring.
Being ovoviviparous meant that the female carried eggs internally and when they hatched the offspring would emerge as in a live birth. The question was how the eggs were fertilized. Did males impregnate the females or was there another mechanism? As the weeks rolled by, Duncan began to doubt whether the female carried fertilized eggs. If only he’d had more than one female to work with. Losing the female was his greatest fear, and as it became obvious that he was running out of options, he needed to take action. It was something that Gabriel Cox prodded him about in every meeting.
“We’ve given you everything you asked for and we really need to see results. This isn’t coming from me,” Cox told him. “This is from the man upstairs. He wants results. The company wants results.”
Duncan knew that he was delaying the inevitable. For all he knew, eggs were developing in the female and if he just let nature take its course he’d be rewarded. He also knew that the bosses were impatient. Cox didn’t care about what he’d learned about the creatures’ behavior, which he regarded as important as the breeding program. But it wasn’t until Dr. Thomas texted him that he finally ran out of excuses.
We have to talk, Thomas wrote.
11
DUNCAN DIDN’T KNOW what to think. His assistant had told him that Thomas wasn’t taking calls or meeting with people and yet here he had sent a text. He wanted to talk. That meant a conversation, Duncan thought, not email. The text had come so unexpectedly that he hadn’t noticed at first that it had been sent several hours earlier but delivered only now.
“I gotta ask Cody about that,” he muttered as he dithered over whether to call Thomas or text him. He didn’t want Thomas to think that he was avoiding him and texting seemed a poor way of carrying on a conversation, so he called, expecting to get Thomas’s voicemail.
“Dr. Duncan,” Thomas said, “Thank you for calling.”
“I just got your text. I don’t know why it was delayed.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed that. I have to ask Jason why that happened.”
Thomas had lost a portion of his tongue to blaberus. The lisp was more pronounced than Duncan expected.
“Welcome back,” Duncan stammered. “How are you doing?”
“They tell me I’m getting better. Thanks for asking. I apologize for not taking your calls when I was recuperating. I wasn’t ready. But enough of that. I need one of your specimens.”
“Pardon me?” Duncan said.
“I need one of the males for my research.”
“I’m not sure I can do that. We’re about to—”
“You don’t understand,” Thomas said firmly. “This is not a request. I hope you can appreciate that I don’t want a lengthy conversation. I am well aware of what I sound like and it embarrasses me.”
“It’s not your fault,” Duncan protested.
“Doesn’t matter. What matters is my research. Now, when can I expect to receive that specimen?”
“Let me call you back,” Duncan said.
“In an hour,” Thomas said emphatically.
12
DUNCAN WAS FURIOUS. He could feel his blood pressure rising. Sitting at his desk, he tried to settle himself by deep breathing, focusing on each breath as if in meditation. But he couldn’t focus on his breathing because he couldn’t get past the contempt in Thomas’s voice. A phone call that he momentarily thought would bring him closer to a colleague ended up as an insult. How could the man be so disrespectful? His previous dealings with him had been collegial and courteous, even under the most extreme of circumstances.
As he often did when he became excited or perplexed, he paced, his mind racing. What should he do? What could he do? Had he overlooked something in the contract he’d signed with Biodynamism? Had his disdain for legalese, which kept him from reading the fine print, gotten the better of him? He needed to talk to somebody who could help him determine whether Thomas was out of line. Is this what Boyd meant when he said that Thomas had changed? But Boyd wasn’t around. Who else would listen to his venting?
Duncan flew out of his lab and arrived at Gabriel Cox’s office in a righteous whirlwind. His efforts to calm himself had not worked. Every step he took, practically running down the immaculate, empty hallway, echoed like the beat of an angry drum. Cox was at his desk reviewing documents with his secretary as Duncan unexpectedly burst through the door, startling both.
“Tell me one thing, Gabe,” Duncan barked, his agitation so obvious that the secretary backed away, “does that fucker have a right to take my specimens? Because I’m telling you that I will not put up with it.”
Cox nodded for his secretary to leave and close the door behind her. As she left, Cox motioned for Duncan to sit. Duncan resisted, pacing in front of Cox’s desk.
“Dr. Duncan, I won’t talk to you if you don’t take a seat. I can see you’re upset but I’m sure, whatever it is, we can work it out. Did something go wrong in the lab? Are you having a problem with your staff?”
Stopping in his tracks, Duncan closed his eyes for a second, rubbed his forehead with his forefinger, and took several deep breaths before settling into a chair facing Cox.
“That’s better. Now, what the hell is going on?”
Before Duncan could respond, Cox’s desk phone buzzed. It was his secretary.
“Should I call security? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Shirley. There’s no problem.”
Duncan gazed intently at Cox as he hung up the phone.
“What’s going on is Dr. Thomas ordered me, ordered me mind you, to hand over one of my specimens. In an hour, no less,” the scientist said angrily, his voice high pitched and distressed.
Cox let Duncan vent for a moment, waiting for him to either finish or run out of words. Duncan’s emotions were so overheated that it didn’t take long. His monologue came out in a flood, like a frustrated child.
“So, you don’t want to cooperate with Dr. Thomas, is that what I’m hearing?”
“What? Cooperate? No, that’s not it. He ordered me to give him a specimen. He didn
’t so much as tell me why he needed it or anything else. It’s like, oh, I don’t know, it’s like he’s bossing me around. It’s my lab. They are my specimens. It’s in our agreement, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes and no.”
“What do you mean, yes and no?”
“If you’ll refrain from interrupting me, I will explain. It’ll take a minute. Will you at least hear me out?”
13
BOYD HAD TEXTED Duncan that he would be in late without telling him he’d overslept. Arriving later than he’d predicted, he found Duncan standing in front of the male habitat, a preoccupied look on his face. When the scientist didn’t respond to his greeting, Boyd repeated it loudly.
“What’s up, boss? The bugs doing something?”
Duncan shook his head slightly and moved slowly toward his office where he slumped into his chair and motioned for Boyd to close the door behind them.
“Something wrong?” Boyd asked, curious about what was bothering his boss. “You got my text, right? You’re not mad at me for coming in late, are you?”
Duncan shook his head.
“It’s not about you, Cody. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Boyd suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“Well, I feel the same way.”
“I can’t say the same thing for anyone else around here.”
Boyd gave him a puzzled look.
“I’ve been ordered to give Thomas one of our specimens, one of the males.”
“Ordered?”
“By Thomas, if you can believe that.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Whatever he’s working on is a secret. Cox told me that I don’t have a choice.”
“I thought you had a contract.”
“I do, but…I don’t know, I’m confused and pissed off.”
“I can see that. What’re you gonna do?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“But doesn’t the contract say the bugs belong to you?”
Duncan sighed deeply.
“The contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”
“But, I thought….”
Duncan tilted his head against the back of his chair, his eyes momentarily directed at the ceiling.
“It’s not what’s in the contract, it’s how we got them through customs.”
“Come again?”
“You know how we didn’t go through customs, how they flew us in at night, all that stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, Cox told me, not in so many words, but I took it to mean that if I, we, don’t cooperate with Thomas, things could happen.”
“Like what?” Boyd stammered.
“Apparently, one of their hackers tweaked the passport database to show that we re-entered the country legally.”
“Really? I didn’t know that. I thought…”
“I know. When Haverty told us the company had ways to get us through customs I didn’t ask how he would do it. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of there with my specimens.”
“You and me both.”
“Well, how they did it broke several national and international laws, which, Cox implied, could be used against me, us, if it came to that.”
Boyd felt anger rising in his throat.
“Are they threatening you?”
“There was no threat. He didn’t come out and say it like that. He just explained the situation and what could happen, not that it would. He kept saying the company took many risks to bring us here.”
“So, if we give Thomas what he wants…”
Duncan smiled weakly.
“Then nothing happens and we can continue our work.”
“That’s fucked!”
“I don’t like it, but we don’t have a choice.”
“We could threaten to kill the bugs,” Boyd said angrily.
“I’d have to kill you first. Besides, if the company didn’t have a problem violating the State Department, how much of a problem would they have dealing with us? I don’t know what they’re capable of and I don’t want to find out.”
“But this is shit.”
“Yeah, well, for now I’m going to be as cooperative as I can, at least until we can figure something else out. I don’t like it but they’ve got the leverage.”
“But how can you say that? They’re fucking with us.”
“Cody, you’ve got to ignore this, get past it, don’t let it make you angry. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”
Boyd grew thoughtful for a moment.
“OK, I get it. I’ll just focus on my job.”
“Good, that’s the attitude. And, please, don’t tell anyone else about this. Not even Gruber.”
14
DUNCAN AND MAGGIE Cross had kept in contact since returning to the U.S. Originally, they’d planned to rendezvous in Houston, but that was before he learned where Biodynamism was located. In the intervening weeks they’d discussed hooking up in San Antonio but Duncan’s work got in the way. Early on, organizing the lab took all his time and attention, and once it was set up pressure built to produce results. Cox came out and told him in a mocking way that he was no longer in academia. Duncan felt disrespected. Now, after his disagreeable conversations with Dr. Thomas and Gabe Cox, the thought of a weekend getaway with Cross loomed large. Unhappy with being forced to give one of his specimens to Thomas, he felt it was time for a break, his first since arriving at the Hill Country campus.
“It’ll be good for you, and for Maggie, too,” Boyd told him.
“That’s what I think,” Duncan said. “It’d be great to see her. We can catch up on things, have some great food. The way it is, I’m in the lab all day and whenever we call each other I’ve got nothing to talk about except my work. We mostly talk about all the interesting things she’s doing and she keeps me informed about coverage that pops up. I rely on her for that. She’s so calm about it. I get angry just thinking about the media and I can’t bring myself to look at anything on the Internet, it’s so ignorant and sociopathic.”
“It’s filled with idiots, that’s for sure.”
“And it’s the idiots that have taken over,” Duncan said, laughing quietly. “You know, I feel better already just thinking about seeing her. What is it, Wednesday? I’m gonna call her right now.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll take care of everything here. Don’t even think about it. You just go have a good time and come back refreshed on Monday.”
The two men looked at each, smiling.
“By the way, can you line up a car for me?” Duncan said as he entered his lab to retrieve a specimen for Thomas. “I’m going to deliver it personally. Maybe he’ll talk to me.”
“Good luck with that.”
15
IN THE PRIVACY of his office, Duncan hesitated like a schoolboy before calling his girlfriend. Boyd’s encouragement had removed any doubt about needing a break from his work. It was one of those moments when he felt his priorities align with his feelings. He and Maggie had spoken several times recently, but when she hinted that they get together he asked for a rain check until the blaberus female had produced young. Still inflamed by Thomas’s intrusion into his business, with company approval no less, he felt justified taking a weekend off. He had not signed on to be one of Thomas’s assistants. He’d deliver the specimen and then look ahead to a weekend in San Antonio, assuming Maggie would join him.
“That’s a great idea,” she gushed. “Did your precious insects have babies?”
“Not yet, but I need a break and I really want to see you.”
“And I want to see you. I haven’t been to San Antonio in ages. Have you made reservations?”
“No, not yet.”
“That’s fine. If you don’t mind, I’ll have George do it. Do you have a preference, on the River Walk, downtown? I suppose the place has changed a lot since I was there.”
“Anywhere you want to stay is fine with me. I just want to get away and see you.”
“See you Friday, love,” she said, ending the call.
“Hmm,” he thought out loud, looking at his phone. “Love.”
16
WHILE DUNCAN AND his staff had collected extensive documentation on the creatures’ behavior in captivity, they had never handled them. Though he was familiar with their aggressive behavior as a group in the wild, he hadn’t seen that kind of conduct in this lab.
Still thinking about Cross and the weekend ahead, he squeezed into a pair of elbow length rubber gloves and briefly peered in the aquarium holding the male specimens. Taking a precarious stance on a step stool, he opened a portion of the glass top and slowly reached inside. The bugs scattered as if frightened. Two scurried to opposite corners and one squeezed itself along an edge. As he leaned toward one in the corner, it shot across the aquarium so fast that he didn’t see that the others had leaped onto the glove. In an instant one had crawled inside while the other scurried up his arm. The third one tried to jump but hit the top with a smack and fell to the glass bottom, where it lay motionless.
Panic seized him.
“Cody, Cody!” he shouted as he grabbed at the one that had scurried up his arm.
“What is it?” Boyd said loudly as he entered the lab holding his phone.
“I need help, goddamn it!” Duncan shouted.