by Noga Porat
“You know, I could always go back to working on my other projects,” I said to William, perhaps foolishly. “Without the secret sequence, the method is still a general method for detecting species by the differences in their DNA. The sequence is what makes it unique and solvable for the chickens. There could be other applications.”
“Yes, but we talked about that, Scarlet. You could have done that, if only they did not know you had the sequence. Once you had that sequence, they became threatened. You could apply the solution to their industry at any time,” said William.
Just then, someone blew a tire outside. I screamed and jumped. William told me to get down, and after looking outside and seeing nothing, he came back in to calm me.
“Maybe we should get a pistol, so we can protect ourselves,” I said.
I was surprised when he shook his head.
“If we kill those two guys, they will just send more,” he said. “We need to solve this intellectually.”
“If you say so, but I think a gal has a right to protect herself from the bad guys,” I replied.
We spent our days in hiding and our nights on the beach, sitting on the sand and dreaming of a future we both weren’t sure we’d be able to have. In the meantime, Roseword was contacting people he knew at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He was pulling every connection he had to get us back on track. He now wanted this chick-sorting application to work more than ever—and we wanted to come back home and be safe.
Remarkably, he found a lead, in his own backyard, no less. It turned out that after Roseword had learned that Cole was snooping around in my lab that day he called, he had become suspicious of Cole.
He called us to explain that he’d never confided in Cole about anything which related to Spells. He’d then had him followed and saw him meeting with Mr. Zohar Zoffer, the CEO of Avian Industrial. He had checked Cole’s home and his computer, as well as tapped his phone, and all the data confirmed that Cole was working for Zoffer all along to undermine Spells. Roseword had turned all the data over to the police and it was now under investigation.
He suspected Cole gained access to all my data through Roseword’s computer in the office, but the one thing he was missing was my secret sequence. He had been attempting to fish out whether I had gotten it or not when he came into the lab that day, which had set him up to get caught. He had been trying to intimidate me into confessing what I had.
Roseword said that, most likely, he was getting paid by Zoffer as well as working for Roseword’s VC as head of operations. But the interesting thing was that his sharp inner conflict between attraction to scientific progress and his greed for money had led him to divide his loyalty between us and Zoffer. He hadn’t told Zoffer about the trade-secret sequence, fortunately, but he may have been the reason for the disappearance of Debauchee. Who knows if, perhaps, he had wanted access to the trade secret for his own personal profit? He wasn’t in custody yet; he was still a free man.
William and I were pretty shaken up by Roseword’s news. I asked him if we should look into traveling abroad. He said they probably had people everywhere, but nevertheless, he arranged with Roseword for us to get out of the country for a while—just us and our passports. We knew we’d find what we needed when we got there.
We landed in beautiful weather in a small airport in Italy, where the sun warmed our faces on the tarmac. We rented a little hideaway in the forest, among the lakes, still trying to enjoy our time together despite the danger and uncertainty that might lie ahead.
One day, we even tried to go mushroom hunting, but couldn’t find any of the mushrooms that we were searching for. It turned out William liked to go mushroom hunting as a kid, and I found that rather funny. Why would you hunt a mushroom? But he liked eating mushrooms and pickling mushrooms, and had studied for quite some time to become an expert mushroom hunter. I joked with him that I was trying to be very quiet so the mushrooms wouldn’t escape. He didn’t find that funny.
After hunting around for a while, we bathed in the lake. It was freezing, but I gave it a try and screamed “NO!” all the way in. Swimming was fun once I’d warmed up a little. We had the place all to ourselves, too, and I caught myself appreciating the Natural Beauty we’d found. Suddenly, in the midst of all that, an idea sparked.
That night, I called Joel and asked him to set aside the chicken samples and take bacteria instead. I asked him to use the method we developed to recognize the DNA of the bacteria, thus detecting a specific kind of bacteria in low quantities. He had to use our protocol but find a sequence that would match the bacteria.
“What are you cooking up now, Scarlet?” asked William. “Why are you changing it from chickens? I thought Roseword wanted you to try and reach a prototype as soon as possible so that we can show the world that the technology is accessible and win the game. Then we would be safe from Avian. They’d have no choice once we’d gone public.”
“It’ll take us a year at least, William,” I said. “And not only do I want to stop running for my life, I want to be a part of the science! I don’t want to have to hide away while others get the glory.”
“So what do you suggest?” asked William, surprised.
“You’ll see,” I said with a coy smile. “If this works out, I’ll know what to do.”
He was quiet for a moment, thinking it over.
“Well,” he said, “since I can’t do anything to help, in the meantime, would you read me this book?”
I smiled and said I’d be happy to do it. William loved it when I read to him, and he especially liked it when I made up stories before going to bed. After I read to him for a while, we made grand plans to go forage for more mushrooms in the future. William explained how we could dry and pickle them, and that was enough to put me to sleep for the night.
We waited a few days until we heard back from Joel. He had begun on the experiments as I asked, focusing on the common bacteria E. coli.
Since there are different strains of E. coli, it is important to be able to differentiate between the different strains to prevent disease. I found a paper that described repetitive sequences of DNA, which help differentiate between the strains. I sent these sequences to Joel and asked him to check our method on these strains to identify the difference between them. The paper I read was phenomenal; it described sequences of DNA in the bacteria, which were used by the bacteria to fight incoming viruses. We could use these sequences to differentiate between different strains of bacteria.
Joel was working to see if our method would work on differentiating the bacteria, and said he was a few weeks away from a result. I called Todd and told him he needed to prepare a presentation that incorporated our bacteria research in place of the chickens, asking him to show the economic value of using it against pathogens in the biodefense industry.
I hate to say it, but after I had hatched the plan, I went straight back to spending my time with William relatively carefree. It was almost like our honeymoon.
We spent the next few weeks traveling in Italy and drove through Tuscany. Florence was beautiful and the narrow streets made me feel comfortable. It was busy with all the locals and tourists. We went to see the art at the Uffizi Gallery, which was beyond words. We stayed at a villa outside of Florence and traveled somewhere new every day. In Pisa we visited a professor I knew well from my undergraduate days. He had a lab nearby and was happy to see us. He took us to the best coffee shop in town and explained that in Italy, one does not drink espresso after eleven o’clock in the morning.
Later that day I asked the professor if it would be possible for me to work in his lab for a couple of weeks. He said it would not be a problem, and that he would have a bench ready for me the next day. I was thrilled to work in a lab in Tuscany; the location was the most inspiring one I’d found yet. I called Joel and asked him to give me the details for the protocol he was working on. He had made a lot of progress and was almost finished. I ordered some things that took a few days to arrive and then got to
work. The other students in the lab were nice and extremely welcoming.
William warned me that it would not be safe to work there for more than a couple of weeks, and that I may be putting the lab in danger. Then, we got the call from Roseword, he stated plainly that Cole had been found dead in his $5 million house. He didn’t offer any more details and sounded in shock and saddened. I offered my condolences. That day I learned a life lesson better than any other: indeed, some things are better left unsaid.
I kept all this in the back of my mind and continued ahead with my research as if I were being chased, pushing forward as much as possible each day until I reached my breakthrough. One afternoon, it all clicked: things were working perfectly. I came home to our villa to tell William that we should pack and get going; we had a week to return straight into the lion’s den.
I asked him where he wanted to travel and what he wanted to see before we went back.
He answered, “The only place I want to be is in this villa, and I only want to see your eyes.”
It didn’t take much convincing.
The day finally came when we needed to return. We hadn’t seen those two men ever again, but we knew better than to relax and stop looking over our shoulders. We continued to pay only in cash, concealing our real identities from all whom we met.
I called Joel and told him to pack up the bacteria, tubes, and other things we needed for a demonstration and asked Caroline to set up a meeting with the head of Avian Industrial, Zoffer, at a hotel close to where he lived. She knew him personally, and when I told her it was imperative that we meet with him directly, she agreed.
I called Roseword and asked him to make the arrangements to meet us at the hotel and to arrange a conference room where we could all talk in private. He said that would be no problem, but asked if I was positively sure I knew what I was doing.
“Positively sure, Scarlet?” he asked again after I hesitated.
“I’m positively sure that I hope so,” I said with a weak chuckle.
William asked me the same question, and though I gave him the same answer, I still didn’t elaborate on what exactly I had in mind. I could trust no one at this point. It was my work, my career, my life hanging on the line—and no one else’s. All the risk was on me.
We were at the hotel near the meeting site, and I was praying that we would not get killed before I’d had my chance to say what I’d come to say. Who knows? I thought, after what they’d done to Mr. Debauchee. Actually, I wasn’t even sure what they had done to him; I just knew that he hadn’t been heard from since his disappearance.
Todd came by to see us and I was delighted to see him. He, too, asked me if I was sure about this meeting and I reassured him that I needed this and it would go over fine. He asked me what it was about, but I told him I could not tell him and that he would find out soon enough.
When we walked into the conference room, Caroline was there, standing next to a severe-looking man in an intimidating black suit.
“Meet Zohar Zoffer,” she said, introducing us to the CEO of Avian Industrial—and, very likely, the man who had put our lives in such grave danger.
I tried to pull of my best acting job yet.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” I said, looking around warily and watching as Joel set everything up.
Roseword was there already, sitting at the corner of the table and smiling at me. I had not seen him for so long, and I was relieved that he had come.
“Since we are all here, I suggest we get started,” I began, summoning up a well of strength from God knows where.
Zoffer nodded, and everyone took a seat.
“Mr. Zoffer, this might surprise you, but we’re actually not here to talk about the poultry business. Rather, we’re here to gauge your interest in a product we’ve been developing, one that can detect DNA in small quantities. We believe that a prominent businessman like yourself will appreciate a first look at our innovative technology.”
He looked slightly suspicious of us, but hadn’t shut me down yet. So I continued.
“We are now going to demonstrate to you a method for detecting bacteria in low copy numbers. This can be used for different purposes, mainly to detect pathogens, early on, before they cause great damage,” I looked to Joel and asked him to set up the reaction.
“We have here five petri dishes, each containing a different strain of bacteria, as noted on the back of each dish.”
I asked Zoffer to choose one, which he did, and then I picked it up and showed the back of it to everyone except myself and Joel.
“I will pick up a clone of the bacteria and set it in this tube. In a few minutes, we will read the tube in the machine and we will be able to determine which strain of bacteria this is.”
We waited a few minutes and Joel read the results: E. coli strain K12. I turned the plate that was chosen upside down and asked Zoffer to read aloud what it said. It was indeed E. coli strain K12.
“We can try this again later with the other plates, if you wish, but as you just saw, this was a blind test in which you chose the plate without us seeing the name. But I am sure you realize that this is no trick, no sleight of hand. Plain and simple, it works. Now, before we go on, Todd has prepared a presentation to show us the attributes of the technology, including patent-pending material for you to see,” I said.
Once Todd finished presenting, I stood up and began to speak again.
“Mr. Zoffer, we have shown you that our technology, according to the new laws, is accessible as certified green, due to its reduction of waste in the incubators. This, as you know, means your company will be required to apply it, along with all the regulations, reports and taxes involved. This can get very expensive indeed and lots of paper pushing involved. However, as it stands now, it cannot be used within the poultry industry in the incubators within the hatcheries. As the CEO of Avian Industrial, it’s pretty much useless to you for detecting bacteria, I’d imagine. It seems that it is useful as a general method, which suits different applications and demands of detecting DNA.”
“So why bring me here?” asked Zoffer, his irritation radiating from his pinched face.
“Mr. Roseword has taken a good look at the new law, Mr. Zoffer,” I continued carefully. “It states that if a green technology exists, and if that technology is general and is not intended for a specific application, it may be sold and bought as a regular business deal. If a technology is general and is later adopted for a specific green application, it falls under the radar and cannot be forced upon the receiving company. Green-technology rules apply only when there is a solution to a specific waste problem such as chick-sexing.”
“Such as the chick-sexing. That’s a solution to a problem, huh?” he retorted.
“Not if the solution is general, which it is, in this case. Let me remind you that you just witnessed the possible application for bacteria detection,” I said.
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at,” he said, and I felt pleased that we’d cracked his calm demeanor.
“Let’s just say, Mr. Zoffer, that if you’ve thought you could not charge for it, but just had to pay for it, this is not the case. You can install it and still charge for it, since it is a general solution, which your company is adopting,” said Roseword, who got my drift. Caroline smiled.
“But if it is only a general solution and useless to the poultry industry, how am I going to buy it, install it, and adopt or even charge for it?” Zoffer said, his voice rising in pitch with irritation.
“The secret sequence! We have a key to activate the technology; once you have it, it turns from useless to beneficial to the poultry industry,” I said.
“Like turning the pumpkin into Cinderella’s carriage,” said William.
“Now, if you have your own key, your own sequence, which you have developed, then you do not need to acquire it from us, and thus it is yours to use as you please,” I continued.
“The new law says that a corporation may charge for its self-de
veloped products, even if they have a Green Seal. That is in order to encourage big corporations to develop their own green solutions,” added Roseword.
“So if, let’s say, I had the sequence, that my company developed, we could use this for chick-sexing and I could make a profit on the green eggs and not end up taking on the whole expense of it alone?” asked Zoffer.
“Exactly,” said Todd, grinning.
“And if you buy the general technology from us, or license it, somehow, in some way, I can assure you, you will end up with the secret sequence in your hands,” I said. “I’ll guarantee it.”
All of the air had been sucked out of the room as we waited for Zoffer to contemplate the deal. We knew we were making a deal with the devil, but if it worked, we could go back to our lives and live in peace. I understood that in business, as in life, compromise is the better option and everybody wins!
Finally, he spoke: “I think you have yourself a deal, young lady,” he said, extending his hand to shake mine.
Before I clasped his hand, I said, “And part of that deal is that I get my privacy back.”
“Now all that is left to do is settle on a price,” Todd said. He turned his head to Lauralynn who had just entered the room. She was late for our meeting, but, as usual, had perfect timing.
I smiled at my William, knowing that we’d positioned things such that Zoffer would pay top dollar for the technology. But what I had really walked away with was priceless: my life, my freedom and my passion . . . all intact.
Later that evening William and I took a stroll as he kept teasing me about the sale and kissing me. “Luckily you kept that secret sequence to yourself,” said William.
Before we went to sleep that night, I asked him about the future. He said he wanted six kids with me. I told him that now that I was going to work for the Poultry Corp., I would need to move away. I expected him to say that he would move away with me and follow me anywhere in the world. After all, he did work from home and home is where the heart is. Me being the helpless romantic.