EJAX-472: Ch. 09

"I came to expose a traitor doctor Swensen."

"Why would you do that for me?"

She paused for a moment, her eyes flitting back and forth rapidly. She seemed to be in some pain.

"Because I want to help you."

"You want to help me?"

"Yes, if you will let me."

Bonnie laughed savagely. "This is a good one, sis. Too fucking rich for my blood!"

"I am serious," Beechcroft said, her face darkening.

"Only a few weeks ago you called my work frivolous and you tried to discredit me."

"Yes, I know," she said solemnly. "I must apologize for that. It was some medication I was taking. It made me act in an irrational manner."

"So, are you telling me that you now think my work is valuable?"

"Yes, yes, of course I think it's valuable," she said with some animation. "That's why I have come to you with an offer."

"Don't trust her sis," Bonnie said, staring the woman down.

"It won't hurt to hear her proposition," I replied. "Go ahead doctor. Tell me what you have in mind."

I watched her bony fingers press themselves into the edge of her briefcase like a pair of claws grasping its prey.

"I would like you to make me your partner in this enterprise of yours," she said.

"You want me to make you my partner?"

"Yes," she replied. "You will need someone with my knowledge and background to help you in your research."

"That's why she has me you fool!" Rebecca said, angrily.

"Maybe you don't understand, doctor Beechcroft," I said. "There is not one scrap of my research left. Therefore it will take many months, if not an entire year, to even get back to square one. How can you possibly think you can be of more help to me than these doctors who have worked on the project since its inception?"

"Because I have the right connections doctor Swensen. I have the means, the knowledge, and the resources to put whatever you need at your immediate disposal so that you can get EJAX-472 developed in a much shorter period of time."

"And how do you plan to accomplish this?"

She looked at me in such a way that made me recall the ghastly vision I had seen earlier in the day when I was being led up the stairs of the courthouse amidst all the ruckus. It was something in her eyes that gave it away. That cold, rapacious gaze that made me feel like I was going to be plucked up in some great pair of talons and lifted away to a horrible fate.

"It's simple," she said, craning her neck forward like a bird, "you will come with me to America."

Bonnie and Rebecca both laughed simultaneously.

"You mean to Harvard?" I asked.

"Yes, of course."

"But I have the facilities of our wonderful University right here."

She smiled faintly. "It's a good school, but it hardly measures up to the standards of Harvard."

"How dare you insult our University?" Michelle snapped. "Some very important work has been conducted there I'll have you know."

"Please don't misunderstand me, doctor Olsen," Beechcroft said, trying to be diplomatic. "I meant no disrespect. You know that the facilities at your school are inferior to those of the Clinic. At Harvard, Dr. Swensen will have the very best and latest technology at her disposal, and some of the world's finest minds to assist her."

"Some of those finest minds are standing right here in front of you doctor Beechcroft," I said, with a nod to my colleagues.

"Yes, yes, of course. They are most welcome to come too. All I ask is that you let me share in your research. Let me be a part of your team. Let me taste just a little bit of the sweet victory I know is going to come your way. I ask nothing more."

She drew her head back and smiled faintly. Her quirky motions reminded me of a bird that had just perched itself upon a high promontory, waiting.

As if all at once, my friends began debating with one another over the supposed merits, or lack thereof, in my going to America to pursue my research. Some wanted me to go, while others were opposed to it. Bonnie was dead set against it, accusing Beechcroft of wanting to steal my work. Michelle however, reluctantly admitting that the labs at the University were not as advanced as those at Harvard, thought my going to the famous school might not be a bad idea, as long as she and the rest of the girls could go along. Stephan said nothing either way, but I could tell he didn't favor the idea.

"It's your call Christiana," he said. "But you've done just fine on your own right here. I don't see how going to Harvard is going to be such a great advantage to you, but I could be wrong."

From somewhere deep inside my soul, a little voice was struggling to be heard. It started as a whimper that soon became a warning: the shrill cry of an animal that looks up and sees a dark winged shape descending upon it, and runs back into its hole for fear of its life. And then I heard laughter, soft at first, but growing steadily louder. It was not a mocking kind of laughter, but more like the laughter of someone who had at last discovered the meaning to the punch line of a joke heard long ago. It became like music to my ears, drowning out the screeching cries of my imagined aerial predator.

As the laughter grew louder my friends seemed to notice it too, and suddenly all our eyes were looking in the same direction—at Dr. Hagstrom. Beechcroft, too, was aware of the curious laughter, and tilted her head to one side, observing Dr. Hagstrom with suspicion.

End of Chapter 9