Read Online Search: A Novel of Forbidden History by Judith Reeves-Stevens, Garfield Reeves-Stevens - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Judith Reeves-Stevens, Garfield Reeves-Stevens
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everything.”
Kowinski gave Lyle a half-smile. “You know the Neandertal data can’t be evidence.”
Lyle understood. “Right. He got it from a public source, so it’s not government property.”
“And if he really was preparing a comparison program, there’s a chance none of the other files he was working with that night are government, either.”
Lyle realized the colonel was offering a warning. David Weir had given these files directly to Ironwood, perfectly ensnaring the billionaire in a conspiracy to steal government property. On the other hand, if the files the kid sold that night
weren’t
government files . . .
“Roz, can you still check the files Weir put onto his keychain Friday night?”
Roz battered away at the keyboard. “Here you go.” As simple as that.
Lyle looked to Kowinski. “Colonel?”
Kowinski reached past Roz to tap a few keys of her own. “This is exactly what he did with the other files he stole. He extracted family history, place-of-birth data, and genomes from personnel files.”
Lyle relaxed. He’d never been in danger of losing his case, but knowing Ironwood had taken possession of stolen property after all was going to make his life much easier.
Then Kowinski said, “That’s odd.”
“What?” In Lyle’s experience, nothing good ever resulted from those words.
“The Neandertal genome isn’t in any of those file names.”
Roz tapped at some keys, and eight files were highlighted. “Those are the ones he put onto the flash drive.” She looked to Kowinski. “Want to open them? In case he renamed them?”
Lyle stood back, and Roz did what she did best as he and Kowinski watched the screen change to show what looked to Lyle like X-rays of earthworms.
On the eighth file, Kowinski said, “There it is. That’s the one he told me was Neandertal. Definitely nonhuman mitochondria.” She pointed to some numbers off to the side of one of the earthworms. Then she frowned, sounding startled. “This was sequenced at this lab. That’s an employee-identifier code.”
“Have you worked with Neandertal DNA here?” Lyle asked.
“I’d love to, but the answer’s no.”
“Maybe Weir slipped a sample through without telling anyone?”
“You can’t do a cheek swab on a Neandertal. Just extracting DNA from a twenty-nine-thousand-year-old piece of bone is a painstaking process. The chances of contamination are—”
Lyle wasn’t interested in anything except his case. “Is it Neandertal, Colonel?”
Kowinski’s answer was anything but reassuring. “I can’t be sure exactly what species it is, but I am sure it’s not human. Close, but . . . not.” She leaned down to hit a few more keys. “The employee’s name should be right . . . Hmm.” She straightened up, lips pursed. “There isn’t one.”
Lyle definitely didn’t like the level of concern he was reading in her. “Is that important?”
“Leaving aside the issue of why Weir lied to me about the origin of the sample, it’s important because to do this, he circumvented
all
our collection protocols, and our privacy safeguards. It’s a significant breach of our operational standards.”
“Why would he—or anyone else, for that matter—do that?”
Kowinski looked at him for a long moment, obviously engaged in some inner debate. “Let me ask you a question instead.”
Lyle sighed. This was not turning into a good night.
“Why is the air force so interested in a petty espionage case that involves nonhuman DNA?” Before Lyle could even attempt to reply, the colonel continued, very seriously. “I can think of some answers for that, but I don’t like them. And I think whatever you’re investigating is way above my pay grade. Way above.”
Lyle savored the silence that followed. It made it easier for him to concentrate as he worked out the percentages of what to do next.
Strength in numbers,
he finally decided.
“Colonel, I find myself in need of a specialist in genetics. Rather than break
Kowinski gave Lyle a half-smile. “You know the Neandertal data can’t be evidence.”
Lyle understood. “Right. He got it from a public source, so it’s not government property.”
“And if he really was preparing a comparison program, there’s a chance none of the other files he was working with that night are government, either.”
Lyle realized the colonel was offering a warning. David Weir had given these files directly to Ironwood, perfectly ensnaring the billionaire in a conspiracy to steal government property. On the other hand, if the files the kid sold that night
weren’t
government files . . .
“Roz, can you still check the files Weir put onto his keychain Friday night?”
Roz battered away at the keyboard. “Here you go.” As simple as that.
Lyle looked to Kowinski. “Colonel?”
Kowinski reached past Roz to tap a few keys of her own. “This is exactly what he did with the other files he stole. He extracted family history, place-of-birth data, and genomes from personnel files.”
Lyle relaxed. He’d never been in danger of losing his case, but knowing Ironwood had taken possession of stolen property after all was going to make his life much easier.
Then Kowinski said, “That’s odd.”
“What?” In Lyle’s experience, nothing good ever resulted from those words.
“The Neandertal genome isn’t in any of those file names.”
Roz tapped at some keys, and eight files were highlighted. “Those are the ones he put onto the flash drive.” She looked to Kowinski. “Want to open them? In case he renamed them?”
Lyle stood back, and Roz did what she did best as he and Kowinski watched the screen change to show what looked to Lyle like X-rays of earthworms.
On the eighth file, Kowinski said, “There it is. That’s the one he told me was Neandertal. Definitely nonhuman mitochondria.” She pointed to some numbers off to the side of one of the earthworms. Then she frowned, sounding startled. “This was sequenced at this lab. That’s an employee-identifier code.”
“Have you worked with Neandertal DNA here?” Lyle asked.
“I’d love to, but the answer’s no.”
“Maybe Weir slipped a sample through without telling anyone?”
“You can’t do a cheek swab on a Neandertal. Just extracting DNA from a twenty-nine-thousand-year-old piece of bone is a painstaking process. The chances of contamination are—”
Lyle wasn’t interested in anything except his case. “Is it Neandertal, Colonel?”
Kowinski’s answer was anything but reassuring. “I can’t be sure exactly what species it is, but I am sure it’s not human. Close, but . . . not.” She leaned down to hit a few more keys. “The employee’s name should be right . . . Hmm.” She straightened up, lips pursed. “There isn’t one.”
Lyle definitely didn’t like the level of concern he was reading in her. “Is that important?”
“Leaving aside the issue of why Weir lied to me about the origin of the sample, it’s important because to do this, he circumvented
all
our collection protocols, and our privacy safeguards. It’s a significant breach of our operational standards.”
“Why would he—or anyone else, for that matter—do that?”
Kowinski looked at him for a long moment, obviously engaged in some inner debate. “Let me ask you a question instead.”
Lyle sighed. This was not turning into a good night.
“Why is the air force so interested in a petty espionage case that involves nonhuman DNA?” Before Lyle could even attempt to reply, the colonel continued, very seriously. “I can think of some answers for that, but I don’t like them. And I think whatever you’re investigating is way above my pay grade. Way above.”
Lyle savored the silence that followed. It made it easier for him to concentrate as he worked out the percentages of what to do next.
Strength in numbers,
he finally decided.
“Colonel, I find myself in need of a specialist in genetics. Rather than break
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