had seemed like quite a catch: talented, enthusiastic, and committed. Now, however, she had reason to doubt their initial assessment, especially where the latter trait was concerned. Too bad we have yet to isolate a gene for loyalty.
A manila envelope rested beside her on the bench. She picked up the envelope and handed it to the younger scientist, who had to step forward to receive it. “I was hoping you could explain this,” she stated.
The temperature in the garden was cool and comfortable, yet beads of perspiration broke out upon Singer’s unlined brow. He gulped as he opened the envelope and drew out the documents inside: several sheets of stationery marked with his own handwriting. Beneath a carefully cultivated tan, the American’s face went pale.
“How did you get this?” he blurted. “You’ve been reading my mail?” He tried to muster an air of righteous indignation, with only partial success. “You had no right ... this was private, personal!”
Such predictable behavior saddened Kaur. “Now, Joel, you know we have to maintain the tightest security here. Secrecy is essential to the project. You were told that from the beginning.” Perhaps we chose him too hastily, she thought with more than a twinge of regret. If so, then this is partly our fault.
“But it’s just a harmless letter to a friend, an old classmate from Columbia,” Singer insisted. He waved the sheets like a paper fan before the seated woman’s eyes. “Read it yourself. It’s all just small talk.”
Kaur was not swayed by his protestations. “First off, all contact with the outside world was to be strictly supervised. Those were the rules. Second, you and I both know that this letter is not nearly as inconsequential as you meant it to appear.” She gave Singer a rueful look. “Did you really think we’d forget that cryptography was a special hobby of yours? It’s in your file, Joel.”
Confronted thus, Singer looked unsteady on his feet. He tottered slightly, looking about plaintively for some sort of support amid the flowering bushes. Finally, he staggered backward and sat down awkwardly upon one of the lotus-shaped fountain’s sculpted marble petals. “I can explain,” he murmured weakly. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
[48] “It took us several weeks to crack the code,” Kaur admitted, paying little attention to Singer’s feeble denials, “but what we found is disturbing. Very disturbing.” She did not need to reclaim the actual letter to recall the most damning passages. “In this letter, you confide to your friend that you were having ‘second thoughts,’ that you had accidentally discovered something that disturbed you.” A look of extreme disappointment surfaced on her face, rising up from deep within her. “I thought you shared our devotion to the future, Joel.”
“I do!” he exclaimed immediately, then caught himself holding contradictory evidence between his own fingers. “Mostly, I mean.”
“But—?” she prompted him, wanting to conclude this matter as efficiently as possible. If it were done when ’tis done, then t’were well it were done quickly, she thought, referencing Macbeth, but first it was important to learn just what had led the young researcher astray, if only to prevent future mistakes—and sacrifices—of this nature.
Mercifully, Singer did not waste any more time proclaiming his innocence. “Look, I was nosing around on Level Four, hoping to scope out something more exciting than the routine stuff I’ve been working on lately, when I stumbled onto what looked like one of your pet projects.” He raised his voice, hoping to claim the moral high ground. “What the hell are you doing breeding antibiotic-resistant streptococcus? Don’t you know how dangerous that is? I saw lab rats in the final stages of some kind of complete cellular breakdown. The bacteria were literally eating away at their flesh!”
“Naturally,” she replied serenely, unruffled by the young
A manila envelope rested beside her on the bench. She picked up the envelope and handed it to the younger scientist, who had to step forward to receive it. “I was hoping you could explain this,” she stated.
The temperature in the garden was cool and comfortable, yet beads of perspiration broke out upon Singer’s unlined brow. He gulped as he opened the envelope and drew out the documents inside: several sheets of stationery marked with his own handwriting. Beneath a carefully cultivated tan, the American’s face went pale.
“How did you get this?” he blurted. “You’ve been reading my mail?” He tried to muster an air of righteous indignation, with only partial success. “You had no right ... this was private, personal!”
Such predictable behavior saddened Kaur. “Now, Joel, you know we have to maintain the tightest security here. Secrecy is essential to the project. You were told that from the beginning.” Perhaps we chose him too hastily, she thought with more than a twinge of regret. If so, then this is partly our fault.
“But it’s just a harmless letter to a friend, an old classmate from Columbia,” Singer insisted. He waved the sheets like a paper fan before the seated woman’s eyes. “Read it yourself. It’s all just small talk.”
Kaur was not swayed by his protestations. “First off, all contact with the outside world was to be strictly supervised. Those were the rules. Second, you and I both know that this letter is not nearly as inconsequential as you meant it to appear.” She gave Singer a rueful look. “Did you really think we’d forget that cryptography was a special hobby of yours? It’s in your file, Joel.”
Confronted thus, Singer looked unsteady on his feet. He tottered slightly, looking about plaintively for some sort of support amid the flowering bushes. Finally, he staggered backward and sat down awkwardly upon one of the lotus-shaped fountain’s sculpted marble petals. “I can explain,” he murmured weakly. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
[48] “It took us several weeks to crack the code,” Kaur admitted, paying little attention to Singer’s feeble denials, “but what we found is disturbing. Very disturbing.” She did not need to reclaim the actual letter to recall the most damning passages. “In this letter, you confide to your friend that you were having ‘second thoughts,’ that you had accidentally discovered something that disturbed you.” A look of extreme disappointment surfaced on her face, rising up from deep within her. “I thought you shared our devotion to the future, Joel.”
“I do!” he exclaimed immediately, then caught himself holding contradictory evidence between his own fingers. “Mostly, I mean.”
“But—?” she prompted him, wanting to conclude this matter as efficiently as possible. If it were done when ’tis done, then t’were well it were done quickly, she thought, referencing Macbeth, but first it was important to learn just what had led the young researcher astray, if only to prevent future mistakes—and sacrifices—of this nature.
Mercifully, Singer did not waste any more time proclaiming his innocence. “Look, I was nosing around on Level Four, hoping to scope out something more exciting than the routine stuff I’ve been working on lately, when I stumbled onto what looked like one of your pet projects.” He raised his voice, hoping to claim the moral high ground. “What the hell are you doing breeding antibiotic-resistant streptococcus? Don’t you know how dangerous that is? I saw lab rats in the final stages of some kind of complete cellular breakdown. The bacteria were literally eating away at their flesh!”
“Naturally,” she replied serenely, unruffled by the young
Similar Books
