NEXUS POINTS : Chapter 11-12

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Chapter 11

Kora felt groggy and tired from the drugs. She hadn’t even been able to wake up for Cody’s visit yesterday. 

In the past few days, Sandberg had done several brain biopsies and run a barrage of genetic tests on Kora. She’d just finished the last genetic panel this morning. Now all there was left to do was wait for the results. 

Kora activated her ocular implant for the first time in three days. She found it strange that Yong Liu hadn’t visited. It was unlike him. 

“Oscar, do I have any messages?”

“You have seven messages.”

“Play messages.” 

The very first message was from Yong telling Kora he would come to the hospital after work on Thursday. The second message was from Yong again, this time at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night telling her he couldn’t make it, that he’d found a major piece of the puzzle to Anita’s brain degeneration. He’d try to come by Friday. Strangely, he had never come.

Then came messages from Peter and Sid, both on Saturday. 

Then it was Sid again...and again, a total of three calls and all from today, Monday! He sounded increasingly frantic. 

What could be so urgent? Kora asked Oscar to call Sid’s lab. His holo image soon appeared in front of her. “Hey, Sid! I got your calls. Is everything all right?”

“No, everything is definitely not all right! Yong... They...” Sid looked overwrought. “Yong has been arrested, and they’re in your lab!”

Kora's brain suddenly kicked into high gear. She tried to process what Sid had just said. “What? Why? Who’s in my lab?”

“Kora, you need to come right now!”

An ominous feeling came over Kora. Something terrible had happened.

“Okay! I’m on my way.” Kora jumped out of her bed. She quickly got dressed, then called for a transport-for-hire. 

It felt like an eternity passed before Kora was finally dropped off at the main entrance of the Advanced Nanotherapeutics Division’s building in the South Wing of NID’s campus. A security bot floated in front of her. A flat blue beam radiated from the saucer and scanned her retina. 

“Welcome to NID Biotech. Please wait for an escort,” said the AI.

What in the world? There ought to be some kind of mistake. She tried again. The saucer issued the same response. Her clearance had been revoked. 

Kora’s heart sank. 

Two armed security guards in dark grey uniform appeared within seconds. 

“Dr. Amelli?” one of the guards asked.

“Yes?”

“Please come with us to the Compliance Office.”

Kora was suddenly on guard. “What’s this about? I have clearance to all levels of this building. My lab is on the 86th floor.”

“Dr. Serpius and Ms. Grover want to speak to you. Would you please come with us?” 

Kora could feel knots forming in her stomach. It was never a good sign when someone got called to the Compliance Office. 

She and the guards boarded the E.M.S. shuttle that connected various buildings on NID’s campus. A thousand questions raced through Kora’s mind. Was Yong really arrested? Why was her clearance revoked? It couldn’t possibly be because of the inventory report she forgot to include in the last protocol meeting. Or could it? 

Kora had ridden on the same shuttle countless times, but only now did she notice how dark the tunnels were. In the dim light of the shuttle, she had the odd feeling that she was traveling into the unknown, towards some terrible purpose and destiny. She felt a strange sense of resignation. It surprised and frightened her at the same time.

They soon arrived at the Executive Building in the East Wing of the campus. An elevator took them to the top floor. 

Kora was led down a hallway flanked on both sides with offices that had glass walls and doors. People eyed her with curiosity as she and the guards walked by.

The office at the very end of the hall was almost three times the size of those they had just passed by. Being a corner office, it had large windows on two of the four walls.

Tanya Grover sat behind an oversized fiberglass desk facing the double-paneled glass door. A man with dark blonde hair wearing a white lab coat sat across from her in one of the visitor’s chairs. 

Grover gestured towards Kora as she and the guards approached. The man turned in his chair to face Kora. He had blue eyes and grey sideburns, but it was the pointy chin that Kora recognized.

“Dr. Amelli, I’m Derin Serpius. I don’t know if you remember me, but we met once at a product launch last year,” Serpius said with a smile that seemed almost too friendly. “Please, have a seat.”

Kora did remember him and his rather slender physique. She had thought him handsome the first time they’d met. She sat down next to Serpius, feeling small and vulnerable as she sank into the deep, cushioned seat. 

“Of course you know Tanya,” Serpius continued without stopping.

Kora nodded to Grover. Something inside told her the less she talked the better off she would be.

Serpius’ brows knitted together. He had his elbows on the arms of the chair, his fingers were laced together, his index fingers tapping each other in front of his chest. He studied Kora from head to toe. “We heard you were in the hospital. Are you feeling better?”

Kora became defensive. She didn’t like the way Serpius was looking at her, but she tried to remain calm. “Yes, I am. Thanks for asking.”

Tanya Grover gave Kora a cold hard stare. “Did you know Dr. Yong Liu was arrested last night?” 

So what Sid said was true... Kora closed her eyes for a brief moment as the news sank in. “I... I didn’t. Why was he arrested?”

“We found evidence he’s been working on illegal DNA hybridization experiments,” answered Serpius.

Kora eyes widened. “What?” She started to argue that was impossible, but the voice in her warned, “Tread carefully, Kora. Things are not what they seem.” 

“We have confiscated research material and tissue samples from his lab here and at his condo,” Grover said.

“As you know DNA hybridization not related to therapeutic research is illegal. We had no choice but to report him to the authorities. It’s most unfortunate.” Serpius pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

Kora couldn't believe what she was hearing. “That’s absurd! Yong... Dr. Liu would never do anything illegal.” 

Serpius’ tone changed. He seemed genuinely sorry for what had happened. “I know this is hard to hear and that you and Yong are close. Frankly, I didn’t believe it at first either. Unfortunately, the evidence is overwhelming.” 

Grover crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Dr. Amelli, are you and Dr. Liu conducting any research that’s not on the department’s agenda?”

“I...” Kora was about to tell Grover the tissue assays related to Anita’s illness, but the voice in her head stopped her. “Don’t! Don’t volunteer any information.”

Instead she asked, “Can you be more specific?”

“I’m referring to the experimental file Dr. Liu uploaded to the ORRI database, IDKW6455947.”

Confused, Kora said, “I have no idea what that is.”

Serpius and Grover exchanged a glance.

“Dr. Amelli, I know the ORRI file was Yong’s. We just want to know if he asked you for help with his experiments. Is there any information you want to share with us?” Serpius asked.

Kora was exasperated. “No, he didn’t ask me for help! I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” 

“Is it true you conducted research related to your aunt Anita Amelli’s illness using NID resources?” Grover asked.

She tapped on her holo display. An inventory report of Anita’s brain tissue samples that Kora had stored in the cooling tank appeared. There were also requisition records for lab material she had used in the experiments.

Kora’s face burned. This was all wrong. These people were out to get her somehow. “I did conduct experiments related to my aunt’s illness. After lengthy discussions with the head oncologist at the State Central Hospital, Dr. Liu and I both felt Anita’s...my aunt’s condition had research merits. The experiments we were conducting were exploratory.” 

Tanya Grover’s voice hardened. “Dr. Amelli, as you know, unauthorized use of departmental resources is strictly forbidden.”

Anger rose within Kora. She glared at Grover. “It’s true the research wasn’t exactly part of the department’s agenda. But from what I understand, Dr. Liu had discretion over what exploratory research projects to initiate as the head of Advanced Nanotherapeutics.”  

And you know it! she added to herself.

Grover refused to back down. “That may be true, but unfortunately he’s also required to file a formal research request with the Executive Office. There’s no record of such a filing.” 

Kora couldn’t contain her anger any longer. “Is this some kind of joke?”

The muscles around Grover’s jaw tightened. “Dr. Amelli, you may not have been with NID for long, but here we take procedures and protocols very seriously.”

Blood boiled in Kora’s veins. “I came to NID to do serious research and to save lives. Excuse me for not sharing your passion for procedures and protocols.” 

“Please... please ladies! Let’s all calm down for a moment,” Serpius interrupted. 

He shook his head again and looked as if he was saddened by the news. “Dr. Amelli, as a scientist myself, I certainly share your enthusiasm. Why didn’t you come to us? We would have formally approved the project and supported you.” 

Kora was speechless. She felt cornered. She realized with Yong arrested, there was no one there to back up her side of the story. 

Grover’s dark eyes bored into hers. “I’m afraid we have no choice but to terminate your employment at NID Biotech. You will be escorted to your lab to gather your personal belongings. You will leave NID’s premises within the hour.”

Kora was stunned. She could feel the same blood that was rushing to her head earlier draining away. The floor under her feet seemed to give way to the news. It was as if she were falling into a deep, dark abyss from which there was no return. 

She opened her mouth to protest, but the voice inside her said, “There’s no point arguing with them. You need to get out of here.”

But they weren’t done with her. 

Serpius’ eyes searched Kora’s. “Do you have any knowledge at all of Dr. Liu’s illegal activities aside from the research he and you were conducting?” he asked.

Kora was disgusted. “Wha.. what? No... Like I said... NO!” 

“Were you two covering for each other?” Grover asked.

Kora knew there was nothing she could say that would save her job at this point. She decided it was time to protect herself. “I won’t say another word without labor representation.” 

Serpius sighed. He dusted the top of his black slacks with his fingers, as if there could be any dust in these air-sealed offices. “That’s unfortunate. I’m sorry it’s come to this. You’re a brilliant scientist, Dr. Amelli, but you put your trust in the wrong person.” 

He looked to the two security guards waiting outside Grover’s office. “Please take Dr. Amelli to pack up her personal belongings.” Serpius then turned to Kora. “You’ll find that the State’s agents are a lot less friendly than we are.”

Kora was trembling. She stood up, feeling like a wrongfully convicted criminal, at once indignant and helpless. 

The guards led her down the same hallway back to the elevator bank. Inside the elevator she closed her eyes, hoping this was just a bad dream, one that she would wake up from any minute. Except Kora knew in her heart nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Chapter 12

This was the first time Beck Hollen had set foot onto NID Biotech’s campus. He was greeted by the Chief of Security, David Hobbs, at the main administration building. 

Hobbs was a pleasant fellow, especially for the line of work he was in. Only his muscular build and impressive frame gave him away as someone not to be trifled with.  

After the initial introductions, Hobbs led Beck and Dan Malick aboard the maglev shuttle. 

“This is a huge campus!” Beck said.

The remark drew a big grin to Hobbs’s round face. Pride was evident in his dark brown eyes. “NID is the largest therapeutics company in the world, Mr. Hollen. We manufacture more than 65% of all the therapeutics in the world.”

“What kind of therapeutics?” Beck asked, feeling a bit inept. He wished he’d had more time to catch up with the facts of this case before he was thrown in the midst of it. 

“Treatments for infectious diseases, cancer, genomic abnormalities. You name it, we make it.” 

“Tell me about the campus layout.”

Hobbs looked a bit confused. “I thought I streamed the schematics to you a couple days ago.”

Malick interjected, “Inspector Hollen is the lead investigator in this case, but he’s been out of state wrapping up another case. He just got back yesterday. If you don’t mind...” 

Hobbs nodded. “Sure thing. This campus has a total of twelve buildings, each over 150 stories tall. It’s divided into four wings. We were in the East Wing, which is where the sales and marketing, finance, legal, and other administrative departments are located. All the manufacturing facilities are located in the North Wing of the campus. The South and West Wings are 100% R&D.”

“Where’s the Advanced Nanotherapeutics Division?” Beck asked.

“It’s in the South Wing. It takes up a whole building,” Hobbs said.

“Tell us about the security here.” 

“It’s state of the art. All possible entry points are guarded by security bots. You have to pass a retinal scan to get into any building. The bots can even sense if the retinal tissues are still alive or not. Certain sensitive areas of the campus also require a DNA scan to get in.”

“Is there any way the bots could be tampered with?”

“Highly unlikely, if not impossible. Anything happens to a bot, someone tries to open it, reprogram it, what have you, the bot sends out over 55 million volts of charge.”

“Ouch!” Malick glanced at Beck. They exchanged a quick smile.

“Not only that, the bot disables itself immediately, and that trips the alarm at the entry point.”

Sounds like it’s tough for an outsider to breach Yong Liu’s lab, Beck thought to himself, recalling how adamant Liu was about the evidence against him being planted. Then again, they all claimed to be innocent – until they couldn’t any longer. 

The shuttle came to a gradual stop. Hobbs led them to the elevator bank. The elevators here had to be the fastest Beck had ever been on. He could feel his stomach dropping to his groin as they zoomed to the 86th floor. 

As Beck and the others rounded the corner of the elevator bank onto the circular hallway, a petite brunette dressed in all black headed towards them, holding a white box in her hands.  Two uniformed security guards trailed behind her.

“Dr. Amelli?” Hobbs asked.

“Yes.” 

“My name is David Hobbs. I’m the Chief of Security. These gentlemen are from the State Security Agency. They want to talk to you.”

Beck put on a friendly smile. He extended his hand. “My name is Beck Hollen. If you don’t mind, we would like you to come with us to answer some questions.”

Amelli ignored his hand. “Am I being arrested?”

Beck was bemused by her response. He lifted the corner of his mouth in a half smile. “I assure you if you were being arrested I wouldn’t be this polite. No, we just have some questions to ask you about Dr. Yong Liu.” 

“I have nothing to say about his alleged illegal activities,” Amelli said abruptly, “and if I’m not being arrested, why can’t you ask your questions here?”

Beck frowned. For a second there he couldn’t find a good response for Amelli’s argument. He studied the girl in front of him. 

Amelli looked very young. If not for the fact that he knew she was a post-doctorate scientist at the world’s largest biotech company, Beck would have guessed her to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. 

Her long, wavy, brown hair was a bit unkempt, and there didn’t appear to be any makeup on her delicate, heart-shaped face. A perfect nose sat atop flawless, light olive skin, under wide honey brown eyes that reminded Beck of the desert. Her tight black jeans and short boots showed off her long legs nicely, even though she couldn’t have been more than 1.65 meters tall.

Beck tried to play nice. “Dr. Amelli, we’d prefer you to come with us since we have all the evidence on this case at the SSA Headquarters.”

Amelli’s face darkened. “Are you saying you have evidence against me?”

Beck was getting closer to losing his temper by the second. He took a step towards Amelli, looking down into those desert-brown eyes. “Dr. Amelli, I can ask you nicely or I can get a judge’s order. You tell me which you prefer.”

Amelli didn’t flinch. She met his gaze, murder in her eyes. “If I have no choice but to go with you, why didn’t you just say so?” She turned, marching past Beck.

Beck shook his head in bewilderment. He looked towards Dan Malick, who was obviously enjoying this, perhaps a little too much. He cursed under his breath, then followed Amelli to the elevators.

- End of Chapter 12 -