Mirrors (23 page)

“We discovered the glow by chance. One of my staff opened a refrigerator to find the light burned out yet noticed a glow in the remnants of
Electric Jolt
stored in a flask. That led her to check the agar plates in this room where she noticed the glowing
Aeromonas
.”

“Bioluminescence isn’t rare among marine organisms,” I reminded him.

“So, you’re unimpressed; then let me show you something else.”

We went to his office where he displayed a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis …

“What you’re looking at is a photo of a gel plate with two strains of
Aeromonas hydrophila
. The one on the right was recovered from the victims—the ‘outbreak strain’—while the one to its left, beside the weight scale, is the most common strain seen here in the U.S. While a PFGE is not the tool to tell us the quantity of DNA present in bacteria, it’s interesting to see that the outbreak strain has far more DNA bands than the strain commonly seen. For that reason, we quantified the DNA from each strain and found the outbreak strain had far more DNA than its counterpart.” He looked at me inquisitively. “What do you think that extra DNA is doing?”

“Coding for bioluminescence?”

“Very possibly, and what would be the purpose of that additional DNA?”

“Ask nature.”

“Nature might know, but then again, a human might know, too.”

“Are you suggesting someone spliced genes for bioluminescence into the outbreak strain of
Aeromonas
?”

“I’m not ruling it out.”

“Why would they do that?”

“For two reasons. First, as you know, one or more genes for bioluminescence could have been inserted to serve as a marker to indicate another gene had successfully been introduced into the DNA of the outbreak strain.”

“That’s true, and the other?”

He frowned. “Someone may have
wanted
us to notice this strain, so they made it glow.”

“To set it apart from
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
?”

“Exactly.”

I pondered the notion. “That may be reading too much into the situation.”

“Oh? Follow me,” Brubeck said.

We wound our way to the animal section of the laboratory where we slipped on gowns and gloves. After entering the guinea pig room, we passed cages that we had examined earlier, the animals within healthy as could be. Beyond them, however, in a cage set apart, six guinea pigs lay in pools of blood. The stench of death was unmistakable.

“What
happened
?” I gasped.

“We added an extra group to the feeding study—one comprised of animals that ate chow containing 1 part per billion XK59 along with the outbreak strain of
Aeromonas hydrophila
.”

“And they
died
?”

“Yes, from bleeding.”

“What prompted you to focus on
Aeromonas
?”

“Lingering doubts about
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
… and the glowing.”

“How long did it take them to die?”

“About six hours.”

“Did you test them for XK59?”

“Yes, it was present at a concentration of 1 part per million, or a thousand-fold higher than that present in the chow.”

“Just as in humans,” I whispered.

We moved along the aisle, stopping before more guinea pigs in pools of blood.

“But this is what
really
troubles me,” Brubeck said. “These animals ate chow containing the outbreak strain of
Aeromonas
alone.”

“No XK59 in their chow?”

“
None
.”

I tilted my head as if to question what he’d said.

“You heard me right:
Aeromonas
alone and no XK59.”

“And
that
happened?” I pointed to the bloody bog.

He nodded. “We found XK59 in blood and tissues at a concentration of 1 part per million.”

“
Aeromonas
killed them by producing XK59 in their bodies,” I said. I thought about the additional DNA Brubeck found in the outbreak strain. “Someone must have inserted the XK59 gene into
Aeromonas
.”

“Yup, along with a gene for bioluminescence. They doctored it up pretty good.”

“But, if
Aeromonas
was engineered to produce XK59, why didn’t it generate XK59 levels in the shrimp and juice equivalent to those found in the victims and guinea pigs?”

“Because shrimp and the juice lack the co-factors required for XK59 production.”

In the silence, I retrieved the list I assembled on Kosta’s boat of missives, cryptic codes, and line numbers from
Theogony
. Pointing to the carcasses, I said, “None of this explains the cryptic codes or line numbers.” I snapped the paper in frustration.

Brubeck moved to my side to examine the sheet. His eyes widened as he studied it. “Why didn’t you show me this earlier?”

“I told you about the codes when we talked by phone.”

“But you didn’t put it all together as it is here. May I make a copy of this?”

I held it up as he took a photo of the list.

Hurrying off, he said, “I’ll be in touch!”

In my office
in the Amygdala, I dialed the number Frank Grainger had left with Eve.

“Yes?” came the response.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“In your head.”

“I’m not going to play your games, Grainger!”

“They’re not games,” he replied.

“Why do you hate people?”

“I hate
you
.”

“Why?”

“You stole my bark and then claimed you discovered XK59. You didn’t discover the protein! I did.”

“You
found
the bark.”

“I identified the protein before you did.”

“I’m sorry, but I missed that publication.”

“Arrogant bastard!”

“You left the hospital in Las Vegas against medical advice before I could return the bark.”

“You knew how to reach me! I left my address with the nurse who took care of me. She told me she gave it to you. Not only that, but my address and telephone number were in the medical records.”

My knuckles prickled. “I was busy.”

“Too busy to answer the voice mails I left you?”

I said nothing.

“The only thing you were busy doing was stealing my dissertation.”

“You helped advance science,” I said. “For that, I commend you; thousands may benefit from your discovery one day.”

He sneered. “You don’t know the first thing about this protein.”

“I described it in the
Journal of Pharmaceutical Metabolism
.”

“The article’s pathetic.”

“In what way?”

“It’s riddled with holes.”

“Name one.”

“There was no mention of spiders.”

“I didn’t know about them at the time.”

“That’s my point! You don’t have the full picture. I do!”

“Then tell me why Zot didn’t bleed. The venom from the spiders is essentially pure XK59.”

“You’ve made progress, I see.”

“Answer me! Why did the venom destroy Zot’s muscles rather than cause him to bleed?”

“That’s for
you
to sort out, Krispix, and you’ve got until midnight to do so. If you’re as smart as you think, you’ll answer that question, but if you fail to do so, thousands may die from this protein you claim to be yours.”

“What do you mean by ‘thousands may die’? Are you threatening to poison more food?”

Silence.

“What do you
want
from me?”

“Amends.”

“For what?”

“For stealing my dissertation.”

“The past is over; you have an incredible publication awaiting you that describes the spider.”

“That’s coming, but I still want contrition from you—a written statement in which you declare, first, that you stole my bark, and second, that it was I who discovered the protein. You’ll submit that statement to the
Journal of Pharmaceutical Metabolism
so they may publish it.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“How many people have died from the shrimp so far?”

“Three,” I replied.

“That’s nothing compared to how many will die if you don’t comply.”

“I have no proof you discovered XK59!”

“I’ll show you my lab records from grad school. They provide the dates for when I returned to Madagascar to get more bark and when I discovered XK59. I identified the protein before you did.”

“But you never published your work!”

“Because you scooped me!”

“Life happens.”

“And you’re a thief!”

“If I send that statement to the journal as you request but they choose not to publish it, what’ll keep you from saying I never sent it?”

“You’ll send me a copy at the same time.”

“And then we’re done? No more threats?”

“No, you’ll still need to provide correct answers to two questions before midnight to prevent thousands from dying. First, which of the two bacteria,
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
or
Aeromonas hydrophila
, played a more important role in causing the illnesses, and second, why did XK59 produce muscle breakdown in Zot rather than bleeding?”

A pause.

“The clock’s running,” he noted.

“I can answer the first question now,” I said.

“Be careful; I’ll take only one answer to each question, and both must be correct; no second chances.”

I held my response.

“Midnight’s your deadline,” he reiterated.

“What happens if I miss it?”

Silence.

“I need more time for the second question!”

“No, you don’t. I’ve given you the answer. It’s in the mirrors. I brought you to the nation’s capital to find them.”

“What do you mean by you brought me to the nation’s capital? I came on my own.”

“No, I steered you here. I’ve controlled you like a puppet since you stole my bark.”

“This is madness!”

“Not at all. Let’s begin with
Natow Pharmaceuticals
. I led you there.”

“No way! The CEO approached me in Singapore after I presented my paper there.”

“He was just a pawn, nothing more, poor bastard.”

“A pawn you killed!” I declared.

“
I
didn’t kill him!”

“Then who did? He landed in a dumpster with a bullet in his head.”

Grainger sighed. “That’s a discussion for another day. For now, the point is I led you to
Natow
because I needed more XK59 after I lost my supply in the lab at grad school. They shut down my lab after I got arrested for a breaking into someone’s apartment. But you were good enough to supply me through
Natow
until I could make more.”

“Which you used to taint shrimp and Danny Rogers’ bottle of
Electric Jolt
.”

“Yes, and which I’ve now mass-produced should you err in answering my questions correctly.”

“And the Pan American Health Organization?” I asked. “Are you saying you led me there as well?”

“I did, by working with contacts in Washington, D.C. to ensure you received an offer too good to refuse. I knew you’d want to continue working with XK59.”

“Was Nick Kosta one of your contacts?”

“Again, a discussion for another day. What’s important is that I led you to Washington.”

“Why?”

“To find the mirrors.”

“To hell with your mirrors!”

“Enough tantrums!” he warned. “Jot this email address down.” He read it. “Copy me on your statement to the journal and then answer my questions before midnight.”

The phone went dead.