“Yes, and while he can’t say what he did for the army, Danger was his call sign. Essentially, if a team member were ever to use something other than their code name, we would know they’re in trouble and need help.”
“That’s incredibly smart. It keeps the majority of the team safe and gets help to the team member in trouble without showing your hand.”
“Secure One, Zulu.”
“Case in point,” Iris said, spinning in her chair to see Zac standing in the lab.
They both stood, and while Bec explained to Zac what they needed and why, Iris turned to grab her tablet to record the encounter. She used that short minute to take a deep breath and remind herself that she had one job to do here. She couldn’t let her desire to know more about the beautiful and engaging scientist beside her keep her from doing it. With her resolve set, she followed them to the office, but for the life of her, she couldn’t convince herself there wasn’t a way to do both.
Chapter Six
The file cabinet held a few employee files but nothing recent, which surprised Bec. “It isn’t like Walter not to have files on previous employees.”
“Maybe he put them on the computer?” Iris asked after she stopped recording. “We didn’t see one for Samuel Gill, so maybe he moved everything to digital files to make space?”
“It’s possible, but he’s not super techy. I can barely get him to work with the programs we use for the labs.”
“This wouldn’t be hard, though,” she said, motioning at the few files on the desk. “With a scanner, he could easily upload them. Even your basic idiot can make a folder on their computer.”
Iris slapped a hand over her mouth, and Bec stopped her before she could apologize. “Don’t say you’re sorry. You’re correct. Walter is good with scanners and does basic tasks with a computer, but we can’t look at his laptop, which hampers us in knowing if that’s where the files are.”
“We have records for the three years before this one, right?” Iris asked, and Bec nodded. “Let’s send Mina those names. She’ll want to do a deep dive into each person, and we have five people for her to track downbesides Samuel. That will take them a few days, and if nothing turns up, at least we tried. It seems like an especially high turnover rate, but I could be wrong for a job like this.”
“It is high,” Bec said, falling into her desk chair after they left Walter’s office. “After working here for five months, I may know why.”
“People are scared of the viruses? I know I am.” Iris bit her lip as her gaze strayed to the labs.
Bec reached out and squeezed her knee. “Don’t let the fear in. If you let the fear in, it makes it impossible to get anything done. Keep your eyes on me and your head in the game.”
“Right,” she said with a nod. “Eyes on you. That’s hard for me, but you make it easier.” She cleared her throat as though to gloss over that admittance. “Why do you think people keep quitting the lab?”
“Fear isn’t one of them,” Bec said with a shake of her head. “If they accepted a position here, they already knew what kind of work was required. I suspect the reason no one lasts long is twofold. The first is the isolation. It’s lonely out here, and if you aren’t dedicated to the job or took it for a reason that wasn’t your own, you won’t last.”
“You must have a good reason if you’ve lasted long enough to make a vaccine.”
“It’s purely selfish,” Bec admitted. “If I could research and implement a vaccine for something like Ignis Cerebri, it would mean I could write my own ticket to work anywhere in the world.”
“That makes all of this isolation worth it?” Iris asked, the fatigue showing as each minute ticked away.
“Well, before Ace hit, the answer was yes. I hoped to get into a university somewhere, but now I’ll just be happy to get out alive.”
“You and me both,” Iris agreed. “What’s the second reason?”
“The management.”
“Dr. Hoerman isn’t a good manager?”
“Not great,” Bec admitted with a mirthless chuckle. “Super nice guy, but if you need direction or questions answered promptly, you won’t get them from him.”
“Is his job to manage?”
“Indirectly,” Bec said, hoping to explain it better. “He’s the project manager, meaning he finds the projects people need done, organizes, brings them in and implements them.”
“That sounds like a manager to me.”
Bec motioned at her. “Me, too, but he believes that if we’re qualified to get the job as head scientist, we’re his equal. He’s not wrong—however, he knows the project parameters better than we do since he’s the intake guy.”
“So if he doesn’t communicate the parameters well, that leaves you frustrated,” Iris deduced and Bec pointed at her in agreement. “Are there other scientists working here?”
