“Aha,” Lynne said, peering to look into a different microscope. “You saidlove. You luuuuv him.”
“Shut up,” Nora said without heat. “You’re one of the most respected scientists in your field, and you sound like you’re in junior high.”
Lynne snorted, the sound emerging tinny from the helmet. “Talk about protesting too much.” She paused and reached for another slide. “I have to tell you, when he dipped into that brogue of his, I almost orgasmed.”
Nora chuckled. “Knock it off, Lynnie. Last I checked, you were dating one of the most powerful men on the planet.” The guy now second in line to the presidency. How weird was that?
Lynne shook her head. “Ehh. He’s kind of intense, and right now I have my hands full.”
Nora blew out air. “I know.”
“Hmm.” One of the many whirling machines beeped, and Lynne moved to read the computer printout. Turning, she read a large computer monitor. “Interesting. My mutation, the green vial, is resistant to everything and kills instantly.” She turned and frowned, the expression oddly garish through her faceplate. “This may be the most dangerous biological weapon I’ve ever touched.”
Holy shit. Nora shook her head, her heart kicking into gear. “We have to destroy it.”
“I know.” Lynne turned back toward the computer. “Not until we cure Scorpius, just in case there’s something in the concoction, in how quickly it divides, that might help. If we could duplicate the speed of division with a containing agent, we might be able to isolate the bacteria and starve it to death.”
A bacteria from outer space. “This whole thing is crazy,” Nora said.
“I know, and it’s the find of a century. We need to get a handle on it before we announce to the world, however.”
“I really don’t like the public being told the president died from a stroke.”
“Me either,” Lynne murmured.
Nora swallowed, her mind spinning. They’d found bacteria in the middle of a meteorite from somewhere else, and now she was part of a governmental cover-up. It was too fantastic to think about.
Nora’s gaze caught on a series of vials with different colored liquids. “That’s quite an array.”
Lynne glanced over her shoulder. “Yes. So far the green shade is the most dangerous, and the blue the most interesting. We have hope.”
Nora nodded. She stretched her back and winced when something popped. “It’ll be an hour before my newest test results are ready. How about I head down to the cafeteria and grab us sodas and something healthy? Maybe pizza?”
Lynne chuckled. “Make mine macaroni and cheese.”
“Fair enough.” Nora waddled into the first decontamination area and followed all protocols. Nearly twenty minutes later, she finally emerged into cool, air-conditioned air. Fighting a shiver, she strode to her locker and drew out a sweatshirt and her key card.
The door opened behind her, and she turned with a greeting. The words stalled in her throat. “Zach,” she whispered.
He nodded and stepped inside. The door swished shut and locked automatically. He’d dyed his blond hair a deep brown, and a new dark suit covered his body. A wild glint lit his eyes. “Nora.”
She gulped and tried to look normal. The FBI disguise was a good one since so many new agents were suddenly milling around the temporary CDC labs. “How did you get in here?”
He smiled, the expression a parody of the sweet look he’d given her the previous month. “I borrowed a card. No big deal. Why do you keep forgetting I’m smarter than, well, everybody else around here?”
Nora tried to reach for the phone in her pocket. “What happened to the guard outside?”
Zach drew a gun from behind his back and pointed it at her. “He’s in a supply closet right now, hopefully bleeding out. Now toss your phone over here.” He flicked the gun toward where Lynne stood beyond the glass doors, her eyes wide. “Move, and I’ll shoot you,” he mouthed clearly. He waited for her nod before turning back to Nora. “Now.”
Lynne was across the entire lab from a phone. Nora took out her phone and tossed it at him.
He dodged to the side, and the phone spun by to smash against the wall. “Good enough.” He gestured toward a chair. “Sit down.”
She took a seat, her gaze meeting Lynne’s frantic one. “Zach, I don’t really think you want to hurt me,” Nora said.
“I don’t.” Zach walked toward her and yanked a pair of handcuffs from his jacket. “From the guard. Moron.”
Panic bubbled up in Nora, and she tried to push off the chair. Zach clicked her hands into place, securing her to the leg of the heavy oak desk. She could remain seated, but her arm dangled at a painful level. “Please let me go.”
