capital of the country, Malabo, was on an island called Bioko.
Kevin had encouraged Esmeralda to go home in the evenings during the
week if she so desired, but she declined. When Kevin persisted, she told
him she’d been ordered to remain in Cogo.
‘There is a phone message for you,’ Esmeralda said.
‘Oh,’ Kevin said nervously. His pulse quickened. Phone messages were
rare, and in his current state he did not need any more unexpected
events. The call in the middle of the night from Taylor Cabot had been
disturbing enough.
‘It was from Dr. Raymond Lyons in New York,’ Esmeralda said. ‘He wants
you to call him back.’
The fact that the call was from overseas did not surprise Kevin. With
the satellite communications GenSys had installed in the Zone, it was
far easier to call Europe or the U.S. than Bata, a mere sixty miles to
the north. Calls to Malabo were almost impossible.
Kevin started for the living room. The phone was on a desk in the
corner.
‘Will you be eating lunch?’ Esmeralda asked.
‘Yes,’ Kevin said. He still wasn’t hungry but he didn’t want to hurt
Esmeralda’s feelings.
Kevin sat down at his desk. With his hand on the phone he quickly
calculated it was about eight o’clock in the morning in New York. He
pondered what Dr. Lyons had called about but guessed it had something to
do with his brief conversation with Taylor Cabot. Kevin did not like the
idea of an autopsy on Carlo Franconi, and he didn’t imagine that Raymond
Lyons would either.
Kevin had first met Raymond six years previously. It was during a
meeting in New York of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science where Kevin presented a paper. Kevin hated giving papers and
rarely did, but on this occasion he’d been forced to do so by the chief
of his department at Harvard. Dating back to his Ph.D. thesis his
interest was the transposition of chromosomes: a process by which
chromosomes exchanged bits and pieces to enhance species adaption and
hence evolution. This phenomenon happened particularly frequently during
the generation of sex cells: a process known as meiosis.
By coincidence, during the same meeting and at the same time Kevin was
scheduled to present, James Watson and Francis Crick gave an immensely
popular talk on the anniversary of their discovery of the structure of
DNA. Consequently, very few people came to hear Kevin. One of the
attendees had been Raymond. It was after this talk that Raymond first
approached Kevin. The conversation resulted in Kevin’s leaving Harvard
and coming to work for GenSys.
With a slightly shaky hand Kevin picked up the receiver and dialed.
Raymond answered on the first ring, suggesting he’d been hovering over
the phone. The connection was crystal clear as if he were in the next
room.
‘I’ve got good news,’ Raymond said as soon as he knew it was Kevin.
‘There’s to be no autopsy.’
Kevin didn’t respond. His mind was a jumble.
‘Aren’t you relieved?’ Raymond asked. ‘I know Cabot called you last
night.’
‘I’m relieved to an extent,’ Kevin said. ‘But autopsy or no autopsy, I’m
having second thoughts about this whole operation.’
Now it was Raymond’s turn to be silent. No sooner had he solved one
potential problem than another was rearing its unwelcome head.
‘Maybe we’ve made a mistake,’ Kevin said. ‘What I mean is, maybe I’ve
made a mistake. My conscience is starting to bother me, and I’m getting
a little scared. I’m really a basic science person. This applied science
is not my thing.’
‘Oh, please!’ Raymond said irritably. ‘Don’t complicate things! Not now.
I mean, you’ve got that lab you’ve always wanted. I’ve beat my brains
out getting you every damn piece of equipment that you’ve asked for. And
on top of that, things are going so well, especially with my recruiting.
Hell, with all the stock options you’re amassing, you’ll be a rich man.’
‘I’ve never intended on being rich,’ Kevin said.
‘Worse things could happen,’ Raymond said. ‘Come on, Kevin! Don’t do
this to me.’
‘And what good is being rich when I have to be out here in the heart of