“Maybe we should go,” Wendy said.
“We’re not handling this well.”
“Let’s try ultrasound first,” Marissa said.
“At least it’s on the way out.”
The women retraced their steps toward the waiting area. The sharp cry of a siren made them both jump. The siren got louder, then faded. They realized with relief that it was only a passing police car.
“God!” Wendy exclaimed.
“We really are in bad shape.”
Passing by the receptionist’s desk a second time, they tried the door leading to the ultrasound area. It was unlocked. Making their way down this narrower corridor, they began trying the doors to the three ultrasound rooms. They were able to open the very first door they tried.
“A promising sign,” Marissa said. Since there were no windows from which they’d be seen, they turned on the light switch.
Marissa went back and closed the door to the waiting area and then the door to the ultrasound room.
The room was about twenty feet square and had two entrances: the one they’d just entered and another that connected to the lab. The ultrasound unit dominated the back of the room along with the examination table. All the complicated electronic components were built into a console that included a computer terminal.
“Eureka!” Wendy said as she stepped over to the terminal. She sat herself down on a stool with casters and pulled herself close.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Wendy asked.
“Computers was my minor in college.”
“Please,” Marissa said.
“I was hoping you’d take over here.”
“Keep your fingers crossed,” Wendy said as she turned the terminal’s power switch on. The screen blinked to life as it emitted an eerie greenish glow.
“So far so good,” Wendy said.
“Ahbee!” Alan Fong, the uniformed security guard, exclaimed.
“You were right. The women have entered!” He spoke excitedly in Chinese, a Cantonese dialect to be exact. He pointed to a pinpoint of light in the middle of a board below the TV monitors. The board was a schematic of the computer layout of the clinic.
“Where are they?” David Pao asked in the same dialect. He was considerably calmer than his cohort.
“They have entered the computer in one of the ultrasound rooms,” Alan said. He punched up the ultrasound room monitors from his own computer terminal.
“Not that room,” Alan said. He made another entry into the computer. The monitor screen remained blank.
“Trouble?” David Pao asked.
“Not that room either,” Alan said. He entered the code for the third ultrasound room.
The monitor screen blinked. Then an image emerged. Wendy could be plainly seen seated in front of the computer terminal built into the ultrasound console. Marissa was standing next to her.
“Want me to record it?” Alan asked.
“Please,” David said.
Alan slipped a tape into a VCR and electronically connected it to the appropriate monitor. He then pushed the Record button.
“How long?” Alan asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” David said.
“That’s probably enough already.”
Alan stopped the tape, ejected it, and then carefully labeled it.
“It is time to deal with them now,” David said, taking some black leather gloves from his pocket and pulling them on.
Alan extracted his long-barreled revolver from his holster and checked the cylinder. It was loaded with soft-nosed bullets.
David’s calm face showed the barest hint of a sarcastic smile.
“I hope they do not resist.”
“Do not worry,” Alan said with a broader smile.
“We can always make them resist.”
“No trouble figuring this filing system,” Wendy said.
“It’s pretty straightforward. Here comes my record.” Having typed up the appropriate commands, Wendy entered her social security number via the terminal’s keyboard. As soon as she pressed the Execute button, the information-page of her Women’s Clinic file filled the screen.
“What did I tell you!” Wendy said, obviously pleased. As she was about to advance to the next page, Marissa restrained her and pointed to the category of occupation.
“What’s this ‘health care worker’?” Marissa asked.
“A mild deception,” Wendy explained.
“I didn’t want them to know I was a physician. I was afraid it would get back to the General and my private life wouldn’t be so private anymore.”
Marissa laughed.
“I did the same sort of thing for the same reason.