Syndrome

press, she was determined to stay in his face.

He sighed and took a last sip of his scotch, then set it down and clicked on the phone. Van de Vliet had rented a small villa half a mile down the lakeshore, south from the institute, and he lived alone. Until recently he'd been sleeping in the lab. There was no encrypted phone where he lived, so this had damned well better be brief.

'Karl, it's me. How did it go today with the new Beta prospect? I contracted her to do some work here, hoping to do my part to get her with the program. I was expecting to hear from you by now.'

'I've met with her and she had a stress test this afternoon in the city. Other than the aortic stenosis, she seems to be in superb shape, which is important. I'm assuming-make that hoping-that she'll come back in the morning and formally enter the clinical trials. I'll let you know if she does. Till that happens, I have no progress to report.'

'All right, but how soon after that do you think you could get started with the Beta matter?'

There was a pregnant pause, and then. .

'W.B., we truly need to talk, and maybe not on this line. Just before I left the lab, I ran another simulation on the Mothership to try to figure out what dosage level of Beta enzyme would be safe. But it's like trying to extrapolate backwards, and I just don't have enough data. I'm beginning to wonder if using her to try to create telomerase antibodies is actually such a good idea. It's just so risky. . ' His voice trailed off.

'Karl, everything in life is a goddam risk. I know I'm supposed to be the beneficiary here, but if the antibody concept works out, we might still be able to do something for… Beta One.'

'I'm already doing everything I know how for her. That's a tragedy we're all still in denial about. And now we're talking about risking yet another woman. Yes, maybe it's the answer, but for now I don't know what a safe dosage of enzyme should be. It has to be enough to generate the antibodies, but not so great that. . You know what I'm talking about.'

I sure as hell do, Bartlett thought.I'm looking at the Syndrome myself.

'Karl, just think of what it could mean if you could get the Beta to work the way the other procedures do. What great medical discovery didn't have a few missteps at the beginning? This is experimental medicine that could change the world. So, dammit, we'vegotto take risks.'

'Why are we having this conversation at this time of night? Over an unsecure phone?'

'Because we don't have a lot of time,' Bartlett growled.

'We've got nineteen days left on the clinical trials. That's certainly enough time to conclude the procedure on her heart. But if we also try to-'

'Karl,' Bartlett said 'it's the Beta we should be focusing on. I'm looking at the Syndrome myself now, though I think I've got the strength of will to handle it. My mind is a lot stronger than Kris. . Beta One's. But I don't want to have to find out. You'vegotto get this fucking problem fixed.'

'If we do use her, I can't begin to tell you how unethical this is about to become.'

Bartlett wanted to remind Van de Vliet that ethics were the least of their problems at the moment, but that wasn't the kind of thing you aired over an unsecure phone connection.

'Karl, just fucking do it,' he said finally. 'If she's not under way with the Beta before the end of this week, ethics are not going to be your primary concern. I may have to revisit some of our agreements. Cross me and you forfeit a lot.'

'All right' He sighed. 'I know what I can do to make sure she's in.'

'Good. Do it, whatever it is.' He now had to warn Van de Vliet about Stone Aimes, but how much information should he provide? He quickly decided to keep it simple. 'Oh, and as though we didn't already have enough problems, there's something else I need to alert you about. There's a smart-ass reporter from theNew YorkSentinelnosing around. Yesterday he got to my legal department and asked about Beta One, though he doesn't know her name yet. He somehow found out she was terminated from the clinical trials. Please tell me you haven't been talking to the press behind my back.'

'My God, I've been waiting for this to happen.' Van de Vliet sounded like someone who had just had the wind knocked out of him. 'You know, Grant once mentioned that a reporter had been pestering him about getting an interview with me.'

'When?'

'Maybe two months ago, possibly three.'

'First I've heard about it,' Bartlett said. 'I wish he'd told me. I could have taken steps.'

'It might be the same person. Now that I think about it, I do remember he mentioned the Sentinel. How much do you think he knows?'

'I'm not sure. The question in my mind is, how did he find out about her in the first place? He's supposedly doing a book about us, Karl, a book about this project.'

'Well, that's the first I've heard about that. Christ! A book!”

'I think he's just fishing at the moment. But this should be a warning. We've got to keep security tight.'

'What do you know about him? Is he good?'

Yes, Bartlett thought,he's damned good.The truth is, I'm almost proud of him sometimes.

'He's the medical columnist for the paper. So happens, I own the building where their editorial offices are.'

'I don't have time to read newspapers.'

'Well, he's good enough that we may have to handle him somehow.'

'What are you trying to say?' Van de Vliet asked, though he sounded like he already knew.

'What I'm saying is, he's a pro, and I get the strong impression he's hungry.'

'Hungry for money or for fame?'

'If I knew that, I'd know what to do next,' Bartlett said. Probably some of both, he thought, if the kid is anything like his old man.

'Then why don't we give him an interview? Meet the whole matter head-on. I've always found it better to shape the news yourself rather than trying to stonewall, which usually means a lot of speculation ends up getting published and then you have to correct it after the fact. It's also the best way to find out how much a reporter already knows.'

Idiot, Bartlett thought, that's the worst possible thing we could do. This kid would have your balls for a bow tie.

'Karl, you've just provided a perfect illustration of why I have my own people handling the press. Some amateur like you starts talking to a guy like that, and the next thing you know, you might as well be on sodium pentothal. Again, his name is Stone Aimes. Remember it. And don't ever even think about exchanging a single word with him.'

'W.B., my experience is that you can only stonewall the press for so long, if they're any good at all. Sooner or later, they're going to find out more than you want them to. The only way to forestall that is to parcel them carefully controlled information to work with. Trust me. I've had a little experience with reporters too. You can't treat them like they're complete dolts. You have to co-opt them, bring them into your confidence, and then convince them that it's in everybody's interest for them to help you rather than harm you. So why don't you let me talk to this guy? We could always start off with the carrot and then move on to the stick.'

'This conversation is making me very nervous, Karl. I don't want you or any of your people within a mile of him. I mean it, goddamit.'

With which Winston Bartlett slammed down the phone.

'Shit.'

What are we going to do? So far, Van de Vliet hadn't helped Kristen in the slightest. Okay, she wanted to try the Beta, but still. . What happened was a tragedy.

And who are we kidding-Stone wasn't going to back off.

Seeing his natural (and only) son again after a lot of years had shaken him up more than he had expected. At some level he wanted to feel proud of his own flesh and blood.

But now. . if anything got published about the Syndrome, the financial consequences could be devastating. Stone Aimes had to be kept at bay long enough to complete the buyout. Unfortunately, it might come to involve