He signed in to his work e-mail and brought up Dopp’s note, even though he had unintentionally memorized it. Then he pulled out his phone, checked around for eavesdroppers, and dialed Arianna’s number. What if she was too weak to deal with this? The phone began to ring in his ear and he closed his eyes. What if her body couldn’t take the stress?
“Trent!” her voice exclaimed. “I was just going to call you!” Exuberance burst through the line like champagne from a bottle.
“You were?”
“I just talked to Sam—and it sounds like they’re getting close to a breakthrough!”
Trent felt himself gasp. “No!”
“Yes! They might be almost there!”
“How do they know?”
“Remember I told you how they need to add the right combination of these molecules, these growth factors, to get the stem cells to transform into this one type of cell that I need?”
“Right. The oli-somethings?”
She laughed brightly, clinks of a dozen crystal glasses. “Yes, oligodendrocytes. Well, the growth factors that they just tested spawned some oligos for the first time, as well as some other cells that weren’t the right ones, but still—they’re finally on the right track. Sam thinks they just need to tweak the combination now, and then once they manage to come up with pure oligos, we can transplant them into my spinal cord!”
The joy in her voice was unbearable.
“Arianna, wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah, I’m just bringing them new embryos. What’s up?”
“I need to tell you something.” He took a deep breath.
“What?”
“I just got some upsetting news about the DEP. Remember Jed’s insider health source, the one who tipped him off to your clinic’s numbers? Well, that person just landed him a huge scoop: The DEP is going to change its inspection policy starting tomorrow, when they plan to begin random surprise inspections at whatever clinics they choose. Apparently, there was a list of clinics in an e-mail sent to the whole department, and Jed’s source sent him a copy of it. He immediately noticed that your clinic is on the list and called to let me know.”
“What? Oh my God! Did you say starting tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“But there’s embryos missing from the clinic’s lab.… We weren’t going to have the clones ready until the end of the month!”
“Is there anything you can do to get them?”
“Shit, I don’t know—I can’t believe this.…”
“There has to be something you can do.”
“Wait, Patrick told me a while ago that they used Ian’s embryos to make clones. But I don’t know how many they made or how many we need.”
“Go check your records.”
“But I haven’t filed our monthly count yet—how is the inspector even going to know how many we’re supposed to have leftover?”
“I don’t know all the details,” Trent allowed. “But I bet those assholes will find a way.”
“I guess they could make me open my books. I’m going to go check right now. You didn’t tell Jed anything right?”
“Of course not.”
“Where is the story going to run tomorrow?”
“The Daily News. He couldn’t write it tonight, so he passed it along to his friend there.”
“God, if it weren’t for him calling you … I owe him big. But of course, he’ll never know it.”
“No, he won’t.” And now, Trent thought, I’ll have to make sure you never talk to him again.
“But do you know what this could mean still?” Her voice quivered. “If the DEP fucks this up—”
“No,” he said firmly, “you’ll—”
Her voice cut through his. “Gotta go. Can’t waste time.”
Trent heard a click and the line went dead.
A box on the computer flashed in red on his screen: twenty minutes left.
He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against his palm. Sweat smeared onto his hand and dribbled down his wrist, but he didn’t bother to wipe it away. The clicking of keyboards around him faded as anguish set in. To know he could help her only to a degree; to watch her struggle alone, in her condition, against the relentless procession of his own department—it was no less than horrifying. Could it be that the force of the DEP was unstoppable, that despite the scientists’ progress, there was no other realistic conclusion but the one he feared most? His stomach cramped. It was the first time he allowed the possibility to be real: She could actually die in jail.
Trent looked up, knowing he was losing time. Dopp’s e-mail still filled the screen. Hastily, he created an anonymous e-mail address on quickmail.com, then copied and pasted Dopp’s e-mail into a new message. The only section he still needed to fill in was the destination address. His briefcase lay at his feet. He pulled out the newspaper and looked inside for a number. By the time he had downloaded Trype, the free—and untraceable—Internet phone service, the computer screen was flashing again: ten minutes left.
The line rang only once before a man answered.
“Daily News, city desk.”
“Hi,” Trent murmured, his head bent close to the computer’s speakers. “I work for the Department of Embryo Preservation, and I have a huge exclusive for you.…”
“Oh yeah?” The voice sounded perkier.
“A major change in policy is starting tomorrow: random, surprise inspections at any clinic, and more. The whole thing is in a confidential e-mail that the chief sent to the department just an hour ago. Give me your e-mail address, and I’ll send you a copy of it right now.”
* * *
Arianna stood inside the lab, leaning against its steel door for support. Her knees felt shaky, but whether it was from anxiety or her depleting nerve fibers, she did not know.
Sam and Patrick were both gaping at her.
“Are you sure?” Patrick asked. “It sounds pretty extreme. Couldn’t there have been something lost in translation?”
Arianna shook her head, ignoring the twisting of her gut. Don’t fall apart, she told herself. This is not the time to cry. She spoke steadily.
“Trent told me everything his reporter friend told him, which he got straight from the source. It’s going to be
