Nancy slams the dispenser against the side of his head without letting go of it. The crush of bones is sickening. The man falls to his knees. She slams the machine once more against his skull. He collapses in a heap, unconscious.
Her sister’s mouth has opened into an “o”. She can hardly believe what Nancy’s just done.
“Let’s drag him into the ladies and tie him up. I’ll use his pass to get into the lab.”
Mingmei shakes her head. “And I thought I needed to protect you.” She starts to unbuckle his belt and shushes Nancy away. She will deal with him.
Nancy is in luck. The man has not locked his office door as he must have intended to return swiftly.
The research space she’s entering into is split into two. One part contains desks, chairs and a series of computer screens and keyboards, the other part is isolated by a thick glass wall, where machines intended for testing and analysis are still running.
There are rows of bottles containing liquid, glass cases with gloved access so that pathogens are isolated and cannot cause contamination. There are also microscopes which can be operated in isolation. Sophisticated ventilation shafts prevent the escape of germs and other lethal substances.
Nancy takes pictures of the entire installation. She shifts her focus to the computers. Some of them have not been turned off and register routine data. The keyboard is a regular English one. She tries to scroll for more information. She recognises the description of a molecular structure. She takes more pictures.
She has been inside for less than ten minutes. The maximum time she has decided is safe. Someone is moving outside the office. She can see the shape of a body at the second entrance to the lab. Nancy drops to the floor and starts crawling towards the exit door. She ’s still unnoticed.
The lab door has shut behind the scientist. Nancy half stands up, opens the door and runs towards the air lock. She slams the pass over the electronic eye. And pushes the revolving door frantically.
Mingmei is waiting for her. “He’s started to come around. Only a few minutes and he’ll start crying for help.”
Both women take a bucket and walk out of the main air lock, looking busy. Mingmei thanks the guard and bows a few times. Nancy follows awkwardly.
He has almost finished his dinner. As they reach the lift, he asks for something and this is one word that Nancy recognises.
Security pass.
Mingmei freezes. Nancy turns around and dangles the pass she has just stolen. The lift has arrived. The guard says something but they both hurry into the lift and press the button for the basement.
“Take off your cleaning coat and cap.” Mingmei is doing this as she speaks. She dumps the uniform in her cleaning bucket. She loosens her hair. Nancy cannot help noticing how long it is. The lift arrives in the basement.
They walk out as a number of people start to shout. Mingmei joins in and points in the opposite direction … “That way.”
Both women leave through the exit at a measured pace. The weather has turned cold, but it is not chill air that makes Nancy shiver. It was a close shave.
* * *
Pole asked the stewardess to call him when the gate was about to close. He had left a message for Andy to call him back. His DS had stepped into the breach without hesitation and almost taken Pole by surprise.
Marsh had not tried to stop him. The Super had once more rearranged the set of Montblanc pens on his desk, cleared his throat and told Pole he understood the urgency.
Ferguson might still try to stop him but there were only 10 minutes to go before the gate closed, another twenty to take off … Pole wondered whether Ferguson would try to get the plane to turn back. The evidence was a little slim and Marsh’s blessing made a difference.
Pole’s phone rang.
“Andy …” Pole cast an eye towards the stewardess. She looked his way and nodded. He still had a moment.
“Gov, we’ve got a breakthrough.”
“Shoot.”
“The line of code or rather what we thought might be a code or a password is something entirely different … it’s a flattened line of messenger RNA.”
Pole’s mind went blank. “Enlighten me please. I know what DNA is … obviously. It’s the long molecule that contains the biological instructions that makes a living thing unique …”
“Spot on, Guv … RNA is sort of the same. It also plays an essential role in gene expression but it’s not as powerful as DNA.”
“Right …”
“The point is that it’s the genetic base for viruses … viruses are not alive as such. But they can replicate and that’s why they make a person ill. The way they replicate is encoded into their RNA.”
“Now I follow … What gave you the idea?”
“It’s not mine, it’s Mandy’s.” Andy was saying something to someone else in the office. Pole could picture him moving from one screen to another, gathering his data. “She suggested viewing the string of numbers and letters in 3D … and there it was, a single strand helix, with an additional formula that seem to target a part of this RNA with something called LNPs … I mean Lipid Nanoparticules … they are like small droplets of fat in which the messenger RNA is packaged. ”
“So, we now have a bit of this RNA, from which particular virus?”
“We haven’t discovered that yet. We need access to a proper biotech lab … so I called Yvonne.”
“Good man … any idea why the additional formula linked to LNPs though.”
“From what we can gather it teaches the immune system to respond to an invasion and stops the virus’ process of replication.”
“Would it be the same sort of reponse a vaccine would seek to elicit in the body?”
Andy gave it some thought. “That’s got to be right … but I need to check it out.”
“Yvonne
