Chapter Twelve
Melinda was about to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that something that once belonged in the realm of charlatans and witchcraft existed, with hard evidence to back it up. Stories and movies about ESP abilities flashed through her head.
She wondered if this was the first step to a better or worse world. Either way, there was no stopping science or the truth. Things happened for a reason and she was along for the ride.
Melinda took a treat from her pocket and held it next to the metal enclosure to get the mouse’s attention. Once the critter had sniffed a couple times, she laid the treat on the table, a few feet away.
The passive brain image on the screen exploded to life. Vibrant orange lit the screen from deep inside the brain. Yellow streaks of light flashed and zipped from one neuron path to another like comets shooting through the sky.
“There.” Dembe pointed to the screen. “Those pops and flashes are the extra neurons firing. Look how many signals are going at once. This is incredible.” She leaned closer to the screen. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Greens and reds bloomed in various regions, lighting up like cloud lightning on a hot summer’s night. “The red represents the most active parts, and then yellow, down to green and blue. See how quickly they come and go? It’s like a symphony conducted by an invisible maestro.”
The whole display was a fireworks show on steroids. Melinda had a new respect for the brain and its inherent abilities.
“Holy shit,” Melinda said. Dembe said the same in her language.
As quickly as it started, it ended. Both ladies looked down to see the mouse nibbling on the treat that was once well out of reach. They remained speechless. Behind them, a male voice sounded in awe. He said the TV showed beautiful color pictures. It looked like the sky sometimes at night when the gods were active and noisy.
When Dembe explained the pictures were from the animal’s head, the janitor looked at the mouse, then the screen, then back to the mouse. He smiled, a few teeth missing, and said something to the effect of, “You’re joking, right?”
Dembe shook her head. The man gave the mouse the evil eye, crossed himself, and rolled his mop bucket out the door. This worried Melinda. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt the mouse, would he?
“Dembe, I don’t remember seeing that guy around much.”
She shrugged. “Walog’s been here for a few months. He lives in a shack with his wife and kids. Like many on the outskirts of town, they have nothing and barely make a living. When Mr. Kintu asked if we trusted anyone to fill in a couple janitor spots, I thought of him immediately.”
“So you know him well?” Melinda asked.
“Well enough, I guess. I know his wife from the Saturday markets. They sell vegetables and everything they can. They’re a good, god-fearing family. He’d do anything to give his children a better life.”
Melinda thought back the last couple of months. “I don’t remember seeing him here before.”
“When I spoke to his wife last, she mentioned he’d been given a raise and shift change from nights to days. He’s here from noon to ten, I think. He’s always here after I leave. His wife thanked me profusely and gave me enough nakati and borr to last me three years.”
She laughed. “I’d wondered why you were eating so much of those veggies lately.”
Dembe grunted. “I can’t get to anything else in my kitchen. I have to eat my way in.” Both laughed. Dembe typed on her keyboard and hit enter. “Okay, the test is saved to the network. You can download it anytime.”
Melinda groaned. “My laptop was stolen this morning in the break-in. It’ll have to wait.”
Dembe’s eyes grew wide. “But your research? Is all of it on there?”
“All but the serum info. I saved that to the flash so I could take it home at night to study the day’s results.”
Dembe raised a brow at her. “You know the rules about taking data outside the building.”
“I know.” Melinda rolled her eyes. “That’s why it was on a flash. No one would know. But it’s a moot point. I dropped it in my tea and ruined it.”
Her friend busted out a laugh. “Only you, Mel. Only you.”
Melinda looked sideways at her best friend. “We’ve both been acting like we’re not coming out of our skins with excitement over our telekinetic mouse.”
Dembe looked like she was trying to hold back a smile, and failing. “I’m trying to be professional. Big brother is watching.” Melinda then remembered cameras were in each lab room. “Otherwise, I’d be peeing my pants.” The last words were almost a screech with excitement. “But you know we have to run another test for confirmation.”
“Yeah.” Mel smiled. “But you know what this means, right? This damn virus we found gives real psychic abilities.”
“No wonder your research was stolen,” Dembe said.
“Yeah, but the drawback is the three monkeys died extremely young. Remember their burned-out brains?” Melinda looked down at the mouse finishing the treat. “I wonder how long these babies have.”
“Has the third mouse shown anything unusual?” Dembe asked.
“I haven’t worked with it yet. We had the clairvoyant one yesterday, and this one today. I’m so glad the thief didn’t think about taking the mice. But they think they have the serum, though.”
“If I were you”—Dembe turned to her keyboard—“I’d switch out your mice with others to keep them safe. Mr. Kintu won’t let you take them out of the building. Unless you want to hide them down your clothes on the way out.”
Melinda gave a full-body wiggle. “I love the little things, but not that much.” She gave another shudder. “The only hands down my clothes will belong to a hunky man prior to getting into my bed.”
“That was quite bold from you, little Miss Hasn’t Had It in Years.”
Melinda hip-bumped Dembe. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“True, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.” She grinned. They had this conversation all the time. Teasing each other about who had the most pathetic love life. That was the only way to survive: laugh about it.
A sly grin spread across her friend’s face. “Any particular man in mind? Perhaps a doctor, say?”
She gasped. “I don’t think so.”
Dembe laughed at her overly dramatic reply. “Thou doth protest too much.”
“Whatever.” Melinda grumped. “Since when doth thou read Shakespeare? Push the freaking button and let’s watch the light show again. I have to get the paper typed before we talk to Mr. Kintu tomorrow morning.”
Even though she was trying to hide it, she didn’t deny the feelings the dream and her time in the lab with Hamel ignited. God, she’d been so gullible before, allowing herself to be set up. That would not happen again.
After running another successful brain scan, she and her mouse headed back to their temporary lab home. Yellow crime-scene tape draped both doors to her usual lab. She needed to get her purse from inside before she could go home. Hopefully the guard at the door would let her in. Hamel could even do it for her. But she hadn’t seen him since this morning.
She wondered what he’d been doing. For supposedly helping her, he wasn’t around much. Granted, he helped her move the mice and sort of get set up in the smaller lab, but after that, nada. And heavens, no, she wasn’t complaining one bit.
Something seemed wrong about him.
In the small lab, she put the mouse with the others and called up her friend at the CDC in the States. Atlanta was seven hours behind, so they were still in the morning hours there. Melinda got the voice mailbox of the Human Resources department and left a message to contact her about the credentials for Dr. Parish Hamel.
She leaned against a counter and rubbed her dry eyes. A day this productive hadn’t occurred in a while. It was nice to know breakthroughs could still happen.
The security guard outside her lab door was kind enough to allow her to get her purse, as long as he followed her and she didn’t touch anything more than she needed to. The room hadn’t been fully swept for clues nor had photos been taken. She grabbed her purse, and a cloth she used to wipe down counters.
Her feet carried her to the refrigerator with confident, purposeful steps. With the open fridge door hiding her actions, she grabbed the ESP virus, wrapped it in the cloth and stuck it in her purse. She moved test tubes and beakers around to make it look like she was doing something important, then closed the fridge.
She said to the guard. “Guess I don’t need to worry about locking up my laptop anymore, huh?” She stood in front of the destroyed cabinet and sighed. Time to go home. It was a bit early, but the day had still been long.
Plus, she wondered if the black cat she saw last night was still around.