Emergence by Calvin J. Brown

Author:Calvin J. Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cognitio Waves

Chapter 19

“Nothing? Not a damn thing?” Jim Brown was leaning forward at his desk, his eyes alternately burrowing into each of the pair sitting opposite him. “That was a bloody high-profile failure, and you still can’t explain it?”

McTavish maintained her outward composure and responded calmly, if somewhat stiffly. “That’s correct, sir. We have neither found the source of the virus nor the manner of entry into SimirageFX. It’s proven a most unusual case.” Her effort to remain calm was doubly hard in the face of her boss’s anger. She never reacted well to criticism by anyone, even by her superiors—a trait that had caused her difficulty more than once in her career. In this case, the situation was compounded by her own frustration of not having made progress on the case.”

“What’s it been? A month?” Brown pressed.

“Yes, sir.”

“Are there any leads you still have to follow?”

“None of significance,” McTavish explained. “All of the usual attempts to locate the method of entry into the company have been unsuccessful. However it got there, it didn’t leave any traces. We’ve had the same lack of success in finding the overall source of the virus. There was no traceable code in the virus itself, and there were no other occurrences of the virus identified anywhere else in the world. Bottom line—we had very little to go on, and our investigation didn’t give us much more.”

McTavish sat back in her chair as she finished her summary, awaiting Brown’s response. All she got for several long moments was a glare. She returned the look, unhappy with having to give such a report but unwilling to yield to any implications that they had performed inadequately.

Brown broke the silence, “Make a final status report and put it on the shelf. It’s taking too much of your time and Bates’s time. We’ve got too many other cases that need your attention.”

“The report will be finished by the end of today. Which new case do you want as our top priority?”

“Go after the so-called Plague virus. We’ve got requests from four different countries to get involved in that one.” Brown turned his attention to a report on his desk to indicate their dismissal.

McTavish nodded with understanding. She and her partner arose and walked toward the door. Once they were into the hallway and out of earshot, Bates commented, “Seemed rather chilly in there today.”

“Oh well, he’ll forgive us—once we’ve solved a dozen other high-profile cases. He just knows that he’s going to take some shit from the Director, and he wanted to make sure we knew that it flows downhill. Let’s get some fresh coffee before we wrap it up. You’re buying.”

“Seems like it’s still flowing downhill,” Bates noted.

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