Fatal Reaction by Hartzmark Gini

Author:Hartzmark, Gini [Hartzmark, Gini]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I followed Lou Remminger into the basement. Crystal-lographers, she explained, are by necessity bottom dwellers. The computer equipment and X-ray generators necessary for their craft are much too heavy to be supported by an upper floor. At Azor they are relegated to the bowels of the building, somewhere between the loading dock and the animal labs.

The main crystallography lab was nicknamed the aquarium on account of the large plate-glass window that separated it from the hallway. Through it could be glimpsed all manner of bulky and unfamiliar equipment, which collectively seemed to emit an ominous, low hum.

Before I’d become involved with Azor I’d always thought of scientific research as a highly cerebral enterprise. But the reality had much more in common with carpentry than with philosophy. I had seen for myself that laboratories are frustrating, physical workshops, places where the gap between the concepts and successful experiments formed a cruel and difficult chasm.

By the time we arrived in the basement a half-dozen investigators were already gathered around the aquarium window, peering into the darkened crystallography lab where Michelle Goodwin labored alone. The room was so crammed with equipment that there was no room for spectators. Also, many of the scientists no doubt preferred to avoid exposure to the high levels of radiation that were the inevitable by-product of the X-ray equipment. Everyone who worked in the basement, not just the crystallographers, wore a small device on their ID card that measured the cumulative amount of radiation to which they were exposed. Because it was colored red it was naturally referred to as “the red badge of courage.”

Perched on a library stool, Michelle sat hunched over the superstructure of the X-ray generator like a bicycle racer poised over the handlebars. Her short dark curls were disheveled and her face, never pretty, was pulled into a tight frown of concentration. Her hand trembled as she mounted a thin capillary tube into the generator’s rotating top. The generator, which was shaped like an industrial freezer with computers mounted at either end, was so big that it took up most of the available space in the lab.

“That’s the crystal,” Remminger informed me in a whisper. “It’s floating in the liquid inside the tube.”

Michelle moved quickly to one of the monitors and punched commands into the computer console. I couldn’t begin to understand what I was seeing, but the tension on Michelle’s face spoke volumes about its importance.

“She’s just sent the X rays through the crystal,” said Remminger.

As the machines hummed into action Michelle stepped away from the monitor to give all the spectators an unobstructed view.

“It’ll be a few seconds before the pattern emerges,” whispered Carl Woodruff, coming up behind me. There was anxiety in his voice—and excitement.

“Is Stephen here?” asked Remminger, looking over her shoulder.

“No,” whispered Carl. “He thought his presence would make it worse if she doesn’t succeed.”

We all waited, straining in anticipation. For a full minute I don’t think any of the people gathered in that hallway even breathed. When the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.