The Eyes of Tandor by Nancy Mangini

Author:Nancy Mangini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookpress Publishing
Published: 2025-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

17

Defense

Zachary Rojas was unlike any scientist Tess Bailey had ever met. In spite of a laundry list of academic awards for breakthroughs in protein and genetic engineering, Rojas was generally considered to be an outsider in the scientific community. Billing himself as a CRISPR expert, Rojas had been a frequent guest on popular radio and TV talk shows to promote the rapidly evolving field of genetic editing and how it could one day cure everything from cancer to the common cold.

Tess was not surprised that Eric Chow knew Rojas personally. The two men were both prone to coloring outside the lines when it came to biotechnology and genetics. What did surprise Tess was how compelling and charismatic Rojas was when she and Eric met with him two days after Ben Fischer’s alarm bell had rung.

Clocktower Coffee in Mountain View was a well-known hangout for NASA Ames workers who needed a caffeine fix. Strong lattes and a barista staff that anticipated the drink preferences of regular customers kept counter personnel busy in the late afternoon when Eric and Tess walked in to find Rojas camped with his laptop at a small table in the corner. As they pulled up chairs to join him, Rojas glanced up from his screen to acknowledge their entry into his mental space, then went back to his keyboard.

“Hey, Zach,” Eric began. “What’s happening?”

Without looking up again, Rojas responded. “You tell me. It’s your meeting.”

“Zach, this is Tess Bailey,” said Eric, waiting for Rojas to greet his friend. When that didn’t happen, he pressed on. “The one I told you about? The one who’s interested in your tabletop CRISPR work?”

When Rojas still didn’t respond, Tess took over.

“Look, Mr. Rojas. I get it that you don’t think much of most establishment types—types like me who work at NASA. I saw your YouTube video slamming us for being the robotic henchmen of brain-dead leaders. And quite frankly, I think you’re right.”

With that, Rojas lifted his gaze to look straight at Tess. “So?” he countered. “You get it. What of it? What do you want from me? A quick fix for having the wrong color eyes?”

Perhaps it was his forelock of dyed purple hair or his easily understandable articles on both mainstream and social media that so put off would-be colleagues. Whatever it was, Tess knew she had encountered someone who would not be intimidated by out-of-thisworld theories or the social risks they carried. In fact, from what she had read about his well-publicized battles with the scientific establishment, Rojas would probably embrace such risks for the excitement they promised and the publicity they could generate.

“What makes you think I want something from you?” asked Tess. “Maybe I’m just here for the espresso and hoping to get a selfie with a famous scientific rebel!”

“Yeah, right.” Rojas laughed. “You could’ve photoshopped one of those without getting in my face.”

Rojas sat back in his chair and turned to face Eric, dropping the rebel-without-a-cause attitude. “Seriously. What do you want, Eric? I’ve got two articles to finish for my blog before COB, and I’m already running behind.

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