Geneva by Richard Armitage

Author:Richard Armitage
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Sarah

Mauritz Schiller sits across from me in the gaudy orange and gold dining room of L’Atelier Robuchon along the Quai de Mont-Blanc. His eyes scrutinise me over the rim of his coffee cup. Pavel Osinov is standing by the door, fiddling with his earpiece and checking his watch. Daniel has gone on ahead to get things ready with Helen and now I’m being briefed ahead of the launch.

‘I am so sorry to hear of your condition and I realise this must be a very difficult time for you. But really, I must insist: no more surprises please, Professor Collier.’ Schiller’s tone is like a rap on the knuckles from a disappointed teacher and I note we’re no longer on first-name terms. I glance over again at Pavel, whose eyes are glued to the door.

I decide to give him what he asks for. ‘No more surprises,’ I agree, as I push my cup away; any more caffeine and I will be hovering off the floor. I take a deep breath and turn back to my briefing notes.

‘Good.’ He looks down at his own set of papers and we sit, waiting for the appointed time.

Pavel checks his watch again and nods to Mauritz, who leans towards me.

‘Ready?’ I look up from the papers.

‘As I’ll ever be.’ My stomach leaps as the clock ticks down to the whole reason we came here. I’m nervous as hell, but I’ll rise to the occasion. I always do.

‘Well then, let’s go.’ Mauritz manoeuvres his chair towards the door and out onto the pavement, where his dedicated driver is waiting. Pavel ushers me towards the rear door of another car and we move off.

We make the five-minute drive towards the famous Campus Biotech, a place I have seen countless times in brochures and medical literature. The huge gleaming cathedral of science looms over us, a towering glass and steel façade. The evergreen trees encapsulated within the transparent structure give the impression that the Campus is somehow capable of harnessing nature. It is exactly as I expected: high-tech and flawless. As we round the corner, I look through the tinted glass window of the SUV and my heart punches up into my mouth. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Cast onto the enormous glass façade and wrapping round the building opposite is the projection of a face: my face. I remember that photo being taken after the Nobel Prize nomination. I was exhausted but we had won. That woman is now staring back at me, but she looks different. This improved version of Sarah Collier has an unlined face and sparkling eyes that are sharper and greener than mine. Her perfect hair is gently blowing in a digital breeze as my name, ‘PROFESSOR SARAH M. COLLIER’, fades up from beneath. Like the screens of a stadium rock concert, she appears to the gathering crowd like the Beyoncé of biotech. The animated Sarah seems to look straight at me, and I stare back at her. What have they

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