Robin Cook - Shock

Joanna nodded. "It is my concern, especially since the system sounds sophisticated. Would it be possible for me to see the hardware itself? I imagine that would give me a good idea about what to expect."

"I don't see any reason why not," Helen said. "Any other questions?"

"I have a question," Deborah said. "We ran into Dr. Wingate at the front gate. He said he was going to get in touch with you about us? Did he?"

"Yes, he did," Helen said. "Which was a bit of a surprise. And I'm to take you to his office when you are finished with me. Any other questions?"

Joanna and Deborah looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"Then I have some questions of my own," Helen said. "I know you are planning on commuting back and forth to Boston, but I'd like you to think about the very nice accommodations we have here on the premises, which we encourage our staff to utilize, since we prefer our employees to live here. Would you be willing to see the units? It would only take a few minutes. We have a golf cart out back to take us over there."

Joanna started to decline, but Deborah overrode her by saying it might be interesting to see the apartments if they had time.

"Well, that leads me to one final question," Helen said. She looked at Deborah. "I don't know how to word this, Miss Marks, but do you always dress so… so flamboyantly?"

Joanna suppressed a giggle as Deborah stumbled over an explanation for her style of dress.

"Well, perhaps you could tone it down a tad," Helen said, trying to be diplomatic. "We're health-care professionals, after all." Without waiting for a response from Deborah, Helen picked up her phone and dialed an extension. The ensuing conversation was short. She merely asked if "Napoleon" was in, listened for a moment nodding her head, and then said she'd be over straightaway with two new recruits.

Helen stood up and the women followed suit. As they did they could see over the tops of the dividers that separated the large, high-ceilinged former ward into individual work spaces. They were in the administration area located on the second floor and where Joanna was slotted to work. The windows of those cubicles which had them looked out over the front of the building, affording a commanding view to the west. Few heads were visible in the maze of work spaces. It was as if most everyone were on a coffee break.

Come with me," Helen said, stepping out of her cubicle. She started off down the central aisle while talking over her thick shoulder. "We'll have you meet Dr. Saunders. It's a pro forma exercise, but we should have his imprimatur before proceeding any further."

"You remember who he is, don't you?" Joanna whispered to Deborah as they followed a few steps behind the personnel director. Helen wended her way out into the corridor which separated the administration area from the laboratory located on the east side of the wing.

"Of course I remember," Deborah said. "It will be the first test if we're going to get away with this."

"I'm not concerned about him," Joanna said. "It's Dr. Donaldson that I'm worried about. Dr. Saunders didn't look at my face long enough to remember me, at least not while I was awake."

"He looked at me long enough," Deborah said, "and he was not a happy camper, as I told you."

Helen suddenly stopped by a door that had a NO ADMITTANCE sign posted on it. "Why not?" she said after a beat and without explanation. She opened the door, which was unlocked, and passed through. The women followed. The twenty-foot-long corridor beyond dead-ended at a blank second door. Helen tried the door, but it was locked. She took out her wallet and extracted a blue swipe card similar to the one Spencer had used to open the outside gate. Careful to keep the magnetic strip properly oriented, she passed the card rapidly through a card swipe attached to the wall next to the door. There was a click. When she retried the door, it opened.

Helen pushed the door wide open and stepped to the side. She looked back at Joanna. "This is our computer server room. There's our equipment. Beyond that I can't tell you very much."

Joanna's eyes swept the windowless room whose floor had been raised eight inches to conceal the wiring. There were four large vertically oriented electronic units and a small bookcase filled with manuals. More importantly, there was a server console with a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor displaying an active screen saver. Golden sting rays and blue-gray sharks endlessly swam to and fro. A single empty ergonomic chair sat in front of the console.

"Very impressive,' Joanna said.

"I wouldn't know," Helen admitted. "Have you seen enough?"

Joanna nodded. "Will I have access to this room with my card?" she asked.

Helen regarded her as if she'd said something inordinately stupid. "Of course not! Clearance for spaces such as this is reserved to department heads only. Why would you want to come in here anyway?"

Joanna shrugged. "Only if I were having a problem I couldn't rectify from my workstation keyboard."

"For that kind of a problem, you'll have to see Randy Porter, if you can find him. I have to admit, he's fairly elusive if he's not in his cubicle." Helen closed to the door, and it locked with a resounding click.

"On to see our fearless leader," Helen said. She retraced her steps back to the main corridor and set out again. Acting as if the slight detour to see the server room had caused them to be late, she nipped her pace. Joanna and Deborah had to hurry to keep up. Deborah's heels striking against the terrazzo floor made loud cracking noises like automatic-rifle fire. The vaulted ceiling magnified the sounds by producing multiple echoes.

"What do you think?" Deborah whispered between breaths.

"If we don't luck out and get the access we need to our files, then I'll have to get into that room for about ten or fifteen minutes."

"Which means we'll need a blue card that will open the door. Apparently ours won't. How are we going to manage that?"

"We'll have to be creative," Joanna said.

"I'm sorry to have to hurry you like this," Helen called back to "e women from where she was holding open a heavy fire door leading from the building's south wing into the central tower. "Dr. Saunders can be hard to corner. If he leaves his office before we arrive, we could have trouble finding him, and if you don't get to see him, you will not be starting work tomorrow."

Joanna and Deborah passed through the fire door which Helen let close behind her. The women found themselves in a dramatically different environment. Instead of terrazzo the floor was oak, and instead of tile, plaster, or exposed brick, the walls were paneled mahogany. There was even a threadbare oriental runner extending down the long hallway.

"Come on!" Helen urged. She led the women down the corridor and through a doorway into an outer office. A secretary sat at a desk behind which were two doors: one closed, the other ajar. There were several couches and a coffee table.

"Don't tell me we missed Dr. Saunders?" Helen inquired of the secretary.

"He's still here," the woman said as she gestured over her shoulder at the closed door. "But he's engaged at the moment."

Helen's face registered understanding. She knew full well whose office was behind the closed door. Lowering her voice, she said: "I was shocked to learn Dr. Wingate was here."

"You and everyone else," the secretary whispered with a nod. "No one expected it. He arrived this morning unannounced. There's been a bit of fireworks as you well can imagine."

It was Helen's turn to nod. Then she shrugged. "It will be interesting to see what happens."

"That's the truth," the secretary said. "At any rate I'm sure Dr. Saunders will be out shortly. Perhaps you and your applicants would like to make yourselves comfortable." She smiled graciously at Joanna and Deborah.