Robin Cook - Chromosome 6

“I’m glad you’re on my team for this run,” Jack said.

“We got to get ourselves back to that boat!” Warren blurted without humor.

“I’m open to suggestions,” Jack said.

Cameron moaned and pushed himself over onto his stomach.

Warren looked both ways down the hall. A few minutes earlier, he’d thought of running down the main corridor toward the rear, but that was no longer a reasonable alternative. Halfway down the corridor he could see some nurses gathering and pointing in his direction.

Across from the elevators at eye-level was a sign in the form of an arrow that pointed down the hall beyond Horace’s room. It said: or.

Knowing they had little time to debate, Warren motioned in the direction of the arrow. “That way!” he barked.

“The operating room?” Jack questioned. “Why?”

“Because they won’t expect it,” Warren said. He grabbed a stunned Natalie by the hand and propelled her into a jog.

Jack and Laurie followed. They passed Horace’s room but the chubby man had locked himself in his bathroom.

The operating suite was set off from the rest of the hospital by the usual swinging doors. Warren hit them and went through with a straight arm like a football running back. Jack and Laurie were right behind.

There were no cases under way nor were there any patients in the recovery room. There weren’t even any lights on except for those in a supply room halfway down the hall. The supply room’s door was ajar, emitting a faint glow.

Hearing the repetitive thumps on the operating room doors, a woman appeared from the supply room. She was dressed in a scrub suit with a disposable cap. She caught her breath as she saw the four figures hurtling in her direction.

“Hey, you can’t come in here in street clothes,” she yelled as soon as she’d recovered from her initial shock. But Warren and the others had already passed. Perplexed, she watched the intruders run all the way down the rest of the corridor to disappear through the doors leading to the lab.

Turning back into the supply room, she went for the wall phone.

Warren skidded to a stop where the corridor formed a “T.” He looked in either direction. To the left at the far end was a red wall light indicating a fire alarm. Above it was an exit sign.

“Hold up!” Jack said, as Warren was preparing to dash down to what he imagined would be a stairwell.

“What’s the matter, man?” Warren questioned anxiously.

“This looks like a laboratory,” Jack said. He stepped over to a glazed door and looked inside. He was immediately impressed. Although they were in the middle of Africa, it was the most modern lab he’d ever seen. Every piece of equipment looked brand new.

“Come on!” Laurie snapped. “There’s no time for curiosity. We’ve got to get out of here.”

“It’s true, man,” Warren said. “Especially after hitting that security type back there, we’ve got to make tracks.”

“You guys go,” Jack said distractedly. “I’ll meet you at the boat.”

Warren, Laurie, and Natalie exchanged anxious glances.

Jack tried the door. It was unlocked. He opened it and walked inside.

“Oh, for crissake,” Laurie complained. Jack could be so frustrating. It was one thing for him to have little concern for his own safety, but it was quite another thing for him to compromise others.

“This place is going to be crawling with security dudes and soldiers in nothing flat,” Warren said.

“I know,” Laurie said. “You guys go. I’ll get him to come as soon as I can.”

“I can’t leave you,” Warren said.

“Think of Natalie,” Laurie said.

“Nonsense,” Natalie said. “I’m no frail female. We’re in this together.”

“You ladies go in there and talk some sense into that man,” Warren said. “I’m going to run down the hall and pull the fire alarm.”

“What on earth for?” Laurie asked.

“It’s an old trick I learned as a teenager,” Warren said. “Whenever there’s trouble cause as much chaos as you can. It gives you a chance to slip away.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Laurie said. She motioned for Natalie to follow and entered the lab.

They found Jack already engaged in pleasant conversation with a laboratory technician wearing a long white coat. She was a freckle-faced redhead with an amiable smile. Jack already had her laughing.

“Excuse me!” Laurie said, struggling to keep her voice down. “Jack, we have to go.”

“Laurie, meet Rolanda Phieffer,” Jack said. “She’s originally from Heidelberg, Germany.”

“Jack!” Laurie intoned through clenched teeth.

“Rolanda’s been telling me something very interesting,” Jack said. “She and her colleagues here are working on the genes for minor histocompatibility antigens. They’re moving them from a specific chromosome in one cell and sticking them into the same location on the same chromosome in another cell.”

Natalie, who’d walked over to a large picture window overlooking the square, hastily turned back into the room. “It’s getting worse. An entire car load of those Arabs in black suits are arriving.”

At that moment, the fire alarm in the building went off. It featured alternating sequences of three ear-splitting shrieks of a horn followed by a disembodied voice: “Fire in the laboratory! Please proceed immediately to stairwells for evacuation! Do not use the elevators!”

“Oh, my word!” Rolanda said. She looked around quickly to see what she should take with her.

Laurie grabbed Jack by both arms and shook him. “Jack, be reasonable! We have to get out of here.”

“I’ve figured it out,” Jack said with a wry smile.

“I don’t give a good goddamn,” Laurie spat. “Come on!”

They rushed out into the hall. Other people were appearing as well. Everyone seemed confused as they looked up and down the hall. Some were sniffing. There was animated conversation. Many people were carrying their lap-top computers.

Without rushing they moved en masse to the stairwell. Jack, Laurie, and Natalie met up with Warren who was holding the door. He’d also managed to find white coats which he distributed to the others. They all pulled them on over their clothes. Unfortunately, they were the only ones wearing shorts.

“They have created some kind of chimera with these apes called bonobos,” Jack said excitedly. “That’s the explanation. No wonder the DNA tests were so screwy.”

“What’s he carrying on about now?” Warren asked with irritation.

“Don’t ask,” Laurie said. “It will only encourage him.”

“Whose idea was it to pull the fire alarm?” Jack asked. “It was brilliant.”

“Warren’s,” Laurie said. “At least one of us is thinking.”

The stairwell opened up into a parking lot on the north side. People were milling about, looking back at the building, and talking in small groups. It was deathly hot since the sun was out and the parking lot was blacktop. A wailing fire siren could be heard coming from the northeast.

“What should we do?” Laurie asked. “I’m relieved we’ve gotten as far as we have. I didn’t think it was going to be so easy to get out of the building.”

“Let’s walk over to the street and turn left,” Jack said while pointing. “We can circle around the area to the west and get back to the waterfront.”

“Where are all those soldiers?” Laurie asked.

“And the Arabs?” Natalie added.

“I’d guess they’re looking for us in the hospital,” Jack said.

“Let’s go before all these lab people start going back into the building,” Warren said.

They tried not to rush to avoid attracting any attention. As they neared the street they all glanced behind them for fear they were being watched, but no one was even looking in their direction. Everybody was captivated by the fire crew who’d arrived.