Кен Макклюр - The Devil's Landscape

‘Do you think she’ll find alternative funding?’

‘I suspect you’d have to be closer to finding these chemical switches before the pharma companies come on board, but it would be pretty wonderful if they could do it,’ said Macmillan. ‘Imagine being able to cure debilitating conditions through triggering a switch.’

‘I’m beginning to feel gutted she didn’t get support,’ said Steven.

‘Didn’t you say she had some?’

‘The drug company which paid for her relocation from the states gave her start-up money for the first year, but they would be counting on government cash appearing. I can’t see them picking up the tab much longer unless Lindstrom’s people were suddenly to hit the jackpot.’

‘How about the university helping out?’

‘No chance. Universities are like sponges. They would have been expecting grant money too so they could mop up a large chunk of it for providing accommodation and basic services. Now that there isn’t to be any... well, who knows?’

‘Life’s rich tapestry,’ sighed Macmillan. ‘Why don’t you see what the feeling is in the Lindstrom group? I noticed Dorothy wasn’t alone this morning.’

‘Good idea,’ said Steven, looking across the room to where Dorothy was making sure no one was left uncertain of her point of view. He saw the young man who had been sitting beside her earlier detach himself and head for the sandwich table. He walked over to create a chance meeting.

‘Steven Dunbar,’ he said with a smile.

‘Owen Barrowman.’

The pair shook hands.

‘Bad luck this morning,’ said Steven.

‘You too,’ replied Owen Barrowman, picking and choosing to fill his plate ‘I noticed you came up empty handed too.’

‘We’re used to it,’ replied Steven. ‘One day soon I might just buy a lance and start looking for windmills.’

Barrowman grinned and Steven added, ‘Happily, we weren’t looking for grant funding to continue our existence. We were trying to get the government to take public vaccination seriously. Your situation seems more precarious.’

‘You’re right,’ agreed Barrowman. ‘We were all hoping for government money. Everything depended on it. Jobs, careers, degrees, mortgage payments, you name it.’

‘For what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry you drew a blank. It sounds like a really exciting field to be in right now.’

‘If only the suits could see that too. I don’t think anyone saw a complete turn-down coming, least of all, Dorothy. I thought someone with her credentials was a cert for funding.’

‘Have you been with her long?’

‘I joined her group when she returned to the UK from the states. I did my PhD on epigenetics at Edinburgh and was looking around for a post-doc position, which would allow me to continue my own research interest but without much success when I read that Dorothy had moved into the field and was looking for people to join her. It sounded just right for me.’

‘For her too I should think,’ said Steven. ‘PhDs in epigenetics can’t be too thick on the ground.’

Barrowman grinned. ‘Yeah, well I guess it looked like working both ways. I thought I’d landed on my feet: now I find it was my backside.’

‘You said, continue your research?’

‘Most advertised post-doc positions are to work on specific projects, which is fair enough, but I was hoping for one that would allow me to continue what I’d started during the last year of my PhD project. My old PhD supervisor got me a small grant for six months to tide me over until Dorothy arrived from the states.’

‘So, what are you studying?’

‘Genetic and biochemical patterns in psychopathic killers.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Absolutely.’

Steven was taken aback. ‘How on earth do you do that?’

‘I got the university to approach high security prisons and prison hospitals across the country with a view to me interviewing selected prisoners — those convicted of murder while classed as criminally insane — hoping to recruit them as volunteers in my project. They would have to provide lab samples for analysis.’

‘And they agreed?’

Barrowman smiled. ‘It took a while to get through all the red tape but, in the end, all the prisons agreed although not all prisoners did, but I’ve managed to get a reasonable number to provide blood, buccal swabs etc.’

‘I take it Professor Lindstrom was happy for you to continue this line of research?’

‘I wouldn’t say she was over the moon but she wanted someone to bring her new people up to speed in the latest epigenetic techniques. It’s worked out well.’

‘Dorothy’s goal is to understand everything connected with human behaviour.’

‘Is that your goal too?’

‘I’m more specific,’ said Barrowman. ‘I’d like to find a cure for psychotic behaviour.’

‘That’s a pretty high bar too,’ Steven pointed out. ‘I’m impressed. Seriously, this field is just too important to be ignored. It can only be a matter of time before support appears.’

‘I hope you’re right, but I’m beginning to suspect that the people Dorothy upset in the past might be thinking it’s payback time. She’s not the easiest person to get along with.’

‘We should keep in touch, maybe have a beer some time,’ said Steven. ‘I’d like to know more about your work.’

The two men exchanged contact details.

Steven and Macmillan walked back across Green Park.

‘You two seemed to get on,’ said Macmillan.

He’s gutted that the group didn’t get funding when he’d gambled that they would. He’s at that time in his career when he needs to get a few good publications out there to establish himself as a researcher and start thinking about a lectureship somewhere. I think he’s worried that there might be some kind of vendetta against Dorothy.

‘Mm,’ said Macmillan non-committally. ‘I’m having lunch with a couple of ministers tomorrow. I’ll see what I can find out.’

‘Good, we agreed to keep in touch.’

It was just after six in the evening when Steven got back to Marlborough Court to find that Tally hadn’t yet arrived home. He made himself coffee and stood at the window, catching glimpses of the Thames river traffic through the gap in the buildings across the street while he considered the events of the day. He was feeling numb and wondering why this should be when the sound of Tally coming in broke his train of thought.

‘Well, how did it go?’ she asked, dumping her bag on a chair and shrugging off her coat. ‘Is HMG going to take up the challenge and offer the public protection at last?’

Steven shook his head. ‘They turned us down.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Tally coming over to wrap her arms round him. ‘How do you feel about that?’

‘It’s what we expected.’

‘That’s not what I asked.’

‘No,’ agreed Steven, ‘Defence against biological attack should be a priority and here I am neither pissed off nor angry that the government is still sitting on its hands over it. Why’s that?’

Tally looked up at him, mildly amused. ‘Because... you don’t know what to do about it anymore than they do. If you did you’d be absolutely furious. Instead you probably just feel numb.’

Steven smiled, appreciating the fact that Tally had hit the nail on the head. He squeezed the hand resting on his shoulder. ‘I think I’m more concerned about someone else being turned down for funding.’

‘Really? Who?’

Steven told her about the Lindstrom group and their failure to attract government support.

‘Well, I suppose there’s only a limited amount of money to go around.’

‘Mm,’ said Steven thoughtfully. ‘Trouble is I’m not entirely convinced that was the reason.’ He told Tally about his conversation with Barrowman.