Free Vitals by Greg Bear Page B

warn me," I said. The corporate Seattle way--a shakedown without the hard edge.
    "We try," Bloom said. "Owen wants to understand what happened. You were down in the DSV with Dave Press during the shooting on the Sea Messenger. Did you think Press was acting funny?"
    "He was acting scary," I said. "Not in the least funny."
    "What did he do?"
    "I told the police, he was trying to curse and not doing a very good job of it." "Was he asking inappropriate questions?"
    "Yes," I said. "But that wasn't so bad ... I mean ..." I paused. "I never mentioned that to the police."
    Bloom shrugged. His shoulders strained at the denim jacket. "Did he talk about Mr. Montoya?"
    Bloom was new to Montoya's staff, I guessed.
    "He asked how we'd met, like that. Nothing suspicious."
    "He wondered what you were doing with Mr. Montoya?"
    "He talked about my getting special privileges with regard to the dives, the submarine. Jealousy aboard the Sea Messenger"
    "Jealousy involving Dr. Mauritz?"
    "I suppose. But mostly it was just water-cooler talk--you know."
    Bloom nodded, but he wasn't satisfied. "Dr. Mauritz did an anonymous peer review on one of your scientific articles," he said. "He recommended it be rejected."
    "I didn't know that," I said. "But then, I wouldn't, would I?"
    "Did he ever show any animosity?"
    I heard it first as anonymosity. "Not to my face. He seemed pleasant, but we had very little contact."
    Betty Shun broke in. "This isn't going anywhere. Dr. Cousins, Owen had your specimens taken off the Sea Messenger and sent to your lab."
    "You should have told me that right away," I said.
    "He made sure they were delivered to your post docs and they're being well taken care of."
    "They're in special pressurized containers," I said, my anger building. "They should have been transported in a powered van. We agreed, the specimens are incredibly delicate--the temperature down there makes their membranes--" "Everything was done according to your instructions," Shun said. "If you'd like, we'll drive you over there."
    "It's just a short hike. I can go myself," I said through clenched teeth.
    "A car is faster," she said persuasively. "And Owen--"
    "Yes, yes. Owen wants a report"
    We drove to the old Genetron Building. It's in a former power plant that was given a multimillion-dollar makeover when Genetron moved in. You can see the building, with its tall exhaust stacks, from the 1-5 bridge. Genetron was sold to the Swiss-French pharmaceutical giant Novalis, which rented me lab space in the now-vacant facility for a good rate--and with guaranteed security.
    The lobby was an expensive waste of blond wood and stainless steel, with a cut-pile green carpet that matched Betty Shun's leather jacket. A security guard checked my card and gave Shun and Bloom
    temporary passes. I showed them the way to the ground-floor lab, at the end of a long hall on the north end of the building.
    "Does he have to come along?" I asked Shun, waving my hand at Bloom.
    "Yes."
    Bloom lifted his head as if sailing into a wind and winked at me.
    "The specimens may have been in poor condition," Betty said as \ we walked down the hall. "We could not tell if they were dead or alive.
    We did our best, at Owen's request."
    "Did Nadia or Jason help carry them over?"
    "No," Betty said. "Nadia is in police custody now."
    That took me completely by surprise. "Why?"
    "Under suspicion of tampering with the food on board the Sea Messenger.
    "That's stupid," I said.
    "We think so, too."
    "Tampering how?" Then I remembered the creamy pudding and its results. "Some of them ate a bad dessert, but--" Bloom interrupted. "There was a lot of odd behavior on board the ship, from the very beginning of the cruise. Fights, arguments, irrational statements at odd moments."
    I had spent much of my time in my cabin. Not being very sociable-and having a lot of reading to catch up on.
    "Somebody could have put drugs in the food or water," Bloom concluded.
    My lab filled two rooms, each about twenty feet