Page 7 - Unlikely Stories 2
P. 7

El Asesino


           Dr. Rabette resented the intrusive interference, as he saw it, of the
        government in his research lab. If the university would only squeeze
        its wealthier graduates a little harder, endowments would obviate the
        necessity of submitting to the bureaucratic administration of federal
        grants.  Today  it  was  someone  from  the  National  Science
        Foundation’s  auditing  staff,  attached  to  the  Inspector  General’s
        Office. A watchdog.
          No such animal, grumbled the professor of experimental genetics.
        It’s just an attack dog barely restrained by a leash. Bad enough they
        have  the  run  of  the  place:  now  he  actually  had  to  be  interviewed!
        Well, it was their buck, and it stopped in his office. The man who
        introduced himself didn’t look like half a million dollars. He bore an
        uncanny resemblance to a cheap-suit detective.
          “Warren Rabette?” A minimal handshake. “Jack Flacket. My card.”
        He  seated  himself  unbidden  across  from  the  academic,  opened  a
        well-worn briefcase and pulled out a folder. “Let me just review the
        project with you first.”
          Dr. Rabette remained silent, feeling himself on trial and unwilling
        to give the prosecutor any ammunition.
          “Okay, you’re working on the link between  birds and dinosaurs.
        That may be a simplification, but it gets to the issue at hand.”
          Issue? thought Rabette. Now it really is an inquisition.
          “Eggs, Professor. Apparently you are using the fact that both types
        of animal lay eggs. If you can reverse-engineer a chicken’s DNA and
        put it back into a hen’s egg, maybe it will hatch a dinosaur. Is that
        about it?”
          Ah,  the  layman’s  view!  sighed  the  researcher.  At  least  he’s  not
        leading a mob of angry villagers with torches and pitchforks “Yes,
        essentially. Two oviparous species, transgenic organisms: the rest is
        just technicalities.”
          “Could we take a look at the lab, particularly where the eggs are
        transported from the gene-splicer to the incubator?”
          “Certainly, Mr. Flacket. You will need to put on protective clothing
        to enter, however. We are very careful about contamination.”


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