The Adamas Blueprint

CHAPTER 27

Kevin gnawed on a leftover piece of pepperoni pizza as he studied the figures on the computer screen in front of him. The graph of the spectroscopic analysis showed an impurity in the carbon of 0.01 %, primarily in the form of methane and other organic molecules. He wasn’t surprised that there was some impurity. Instead of requiring a pure vacuum, the process produced the greatest yield when performed in a vapor of hydrogen gas. Still, to the naked eye, or even under a high-powered loupe, no flaws in the material would be evident unless one had been introduced artificially. Just as the Adamas Blueprint said, the process produced clear, flawless diamond.

Kevin shook his head, still in a mild state of disbelief that it really worked. He walked over to the test chamber and stared through the door’s porthole. The specimen sat in the middle of the chamber, imperceptibly acquiring new coatings of diamond every time the laser’s light flashed, coatings that were fused to the previous layer with the strength of the world’s hardest known substance. Because of this fusion process, the layers were not detectable. It was a single crystal.

Kevin’s contacts were bothering him, as they often did when he stayed up late. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch. Almost half past midnight.

“Ready for bed?”

Kevin whipped around, startled by the voice behind him. Erica’s head peeked past the lab’s open door.

“Hey stranger. I didn’t hear you. What are you doing here?”

Erica came in the rest of the way and closed the door behind her.

“That’s a nice greeting. And when I came all the way over here to find out how you were doing.”

“Sorry. Been a long day I guess.”

“I know what you mean.” Erica walked over to peer into the chamber. When she saw the specimen, she gasped and then chuckled. “So that’s how we’re going to prove it’s an artificial diamond.”

“It was the only thing I could come up with.”

“I like it,” Erica said. “How much do we have?” She pulled up a stool and sat next to him.

“Not as much as I’d hoped. It looks like we might get 40 grams by Sunday.”

“How many carats is that?”

“I was wondering that myself, so I went and found a dictionary in Ted’s office. One carat equals 200 milligrams.”

After the slightest pause for a calculation, Erica exclaimed, “That’s 200 carats!”

“Yeah. I figured it would be enough to prove our point.”

“Liz Taylor might not be impressed.”

“She wasn’t. I’ve already got her order for a 300 carat diamond.”

“You have to spend that alimony somehow. How did she know where to find you?”

“Smell. She can detect the scent of large diamonds from as far away as a thousand miles.”

“Is it a hypersensitivity to all jewels?”

Kevin nodded. “Large amounts of shiny objects.”

“That must explain her irresistible urge to be near Michael Jackson.”

He wanted to laugh, but he was too tired. He smiled, then couldn’t stifle a yawn.

“You need to get some rest,” Erica said. “You’ve barely slept the last two nights.”

“I’m all right.” He rotated his head around and then rubbed his neck. The lack of exercise was starting to get to him. “What did you do all afternoon?

Erica took over rubbing his neck and moved down to his shoulders. He moaned appreciatively. It was just what he needed, and her hands were obviously skilled in the art of massage.

“The reason I’m here,” she said, “is that I couldn’t sleep. Something happened today. I wasn’t going to tell you because I knew it would upset you, but I thought you should know.”

“What?” Kevin’s mind raced through a number of possibilities, all bad.

“Relax. You’re tensing up.”

“No kidding.”

“I won’t go on unless you relax.”

“All right,” he said reluctantly.

“Good. Today, when I went to the store, there was an emergency. A girl, a teenager, had a reaction to something she ate.”

“And?”

“She was severely allergic and went into anaphylactic shock.”

“What’s that?”

“Sorry. The body acts as if the allergen were a poison. In her case, her throat swelled shut.”

“Wow! Did she live? Is she going to be okay?”

“I’m not sure, but I think so.”

“That’s good…Wait a minute. What does this have to do with you?”

Erica took a deep breath. “I was right there when it happened. By the time anyone noticed, she couldn’t breathe. I guess my instincts took over, otherwise she would have died right in front of me. I had to help. She was suffocating.”

“What did you do?”

She stopped the massage and pulled out a newspaper out of her purse. The banner said Roanoke Times and World News. It was folded over, showing a story on the bottom of the front page.

Kevin read the story twice before he looked up.

“Don’t tell me the unidentified woman was you.”

Erica nodded.

“Are you insane? What were you trying to prove?”

“If I had waited until the paramedics arrived, she would have been brain-damaged.”

“But the police. They were there…”

Erica shook her head. “I got away before they could talk to me.”

“Do you realize the risk you took?” Kevin said, his voice rising.

“Like I said, it didn’t seem like I had a choice. It all happened pretty fast.”

“Erica, we have been just one step ahead of these…psychos, whoever they are. What if the police had arrested you?” Kevin was off the stool now, pacing.

“What would you have wanted me to do? Let that girl die?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.”

“Oh, I’m the one being ridiculous.”

“You could have waited.”

“No, I couldn’t.”

“Are you sure? How do you know? You’re not a doctor yet.”

“I’ve spent the last three months in the ER. It was a judgment call. I made it. That’s my profession. Deal with it.”

“Your heroics have lousy timing.”

“I’m sorry emergencies aren’t more convenient for you.” Erica stood and picked up her purse.

Kevin grabbed her sinewy shoulders. “Don’t you get it? If you got taken to jail and Barnett found you there, he’d kill you in a minute.”

She looked up at him, her wide green eyes boring into his. “So?”

Kevin’s voice was almost a whisper. “So I couldn’t stand to lose you too.” Then, before he realized what he was doing, he pulled her toward him in a rush and kissed her deeply. Instead of pulling away as he thought she might, Erica returned the kiss even more forcefully. Kevin felt her breasts pleasantly compressed against his chest and inhaled the light scent of fresh soap from her skin. He cradled her head in one palm, holding her to him with the other. Their hips ground together, making him aware of his sudden desire.

After what seemed like an hour but had to have been only a few seconds, Kevin released her and held her hands.

“Why didn’t you do that in the motel?” Erica said.

“I wasn’t sure then.”

“About whether you wanted to?”

“No. About whether you wanted to.”

“Are you sure now?”

“Oh yeah.”

Erica looked at the equipment. “Can this stuff stay unattended for an hour or so?” Then she looked back at him with a curled smile.

Kevin punched a large red EMERGENCY STOP button, and the whine of the machinery ground to a halt. “Yes.”

Ted’s house was only five minutes away. It was the longest five-minute drive Kevin ever took.