Nano

CHAPTER 25

Mariel Spallek made a point of checking her watch when Pia walked into the lab at 2:15. “You’re late,” she said. “I thought you said you’d be here by two P.M.” She turned her attention back to the ledger book spread out on her desk.

“You said two P.M., not me. You’re lucky I’m here at all, the way I feel. I’m certainly allowed a sick day.” Pia had reached the end of her rope with Mariel. She wasn’t used to taking the kind of aggressive manhandling and nitpicking that Mariel was subjecting her to without pushing back.

“I never take a sick day, and I don’t expect my staff to take any, either,” said Mariel without looking up. “Some days I feel better than others, but I come to work anyway, short of hospitalization. I expect the same from others.”

Pia conjured up a number of pithy retorts but thought better of saying any. She hoped she’d have an opportunity to tell Mariel what she thought of her at some juncture in the future.

For the next two-plus hours, Pia kept her head down and worked hard. Mariel had commandeered some more staff to help in the new space she’d gotten previously on the floor below. Pia got them up to speed, and they began to set up more biocompatibility experiments. The more experiments that could be run, the better the conclusions would be statistically.

What now began to bother Pia was that Mariel would not give up her tendency to micromanage, meaning everything had to be run by her, even the most mundane details. For Pia, part of the excitement of doing research was challenging herself first to get to a solution, and second to get corroborating data. She felt constrained by Mariel’s overbearing supervision of everything she did and every step she took. When she had a break, she again sought out Mariel, who was still engrossed in the same ledger book, no doubt compulsively going over details.

“Listen, Mariel, I know the work is going well, and you’ve got staff running tests that I don’t even know about in other Nano buildings. Are any of these other tests related to what I am doing, and if they are, wouldn’t it make sense to have some of the techs report directly to me? That way I can analyze what they are doing myself.”

“That’s my job, Pia. Your job is to be creative about the specific problems that we assign to you. What other people are doing is not your business.”

“Yes, okay, but who are they? Why can’t I at least talk to them? I’m slaving away here, and I have no idea what anyone else is doing. To me that is frustrating and seems like a recipe for redundancy.”

“Nano is a large, high-security company that is very compartmentalized because of security needs. There is a need-to-know policy with all our staff and all our research. You don’t need to know what other people are doing, nor do they need to know what you are up to. Ultimately it’s more efficient that way and certainly more secure. You’ll be informed if there is any redundancy. You concentrate on what you’re paid to do. If you knew Mr. Berman better, you would understand the way his mind works. He’s the father and supporter of Nano’s organization. I am his eyes and ears.”

And a jealous bitch, Pia thought but didn’t say. Instead she said: “You suggested on the phone he was not feeling up to par. Did he come in today?”

“He came in, yes. Of course. He’s a dedicated man, in contrast to yourself. Why do you ask?”

“I’m just interested, Mariel. Why are you giving me such a hard time about everything?”

Mariel stopped reading her ledger and looked up at Pia. She affected a flinty smile.

“I’m sorry if you think I’m giving you a hard time, but I’m really not. We’re all under a lot of pressure. That pressure comes from the top, and I have to act accordingly. My pressure is coming directly from Zachary Berman, and I assure you he’s giving me a much harder time than you think I’m giving you.” Mariel kept her smile fixed on her face, then looked back at her ledger. Pia marveled at how someone could smile with such great insincerity.

Pia had to do something, get her mind grounded — Mariel Spallek was becoming unbearable and making it difficult to concentrate. Pia had checked on all the experiments that she had running and saw everything was in order. There still were no signs of any immunological response in the lot. The polyethylene glycol in the microbivores’ skin was doing wonders at all concentrations, even what she would have thought were minuscule amounts.

“I’m going to take a breath of air,” said Pia. Before Mariel could respond Pia added, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back. One way or the other, you’ll get your full day’s work out of me.”

Needing a few moments away from Mariel, who’d made a point of shadowing Pia for the whole time that she had been there, Pia descended in the elevator and marched outside. Needing to talk to someone, she called Paul Caldwell. Before the call went through, she remembered he said he was going to sleep when he got home. She disconnected.

Impulsively, she called George despite the can of worms such a call might unleash. Luckily she got his voice mail, which wasn’t surprising, given that no doubt he’d be hard at work somewhere in his L.A. hospital. Mostly out of desperation, she called the internist who was responsible for Will McKinley’s treatment in New York to see if she had any new information for her, but she didn’t pick up her phone, either. For Pia it was a complete strikeout. Still, the break had been therapeutic. Fortified, she headed back into the building and anticipated another couple of frosty hours with Mariel Spallek.

When she got back to the lab, Pia stopped in her tracks. She saw that Zachary Berman was there, talking with Mariel. Unfortunately he looked up and saw her, which meant that Pia couldn’t act on her first instinct, which was to turn tail and disappear. The idea of having to put up with Berman and Mariel at the same time was more than she wished to bear.

“Ah, Pia, there you are. How are you feeling? Mariel tells me you’re under the weather.”

“I’m fighting something off, maybe a cold or flu, but I’m here. And you? She told me you were feeling ill yourself.” Pia girded herself. She had no idea what to expect, although Berman’s voice seemed calm and not accusatory. She couldn’t help but worry that he might somehow suspect she’d slipped him a Mickey Finn.

Berman smiled. He’d progressively recovered from that morning, when Mariel Spallek caught him with his head down on his desk in the office taking a catnap after a string of calls to China.

“I’m doing quite well, but thank you for asking.” Berman turned and with raised eyebrows looked at Mariel. Mariel took the hint, although she was clearly displeased, and she walked away. She busied herself at the far end of the room, well out of earshot.

“You got home safely?” Berman asked, keeping his voice low.

“I did. I made it a point to drive below the speed limit the whole way.”

“Good choice. At the time I’m not sure I would have had the good sense to do likewise. Luckily I didn’t have to go anyplace for several hours, and then I was driven.”

“I hope your call, or calls, went well.”

Berman looked at Pia questioningly.

Pia averted her gaze. “Miss Jones told me you had a call to make.”

“Right!” Berman said. His eyes roamed about the lab. “So how’s it going here?”

“It is going well. We’ve increased the number of biocompatibility experiments by a factor of ten, which will surely give us highly significant results, especially if they all continue to show no immunological reaction at all. Mariel has gotten me more lab space and some tech help. We’re getting it done.”

“That’s music to my ears. From my perspective, the microbivores project is the most important one under way here at Nano.”

“What other projects is Nano currently involved with?” Pia asked. She suddenly decided to throw caution to the wind and go for broke.

Berman smiled at her the way a father might smile at a young girl asking too many questions. “I’m sorry, but for security reasons, I can’t tell you that. I hope you understand.”

“Mariel said essentially the same thing. But isn’t there a chance that there could be overlap of my work with others? We could all mutually benefit if each of us knew what the other was doing.”

“Mariel and Allan Stevens make sure that any appropriate cross-pollination, if you will, is taken advantage of. Believe me, your work has definitely influenced some other work that is going on concurrently. I can assure you of that.”

“What aspect of my work? The biocompatibility issue?”

“I’m not going to be specific,” Berman said. His voice hardened. His smile disappeared. His patience was nearing its limit, but he checked himself. “Let’s go back to more pleasant subject matters.”

“You asked me how it was going, and I’m being frank. I’m sorry if I overstepped any line.”

“No, I’m glad you feel comfortable talking to me directly. I know how Mariel can be. It’s a virtue of hers to be so diligent. Except when it isn’t. But enough of that. What I really wanted to come over here for is to apologize for my adolescent behavior last night. The last time I passed out was freshman year at Yale. It is not my usual modus operandi. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need for an apology. I drank more than I usually do, too. I fell asleep as well.”

“Is it out of line to ask if you had fun last night?”

Berman was still smiling, so Pia thought she could relax. “Yes, I did have fun. Thank you for having me over.” She glanced around for Mariel to make sure she had not approached. Pia wouldn’t have put it past her, but she had left the room. “The only part I regretted was when Miss Jones found us crashed out in your den. That was a little embarrassing.”

“Oh, I don’t think you have anything to be embarrassed about. I’ve woken up in much more compromising situations than that one, believe me. I have to say that I enjoyed myself immensely before the scotch got the better of me. You are quite the dancer.”

Pia felt her face flush. Of all the things he should remember. Thinking about it embarrassed her far more than Miss Jones’s showing up. “It’s amazing what alcohol can do to one’s inhibitions,” she said.

“You were delightful. The next time you come, I’ll make sure I stay awake and be a more attentive host. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good,” said Pia, thinking the opposite. “I’m up to my neck in here for the next few days, though.”

“Alas, I’m traveling myself, so I won’t be around for a while. It would be good if you could come with me, but you’re much too important here.”

“Oh, going anywhere fun?” Pia was horrified at the idea that Berman even considered the idea of taking her with him, and she had to make an effort to sound as casual as possible.

“Yes, actually, I’m going to Italy. But it will all be work, unfortunately, so don’t be jealous. I must run. I’m very glad I saw you. Keep up the good work. Don’t worry about Mariel, she does what I say. And we’ll be sure to have dinner again when I return.”

“I’ll be here,” said Pia as Berman walked away. “I’m not going anywhere.”