True Read Free

'Ongoing'. That was six months ago.
    Bacci felt for the primed PowerDermic vaccine gun in his jacket pocket, then typed a second entry into the Version #072 table. Although he hadn't yet injected the powder he planned to do it tonight, so he entered today's date. He left the 'Duration' column blank and double-clicked on the fourth, importing an image from the database linked to the Genescope in the adjoining laboratory. The face that appeared under 'Genetic Facial Imprint' wasn't a woman's but Bacci's. Beneath it he typed, 'Self. Finally he moved his cursor to 'Subject' and paused.
    The earlier trials had been unauthorized and unorthodox, but they had only affected himself. Today's trial was different: he was stepping over an ethical line he had never crossed before. But it will be definitive, he told himself. It will prove beyond doubt that the drug works and guarantee funding. His cousin Marco Trapani had already recommended a private bank. Anyway, he thought, this is bigger than Maria and me, and if it makes us happy in the process, where's the harm? Anyone else would use the drug if they had the opportunity. He typed Maria Danza's name into the 'Subject' box of today's trial.
    His shoulders tensed. His cellphone was pulsing. He picked it up and checked the display. 'Ciao, Maria. I hope you're not calling to cancel.'
    There was a smile in her voice. 'Of course not.'
    'Good. It's our anniversary, after all. Three hundred and sixty-five days.' He detected a sigh. 'Don't worry,' he said quickly. We'll keep it light, I promise.' Maria was fiercely independent: she had her own business, had survived a posionous divorce and couldn't have children. She had told him on at least three occasions that she didn't want their relationship to become too serious -- she certainly didn't want to get married again.
    'Let's just have a good time, okay? Where are you?' 'In my lab.' 'You must be busy.'
    'Just finishing. I'll cycle home to get my car and pick you up at seven.' Maria owned and managed a chain of mid-price jewellery shops in Turin. She lived in an apartment above the flagship store near the Duomo. 'We can go on to the restaurant.' 'I've a better idea. I'll pick you up in my car.' He smiled. 'Okay, meet me at my house.' 'Not at the lab?'
    He looked through the glass partition dividing his office from the laboratory. Eppendorf tubes, a Petri dish containing two strands of his hair, a pipette and other debris from today's sample lay scattered on the workbench. He would need to put everything in the autoclave and clear up all trace of what he had done before the technician returned in the morning. 'I've got to change.' 'I'll drive you home.'
    This wasn't what he had planned. He checked his watch and put on his jacket. 'I'd rather meet you there. I'm leaving now.' 'And I'd rather meet you at your laboratory.'
    'Why?'
    She laughed. 'Two reasons. One, I've never seen inside it. And, two, I'm already there.'
    Panic rippled through him and his eyes leapt to the computer screen. Her face stared out at him. Calm down, he told himself, quelling a rush of nerves.
    "What do you mean?'
    'I've been standing outside pressing the bell for the last fifteen minutes and it's hot. Please, hurry up and let me in, Carlo.'
    He took the PowerDermic vaccine gun out of his jacket pocket and held it in his trembling hand. The device was a needle-free, second-generation hypodermic designed for children and patients with needle phobias. It used compressed helium to fire micro-fine powdered drugs at three times the speed of sound through the stratum corneum. Once past this thin but tough surface layer of human skin, the drug dissolved into the bloodstream. The process was silent, painless and left no mark. She would never know what he had done.
    He took a deep breath. I'm doing nothing wrong, he told himself again. Then he walked to the door, careful to conceal the gun in his right palm. 'Give me a minute, Maria. I'm coming.'
    A WEEK LATER: 5 AUGUST
    ISABELLA