LaCost. Patrick Rizio

it, the resident genius of Universal Biotech had been, for at least a portion of his time, thinking lately of things other than research. It had made him happier. Right now, it was killing him. He approached the desk with the finesse of an offensive lineman.

      “I’m looking for a seven-year old girl they just brought in,” he said, concentrating and relaxing at the same time while staring directly into the eyes of the nurse behind the desk.

      “Yes sir. Her name?”

      Jason turned immediately to his left and started walking towards the double doors opposite him in the waiting area.

       Through the doors, turn right at the first hallway, second door on the left, bed 12.

      “Sir. Sir, if you could give me her name.”

      The nurse calmly stopped talking when Jason went through the double doors. She was not unaccustomed to people being upset. Besides, she expected he’d be back after he got himself lost. The hospital was huge, and after all, she knew where the girl had been taken. He didn’t.

      *******

      “What do you mean he left?”

      For the first time since he’d been here, something had pulled Jason away from his lab. Perhaps that pretty young teacher he was seeing? Right now, the big guy was in a bad mood and wanted an answer. Janet didn’t have one. She shrugged her shoulders.

      “Well sir, he just left. He walked out of the lab about an hour ago without saying anything to anybody.”

      “Call him and tell him I need to see him today before the field report meeting. It’s important. And while you’re at it, find out why one of the highest paid employees in this place is just walking out in the middle of the day.”

      Schimmel’s aggravation was very out of character. He was definitely upset.

      “Will do boss,” Janet answered in a serious tone.

      As soon as she turned to leave, the concerned look disappeared from Janet Riker’s face. In her professional capacity, she knew she should be concerned. In her human capacity, she was overjoyed. Jason was pretty easy to like, and her maternal instincts had long since kicked in with him. Something, someone, had finally gotten Jason’s attention, to the point of pulling him away from work! She so hoped it was that cute young teacher he’d been seeing. Their relationship was hardly a secret. It had been the topic of conversation among most of the young women in the research department for weeks now. Amazing, wonderful. OK. Back to reality. She had a call to make. The boss did not like to be kept waiting.

      *******

      Jason pulled back the curtain in the emergency room cubicle, and found Alison sitting in a chair holding Sarah’s hand. Sarah had regained consciousness. He noticed the I.V. dripping sucrose into her left arm. Their eyes met. The nurse questioned him. He ignored her.

      It all made sense now.

      How could he have been so stupid?

      Jason turned to Alison. She was so glad to see him. They hugged each other tightly, Alison’s eyes tearing up with relief. Sarah looked at them and smiled. As they released each other, Alison began to explain that the doctor wanted to run some tests. He suspected diabetes.

      “She’ll be fine now,” Jason replied calmly. “No need to worry. When they run their tests, they won’t find diabetes, or anything else.”

      He was smiling, smiling at Sarah, smiling at the nurse, smiling at Alison.

      Sarah was also smiling, mostly at Jason.

      Alison knew, somehow, that he was right. She had a lot of questions but was just too exhausted to ask them. She fell back in her chair, looked at them both, and began smiling herself. The only one not smiling at this point was the nurse. The poor woman was now entirely confused.

      “Doctor!”

      *******

      Jason waved hello to the security guard at the front desk, as he hurried past on his way to Schimmel’s office. Again, he heard the theme from the Flintstones. Pulling his phone from his pocket he answered impatiently.

      “Hello.”

      “Hello darling. Stupid meeting at 1:00 P.M.”

      He looked at his phone. It was exactly 12:30.

      “Thank you.”

      “You’re welcome lover.”

      He doubled his pace. When Janet had phoned him, she was very clear about the importance of this pre-meeting meeting. She had also agreed to explain things to the boss and lobby, (as best as she could), on his behalf. He found the big man standing, not sitting, when he entered the twelve hundred square foot office. The mood was humorless to say the least. Jason figured the best approach would be straight ahead.

      “Boss, I got here as fast as I could. I apologize for not leaving us the proper amount of time for this meeting. It simply…was unavoidable.”

      Schimmel returned to the chair behind his desk and sat down. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. When he spoke, there was genuine concern in his voice.

      “How is Sarah doing?”

      In the two and a half years Jason had been at Universal, he had learned to respect Bob Schimmel for a variety of reasons. His opinion of the man just shot up several notches.

      “She’s doing well. They’re going to keep her in the hospital overnight to run some tests, but she’s OK. Uh, Boss, Bob, thanks.”

      Schimmel smiled for the first time that day.

      “You’re welcome. Now, let’s get down to business. We’re a little short on time here, so I’ll get right to basics. Tell me, what you think about this project of ours.”

      “What I think about it?”

      “Please.”

      “What I think about it. Well, I…”

      It wasn’t often that Jason drew a blank mentally. His motivation was, of course, the research itself. Similar to how a mathematician’s real joy is in finding the most elegant theory. The practical applications aren’t the concern. Jason rarely, if ever, looked past the lab.

      Thinking it through, he concluded that discovering more efficient ways of growing food had to be a good thing. How could it not? Not to mention, the huge profits Universal would seem to be in line for with something like this. Seemed like a win-win. He continued.

      “I guess I see a more efficient way to feed the human race. Considering more than a third of the people of this planet go to bed hungry, that’s a good thing. Also, this should be very profitable for us as well. Sounds like we have the keys to a winning situation all around.”

      “Could be the keys to Pandora’s Box,” Schimmel said dryly.

      “Huh?”

      “How many species of plants are there on this planet?” Schimmel asked.

      “The whole planet?”

      “Yes, the whole planet.”

      “Give or take a few, at last count, about four hundred thousand.”

      “Four hundred...really?”

      “Yes, really.”

      “O.K. Let’s start with wheat. Do you have any idea how much wheat is exported from the United States every year, and to whom?”

      “Would have to be millions of tons,” Jason responded. “I would assume some of it goes into humanitarian causes, but the bulk of it probably would go to whoever pays for it.”

      “Well, it is a crop