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Chapter One
Joseph Kellogg removed the stopper from the next tube of designer virus. This tube might hold the cure for cancer. Or it could be another failure like the dozens he'd screened last month and the month before that. At this rate, he'd remain a graduate student for the rest of his life.
Joe inserted the pipette tip into the test tube and withdrew five microliters of viral solution. There was less than a drop of fluid in the clear plastic tip, yet enough viral particles there to infect the hundreds of cells growing in the tiny, plastic dish in front of him. He depressed the pipette's plunger, squirting the solution on top of cells, and then ejected the pipette's plastic tip into a beaker of bleach.
Dr. Chastity Benton, his thesis advisor, insisted that one of his genetically modified viruses would work. He just had to have patience to find it. Then his real work would begin. How did one convince the medical sciences community that a virus could trick cancer cells into killing themselves while leaving healthy cells unharmed? He knew he was getting ahead of himself. He had to get the virus to work first.
He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist. He had about forty more viral clones to plate tonight and then he could go home.
The door to the tissue culture room opened. Startled, Joe turned to find Dr. Benton watching him with a puzzled expression. Though she looked like she'd just crawled out of bed and tossed on the cleanest thing in the hamper, she was as stunning as always. Her chin-length hair, tangled in disarray, framed her lovely face, and her blue eyes sparkled with their usual mischief.
"You're here early," she said.
"I haven't left yet."
"It's three a.m., Joe."
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