章 53: MAD SCIENTIST [4]
Eventually, they passed through another door and found themselves in a well-appointed laboratory, almost the entirety of one wall of which was dominated by stacks of cramped cages containing a variety of animals – monkeys, wallabies, rats. Running around the other three walls was a waist-high counter cluttered with items of gleaming hi-tech equipment and several computer consoles, on each of whose screens were displayed graphs or diagrams or simply tables of fluctuating data.
Examining the readings on a piece of equipment that looked to Sam like some kind of over-elaborate cappuccino machine was a wiry man in his thirties with close-cropped sandy hair. Although he was wearing a white lab coat, he didn't match Sam's idea of a mad scientist at all. He'd been expecting someone older, with wild hair and maybe a pair of spectacles perched on his forehead. This guy, however, looked more like a mountaineer or a marathon runner. When they entered the room, he turned sharply to look at them, his eyes so startlingly pale and blue that for a moment he looked almost other-worldly. Then he smiled and bustled across, hand outstretched.
'Welcome! Welcome! I'm Dr. West. How nice to have visitors. Way out here it happens so rarely.'
Of the three of them, Sam was the one who automatically put out his hand. The scientist's grip was surprisingly strong as he shook it.
'What's with all the animals?' Logan asked.
For a moment, West's smile faltered, and he glanced at the moustached security guard.
'Something wrong?' asked Purna.
'I was informed that you came here with Mowen? And that you had important information about a recent virus outbreak in the city?'
'That's pretty much it,' said Sam. 'So?'
West looked at Logan, his eyes piercing. 'So why ask me about the animals?'
Perplexed, Logan shrugged. 'Just asking, that's all. Hey, it's no biggie. You don't have to answer if you don't want to.'
West's face and body remained tense for a couple more seconds, and then he relaxed, his shoulders slumping.
'Forgive me,' he said. 'I thought for a moment you had got in here under false pretenses.'
'What false pretenses would those be?' asked Purna.
West glanced at the caged animals almost guiltily. 'Well … the nature of my research doesn't always meet with … shall we say "universal approval"?'
'You're a vivisectionist?' said Purna coldly.
West winced. 'Please. That's such an emotive word.'
'What would you call it?'
'I'm a research scientist. I'm currently engaged on a program of cosmetic testing.'
'On animals?' said Sam.
'Would you rather I used human beings?' snapped West.
Sam shrugged. Animal experimentation wasn't something he approved of exactly, but neither did he feel strongly enough about the subject to engage the doctor in a moral debate. 'Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do,' he mumbled. 'Stuff's gotta be tested somehow, I guess.'
'Exactly,' said West. 'Though try telling that to the animal activists.' Perhaps realizing he was getting a little too emotional, he made an obvious effort to relax and eventually managed a tight, somewhat twisted smile. 'That's why we're right out here in the … ah … boondocks, as it were.'
'Is that the only reason?' asked Purna.
West's expression was now one of polite puzzlement. 'What do you mean?'
'This virus we came to talk to you about,' said Purna. 'There are people out there who claim you're responsible for it.'
West laughed. 'Do they now? Well, that's a new one, I must say.'
'It was Mowen himself who claimed it originated from here. He told us it was common knowledge among the local people.'
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