ONCE I GET OFF THE PHONE, I HEAD INTO UNCLE RANDALL’S OFFICE. I LOOK through the papers on his desk. Cluttered doesn’t even begin to describe it, but I check each page. There are all sorts of symbols and translations from every language known to mankind and even something that looks like a Sudoku puzzle with symbols instead of numbers. But whatever sketch he was looking at last night is nowhere to be found. He must’ve taken it with him. I look in the drawers, too, just to make sure, but if it’s around, I can’t find it. I try to replace all the papers as messy as when I found them, then I leave the office.
The next day I check again, just in case I missed anything. Then I spend some time trying to decipher the symbols on the rubbing I found in the Canopic jar. It’s like Uncle Randall said about the Deluge Segment. Some of the symbols are familiar, but most of them just feel incomplete. I also get as much information as I can on Amino Corp and the layout of their headquarters from what I can find online. It’s a combination of floor plans, advertisements, and public photos from holiday parties that people have posted on their Facebook pages. Hopefully it’s enough.
Friday morning finally rolls around, and I meet Lucas at Java Coffee.
“Tell me again why I have an assistant for the day?” Lucas says.
I’ve been reluctant to give him all the details because I haven’t wanted him to tell me that I can’t come along. But now that it’s finally Friday, I give him the plan.
“You want me to get you through security so you can snoop around?” Lucas says. “How is that being my assistant?”
I shrug. “I can carry some chalk sets in for you if you want.”
“No, I don’t want,” Lucas says. “And I also don’t want you to get me fired.”
“I’m not going to get you fired.”
“What if you get caught?”
“I won’t get caught,” I say.
“But what if you do?”
Getting caught isn’t an option.
“I won’t. No one will even notice me,” I say. “Anyway, I’ve done some research on Amino Corp. This isn’t the only artifact they have.”
My research turned up quite a few things. John Bingham, the CEO who’d bought the Deluge Segment back in the eighties, is the father of the current CEO, Doctor Peter Bingham. Both father and son have a huge interest in artifacts and have set up a private viewing gallery for parties that’s open to employees by request. I’m sure I can talk my way in. All I need is two minutes to take a picture of the Deluge Segment.
“I’m not sneaking around with you. You know that, right?”
“You can be my lookout,” I say. “We’ll keep the phone line open. All you have to do is let me know if someone’s coming.”
He seems to consider this. “And I don’t have to go anywhere I’m not supposed to?”
“Nope,” I say. “It’ll take five minutes, tops.”
“Five minutes,” Lucas says. “That’s all you get.”
“That’s all I need.”
“Hmmm …,” Lucas says.
“So that’s a yes?”
“Fine, yes.”
And so it’s set.
Lucas drives us to Amino Corp. They’re located downtown, with a parking garage underneath. It’s employee parking only, and Lucas refuses to talk to the security guard. I don’t mind. I’d rather not be on some parking garage camera just in case something goes horribly wrong.
Nothing will go horribly wrong.
I tell myself this over and over as he drives around looking for street parking. It takes forever, and finally he shoves his Camry into a questionable half-spot next to a dumpster.
“You better not make me late, woman,” Lucas says.
I try to open my door, but with the dumpster, there’s not enough room, so instead I crawl over the front seat and get out on the driver’s side.
“Me make you late!” I say. “You know, next time I’ll have Devin take us.”
“No way.” Lucas has a strict “no chauffer” policy.
We walk the two blocks to the front entrance of Amino Corp. Lucas opens the door and lets me go in first. Beyond the first door is a second one, secured with a swipe card. Lucas presses a buzzer next to it.
“Hey, my name is Lucas O’Keeffe. I’m here to do art in the coffee shops.” He’s completely awkward when he talks, like he’s nervous.
Wait. He probably is nervous. This art stuff is his dream. And there is no way I’m going to get him in trouble.
“Come on in,” whoever is talking into the intercom says, and the door clicks.
Inside is another world. All I’ve heard about Amino Corp is the bad stuff. The unregulated tests in third world countries, the unsanctioned animal testing, the accidental gas releases that might not have been accidents. But this …
First off, along the entire back wall are artifacts behind glass cases, like a museum. The CEO and his interest in antiquities isn’t an exaggeration. Just what’s in the lobby alone must be worth tens of millions.
Lucas elbows me and nods toward them. I scan them quickly but don’t see anything that looks like the Deluge Segment. It must be back in the private gallery. My heart speeds up at the possibility of seeing it.
We walk to a receptionist’s desk, and she gives us visitor badges.
“You have access to anywhere with a yellow carpet,” she says, pointing at the ground under our feet. “Anything else is off limits. But don’t worry too much. If you aren’t supposed to be somewhere, you shouldn’t be able to enter.”
That’s just perfect. Maybe I can snag a badge from some unsuspecting employee when they aren’t looking.
Maybe I can end up in jail. Because it must be illegal to sneak around some giant pharmaceutical corporation. Amino Corp would probably have me arrested.
Okay, this is getting completely ridiculous. All I want to do is take a couple pictures of some artifact. It’s not anything to do with their research or drugs. Everything is going to be fine.
“You okay, Hannah?” Lucas shakes me from my thoughts. We’re already a few steps away from the receptionist. I turn back to see her watching me like I’m crazy.
“Fine,” I say. “Which way’s the coffee shop?”
He points down the path ahead of us. “Follow the yellow brick road.”
I smack him on the arm. “Wizard of Oz? Really?”
“Sure,” Lucas says. “Somewhere over the rainbow.”
I need to stop the dorky references before they get out of hand.
“Okay, here’s the plan. You get set up. I help you. Then we say we’re going to the bathroom.”
“The bathroom? They probably have one in the coffee shop,” Lucas says. “That’ll never work.”
I smile. “I’ll tell them that I need some privacy. You know … for that time of the month. That always works.”
Lucas cringes, like the mere thought of this excuse gives him the heebeegeebees. “Always?”
“Always.”
It turns out that Amino Corp has the best coffee shop in the world. They offer Lucas and me free drinks, so I get a cappuccino. Lucas only wants water. I take a sip and then set it down.
“You guys don’t have a bathroom, do you?”
“Sure,” the guy barista says. “Right back there?”
I look toward the café bathroom and grimace. “Oh uh …”
“Is there a problem?” he asks.
“Well,” I say. “It’s just that I have this embarrassing … Okay, I don’t really like to talk about it, but is there one with a little more privacy?”
I swear the guy takes a step back, like maybe he’s afraid he’ll catch whatever I have. Which is nothing, just for the record.
“Oh, sure,” he says. “If you go back out in the hallway and turn right, you’ll see them halfway down on the left.” Then he turns away and makes himself really busy grinding beans.
“Good lord, Hannah, you are so embarrassing.”
“Yeah, I know. Now come on.”
Lucas sets his art supplies down near the chalkboard and we head back out of the café, down the hall. Sure enough, there are the bathrooms.
I slip in my Bluetooth earpiece. “Okay, you wait here. If you see something, let me know. I’ll be back in five minutes.”
I hope. According to the Internet, the gallery is here on the first floor, toward the back of the building. It can’t be that hard to find.
I wind my way down the hallways, from the yellow carpet and on to the blue. And there, when I’m nearly to the back, are two fancy double doors. Beyond them is a large room, lit with dim lights, and along the edges of the room are all sorts of artifacts. I know this, not because the doors are made of glass, but because they’re already wide open.
I stop and press myself against the wall then call Lucas on my cell phone. “Have you seen anyone come in?” I whisper to Lucas through the earpiece.
“Not yet,” Lucas says, way too loud.
“You need to talk softer,” I whisper.
“Is this better?” he whispers, so quietly that I can barely hear him.
“A little louder than that.”
“How about this?” he says, a bit louder.
“Perfect,” I say. “It’s just that the doors are open.”
“Be careful, Hannah,” he says.
I nod in reply even though he can’t hear me.
I stand there, pressed against the wall for a solid minute, listening for anything, but it’s as silent as a vacuum tube. Then I edge forward on the blue carpet, so softly that I don’t even hear my own footfalls. A couple more steps and I’m peering through the door. I don’t see anyone, so I step in and scan the room. And there, on the back wall, behind a glass case, is the Deluge Segment, exactly what I’m looking for. The only problem is that someone’s standing directly in front of it.