“Come on!” Laurie snapped. “There’s no time for curiosity. We’ve got to get out of here.”

“It’s true, man,” Warren said. “Especially after hitting that security type back there, we’ve got to make tracks.”

“You guys go,” Jack said distractedly. “I’ll meet you at the boat.”

Warren, Laurie, and Natalie exchanged anxious glances.

Jack tried the door. It was unlocked. He opened it and walked inside.

“Oh, for crissake,” Laurie complained. Jack could be so frustrating. It was one thing for him to have little concern for his own safety, but it was quite another thing for him to compromise others.

“This place is going to be crawling with security dudes and soldiers in nothing flat,” Warren said.

“I know,” Laurie said. “You guys go. I’ll get him to come as soon as I can.”

“I can’t leave you,” Warren said.

“Think of Natalie,” Laurie said.

“Nonsense,” Natalie said. “I’m no frail female. We’re in this together.”

“You ladies go in there and talk some sense into that man,” Warren said. “I’m going to run down the hall and pull the fire alarm.”

“What on earth for?” Laurie asked.

“It’s an old trick I learned as a teenager,” Warren said. “Whenever there’s trouble cause as much chaos as you can. It gives you a chance to slip away.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Laurie said. She motioned for Natalie to follow and entered the lab.

They found Jack already engaged in pleasant conversation with a laboratory technician wearing a long white coat. She was a freckle-faced redhead with an amiable smile. Jack already had her laughing.

“Excuse me!” Laurie said, struggling to keep her voice down. “Jack, we have to go.”

“Laurie, meet Rolanda Phieffer,” Jack said. “She’s originally from Heidelberg, Germany.”

“Jack!” Laurie intoned through clenched teeth.

“Rolanda’s been telling me something very interesting,” Jack said. “She and her colleagues here are working on the genes for minor histocompatibility antigens. They’re moving them from a specific chromosome in one cell and sticking them into the same location on the same chromosome in another cell.”

Natalie, who’d walked over to a large picture window overlooking the square, hastily turned back into the room. “It’s getting worse. An entire car load of those Arabs in black suits are arriving.”

At that moment, the fire alarm in the building went off. It featured alternating sequences of three ear-splitting shrieks of a horn followed by a disembodied voice: “Fire in the laboratory! Please proceed immediately to stairwells for evacuation! Do not use the elevators!”

“Oh, my word!” Rolanda said. She looked around quickly to see what she should take with her.

Laurie grabbed Jack by both arms and shook him. “Jack, be reasonable! We have to get out of here.”

“I’ve figured it out,” Jack said with a wry smile.

“I don’t give a good goddamn,” Laurie spat. “Come on!”

They rushed out into the hall. Other people were appearing as well. Everyone seemed confused as they looked up and down the hall. Some were sniffing. There was animated conversation. Many people were carrying their lap-top computers.