I tucked the device from the column back into a pocket. Lingyi had not failed me. I put my helmet back on and listened at the door’s opening. Hearing nothing but the soft whirring of machinery, I went inside and shut the vault behind me. The lights had been dimmed in the empty laboratory, but flickered on to full brightness when I entered. It felt even colder than when I had sneaked in with Daiyu. Going directly to where the flu virus was stored, I peered through the glass top, then carefully removed a duplicate vial from a pocket. Arun had made me a replica that looked exactly like the three stored inside this case from my description. I visually compared the vial to Jin’s and was satisfied.

Unless they retested the sample, no one would know the difference.

Putting the decoy vial away, I ran my hands over the rectangular steel case. When I had visited with Daiyu, I didn’t get the chance to study how to access the vials. There had been no noticeable touch pad on or near the case. The time ticked away relentlessly for me in helmet. Two thirty-six a.m. already. Gliding over the lower edge of the case, my gloved hand felt the outline of a square button. I pressed, and a touch pad extended outward. The only thing I could think of to do was to enter Daiyu’s personal code, knowing it was unlikely she’d have access.

Surprisingly, the glass case lifted open, releasing an even colder burst of air. I took a vial out and slipped our placebo in its place. Securing the sample into a hidden pocket, I exited the lab, relieved to see an empty corridor. Halfway to the elevator, I heard someone whistling a soft tune and wheels being rolled across the tile floor. Cursing, I ducked into one of the doors on the right as a janitor turned the corner.

He hadn’t seen me. But just as I was feeling smug over my fast reflexes, the lights in the lab turned on, triggered by my motion; the janitor stopped whistling. “Hello?” he said. “Who’s there?”

Shit!

I rolled behind a workstation, out of view of the glass windows that lined the entire upper part of the labs. The wheels continued to roll, slower now, coming closer. Then silence, and the click of a door opening into the room I was in. “Hey,” the janitor said in a gruff voice. “Anybody there?”

I didn’t move, didn’t breathe. I could take him down with a sleep spell injection if necessary, but that just left a doped-up janitor for someone to find the next morning, giving security reason to go through all their recordings. For the second time that night, I prayed for luck to be on my side.

“Useless technology,” the janitor said after a long moment.