The Wrong Chemistry (12 page)

The students around the door barely glanced at her as she walked past them into the room. Breathing a sigh of relief, she crept toward the back of the room and took a seat on a straw mat.

The audience now sat patiently facing an empty podium, waiting expectantly and occasionally murmuring softly to one another. As Nancy watched, a young man got up and stood before the crowd. Nancy recognized him as Bob, the guy she thought was hurt on the road her first day at Emerson.

“Greetings, brothers and sisters,” he called. “Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, let's get down to business. It's time to talk about tomorrow's demonstration.”

Around Nancy, the crowd burst into loud cheers.

“Tomorrow is a historic occasion for all of us,” Bob continued. He paced back and forth in front of them. “Tomorrow, we will capture the attention of the nation. When we stage our protest against Senator Claiborne, the country will know that POE means business. Someone has to protect our environment, and we're the ones to start doing it!”

The students around Nancy jumped to their feet, yelling and waving their arms. Awkwardly, Nancy followed their lead.

She realized they were discussing the plan for their faked gun battle.

“Listen carefully,” Bob called when the crowd had quieted. “This event must be carefully orchestrated. You all must do exactly what
you're told. Remember, you have a job to do. Now, we need a head count. Everyone who has volunteered as a ‘victim,' raise your hand.”

As hands went up, Nancy realized she had sat in the middle of a group of victims. To her horror, Karen Lewis got up in front of the meeting to count the hands. Nancy hunched her shoulders and looked down, hoping to escape notice.

“Thank you,” Bob called as the count was taken. “The water guns for the attackers are in the closet at the back of the room. All of you who are attackers, pick up a gun and make sure you bring it to the auditorium tomorrow by four-thirty
P.M
. Don't attract attention by talking together or loitering in the halls.”

“Victims” and “attackers,” Nancy thought. Exactly what were they planning to do? And what did the demonstration have to do with the CLT?

“Finally,” Bob called, “and this is the most important thing—it must look absolutely real. We will warn the senator that unless he puts an end to his reckless plans to destroy our parkland, there will be war in this country. We want him to think this is really happening. I want the people around you screaming in terror. I want them to believe that unless they stop Senator Claiborne and others like him, they'll see a war in this nation and blood on their hands!”

Nancy stared in astonishment. Didn't they realize how dangerous their plan was? If the campus police thought they were using real guns for a real attack, they could begin firing. Most likely, the rest of the audience would panic. It would be absolute chaos. People might be seriously hurt, even killed. Didn't anyone see the danger in that?

Stunned, Nancy looked at the students caught up in their fervor. Obviously, not one of them was thinking clearly.

In the middle of her despair, Nancy noticed Karen Lewis get up and go down the stairs to the basement. Had she recognized Nancy? Getting up quietly, Nancy slipped away from the group and followed Karen.

At the bottom of the stairs, Nancy had to choose between a long hallway that stretched straight ahead and one that veered off to the left. Each hallway had a series of doors along it. At the end of the straight corridor, Nancy saw a thin line of light under a door.

Nancy crept toward the light, flattening herself along the wall and peering into the windows in each door. Through one window, Nancy recognized lab equipment on a counter. Her heart began to pound.

But the room was empty. Nancy continued searching for Karen. Anxiously, she quickened her pace. There was only one door left, at the
very end of the hall. She heard nothing from inside.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly pushed the door with her foot. It swung open immediately. The sound of her pounding heart seemed to fill the corridor. When no one reacted to the open door, Nancy gathered her courage and burst inside. Her eyes widened.

On the floor in the corner, their hands tied and their mouths gagged, were Angela and Ned. And they weren't moving!

N
ANCY CRASHED THROUGH THE DOOR.

Quickly she rushed to untie them. Not only were they gagged and their hands tied behind their backs but their feet were lashed together as well. Someone was making sure they couldn't even
try
to escape.

Nancy pulled Ned's gag off first.

“Ned,” she whispered desperately. “Ned, can you talk? It's me, Nancy.”

Ned groaned faintly but made no attempt to speak. They were drugged, Nancy realized. She turned to work on Angela's gag. Gently, she slapped Angela's face. No response. Without
their help, she'd never get them out. They were much too heavy to carry.

Amber and Jan would be peeking in the meeting room any minute, but they'd never know to look for Nancy in the basement. And if she went upstairs to get them, something could happen to Ned and Angela while she was gone. Karen Lewis might already be rounding up people to stop her.

As Nancy untied Ned's hands and propped him up against the wall her mind was racing. She'd intended to search for the CLT, but now that she'd found Ned and Angela she could hardly abandon them—and she certainly didn't want to.

Ned's handsome face was slack and a dark bruise swelled on his right cheekbone.

“Ned, oh, Ned, please wake up,” she pleaded softly. His eyelids fluttered briefly. “That's it, Ned,” she encouraged him. “You've got to help me.”

She had bent to loosen the ropes around his feet when she heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor outside. Nancy whirled, searching out a hiding place. Just in time, she ducked behind a stack of cartons.

Karen Lewis stood in the doorway.

“What is this? Ned, Angela?” Karen cried in disbelief. “Oh, no—what happened to you?” From the tone in her voice, Karen seemed
genuinely distressed. Nancy peered behind the boxes to see Karen rush to Ned's side, her hand over her mouth.

“Ned,” Karen whispered, bending over him. “Can you hear me? Who did this to you?”

Relief flooded through Nancy. Karen had no part in tying up Angela or Ned. She stood up.

“Karen,” she whispered desperately. “Don't be alarmed—you've got to help me get them out of here. It's Bangs, he—” The words died in her throat.

Philip Bangs was standing in the doorway. Coolly, he surveyed the room, a wide smile spreading across his face.

“Good evening, Ms. Drew,” he drawled. “You caught us at an awkward moment.”

Nancy took a step out from behind the cartons. “Don't move,” Bangs ordered. Turning to Karen, he said, “Don't panic, Karen. Everything will be all right if you do just as I say. Go wrap up that meeting. Get everyone out of here—before our girl detective tries anything else.”

Wordlessly, Karen left the room. At the doorway, she turned, throwing Nancy a look she couldn't decipher.

“You should have left when you had the chance,” Bangs said casually. He gestured to the unmoving figures of Ned and Angela. “Now you've put their lives in jeopardy.”

“They have nothing to do with this,” Nancy exclaimed. “I'm the only one who knows about the CLT.”

To her satisfaction, Bangs started at the mention of the chemical. “You have figured it out, then.” He grinned and saluted her. “You're more clever than I suspected.”

“Let them go, Bangs,” Nancy bargained. “I'll help you get away if you do.”

Bangs cocked an eyebrow at her. “Will you, now? I'm afraid that's impossible. Your friend Ned here asked a few too many questions about me. So you're lying, Ms. Drew—you're not the only one who knows about CLT.” Reaching behind him, Bangs drew a gun from the waistband of his pants.

Inwardly, Nancy groaned. Poor Ned. In trying to help her and Angela, he had put himself—and Nancy—in even greater danger.

“First, come out from behind those cartons where I can see you,” Bangs directed. “Sit cross-legged on the floor over there.”

Nancy stepped out from the desk and sat beside Ned.

“Not there. Over there,” Bangs screamed, taking a step toward her. Quickly, Nancy scooted away.

“That's better. You think he's going to wake up and help you, but you're wrong,” Bangs muttered. He walked over to Ned and nudged
him roughly with his foot. Ned didn't make a sound.

Nancy cringed. “You're going to pay for this, Bangs,” she promised.

Bangs smiled. “Will I? I doubt it. You may be smart, but don't forget I'm smarter. I masterminded this whole thing single-handedly. In fact, POE was created specifically to steal the CLT. Quite clever, I think, when you realize none of the members have any idea what the stuff really is. After all, who would believe that an antitechnology group was stealing an extraordinarily dangerous biological weapon?”

“No one,” Nancy said, playing along with the game. She had suspected the true nature of CLT, but Bangs had just confirmed it for her.

Bangs chuckled. “So, you knew what the CLT really was, then. Perhaps you're smarter than I thought.”

Nancy pretended to be as cool as Bangs. “Of course,” she said. “Once I put the Shiranti Corporation together with the time you were at Jamison, I knew what you were up to. CLT affects bacteria in the same way it affects animals.

“You heard about Maszak's ‘accident'—that his growth hormone got mixed up in a rheumatic fever culture and that the disease began growing out of control—and that's why you're so interested in it,” Nancy said grimly. “Because
a disease that spread so fast could wipe out whole towns at once.”

Bangs looked delighted at the thought. “And the best part is, it would be impossible to trace. If you planted CLT in a city water system the relatively harmless bacteria already there would create an immediate plague. No one would know where it came from. Particularly if the hormone itself was shipped in by a well-known pharmaceutical company—along with its regular supply of medicine.” Bangs rubbed his hands together gleefully.

Nancy was sickened by Bangs' twisted mind.

“The world is full of dangerous bacteria, Ms. Drew,” he said happily. “And CLT would have the same effect on any number of them. We have to thank Maszak for that—his treatment is the key. Somehow, he makes the hormone compatible with the bacteria.”

“Yes, something only Maszak knows,” Nancy said thoughtfully. “The lab here—you've been using your medical background to try to duplicate Maszak's treatment. But you haven't found it,” Nancy stated, realizing the whole truth at once. “If you had, you would have left Emerson a long time ago.”

“A nosy girl detective and her macho boyfriend put a little kink in my plans,” Bangs said savagely. “But not for long. Karen works in the dean's office. She'll continue to feed me
Maszak's files. Bob is a clever engineering student—he made the tunnels usable for me. I have many people helping, you see. And all in the name of a good cause—saving the world from Maszak's biological weapon.”

“You're very clever,” Nancy conceded.

Bangs nodded proudly. “You did give me a scare,” he said generously. He glanced at Ned and Angela. “I was hoping she would help steal the secret. As a biochem major, she knew the lab, and no one would have suspected her questions. But unfortunately, your friend Ned made her a little suspicious. When Angela learned I was taking the CLT, she tried to warn Maszak. Luckily, I got her away in time.”

“But not before she left a clue behind,” Nancy said, pulling on the earring she was wearing.

Bangs shrugged. “I almost had her convinced we were taking CLT as a blow against biotechnology everywhere. None of these silly students knows the real reason.”

“There are an awful lot of students involved,” Nancy said. “You can't keep them in the dark forever.”

“I don't need to,” Bangs replied. “The little disturbance tomorrow will probably mark the end of POE, anyway. The school will ban them after a stunt like the gun battle they have planned.”

“People could be killed,” Nancy said coldly.

Bangs shrugged. “If they are, no one will be thinking about my little theft, will they?”

Nancy was revolted. Bangs was a madman, but she had to keep him talking until Ned woke up, or until Amber and Jan brought help.

“So now what?” she asked. “You still don't know the formula. What are you going to do about that?”

“Forget the formula,” he said angrily. “I don't need it. I can sell the CLT and cut my losses. I'll still be a billionaire.” Bangs waved his gun toward Ned and Angela. “And only the three of you stand in my way.”