Unfinished Business

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Simon waited patiently for Dr. Rendell in his lab – what was left of it. While it had been ages since Simon had been in a real laboratory, it was obvious to his unpracticed eye that several major pieces of equipment were missing. What was left was mostly minor things, and several places had large containers of lab supplies stacked up for what had apparently been months. Maybe years. This wasn’t a working lab any more, it was a glorified storage closet.

Simon knew that Dr. Rendell was being relentlessly prepped by Dr. Romano for the interview, but he didn’t care. As exciting as it was to meet the man most directly responsible for the birth of the Reavers, he was far more excited about the possibility of curing River’s brain. Hopefully his desperate attempt to bribe Romano would produce the insight he needed to undertake the process – if nothing else, it would point out the direction of his future research.

Finally the door to the lab opened and a haggard looking man in a shabby lab-coat ambled in. DR. RENDELL was stenciled on the coat, with GROUP THREE PROJECT LEADER below it. Below that someone had taken a permanent marker and added MAD SCIENTISTS UNION LOCAL 781 and a crudely drawn cartoon of a psychotic-looking lab mouse, complete with bulging cranium. At least he had a sense of humor.

“Dr. Rendell,” he said, standing and bowing formally. Rendell returned the bow with a minimum of formality. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Likewise,” Rendell said, smiling. For a man whose head was on the proverbial chopping block, he seemed much too at ease. Simon realized that the man was serious – he was looking forward to this. “I’ve been wondering when you would show up. I’ve been waiting for you for more than a decade, now.”

“I . . . beg your pardon?” Simon said.

“Inspector, I killed thirty million people. Someone was bound to notice, eventually.”

“You seem pretty cavalier about the whole thing, Doctor,” Simon said, warily.

“I’