Bug
Spray
By
Rocket
Episode
9.12
Part Two
Wellforce Pharmaceuticals had a good track record. They’d
been involved in developing new water purification techniques
and more efficient air scrubbers to capture pollution
from factory chimneys as well as a wide range of new medical
drugs. Their rate of unwanted side effects was lower than
average and their safety statistics were impressive. In
the fifteen years Dr Ortega had started there, not one
lawsuit had been brought against her department, a record
unbroken by any of the other major pharmaceutical companies
in California.
Willis had learned from Lucy that an internship at Wellforce
had made her the envy of her fellow students, and that
the training she had received there was excellent. On
the face if it, Wellforce were a really good company,
working hard with the best people and state of the art
equipment for the betterment of mankind.
But digging into their accounts told a different story.
Over the last two years, equipment had ben purchased and
subsequently gone missing many times. The containment
system that had appeared on Dr Ortega’s department
record had been carefully buried in the code, along with
another six such ‘disappearances’. Halfway
through the afternoon, Willis had become convinced that
Dr Ortega hadn’t been involved and, when MacGyver
asked her about it, she confirmed that the ‘germ
herding’ equipment had not been bought, echoing
Willis’s opinion that it would not be required for
the kind of work her team were doing.
* * * *
“So what
have we got?” MacGyver set down Willis’s coffee
on the table and sipped his hot chocolate.
“These.”
Willis spread out several printouts. “Someone’s
been buying these things and then losing the purchases
in the system. Specifically in Dr Ortega’s department
so that Phoenix is footing the bill.” He shook his
head. “If you add it all up, it puts her department
way over budget. No wonder Pete asked us to come take
a look.”
“How would
she NOT know about this?” MacGyver watched Willis
shrug as he reached for the coffee.
“Because
she can’t se it.” Willis tapped a key and
rolled his chair away from the computer. “Here –
sign in as Dr Ortega and you’ll see what I mean.”
“Sign
in as Dr Ortega…?” MacGyver pulled his chair
forwards and looked sideways at Willis. “She gave
you her passwords?”
“Um…
Not exactly.” Willis blushed. “You see, most
people’s passwords are pretty easy to work out if
you –“ he caught MacGyver’s indignant
glare. “You know what? Never mind.” Willis
reached out and tapped at the keyboard. “You’re
in.”
Frowning, MacGyver
pressed the key and accounts data filled the screen. He
leaned forward to read the columns of fine print.
“Willis,
one day your off-limits hacking skills are going to get
you into real trouble.” MacGyver glanced down at
the papers on the desk. “But it looks like it isn’t
today. You’re right, none of this is visible to
Dr Ortega. As far as she can see, they’re right
on track and right on budget.” He glanced at Willis.
“Can we backtrack this? Find out where it’s
all coming from?”
“Maybe.”
Willis leaned in to the keyboard and started typing.
* * * *
“Any luck?”
MacGyver popped his head around the office door some hours
later.
“Yeah.”
Willis pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It
wasn’t easy to find, but they track back to this
account. No name, unfortunately, that’s not here
– I’ve been through everything. Looks like
it’s been happening for the last three years or
so though, so we might be able to narrow it down to people
who’ve been here that long.”
“OK, good.”
MacGyver sat down, pulling the printouts towards him.
“What could you make with this bunch of stuff, anyway?”
He scanned through the highlighted entries on the inventory,
then frowned and read them again, making notes on a piece
of paper. He sat back and ran a hand through his shaggy
hair. “Willis? I think we have a bigger problem.”
“How much
bigger?” Willis sounded distracted, scrolling through
screenfuls of data.
“Much
bigger.” MacGyver drew an elaborate diagram on the
paper and handed it to Willis. “If anyone puts all
these puzzle pieces together, they could make one of these…”
Willis stared
at the paper and frowned, then his eyes widened.
“That’s
not for brewing up new medicines!” He stared at
MacGyver, his expression horrified. “That’s
for brewing up…”
“New germs!”
MacGyver’s face was grim. “It’s for
brewing up new super-germs – and Phoenix has unknowingly
been funding it!”
* * * *
MacGyver stepped
into the shower, letting the hot water soak his hair and
beat on his shoulders. He and Willis had checked their
work and decided to tell Pete before involving Dr Ortega.
The conversation had left Pete as shocked as MacGyver
and Willis were. How dare someone use the Phoenix Foundation
as a cover for such a terrible crime?
He poured shampoo
into his hand and washed his hair. Pete had promised that
he’d get onto it first thing in the morning, and
that he’d let MacGyver and Willis know what to do
next as soon as possible.
MacGyver rinsed
the soap out of his hair and scrubbed the rest of himself
clean. He stepped out of the shower to hear his cell phone
ringing.
“Hello?”
He held the phone away from his ear, trying not to drip
water onto it.
“Mac!”
Sergeant Cooper’s voice boomed out of the speaker.
“How the hell are you?!”
“Cooper?
Hey, long time, no see, right?” MacGyver dried his
hair, then cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder
as he dried the rest of himself. “I’m OK,
kinda. Out on an assignment at the moment.” He balanced
on one leg to dry his foot. “What are you up to?”
“Also
out in the field. Where are you?” Cooper’s
voice had regained all the buoyant confidence MacGyver
remembered from Vietnam and he smiled to hear it.
“Just
outside San Diego.” MacGyver swapped the phone to
his other shoulder and dried his other foot. He wrapped
the towel around his waist and sat on the edge of the
motel room bed.
“Son of
a gun, so am I!” Cooper sounded delighted. “How
about we meet in the middle? I know a great place.”
“Uh…
Sure.” MacGyver glanced at the files spread out
on the bed, aware of how much work he had to do. “Where
do you want to meet?”
* * * *
MacGyver parked
the Jeep and walked down the busy street, looking for
the bar Cooper had chosen. He hadn’t wanted to come
out, feeling down after such a bad day and wanting to
get more work done, but he felt his spirits lifting at
the prospect of seeing his old friend.
“Mac!
Over here!” Cooper looked better than when MacGyver
had last seen him. Bringing Hawkins to trial and seeing
him pay for his crimes had done Cooper a lot of good.
The fact that Hawkins had been murdered soon after in
prison didn’t sit well with MacGyyer, but Cooper
regarded it as the fate Hawkins deserved.
“Hi.”
MacGyver put out a hand, but Cooper pulled him into a
hug. They found a table at the back of the room and ordered
drinks.
“No whiskey?”
MacGyver raised his eyebrows as Cooper’s lemonade
arrived.
“Nope.”
Cooper took a sip. “I quit. The booze wasn’t
doing me any good, so I took a leaf out of your book.”
He held up the glass. “This is as wild as I get
these days!”
“Good
for you.” MacGyver smiled at his friend. Cooper
was looking well, lean and tanned and clear-eyed, free
of the shadows that had haunted him for so long.
“So what
brings you to sunny San Diego?” Cooper leaned forward.
“Just
work.” MacGyver sat back, realising how much the
job had taken out of him. “Auditing a research project
that Phoenix is funding. You?”
“Chasing
down another of Hawkins’ dirty deals.” Cooper
caught MacGyver’s warning expression and spread
his hands. “An army pension fills my pockets but
it doesn’t fill my days. A man needs a hobby!”
“Sure.”
MacGyver drained his lemonade. “Just be careful
which rocks you flip over, OK? Some of the things you
find under there could have teeth!”
“Duly
noted, Corporal.” Cooper raised his glass.
They stayed far
longer than MacGyver had planned, talking about old times
and new ventures. Cooper had tracked and exposed a number
of Hawkins’ dodgy dealings, stopping small scale
scams and helping the police on a handful of occasions.
By the time MacGyver returned to his motel room, he was
feeling much more cheerful. But the stack of files held
his attention until late into the night, and he woke in
the morning unable to shake a sense of foreboding…
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