“Nicolora?”
“Yes. It’s Nicolora’s call, and his alone.”
AJ was about to ask the obvious question when they heard the door lock disengage, signaling that Kalen was back from his reconnaissance outing. Albane sent AJ to fetch VanCleave and Veronika, who were working in the adjoining suite.
“So?” Albane said once the team was gathered.
“The facility is located inside the city. Housed in a four-story stone building, built around the turn of the twentieth century. Access is through a main lobby and controlled by an attendant at a security desk and an armed uniformed guard. Elevator banks have RFID security tag readers. Standard external and internal ceiling mounted security camera system. A fire escape stairwell exit is located on the west side — blocked by a hollow steel door, wired, with no external handle or lock. The facility is a research hospital and laboratory owned and operated by a Czech company called Chiarek Norse, which according to our research is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vyrogen Pharmaceuticals,” Kalen explained, crossing his legs casually.
“What is your accessibility rating of the facility?” Albane asked.
“On a scale of one to ten, where the Pentagon is a ten and and your grandma’s house is a one, I’d rank it a solid six. How serious are we?”
“It’s Nicolora’s call, but I have reason to believe a sampling op is warranted,” she said.
AJ’s stomach was in knots. Albane was convinced Meredith was hiding something, but breaking into the Vyrogen facility seemed extreme. What if they were wrong? Even worse, what if they were wrong and they got caught? They would probably end up in jail.
The phones of all the Tank team members in the room began to chime in unison. It was Parish signaling that new information was available for discussion.
VYROGEN CASE — ROUND TABLE SESSION — PRAGUE
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “The purpose of this conference is to report the findings of the tasking I was assigned during our last Round Table. Continued background investigation on Foster reveals that his life before Vyrogen was quite unremarkable. He has no criminal record, no legal action pending against him, and no discernible enemies.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “What about insight into Foster’s professional life and personal life? What did Ms. Knight learn from her interviews with Foster’s work colleagues?”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “Ms. Knight identified and interviewed one of Foster’s closest friends. She learned that he was laid off from his job nine months ago. His girlfriend at the time did not adjust well to his strained financial state and also let him go. From what Ms. Knight uncovered, we can conclude Foster was struggling, both financially and emotionally, around the time he became involved with Vyrogen.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “How dire was his financial status?”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “Foster had been living paycheck to paycheck. He carried a credit card balance and was still paying off his college tuition loan. His corporate 401(k) showed an early withdrawal, with penalty, a few weeks before he signed on as a test subject in the Leighton-Harris vaccine trial. He had also enrolled in another paid drug trial with Pfizer, but he did not participate because of the quarantine.”
K. Immel—RS: Physical: “Looks like we can add money to the list of possible motives.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “Did you uncover any connections or relationships Foster may have had with other pharmaceutical companies?”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “None, but we’re still looking.”
K. Immel—RS: Physical: “What about government contacts?”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “Nothing.”
A. Archer—RS: Bio: “What accounts did Foster manage for his firm?”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “Primarily, the Cluckers Fried Chicken account.”
A. Archer—RS: Bio: “Does Foster’s firm handle any pharmaceutical accounts at all?”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “Yes. They manage the cholesterolbusting drug Plaxzer’s ad campaign, and were behind Synthgen’s infamous Stimulex erectile dysfunction drug ads.”
A. Archer—RS: Bio: “So, we can’t rule out contacts at Synthgen.”
R. Parish—RS: Coordinator: “No. I have a resource looking into it.”
K. Immel—RS: Physical: “Another detail has been nagging me. Why do you suppose Foster was transferred to Vyrogen’s Chiarek Norse facility in Prague instead of staying at the New Jersey campus? What’s so special about the Chiarek Norse facility that Vyrogen wanted Foster out of the country? In my opinion, Chiarek Norse is the white elephant in the room. If Meredith Morley is keeping something from us, we’ll find it in Chiarek Norse.”
E. VanCleave—RS: Technical: “What makes you so you sure that the information we need is inside Chiarek Norse?”
K. Immel—RS: Physical: “It’s obvious to me, but if you need a reason, then call it instinct.”
E. VanCleave—RS: Technical: “Instinct is not sufficient. Without an explanation of your decision-making processes, I am forced to conclude it is your testosterone talking, and not your intellect.”
K. Immel—RS: Physical: “You sound exactly like Briggs.”
E. VanCleave—RS: Technical: “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “Enough with the schoolyard banter. I realize that everyone is tired and stressed, but we all need to take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. Let’s shift gears. I reviewed the entire recording of Meredith Morley’s briefing in the Founder’s Forum, and I have ascertained that on at least three occasions Ms. Morley either withheld or misrepresented information about the case. Couple this with the fact that we have no hard evidence linking Will Foster to any external entity trying to steal Vyrogen’s formula, and the suspicious transfer of Foster to the Chiarek Norse in Prague, leads me to conclude that we have compelling reason to engage in a sampling operation. Opinions?”
K. Immel—RS: Physical: “You already know my opinion… definitely worth a look inside.”
E. VanCleave—RS: Technical: “No surprise there.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “Excuse me, Doctor, was that a yes or a no from you?”
E. VanCleave—RS: Technical: “Yes. But let the record show, a reluctant yes.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “Fine. Bio?”
A. Archer—RS: Bio: “Yes. I’d like a peek inside.”
A. Mesnil—RS: Social: “Good. Then, we’re all in agreement. Time is our most precious commodity. Mr. Parish, contact Founder One and obtain authorization for a sampling operation at Chiarek Norse, commencing at the earliest opportunity.”
A. Archer—RS: Bio: “Hold on a minute. We’re going to break into the facility in broad daylight? Shouldn’t we wait until night?”
E. VanCleave—RS: Technical: “A common misconception popularized by television crime dramas. The reality is, at least for the Tank, that daytime ops have a statistically significant higher rate of success than nighttime efforts.”