you’ve had a bit of a journey for nothing, I’m afraid.’
This fact had not escaped Steven’s notice. They entered a bright, airy laboratory where a tall, intelligent looking woman, wearing a lab coat and with long dark hair, tied back in a pony tail, rose from her bench stool, washed her hands in a basin, equipped with elbow operated taps and walked towards them, wearing a friendly smile.
‘ May I introduce, Miss Roberta Jackson,’ said Fildes. ‘She was Gerald’s HSO. Roberta, this is Dr Steven Dunbar from the Sci-Med Inspectorate. He has some questions to ask you about the work you people do. I’d be grateful if you’d give him all the help you can.’
Steven shook hands with the woman and then said to Fildes, ‘I’m sure I’ve been keeping you back, Doctor, please feel free to carry on with what you have to do. I’ll come and see you before I go.’
Fildes accepted the implied invitation to leave and Steven and Roberta were left alone.
Steven explained to her that he had hoped to have a word with Millar about a DNA analysis he had made. ‘But I hear he’s no longer with you?’
‘ He took early retirement. He and Charlotte have gone off to Cape Town to stay with their son and his wife for a while. They had a baby a while back. This will be the first time they’ve seen their grandchild. It’s their first.’
‘ That’s nice,’ said Steven.
‘ Didn’t exactly do us any favours though,’ said Roberta ruefully. ‘Our jobs are all sort of hanging in the balance at the moment. It would have been nice to have had a bit more warning.’
‘ You didn’t know he was planning to retire?’
Roberta shook her head. ‘It came right out of the blue. He seemed to make up his mind on the spur of the moment and that was that. Now you see him, now you don’t. Hi-ho, Silver, away!’
‘ I thought early retirement was something offered by management at a time when it was convenient for them to see the back of you’ said Steven. ‘From what I’ve heard, it sounds as if Dr Millar’s leaving seems to have turned out pretty inconvenient for all concerned?’
‘ It certainly is and that was my understanding too,’ said Roberta, ‘but apparently a member of staff can request early retirement at any time after the age of fifty, whether management likes it or not. The deal you get is not so good that way – you don’t get the enhancement to years of service you get if they request it - but the bottom line is that it can be done.’
‘ Are there many people going to be affected by his going?’
‘ Three of us are in the firing line if you’ll pardon the pun. It seems likely that the other two will be taken on by other groups – they’re junior SOs, so they’re relatively cheap in terms of salary and easy to re-train but I’ve been here ten years: I’m a bit more expensive and a bit more specialised.’
‘ I hope something comes along for you,’ said Steven.
‘ Thanks. How can I help you?’
Steven brought out the lab report on the Agrigene crop and showed it to Roberta. ‘Does this look familiar to you?’ he asked.
Roberta shook here head. ‘Not this particular one,’ she said. ‘I think this must be one that Gerald did himself. Hang on a minute.’ She walked over to what appeared to be a very wide, metal filing cabinet and slid out the bottom drawer. She checked the reference number on the report she was still holding and then looked for a match in the drawer. ‘Here we are,’ she said, pulling out a large sheet of exposed photographic film, attached to a metal hanger by two crocodile clips. The film had small black ladder marks over it in regular columns.
‘ This is the actual DNA sequence that Dr Millar’s report was based on,’ said Roberta. ‘Did you think there was something wrong with it?’
‘ No, nothing like that, The DNA comes from an experimental oilseed rape crop being grown over in a place called Blackbridge in West Lothian. Dr Millar reported the presence
This fact had not escaped Steven’s notice. They entered a bright, airy laboratory where a tall, intelligent looking woman, wearing a lab coat and with long dark hair, tied back in a pony tail, rose from her bench stool, washed her hands in a basin, equipped with elbow operated taps and walked towards them, wearing a friendly smile.
‘ May I introduce, Miss Roberta Jackson,’ said Fildes. ‘She was Gerald’s HSO. Roberta, this is Dr Steven Dunbar from the Sci-Med Inspectorate. He has some questions to ask you about the work you people do. I’d be grateful if you’d give him all the help you can.’
Steven shook hands with the woman and then said to Fildes, ‘I’m sure I’ve been keeping you back, Doctor, please feel free to carry on with what you have to do. I’ll come and see you before I go.’
Fildes accepted the implied invitation to leave and Steven and Roberta were left alone.
Steven explained to her that he had hoped to have a word with Millar about a DNA analysis he had made. ‘But I hear he’s no longer with you?’
‘ He took early retirement. He and Charlotte have gone off to Cape Town to stay with their son and his wife for a while. They had a baby a while back. This will be the first time they’ve seen their grandchild. It’s their first.’
‘ That’s nice,’ said Steven.
‘ Didn’t exactly do us any favours though,’ said Roberta ruefully. ‘Our jobs are all sort of hanging in the balance at the moment. It would have been nice to have had a bit more warning.’
‘ You didn’t know he was planning to retire?’
Roberta shook her head. ‘It came right out of the blue. He seemed to make up his mind on the spur of the moment and that was that. Now you see him, now you don’t. Hi-ho, Silver, away!’
‘ I thought early retirement was something offered by management at a time when it was convenient for them to see the back of you’ said Steven. ‘From what I’ve heard, it sounds as if Dr Millar’s leaving seems to have turned out pretty inconvenient for all concerned?’
‘ It certainly is and that was my understanding too,’ said Roberta, ‘but apparently a member of staff can request early retirement at any time after the age of fifty, whether management likes it or not. The deal you get is not so good that way – you don’t get the enhancement to years of service you get if they request it - but the bottom line is that it can be done.’
‘ Are there many people going to be affected by his going?’
‘ Three of us are in the firing line if you’ll pardon the pun. It seems likely that the other two will be taken on by other groups – they’re junior SOs, so they’re relatively cheap in terms of salary and easy to re-train but I’ve been here ten years: I’m a bit more expensive and a bit more specialised.’
‘ I hope something comes along for you,’ said Steven.
‘ Thanks. How can I help you?’
Steven brought out the lab report on the Agrigene crop and showed it to Roberta. ‘Does this look familiar to you?’ he asked.
Roberta shook here head. ‘Not this particular one,’ she said. ‘I think this must be one that Gerald did himself. Hang on a minute.’ She walked over to what appeared to be a very wide, metal filing cabinet and slid out the bottom drawer. She checked the reference number on the report she was still holding and then looked for a match in the drawer. ‘Here we are,’ she said, pulling out a large sheet of exposed photographic film, attached to a metal hanger by two crocodile clips. The film had small black ladder marks over it in regular columns.
‘ This is the actual DNA sequence that Dr Millar’s report was based on,’ said Roberta. ‘Did you think there was something wrong with it?’
‘ No, nothing like that, The DNA comes from an experimental oilseed rape crop being grown over in a place called Blackbridge in West Lothian. Dr Millar reported the presence
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