Seizure by Robin Cook Page A

the senator’s business card he had clutched in his free hand. He turned it over. Scribbled in the senator’s erratic handwriting was a cell phone number tobe used to contact him directly in the next twelve hours. Daniel stared at the number as if committing it to memory.
    A gust of wind erupted and changed the drizzle momentarily from vertical to horizontal. Stephanie shivered as the moisture peppered her face. “It’s cold. Let’s get back to the hotel! There’s no sense standing here and getting soaked.”
    As if waking from a trance, Daniel apologized and glanced around the plaza in front of the station. A taxi stand was off to one side, with several cabs conveniently waiting. Angling the umbrella into the wind, he urged Stephanie forward. Arriving at the first taxi in line, Daniel held the umbrella for Stephanie before climbing in himself.
    â€œFour Seasons hotel,” Daniel said to the driver, who was watching his rearview mirror.
    â€œTonight was ironic as well as bizarre,” Stephanie said suddenly, as the cab pulled away. “The same day I hear a smidgen about your family from you, I hear the whole story from Senator Butler.”
    â€œI find that more irritating than ironic,” Daniel said. “Hell, it’s an out-and-out violation of my privacy that he had me investigated by the FBI. It’s also appalling that the FBI would do it. I mean, I’m a private citizen under no suspicion of any crime. Such abuse smacks of the days of J. Edgar Hoover.”
    â€œSo everything Butler said about you is true?”
    â€œEssentially, I suppose,” Daniel responded vaguely. “Listen, let’s talk about the senator’s offer.”
    â€œI can tell you my reaction to it right off the top. I think it stinks!”
    â€œYou don’t see any positive aspects?”
    â€œThe only positive aspect I can see is that it has confirmed our impressions of the man as a quintessential demagogue. He’s also a detestable hypocrite. He’s against HTSR purely for political reasons, and he’s willing to ban it and its research despite its potential to save lives and relieve suffering. At the same time, he wants it for himself. That’s obscene and inexcusable, and we’re certainly not going to be a party to it.” Stephanie gave a short derisive laugh. “I’m sorry I gave my word to keep his illness a secret. This whole thing is a story the media would die for, and I’d love for them to have it.”
    â€œWe certainly can’t go to the media,” Daniel statedcategorically. “And I don’t think we should be rash. I think Butler’s offer deserves consideration.”
    A surprised Stephanie turned to look at Daniel. She tried to see his face in the dim light. “You’re not serious, are you?”
    â€œLet’s list the knowns. We’re well acquainted with growing dopaminergic neurons from stem cells, so it’s not as if we’ll be floundering around in the dark in that regard.”
    â€œWe’ve done it with murine stem cells, not human cells.”
    â€œThe process is the same. Colleagues have already done it with human stem cells using the same methodology. Making the cells is not going to be a problem. Once we have the cells, we can follow the exact protocol we used for the mice. There’s no reason it wouldn’t work for a human. After all, every last mouse we’ve treated has done remarkably well.”
    â€œExcept for the ones that died.”
    â€œWe know why the ones that didn’t make it died. It was before we perfected the injection technique. All the mice that we injected properly have survived and have been cured. With a human volunteer, we would have available a stereotaxic device that doesn’t exist for rodents. That will make the injection more exact, infinitely easier, and hence safer. Besides, we wouldn’t do the injection ourselves. We’d find a