Play@YSDC

29 August, 2014, Washington DC, 8 AM

You find yourself with Bartholomew in the same coffee shop. He is already drinking coffee. He seems a bit tired. He waits that yous asks something to the waitress, and then he speaks:

"I'm satisfied that all went well. You were lucky Paula, to just get that scare in the leg. If it had digged a bit more, who knows what would happen. Well, we actually have a clue now thanks to the specimen you have bring, and believe me, you wouldn't like it." He pauses to drinks and resumes.
"Don't worry, it doesn't transform you in a zombie or something. But it kill you in a nasty way, by burning your body. We tried it with rats. But the funny isn't that. It seems that thing is actually old. The scientists that examined it, said it's DNA was very primitive, it was wrong and probably artificial, whatever that means. Miss, another coffee please." Afters she leaves, he continues:
"We discovered also some interesting things about the two remaining associates. The Dutch has degree in medicine, he was a plastic surgeon in the 60's very famous. But then he changed his field. Or maybe not, since he was trying to develop some new technique that wasn't considered safe. And he travel a lot. I have some photos here to show you. About the other guy: until he creates the company he is non existent. We don't have a photo of him, no record. And with the 80's he stopped moving. He lives here in the USA in a mansion. But I discovered something interesting: he managed to create a lab there. And even better, there is not a single camera there. It seems a bit odd, isn't it?"

"When you consider that he must be obsessed with anonymity and privacy, it makes perfect sense," says Paula. "He's taken great pains to conceal his identity. Even the creature makes sense, when you think about it. These people were into genetic engineering and cloning. They could have modified an ancient extinct creature, perhaps after bringing it back through cloning. That would explain why its DNA is primitive and artificial."

So where can we find the Dutchman now? I mean he does sound like the easiest to get a handle on. I assume with both men we need to find any information they have and then arrange for their "expedient demise" says Paulus putting down his Len Deighton novel

"The dutch, what is the name?"- he looks at a paper and then says: "Cornelius, was financing an archaeology expedition in Egypt. South of Egypt in the desert. He has also a brother, some guy who got rich with the diamond business. I wonder why a geneticist would be so interested in digging old places. Oh, but you will find this even more interesting: even if it is all legal, it's also very secret. He paid that expedition from his own pocket and tried to avoid any contact with his own company, like if he didn't wanted that his subordinates... or associates knew what he was doing. What do you think?"

"That makes sense," says Paula. "Maybe he's after some ancient, long-preserved DNA or something. Whatever he's up to, we need to find out and do something about it."

So he's paying for it, but is he out in Egypt at the moment or is he in the US? It'll be a lot easier to find things out if he's in the US than if he's in Egypt Says Paulus

"Then we'd better get on his trail as soon as possible," says Paula. "The longer it takes, the more likely it is that he'll hear the news and disappear."