Читать книгу End Game - Dale Brown - Страница 9

‘You’re early!’

Zen shrugged as he wheeled his way across the thick rug of Dr Michael Vasin’s office. ‘Yeah, figured I’d get it over with.’

‘Tea?’

‘Coffee if you have it, sure.’

Vasin picked up the phone on his desk and asked his assistant to bring them some. Then he got up and walked to the nearby couch, shifting around as Zen maneuvered his wheelchair catty-corner to him. Indian by birth, the doctor spoke with a pronounced accent, even though he had been in America since college.

‘And everything square with work?’

‘Squared away,’ Zen told him. The doctor did not know the specifics of what Zen did, officially anyway. But he was friends with one of Dreamland’s most important scientific researchers, Dr Martha Geraldo, who had referred Zen to him for the experimental program. So he probably knew a little, though neither man tested the specifics of that knowledge.

Vasin’s assistant came in with a tray of herbal tea, coffee, and two small cups. She was a petite, older woman, efficient at handling minutiae and thoughtful enough to ask after Zen’s wife, whom she had never met. When she left, Zen found Vasin staring out the large windows behind his desk. The Vegas Strip lay in the distance.

‘The desert is not a good place for gamblers,’ said the doctor absently.

Unsure how to respond, Zen said nothing.

‘Jeff, I want you to understand, there are no guarantees with this. It may have absolutely no effect on you. Absolutely no effect. Even if regenerating nerve cells in the spine is possible, it might not work in your case for a million different reasons.’

‘I understand.’

Vasin had already told him this many times.

‘And, as we’ve discussed, there is always the possibility there will be side effects that we don’t know about,’ continued the doctor.

‘I read everything you gave me.’

‘I’m repeating myself.’ Vasin turned around, smiling self-deprecatingly. ‘I want you to understand it emotionally. There’s always a possibility – unforeseen – that things could be worse.’

Zen had already sat through two long lectures from Vasin and another by one of the researchers on his team outlining the potential pitfalls and dangers of the technique. He had also signed a stack of release forms.

‘I’m about as aware of the dangers as I can be.’

‘Yes.’ Vasin rose. ‘Ready to get the ball rolling?’

‘I thought you’d never ask.’