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“Anyway, we’re grateful you made it safely. Welcome to our humble abode.”

I looked around. “Looks far from humble to me. This setup is pretty impressive.”

Her face lit up. “It’s impressive, isn’t it? The building itself is a mobile lab structure. It self-deploys at the touch of a button. It requires no manual labor, machinery or foundation. It needs just a battery-powered drill and the structure sets itself up in about ten minutes.”

“Seriously?” Gwen said. “That’s amazing.”

Slash inspected the wall nearest to us. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. As a shrewd businessman and innovator, he was definitely intrigued.

“How does it come down?” he asked.

“It folds back in on itself, the same way we transport it,” she replied. “When it opens up, it expands to three times its size. The entire lab can be transported on the bed of a truck. It’s revolutionary.”

“It is,” Slash said, patting the wall in admiration. “I look forward to learning more about it.”

“I’ll be happy to fill you in. It’s really good to have you both here. I’m thankful you’ll be able to help us protect our data. We need to ensure that it remains safe, encrypted and completely unhackable.”

“Unfortunately, anything online can be hacked,” I said. “But don’t worry, we’ll keep it safe.”

“Thank you, Lexi. I’m counting on you.” She turned to include Slash in the comment, her smile widening. “Onbothof you.”

I looked away awkwardly before she put a hand on Gwen’s shoulder. “I have to admit I was really intrigued by your contribution to the vaccine research, Gwen. I would have never thought to incorporate yeast.”

“Well, I was using a similar technique in the design of ComQuest’s microchips, so it wasn’t that great of a leap,” she replied. “I can’t take all the credit. Mr. Peterson has been an excellent mentor and he gave me the courage to pursue that line of thinking. He’s the one that should be here.”

“Nonsense, you earned your spot on the team. However, I was distressed to hear of his illness and wish him a speedy recovery.”

“We all do. He’s a good man.”

“Yes, he is. In the meantime, I’m glad you’re here. Did you know I started out as a microbiologist as well?”

Gwen brightened. “You did? Where did you study?”

“Johns Hopkins University for both my undergraduate and doctorate degrees, with one year spent at Sapienza University in Rome, studying under famed Italian microbiologist, Francesco Arcuri.”

Well, wasn’t that an unusual coincidence? “Wait. You studied in Rome?” I asked.

“I did.”

“Parli italiano?” Slash interjected.

“Un po. Per lo più colloquiale.”

“Um, well, that’s...interesting,” I said, looking between Slash and Natelli. “Did you know Slash is Italian-American and he studied at Sapienza University, too?”

“You studied at Sapienza?” Natelli’s eyes widened. “Fascinating.”

“Si, fascinating, indeed,” Slash agreed.

“Well, I’m sure I was there a long time before you.” She laughed. “Still, we’ll have to talk more about it later. Now, come and let me show you around the rest of the lab.”

We followed Natelli as she described the array of equipment in the lab, rows of rechargeable batteries, generators, ice packs, vials, syringes and high-tech coolers, as well as solar-powered refrigerators and freezers. Seriously cool.

I rested one of my hands on top of the coolers. “Do you use these to take the vaccines to the villages?”

“We do.” Natelli reached over and flipped open the top of the cooler. Inside were special vial holders and spots for ice packs. “We require a reliable system to keep the vaccines cold during the trek. These coolers contain temperature-sensitive vial monitors that will ensure the integrity of the vaccines. It’s pretty high-tech stuff.”

“Looks like it.” We wandered around some more until I stopped when I saw a drone on one of the tables.