Mad Scientists

Sensitive content: crime

I squinted my eyes and tilted my head to the side. In front of me, sprouting from the rich soil in my garden in the backyard, was a blossoming flower, right in the middle of my pansies. It seemed to have unfurled its crude petals only recently, they still seemed to be held in each other's grip, warping clockwise in a colourful swirl. The colours were rather extraordinary, a brilliant orange on the outside of the petals, a delicate turquoise in the inside and shiny yellow antennae pregnant with pulpous pollen which bloomed from the heart of the flower. There was something unnatural about it. The petals were perfectly positioned, symmetric, the bulbs on the ends of the antennae all the same size. The stalk of the flower was too green.

I know, I know, nature had an amazing way of making its stars of the land look like they came from heaven and were painted by God himself. But it seemed too ideal. Fake. The best way to describe what I was seeing - was... It couldn't be described. It was simply too odd. It was nothing like I'd ever seen - and this was coming from a professional gardener. I knew everything about flowers, planting and caring for flower bushes and shrubs was my specialty. I snapped a quick photo with my phone that had been tucked in the pocket of my jeans.

To me, the only way I could possibly justify the fact that this flower looked fake was because I had this feeling. I just had this feeling that I was man-made. What was even weirder, was the fact that there was no sign of this flower yesterday, when I had last checked on my garden. No flower plant could sprout blossom overnight.

I felt myself swallow hard, a sick feeling settling in my gut. I got up off my knees and stripped my gloves off my hands. I had an urge to scrub my hands until they bled. Quickly, I picked up the watering can and finished feeding my garden. I headed back inside, and jumped straight into the shower, scouring my skin until it turned red.

Ten minutes later I had my hair wrapped in a towel turban and was sitting at the kitchen island, my phone in my hand. I dialed Dr. Brian Rivers' number, a botanist in the lab next to the crop fields where I worked. I trusted him.

"Dina, hello. What's up? It's Saturday evening," Dr. Rivers said through the phone, curiosity evident in his voice.

"Err.." I had no idea where to start.

"Come on, Dina, what is it? I know that "errr" of yours, you've got something to tell me haven't you?" Dr. Rivers chuckled, a deep hearty sound.

After taking a deep breath, I told him everything. The silence on his end made me hold my breath.

"Err..." Dr. Rivers said. "I don't even know what to say about this. But one thing is clear, Dina - don't touch it. From what you described, it sounds suspiciously poisonous and unlike anything I've ever heard."

Uh-oh. When Dr. Rivers says he's never heard of a plant, you know it's about to get interesting. He was like the Stephen Hawking of plants; he knew every variety of every family of every species of plants.

"You know what, let me come over to yours and we'll transfer it to the lab. I'll be there in five."

Before I could reply, Dr. Brian hung up. I sighed and put the phone down, walking over to the kitchen window that overlooked my garden. There the flower stood proudly, glowing in the early evening sun. Its petals were fully uncurled now. I couldn't help but shudder. Come on Dina, it's just a bloody flower!

Shaking my head, I stepped out the back door and to the garden that was nestled in the right corner of my backyard. The smell of dried out soil greeted me as I opened the door and headed for the plant pots that were stacked on one of the many shelves. I grabbed a size appropriate to the flower and armed myself with a gardening shovel as well. I picked up my discarded gloves on the way back.

Just as I was about to head to the back porch, I heard Dr. Rivers' truck pull up into my driveway. I hurried round the house to meet him.

Dr. Rivers stepped out of the car, the sun illuminating his wise face. In his mid-sixties, his was a handsome man, a finely lined face, strong nose and jaw, inquisitive blue eyes and a mess of greying hair and bushy eyebrows. A frown pulled at his expression; he was deep in thought.

"Dr. Rivers." He looked up and our eyes met. There was a look in his eyes... something I couldn't quite place. "The flower's this way."

I led him back the way I came and together we stood in front of the flower, hands full of gardening equipment. I looked at Dr. Rivers. He nodded gravely.

"Let's get this over with," He said, his voice deep and growly.

We both knelt down, pulled on our gloves and wielded our shovels. In silence we worked harmoniously and without misscommunications; Dr. Rivers carefully dug it out without damaging the roots and I held the pot I had lined out for him to place it in. The air around us had cooled and the birds were beginning to sing their evening song, the smell of damp soil and wet metal heavy around us.

Hang on. Wet metal?

Alarmed, I glanced over at Dr. Rivers, who was staring intensely at the flower, his nostrils flared.

"What is that smell, Dr. Rivers?" I asked in a hushed tone. He looked me in the eyes and as the corner of his mouth twitched, I knew at that moment that he had not the slightest idea either. Not good.

"Let's just get it to the bloody lab. I have no good feelings about this, Dina," Dr. Rivers said, all no-nonsense. "You take your car; I might have to run some extra errands."

With quick efficiency, we had packed the flower up and were on the road to the plant lab.

A short while later we arrived and had rushed the peculiar flower to the lab and into an isolation unit. Dr. Rivers and I then sat at the lab table that occupied the middle of the starkly white room and pondered our options.

"Well, we could call the molecular biologists and see if they can come in and inspect the flower's DNA?" I said, turning my sentence into a question - I was, after all, discussing with Dr. Brian Rivers about this matter, a very well known botanist.

Dr. Rivers shook his head immediately. "No, that would be a waste of their time. We need to inspect it ourselves and look through all the databases for a possible plant family where the flower could fit in with," he said, running his aged hand over his stubbled jaw.

I nodded in agreement. Dr. Rivers turned to me, his eyes filled with an excited fervour. "Dina, you go get the hard drives and files we need to inspect the flower. You know where to find them?"

Roughly. "Yes," I said anyway. All professional gardeners and farmers in the area had access to the database so they could keep a record of any growth issues and factors that they noticed while out in the crop fields. I had been to the Data Center only once, and that was a while ago. I would manage, I didn't want to hold Dr. Rivers up in this crucial moment in time.

He and I nodded to each other and I strode out of the lab and down the hall. The Data Center in the botany lab was at the opposite side of the building, the furthest from the lab area. I reached the end of the hall and turned to the door on the left, on which a plaque inscribed with the words "Data Center" was. I walked inside to find it empty of life, but jam packed with file cabinets, drawers and shelves. A plain door in the corner of the room led to the office section of the Data Center. I would find what I need in the first room.

I stepped forward and scanned the room. I noticed that all of the cabinets, shelves and drawers were separated into four main groups; Brypphytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. Angiosperms was the category where I was going to find something useful - the flowering plants. I opened one of the many file drawers and started searching. My best bet was to find something in the category of "solitary flowers".

I began to riffle through the folders. After ten minutes of finding nothing that matched the appearance of the flower I had found, I sighed and yanked the entire cabinet out of the frame and set it onto the floor at my feet. I would just have to take the whole damn thing and go through it with Dr. Rivers. Next, I found a drawer that was labelled with "wild flowers" and took that out as well.

I opened the door to the hall again and set the drawers out in the foyer and closed the door behind me. Balancing the boxes on my hips like babies, I wobbled back down to the lab. Just as I was about the set the boxes down in front of the lab door, I heard Dr. Rivers' voice. Was there someone in there with him now? No, I would've heard the person come in; the entrance into the building was at the end of the hall right next to the Data Center, where I had been just a minute ago. Through the window in the door to the lab, I could only just see the back of Dr. Rivers' head. Carefully, I set the drawers down, trying not to make a sound, a strange feeling taking hold of me. I was cautious, unsure of myself and what was going on, and that was not the kind of feelings I would normally associate with Dr. Rivers.

"There's a flower that appeared!" I heard Dr. Rivers say in a low tone, excitement barely contained. I nearly gasped. He sounded like a scientist gone mad. "And God is the flower one hell of a poisonous thing! I can't believe it worked, Marty!" I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Marty, otherwise known as Dr. Smith, was the Head of Department in all of America. What in God's name was going on?

There was a moment of silence where I presumed that Dr. Smith was talking.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes. I made sure that the seed was carried somewhere nodescript and that no seeds would be germinated in the lab or anywhere else. Yes, the girl was the best option. I'm sure her garden would agree, it's fucking filled with flowers!" Dr. Rivers barked with laughter. Bile coated my tongue and tears swam in my eyes. Through my disbelief and mess of thoughts, I frantically pulled my phone from my phone and began to record from the voice notes app. I liked it better than writing, it was more efficient. "Yes, I know it's smart, eh? The Dina girl takes seed sachets home nearly every week for her precious garden and this week I popped one of the flower seeds into the satchet while she was using the lavatory. She never knew, and here we are, the flower has sprouted and a devilish disease will spread like wildfire and no one will know why! And we'll be safe as can be with that vaccine that we've been testing for months!"

I put my hand over my mouth to hold in a scream. I had been used to transport and germinate a disease spreading, abomination of a plant?

Dr. River laughed one last time and hung up the phone. What would I do now? Burst through the door and accuse him? Run away? Go in and pretend that I had never heard a thing and later when I was home call the police and send them the voice recording? The latter sounded the most safe and promised somewhat good results. I still couldn't believe that Dr. Rivers had been a mad scientist this whole time.

A wave of recklessness washed over me and I opened the door and dragged the file drawers right into the lab. One after the other I picked them up and dumped them on the table. I dusted my hands off on the front of my shirt and looked at Dr. Rivers straight in the eye.

"There," I said, my voice perfectly composed after what I had just witnessed. "That's all I could find that would relate to the flower."

Dr. Rivers grinned. Now I simply couldn't ignore the fact that there was an evil glint in his eyes. I suppressed a shudder. "Excellent, Dina. While you were gone I had another close look at the flower and have decided that it's better that we keep it isolated and just do some more thorough research. I'll be doing most of it, as I am the expert, so you don't need to worry about anything anymore, Dina. Sounds good?"

You evil, lying twit of an asshole. That didn't take long to dismiss a stupid little girl like me did it? I offered Dr. Rivers a smile as sweet as the flowers in my garden. Prick.

"Yes Dr. Rivers, sounds great," I said. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"No thank you, Dina, I'm sure I'll manage without you. You've been of great help today, but I'll take it from here. You just stick to your flowers," Dr. Rivers replied, his voice sweet like honey. "You are free to go home now, sweetheart."

Wow. He had some nerve. Better get out of here before I kicked him in the groin.

"Okay, see you later, Dr. Rivers," I said and and walked out the door.

A short while later, I was sitting at the kitchen island again, shaking like a leaf, making yet another call.

"Hello, yes, I'm calling to report a crime," I spoke into the receiver, my voice trembling. I told the dispatcher everything and sent them the the voice recodring.

"Okay ma'am, we've got it under control and we're going to check it out," the dispatcher said.

Five minutes later I collapsed onto the couch, clutching my phone to my chest, breathing raggedly. I sat awake until late into the night, unable to close my eyes without having vivid nightmares. Eventually I felt my eyelids droop and I fell into a restless sleep filled with nightmares.

Somehow, through lots of tossing and turning, I managed to sleep through the night. I woke to the sun peeking over the horizon, hazy light streaming through the gaps in the curtains. I checked my watch. Six-thirty in the morning. I sat up from my tangled position on the couch and pushed back my wild hair.

I grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table and switched the TV on. I switched to the news channel, praying that the police had done something to stop those mad scientists. And to my relief, they had.

"Just last night the police arrested two Botanists, Dr. Marty Smith Head of Department and, who had been based in New York until last night and Dr. Brian Rivers who is head of the botany here in Houston. Both were convicted with conspiracy and threats to community/citizens, because of their cultivation of dangerous plants. Both will also be sentenced with ten years in prison," said the blonde TV reporter, the Botany visible behind her hair blowing in the wind. "The plant has been eradicated and the surroundings including the entirety of Houston are being scoured for any other plant or traces of it or its seeds. The rest of the country is on look out as well. We have the brave Dina Hoofman to thank for this, a local professional gardener who worked close to Dr. Rivers. And that's it for crime today, I'm Sandra Carter..."

I let out a massive sigh. Back to my pretty little garden then.

THE END