"You must be Ms. Hampton," the woman said. "And this must be your mother. We were told to expect you."
She nodded a farewell to Elise, who said, "It was so nice to meet you. Good luck."
She then turned and headed for the back.
Ally signed all three of them in.
"Good," the woman said as she checked the information.
"My name is Ellen O'Hara, by the way. I'm in charge of the nursing staff here. We're ready to go downstairs now."
Ellen O'Hara had a knowing, earnest face that fairly lit up when she smiled. She had short brown hair streaked with gray and was pleasantly full‑figured.
When they reached the elevator, she zipped a small plastic card through the reader on the wall and the doors slid open. As they emerged on the lower level, Ally realized they were in the precincts of a very sophisticated medical laboratory. Occupying most of the floor was a glassed‑in area, inside of which she could see three men and two women, all dressed in white. She also noticed rows of steel containers that seemed to be ovens or incubators of some kind as well as racks and racks of vials. At the far end of the laboratory, there was a blackboard on which one of the men was drawing something that looked like hexagonal molecules, linking them together.
"That's Dr. Van de Vliet," Ellen said pointing. "I'll let him know you're here. The laboratory is a special environment. The entrance there is actually an air lock. The air inside is filtered and kept under positive pressure."
She walked over to a communications module, buzzed then announced into the microphone, "Dr. Vee, your eleven‑ thirty appointment is here."