read Part 5 of The Osiris Enigma

“Director Thompson, Berkman has extracted a metallic substance from Moore’s brain. We have not been able to determine the origin of this substance, nor have we been able to identify what type of metal it is. We need your authorization for additional analysis, and some technical support from the NSA staff.” Agent Quinn explained.

Thompson replied gruffly, “What exactly are you trying to do Quinn? What kind of technical support are you requesting?”

“Sir, the sample we have extracted is very small and we need a gas chromatograph to identify it. Maybe this will help give us some idea of whether or not it’s significant. We need priority and someone to help us operate the NSA equipment.” Quinn elaborated as small beads of sweat popped out on his forehead.

Thompson cleared his throat and said, “O.K. Quinn, I’ll call Kurt Waldenberg, the head of the NSA, and get some support lined up. I sure hope this is going somewhere; my balls are in a vise up here. The commander in chief is calling me every day for updates. I hope that very soon we will have something for him.”

The line disconnected and Quinn looked over at Berkman as he put away the cell phone. Berkman was busy cleaning up the tools they had just used and replacing the lab equipment where it had been found. Quinn waited until Berk had finished and asked, “Hey, you think we can find a pizzeria that has Chicago style? I could really go for a pie with the works!”

Berkman instantly lit up and said, “I know just how to find out…lemme use your cell phone.”

After Quinn handed over the phone, Berk quickly dialed a number and pressed the call button. After a few seconds Berkman began speaking to someone on the other end, “Hey, Tony! This is Berk…yeah, you know from the West Side. Sure, sure it has been a long time. Say, Tony do you know where in the L.A. area can I get a real Chicago style pizza delivered? Yeah, O.K. hold on just a minute I gotta get a pen and paper.” Berk motioned for Quinn to give up his pen and he started for the lab bench and some paper. “O.K. Tony, give that to me again. Yeah… uh-huh… sure thing… I’ll tell him. Thanks Tony, I’ll be in touch soon. Yeah, goodbye.” Said Berk as he wrote. He immediately dialed another number. “Hello, let me speak to Mario please. Yeah, Mario? My name is Berkman. Tony from Chicago says go get stuffed! Yeah, he’s a great guy isn’t he? Listen Mario I need a big favor. We need a large deep dish with the works delivered out to the NSA lab at 504 Unity Drive. Yeah, the driver will probably have to wait at security. My cell number is 555-4931. Just have security call us. Sure, thanks Mario. Bye.” Berk handed Quinn the phone just as a short Asian man wearing a white lab coat peered in the doorway.

“Excuse me gentlemen, you must be Mr. Berkman and Mr. Quinn? My name is Jung Sim. Mr. Waldenberg has sent me to assist you. “

“A pleasure to meet you Jung Sim, I am Berkman and this is the chief investigator Steven Quinn.” Berkman said as he smiled widely and offered his hand.

Quinn followed suit saying, “Now that’s what I call service, nice to have you on board Jung Sim.”

“Gentlemen, what will you be working on and what type of services do you require?” Jung Sim asked.

“We need to identify a metal substance we isolated from a cadaver’s brain. There is only a very small amount of the metal, so perhaps gas chromatography would be a good start.” Quinn elaborated.

“Very well. Gentlemen please gather up your samples and follow me.” said Jung Sim as he gestured toward the hallway.

Quinn and Berk gathered their samples in a small box they found on the end of the lab bench. As Jung Sim led the investigators down the hallway, Quinn fell deep into thought. He wondered whether this lead would work out. He had covered every angle in this investigation and still had squat to show for it. He also wondered if he would be waiting in the unemployment line next week. Suddenly he noticed something was amiss and snapped back to reality just before smashing into Berkman. “Sorry Berk. I didn’t realize we had stopped. Guess I was somewhere else for a second there…” Jung Sim unlocked a door labeled “Materials Analysis Lab.” The light flipped on revealing a lab filled to the ceiling with complex and expensive analysis equipment.

“Gentlemen, this is the Material Analysis Lab. Please let me assist you with your analysis, I am certified on all of the scientific equipment in our facility.” Jung Sim announced.

Berkman replied with a smirk, “That’s a good thing Jung Sim, I’m not quite sure how some of these here modern appliances work! Which side does the toast come out on this one?”

As Jung Sim and Berk began working with the chromatograph, Quinn retreated to an empty lab chair to observe. Just as he was getting really bored and sleepy, Quinn’s cell phone went off. He jerked the phone from his pocket and answered. “Quinn here. Oh, yeah. I’ll be right there. Tell her to hold her horses. O.K., bye. Hey Berk, the pizza is here, I’ll go pay the driver and bring up the pie!” Quinn said as he placed the phone back in his pocket and rushed out of the room.

“Sure… sure…O.K. Hey Jung Sim are you hungry? Quinn has gone downstairs to take delivery of the best Chicago Style pizza in town! I’m sure there will be plenty for all of us.” Berk asked as he and Jung Sim were preparing to start the chromatograph.

“Oh, yes please! I have not had Chicago Pizza since I was a student at the University of Chicago.” Jung Sim answered.

“You went to school in Chicago?” Berk asked. “I grew up on the West Side. What a coincidence!”

Berk and Jung Sim chatted about Chicago and the good old days while the chromatograph worked its magic. In a relatively short period of time the timer chirped and results were displayed on the computer screen. Jung Sim rubbed his chin and looked a little perplexed. Berk stared at the readout and couldn’t believe what he saw. Apparently the computer had detected three different major component elements in the metal, so it was definitely an alloy. The first component of the alloy was easily recognizable. The computer matched the analysis readout peak to the reference peak for Titanium. The second and third peaks on the display were causing the computer some problems. The display was listing six comparison element graphs for the remaining two elements in the alloy. At first Jung Sim thought it was a computer error, so he ran the results of the analysis again. The computer however displayed the same output as before. The comparison graph elements were listed as isotopes of Silicon, Ununbium, Platinum, Iridium, Tungsten and Polonium. For Jung Sim and Berkman the perplexing truth of the situation was that most of the comparison graph elements were all isotopes that are extremely unstable. Those elements could not exist for more than a millisecond and all were virtually unknown outside of a laboratory setting. The most likely explanation was that the computer had encountered two elements that it could not identify and was trying to correlate them with known isotopes.

“What the hell do we have here?” Berkman asked rhetorically.

“I wish I could tell you, but I cannot.” Jung Sim stated.

Suddenly the door to the lab burst open revealing Quinn grinning from ear to ear and holding a rather large pizza box. He took one look at Jung Sim and Berk and knew something was up. “Why the long faces guys?” Quinn asked.

Berkman replied, “Quinn, you’re not gonna believe this. I think you may want to sit down.”

End Part 6

Move on to read part 7