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will be asking you to give an internal seminar about it quite soon.’
    ‘Sure, and then it’ll be time to start thinking about writing up my thesis.’
    ‘No problems there. Good solid research and three publications under your belt if the latest one gets accepted. Seems like three years have just flown by. Any thoughts about a post-doc position?’
    ‘I thought maybe Jerry Haldane’s lab at UCLA?’
    ‘Good choice,’ said Simmons. ‘And Californian sunshine as a bonus.’
    ‘I thought maybe you could put in a word for me?’
    ‘I’d be happy to.’
     
    ‘But what difference will membrane changes make?’ asked Caroline , leaning forward to be heard above the din of the student union on a Friday evening.
    ‘If membrane structure in tumour cells was changed in some way, it might be a difference we could exploit,’ replied Gavin.
    ‘How would you target the difference?’
    ‘We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it,’ smiled Gavin.
    ‘It’s a good idea. Was it yours?’
    Gavin shook his head. ‘No, Frank Simmons’, my supervisor. He’s a bright guy, nice too.’
    ‘So you don’t mind having him on the team then?’
    ‘Okay, okay … not all teams are bad. Mind you, that still doesn’t alter the fact that the research community is full of dead wood.’
    Caroline screwed up her eyes, held up her finger and looked schoolmarmish. ‘Enough!’ she said, leaning forward to look into Gavin’s eyes for signs of dissent. Finally, deciding that there was only amusement there, she asked, ‘Can I get you another pint?’
    ‘Sure,’ said Gavin. He watched her disappear into the throng at the bar and, when she came back, holding a pint glass in either hand and making exaggerated slaloming movements to avoid exuberant groups of laughing people, he couldn’t help but smile broadly at her.
    ‘What is it?’ she asked.
    ‘I was just thinking how nice you look.’
    ‘Let’s not start all that, shall we? We agreed.’
    ‘It’s okay … I say that to all the girls who buy me a pint.’
    ‘Even the ones who subsequently pour it over your head?’
    ‘Just joking,’ said Gavin quickly. ‘But I meant it; you do look nice.’
    Any reply was rendered nigh impossible as a wall of amplified sound came between them. The first band of the night had begun their set. ‘Shall we dance?’ asked Caroline.
    ‘I don’t.’
    She dragged him to his feet. ‘You do now.’

FOUR
     
     
    ‘It’s come!’ A week had passed when Gavin burst into Frank Simmons ’ office holding a small, plastic vial in one hand and reading excitedly from a covering letter in the other. ‘“Five grams Valdevan … for research purposes only … not for therapeutic use. Please sign and return agreement.” They’ve given it to me. Brilliant!’
    ‘Good show,’ said Simmons, who had been in the middle of a telephone conversation, but Gavin’s enthusiasm had overcome his annoyance. ‘The sooner you get started the better then.’
    Mary and Tom exchanged smiles as Gavin, whistling loudly and tunelessly, started moving around the lab at a hundred miles an hour.
    ‘He’s like a ferret on speed,’ whispered Tom.
    ‘I think I preferred him when he was thinking,’ replied Mary.
    ‘Mary, what’s the best way to sterilise a solution of Valdevan?’ Gavin called across the lab.
    ‘Is it soluble in water?’
    Gavin scanned through the specification sheet that accompanied the letter, tracing each line with his fingertip. ‘Yup, it says so.’
    ‘Then use a Millipore syringe filter. You’ll find one in the top drawer of the island bench. Be careful not to touch the business end with your fingers.’
    ‘I’m not a complete idiot.’
    ‘Sorry … I forgot … I think you may even have mentioned that …’
    ‘Light blue touch paper and retire immediately,’ whispered Tom under his breath, but Gavin was too busy to come back at Mary. He weighed out a little of the drug and dissolved it in distilled water before sucking up