Ancient Echoes

CHAPTER 24



Washington D.C.

JIANJUN SAT IN STARBUCKS, a grande mocha latte and cranberry-orange scone in front of him as he tried once more to reach Michael by phone and text. He kept getting “out of range” messages. That was the first time it had happened with a satellite phone, but he knew it was theoretically possible. He tried not to worry, telling himself that Michael was simply in a canyon where the satellite waves couldn’t reach.

Jianjun would try again soon, but in the meantime he did further investigation of Phaylor Laine Pharmaceuticals, Jennifer Vandenburg, and Calvin Phaylor.

He learned that Vandenburg’s only child had progeria syndrome, a rare and fatal disease. In the archives of the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes and Bloomberg, he read about Calvin Phaylor’s sudden fall from glory. Those reports led him to the archives of the New York Times, and a fifteen-year old article entitled “Death Stalks Group Seeking Answers to Life.”

He read that Phaylor and PLP had sponsored an International Symposium on Genetics in Medicine to bring in top scientists from around the world. Two of them, Dr. Chou An-ming and Dr. Niels Jorgansen, died tragically the day before attending.

Jianjun nearly jumped out of his chair. Finally, a connection! He got himself a frappuccino with whipped cream to celebrate and continued reading.

To calm the People’s Republic of China’s suspicions about Dr. Chou’s deadly accident, the FBI investigated. Jianjun suspected Interpol and the CIA were also involved. Nothing was found according to news reports, but it was the beginning of the end for Phaylor. A year later, he was put on administrative leave for fiscal irresponsibility, and a year after that, he was dismissed. A search for a new CEO began. Milton Zonovich acted in the position, but eventually the board selected Jennifer Vandenburg.

From what Jianjun had read about progeria, Vandenburg would have known there was a problem with her daughter by the time she became CEO of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. Under her leadership, PLP launched some initiatives that had to do with genetics and stem cell research. Nothing helped Vandenburg’s daughter, however.

Jianjun hacked into PLP’s administrative and email records, but could find no inside information.

Both Jennifer Vandenburg and Calvin Phaylor lived in New York City. Time to schedule another trip.