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WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT I HAD TO DROP my patient responsibilities and fly out here." Jack Ingersoll slapped the conference table, almost upsetting his coffee cup.

Bob Wolfe sat back in his chair, automatically withdrawing from Ingersoll's "in your face" attitude.

"Did you hear me?" Ingersoll asked through clenched teeth.

Wolfe worked to keep his voice level and his demeanor calm. No need to spook the doctor . . . yet. "Jack, I thought it was important that you understand what's going on. It's been made very clear to me from top-level management at Jandra that the fate of the company is riding on the success of Jandramycin."

"What's Jandramycin?"

"That's another thing. From now on, the drug is no longer to be referred to as EpAm848. We're calling it Jandramycin. The bigwigs want the public to identify the drug with our company when they hear about the preliminary results of our studies."

Ingersoll hit the table again, and this time his cup rocked in its saucer. A few drops of coffee sloshed onto the table. He stabbed at them with a napkin. "The public isn't going to hear about our preliminary results yet. That's why they're called 'preliminary.' Apparently you've forgotten how all this works. We're doing Phase II studies right now, seeing which dose works best, which ones might cause side effects. Then comes Phase III, where we compare EpAm848 with placebo or other drugs. Considering the severity of the disease we're treating, we may be given permission to omit the placebo, maybe even do a case-control study with only EpAm848—I mean, Jandramycin—as the active drug. But this stuffwon't be available for general use for a couple of years. Probably longer than that before the FDA approves it."

With the look of Santa pulling one last present, the big one, from his bag, Wolfe said, "I'm way ahead of you. We've pulled a few strings and made a deal or two—the FDA will accept the data from your work and the two European studies as fulfilling both the Phase II and the Phase III requirements."

Ingersoll leaned back as though he'd been hit. "How did you manage that?"

"You don't need to know the details. What you do need to know is that, as we speak, our factory is working twentyfour-hour shifts to produce and package Jandramycin. Our PR department has its best people creating a campaign that will blow the public's mind. And our detail men are poised to hit the streets and spread the word."

"But—"

"Now listen, and listen closely." Wolfe tapped the table in front of Ingersoll with his spoon to emphasize his words. "Up to now, Jandramycin looks like a miracle drug. That's why you're such a fair-haired boy in the medical community." He pointed to the bound journals on shelves that lined one wall of the room. "Your work is going to catch everyone's attention. Lead article in the major medical journals. Lots of interest from the press. That is, if you cooperate."

Ingersoll opened his mouth, then shut it again.

"From this point onward, there can be absolutely no hint of side effects, complications, or therapeutic failures with Jandramycin. It's up to you to make sure that happens." Wolfe's voice dropped to a near-whisper, but the words came out like steel darts: "You may think you're important because you stumbled onto a use for a compound we thought was useless, but if you foul up now, you can kiss that big research grant, your paid lectures, and all the other perks of your relationship with Jandra good-bye. Not only that, we'll see to it that you can't even get a job in an emergency room in Pocatello, Idaho. Provided you're still around to see it happen."

 

 

Sara yawned. Even the ultra-strong coffee of the hospital cafeteria wasn't enough to counteract the effects of a sleepless night. She looked at her watch. Time enough to finish breakfast and get a second cup of coffee to take to the conference.

"Mind if I join you?" The question was apparently rhetorical, since Rip Pearson had already pulled out a chair and was