Page 34 of The Fallback

‘Of course.’ She nodded at Rachel. ‘I totally get it. So where do we start and what do you need me to do first?’

Rachel smiled at her, pleased that her philosophical speech seemed to have hit the mark. ‘I’m going to give you access to a restricted section in our files. There’s a lot of information and correspondence in there that you should read, it will give you all the background you need.’

Rachel turned to her computer and tapped away at the keyboard, Rosie sat awkwardly wondering if she had been dismissed but then Rachel turned back towards her.

‘I want you to read through all of this carefully, and once you’ve done so let me know your thoughts. We can set up a time for a proper meeting to discuss how this is going to work and first steps. OK?’

‘OK, sounds good,’ Rosie replied.

Rachel turned back to her computer, Rosie stayed put. ‘You can go now,’ Rachel said, realising Rosie was still sat there.

‘Thanks, Rachel,’ she said as she walked backwards towards the door, ‘I appreciate you bringing me on board with this.’

Rachel looked up at her, as if surprised to see her still in her office. ‘I know I can rely on you not to mess this up,’ she said sternly. ‘And Rosie,’ she called, when Rosie was almost out of the door, ‘remember that there will be a lot tied up in this. As I said in the meeting this morning, money is getting tighter, this could really help in funding the lab, understood?’

Rosie nodded once more and then crept out into the corridor, silently closing Rachel’s door behind her and then leaning against the wall, trying to take all of this in.

* * *

‘I simply don’t understand the logic behind it.’ Nadia had tracked Rosie down to her office and was determined to make her listen to her much-delayed rant. ’So much for “putting faith in science” as this government is so keen to say.’ Nadia ran a hand through her short, curly hair. ‘This is going to be disastrous for so many of our trials.’ She sat down hard in one of Rosie’s chairs.

‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Rosie said smoothly, thinking back to her conversation with Rachel and hoping that Nadia would run out of steam quickly so she could get back to the important task of reading the BioChem documents – also known as composing a message to Graham. ‘You know, we’realwaysgetting threatened with funding cuts, and it’s always turned out OK so far. We’ve never had to put a stop to something really important,’ she added placatingly.

Nadia shot her an exasperated look. ‘It’s OK for you,’ she said sharply.

Rosie looked bewildered. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean,’ said Nadia briskly, ‘that you’re working at the sexy end of science, the high-profile stuff. You know, results in national newspapers not just obscure science journals.’

Rosie stared at her.

‘Your lab will always get funding because it’s the kind of science that the average person understands,’ Nadia continued. ‘Whereas what I do is never going to attract that kind of interest.’ She threw her hands up in frustration. ‘Despite it being the foundation of what everyone in our field does.’

Rosie felt herself flushing. She had never thought about it like that, she was so used to thinking that Nadia was so much smarter than she was that she had never considered the outside perception of-what they both did. Momentarily, she felt elated that Nadia was calling her science ‘sexy’, before she realised what Nadia was really getting at: that what Rosie did wouldn’t be possible without the research that Nadia did before her. Which was true, but Rosie felt there might have been a kinder way to phrase it.

‘I hope you’re not suggesting that you do what you do because you’re smarter than the rest of us?’ she shot back. She meant it as a joke but the look on Nadia’s face made her think that perhaps Nadia really did think that. Rosie was irritated by Nadia’s suggestion but wanted to defuse the situation. ‘Come on, Nadia, we both chose our fields. No one forced you to do what you do; you love it, right?’

The fire left Nadia’s face. ‘Rosie, no, sorry, I didn’t mean…’ Again she ran her hands through her hair which was beginning to look even more of a mess than usual. ‘I’m just worried. If this hits my funding then I won’t be able to take on any post docs when the current money runs out. And that means I won’t be able to do half the work that I’m doing at the moment.’

She stood up and paced over to the window.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest that I’m any smarter than you.’ Nadia turned and looked at Rosie. ’You know I think you’re one of the cleverest people I know.’ She looked imploringly at Rosie. ‘You must know that was one of the reasons that I accepted the position here? I’d seen your publications and I wanted to work more closely with you.’

Mollified, Rosie nodded, ‘I’m sorry, too. I know you’re worried. And you’re right, it is much easier to get funding in my area.’

‘And I’m also really worried about Nico.’ Nadia blurted out.

‘What? Why?’

‘Because he’s lost out on his latest grant application, they gave it to someone else.’ Rosie saw the look of resignation on Nadia’s face.

’Oh, Nadia, I’m so sorry.’

‘And these funding cuts are going to make it even harder for him to access any cash. He’s been stressed for months about it all and I amexhaustedtrying to make him feel better all the time when I am worrying just as much as he is.’

Rosie looked at her friend with concern. She hadn’t realised that Nadia and Nico had both been worried about their jobs and money. She desperately wanted to tell Nadia about BioChem, that the funding from them would take the pressure off but she also didn’t want to jinx it by saying anything before it was confirmed, or face Rachel if and when she found out that it had taken Rosie precisely fifteen minutes to break the oath of confidentiality she had just taken. Rosie walked over to the window and stood next to Nadia, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulders.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said softly, ‘I didn’t realise how worried you were.’

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