The Blood

                                 Part 1                                     

The year 2000 CE. Thorf Serendopolis; a Princeton University Archaeology Graduate has just unlocked the door of a secured records office at the Rosaland Franklin Institute of Genetics(RFI) in Titusville, New Jersey.

He had to hurry.

With perspiration beading on his forehead, Thorf Serendopolis set the dummy file on the desk and turned toward the wall of records. He’d been told the patients’ files were organized alphabetically by last name. He scanned the Ss.  Samuel, Scarlos, Schraft, Schultz, Seraf.

Serendopolis, there it is!

Using both gloved hands he slipped out the heavy record and replaced it with the equally heavy dummy, unclipped page two of the original document, folded it, and opening his medical coat, slid the folded page deep into his pants’ pocket.

With the remaining file wedged between his arm and lab coat he stepped out, shut and locked the door of the private documents room. 

He walked softly to the outer office door, turned the knob and pushed. The hallway was empty. He peeled off one neoprene glove, stepped out, elbowed the door closed and removed the remaining glove, stuffing both in his coat pocket, and proceeded down the hall. He felt a sense of relief as he took a right turn in the corridor and passed a physician in a hurry, oblivious to his presence.  

Young Serendopolis looked every bit the part of the clinical geneticist he was impersonating. 

 Nearing the lobby he smiled and nodded a greeting to the receptionist, then exited the famed RFI.

There was no going back.  The graduate student had stolen the comprehensive document that revealed detailed information about strange alleles on his own DNA, information he’d been denied.