"What do you think happened? Older guy, smart, lovesick student looking
for . . . never mind. When I think about it, I don't know whether to
laugh or cry." Then her mood abruptly changed. "Okay, the construction
shed is right over there." She was pointing through the dark and the
light spatters of rain that had suddenly appeared. Was it beginning to
storm again? "It's always locked, but it's got its own separate
computer control, so it won't be shut down like everything else. All
anybody has to do to get in is just to code in a requisition. That's
how we keep inventory."
He led the way, keeping to the shadows. "Well, can you tell it to 'open
sesame' and let us in?"
She nodded, then entered a small portico next to the entryway. There,
on a terminal, she typed in the code that would disconnect the heavy
electronic locks on the shed's door. Moments later he heard a click and
watched the green diodes on the locks start to glow. Next it swung open
and the fluorescent lights came on to reveal a perfect high-tech
fabrication shop, with rows of precision machine tools lined up in neat
rows, the floors spotless. Looking around, he wondered what kind of
chemicals he could scrounge. There had to be something. . . .