Venom : Part 1

It was an exciting day for all the college students. Most of them were raving about their summer jobs or fancy holidays. The atmosphere was filled with restlessness. However, as college took a break, one pupil wondered about her life beyond college. She would either go to the Youth Hostel or find sanctuary in her aunt's home. Both options seemed equally hellish. If only she had friends, she could stay with them for the break. Raina hardly managed to survive in the mere pittance given by her aunt and the scholarship definitely didn't fund her housing.

 The college had strictly prohibited residential accommodation in the hostel and they had refused to make an exception with her. But of all the things, she would miss the lab. The only place she could think and perform miracles. It was sad that even a prodigy like her was suffering through daily struggles of life. As she walked passed the lab, she found Professor Rana in deep conversation with a young woman. She hadn't seen her in the campus before. And as of her knowledge, Professor Rana was a bachelor. 'Wait? Could this be his...' she thought. Suddenly, Professor Rana looked at her and called her name out. Raina thought she was in trouble for eavesdropping. However, it was something entirely different.



'Raina, I'd like you to meet Meera Ray' said the aged professor in his bulky tone. Both of ladies shook hands. 'Raina Kaul' she introduced herself to the woman.
Raina looked at her more closely. She dressed in corporate attire, most likely an MNC employee. Long brown hair slicked back in ponytail, dusky skin tone, and captivating hazel eyes. Raina was herself a beautiful woman, with strong Kashmiri features; white milky skin, sharp features and silky-smooth black hair. Unfortunately, years of education had added ugly spectacles to her face. They were big enough to overshadow her beautiful eyes.
'She is a complete genius, Meera. The best student in bio-chemistry!' the professor unabashedly bestowed Raina with flattering remarks. Meera casted an appraising look at Raina. She didn't question her ex-Professor's judgement. Even if Raina was half good as he claimed to be, she could be an excellent asset.
'I am sorry but where is this conversation leading to?' Raina interjected.
'Oh! I completely forgot Raina, Miss Ray here is on a lookout for a bio-chemist. She err..'
'I want you to work with me' said Meera.
'Like a job?' Raina asked.
'Precisely. A summer job.' she concluded.
'Where?'
'That you would soon get to know, provided you're up for it'
'I think I am all set, unless its all safe?' Raina carefully asked, she didn't want to get any trouble. But any place was better than her aunt's house
'Oh! Its all safe, safest in the world!' Professor Rana said enthusiastically.
'Are you sure?' asked Meera, she sounded challenging.
'Absolutely!' Raina answered.

***

Somewhere back and beyond, where nobody existed, she drove. Crossed miles from the forested area. The coordinates had been paged to her the previous day. South Africa was successful, she went through the report of her crime, the one she got after hacking the investigator's computer. Her smile was evident, they hadn't managed to deduce the cause of death. Finally, after driving for more than six hours, she reached her destination; a dilapidated cottage, maybe older than herself. She led herself inside the cottage, the air was filled with smell of fungus and dead rodents. She started to look around the house. It was supposed to be here. Finally, she found it, hidden in a cabinet drawer. She opened it, a sense of satisfaction. 'Russia'

***

'Intelligence Bureau?!' Raina sprang from her chair the moment Meera, apparently an IB official told her about the intriguing summer job.

'Raina, you've got to relax. All of this is strictly classified' the IB agent spoke with uneasiness as people looked at Raina. However, Raina's excitement couldn't be contained, she always fancied a researching job in the IB. Meera handed Raina a page which she took from suit pocket.

'Do you know what this is?' she asked. Raina took her specs out and looked closely at the paper. She had seen it before, during a research probably.

'Batrachotoxin!' she said after few seconds. 

'Higly poisonous, very rare, extracted from frog excretions, but through the digestion of Melyrid beetles the frog eat.' 

Meera was thoroughly impressed, she handed out another compound. This one was more abstract, it took Raina relatively longer.

'2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin' she answered. 'Infamously known as Agent Orange, used during Vietnam war'. Meera gave a slight glance to the paper, where Raina had made some deductions and scribbled various other compounds.

'Can you solve more like these?' Meera asked.

'I can try. What is this?'

'Your job. Tomorrow 8:30AM, IB office' she said and asked the waiter for the bill.

Once cleared, Meera bid Raina goodbye. Raina was excited. She had got her first job! 

***

'Russia's  done' she answered on the phone. Venom cleared the injection and put it into sterile solution, a trademark technique she rather liked to perform.

'India' she spoke in her icy cold accented voice.

To be continued...