A dark-haired woman smiled from behind the desk, then got up and came around. A sign-in book was there on a steel stand. Ally finally noticed that light classical music was wafting through the room, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake suite. "You must be Ms. Hampton," the woman said. "And this must be your mother. We were told to expect you." She nodded a farewell to Elise, who said, "It was so nice to meet you. Good luck." She then turned and headed for the back. Ally signed all three of them in. "Good," the woman said as she checked the information. "My name is Ellen O'Hara, by the way. I'm in charge of the nursing staff here. We're ready to go downstairs now." Ellen O'Hara had a knowing, earnest face that fairly lit up when she smiled. She had short brown hair streaked with gray and was pleasantly full-figured. When they reached the elevator, she zipped a small plastic card through the reader on the wall and the doors slid open. As they emerged on the lower level, Ally realized they were in the precincts of a very sophisticated medical laboratory. Occupying most of the floor was a glassed-in area, inside of which she could see three men and two women, all dressed in white. She also noticed rows of steel containers that seemed to be ovens or incubators of some kind as well as racks and racks of vials. At the far end of the laboratory, there was a blackboard on which one of the men was drawing something that looked like hexagonal molecules, linking them together. "That's Dr. Van de Vliet," Ellen said pointing. "I'll let him know you're here. The laboratory is a special environment. The entrance there is actually an air lock. The air inside is filtered and kept under positive pressure." She walked over to a communications module, buzzed then announced into the microphone, "Dr. Vee, your eleven- thirty appointment is here." He turned and stared in their direction, then smiled and waved. Next he walked to a microphone near the center of the room and clicked it on. "I'll be with you in a minute. Can you please wait in the receiving room? And Ellen, can you start getting them ready?" "Of course." She nodded then clicked off the microphone and turned. "Receiving is just down at the end of the hall. Next to his office. Please come with me." She led them through a large wooden door, into a room with a retractable metal table covered in white paper and several chairs. It was a typical examination room, with a device on the wall to monitor blood pressure, a stethoscope, and other examination paraphernalia. "If you'll kindly take a seat," Ellen said, "I'm sure he'll be here as soon as he can, in a few minutes at most. But while we wait, I need to take your temperature and blood pressure, and start a chart." "Ally, where are we?" Nina asked. Her face was becoming alarmed, and Maria reached to comfort her. "Are we in a hospital somewhere?"