Ecuador

Centro Nacional da Infecção, Rio de Janeiro, December 2000

Centro Nacional da Infecção, Rio de Janeiro, December 2000MATEO AND LUIZ STOOD before an old wooden door with dingy, peeling paint. An iron bar with spots of yellow-orange rust crossed the door at waist height. One end of the bar disappeared into a metal slot like a giant deadbolt. An old-fashioned iron padlock secured the other end.

‘No one has entered here in a long time. It is a funny old lock,’ said Luiz.

‘I don’t like this place,’ said Mateo.

‘I wonder where the lock came from? Maybe from Portugal,’ said Luiz as he inserted the oversized key he’d been given into the lock.

Mateo lifted his upper left lip, arched his eyebrow, and looked toward Luiz, as if to say, You think this old lock will open? Then he thought, I hope not. Luiz turned the key. He twisted it, then twisted harder. The key reluctantly turned—grating—and the heavy lock fell open.

‘I don’t want to go down there,’ said Mateo with a shiver. ‘These ancient places make me nervous.’

‘Why, you believe in ghosts?

‘Never mind. Let’s see how long this is going to take.’

‘First, we see how many samples there are. Then we will know how long it will take.’

‘I have to go to my cousin’s wedding next week, so I hope to God this doesn’t take more than a few days.’

‘You have cousins here in Brazil, Mateo, or do you go home?’

‘Yes. No, I mean. No cousins here in Rio. I have to go home to Colombia.’

Luiz pulled the iron bar out of the slot and set it against the wall; it rang like a bell as the steel hit the concrete floor. The shrill ringing permeated Mateo’s mind, renewing his nervous shivers. Luiz reached into the darkness and around the corner to the wall, pushing his fingers through sticky cobwebs. Eventually, he found the light switch, illuminating gloomy walls.

They stepped through the stale air, down worn, stone stairs, batting clingy cobwebs out of their way to a windowless basement. The walls were covered with years of accumulated grime. Dust clung to gossamer webs. The upright freezers, once shiny white, showed spots of rust, erupting like miniature orange volcanos.

‘Hijo de puta,’ said Mateo as he counted. ‘Eight freezers. Many more than is good, but maybe they are not too full. Just so we’re finished before I have to fly home next Wednesday. We could work this weekend?’ he said hopefully to Luiz.

‘Uh-huh,’ said Luiz dismissively.

‘Don’t you think working this weekend would be a good idea? Get it over with, yes?’

‘Maybe you, Mateo, but not me. I have plans.’

Luiz started opening the freezer doors. ‘We’re in luck. Look at this one on the end. It’s almost empty. We can transfer the samples fast from the next one, so they don’t thaw. I was afraid we were going to have to bring down boxes and a lot of dry ice to keep them cold while we worked. We’ll inventory this one first. After that we can move the next freezer’s samples into it. Put on your gloves and move a table in front of the freezer.’ He pointed at a rickety table against the wall. ‘Clean the top off while I get the computer booted.’

‘Let’s look in the other freezers.’

‘They will be what they are. We have a job to do. Let’s get started.’

Mateo unloaded the first freezer’s contents, setting several small boxes and Styrofoam containers on the table.

‘Tell me what the first box says, then put it back in the freezer. Rápido, so they don’t thaw. Going fast should suit your time schedule, too.’

Mateo started reading labels. Some he read with difficulty. Luiz typed them into the computer spreadsheet. Containing only a few samples, the first freezer went quickly. They started on the next, which was packed full. Mateo took out a couple of stacks of small boxes and wire containers holding glass slants, set them on the table, and then closed the freezer door.

‘There’s hundreds in here. This could take forever. Do you suppose any of these are bad?’ asked Mateo.

‘I don’t think so. My boss said they are old. The big boss told him that many are probably not still alive. He thinks most are samples of plants, mushrooms, and soil bacteria. But he said to be careful as the crazy old professor that collected them could have stored anything. After they have our inventory and see what’s here, they will either destroy them or move them to the university microbiology department.’

‘P. Aeruginosa, 1966,’ said Mateo. ‘I don’t like it down here,’ as he scowled at the disintegrating walls. ‘There are no windows. I don’t feel so good.

‘You want to get sick or are you going to spell the next one for me.’

‘Ana…car…dium occi…dentale.’ Mateo struggled with both the spelling and pronunciation. ‘What’s that? It doesn’t sound like a plant.’

Luiz rolled his eyes. ‘Spell it, don’t say it. You’re wasting time. And I don’t know much more than you. Just be careful not to drop any.’