by W.J. May
***
Natalie headed up I-35 to Round Rock, a small suburb outside of Austin, to Kronberg Laboratories. She glanced at the thermostat in her car; one-hundred and three degrees. Summer had arrived. She fidgeted in her chair, peeling her skirt off her legs. Between the Texas heat and the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she felt like she’d just finished a boot camp class. She reached over and turned up the air conditioner. She couldn’t go in looking all sweaty, especially on her first day.
She parked in the garage and then walked into the ten-story, silver and black building. A part of her couldn’t believe she’d actually gotten an internship in the laboratory. They only hired a few interns every semester for the lab operations. Even though they had over thirty interns this summer, all of them, including Ryan, Lise, and Sal, worked on the business operations side of the company. All the hard work and determination would hopefully allow her to reach her dream one day as head research scientist. Kronberg made that dream seem so much closer.
“May I help you?” A lady wearing a gray uniform sat at the front desk. Several armed security guards stood nearby.
“Yes, I’m Natalie Vega and I’m interning in the lab.”
The lady gave her a flat smile. “Welcome to Kronberg Laboratories.” She turned to her computer and typed in some information. “Yes, here you are. You’re working in the main lab area, reporting to Franz Rousseau. Let me get your badge.”
Natalie waited while the lady searched through a stack of ID badges. “Here is your badge. You will need to wear it at all times.”
“Yes ma’am.” Natalie took the badge. She studied the photo on the front of it. It was only two weeks ago that she took the picture but she sure did look different with her straight hair and eye glasses. She clipped the badge to her shirt.
“Please have a seat over there.” The lady pointed to an area filled with several young people who appeared to be interns too. “Someone will come and get you.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Natalie walked across the gray slate floor to a sitting area of sleek leather chairs and sofas. The modern décor and color pallet of white, gray, and silver gave the building a futuristic feeling. She recognized many of the faces from orientation, even though she didn’t know them personally. Before she sat down, she heard someone call her name.
“Natalie. Ready to go?” Sean waved and smiled, walking in her direction. He wore a long white lab coat that made him look pencil thin.
“Hi, Sean. Am I the only one?” She glanced back at the group of students behind her.
“Yes. The other two interns started yesterday.”
“There are only three interns working in the lab?”
“No. There’s a total of five. Two stayed on from last semester. Come on, I’ll show you how to get into this place.” He motioned for her to follow him.
They walked up to a large turnstile, located next to the side of the front desk. “You scan your badge and then press your thumb up to the scanner.” Sean showed her by doing his first.
She followed his instructions. A green light illuminated on the display. “You can walk through now.” A guard standing to the side informed her.
“Thanks.” She gave the guard a friendly smile and walked through. He didn’t smile back. She hoped her coworkers would be friendlier. Everyone seemed so tightlipped and serious. “That was easy,” she said to Sean, while straightening out her badge on the lapel of her shirt.
“Yeah, nothing to it.” He led her through the main common area. “Did you get a tour of the facility?”
“Yes, during orientation. This place is amazing. It feels like I’m walking through a scene from Star Wars or something.” She gawked at all the transparent computer screens displaying information and videos along the walls.
“Yeah, it kind of feels like that or a scene from Iron Man.” Sean led her down a long corridor and then made a right turn. A set of clear glass double doors marked with the words ‘Clearance Required’ greeted them. She watched Sean scan his badge and the glass doors slide open.
“All you need is to dress the guards like Imperial Stormtroopers.”
Sean broke out in laughter. “Now that would be cool. Speaking of dressing up, next Friday is Kronberg’s big annual masquerade party. Everyone’s invited. You don’t want to miss it.”
She followed him down another hallway to the main laboratory area. “My roommate, Lise, is working in Marketing. She told me all about it last night. Sounds like it will be epic.”
“Man, you have no idea. They go all out. It’s like a Vegas show on steroids. I’m sure Lise’s head is spinning trying to get everything prepared for next week.”
“That’s an understatement. She’s already stressed out, worrying how they will get everything done in time.”
“Sounds like you have the scoop on it. So are you going?” Sean scanned his badge again which opened a set of opaque glass doors. They slid open diagonally, disappearing into the wall.
Natalie followed Sean in to the lab. Her jaw dropped. “Wow, this is impressive.” She stumbled around in a circle. High tech gadgets surrounded her, lighting up in neon colors. Transparent computer screens hung along the walls, scrolling data and showing different video clips.
“You’ll get used to it. Come on, I’ll take you to your workstation. Franz left early and asked me to show you around.”
“Okay.” She followed him slowly, trying to assimilate everything around her.
“Let me introduce you to Dr. Kronberg.” Sean ushered Natalie over to a short older man standing in front of a computer screen.
“Excuse me, Dr. Kronberg.”
The white headed man turned around. “Yes, Sean.” He spoke with a heavy Swedish accent and it was exactly how she imagined him sounding.
“I’d like for you to meet Natalie Vega, one of the new interns.”
Dr. Kronberg’s thin lips parted into a flat smile. He stuck out his hand. “Hello, Natalie. It’s nice to meet you.”
She shook the ingenious scientist’s age worn hand. “Hello, Dr. Kronberg. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you. We are glad you are here. This will be a great learning opportunity for you. If you need anything at all, I’m here. Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions. Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb question, only those not asked remain unknown and a mystery to all.”
Natalie smiled. Not only was he intelligent, but kind too. “Thank you. I’m looking forward to learning everything I can while I’m here. This is a dream come true.” The doctor pulled his hand back and she realized she hadn’t stopped shaking it. She retrieved her hand, feeling like a complete rambling fool.
The doctor adjusted his thin metal frame glasses. “I’m glad to hear that. We’ll talk later.” He gave a slight nod to both of them and turned back to his work.
She followed Sean to the back of the lab. “He is so cool.”
“I told you. Over here is your locker to store your things. You’ll need to make sure you put on your lab coat before going to your workstation. There are some areas that are designated as clean room only. I’ll show them to you later. What you do is swipe your badge in the slot right in front of the lock and it will open.”
“Thanks, Sean. I appreciate everything. Really, I do.” She scanned her badge and waited for the locker to open.
“No problem. You’re going to do great here. I know it. By the way, you didn’t answer my question.”
“I’m sorry, what question?” She put her purse in the locker and took the white lab coat off the hook. She struggled to get her arm through the sleeve.
Sean helped her. “The masquerade party, do you think you will go?”
“Thanks.” She fixed her collar and stopped when a weird vibe struck her, making her feel uncomfortable. Why was Sean always helping her out? Oh no. Did she give him the wrong impression and now he liked her? She closed the locker door. More than anything, she wanted to crawl inside and tell him to go away. She couldn’t coward down.
She turned and faced him. “Probably. Lise won’t let me back out of this one. That’s for sure.”
“If she doesn’t go or she’s too busy you can go with me and some friends.”
She smiled, not wanting to be rude. “Thanks, but I’m sure I’ll go with Lise and …” What was Ryan? Her boyfriend? They were going out so he must be her boyfriend, right? “My friend Ryan, who’s also interning in marketing.”
“That’s cool. We can get a table so we can all sit together.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his lab coat and rocked on the back of his heels.
“Okay. That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed, unsure of his motives and slightly confused. But she’d worry about it later.
“Ready to get started?”
Natalie nodded. “I sure am.”
