Vanishing Sample: Science Fiction

The lab coat flapped around her legs as she stalked into the lab. Beneath it, she was wearing a dress that must have cost her senator husband a bundle. Rob saw the dress, the fancy necklace, the high-heels, and he ducked for cover. She was not going to be in a good mood. It looked like his call had interrupted some sort of high-level function. She was cranky enough in the general run of things. Unfortunately, his supervisor had just ducked out for a cup of coffee, so he was the only one in her line of fire. He gulped. "What the hell does this page mean?" she demanded, holding up her cell phone so he could see the blinking line of green text. "What the hell do you mean, the sample vanished? Samples don't just vanish; they get mislaid, they get destroyed--they even get stolen! They don't just vanish!" "Um." Rob said eloquently. "Um, my ass!" she snapped. "Tell me what happened, and this better be good!"

Inspiration: "We're Only Science" - Dot Allison
Story Potential: High.
Notes: I like the set-up; I like the characters. I have no idea where it's going to go next, but it could be fun.