Encrypted (19 page)

“You did respond, did you not?” the director asked as he looked up from his paperwork
.
The crinkle at the edge of his eyes took away any sting
in
his words.

Cheeks redden
ing
, Amanda cleared her throat
.
“I’m partial to blonds.”

The older man chuckled and nodded
,
as if she had actually said something funny
.
“Well, glad to know
that
I’m safe from your obsession, but I’m afraid that makes you a doomsdayer.”

“Or I’m the only correct person on your staff,” she said before she could stop herself
.
Where did she get the
boldness
today
?
But while she had it, Amanda challenged, “Did you even bring up the subject of suspending incoming European flights?”

The humor left Henderson’s eyes
.
“Do you know how many of those flights are scheduled in the next twenty
-
four hours alone?”

Without hesitation, Amanda answered
.
“One hundred and seventy
-
nine planes with an average of
212
passengers
,
each for a grand total of
39,000
chances
that
the plague is on its way.”

“We are doing everything we can,” the
director
stated,
sounding
as tired as Amanda felt.

Still, she couldn’t stop herself
.
“So
,
are
we turning planes back in the air
?
Refusing to let them land?”

“Dr.
Rolph
…”

She’d heard that tone before
.
From practically every professor she had ever had
.
So
,
she was well prepared for it
.
She brought props
.
And lots of them
.
Amanda pulled up map after pandemic map on her
iPad
, dating to the twelve hundreds.

His lips thinned to a tight line
.
“I might be shy of a week on this job, but I assure you I am aware of the eighty
-
year pandemic cycle
that
the planet goes through.”

“Yes, but have you ever asked yourself why?”

“Why
,
what?”

Amanda arranged the maps in chronological order
.
“Why
eighty
years
?
Why is the influenza virus so adept at changing its genetic code and thereby its protein markers
?
So adept that last year’s vaccine is useless?”

Again, could the director sound any more tired
?
“Far greater men, and women, have asked that question and settled on the fact
that
it is natural selection.”

“Then where did this plague acquire its resistance to antibiotics
?
Are you trying to tell me
that
we were overtreating the squirrel population?”

“Dr.
Rolph
, what you are suggesting is
—
”

Amanda knew where he was going
,
and had to cut him off
.
“Is that this new plague has been genetically engineered, weaponized
, and
then purposefully released.”

“Yes,
that
suggestion,” he said,
combing
his thick fingers through his hair
.
“In certain circles
,
such a claim would be considered grounds for dismissal.”

Stepping
closer, Amanda tried to pour every ounce of confidence into her words
.
“They have the medical knowledge to do this
.
They have the dedication
—
”

“Who are
they
?” he demanded.

“I don’t know, but…” That was the one factor missing in her theory
.
Who would do such a thing
?
But just because she didn’t know the group’s name,
that
didn’t mean they didn’t exist
.
“Mark my words
. B
y 0900
,
we will have our first case in the states
.
By noon
,
several clusters
.
By this time tomorrow
?
You’ll get to see what a real panic looks like.”

Henderson searched her face
.
“How can you be so sure?”

Amanda looked over the dozens of maps representing so many years
.
So many dead
.
So many chances to experiment without scrutiny
.

“Because they’ve had centuries to practice.”

* * *

The sky was still black as
Lino’s
plane landed at J
ohn
F
.
K
ennedy
International A
irport
.
Even the time difference worked in his favor
.
Before they could even pull up to the gate, several passengers were unbuckling their seat belts and reaching for the overhead compartment
.
Lino
grinned
.
These braggarts would receive the highest dose of contagion
.

While the rest of the
passengers were
busy jostling for their luggage,
Lino
sat quietly
.
Where could they
go
?
All this rush
ing and jockeying for position—
as if it would get them off the plane any sooner
.
You could almost hear them bleat as they waited impatiently in the aisle
.
But soon, very soon, you would hear them moaning, begging for death.

Oh
,
how
Lino
wished he could see their overanxious faces then
.
The young man surveyed the passengers around him, counting them off in his head
.
One, two, three, four
.
If this contagion did its job, one of those four would be dead
.
He counted another set and studied their faces
.
Not one of them thought
that
they were going to die within the next week
.
Many of them
would
spread the Black Death to those closest to them
.
They would know the horror of watching their famil
ies
and friends fall sick around them
.

Finally
,
the hatch opened
,
and the sheep began their exit
.
Lino
waited until the knot had dispersed,
and
then
,
making certain his hand was moist, he dragged his palm along the top of the seats
.
One could never be too thorough
.
This task was too important to leave
anything to
chance
.

Once inside the terminal,
Lino
was struck with how quiet and still the huge concourse was in the early
-
morning hours
.
Almost churchlike
.
A cough from one of the exiting passengers echoed off the high ceilings
.
Lino
felt a great sense of satisfaction course through him
.
It was so rewarding to see your handiwork come to fruition
.

He was so preoccupied by his sense of fulfillment that he almost missed the unscheduled contact
.
Anyone else would have passed by the security guard unaware, but
Lino
could see in the woman’s eyes
that
she had a soul
who
could watch millions drop around her, and she would stand unflinching
.
Here was one
of his own
.

Diverting his course
,
he approached her, flavoring his English with more accent than his cultured education usually allowed
.
“Ma
d
ame
,
can you direct me to this gate?” he asked, showing her his ticket to Los Angeles
.
She took the document and studied it before she answered
.

“Of course, sir,” she responded and raised her arm to point to the left
.
The casual action pulled back her sleeve, revealing three short lines of tattooed symbols on her wrist
.
Tattooed, not carved
.
She was an acolyte, not yet anointed
.
Despite his
disdain
for her rank, the guard still served her purpose
.
He scanned the message again, but it still did not make sense
.
He was supposed to fly to the West Coast in order to spread the plague from both shores
.
His eyes flickered to hers, asking the unspoken question.

“You’d best hurry, sir, or you’ll miss your flight.”

The guard handed him back his ticket
.
Only it wasn’t his ticket
.
So there was no mistake
.
The plan had changed
.
Another challenge.

“Good luck,” she said before she walked away.

Lino
straightened his back
.
He would need no luck
.
He was anointed in blood
.
He was chosen
.
But this was no time to rest on his laurels
.
He had a connecting flight to El Paso to catch.

CHAPTER 7

Plum Island

9:19
a
.
m
.,
EST

“Dr. Rolf?” a voice asked.

Amanda started awake, jerking her face off her pile of papers. Unfortunately
,
one CIA briefing had become glued to her lip by dried saliva. And of course
,
Dr. Henderson
was
at her door.

“Yes, sir,” she said, not knowing why she nearly saluted. It must have been the nearly seventy-two hours without any real sleep.

“I need you to pack up,” he said as he brought his tall, wide frame into her tiny
,
cramped office.

If his presence had not
awakened
her, his words certainly did. She scrambled to walk back her previous wild theory. Make
that wild
theories
. As much as her new post intimidated her, she did not want to leave so soon.

“Sir, if you will just let me explain
—
”

He shook his salt
-
and
-
pepper head. “Just pack.”

How Amanda hated being the damned harbinger of doom. Why had she forced her conjectures on her new boss?
Why?
She glanced out to her assistant’s desk to find Jennifer packing as well.

At least they could walk out of the building together.

She opened her mouth to argue, but then shut it again. There was no point. By the set of Henderson’s shoulders
,
she could tell his mind was made up.

Sagging under the weight of exhaustion and humiliation, Amanda bent her head. “And who
m
should I forward all of my data to?”

“Forward?” Henderson asked.

Oh
,
G
od. They didn’t even want her data? Great. She would be transferred to Mich
i
gan to root out Starry
-
Eyed Duck Syndrome.