Independence Day Plague (5 page)

“
I don’t know what this is, titanium or something, but we’re going to have to get some serious laser tools to deal with it.” Barnes tossed the ruined cutters into the trunk of the maintenance cart.

“
What about the back gate?” Stegan fingered the plastic wrapped coil thoughtfully.

“
It’s the same.” Sarah replied. “I tried it there first because it’s closer to our house. I thought the MPs locked the back to control access in and out because of the big move.”

“
That’s it! The MPs are missing.” Mitchell snapped his fingers. His exclamation was loud enough and random enough to surprise a fair number of those gathered. “I’ve been wondering what seems wrong other than the chain. Look, the booth door is shut. The MPs are always on duty. I can’t think of when I’ve ever not seen them at the gate.”

Everyone turned to look at the booth, shame on their faces for failing to realize it earlier.

“
Clark, run over and check the barracks and call me back.” Stegan ordered after clearing his throat to regain his composure. Clark nodded in reply and jogged off to the two-story building down the main road. Stegan turned towards Barnes. “Do we have a laser cutter?”

His six foot, three-inch frame hunched over in thought. “Yeah, I can get my hands on one. It’s gonna take some time to set up though. I gotta figure out the power supply somehow but I think I can do it.”

“
Get to it as fast as you can.” Stegan turned to Sarah, “We’ll need this car out of the way. Go back home and I’ll call you when we have it open.”

The men watched her back up the car and turn around before anyone spoke. Alberto broke the silence. “Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. Everyone’s concerned about cutting through the gate. Why don’t we just cut a hole in the fencing? Surely that would be easier?”

Stegan frowned, “Don’t you hear it?”

The men stood silent for a moment. The low vibration normally ignorable in the background now buzzed at the back of the skull. Stegan looked around and then picked up a large stick still covered in early morning frost. “Back up,” he said before hurling it over the first ten-foot fence and into the second outlying fence wire. It hit and exploded in a shower of sparks.

“
When the hell did that happen?” Alberto swore and then pointed.

“
It’s always been there.” Stegan replied; his face set in grim lines. “Not many know about it because we turn it on after midnight when everyone’s accounted for. It goes off by five a.m. It’s for security, to stop any one from sneaking into the base during the night. The fact it’s still on means that there’s something seriously wrong here.”

“
It also stops anyone from sneaking out.” Mitchell replied.

Stegan gave him a glare before answering. “Yes, it keeps people from sneaking out. It’s standard on all level one security bases.”

“
Okay, so where’s the cut-off switch?” Alberto had to ask.

Stegan gestured towards the booth. “In there. There’s always a guard so we didn’t see it as a problem. The generator sits inside the two fences, behind the Administration Building. There's probably a cut-off switch in the building but I’m not sure where. The MPs know. If nothing else, maybe we can cut the electric feed to the fence and kill the power that way.” The small phone in his hand gave a loud jangle. “Stegan. Yeah, Clark. How many are there? All sick? Okay, we’ll check on them later.” He snapped the phone shut and clipped it on his belt. He frowned for a few moments.

“
Al, please send an email to everyone telling them that both the gates are locked. Tell them as little as possible but ask them to keep everyone inside, including pets. It’s only going to get up in the mid-fifties today so that’s not asking too much. Ask them to send one family representative to the auditorium at ten-thirty. Hopefully we’ll have some more answers for everyone then.”

Al nodded and walked towards the eastern housing division. Stegan turned to go. He found himself blocked by Mitchell and Geller. “Why keep people inside?” Mitchell asked.

Stegan paused before replying quietly, “There’s a procedure for this kind of lock-down. It’s supposed to only happen in the case of a leak or contamination. In that event, no one leaves until help comes. I don’t think we've got a leak but I need time to find out who triggered the lock-down.”

Geller asked, “The MPs are sick?”

“
Clark said they have headaches and a little nausea. It sounds like hangovers to me. Everyone was knocking back drinks pretty hard last night.” Stegan replied.

“
Even the guard last night? That’s pretty unusual.”

“
Last night was a very unusual night around here. Clark didn’t note who was suppose to be on duty.” Stegan snapped, “Look, Ray, before you start cross-examining me, give me time to figure out what the hell’s going on.” He joined Barnes in the electric cart. The two men watched them leave.

Mitchell turned to Geller, “He’s probably right. The MPs were there and drinking a lot. We all did. Even Katy woke up with a headache and she didn’t drink at all.”

Geller nodded, “Yeah, we’ll see.”

Three hours later, Mitchell stood at the entrance of the auditorium and watched the ninety odd people shift from cluster to cluster among the seats in the auditorium. Normally a relaxed place for movies and events, the buzz of distressing questions and too few answers filled the room. Dressed in an old but formal blue suit rather than the earlier jeans and t-shirt, Stegan finally walked across the stage and shouted for folks to take their seats.

“
Many of you have noticed that both the front and back gates are locked. As of yet we don’t know why they’re barred. Some of you also have noticed that the land-based phone lines are down and the hypernet is offline. As of nine-thirty, we still have internal email connections. Many of the cell phones show no service.” The silence erupted into a roar of voices. Stegan waved for silence.

“
There's no cause for alarm. As most of you know, we’ve always had bad com-unit and cell phone reception here. That’s why we don’t use them very much.” A few nervous chuckles echoed back at him. The fact rang true. The isolated base lacked access to the few towers throughout the sparsely settled state. For internal communications, most folks used the landlines or the fancy walkie-talkie style internal cell phones assigned to everyone. Those phones failed after a mile away from the base.

Stegan continued, “However, anyone with working cell phone, please see me after this meeting.” The murmuring grew again. A few took out their little flat boxes, checking for signal. No volunteers stood up.

“
What about the emergency phones?” The voice came anonymously from the back. The red emergency lines had been installed only in the commander’s office and the hospital wing. They led directly to the Pentagon to report any threat of biohazard leak. Other than the once a month scheduled test, they were never touched.

“
The red lines are dead too.”

A few gasps were audible and Jenny Landergren whispered, “oh my God” next to Mitchell. He frowned. Those lines were satellite-based, secure phones, not as easily cut off as cell phone frequencies. Something was terribly wrong.

“
So we’re cut off?” Clark shouted.

“
It’s standard procedure to cut the red lines in a move. Someone has simply jumped the gun a bit at the Pentagon offices. In three days, we’re scheduled to be totally shut down. Folks, I know this looks bad but there are logical explanations. We’re ghosts at a ghost base about to step back into mainstream life. You knew through all your careers how secret this base was. We’re shifting everyone out the next few days. I’m sure this is a precaution that’s part of the Moving Day events.” Stegan attempted an ah-shucks grin. “We all know how fanatical the military can be about security. Someone's just being enthusiastic about following the normal procedure for shutdown. The first trucks will arrive around noon to start moving families. We need to sit tight and wait it out.”

“
What if something happened on the outside?” Jenny yelled. “How do we know anyone’s coming?”

Stegan sighed, “We’re still receiving radio and televideo signals coming in. I haven’t paid that much attention to the morning news but I haven’t heard of any major event anywhere on the outside. Has anyone else?”

A general murmuring filled the crowed. If anyone had invaded North Dakota, it was still a secret to national news and InterRadio.

“
Honestly folks, I’m not sure what’s going on but I believe that this is simply standard procedure in shutting down BL-4. We’ll get a detachment of men to turn off the electricity at the outer fence so we can leave if we need to. However, I want to stress that our primary task here is still the products and their related support material.”

No one liked to use the phrases germs, bacteria or virus. Whether from security reasons, or mental complacency, the standard procedure was to refer to the vials of active cultures as “product,” vaccines as “shots” and the antidotes as “safety nets.” The staff rarely used the vaccine’s nickname. No one felt moral qualms about developing them.

Stegan continued, “We checked the cryo-units this morning. I saw no evidence of any leak or contamination. Therefore, we’ll continue to monitor the product until the containment units are loaded and moved out the gate. The freezer units are operating just fine. Sergeant Tanaka, do you have anything to add to this that might shed some light?”

Tanaka, head of the security guards, stood ramrod straight in his pressed army uniform. His jaw tightened as Stegan gestured towards him. “Yes, sir. Private Jergans had duty from midnight to six a.m. and he's now AWOL. Private Sheppard reported the locked gates after he tried to relieve Jergans. We are still searching for Jergans.”

“
Okay, see me after the meeting.”

“
Yes, sir.”

Jenny stood up, waved her hand until Stegan saw her, and pointed. “Daryl, what about food?”

“
Sorry, Jenny, I’m not following you.”

“
You said we just need to wait a while. I’m almost out of food at my house.” Low murmurs rose again as she continued. “We’re supposed to be moving today and we didn’t want to shift a bunch of canned goods so we’ve eaten everything up.” Sounds of assent and “us too,” sounded through the hall. Jenny continued, “I wanted to go to Dawson today to get us a few more things.”

Mitchell frowned as he listened to the discussion. It made sense and Caroline probably had done the same, as had most of the families judging by the nods and comments he heard.

Stegan shouted again, “Okay, everyone settle down. We still have some supplies in the commissary and can go back to making large meals in the mess hall if necessary. God knows there are probably tons of leftovers from last night’s party.” That earned him a few smiles and chuckles. “Those families that need help right away should contact my office. Jeanine’s there already and can help out.” Jeanine Iverson, Stegan’s assistant, worked as a powerhouse of fierce efficiency that was totally opposite Stegan’s laidback manner. “The caterers are still here. Maybe they can whip up another wonderful meal. Anyway, don't panic. I know the events seem strange but I’m sure there are perfectly good reasons for what’s going on. The gates will be open soon and then anyone who needs to go to Dawson, can. In the meantime, it’s business as usual. Are there any other questions?”

The room quieted down as folks exchanged looks and slowly started to get to their feet.

“
I have one question.” The voice called out from in the back. Mitchell saw Ray Geller easing himself through the crowd filling the aisle way as he moved towards the front.

“
Yeah Ray, what is it?”

“
Has anyone checked the sample stores this morning? Not the containment vessels but the actual product itself?” The stores, vial after vial of biological agents, their corresponding vaccines and antidotes sat packed away in battery-operated cryo-units, ready for transport. The units themselves received their power from sockets in the large walk-in freezer. Once off base power, the cold levels normally lasted a week as long as no one opened them. Other than checking that the cryo-units remained sealed, no one wanted to crack them open.

“
Opening them up causes too much coolant loss.” Stegan’s voice changed from folksy to a harder edge.

Ray stopped in front of the stage and turned to the crowd. “Let me ask another question then. Does anyone in your family feel sick this morning?” Ray continued, “Any headaches, sore throats, or fevers?”

People shifted uneasily, glancing at each other. Clark shouted out, “That’s just hangovers, man!”

“
Is it? Do you normally get fever with a hangover? One of my kids has a fever and a raw throat. Two others complain of headaches and none of them drank alcohol last night.” Mitchell saw Sarah, four seats away turn pale.

Stegan spoke levelly, “What are you suggesting, Ray?”

“
I’m saying that there seems to be a lot of sick people now, days before we leave. I can count on one hand the number of times a flu or cold has hit the people in this base in the last ten years. We’re so isolated that we don’t usually get sick and yet, coincidentally many of the families here have at least one member who is sick now. It seems like odd timing to me.”

“
You’re saying they poisoned us?” Jenny’s hand fluttered to her throat. She turned wide eyes to Stegan. “Why would they do that?” The voices rose in alarm.

“
No one’s poisoned here!” Stegan roared over the clamoring voices. “Folks, there are simple explanations for each of these events. The cryo-units remain sealed and undisturbed. Maybe one of the caterers had a flu bug and simply didn’t wash his hands. I suggest we move on to solving some of the concrete problems in front of us instead of creating imaginary ones” He glared at Geller who looked unmoved.