The Perfect Pathogen (15 page)

CHAPTER 24

Ben and Katie went
downstairs to the cafeteria. It was lunchtime on a Saturday, so the place was
nearly empty. “Most normal people would be home with their families right now,”
thought Katie.

“I’m just going to get a Diet Coke. My stomach is
a little nervous and I don’t want to fill it with something that might make it
worse,” said Katie.

“So, Diet Coke settles your stomach?”  Ben was
laughing at the apparent absurdity.

“Not exactly, but it does settle my nerves. I
don’t know why, but it always works.”

“Well, we’ve got a little time so, I am going to
grab a sandwich and some fries,” said Ben.

Ben returned to the table a short while later with
his lunch.

“Now this is what settles my stomach and my
nerves,” he said, chuckling.

“Those fries do look good,” said Katie covetously.

“Help yourself. I won’t eat them all.”

As they munched away in silence, Katie couldn’t
help but think back on how much her life had changed in the last week. She had
gone from a carefree analyst to briefing the leader of the free world on a
situation that could result in the elimination of every person on earth. She
started to get nervous. As she did, she started to eat Ben’s fries with more
vigor.

“Slow down and leave some for me,” admonished Ben.
“You’re going to choke yourself on my fries. Can you imagine the guilt complex
I’ll have after you’re dead?”

“Well, we could all die anyway, but you are right,
these fries are settling down those butterflies in my stomach. It’s irrational,
but thank you.”

They both laughed and joked a little while talking
about how this could all end up very badly. It was kind of morbid, but they
needed to lighten up and laugh a little so that they didn’t cry.

“So, I didn’t get a chance to ask you how you are
doing today,” said Katie.

“Well, I woke up this morning and I was still
breathing, so I would say this is a great day. I hope to have many more ahead
of me. How about you?” asked Ben.

“Not too bad. I just worry about my kids, so it
gets me down a little. We are driving to my parent’s farm tomorrow, so that’ll
be a good break from all of this,” said Katie.

“I should probably break away and take a day off
too,” Ben said. “No plans yet, but I’ll relax at least part of the day.”

Ben stood up, took a deep breath, reached his
hands to the ceiling in a large stretch and said, “I guess it’s show time. Are
you ready?”

“Most certainly. This was a good break. Thanks. I
feel rejuvenated and I’m raring to go,” replied Katie.

They walked out of the cafeteria and towards the
lobby of the building. As they reached the elevator, Sarah was just stepping
out.

“Are the two of you ready?”

“Yes. We’ve been fed and watered. All we need is
an audience and we will be ready to perform,” said Katie jokingly.

Later, on the way to the White house Sarah asked,
“Have you two ever met the President?”

“No,” said Ben.

Katie shook her head at the same time.

“Well, it can be good and it can be bad. I do know
that he’ll be expecting answers and no bullshit, so please keep to just the
facts. If it is a theory you are espousing, say so. Don’t leave anything up to
the imagination. If you don’t know, then say so. Follow our agenda and get
right to the point. No sugar coating when asked a question. Understood?” asked
Sarah.

They both nodded and then Katie asked, “Is he
unreasonable?”

“No, Katie he is not. But he is human, and
remember you will have just told him that in your professional scientific
opinion, he is going to die soon. And Ben, you have said he will die within six
months if there is no cure. What response do you expect to get from him?” Sarah
quizzed metaphorically.

All of a sudden, the nervousness that had
evaporated over lunch returned with a vengeance. Katie’s senses were now on
high alert. It was a short drive to the White House and as they turned the
corner she could see it ahead. She closed her eyes and said a short prayer to
herself. With that some of her calmness returned and she reassured herself that
everything was going to work out just fine.

They pulled up to the White House gate and the
vehicle was  duly inspected. Moments later, the car slid through the entrance
to deliver its occupants to the waiting court. As they stepped out of the
vehicle they were met by a White House aide who then led them to a waiting room
outside the Oval Office. The President’s secretary met them and informed them
they would be meeting in about five minutes, then offered them to take a seat
in the anteroom.

Right on time, the door opened and the White House
Chief of Staff beckoned them to follow him. They entered the Oval Office to
find the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore
of the Senate, Secretary of State, the Secretary of Health and Human Services
and the National Security Advisor present. This was a bigger crowd than Katie had
expected, but it didn’t seem to faze either Ben or Sarah.

“Good afternoon Sarah,” said the President. “It is
good to see you again, even if it is under these dire circumstances.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” said Sarah.

“And you must be Dr. Katie McMann and Dr. Ben
Shah. Welcome.”

“Thank you sir,” said Ben and Katie in unison.

“Well, let’s get started,” said the President. “I
read your briefing papers and I’m impressed with the rapidity with which you
have reached your conclusions. However, I am naturally doubtful regarding the
accuracy. Are you absolutely sure that the test you have developed accurately
indicates the presence of SDX?  How can you draw this conclusion without
knowing what the cause of the illness is or where it came from?”

“Mr. President,” started Katie, “because no one
has yet been able to identify the cause of the illness, and since I’m not a
medical doctor, I decided to do what I could, based on the research I’ve
conducted in the past. I’ve always worked on statistics with an eye to figuring
out what are the common characteristics amongst people who live long lives.
When the deaths started occurring, I realized that I might be able to use a
similar analysis to figure out what the similarities are with the deaths from
SDX and those I previously tracked through my research. Dr. Shah mentioned that
broad lab studies were being conducted on the victims, so I asked if the tests
could be expanded to include some less typical lab tests I had used in my
longevity study. It was then just a matter of collecting the additional
information and analyzing it. Through further study I found a striking
consistency among all of the dead. In six separate and different blood tests,
the victims’ results were significantly out of normal range. I then expanded
this process to the blood tests of living people who may have been infected, and
I found their results were also abnormal. My conclusion, by deductive reasoning,
was that those particular tests were an accurate indicator that the person was
a carrier of SDX.”

“How do you know you have the correct normal
values for these rarely used blood samples?” asked the Vice President.

“Mr. Vice President, these normal values have been
well established over the years. The normal range for these blood tests is an
accepted medical fact for all humans,” said Ben.

“Also,” added Katie, “I have blood test data from
my longevity study of the aged that goes back over seven years, and four of the
tests were used routinely in my study. As I have gone back through the data
over the last couple of days, what I have determined is that about five years
ago the levels in the four overlap tests started increasing until they are at
the level they are today.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you are so sure
that the blood tests are indicative of the disease. I see this as an easy way
to say we are making progress, but it is hardly scientific,” said Jim Redman

Katie knew Jim was not happy with her conclusions,
but she didn’t expect him to challenge her methods in this setting. Katie
looked directly at Jim, and deliberately using his first name so that he
understood that in this situation she considered him a peer, and spoke.

“I would ask you, Jim, how do you know when you
have a cold? You have a runny nose, your eyes water, you sneeze, and your
throat hurts. These are the symptoms. There is no easy test for a common cold, and
we may not know the immediate cause, but do we deny that it exists? I believe
it would be irresponsible to not support my theory, particularly as at the
moment there isn’t an alternative. There is undeniable evidence that people are
dying at an alarming rate. We have no leads, except what I and Dr. Shah have
been able to develop. We need to continue down this road to see if we can find
what caused the disease and determine if there is indeed a way to stop it. The
alternative would be to go home and die.”

Sarah looked at Katie with a slight smile. Katie
wasn’t pulling any punches, Sarah thought, and luckily the punching bag wasn’t
anyone to high in the food chain.

Then the President spoke.

“Dr. McMann, I can see you are passionate about
your work.  When do you think you will know where the disease started so we can
start looking for the source?”

“Sir, I believe I am homing in on the general
region. Based on a review of my world–wide data so far, I believe it started in
the Siberian area of eastern Russia and then spread to India, followed by
China, Japan and Africa and then to the United States. It will take some
in-depth analysis to pinpoint the exact location in Siberia, but I think that
it will be possible, given the large amount of data points I have to review,”
said Katie.

“Dr. Shah, I understand that you are working on a
model for determining how long we have to find a cure. What have you found?”
said the President.

“Sir, so far, it is only a hypothesis, based on
the autopsy results and the age of the deceased. I think that people are aging
at an accelerated pace. Unfortunately, I have no way to calculate how fast
until we have more empirical data,” said Ben.

“By the term empirical, I assume you mean more
deaths, is that correct?” asked the President.

“Yes, that is correct. I think it will take at
least a month’s worth of data for Katie to model the behavior of SDX. If I had
to guess, based on autopsy analysis alone, I would say that the aging process
is being sped up by between twenty- five and two hundred times the normal rate.
That would give a 40-year old with a normal life expectancy somewhere between
three months to two years to live without some type of antidote. So we can only
hope the data shows us the aging process is slower, not faster,” explained Ben.

“If I understand you correctly, if we don’t find a
cure to this disease quickly, then about 40% of the earth’s population could be
dead in as little as three months?” asked the President.

“That is correct sir, and possibly three months
later everyone could be gone, worst case” said Ben.

The room went silent. All of the players knew this
was serious, but until now had not fully registered just how serious. They were
all carriers of SDX. Their days were numbered. The silence felt to Katie like a
heavy fog shrouding around her shoulders. And, as Rob could attest, she was
never fond of silence.

“One more thing I think you should be made aware
of, if you haven’t already been informed, Mr. President. I had newspaper
reporter ask me today if I had developed a test to predict if someone had this
disease. And the follow up question was, isn’t it true that everybody has this
disease and we are all going to die?” Katie added.

“And what did you say?” asked Jim Redman.

“I said that all press inquiries were to be
handled by the Secretary’s Press Office, as we had all agreed. I provided no
comment whatsoever.”

“Well, at least you got that right,” said Jim
sarcastically.

“Well, the good news is that we think we now have
some direction, and we believe that further research will prove promising,”
rejoined Katie.

Sarah looked at Katie, furrowing her brows.
Katie’s retort had clearly disturbed her. But Katie was an optimist and she
wasn’t about to let this negative talk from Jim get her down. These were the
most powerful people in the world and she was witnessing their shock. It was
unnerving. She, for one, could be a cheerleader if the situation warranted it.

The meeting ended unceremoniously. The President
thanked Katie, Sarah, and Ben for coming. They left the Oval Office, and while
the others remained in the room, were escorted out of the building and into
Sarah’s waiting car. As they drove out of the White House, Katie wished she
could be a fly on the Oval Office wall right now, as they discussed further
strategy.

CHAPTER 25

As the Chief of Staff
re-entered the Oval Office there was already a vigorous debate in progress
regarding what they should do in the face of the looming epidemic.

“As of today, we are losing about 300,000 people a
day. I would expect by the end of the month it could climb to between 750,000
and 1,000,000 people a day,” said Jennifer. “These are facts that the press are
reporting on continuously. There has to be a point when we tell the people what
we know. If I only had maybe six months to live, I sure would like to know.”

“If you knew, what would you do differently?”
asked Jim Redman. “Maybe you would stop working. Maybe you would steal a car,
rob a store, and take whatever you wanted, if you thought it didn’t matter
because everyone was dying. Who would operate the public utilities such as
water and power, who would stock the grocery store shelves or drive the truck
to deliver the food?  We have to be very careful about how this is portrayed to
the public, if it is portrayed at all.”

“But they already know,” said Jennifer. “Don’t you
think the reporter is going to report what he has heard?  What we need to know
is how did he find out?  Is one of our phones bugged, or is there someone on
the inside that alluded to what is going on?”

“At this point I think we need to hold off
reporting on speculation,” said the President. “It’s not that I don’t believe
their hypotheses. I do. But they haven’t proven it to a level I feel is
appropriate to release to the American public. I hear your concerns Jim, and
they are valid. Hell, look what’s happening in China. We need to have a better
contingency plan in place in case the word gets out before we’re ready to
provide facts regarding a cure. Meanwhile, the governors are telling me they
are coping with what they have in each state.”

“But is it ethical to hold this information back
from the public?” asked the Speaker of the House, Ed Savage. “We’re pretty sure
it is accurate. We could tell them that we are getting close to determining
where it started and what the cause is. Maybe we can buy some time by
convincing the public that a solution will be at hand shortly.”

“Ed, spoken like a true politician,” said the
President. “But I think we need to hold off until we have an idea what the
cause is before we go public. If we jump the gun it will just raise too many
questions, and we just might have what we need soon.”

All remained silent after these words.

After a pause, Jim was the first to speak.

“So we are in agreement. No information is
released until we have a breakthrough or we get more information from the CDC
regarding where this started and what the cause is.”

“It will be increasingly difficult to hold the
line as the death rate continues to increase,” said Jennifer. “We’ve already
established mass graves in all of the major metropolitan areas. People are not
going to the hospitals because the ambulance services are inundated. The
healthcare and mortuary infrastructure is stretched to the breaking point.
People are going to want definitive answers soon, not more of the same.”

“If you are not up to the task of being spokesman
for the epidemic, then maybe we need to find someone who is,” Jim scolded. “Mr.
President, I think it is time to pull this back into the White House and have
the White House spokesperson handle the press. He can provide a measure of
deniability since we get our information from the CDC, the military and others.
It should gain you some credibility as well as free up Jennifer to pursue the
cure.”

“Not a bad idea Jim,’ said the President. “What do
you think Jennifer?”

Jennifer was relieved to not have to lie to the
public, but was pissed at the way Jim put it.

“Mr. President, I do believe it is a good idea,
because I don’t know how effective I would be at deceiving the public. Jim, on
the other hand, can provide your spokesman with some rationalized reasoning, or
should I say rational lies.”

“Now let’s all remember that we are on the same
team and we have the same goal of finding a cure for this disease and doing the
best for the country and our people. If that requires delaying the telling of
the full truth, so be it,” said the President. “You two have to work together,
so I want you to maintain a professional relationship. Are you both able to do
that?”

“Yes sir,” they said in unison.

“Good. Starting this afternoon, the press
conferences will be held from here,” the President continued. “We will use the
information provided earlier today as speaking points, minus the hypotheses.
Jim, come up with a timeframe based on our discussions today as to when we
think we will have some concrete information to share with the public. I want a
draft briefing in one hour. Any questions?”

The room was silent. The President had made the
final call. He hoped they would all fall in line, but one never knows with
politicians.

Jennifer left the Oval Office along with the other
attendees. Her car was waiting near the door. She was thoroughly disgusted by
what had happened during the meeting, but if she was anything, she was loyal and
the President knew it. She would keep her mouth shut, follow orders, and hold
the party line. It was her duty, she kept telling herself. How long would she be
able to remain the Secretary was yet to be seen, she thought to herself.

When the room was empty, except for the President
and Jim, Jim said, “Mr. President, you made the right decision. I’ll brief Ted
and ensure he is ready for the press conference. I’ll make sure he knows
everything he needs to know and where to draw the line. Do you have any special
instructions for me?”

“I think you already know. Do I need to say it?”

“Well, of course, when I brief Ted I won’t be
giving him all of the information, just what he needs to perform his role,”
said Jim.

“Very well. After the conference come see me. We
need to work out a plan in the event this thing blows up. I’m sure you already
have some ideas and I’d like to hear them.”

One of the things the President liked about his
National Security Advisor was that he always had a way to spin a subject and
come up with creative solutions to sticky situations. This one would be a
doozy, but he knew he could count on the
meister
to create a believable
fantasy.

“Mr. President, do you think you can trust
Jennifer to keep this under wraps until we are ready to release the
information?”

“Yes. I have known Jennifer for twenty years. She
will stick to the party line.”

“Well if she doesn’t, we need a contingency for
that also,” said Jim.

“Bring me what you’ve got after the press
conference,” said the President soberly.

There was a special press conference at 5 p.m. The
White House spokesman dodged the pointed questions with the skill of a
butterfly dodging the hand of a child. Luckily, no one asked about blood tests or
if everyone was infected. But even if they had, the spokesman would have
answered that he had no knowledge in these areas, because the decision had been
made by Jim Redman to withhold this information from the spokesman, all with
the President’s concurrence. The long slide down the slippery slope had begun,
or maybe they had been on that slope all along. It was hard to tell what was
truth, and what was not, in this world were information travels at the speed of
light and verification gets left in its wake because everyone moves on to the
next thing in a flash.

After the press conference, Jim found the
President alone in his office.

“Hi Jim, what have you got for me?” asked the
President.

“It is not fancy, but I think it will work. If
something breaks in the news, we report that we have several leads that are
promising and that it appears to be some type of virus that we have not seen
before. Trace elements have been found in the victim’s DNA and we are working
to recreate these in the lab so that testing for antidotes can commence. The
lab will be in an undisclosed, classified location. We have information that
there are some criminal sources that would like to find what we are working on
and use it to cure the elderly leaders in their communities or for other
nefarious purposes.”

“Of course,” Jim continued, “this will require
that Jennifer signs off on the plan, Mr. President. In the event she doesn’t,
for National Security reasons, she will disappear, along with anyone else in
her organization that questions our reporting. I know the CDC Atlanta director
well and I know he’ll go along with us since it is for the greater good. This
should buy us several months to actually find a cure. Jennifer, the CDC
Director in DC, Sarah Lin, Katie, Ben, and the others that were in our meeting
today are all being followed. In the event one of them has to be eliminated, it
won’t be a difficult task.”

“I would like to avoid that if at all possible,”
said the President. “You know I don’t like to get my hands dirty with American
citizens.”

“Trust me sir, you won’t. But if it comes to it,
the group that will take care of any necessary work is not from here. It will
be impossible to trace where or why they received their orders. They even think
they are being paid by a foreign government,” said Jim.

“I think it’ll work. I need you to get in touch
with our friend in Atlanta because I know Jennifer will not buy into this.
Maybe he can convince Jennifer that he is working on something and that he has
had a breakthrough and we can avoid any bloodshed,” said the President.

Jim thought he wouldn’t mind  taking Jennifer out
of the picture along with Katie too. He found them both too arrogant, too eager
to consider themselves his equal. Neither understood what real power is.

“I’ll get right on that sir,” said Jim. This was
not the first time that Jim lied to the President and it probably wouldn’t be
the last.

“That’s great. Let me know the progress you make.
With any luck, we won’t have to use your plan. Maybe someone will actually make
a breakthrough before the people get too restless,” said the President
hopefully.

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed.” Funny Jim would
say that, for his fingers were already crossed.

After Jim left the room the President sat by
himself pondering if he was handling the situation correctly. He had the safety
of the entire American population, if not the world, to protect from
information that may drive many people over the edge. The military had never
been used large scale on U.S. soil, save the Civil War, but there may come a
time when they would have to be and he knew the Pentagon was preparing for that
possibility. The National Guard had been called up in forty-five of fifty
states, but they were mostly involved with aiding the sick and burying the
dead. Luckily, most of them were young too. The President wondered to himself
what kind of a legacy he would leave. Several hundred million Americans dead? 
Collapse of the economy and infrastructure?  Maybe the people should know the
truth? The questions weighed heavy on his mind. The phone rang startling him.

“Mr. President, the British Prime Minister is on a
secure line. Will you take the call?” said his secretary.

“Of course, put her through.”  After a brief
pause, the President heard the distinctive transfer click, “Hi Constance, how
are you doing today?”

“Not very good, Rod. People are dying in the
hospitals and in their homes and we don’t have enough cemeteries or people to
bury them. But that is not why I am calling. We are not even getting close to
finding out what is causing this disease. Have you made any progress?”

“I just had a briefing and we have nothing new. We
are doing some DNA testing that might yield some information, but all in all we
don’t have a clue,” he said, lying through his teeth.

“Well, the other reason I was calling is we have
heard rumors that you do have a test that will tell whether someone is positive
for the disease. You are calling it SDX, correct?”

“That is correct, SDX, but I am afraid we don’t
have a test yet. We are looking at some promising data, but at this point it
would be irresponsible of us to say we knew how to test if someone had SDX or
not.”

“You’re not holding out on me now are you Rod?  We
have been friends and partners for years. I need to know the moment you have
anything confirmed. Is that clear?” said Constance half-jokingly.

“And the same goes for you” chuckled the
President. “I have been on the phone with you three times in the last week. I
even have you on speed dial,” he quipped.

“Okay, well, keep me posted. Good bye Rod.”

The President hung up. Lying to one of his closest
partners didn’t sit well, and he questioned who exactly it was he was
protecting if he couldn’t even trust the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The President said to himself out loud: “There has to be a better plan, but
what is it?”