The Visitor (20 page)

“No, not ready to go. There is one problem with directing it toward the brain, and that is the blood brain barrier. Not everything in the blood gets through to the brain. But I believe I could do that with a change in the RNA. I have already changed the RNA of the Ebola. But religious fanaticism is not what you want to address. The race-specific Ebola you seek would be made to attack organs such as the lungs. That’s easy for me.

“For making a race-specific Ebola, I have the Ebola here, and I would only have to make more of it, which I can do. For a given race, I need subjects of that race. You see, the subjects that I have tested are, of course, all dead. Ebola eats its host. I need only make an antibody from a Chinese subject that I can link to the Ebola.”

Baron got back to the business at hand and focused on what he needed. “But you have not created a Chinaman-specific Ebola, or have you?”

“Correct.”

“Do you know for a fact that you can do it with the Chinese?”

“No question about it. I’ve worked with a few races, including Mongolians, and have had access to data from others. There are unique proteins in every distinct race. After all, the races are quite different, aren’t they?”

The statement was so obviously true that it called for no answer. After a pause, Baron asked, “Explain to me, only a layman, how can it kill only one race and be limited to only that race? Won’t this virus spread to others and create a worldwide pandemic?”

“No. I can guarantee that it will not.”

“Well, my good Doctor, while I believe you have great credibility, your assurance that it will not end up in a deadly pandemic, out of control, is not exactly the sort of guarantee that I can depend on.”

“Well, Baron, this is not the sort of thing that I can apply to a world bank for a guarantee that a race-specific Ebola that I will create will only kill one specific race. Perhaps I’m unable to convince you?”

“I’m not giving up, Doctor. But I want to be convinced that this virus will not become some sort of worldwide virus, killing everyone and not just the Chinese.”

“Perhaps the best that I can do to convince you is to explain the basics as to how it is done. Otherwise, I’m unable to give you what you seek.”

“Please do.”

Dr. Dorogomilov assumed that Baron and his wife would be able to understand, and so he began. “I find a unique protein in one of the organs that does not exist in any other race. From that I make an antibody that will react to that antigen. I then link that antibody to an Ebola particle. Once linked, the particle will not spike, or enter, any other cell in the body that does not contain this unique antigen. Circulating about in a body, if it finds the unique antigen, the antibody is attracted to it, and very strongly. The linked Ebola then spikes the antigen, enters it, and replicates, much the same as ordinary Ebola. It would then become ordinary Ebola and kill anything else, but for the fact that I have been able to alter the RNA of the Ebola so that it continues to be linked upon reproduction. This is my accomplishment.”

“I must be able to distribute it,” Baron informed him. “My targets are not in a lab. If you can make this for me, what is the best method of distributing the Ebola? Will stomach acid, for example, destroy it?”

“It’s true that stomach acid can destroy the linked particle, but I’ve conducted many actual experiments and found that the subject nearly always becomes infected even if it is subjected to stomach acid. If you put it into a water supply to go into the stomach, it will work, but it would take a considerable amount to create an epidemic. A better way to spread it is via airborne particles which are breathed in and spread into the body via the lungs, very much like a viral pneumonia that spreads into the blood steam and reaches every organ. No matter what the target organ is, it will find it via the bloodstream. So the answer is no.”

“How do you go about creating it?” Baron asked.

Having to take a risk and reveal his secrets in order to make something of his genius after so many years and, only having one customer, the doctor went ahead and explained. “I must first have subjects of the target race to obtain tissues from so I can find their unique protein. There are usually a number of unique cells, and I locate one that I believe to be the best candidate for linking.”

“What if you find more than one? How do you choose?”

“There are many factors to consider. They range from the physical size of the protein chain, so the resulting linked antibody with Ebola will not be too large to enter the target cell. If you wish to hear more, I’ll continue.”

“Can this be done with other substances, such as anthrax?” Baron asked.

“Absolutely. I have successfully linked anthrax to monoclonal antibodies. Anthrax, unlike Ebola, lives on very well outside a host. Spores, not anthrax, were found in Egyptian tombs, living thousands of years. Ebola, if you get enough of it around before it is discovered and contained, will infect a large population very fast. It’s conceivable that the authorities might not know the Ebola was man made, whereas with anthrax they would know at once.”

“Is your Ebola just as deadly as that found at the Ebola River, the Ebola Zaire?” Baron asked.

Dr. Dorogomilov raised his head proudly. “Even more so. Ebola, as I see you already know, was named after the river in Africa where it was first detected. The Soviets used to rush in a team whenever there was an outbreak, ostensibly to render aid, but the real reason was to get samples and bring them to me here at this lab. Unbeknownst to them, or, to anyone, I still have them here, kept alive with animal tissue. The only one I did not keep was the Reston virus found in the Philippine monkey, as that does not kill humans. The problem has to do with the length of the glycoprotein. I’ve retained the 1976 Ebola from the Yambuku Mission Hospital in Zaire. That was ninety percent fatal. I especially like that one. There are differences in the various viruses, and I use the most deadly. Some, like the Sudan, have only fifty per cent mortality. I’ve done considerable work on the genes in the Ebola molecule, learning the differences between the structural proteins, the membrane-associated proteins, and the replicating proteins. I’ve found a way to create a mutation over the years that is even more deadly than Ebola Zaire, with nearly one hundred per cent mortality.”

“How long before death once a person is infected?” Baron asked.

“Two to four weeks.”

“What about races partially mixed?” Baron asked.

“There will no doubt be some percentage of mixed races in the population you seek to infect, and they may not have the specific protein antigen as exists in the specimens of the Chinese I would use. I’ve no way of knowing if mixed races will have the same unique protein without testing. If they don’t have the same unique protein, they will not be affected.”

Tak decided to ask a question. “You say that your variant developed over the years is nearly one hundred per cent effective. But if you would link that to a cell from a Chinaman, is the resultant linked Ebola particle any less potent?”

“Baroness, that’s a very informed question. Well, without actually testing the resultant linked virus on subjects, I cannot confirm its virulence, but I do have my earlier work in other races. However, since the new, linked Ebola will not penetrate cells unless it finds a cell or cells that its linked-monoclonal-antibody is attracted to, it could reduce slightly the number of subjects that will be infected with it. On the other hand, because it is so specific, when it does find the unique protein it seeks, it is even more potent at penetrating the membrane and infecting. Rather delightful, don’t you think?”

Tak seemed content with the answer. Baron then asked, “What are the initial symptoms when a person contracts it?”

“With non-specific Ebola, the incubation period is usually from as soon as two days to as long as twenty one days, but usually from four to sixteen days. Fever may be detectible after two days. Severe frontal and temporal headaches occur. Generalized aches and pains follow. Watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, dry sore throat, and lack of appetite occur. By day seven, maculopapular rash, that is, raised spots, and thrombocytopenia and hemorrhagic manifestations, especially in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs, with bleeding from all orifices and mucous membranes. By day twelve the skin starts to peel away from the rashes, and there is bleeding. Lesions are caused in almost every organ with necrosis. Although an organ may give way and fluid losses into tissues would be considerable, the effects are so severe that the actual cause of death is normally shock. The pain involved is enormous.”

“Is there a worse way to die?” Baron asked.

Dr. Dorogomilov responded with absolutely pure scientific impartiality. “Not that I’m aware of.”

“What about the race-specific Ebola?” Baron asked.

“It depends on where the unique antigen protein is found. If found in more than one organ, it will infect each. If in only one, it will only infect the one. For example, if the tissue is kidney, it will only infect the kidneys. Of course, if the kidney, being a very bloody organ, is being consumed by Ebola, and since it regulates many things, the entire body will be affected as the kidney is destroyed by the Ebola. The urine output stops, generalized edema occurs, along with blood pressure fluctuations and other problems, causing certain death. If in the lungs, then you have rupturing of alveoli and capillaries, coughing up blood, frothing of the mouth and nasal passages, difficulty in breathing, and the cause of death is likely to be drowning in one’s own blood. Eventually it will consume the entire lungs, even after the person dies. There are other organs to consider if you would care to know.”

Baron was content with what he had heard and changed the subject. “What about the life of your variant before it is taken in by the Chinese? How can it be kept alive to distribute it to a whole country before it dies?”

“That, of course, depends on how much of it is made and how many people you can use to disseminate it. Ebola is an interesting virus--it kills its host. People wonder how it exists for the usual three to five years before it pops up again in some African country and kills everyone in the village before it is contained. I have my own theory on that. I think it goes dormant. But what you need to be able to do is to keep it alive until you can get it there and distribute it. The best way to preserve it is to keep it very cold. The colder the better. Ice will work, but if you want to maximize the preservation of the entire stock, then liquid-nitrogen canisters. That can bring it down to about minus two hundred Celsius initially, and keep it very cold for a long time. Exposed to room temperatures, without any host tissue, it has lasted several days in numerous tests, and I’ve witnessed it lasting more than two weeks.

“But why go into the zone you seek to contaminate with partially dead Ebola? In order to keep the stock all fresh, go with nitrogen-cooled canisters. Those are your best bet, and you will have one hundred per cent living Ebola, ready to spread about when you get there.

“If you don’t spread it about quickly, you will have the government restricting everyone’s activities and then it could possibly be contained. Once inside a subject, it then has a host and does not die off as long as the host is alive, or as long as it has tissue to feed on.”

“What do you think would be the best method of distribution to an entire country?” Baron asked.

“Getting as many of the target race to get it into their lungs or mouths in as short a time as possible. When taken into the lungs, it enters the bloodstream and infects at once. So people breathing on others works the best. Taking it by food will work, especially if it is breathed into the lungs when tasting or inhaling the odor of the food so it goes into the lungs. Methods of getting it into the mouth result from the person getting it on his hands, which often end up in the mouth or passing it in food which enters the mouth. Sharing food, sex, using the same utensils, all this, in addition to close breathing on others will work. Placed on door knobs, currency, cigarettes, or other objects that are soon thereafter touched will result in infecting most who touch it. You can put a drop of it in fluid form on items at a vendor’s food stand.

“Anyone who touches or eats the food that has it will become infected, and then spread it to many. All in all, people are the best vehicles to spread it. The ideal method would be to infect people at crowds, markets, gatherings, and travelers, and to do so at as many places as possible in a few days. The first person infected that enters a hospital will probably infect most everyone in the hospital, as they won’t know what they are dealing with.”