“Limited to no effect. Again, because we’re dealing with a specifically crafted variant that was designed to bypass the two major antiviral drugs, as well as any natural immunity. It’s the perfect virus, in that sense – indestructible, highly infectious, and as deadly as just about anything I’ve seen.”
“But you could start working on a vaccine now…” Jeffrey tried.
“Of course, but it would take months. And if your brother was under the impression that it was going to be released soon, we don’t have time. I’ve already checked, and there’s a large global flu shot program scheduled to start within a week. That’s a likely culprit if you’re even half right about your HIV dissemination suspicion. Or it could be as simple as releasing it in a number of popular airports. It wouldn’t take much. In fact, if a small group of travelers was exposed, or some security workers, as virulent as this is, tens of thousands would be infected and become carriers before anyone knew it. By the time the first ones started dying, we’d be talking millions exposed, at which point it would be too late. Frankly, this is the worst case scenario of the thousands of nightmare possibilities we’ve ever contemplated.”
Both men sat in silence, and then Jeffrey nodded.
“I have a possible solution. A blocking move. But it will require your help.”
“Monsieur, at this point, anything you can suggest would be of interest. The alternative is too horrible to consider.”
“The basic idea is to short-circuit the plan so it can’t be executed.”
“How?”
“I have some ideas…”
FORTY-THREE
Exposure
Jeffrey listened as the phone rang and rang, and then Kaycee’s voicemail engaged.
“Hi. This is Kaycee. Leave a message, or breathe heavy, or whatever, but keep it interesting…”
The beep sounded more like a warble on his cheap burner phone, and for a moment his heart caught in his throat at the sound of her voice. He didn’t stop to think his reaction through, and instead launched into his message.
“Hi, Kaycee. This is the guy you held the shotgun on last week. I need to speak with your grandfather. It’s…” – he checked his watch and quickly calculated the time on the east coast – “…seven o’clock in the morning there, I know, so pretty early. I’ll try back in an hour. It’s very important that I speak with your grandfather. Hope everything’s okay on that end.”
Jeffrey found himself wanting to say more, but instead he softly pressed the end call key and stared at the phone. He was back at the hotel, in the stairwell on his floor, so that just in case his U.S. cell was picking up sound in the room it couldn’t eavesdrop on his call. He’d read online about how the NSA could activate the microphone in a cell phone anywhere in the world without it appearing to be powered on, and he had to expect that those who were behind the virus had the capability to access it at will.
He’d laid out a plan of attack for Bertrand, who had reluctantly agreed that his proposed course of action was likely to be effective. Short of taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times laying out the whole scenario, which they both knew would never be printed, they didn’t have any alternatives, and they shared his sense of urgency. Bertrand had already begun making calls as Jeffrey walked out the door, and they’d agreed to follow up with each other the next day.
The hour back in his hotel room crawled by like he was being waterboarded, and he practically sprinted for the stairwell at the end of the empty hallway, scanning to confirm that he wasn’t being observed.
This time Kaycee answered on the first ring, and Jeffrey realized when she said hello that he was grinning like a punch-drunk buffoon, in spite of the dire circumstances. He hoped that his voice sounded normal when he began speaking.
“Kaycee. It’s me. How’s everything on that end?”
“Hello, ‘me.’ Everything’s fine. Is this a social call?”
“Wouldn’t that be nice? No, I need to talk to your grandfather. How’s he doing?”
“Cranky and troublesome as ever. But I manage. Can I tell him what you want to speak with him about?”
Jeffrey had anticipated this first hurdle, and braced himself for the pushback. “It’s about what we discussed when I was there. I have more information for him.”
Kaycee didn’t say anything, and he could hear the line crackling, as if an occasional electron was veering giddily off course and obliterating itself in a sonic blaze.
“Your last discussion left him agitated for days. I had to deal with the fallout. I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to do a repeat performance,” she said.
Jeffrey was about to try the response he’d rehearsed to her inevitable protest when he heard Sam’s voice booming in the background.
“Kaycee? Are you out there?” he called, and then there was a rustling on the line.
“Look, don’t take this wrong, but I can’t deal with this right now. He’s just now back to normal, and I–”
“Kaycee, it’s really important. As in life or death.”
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that since I was a child. I think I’m going to exercise executive privilege here and just say no. Sorry,” she said, and hung up.
Jeffrey swore and took several deep breaths. He’d give her a minute to calm down. He could see her perspective – he was just stirring up troubling history for no reason, and she was her grandfather’s protector. Ordinarily he would have agreed with her.
But these weren’t ordinary circumstances.
He pressed redial and listened. One ring. Two. Then her voice again, this time decidedly frosty, none of the musicality and slight teasing quality of the first call’s opening words.
“Kaycee. Just listen, okay? I have information that I need your grandfather’s help with – his advice. I’m in Europe, and I’ve been attacked. This is serious. I’m not making it up.”
“Attacked? What are you talking about?”
He told her about the mugging.
“Please, Kaycee, put your grandfather on. You can listen on the speaker if you want. If you think there’s anything he shouldn’t hear, you can mute it and tell me there’s a problem, okay? But there’s a lot in the balance and I don’t know who else I can turn to,” he pleaded.
“What’s in the balance, Jeffrey? Try telling me that, and maybe I’ll do as you say.”
He sucked in breath between his teeth. “I know it sounds crazy and melodramatic, but the entire human race is at stake, Kaycee. No lie. I’m dead serious.”
“Have you been drinking? Did you fall and hit your head?” she asked, her voice disbelieving, but also lighter than when she’d answered again.
“I wish. No…I mean, yes, I hit my head, but no, I haven’t been drinking. I got a concussion when I was mugged, but that’s the least of my worries.”
“Tell me what’s going on, Jeffrey. No more games,” she said, suddenly all business.
“There’s a pathogen that’s going to be released at any minute. A flu that will kill almost everyone. It’s connected to the cattle mutilations. Your grandfather was completely right – that was medical experimentation and a cover-up. But this is the end result. A global reset.”
He could hear her on the other end, her breathing faster, and he knew what she was going through. A man she’d only met at gunpoint was talking like a lunatic, making wild-eyed claims that defied belief.
“What do you expect him to do about it, assuming you aren’t out of your mind?”
“That’s what I need to talk to him about. I need to pick his brain. See if he has any ideas or contacts. Because otherwise, in a matter of no time, we’ll all be dead, Kaycee. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. So please, put him on.”
She paused, and he sensed it could go either way, and then the line clicked. “You’re on speaker. My grandfather’s right here.”
“Professor. Sam. It’s Jeffrey. We spoke recently…”
“Yes, Jeffrey. I remember. I may be old, but I’m not senile yet. Or at l
east not that far gone that I don’t remember a week ago. You’re the Vietnamese cleaning woman, right?”
Jeffrey was taken aback, and then Sam continued.
“Little joke, there, Jeffrey. Sorry. But if you’re not going to torment the young when you get to my age, what are you going to do to pass the time, right?” Sam said, stifling a chuckle.
“I wish I was calling under different circumstances. It’s a good news, bad news situation, but mostly really bad news.”
“Lay it on me, Jeffrey. I can handle it. Believe me, nothing would surprise me anymore.”
“Well, it all starts back with the cattle mutilations…”
Ten minutes later, he finished. Sam and Kaycee were mute with shock. Sam spoke first.
“These people are psychopaths. Textbook cases. Living, breathing monsters.”
“I agree. But the question is, do you have any contacts that I could share this story with? The only way I can see this being stopped is if I can get the information into the hands of other governments – governments that would lose everything if the plan moved forward. I’ve thought it through, and come at it every way, and that’s the only hope. Nothing else makes sense. We can’t trust the media, and frankly, I don’t think the people behind this would care whether the public knows or not, once it’s done. What are they going to do – except die, I mean? Besides, who would the public even blame? The government would just deny it and run its propaganda machine to paint it as conspiracy tripe,” Jeffrey said.
“I don’t have any viable contacts any more, but you should talk to Kaycee,” Sam said.
“Kaycee? What are you talking about?”
The tone of the line changed and suddenly Kaycee was back on the phone, now off speaker mode. “I told you I’m a translator. In New York.”
“Right. I remember.”
“I never told you where I work.”
“Maybe now would be a good time.”
“I’m a translator at the United Nations.”
The words barely settled before Jeffrey’s mind was racing again. “But…so you know people?”
“You could say that. I guess the question is what proof you could get me and how soon. I can’t promise anything, but my hunch is I could get it into the hands of the Chinese delegation, and maybe a few others. I know one of their translators extremely well. We had drinks together and went dancing just before I came here.”
“I could get you an entire analysis from the Pasteur Institute, as well as a characterization of the virus. It would leave nothing to the imagination,” Jeffrey said.
“How soon?”
“Probably by midnight tonight. My time. No more than eight hours, tops. They’re already working on a report. Top secret, of course, but not to us.”
“I’ll give you my email.” She held the phone away from her mouth as she spoke to her grandfather. “Grampa, I may need to leave for a day and do this in person. Will you be okay without me?” she asked, her words muffled.
After another few minutes of back and forth, parsing logistics, he terminated the call. Kaycee’s network would be invaluable, assuming she could get the documents to the right officials. At this point, he had no better alternative, other than Bertrand’s contacts in the French government, but he wasn’t convinced they would move quickly – bureaucrats tended to duck conflict or anything problematic, so it was more likely that they would drag their feet rather than take immediate action. Fortunately, Bertrand had intimated that he too had back channels, and would be working those, just as Jeffrey was working his.
Now all Jeffrey needed were the documents.
He placed a final call, and Bertrand answered with a terse, “Oui?”
Jeffrey gave him Kaycee’s email, and told him to send the report from a blind, newly-created account as soon as he could.
Bertrand didn’t comment except to say “Oui” again, and the line went dead.
Now it was in the Frenchman’s hands. The fate of the world.
Hopefully, not too late.
FORTY-FOUR
Cats Out of Bags
“Mr. President.”
“Ambassador Sokolenko,” the president said, shaking the Russian ambassador’s hand, welcoming him into the Oval Office, his chief of staff standing by one of the book cases. “This is most irregular, but I was able to clear a few minutes from my schedule. How can I help you today? Your emissary said this was the highest priority.”
“Yes, it is. Time is of the essence, so if I may speak candidly…”
“Of course. Edgar here is fully briefed to the highest levels. You may speak as though you were in your own home,” the president said, the offer a hollow one. Every word would be deconstructed after the meeting. That was one of the reasons Edgar was there.
The ambassador removed a file from his briefcase and handed it to Edgar, knowing that the president wouldn’t touch it, on the off chance there was a poison or some contaminant on it.
“This is a top secret document from my government. It details a deadly new virus. A laboratory-created virus, which if released, would destroy the majority of human life on the planet. You can read the document and have your experts review it, but in the interests of time, my prime minister has requested that you be prepared to accept a call from him in twenty minutes. That should be enough time for us to discuss the basics of the file.”
The president and Edgar looked puzzled.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” the president said.
“This is a virus that was created in a biological weapons laboratory. In the United States.”
“Now see here–” Edgar said, but the president cut him off.
“As you are aware, we do no offensive biological weapons development, Ambassador. Only defensive, and that, very limited. We were one of the first signatories of the 1972 Convention.”
“Yes. We also signed that agreement. As I recall, there were some regrettable accidents that indicated that the Soviet regime hadn’t completely abided by the Convention. As unbelievable as that may seem…”
“I can state categorically that we have not been developing biological warfare weapons,” the president said, an edge to his voice.
“That is good news. Because if this virus was released, it would mean the death of billions and billions of people. Including in my country. And yours, Mr. President. It would be genocide.”
“Ambassador, you have me at a disadvantage. I really have no idea what you’re talking about,” the president countered.
“Perhaps you can take several minutes to digest the report. There are fatality estimates on the last page. An epidemiology nightmare.”
Edgar was already paging to the final table, and his eyes widened as he took in the graph and the numbers.
“Are…are these estimates correct? No numbers have been transposed?”
“No. Around six billion casualties. Most of those in the first thirty to sixty days.”
Edgar approached the president and pointed out the section to him, and he blinked several times as he scrutinized the data.
“Mr. Ambassador, would you give us a moment?” Edgar asked, watching the president’s poker face, which revealed nothing.
“Of course. My prime minister will be calling in fifteen minutes. I trust you will accept the call?”
“We’ll be back to you shortly, Ambassador. Please, this way,” Edgar said, motioning to the doors.
The old Russian stood slowly, clutching his briefcase, and allowed Edgar to show him out.
Edgar returned seconds later. The president didn’t wait for him to begin speaking.
“Get Jaspers at the Center for Disease Control on the line, and distribute that report to him immediately. I want to know what he says before the call comes in. God damn it, Edgar. If this is somebody on our side running a covert op, I want them skinned alive. I’m dead serious. This is insanity.”
“Sir. Let’s not jump to conclusions. This could be a ruse, or they could have misinterpreted the data.”
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“That’s a Pasteur Institute report. I want someone there to verify it’s genuine. Do we have anyone that can?”
“I’ll check.”
“Do that. Also get Morrell on the line, now. This is the kind of shit that has CIA written all over it. If this is their doing, I will single-handedly flatten Langley and put them out of business. And get DOD representatives on the horn as well. I want to understand what the hell is going on here before I talk to the Russian. Do you read me?” the president snapped.
Edgar nodded, already dialing on his encrypted cell phone.
Thirty seconds after a hushed discussion with an aide, who literally ran to scan the documents and send them off to a list that would be forthcoming from Edgar in moments, the president’s line rang. He jabbed the phone on and the CIA director’s voice boomed over the speaker.
“Mr. President. Edgar indicated we have a situation?”
“That’s putting it mildly. The Russian ambassador just handed me a report from the French, detailing a new virus that they’re claiming was developed in an American bio-weapons lab.”
“That’s impossible. There is no such thing.”
“I know that, and I know you’re telling me that, but in about five minutes you’re going to be getting a document that the Russians are saying leads straight to us.”
“It’s got to be some kind of a head fake. A plant. Some sort of negotiating ploy. What do they want?”
“Their prime minister is calling in…eight minutes. So we’ll see. The ambassador didn’t articulate any demands. And he didn’t seem like his usual self. I don’t get the sense they’re bluffing on this. He looks like he saw a ghost.”
“I’ll look for it and get my top people on it. Is there anything else, sir?”
“I want the full court press. And no bullshit, Morrell. No ‘need to know.’ On this one, I need to know everything.”
The president hung up and then looked at Edgar bleakly. “Cancel everything I have planned for today. Now.”
“But, sir. We can’t behave rashly. It would send signals, and then we’ll be inundated with questions from the press…”
Upon A Pale Horse (Bio-Thriller) Page 26
