The Perfect Pathogen

by Mark Atkisson

  “The DVC should be starting in a few minutes,” said the Director. “Let’s move into the conference room. I suspect the call will probably be limited to the Secretary, the CDC Director and the National Security Advisor, and they still want everything close hold at this point.”

  Moments later they were all connected via secure DVC. The National Security Advisor, Jim Redman, asked, “So, what news do you have this morning, Dr. Lin?”

  Everyone listened intently as Sarah explained what her team in DC had done overnight and what the immediate next plans were. Dr. Shah went into detail on what was found during the autopsies. Katie then explained her plan to analyze the data she would be given to try to determine a common link.

  Jennifer Milton, the Secretary of HHS, asked:

  “Do you have any numbers or an estimate of the number of deaths so far? It wouldn’t surprise me if the press have a running counter on every TV screen by this afternoon.”

  The Director of CDC, Bob Gleeson, broke in.

  “At this point the numbers are sketchy, but it looks like close to 80,000 deaths in the U.S. in the last two to three days. That would translate to 1.2 million deaths worldwide. That’s five times the average, and the infrastructure is being stressed as the capacity of hospitals, morgues, and mortuaries is stretched. To stay ahead of things, we have contacted the State Health Departments and asked them to prepare for mass casualties. We are monitoring this closely to see if the rate will increase, with data calls every twelve hours right now. We will go to every eight hours if we exceed the current death rate.”

  “Who is going to be analyzing this data?” asked Jim

  “I have my top statistician here in Atlanta looking at this. He understands the sensitivity of the work we are doing and I can count on his confidentiality,” said Bob.

  “Dr. McMann will be working on an algorithm to determine if there is any common thread to the deaths, with the aim of developing an architecture for prediction,” added Sarah. “Since we haven’t been able to identify a particular virus or bacteria, we think this is the best approach to developing a test we can use to gauge the spread of the disease.”

  “Dr. McMann, how long do you think it will take you to find the pattern and develop your prediction scheme?” asked Jennifer.

  “I am hoping the data will show a pattern after four to five days. The main source of data will be the lab tests run on the victims of the disease. Of course, some of the data will take several days to obtain,” said Katie.

  “That is correct, and we will be feeding data to Dr. McMann every three hours starting at noon today,” added Dr. Shah.

  “I already have a program in mind, so once I start receiving data, I will hopefully start to see some patterns. Based on what Dr. Shah told me earlier, the data should be arriving in a format that can be easily uploaded so I will just need to tweak my program to make it work,” said Katie.

  “Good,” replied Jim. “We would like to have progress reports twice a day. Obviously, if you get any breakthroughs, feed that to us as soon as possible, using secure communication means of course. I want to remind everyone here, the data analysis and our conversations are classified. Our military, Johns Hopkins, and the international teams, all report much the same so far but, like you, they are just getting started too. The White House will make a statement in writing for public release this afternoon. Jennifer, please have something for us to use as background by 3 p.m.”

  As the screen went blank, Sarah looked at Katie and Ben. “Okay, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Ben, we are relying on you for the data. Call in all of your favors, pull rank, whatever you need to do to get the data expedited. We can’t have Neanderthals working on this. Katie, I know this may seem daunting, but I also know you can do it. If Herb were alive today, I know he would have asked to put you on the project. You are the best at what you do. Let’s get to work.”

  Dóchas

  It is 25,000 years ago. The place: the Rhone River valley, in what would later become the border between the Gallic and Germanic speaking peoples of Europe. Early modern humans are beginning to take root in this fertile land full of game and a scattered few of the last of the giants, the woolly mammoth. Neanderthal humanoids have long since died off, displaced by others, including Cro-Magnon humans now scattered in small hunter-gatherer groups across an ever colder European landscape.

  The small group of short, hairy, round-faced, but very muscular humans moved frequently, never staying in one location for more than a couple of weeks or so. Their leader, Pater, had guided this group of thirty or so souls for many seasons. Of the nearly twenty children, ranging in age from newborn to late adolescence, many were his. Their skin was rough and dark, their eyes deep-set with prominent foreheads, their hair black and thick, and their tongues larger than that of latter Homo sapiens. One of their most distinguishing features was their quiet demeanor, the behavior of successful hunters. They were a people of few words, who always spoke softly, if at all, using no written language, communicating with one-word commands, grunts, gestures and facial expressions.

  Theirs was a simple existence, moving from place to place in search of food, warmth, water, and shelter. Their preferred food was game - boar, deer, elk, bison, and especially the harder to find woolly mammoth. They ate well as long as they kept moving, but taking down a mammoth was a cause for celebration, and this rare event allowed them to stay put for a longer period, especially if there was a cave or rocky outcropping nearby. The windfall arrangement of abundant food and good shelter was an opportunity the females of the band especially appreciated, and they had an ancient way of making the males do what they wanted should the opportunity arise.

  They all hunted as coordinated group; the four adult males were armed with spears and knives with flint stone tips and blades. These men, led by Pater, would set up ambushes, generally near a river, while the women and children, moving spread out in an arched line, drove game of whatever variety downwind through the thick forests and small clearings into cleverly laid traps where the adult males lay hidden, ready to spring upon the unsuspecting game.

  Pater would lead the band north with each season of warmth, for in the north lay the best hunting for game, especially the greatest prize of them all - the giant wooly mammoth. They would continue north until they reached an area near a wide, deep, swift, river they called the Falz. The band followed a wide valley to the great river, a fertile valley rich in nuts and seeds too.

  The small group carried everything they owned with them in hides hanging from their shoulders or dangling from the ends of their spears or leather belts. The most precious thing they carried were the sacred stones. The stones that made fire.

  Each year the going to the Falz became more difficult despite their warm clothing of animal fur and shoes of leathered skin, for the land was becoming colder and colder, and the once ubiquitous rains now turned to snow and ice much sooner than before. These journeys were especially hard on the females with child. Indeed, the existence the females lived was doubly hard, with frequent pregnancies and harsh living. Their lives often ended much too soon, frequently from the complications of birthing children. As a result, Pater and the other three men were now older than the remaining six adult females, for in those rare instances when they came upon others of their kind, Pater would sometimes trade sacred stones for other young females to become part of his band, especially when dealing with roaming bands fewer in number and using mostly sticks and regular stones to hunt with.

  Pater had noticed changes in the world around him, brought on by the increasing cold. He also noticed the available game in the Falz was now fewer in number, and a great mammoth kill was rarer still. Indeed, it had been a very long time since they had last brought down a giant, as they called these beasts. And because of the cold, the amount of time the band could spend in the Falz area was shortened with each passing season, forcing them to turn south, following the wide valley until they reached the great expanse of salty water where it was warmer a
nd the sacred stones were.

  The final mammoth kill came one late autumn, just days before Pater was about to turn the group back towards the south. After the old beast had been brought down, a great party ensued in the forest with a giant fire, plenty of roasting meat, with the large hides harvested from the carcass drying by the bonfire. And to honor the great beast, after much effort, they raised a great two-meter high stone nearby, upright on its end, in order to commemorate the place where the giant of the land had fallen.

  During this pause of several days to celebrate, one of the new wives of the previous year had a baby. A boy. But this baby was different from all others. He was smaller, fairer skinned, with lite thin hair, a smooth forehead, a longer face, and a smaller tongue. He also cried a great deal, much more than any previous normal babies. They named the child the Falz boy, for he was as noisy as the great river’s waterfalls.

  After the great feast, the group made ready for the journey south, for the deep cold was upon them. As usual, they followed the great flocks of birds also heading towards the south, but now also a bit earlier in the season. With each passing day of the return journey, all noticed something very strange about this newborn child in their midst. Something no one had ever seen before. Although eating well, and without any of the other familiar signs of sickness, the child’s skin gradually became tighter, his hair began to fall out, and his eyes became sunken and glazed. The crying grew weaker and he was always fussy. He grew weaker and weaker. After only a few days, like a very old person, the child suddenly died. It was as if he had contracted some strange disease.

  Pater would remember how strange this death was. More ominously though, Pater would also remember that this was the last time they ever saw a woolly mammoth.

  In time, Pater lived out his years and another generation came along. From within this generation another strange looking, smaller baby was born, just like the Falz boy. She was also fair skinned, with light colored, thin hair, a smooth forehead, and a long face, and a smaller tongue. Again, she was very different from the rest, like a mutation they had rarely seen in some animals. The little girl also cried more than the others, but this one wasn’t sick, like the Falz boy; she was simply smaller and smiled a great deal. She too was noisier than the other “normal” babies, but that was no matter now to them, for she was very pretty and they were happy she lived. They called her Dóchas.

  Eventually Dóchas grew to become a talkative young thing quite different from her people. She constantly observed the world around her, giving names to things the people had no name for yet. She also learned to hum, quite on her own, and in time she began to whistle, and eventually she learned to sing. All marveled at this, for Dóchas was indeed very different from them all.

  As Dóchas grew older, she developed a keen interest in plants, especially the ones the group liked to eat. Like all the others, she worked hard at gathering plants. But instead of eating them all, she would keep some of the plants with her, carrying them long distances to new places. One day she happened upon the idea of burying the plants and seeds, mimicking what she had seen some small animals doing. Later, when she returned to the previous location with each season’s wandering by the clan, she discovered the seeds had grown in other places. She showed the other women this, for the men rarely showed any interest in plants, other than as a ready-to-eat food. For the men it was all about hunting...and mating.

  It was not long before everyone in the group gradually learned that when they returned from their wanderings, the things that had been planted before would be there in the old places in abundance waiting for them, especially near the warm salty ocean where they also had fish. They began to linger more and move less from the warm place by the salty water. The difficult trips to the cold country near the wide, deep and swift Falz would be fewer and fewer until they simply did not go anymore. Why bother, for they had never seen the woolly giants again. And there was ice there all the time now anyhow.

  More food year-round in one place and less moving meant fewer women died and more babies lived, including the many offspring of Dóchas, who especially flourished in their noisy way, quite like their modern descendants who live to this very day on the Côte D’Azur.

  CHAPTER 10

  Rob and the kids were out of the house shortly after 8 a.m. running a little late, but they would still be on time, but only barely.

  After dropping everyone off, Rob headed over to the Center. He was hoping everything would be normal at work. He could use some normal right now.

  As he pulled up, the first person he saw was Marge. Her usual smile was back.

  “So, how is everything going today?” Rob asked.

  “Seems to be shaping up to be a pretty good day,” Marge replied still grinning. “You got one call already this morning from the developer. He said the permits were signed yesterday and they will be showing up with a back hoe later this morning to start digging. The surveyor should be here in about thirty minutes to stake out the site, and then we just need to get out of the way. Also, the architect was here about an hour ago. He dropped off some new drawings on the way to his office. He said you might be interested in seeing the full layout.”

  “That’s great,” said Rob. “Mr. Shaw sure does work fast. It probably helps that he will make some good money off the project, particularly now that we’re expanding to the full one hundred and fifty units.”

  Everything seemed to be coming together just in time before the winter too. If all went well, they would be in the new facility before the first snow hit. Rob looked at the plans and just smiled. With the additional pods, the architect was able to develop the land with three groups of five pods, with a shared outside area in the middle connected by covered walkways. It almost looked like three wagon wheels, or three spaceships, depending on one’s persuasion. Each circle of five pods had a boardwalk that surrounded the circle, and then there were further boardwalks tying them with the Learning Center and the twelve green houses, as well as a boardwalk from each group of pods to the existing pier on the river. And to make this a “green project,” all of the covered walkways had solar panels with micro inverters installed to provide the electricity needed to run this operation, even with some to spare. In addition, there were six wells and six new septic systems. It was stunning.

  Around ten., Mr. Shaw appeared in his truck towing a trailer with a back hoe/front end loader combination. He got out of the truck and headed in the direction of the office. Rob was already outside when he reached the steps of the building.

  “Good to see you Bill. It is fantastic that you were able to get the permit turned around so quickly. How’d you do it?”

  “Well, to be completely honest, the Commissioners got a call from Will Walters and then it was as good as signed. Like they say, all politics are local and if you’ve got connections you can get things done quickly.”

  “It’s great news. I saw the new plans and I can’t tell you how impressed I am.”

  “Now remember, we already had that plan in the works before you got the increased funding. I was pretty sure you’d want to put in the expanded infrastructure eventually.”

  “So what is the schedule? Will it take long to get the extra Pods built for delivery?” asked Rob.

  “Even more good news,” Bill replied. “The manufacturer assembles these units ten at a time. They can deliver the first ten in two weeks and the last five two weeks later. That should give us the time needed to put in the wells, septic systems, electrical and communication infrastructure. I am expecting that you can start furnishing the first five units in about three weeks. If we were talking electronics, I would classify these units as plug and play, they are so simple to install. They come fully wired and plumbed too. All we have to do is hook up the electrical, freshwater, sewage and heat pump. It is really that simple.”

  As they both looked out across the meadow where the new facility would be located, they saw a team of six surveyors laying out the design in stakes with yellow, green, blu
e, red and pink flags.

  “They should have everything staked out by the end of the day,” Bill said. “In the meantime I have a team of eight with additional heavy equipment coming to dig the septic systems and drain fields. Tomorrow we will start in earnest with a crew of fifty men. This place will be swarming with workers and equipment, so the noise may be a little disruptive to your training.”

  “On the contrary,” said Rob. “This will be a great learning experience for the kids. We intend to teach them about what you are doing and then get them out on the site to see how some of this is done. The more we expose them to common, everyday things, the better off they will be when they are on their own.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Bill. “Just let me know what you want to show them and I’ll be happy to lead them through the construction zone. I’ll bring some extra hardhats,” he added with a smile.

  As they finished discussing the project, the phone rang and Rob answered. It was Will Walter’s granddaughter. “Hello, Mr. McMann, my grandfather wanted me to call you and let you know he is in the hospital. He fell ill suddenly early this morning. He is alert and wanted to see you if you could stop by.”

  “Which hospital is he in?” asked Rob, deeply concerned.

  “He is in the Calvert Memorial Hospital, Room 309.”

  “I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

  “I will let him know you are on the way,” she replied and hung up.

  “That was Missy Walters, Will Walter’s granddaughter,” Rob said to Bill. “Will is in the hospital in Calvert County. I hope he doesn’t have the disease that has been killing the old people.”