Rob knew something was wrong but wasn’t going to broach the subject at this early hour. He would see how she was when she returned home this evening.
About thirty minutes later Katie was out the door, in the car and on her way to the office. She had kissed Rob on the way out the door and promised him that Patti would be by the Center at noon to test everyone.
She was feeling a little stressed out, so she put on her favorite George Winston CD. It always seemed to calm her nerves and put her in a better frame of mind. It was her mood therapy and she found it a lot easier than talking to a person. She figured that by the time she got to work, she would be back in good spirits, or at least not as whacked out as she currently felt.
Katie arrived at her office about forty-five minutes later. She turned her computer on like always, processed the blood bank test samples and then began to check her email. There was an email from Ben, and she quickly began to process the data he had sent her. She thought maybe Ben had planted a test with manipulated data to make sure her test process worked. She emailed him back with the results.
Hi Ben,
Here are the results from your blood tests. Test number three was negative. I assume you put in a reference sample as a quality assurance check on my analysis process. Don’t raise my hope like that! Any good news?
Katie
Moments later she received a reply from Ben.
Katie,
Number three was not a QA test. It is young girl, four years old, named Nadya who has Down syndrome. I had her tested on a hunch, after you told me about your daughter yesterday. This provides an additional data point to confirm your conclusion in the email I received from you earlier today. Another thing I think you should know is that Nadya is my daughter. It’s a long story, but I will keep it short. When I traveled to Moscow I planned to see my daughter, Natasha, who is twelve years old. What I didn’t know was that my girlfriend, Natasha’s mother, was pregnant with Nadya when we broke up five years ago. This revelation is why I privately asked Sarah to extend me here for thirty days. My girlfriend, Natalya, is suffering great anxiety over who will care for Nadya if a cure isn’t found. Did you go through that with Hope? I know this is a lot of information, so please accept my apologies for not sharing this with you sooner, but I only realized we had this in common yesterday. On another note, tomorrow I’m traveling to Ust’Nera, the discovery site of the mammoth. I will be collecting soil and plant samples. I hope they will provide some insight into what is causing SDX.
Keep up the good work,
Ben
P.S. What did you think about the news concerning Redman?
Katie finished reading the email. As she was processing the information, she felt the sweat form on her forehead as she realized she was having another anxiety attack thinking about how Hope would survive without Rob and her.
Feeling sad, she now remembered what Rob had said. He was going to do everything in his power to make the Center self-sustaining. He already had a good jump on that with the installation of the pods, but he still had a lot of work to do. That brought a smile to her face and it reminded her about why she married Rob. He was quite a guy who could do just about anything he set his mind to and she knew right then and there that he would prepare the way for Hope to survive.
Katie was a little confused about the Redman comment. She figured that maybe the President had nominated him to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. “Just what I needed,” she thought.
She shot a quick email back to Ben, explaining the plans that Rob was making to provide a safe place for her daughter and other survivors to live. She finished the note by telling him that she still had bouts of anxiety over this issue and that he was welcome to bring his daughter to the U.S., if he wished. Hope would be happy to care for her if things ever came to that.
Katie clicked send and then decided to go to Sarah’s office to see if she knew what was going on with Redman.
“Hi Sarah, I got an email from Ben and he asked me what I thought about Redman. What happened, did he get a promotion?” asked Katie with a tinge of sarcasm.
Sarah looked back at Katie, clearly shocked. “What are you talking about? Jim is dead.”
For a moment, Katie was lost in a whirlwind of different emotions. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. She never wished for anyone’s death before but in this case she thought it was well deserved.
“I didn’t know. If I did, I would have never made a joke. I am so sorry,” said Katie. “How did it happen?”
“What we’re hearing is that a burglar broke into his house. There was a struggle and then it appears that they shot and killed each other. There was forty thousand dollars in cash lying on the floor next to the thief.”
Katie wondered if this was the same man who almost killed her last night. She couldn’t be sure and she wasn’t about to say anything that would jeopardize her family.
“That is horrible,” said Katie, now truly shaken.
“I understand the President wants to appoint another NSA as soon as possible because of the SDX epidemic. I hope he makes a choice that is more in line with the problem,” said Sarah.
“Well, we will have to wait and see,” said Katie. “Did you get my email regarding the blood donor in Texas?”
“Yes, looks like they have something in common to help guide us toward finding the cause,” said Sarah.
“That, plus Ben sent in some tests from Moscow. One was negative. It is his four-year-old daughter who also has Down syndrome,” Katie said. “Looks like the picture is getting clearer where there is a number who have Down syndrome. Patti from the lab is testing the staff and students from the Center at noon today. We will have those results tomorrow. I think with them we will have some concrete evidence. It is probably time we go public with this information. It surely is the right thing to do now. If it is ok with you, I will bring it up at today’s DVC.”
“That will be fine,” said Sarah. “I doubt if anyone will object with your assessment. This is pretty cut and dry and we need the world community to know, so we can start the researchers looking in the right direction.”
CHAPTER 45
Katie was a little surprised that the secure DVC came off as planned. Secretly, she was frankly glad that Jim Redman was dead. Up to this morning, she didn’t know how she was going to continue working, knowing that he was probably trying to find someone to silence her. The White House Chief of Staff, Harvey Berry, represented the National Security interests and acting Secretary Hill ran the meeting.
“I would like to start by observing a moment of silence for Jim. He was one of the most dedicated public servants I have known,” said Larry.
After an appropriate pause, Larry said, “Okay, does anyone have anything new to report?”
The Chief of Staff spoke up first. “The President is actively searching for a new National Security Advisor. His interest’s lies in someone who can help manage the epidemic, which the President currently sees as our biggest threat to national security. He hopes to have a new person in place within days. In the interim, I will be representing the President’s interests.”
Katie was glad to hear that the new NSA would be working proactively in solving the problem and not putting in roadblocks.
“Sir,” said Katie. “We have evidence that people with Down syndrome are immune to SDX. This has been confirmed by negative test results on three females - ages 32, 20, and 4. We are in the process of analyzing test samples that were taken on a group of seventy-five disabled persons and the staff of an independent learning Center that my husband runs in Charles County, Maryland. We should have those results by early afternoon tomorrow, before the 2 o’clock DVC. In addition, my colleague Dr. Ben Shah will be leaving for Ust’Nera, what we believe is the original point of the disease. Tomorrow he’ll collect plant and soil samples from the location where the baby mammoth was found in 2010. He also reports that the Russian Ministry of Health has been doing baseline DNA testing on both victims
and live subjects infected with SDX. We hope to compare those results with our own DNA testing of the mammoth here in DC.”
Dr. White at Johns Hopkins briefly interrupted, “The mammoth remains have now been moved to the National Institute of Health for the analysis. I am told this work could take several weeks before yielding any information that may be used to develop a treatment or antidote.”
“I am continuing to work on a life expectancy model,” continued Katie. “I hope to have an accurate estimate of how long we can expect to live and what the death rate will be from day-to-day going forward by early next week.”
“So, if I understand you correctly, the evidence points to the fact that that whatever is causing SDX mutates the DNA in the human body.” said Larry.
“That’s correct, Mr. Secretary,” said Dr. White. “We can’t prove it right now, but we have no evidence to the contrary and this is the main path that our current technology will allow us to follow. Unfortunately, if we do find out that this is what is happening, that the genes in the body are mutating, which in turn causes rapid aging, then we have no current means to reverse this process. We will have to invent some new way to treat the disease. This has never been done before in the lab, let alone for a population of over six billion people. It would be a “Fountain of Youth” cure if it is found.”
“This is a very sobering portrayal of what we are facing. We have the brightest minds in the world working on this. I think we will find a solution,” said Larry.
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Secretary,” said Katie. “We don’t have all the brightest minds in the world working on this. In fact, the only people that have any in-depth knowledge of what is going on are the people on this call, my colleague Dr. Shah in Russia and the President. I think the time has come to make this public, so the brightest minds in the world really can start working on the solution.”
There was silence in the room. Katie looked at Sarah, who was just cracking a slight smile.
“Katie, you have a point,” said Larry. “I will be meeting with the President later this afternoon and I will bring this up. Harvey, I expect you will be present also, is that correct?”
“Yes I will,” Mr. Secretary.
“We will see what the President would like to do. Sarah, in the event the President does want to have something released, I would like you to prepare some talking points by 4 p.m. that I or the President could use to present this information to the public. I will keep you all posted,” said Larry.
At about 5 p.m. the White House released a statement indicating that the President would be addressing the nation on the subject of the current epidemic at 9 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. In the back halls of the White House to the headquarters of various agencies, calls were made to counterparts across the world. The press was provided with an embargoed copy of the President’s remarks. The Washington Post, and the major networks and news channels were poised to explain to the public what the President had said, even though most people would likely turn back to their favorite reality TV show as soon as the remarks were over.
Hearing the news, Katie shot an email off to Ben to give him a heads up. Unfortunately, it was one in the morning and Ben would be sound asleep. He wouldn’t hear the news until the next morning.
Katie decided she had done all the damage she could do for one day, so she headed home early. The family would be happy to spend the evening with her. “Maybe we could go out to the Mexican restaurant she thought.” She made a quick call to Rob who was still at the Center.
“Grab the kids and I will meet you at Mexico at six,” said Katie.
“The kids will be glad to hear that. We haven’t eaten there for three nights,” Rob said laughing.
Katie looked out of her office door and saw one of the male section heads walking down the hall with his coat and hat in hand. “He must be heading toward the parking garage,” she thought.
She grabbed her purse and coat and ran down the hall to catch up with him.
“Are you heading to the garage?” she asked.
“Yes. Are you on your way out too?” he asked.
“Yes I am. Do you mind if I walk with you?” asked Katie.
“Not at all. I always like the company of a pretty young lady.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Katie said with a chuckle.
“Not trying to go anywhere but home,” he said with a smile.
Katie was happy to have someone to walk with her into the garage. They talked about the epidemic and what progress had been made. She felt comfortable now telling her colleague what was going on in general terms. He was parked across from her so they walked to her car together and then he said good-night. Katie opened her car, and this time looked in the backseat, and just to be sure, she went to the trunk and opened it up. She saw the Glock 9mm pistol laying in the corner. She had forgotten to return it to the cabinet last night. She would have to figure out a good time to do that this evening. Maybe she would have to send Rob out for ice cream tonight.
The meal at Mexico was excellent, as always, and she loved soaking in the abundance of love from her family.
“When you guys get home, I want everyone to hit the books hard, so you are free to watch the President’s address at 9 p.m. This will be the most important speech the President has ever given,” said Katie.
At 9 p.m. they were all assembled in the family room to watch the President.
“I have been working on the research the President is about to discuss,” Katie explained. “He will be saying some pretty shocking things, but I don’t want any of you to worry. Progress is being made and I believe everything will be ok.”
She looked at Rob and managed a slight smile. Rob knew she was just trying to prepare the kids for the good and bad news.
The room fell silent as the screen faded from the news correspondent to the Oval Office. The President cleared his throat and commenced.
“My fellow Americans and members of the world community. I come before you tonight to share the hope I have for a cure for the disease that has caused so much carnage around the world over the past two weeks and also to explain the progress we have recently made. We are working around the clock to reach a conclusion as to what will be effective in treating this disease which has come to be known as SDX. Research completed to date leads us to believe that the pathogen that is causing this disease is affecting the genetic makeup of the human body. The result is that our aging process has accelerated. This is why most of the deaths we have seen are in the elderly population. With the advent of gene therapy, I am confident we can reverse this process. This will take some time and we are likely to see the death rate increase before we are able to arrest the forward progress of this epidemic, but rest assured, we will beat this disease, just as we have every other disease that has threatened man before.”
“Now, I would like to share with you what we know about the progression of this disease. Through analysis of blood samples of both living and deceased victims of SDX we have been able to establish that the pathogen originated in the Sakha region in Siberia. It is associated with the discovery of a baby mammoth there in 2010. Apparently this disease is of very ancient origin. The pathogen then spread across the entire globe and lay dormant until recently. We suspect the disease has spread through contact unbeknownst to anyone. It is believed that all but a small group of people are now carriers of this disease. Once we have more detail, we’ll share with you more about who is unaffected by this malady.”
“It will still take time for the disease to become active in younger people. How much time, we don’t currently know, but we are working on a method to predict life expectancy. I know this will sound serious to you all, but I want you to know we have the brightest minds in the world working on this. I and my agency heads have discussed this with our counterparts around the world and we are confident that a protocol for treating SDX will be developed in the next several weeks or months. There is no need to take special precautions at this time. I encou
rage everyone to continue their daily routine as much as possible. I offer my condolences to the families of the many who have died and I promise that six months from now we will have recovered from this epidemic through the superior achievements of science. I assure you that this too shall pass. May God bless the United States of America and all of the people of the world.”
As the screen changed back to the news anchor, Rob turned the TV off.
The McMann’s sat in their family room in silence.
Hope broke the silence. “So what part did you work on mom?”
“I worked on determining where the disease started. I was able to use data from the longevity project I had been working on for years,” said Katie.
“Is this why we had to get our blood tested?” asked Sam.
“Yes.”
“So, if I understood correctly, we are all infected with this disease. Is that correct?” said Brett.
“That is partially correct,” said Katie. The four of us are positive for the disease,” she said pointing at herself, Rob and the boys. “But Hope is negative.”
“What does that mean?” asked Hope.
“It means that we all have the disease, honey, except for you. There is something in the way your body is put together that makes it so you can’t get the disease. You are immune,” explained Katie.
“Is anyone else immune?” asked Hope.
“Right now we only know of three people who are immune and they all have the same makeup as you. They all have Down syndrome.”
“So having Down syndrome isn’t so bad after all,” said Hope with an innocent smile.
CHAPTER 46
The next morning, Ben awoke to news of the President’s speech. At least most of what they knew was now out in the open, he thought. As he showered in the guest bath, Natalya was getting ready in her bathroom. He found this new arrangement to be quite agreeable. He had forgotten how much he liked spending time and having conversations with Natalya. He felt like he had wasted the last five years of his life.
The Perfect Pathogen Page 28
