by Kristen Judd
"This is where I leave you." Riggs pulled out a badge and wristband from within his coat and handed it to Adam.
"Wear these at all times. They are your only way of navigating the Dome. Your badge and wristband are linked and paired to this workstation. Only you and your other team members are able to access it."
As if to demonstrate his point, Riggs flashed his wrist across the scanner. It beeped Access Denied in red. He did the same with his badge, also red. Adam took his badge and clipped it onto his shirt. Riggs snapped the wristband on his left wrist.
"The rest of your team are en route and should be arriving shortly. In the meantime, you might like to check out your new office."
Riggs managed a tight grin and stepped out of Adam's way. Adam hesitated only as much as a child does when they see a stack of presents around the tree at Christmas, before stampeding down the stairs and tearing open the first one. He scanned his wrist, Access Granted, and entered the decontamination room like he had done so many times over the years while working for BioME. Once the room was sealed, the inner door unlocked. The door sealed behind him the moment he entered the interior room.
The room was warm compared to the outer corridor where Riggs now stood. He gave Adam a salute then left. Adam could see Riggs go as he passed through by all the self-contained pods. Adam removed his coat and placed it over one of the chairs. He wiped the sweat that had formed since entering the room off his brow. With the heavy jacket off, the room was comfortable. Adam examined all the equipment and found some he recognized, and others he had never seen before. He doubted if even the three Global Space Circuits (GSC) had such sophisticated and advanced machines.
Adam came upon his workstation within the pod. Three large screens sat on a two-layer desk. There was an envelope on the desk sealed by a blue seal. It had his name on it.
Adam Richards.
He tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter that was inside. It read:
Dear Doctor Richards,
If you are reading this, then our worst fears have been realized and we've been forced to integrate Terror Protocol. I'm sure you have many unanswered questions, the first of which may be, 'Why me?' As you should have learned by now, we are not a government agency or affiliated with any such world government. Red Cell functions outside of national and international law and regulations. We do this under the guise of terrorists.
The word has a sharp bite to it, but I assure you, Doctor Richards, we are anything but. Our mission is to ensure the survival of the human race, no matter the cost, even if that means we must save it from ourselves. Whether that is seen as an act of terrorism or a warrior's sacrifice, one thing is true; the world needs men and women like you to keep it running.
You've been selected from an extensive list of the top experts in your field. As you can see, your pod is in the Experimental Sciences Ward of the Dome. There are many other wards like yours specific to their field of study. You've been paired with two of the world's best scientists in airborne pathogens, organisms, bacteria, and diseases. Your thesis on cell regenerative growth and apoptosis reversal is some of the best work we've seen. You posed some rather lofty theories as to the origin of diseases and parasites and how we could use them to our gain or detriment.
We could think of no one more suited to lead our BIO team. As team leader, you will guide and instruct your two assistants to develop a cure for the plague. For several years now, there has been discourse among the nations on how the Global Space Circuits (GSC) should be managed and occupied. And with the rising population rate and decreased supplies, resources are diminishing quicker and tensions are on the rise. We fear a world war is imminent. This is why your team's task is so critical. We fear China has already developed an advanced strand of the fourteenth-century plague known as Black Death.
We believe they will use it as a biological weapon against any who oppose them. And as it is the country with the highest overcrowding, its people are desperate. Desperation always leads to chaos. It is in your hands to develop the cure in case of this potential world-ending attack. Humanity is depending on you.
Respectfully,
Thomas B. Smithers
President of the United States
Lead Council to the E.A.R.T.H. Initiative.
Adam folded the three pages back together and stuffed them in the envelope. When he did, a small business card-sized note fell out. He scooped it off the tile floor and read the fine print. It was a genetic sequence. One he recognized immediately. He had used it to demonstrate his theory of reversing cell regeneration or apoptosis through parasites or a virus. In this case, the bubonic plague that swept over most of Europe in the fourteenth century was a virus transported by infected fleas. The virus sequence he was looking at was far more complicated than the Black Death, although it used most of its genetic code. He tossed the card along with the envelope onto the desk, as if holding them would contaminate him.
He collapsed into his chair and pressed his fingers along the groove of his sinus cavities. The pounding in his head had increased and his ears were ringing. He heard the telltale sound of the decontamination chamber followed by the hiss of the interior door opening. He looked up as his two assistants came into the room.
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CHAPTER
- SEVEN -
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"Sally?"
Adam stood up when his ex-colleague, Doctor Sally White, entered the pod, followed by a black man he did not recognize.
"Adam? What are you doing here?" Sally asked. The two rushed to each other and fumbled on whether to shake hands or hug. Adam went with the shake. The last time Adam had seen Sally, it was under equally stressful circumstances, except in that instance, they were self-induced. Adam met Sally during his second tour to Nigeria to assist the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the relapse of the Ebola pandemic that was spreading throughout western Africa for the second time in two decades. Their time together lasted only a few months, but it was enough to stimulate an attraction.
The affair lasted two months before Adam broke it off and went back to the States to be with his family. When Adam got back to Virginia, he confessed the affair to his wife. They went to counseling for a year, trying to make their marriage work, but it was too late. The trust had been broken. Adam spent more and more time at the office as the year progressed. It came as no surprise when the divorce papers were served to him one early afternoon at a local coffee shop. He had left the office early to get some fresh air.
One month after that, the divorce was final. Adam was granted custody over Abigail with his wife having visitation rights. Nancy had agreed it was best for Abigail to stay with him while she tried to put herself back together. Her words. That was nine years ago. Nancy had remarried two years later and was happily married as far as Adam could tell. He was happy for her. She deserved someone who would treat her the way he should have treated her, someone who was present and loyal.
Seeing Sally brought back an immediate flood of emotion, feelings he thought he had suppressed long ago. But as she strolled toward him with that crooked smile of hers, and the slender physique, Adam found himself swooning all over again. Adam averted his attention to the other man who had entered with her.
"Doctor Adam Richards," he said.
"Doctor Kondo Rashidi. Good to meet you," the black man said. He had a strong East African accent. Kondo stood at six four with a muscular build. He was at least ten years Adam's senior, but you couldn't tell by the strength in his stride and build. He didn't have a wrinkle on him.
"I assume you met Doctor White?" Adam asked, gesturing toward Sally.
"Yes, we met on the flight over. Do you know why we were brought here? The security guy didn't tell us much."
Adam smiled inwardly. "Yeah, that's Special Agent Riggs. He's not much of a talker. What have you been told? Maybe I can fill you in on what littl
e information I've distilled from this place."
"There was a terrorist attack on US soil, and we were needed for national security purposes," Kondo said.
Pretty much what Adam had been told. He looked to Sally.
"A slightly different version, but the same. Anytime we tried to pry more information out of our escort, she would just say it was classified," Sally said.
"When we arrived, Special Agent Riggs escorted us here. He told us we'd be debriefed once we arrived."
Both Sally and Kondo looked to him for answers.
"I only just found out why we're here. It seems the President of the United States has tasked us with developing a cure for a synthetic plague virus."
Adam ushered them to his desk. He handed the note to Sally, who then passed it on to Kondo once she had finished reading the text.
"How are we supposed to develop a cure if we don't have a culture of the virus itself?" Sally asked.
"We'll need a sample or a victim of this new plague," Kondo offered.
"We have the genetic code of the virus." Adam handed the small business card with the virus' codex on it.
"I've never seen anything like it before," Sally said. "Do you think it's real?"
"I have no question that it's real. It's more a matter of does China really possess it and are they planning on using it on the population?"
Kondo held the card in his hand and rotated it as if the virus was alive on the paper. "How long do we have?"
He handed the card back to Adam, who held it up to his eyes a second time. He quickly went over to one of the microscopes and placed the card under the lens. He slowly increased the zoom. His breath caught in his chest, and he gasped aloud.
Sally and Kondo were at his back. Sally placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned in.
"What is it?" she asked.
Adam backed away from the microscope, his face pale. He pushed the chair back and allowed the two of them to have a look. Moments later, they each had the same facial expression.
"What does this mean?" Kondo said.
"We don't have much time," Adam said.
He felt something warm drip down from his nose. He wiped it with his sleeve and pulled it away. Blood. Sally and Kondo's expressions shared his fears. The virus was in the room.
Adam ran to the decontamination chamber and waited for the room to clear. He swiped his wrist on the scanner to exit the pod, but it buzzed. Access Denied. He tried again. Same response. He flicked his badge over the reader and got the same result. He slammed his fists onto the machine in frustration and pounded on the glass doors in panic. He yelled at the top of his lungs for someone to open the door. None of the other pods so much as budged. The pod must be soundproof. The realization of what was happening slowly began to manifest. They were trapped. He was most likely infected and if Kondo and Sally weren't, they would be soon. He slid down the side of the glass doors to the ground. Doubts swarmed him all at once. Special Agent Riggs was responsible for this. He had known the virus was inside the pod, that's why he didn't come in. He had knowingly sent Adam into a kill zone. The hallway leading from each pod was empty. He wondered if those in the other pods were in similar situations. He was absently staring through the glass when something caught his eye.
There was activity two pods over. With the walls of each pod being see through, they could all watch each other. Two of the scientists were running around frantically, rummaging through the freezer full of medicinal solutions. Adam slowly came to his feet as the scene unfolded. The two rushed back to the center of the room and crouched. Adam struggled to see what they were doing. He used the scanner for leverage and hoisted himself up. A third scientist was on the floor, his body twitching and foaming at the mouth. The entire side of his neck was swollen black. Blood oozed from his ears, eyes, and mouth. One scientist struggled to hold him down with her weight, while the other inserted a syringe into his arm. The seizing stopped momentarily. Then the man lying on the floor vomited. The blood soaked both scientists. Even from here, Adam could see the fear in their eyes.
Without a conscious thought, his mind put the pieces together. All the pods were facing the same fate. Red Cell truly was ruthless. Knowing what the world would face if China released such a virus, they had taken matters into their own hands. Adam now had no doubt that Red Cell were responsible for the volcanic eruption in Wyoming and the hundreds of thousands of lives that had already been lost by it, and the millions to come.
He stepped off the scanner and walked toward the door back to the interior of the pod. Sally and Kondo watched him warily, as if he were a crazed animal. Adam walked past them back to his desk. He picked up the little piece of paper infused with what could possibly be the most potent and deadly virus the world had ever seen. He flicked the lamp on to his right and held the card up to it, examining the sequence once more. He placed the card on the desk and crossed his fingers together. Everything up until now had been a lie meant to get him here. For all he knew, the whole thing was a setup and China didn't have the virus at all. Adam's mind was swirling with doubts. There were too many variables to know which was fact and which was fiction. He squeezed his eyes tight and forced himself to calm down. He needed to center his emotions, so he could think.
Kondo was the first to speak.
"The virus is in the room," he said, more than asked.
Adam nodded.
Kondo's face softened. He wasn't afraid of dying, but knowing what was to come allowed him to accept his fate. He was walking through a dark tunnel with a lamp to guide him, no longer bound by the impenetrable blackness around him. He and Sally hadn’t exhibited any signs of the plague yet, but that didn't mean they weren't also infected.
"The virus may be in the room, but that doesn't mean we are infected. We just need to stay calm and use protection. We still have time," Sally said. She was pacing the room, looking for the standard protective gear that any scientist in a lab would wear. There were no suits, no masks, no gloves, nothing. The pod was full of equipment and medicinal supplies, but nothing to shield oneself from a deadly contagion.
The world was moving in slow motion for Adam. His thoughts were on Abigail. Tears streaked his face knowing she would never see her father again, that she would live her life without him. He forced himself to believe she would have a life. It was the only thing that kept him from completely breaking down.
It was Kondo who broke the fear.
"We have to assume that each of us is infected. The plague goes undetected for the first twelve hours. If no symptoms arise by then, we can assume we're safe. But for now, we should assume otherwise and that our time is limited. If we want to survive, we'll need to develop that cure."
He was right. They were scientists. They had everything they needed to save themselves. If they failed, at least they could say they didn’t go down without a fight.
Adam stood and wiped the tears from his face. His nose had stopped bleeding. Maybe it had only been a nosebleed from the dry room and pressure. Maybe he wasn't infected at all. Maybe this was all just his paranoia taking over and nothing more.
"Where do we start?" Sally joined the two men in the center of the room. The three of them huddled together like a football team planning their next play.
"We have one advantage that the poor souls in the 1300s didn't have—history. We know how the bubonic plague spreads, how it moves throughout the body and attacks the lymph nodes first, then the lungs, and how to cure it. We can start there."
"But this is a different strand of the virus. It may be resistant to our known methods of treatment. It may even attack the body differently," Kondo offered.
"We won't know until we test it. We'll need to recreate the live virus based on this genetic code." He held up the card. He hadn't realized he had picked it up again and was gripping it tight in his hand. "And once we have it, we'll need to examine it in a live host."
All three couldn't make eye contact. They knew what that meant. One of them would have to willing
ly inject the live virus into their bodies when the time came. That was, if the virus wasn't already in their bloodstream. First things first, start with what you know.
Adam began with what he knew as fact.
You're locked inside a glass pod, with more lab equipment and supplies than you could possibly need. You're in one of probably a thousand or more pods, facing most likely the same battle. You're paired with two of the best doctors in the field, one of which is an old friend. Your daughter is safe. You show no signs of infection and have the chance to develop a cure that could save millions, including yourself. The clock is ticking. No time to waste.
Adam and the other two each started at their own stations. Each one feverishly worked to recreate the virus written on the card. Recreating the virus wouldn't be hard, it would be containing it and developing something it was resistant to that would be more difficult. Add a time constraint, and they were working with a ticking time bomb. Adam didn't know how long they had been working when there came a buzz over an intercom.
"How is it coming along in there?"
Riggs. Adam's blood boiled at the sound of the man's voice. He didn't bother looking up from his station, and instead, continued working. He was close to finishing the first strand.
"I'm glad to see you've all acclimated to your environment. I hope the laboratory is to your liking. If you need anything, just click the intercom switch near the decontamination door and someone will be here to assist you."
Three canals opened from the ceiling and repelled three trays covered by a plastic covering. Adam glanced up from his work to see the tray sitting on his desk. It didn't take long for his nostrils to pick up the scent. Kondo and Sally both took a break and removed the protective top. The lab filled immediately with the smell of pot roast and vegetables. Adam refused to eat. He left his meal untouched while he continued to work.
