The Hidden Agenda

by Ajinkya Dharane

  Commissioner introduced two other women, "This is Sarah Johnson, my assistant and your point of contact for this assignment."

  Sarah was a brunette in her mid-forties, wearing a black blazer with a white shirt and long black skirt. You could tell from her looks now that Sarah must have turned quite a few heads in her twenties. She had advanced her career through various administrative positions in RCMP over the last twenty years. Sarah started with the Ottawa Police department as an intern, merely documenting evidence and preparing reports for lazy and snobby detectives. But she had been instrumental in digitalizing the previous records with Ottawa Police Department and was known for innovating various administrative processes. Jack had heard about the famous assistant who had a quick wit. Jack thought Sarah must be it. She was the key to open the doors to the Commissioner for the last three years. Sarah was responsible for filtering the garbage that comes in the way of Commissioner's efficiency. It was self-evident that she would be leading this meeting.

  "This is Dr. Emily Rogers from Health Canada. She will be accompanying you on your assignment."

  It was the blonde lady from the cafeteria. Jack's heart started pounding louder. He thought maybe this day was not going to be bad at all.

  Jack readjusted his focus back to the briefing. He had heard the word assignment again. Jack played the call with his Chief in his mind. Was he missing something? Jack hated himself for coming unprepared to the meeting and the prospect of making a fool of himself. Although, he clearly remembered that the Chief did not tell him anything about the assignment. Jack instructed his conscience to be confident and bank on the available information. He acknowledged modestly and greeted the two ladies in the room.

  Sarah started the presentation by pulling up a picture of a Chinese man in mid-sixties, "This is Dr. Michael Chung, former head of Department of Public Health Science at Queen's University and specialist in epidemiology. He has been working with Wuhan Pharma Ltd. in Wuhan, China, since November 2019 as a consultant."

  As soon as Jack heard Wuhan Pharma, the news update, he had read a few hours back registered in his head. Now his attention was at a hundred percent. He wanted to hear more.

  Sarah continued her briefing, "Dr. Chung is a Canadian citizen, sixty-six years old, a reputed personality in the medical field. As per our intelligence, he is in China for just a consultation on a few projects. Our intelligence suggests that after the first VD-19 outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019, he started developing a vaccine. Today his employers publicly announced the vaccine for the virus. We are confidently assuming that Dr. Chung has substantial information on the vaccine. We want you, Constable Wilson & Dr. Rogers, to fly to China and bring Dr. Chung back home."

  Jack was still getting used to being called Constable instead of Inspector. It hurt him little every time.

  Sarah continued, "We have tried to reach Dr. Chung a few times last week through our consulate in Shanghai, but he has refused to leave China and return home. We are not sure about the reason, so we are delegating you both to convince him and bring him back to Canada. We are speculating the reason for his denial to return to Canada that he has signed a deal with Wuhan Pharma not to disclose the vaccine formula. He is probably getting paid a considerable sum of money. But we need him to return to Canada and help our researchers develop a similar vaccine at Health Canada." Sarah looked at Emily, indicating she was the part of researchers working on a vaccine.

  "As soon as Wuhan Pharma rolls out the vaccine, China will have an unmeasurable advantage over the world. We will have to sacrifice other deals with China in the process of getting the vaccine to our people."

  Jack remembered the article he was reading in the car outside Markham General. His mind could not help but question whether the reporter had quoted Sarah or Sarah was quoting the reporter. He focused back on Sarah's briefing, "You will leave tonight on a commercial plane to Tokyo, as commercial travel to China is closed. From there, you will take a charter to Shanghai Airport and then drive to Wuhan. The official reason for your visit is to evaluate the situation of twenty-three Canadians still stuck in Wuhan after the outbreak. They were infected during the first wave and are now recovering. The details of all these Canadians are in your folder."

  Jack wanted to raise a question on the Canadian citizens. He wanted permission to bring them home. As he almost shot his hand up, Jack felt childish like an inquisitive student. Thinking, not to provide any more fuel to Bryan's nerd pranks, he kept quiet.

  Sarah continued her briefing ignoring the reactions, "Dr. Chung is staying in Wuhan Residency Hotel and Conference Center in Cihui Residential district, about fifteen minutes outside Wuhan downtown. He eats his dinner at a local restaurant every night. You will meet him at the restaurant, ease him in the conversation. Dr. Rogers will lead the discussion, as she can refer to his work in the public health field. Dr. Rogers, you will make him see the importance of his return, and we feel he will connect with you better." Sarah looked away from the screen towards Dr. Rogers for the first time since the start of the briefing.

  Dr. Rogers sat straight up as Sarah looked at her.

  Looking at Jack, Sarah said, "Mr. Wilson, we want you to be a security expert on the whole operation. Also, it does not hurt for you to be a Queen's alumni even though you never crossed path with Dr. Chung in your college years."

  Jack now understood the reason behind his selection into this team.

  Sarah continued, "You will meet Dr. Chung maximum of two times, and if he still resists, you will return to Shanghai and then to Canada. But we are hoping for you to bring Dr. Chung with you."

  Commissioner Ryder was staring at Jack as if he was judging his reaction to all this information. He then said in a stern voice, "This is a completely non-violent, escort only mission. We do not want you to get in trouble with local law enforcement or authorities. You will meet Dr. Chung as compatriots and then leave with him or without him in forty-eight hours."

  Sarah acknowledged Commissioner's instructions. "Any questions so far?"

  Jack, unable to control his curiosity anymore, "Why can we meet Dr. Chung only twice? I mean, it seems that he is crucial in finding a cure for the disease. Why not pursue this more?"

  "Because your official reason for visiting China, which has closed the international border, is different than your actual reason," Commissioner Ryder said firmly.

  Jack probably had a few follow-up questions but recognized the tone of Commissioner Ryder and move on to the next question. He asked what was the most obvious to him, "Do you anticipate any resistance from Chinese authorities, should Dr. Chung decide to come with us?"

  Sarah proudly answered, "Great question, we are not entirely sure about the deal Dr. Chung has with Wuhan Pharma. But we do know the company and its ownership are resourceful, and if they want to keep him in China, they will do everything they can to stop him. We have no historical data or evidence on Wuhan Pharma or their parent company, Ziyuan Group's involvement in any kind of brutality."

  Jack was looking at Dr. Emily Rogers, who had not spoken a word since the meeting started. Sarah's conflicting answer did not convince him.

  Ending the momentary silence in the room, Sarah continued, "You are to leave for Tokyo in three and a half hours from Ottawa International Airport. Your tickets are in the folder. I suggest you go over the details of the Canadian citizens stuck in Wuhan; in case the immigration officer asks you. Jack, I also suggest you study Dr. Chung's bio and his work a bit, even though it may not interest you. I will be in your point of contact from this moment forward. You do not speak of this assignment to anyone outside this room. Good luck!"

  As Sarah and Commissioner Ryder left the room, Jack smiled at Dr. Rogers, who returned a weak smile. Jack badly needed a coffee, so he got up from his chair. Being a gentleman, he asked Dr. Rogers, "I am getting a coffee, would you like one Dr. Rogers?". She smiled and said, "Sure, thank you. And please call me, Emily."

  Jack left the room and started walking towards the cafeteria.
He checked his cell phone, and there was no reply from his sister. He sent her a quick text,

  "Hi Julie, going away on an assignment for the next four days. Might not be able to contact. Please take care and see you soon."

  Jack was thanking his luck for giving him a second chance at his department. He was determined to bring Dr. Chung home, no matter what.

  Chapter 7

  Jack drove with Emily to Ottawa International Airport around 7 PM for a 9 PM flight. He still had no response from Julie. He was anxious about Julie but had no other option than to keep his head on the assignment. Jack was again asked to prioritize his duty towards the nation over his personal life. He was struggling in his mind to achieve that.

  The airport was almost deserted, with only one check-in counter open and two security personnel. They both were waiting at the departure gate.

  Emily noticed Jack checking his phone frequently and asked, "Waiting for someone to message?".

  Jack replied, "Yes, my sister, Julie. She is working at Markham General. Trying to get in touch with her since yesterday, but I guess she is occupied".

  "I am sure. These have been tragic and unprecedented times for the world. I hope we find all the answers we are looking for in Dr. Chung and end these tough times soon."

  Jack, finding comfort in Emily's positivity, gave a much satisfactory smile than he had in the past few weeks. It had been a while since Jack was sitting and talking to someone. He wanted to know more about Emily. He asked her, "Where are you from?"

  "I grew up in Edmonton, but now I work in Ottawa."

  "So, what is that exactly you do for Health Canada?"

  "I am an epidemiology expert. My job is to study the origin and spread of contagious diseases, called contact tracing. I also monitor new virus strains like this VD-19. This virus is from the influenza virus family but is a completely new strain than previous SARS or MERS. My job is to try and understand its evolution."

  Without thinking, Jack quickly asked, "So, where do you think this virus came from? And why do you think this virus is more dangerous than previous ones?"

  Emily chuckled and said, "We cannot exactly conclude that this virus is more dangerous just yet. Because it is a new strain of the virus, we do not completely understand it's behaviour."

  Jack, little annoyingly said, "Even after so many weeks?"

  Emily again smiled, "I do not want to undermine you, but it is not easy. The virus is a parasite and evolves continuously and uniquely in animals and human beings. For understanding the virus, it can take years. We see new characteristics of this virus every week"

  "Then how come that Chinese company has announced a vaccine?"

  "China has not helped share information. They did provide us with strain studies, some other lab results, which I would not bore you with, but there has always been some disconnect in the information. I think this is one of the reasons our bosses have instructed to travel around the world and bring home Dr. Chung. They believe he has the information on a cure."

  Jack wanted to ask more questions, but the boarding announcement was made. They both gathered their belongings and boarded the plane. Jack had never been on an international commercial flight. It was bigger than he had imagined. While in the army, Jack was never deployed but had seen massive military aircraft, capable of carrying war tanks. He always had envisioned what it would be like to travel in one. In his childhood, Marvin had taken Jack and Julie to Boston for a vacation. He remembered the aircraft to be small and had probably less than a hundred seats. But this was a massive Boeing 777 plane with over five hundred seats. Though the flight had only seventy-odd passengers. The majority of them were medical professionals, some business executives, and some diplomats.

  The plane took off for a fourteen-hour direct flight to Tokyo.

  Emily, seated next to Jack, saw that he was uncomfortable with the long journey, she smiled at him and said, "Little tip, have a couple of drinks and sleep as much as you can. Even after this long journey, you have to fight jet lag".

  Jack gave her a thankful smile. "So, have you travelled to China before?"

  "I did a field study in July 2010 outbreak of H1N1 or swine flu as you might know, in China. I was in Wuhan for about one month as Chinese authority presented their studies in the later stages of the pandemic. Then I also was in Wuhan for a few months in 2013 on a different assignment."

  "So, was it equally bad back then?"

  "Yes. Unfortunately, we, as a human race, fail to learn from these outbreaks. Every few years, this influenza virus evolves and attacks us. But we never prepare for these attacks. Health Canada is not assigned enough budget to prepare a system to fight these small outbreaks and avoid them from becoming pandemics. The same problem persists globally. The bureaucrats think that investing in a precautionary system is not economically justified and providing aids after the fact is still cheaper. Financially speaking, it is justified, we cannot build a system for a pandemic that might occur once a decade, but without that system, we lose hundreds of thousands of lives. Now, who is to decide what is more important, these many lives or money. For me, it is a no brainer."

  Jack was furious at what he had heard. He had lost the most important person in his life because his government was not prepared. For the last few weeks, he had been separated from his sister because his country had decided not to spend money upfront. The same country he pledged to sacrifice his life for. Even though Jack was a calm and thoughtful person, he was visibly upset. To be fair, he had not vented his emotions since this tragedy struck.

  He was not sure how to continue this conversation without expressing his true feelings. He was thankful to see a stewardess who came to serve drinks. Jack ordered two large whiskeys, and Emily ordered wine. Jack bottomed the first glass, thinking this will calm him down. Jack then put on his headphones and started browsing through movies. He found his favourite movie, Die Hard.

  About half-hour into the movie, he turned to Emily, "Hey!"

  Emily, who was half asleep, jumped on her seat. Jack did not mean to startle her. Emily breathing faster than usual, replied, "You scared me, man!"

  Jack awkwardly said, "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to. Do you think there is a chance that this virus was deliberately introduced into humans, and the pandemic was forced? Is there any slight possibility that this was a terror attack?"

  Emily was taken aback by this sudden question. She saw that Jack was watching Die Hard, and she let out a laugh. Her eyes met Jack's and fell silent. Emily realized that Jack was serious about this question and was looking for a serious answer. She faked a cough to cover her laugh, composing herself, "Jack, please understand that the virus is a parasite. It needs a living creature to survive. It will be challenging to weaponize this and nearly impossible to do so on this huge scale. I mean, over a hundred and fifty countries have been affected. I do not believe that any terror group in the world can destruct on this scale."

  Jack conceded that he was unreasonable in asking that question. The truth was he was always looking for someone to blame for this tragedy. Jack wanted someone, did not matter real or symbolic, to come and apologize to him and families of three hundred thousand people in the world. He just pushed his mind hard to accept the unfair reality of the world and go to sleep. Even Die Hard was not attractive anymore.

  They landed in Tokyo around 11 PM. A car from the Tokyo commission was waiting for them. They were heading straight to the hotel. It was a black Toyota SUV with quite a luxurious interior. The driver was a white man from Nova Scotia, who had moved to Japan about ten years back and was working with Embassy since then. Jack was chatting with the driver asking about life in Japan. The driver was telling him about how Tokyo is modernized and about the local cuisine when he got another news notification on the phone,

  Iran has announced the deal with Wuhan Pharma to manufacture the drugs for supply in Eastern Europe and Africa

  The first thought in Jack's mind was, why Iran? It was an apparent thought. Iran was cut off
from almost all international trade due to economic sanctions by the United States. But then he thought, they are also the second-worst country to be hit by this virus.

  Jack had hardly slept through the night when his alarm rang at 4 AM in the morning. He and Emily were to fly to Shanghai in three hours. He took a quick shower and went into the lobby. The lobby was completely empty, with light instrumental music playing. There was no one at the reception.

  He was sitting on a couch, waiting for Emily, facing towards the revolving doors at the entrance. Suddenly he felt that someone was watching over his shoulders. He quickly turned back when he saw a shadow pass by on the wall next to the elevator. It was a vibrant marble wall, shining like a mirror. He saw a light fixture on the opposite wall. Jack guessed someone must have walked away from the elevator into the hallway leading to the restaurant. He got up to check his suspicions, but stopped in his way, as Emily exited the elevators.

  She was looking as lively as the night before. Jack smiled at her, "Good morning. Did you sleep, OK?" Emily just nodded and said, "uh-huh."

  Jack leaned backward to peep into the hallway but saw nobody. Emily asked, "Looking for something?". Jack wanted to tell Emily about the shadow but kept it to himself, "Nope."

  A car pulled up in front of the entrance and a different man, this time a small, aged Asian man walked, smiled at them, bowed down, and collected their belongings. They reached the airport and were straight taken to the departure gate and on to the runway. They were flying through a private charter owned by the Canadian government. This was a tiny aircraft compared to Boeing 777. They reached Shanghai and directly reported to Shanghai consulate.

  As soon as they reported to the reception, Jack and Emily were welcomed by Jack's classmate and friend from the academy, Neil Carter.

  Chapter 8

  Neil Carter was a young, smart man with a huge built. He looked like he could carry two people in his hands if needed. Jack and Neil had been roommates for a brief period at the start of their academic career. They had chosen different topics for graduating from the academy, Neil decided more of a front line, on fieldwork and Jack specialized in surveillance and analysis. They both still had remained friends throughout the academy. They lost touch for the last one year as Neil had moved away.