Face of the Earth

by Doug Raber

  “How did it happen, Jake? Where did the virus come from?”

  “We don’t know. There’s no research laboratory in the area, so it couldn’t have been an accidental release. Bioterrorism doesn’t make any sense either, at least not to me. Why would anyone initiate a terrorist attack in the middle of nowhere? Part of the problem is the CDC smallpox response plan. An outbreak is automatically presumed to be the result of a terrorist attack.”

  “But why the secrecy?”

  “I don’t know that either. Keeping the public informed is supposed to be the best way to keep them safe. I guess I really don’t know what’s going on. But I’m sure as hell going to find out.”

  “Something’s wrong here, Jake. You have to be careful. Someone is directing a major cover-up. God knows what they’d do if they thought you were trying to undermine their efforts.”

  “Sarah, I’m not sure …”

  “The secrecy won’t last. I found out several days ago. Communications haven’t been shut down completely and neither has access to Farmington. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. This is going to get out, and my job as a reporter is to make sure that it gets out accurately.”

  “We’re making progress in the lab. We’re close to finding out what happened. You know about our operations here at San Juan College?”

  “Yeah, I’ve driven by. But I didn’t try going onto the campus.”

  “Well, don’t. They definitely watch everyone going in and out of that place, and they’ve got remote cameras in place. Even in the labs. It’s really heavy handed. It’s been tough for the locals, especially the Navajo and the Hispanic population.”

  “That’s right, Jake. They’re being treated like shit. They can’t travel, and they haven’t been able to make phone calls. Some of them can’t even get to their own families.”

  “How did you manage to get here?”

  “I have some friends, Jake. Better if you don’t know all the details. Let’s just say there are a lot of back roads. With a good guide, it’s not as hard as you might think. The security forces have made the stupid mistake of thinking that everyone travels on paved roads.”

  “Oh.”

  “That brings up another question. You said the security people watch you all the time at the college. Are you sure they didn’t follow you here?”

  “I don’t think they watch us very carefully once we’re away from the laboratory. They have us stuck in this town, so they don’t need to keep close tabs on us. Remember, there’s something like 40,000 people here, and probably there’s over a hundred of us on the medical and scientific team. So keeping the roads blocked seems to be their main approach to controlling things. A couple of times I’ve seen someone—once it was a guy, the other time a woman—who seemed to be just hanging out in the motel lobby, but I haven’t seen any indication that anyone has actually been following us.

  “Anyway, some of my colleagues were going out for dinner. About halfway to the restaurant, I told them I changed my mind about a big meal and turned back toward the motel. It was already dark, so I ducked into the shadows. Then I walked here on back streets. I have a map, so I knew how to get here. There’s no way I was followed.”

  “If things get tight, they may decide to watch everyone a lot more closely.”

  “What about you? Do people back in Washington know you’re here? The security people could be looking for you.”

  “I don’t think so, Jake. It’s a long story, but people back home think I’m on the bike trails in Virginia.”

  “Maybe we’ll be safe for a while.”

  “What are you doing in the lab, Jake? It shouldn’t have taken too long to identify the pathogen, to find out whether or not it was smallpox.”

  “That was the easy part. Right off the bat, an electron microscope, convinced us it was smallpox. We used biochemistry to really nail it down. We’ve been using the ViroChip* for a couple of years now at CDC, and that gave us a genetic conformation of variola. I guess it was last Friday when we knew with absolute certainty.”

  “That’s when they started shutting down the whole area.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Do you have your equipment out here?”

  “Yeah, some of it. And we’re making progress. By tomorrow, we should know where the virus came from. We’re comparing gene sequences between smallpox strains. We already had sequence data for the other strains that are locked up in Atlanta. They only have minor differences in their genetic sequences, but it’s enough to tell them apart.”

  “Is this what they’re calling microbial forensics? I’ve read that the FBI used it to trace the samples back to Fort Detrick after the anthrax attacks in 2001.”*

  “That’s it. We finished the first round of preliminary work yesterday. Listen to this, Sarah. The sequence for the virus causing this outbreak didn’t fully match any of the known strains. That worries us, so we’re doing a more complete analysis. We think we can get a time frame for when the strain was developed. Then maybe we can start to understand what’s going on.”

  “So far you have no leads?”

  “All we know is that the first case was little kid they thought had chickenpox. He was in contact with a four or five other small children, and several of them are now showing symptoms. But we’re giving good supportive care, and the virus responsible for this outbreak doesn’t seem to be particularly virulent. So we’re hoping that we can get through this without any more fatalities. We’ve put all of their families into protective medical care. We’ve isolated the dead child’s mother and the grandfather, but the father has gone missing. That’s our biggest concern from a public-health standpoint, and the security guys are pretty freaked out too. Some of them think he may be the person responsible for the attack.”

  Several minutes earlier, Raymond had taken a seat in the next booth. Jake had noticed, but when Anthony came and spoke in Navajo, it quickly eliminated Jake’s concern that someone from security might be eavesdropping. He and Sarah resumed their discussion. Now, Sarah saw Raymond turn his head to better hear the conversation.

  “I need to get going anyway. Can we meet again tomorrow afternoon?”

  “Three o’clock?”

  “I’ll be here.”

  As they stood, Sarah reached across the table and squeezed Jake’s hand. He reached for his wallet, but Sarah shook her head. “I’ll take care of it.”

  After watching Jake walk down the street in the direction of his motel, Raymond moved over to the other booth with Sarah. “You understand what he said about their suspect?”

  “They think it’s your friend, Jack, don’t they?”

  “It sounds that way.” Raymond turned to Anthony, who had joined them. “They think Jack Redhouse is responsible for all this. That’s crazy. I’ve known Jack for 20 years, since we first joined the Marines. I fought next to him, and he risked his life for me. He’s a patriotic American, and would never do anything to cause something like this. Sure as hell nothing that would hurt his son. He loved Jackson as much as any man has ever loved his child. It’s too late tonight to go calling, but first thing tomorrow, I’m going to see Evie and find out what’s going on.”

  “Hold on, Raymond. It may not be safe to go to see her. Jake said they had Evelyn and Jackson’s grandfather in isolation, so there may be security guards. You can’t just go over there without checking into it first. And when you do go, I’m going with you. I can’t help you if you leave me out. You know that. We need each other.”

  Raymond gave her a look, a hard look that quickly softened. He nodded. “Okay, tomorrow morning, we’ll start checking it out. Maybe we can start by trying to find Jack. In the meantime, we’ve had a long day. Let’s go back to Anthony’s house. If I’m right in my thinking, tomorrow may be a really rough day.”

  * * *

  Day 30: Where’s Jack?

  Sarah was confused by the soft knock on her door. She had been in a deep sleep and didn’t know where she was. It was still dark. Then she remembere
d. She was in Anthony’s house. Raymond and Anthony had slept in the living room, giving her the only bedroom. She had fallen soundly asleep almost as soon as she had put her head on the pillow, and now her watch said it was 6:30. She pulled on her clothes and poked her head out of the bedroom door. She could smell fresh coffee and fry bread.

  As Sarah drank her coffee, Raymond spoke. “Anthony and I were talking, and we thought it would be best if he stayed here while you and I go off looking for Jack. Nobody’s even aware that you and I are in town, so they won’t be concerned that we’re not here.”

  “Okay, what’s the plan?”

  “We know Jack’s not at his house, but I have a pretty good idea where he’s gone. My guess is he’s at an old hunting cabin just west of here.”

  “You think he went hunting?”

  “No. Jack is someone who needs to be by himself when he’s troubled. Sometimes, during the rough times for him and Evie, he just bailed out. She would get really upset, but he told me it was the only way he knew to deal with trouble. Just get completely away from it until he could clear his head. His son died less than two weeks ago. Doesn’t surprise me at all that he went off by himself. He wouldn’t want anyone asking him a lot of questions about Jackson, and even if it upset Evie, he’d just want to be alone. And Evie would never tell anybody where he’d gone.”

  “Even if they said he might be implicated in the attack?”

  “Especially not then. Question Jack’s loyalty and nobody would say a word.”

  “When do we go?”

  “As soon as you finish up your breakfast, Sarah. If we take the ATVs and use trails on the outskirts of town, we’ll be at Jack’s cabin by late morning. But bring all your gear. If something goes wrong, we might not be able to come back here.”

  By 7:00 they were ready to leave. As they mounted their machines, Raymond cautioned Sarah to ride carefully. “Some of the trails are pretty rough. You don’t want to hit a pothole and lose control.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  It was a cold morning, but the sun felt good on their backs as they rode west. Sarah loved the wind in her face. The rocky, mostly barren landscape was beautiful.

  The San Juan Mountains were visible as low hills in the distance to the north, and more hills were ahead of them. That was where they hoped to find Jack. In other circumstances, this would be a great place to be a tourist. Maybe someday, Jake and I could …

  “Watch where you’re riding here,” Raymond called. “We’re making a detour around the San Juan Power Plant down there. No reason to run into people if we can avoid it. We should be there in another hour.

  They continued in silence, Sarah thinking of the challenges that lay ahead and wondering how Raymond would react to whatever they might learn from Jack Redhouse. At a curve in the road, Raymond slowed and drove into an arroyo. Within a short distance, they could no longer see the road. Then Sarah caught a glimpse of the cabin, up the slope from the dry stream bed.

  It wasn’t what she had expected. It was more shack than cabin, but it had a roof.

  As they rode up to the tiny structure, Raymond called Jack’s name. There was no answer, but he turned to Sarah and pointed to the footprints leading to the doorway. “He’s been here, all right. Last week or so. Otherwise those footprints would be completely wiped out by the wind. But I don’t see his truck.”

  Sarah and Raymond walked up to the cabin. Raymond went to the door and called again, and still there was no answer. He opened the door slightly and took a half step forward, peering into the dim light of the interior. He froze. He turned his head partially toward Sarah and said, “He’s here.”

  “What do you mean? Then why didn’t he answer?” And then she saw the expression on Raymond’s face. Oh, God! “Wait a minute Raymond, don’t go in. Can you see what it is?”

  “Not clearly. But he’s dead, Sarah. It looks like he was trying to stay warm, wrapped in a blanket. There’s sores all over his face, and he was with Jackson for the whole time that poor child was sick. Do you have any doubt what it is?”

  “No. But we need to be sure. Let me go in. I’ve been vaccinated more recently than you, and I’ve seen medical photos. So I think I should be able to tell for certain.”

  “He’s dead, and by our Diné customs, the body should be removed by two men. Nobody else should be going in there now.”

  Raymond saw the look on Sarah’s face, and he decided not to argue. “I guess this isn’t the time to insist on traditions. You go ahead.”

  As she stepped around Raymond, Sarah paused and gently put a hand on his shoulder before continuing into the cabin. Inside, she went directly to the figure lying on the floor by the small wood stove. There was no question. She could see the scab lesions on his face and on his hands. There was no way for her to tell how long he’d been dead. The body had not begun to decompose significantly, because the temperatures had been down in the thirties, even in the daytime during the previous week.

  She didn’t touch anything, partly to avoid contaminating the scene and partly from a residual fear that her own smallpox vaccination might not protect her. Turning to leave the cabin, a speck of white caught her eye. It was a business card lying on the floor near Jack’s body. That’s strange. Why would he have a business card when he was trying to get away from everything?

  “Raymond—do we have a small plastic bag? Maybe from a sandwich?”

  “I’ll go check.” He returned to the doorway in less than a minute. “Will this work?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” She turned the bag inside out, and with her hand inside she picked up the small card. Then she inverted the bag, squeezed it flat, and zipped it with the card inside. Whatever pathogens might be on the card were now safely inside the sealed plastic bag. Walking to the door, she looked at the card and saw that it was for an antiques collector from Maryland. That didn’t make much sense to her, so after showing it to Raymond with a shrug of her shoulders, she put it in her pocket. She’d deal with it later on.

  “We need to report this to the authorities, Raymond. It should prove to everyone that Jack was no terrorist. He was a victim, just like his son.”

  “How do we do that without causing problems for ourselves? They’ll just lock us up, even if they use a word like quarantine. If the phones weren’t out, it would be easy. Maybe Anthony can find someone to report it without giving us away, but it’s asking a lot. It’s hard to say what they’d do to someone in order to get our identities.”

  “Maybe there’s an easier way.” Sarah rummaged through her pack and pulled out the handheld radio. “I almost forgot about this.”

  Taking it from Sarah, Raymond gave her an approving smile. “You keep on surprising me. This is even better than a radio, because it’s a scanner too. That means we can listen to what happens in response to our call. And if they come looking for us, it will help us avoid them.”

  “Before you start with the radio, I have to do something.” Sarah retrieved her cell phone from her pack, the one registered to her real name, and she reinstalled the SIM card. It won’t hurt to do this for a minute. Nobody would be monitoring cell phones when all the service has been shut down.

  She powered the phone on as she went back inside the cabin and used its camera feature to take two pictures of Jack’s body. A patch of sunlight had moved across his face and it showed the ravages of the disease in gruesome detail. As soon as she’d finished, she shut down the phone and removed the SIM card again.

  Raymond began to pace slowly around the clearing where they had parked their ATVs, as Sarah turned on the radio and began to automatically scan for radio transmissions. The first few hits were static, but the next channel came in clearly. Raymond walked over to her, and they listened carefully. After a minute he said, “Sounds like work crews from the coal mines at BHP Billiton. Probably 20 miles south of here, so that means we can get reception at least to Farmington. Let’s keep scanning.”

  They both perked up when they heard a conversation between th
e Arizona Highway Patrol and a Colonel Bradshaw. They were discussing logistics along the Interstate-64 corridor—moving personnel while halting other traffic. As Sarah and Raymond listened, they realized it was a main command channel.

  “This is exactly what we need, Sarah. Find a way to mark that channel so we can use it again quickly. We’ll tell them where they can find Jack, but we’ll be far enough away that they won’t find us. They’ll need the exact location of this cabin, or they’ll never find it. Can you pull the coordinates off your GPS?”

  “What if they respond really quickly, maybe send out a helicopter? Won’t they see us leaving?”

  “We’ll put some distance between us and this location before we make the contact. Afterwards, we’ll listen for a while and make sure they’re not hunting us. Not too many trees for cover, but we’ve got camo netting. They wouldn’t see us unless they got within about 50 feet.”

  Sarah copied the GPS coordinates into her notebook. Then they tied pieces of dry mesquite to the backs of their ATVs and then drove over their original path along the arroyo to the road. The ATVs didn’t leave much in the way of tracks on the rocky surface, and the brush that they dragged behind them completely obliterated any remaining trace of their passage. “Is that something else you learned in the Persian Gulf?”

  He laughed as he answered. “Nope, this one’s an old Navajo trick.”

  * * *

  Chapter 19

  Intelligence

  Tehran also can be expected to strike at America, Europe, and elsewhere. And Tehran likely will unleash terrorists worldwide, possibly with chemical and biological weapons …