I took the lead car, Alena the middle one, and Ron sat in the last seat. The door slid shut, casting us in darkness. Occasional lights appeared overhead. The cars moved into the round dark hole in front of us and we went up and down, left and right, turning around so many times I lost track of where we were. It felt like I had taken a ride on a roller coaster in a dark tunnel.
At last, we came to a stop next to a lighted platform where four uniformed mercons waited. Three had rifles and the fourth a handgun in a waist holster.
When our little train stopped, we got out.
Alena stared at the mercon guards above us.
“Alena.”
She shook her head and got out.
The guy with the handgun said, “Follow me.”
I noticed all four wore plugs in their elongated nostrils. I had forgotten about their supersensitive smell. We must reek to them. We got out of our cars and walked along a hallway, ducking to get under the low ceiling. It might fit the shorter aliens but each of us was over six feet. We went up a stairs, through a door, and along another hallway. Our mercon leader opened a door and motioned that we were to enter while he and his escorts stayed in the hall.
Gliituk rose from a chair in his iridescent orange cape. He gestured to three other chairs. “Have seat. Hope you don’t mind my not shaking hands.”
Alena stared at him and I had to push her to her chair.
“So this is researcher,” said Gliituk looking at her.
I looked at Alena and saw her eyes were wide open. She didn’t say anything.
“Alena, it’s polite to respond.”
She jiggled her head. “Oh. Sorry.”
She stared at the shorter Gliituk.
“Nice to meet you.”
She winced immediately.
“Where did you get samples for your research?” Gliituk asked.
“Ah, I got some nape DNA from a doll’s hair and mercon DNA from another doll from a merchant at the mall.”
“And the Binger DNA?” he asked.
She looked at me.
“I gave her some,” I said.
“You are part Binger?” Gliituk directed the question at her.
She nodded.
I don’t think she was used to being in the presence of a world leader.
They discussed her research, and he told her of the Mattons and the history of his species. She sat through it all without saying a word.
Then she exclaimed, “Oh dear. I forgot to record all this.”
“Never mind, my dear. I will send summary of recording,” Gliituk responded with a smile.
I smiled. It was good to see him taking a liking to her.
“I’ll send you copies of my new papers, too,” she replied.
“Gliituk,” I interrupted, “my boss asked me about our visiting Braco some time. Would it be okay for us to visit Ensam?” I used the mercon name for their colony on the eastern edge of the island continent.
He nodded. “Yes. I will make arrangements and tell you.”
Next, he reached to the floor beside his chair and picked up a small box wrapped with a red ribbon. He must have studied human culture to know how to present a gift.
He handed the box to Alena and she took it with a big grin. She looked at me.
“Should I open it?”
I nodded.
She tore the ribbons with nervous fingers. Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped. She reached in and pulled out a small mercon doll.
“Oh, this is terrific!” She glanced at Gliituk and put a gigantic grin on her face. “Thank you.”
Her eyes went from me to him. “Ah, we forgot to bring a gift for you.”
Gliituk waved a hand of his five little black fingers. “It is fine.”
On the way back to the ops center, Alena examined her gift doll in great detail, turning it over and over again by its lower pant legs. She avoided touching most of the hairs and fabric.
“Maybe I can get DNA from two separate mercons.”
She glanced my way.
“Thanks, Dad―for everything.”
Those words were magic to my ears. I had to grin.
Why are fathers so vulnerable to their daughters?
#
Back at the ops center, Alena showed off her gift to her mother.
“Jake,” Zetto interrupted, “you need to see this.”
He displayed Sheila Fish’s report on the telly on one wall of the planning room. The vid showed Coocher in a wheelchair being pushed up a ramp into a large white limo van.
“Guy Coocher recovered enough from his ordeal to be released from Gerges Hospital. He has not healed from the surgery on his lower back. Mr. Coocher told us…”
The screen changed to show Coocher standing with a cane in front of a podium in the Gerges Conference Room.
“Stan Curling of the York Federal Police,” he smiled while he looked back at Stan Curling, “is investigating the invasion of my home by the team of kidnappers who tried to get me. One of my guards shot me. I fell to the ground and the kidnappers escaped. Mr. Curling, the Special Agent in Charge of the Zor Office, assured me they will pursue this investigation until all three kidnappers are caught and punished.
“I will stay at my home in Zor for a few days. Then I’ll travel to my home in Chester. Frankly, I was going nuts with boredom in the hospital.”
The next scene showed Coocher getting into his large van.
Sheila Fish appeared. “Mr. Coocher will journey to his estate in Chester in another week. Chester is on the western section of York, close to a thousand miles away. Next up is local news.”
Zetto turned off the recording.
I sat in a chair and bowed my head. When I raised it, I said to Zetto, Ron, Vincent, and Leanna, “This means we need to lie low for a few more days. With Coocher traveling to his western estate, we can expect him to contaminate the public water soon.”
I turned to Vincent. “Can you show us on that wall the vid you made of Coocher meeting Getner?”
When the recording got to where Getner handed Coocher a package, I yelled, “Stop!”
The image froze.
“Makes you kind of wonder what’s in that package. It could be something Coocher dumped at the Water Works. Have there been any reports of illnesses?”
Zetto shook his head. “I’ve been monitoring all four news channels. Nothing so far.”
Chapter 29
Ambassador Gliituk stepped up to the podium. Not an easy feat since he had to work his way up two steps on the stool first. He took care to pull up his iridescent orange cape from in front of his feet before going up. Today, his nyteen hurt his back more than usual. Thank heavens his doctor found that propanoic acid, otherwise known as Naproxen, made the pain diminish to the point where he could perform his public duties without wincing. It would not do to have the mercon ambassador narrow his eyes in pain.
He turned his eyes upon his audience, assembled in the auditorium of the Zor Water Works. Except for the first row, all were human faces, some pale and some darker, but none as dark as the six short mercons in front. The purple cape of Zanuck, Picka’tor’s wife, was easy to spot among them. Gliituk’s personal assistant was sure to report this talk to her husband.
The invitation to speak had come as a surprise but he was not one to miss a chance to speak for interspecies tolerance. He began.
“Ladies and gentlemen…”
#
While Gliituk spoke, Hoskins marched through the door leading to the lower levels where the public water was treated. Today he dressed in a policeman’s dark blue uniform, courtesy of the good folks at Humans Only. Wearing the uniform of a cop might mean fewer questions about his wandering the halls.
He walked past the four huge settling tanks, each the size of a football field and covered with a white round metal top. If it weren’t for the covers, he would have smelled the odor of raw sewage, including human fecal matter.
Hearing voices, he stopped and scanned around for a door. E
ven wearing a policeman’s uniform might not be enough. Seeing one labeled “Electrical maintenance,” he ducked into the small room. Despite the switch near the front door, he kept the room dark to lessen the likelihood of someone noticing a light from the bottom of the door. He stepped to one side and listened in the dark.
After the voices had passed by, he waited another ten minutes before carefully cracking the door open and peering out. No one walked the halls.
Trusting his memory of the layout of the huge facility, Hoskins proceeded through two more doors and down three hallways. He sauntered without jarring, ever careful of the glass vials in his jacket pockets. He didn’t want to break any of them or he might get the disease himself. At last, he got to the final outlet tank where calcium and magnesium carbonates and silicates were added for water “hardness.”
Humans didn’t like their water to taste too purified, claiming it was too bland. So the Zor Water Works added back in some of the hardness. Fortunately, the water for Zor came from the nearby Oreo River and the Orca Mountains and was high in natural water hardness, so not much needed to be added.
When he approached the inlet tank, Hoskins glanced in both directions to make sure he was not observed. He donned gloves to protect the skin of his hands and looked around him often. Next, he pulled off the protective top, exposing the bronze-colored screw cap on the vial. He unscrewed the cap and poured the murky liquid into the tank. The color disappeared in the gently swirling water.
One down and three to go.
After he had finished with all four vials, he smiled and stepped away from the tank. He placed the last vial in its protective case in his left side inner pocket and strode to the door leading upstairs.
He chuckled over the planning of his boss, Guy Coocher. Arranging the invitation of the mercon ambassador prior to Hoskins’ poisoning of the public water supply was pure genius.
Let’s see you get away with all your talk of tolerance now, Ambassador.
#
Two days later, the first reports came in. Sheila Fish of Channel One had the most detailed coverage.
“All the hospitals and medical clinics in Zor report a surge of patients coming in with difficulty breathing.”
A vid showed people of all ages sitting in chairs lining the hallways of Gerges. The smaller ones in the arms of women had droopy eyelids and gasped for air while their mothers wept.
“Doctors said several infants have died of this strange new disease. The Center for Disease Control reported this is a serious epidemic and they are investigating the cause.”
The image changed to show people in white lab coats bent over microscopes. Next came an image of a squiggly “something” in a round white circle.
Sheila Fish said, “The illness appears to come from a virus the CDC says matches the Viral Botulism virus that recently spread on Earth. The virus mimics the effects of the botulism bacteria. In the expectation that this is the same virus, the CDC warns people not to drink tap water until they have boiled it for at least five minutes at one hundred and eighty five degrees or higher. The same goes for food. Cook it first. Don’t eat any food that has not been cooked, including salads.
“Children under the age of one and the elderly were the most vulnerable but people of all ages can come down with difficulty breathing.”
The screen changed to display a male teenage patient sitting in a hospital bed. His eyelids drooped and a technician used his fingers to raise both eyelids.
Sheila reported, “This patient was fully conscious. He was not sleepy and had no fever. His breathing may become difficult as carbon dioxide builds up in his lungs. That’s the critical stage. If he continues to be ill and the virus stays in his body, he may pant. Soon after that, he may tire and expire.”
The screen changed to show long lines outside the hospital emergency room.
“So far, the CDC estimates about fifty people have been infected. CDC investigators are seeking the identities of all people who have come in contact with those who have become ill with the virus.”
Sheila Fish appeared behind her desk at Channel One News. “If you know of someone who has symptoms of this viral infection, please call the CDC or your local police immediately. Advanced cases have constipation, difficulty speaking, and weakness in the chest muscles, arms, and legs. No fever is expected and patients usually have full consciousness. There is no reason to panic at this stage. We now bring you Dr. David Reener of the Center for Disease Control in Zor.”
The image changed to show a man in a white lab coat in front of a podium. “We have contacted the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Even though they are in the midst of a major pandemic themselves, they have put on the next fast flight to Rossa 200 doses of the only known vaccine effective against VB, along with vials of the active virus. We received information on manufacturing the vaccine. However, we have to wait until live cultures of the virus arrive in Zor. Orion Pharmaceuticals has assured us they are ready to scale up the manufacture of the vaccine as soon as that arrives. The good news is that the vaccine cures the disease as well as prevents it. So even those infected can benefit.”
He looked up at the camera. “In the meantime, it is important to not panic. If you leave Zor, you risk spreading the disease. Stay where you are. Help is on the way.”
The image changed to show Sheila Fish. “Demonstrators marched in front of the Parliament Building today against the food price increases expected with the passage of the new Farm Labor Bill…”
“Telly off!” I ordered.
I looked around at my team. “Anyone experience any weakness or difficulty breathing?”
Heads moved left and right.
“Then let’s assume none of us have VB. Ron, can you report on our water purification?”
Ron spoke next, “When we set up the operation center, we anticipated someone might poison our water supply. Per Jake’s instruction, I have made the changes so our drinking water goes through reverse osmosis and then through membrane filters set to fifty nanometers. That should be enough to trap the VB virus.”
I added, “So we have no reason to expect contamination here in the operations center. We are safe as long as we stay here.”
No one spoke.
I remembered Monk. Tut would make sure he had enough food but it was the water I was concerned about.
I drove to my apartment while Ron kept a lookout for any tails. Traffic was light. When we got into my place, Tut and Monk stared at us from the top of the stairs in the middle of my apartment. They were both glad to see us. Tut reported no visitors with a tilt of his head to his left.
“Tut, I will take Monk with me. I want you to keep alert for visitors. Tag me if anyone shows up, even Sing Sing.”
Sing Sing was my landlady and was the manager of the real estate office downstairs.
We gathered up Monk’s water and food dishes. The water in my apartment went only through reverse osmosis. I wondered if he had contracted VB.
“Ron, take Monk’s toilet too.”
While he went into the bathroom to take care of that, I played with my new pet. Monk purred as I petted him. He’d have plenty of company at the operations center.
We left my place and drove the long route to the ops center. Spotting tails was a lot easier with so little traffic.
When we entered the ops center, I set Monk down. He began exploring every room.
I put Monk’s toilet in our small bathroom and connected it up. Ron took his food into the kitchen. I told my team that Monk may experience symptoms since he had only reverse osmosis water to drink in the last few days. The next morning, when I could not find Monk, I grew worried. I found him lying on the floor of the planning room.
Don’t tell me he’s got it.
When the little critter opened his eyes and saw me, he yawned, smiled, and reached out his arms. I picked him up and hugged him.
He did not show symptoms. Just sleepiness. Which was normal for him since he was part cat.
Ale
na played with Monk a lot and I worried I may have lost a friend.
Would she argue with me over him when it was time to move out?
The next day, all four news channels showed the main roads out of Zor clogged with traffic. Apparently few paid attention to the caution to avoid panicking as they tried to leave the city.
Sheila Fish came on the news.
“If you think of leaving Zor, we caution you that doctors in the outlying areas will not have access to the vaccine for another week. Assuming Orion can scale up its operations, you are better off staying in the city where help is on the way.”
I kept an eye on several newscasts over the next few hours but saw no drop in the number of vehicles leaving the city. The downtown and the malls reported an eighty percent drop in foot traffic. I had never seen such a low level in my life on Rossa. If this kept up, Zor would become a ghost town.
The newscasts reported that over half of the animals at the local zoos were dead. Bopum, screechies, greepers, gofers, and four-wingers were all vulnerable to this human disease.
Would it be better if they had been turned loose?
I wondered if the two catlike gofers I had seen at the Franken Memorial Park Zoo were still there.
#
In the planning room, I gazed upon the news on the burials of those who died of VB.
The view showed a row of open pits, lined with plastic. A huge claw dumped dozens of bodies in black plastic bags into the pit.
“Mass burials of bodies that died of the virus are first dissolved in acid. The process takes two to three days. The resultant slurry is then poured through steel filters to catch any remaining metals that might come with such things as implanted medical devices. The collected metals parts go through a purification process to isolate the metals.
“Then the slurry that comes after the filtration process is distilled to recover most of the acid, which is recycled back to dissolve more bodies. All that remains is a sludge of calcium and magnesium phosphates. The sludge is dried, treated with lye to neutralize any remaining acid, and used as fertilizer on crops.
Humans Only: A Jake Dani Novel (Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Book 2) Page 17
