by Wick Welker
“Good morning everyone, and welcome to our Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting.” Rambert’s face was centered in the middle of the screen.
“Good morning, Mr. President. Good morning all.” Stark stood and nodded his head.
After a rumbling of vague greetings from the various government officials on the screen, Rambert spoke up again, “I’d like to thank everyone for joining us during this crucial time. The steps that we take now will affect our country and the world from this time forth. It is not a mere matter of acting or not acting. Whatever we, as a country, decide to do, will have enormous repercussions on the world. We must find the solutions that first protect and maintain our own great country, and second, find the right steps to ensure the proper and timely eradication of the second outbreak that is currently ravishing Mexico City.
“I’d like to impress on everyone the gravity of the situation in Mexico. As far as Mexico City goes, it is in the worst possible situation. The Mexican government was not able to mobilize its military in a timely matter, and the entire city has been taken by the infected. The country has become incapable of defending itself and no longer has a functioning government. As we speak, we are currently mobilizing large units of the National Guard, Marines, as well as our special infectious operation teams to confront the horde of the infected, as it now rolls north through Mexico, spilling far beyond Mexico City.
“On a better note, our special infectious operations team was able to detain an extremely valuable person that we now at this time are able to make public. I will give Dr. Reginald Stark the privilege of briefing us. Dr. Stark…”
Stark cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentleman, I have the honor of informing you that we have in our custody Dr. Louis Beckfield, the man primarily responsible for the New York outbreak two years ago.” Stark waited as tiny gasps came out of the TV speakers. “He is alive, although extremely malnourished. He was being held as prisoner in a terrorist cell now known as the brotherhood of Sirr. It is assumed at this point that Dr. Beckfield is somehow involved in this second outbreak, whether voluntary or not, we can’t be sure at the moment, as he was being held prisoner in Mexico City.
“I know that you all may have many questions for the moment, but now is not the appropriate venue, nor do I have sufficient answers at this time. Please be assured that I am working closely with our CIA director Chuck Mayberry and our new Secretary of Defense to extract timely information from the doctor.” Stark continued smiling at the small camera mounted on top of the television.
Rambert spoke up again, “Thank you, Dr. Stark, for this valuable update. We will now hear a very brief update from our recently appointed Secretary of Defense, Jason Raff.”
“Yes, thank you Mr. President.” A surprisingly young-faced, brown haired man dressed in military uniform was enlarged on the screen and started speaking. “I will first give updates about the outbreak in Jerusalem. The Israeli government was able to activate their ATLAS-M. The enormous electromagnetic pulse that was generated by the ATLAS-M destroyed the virus in several hundred thousands of infected people, allowing the government there to stabilize the outbreak and create a reasonable, but tentative, quarantine. There are, however, numerous Iranian forces that have begun to mobilize, and Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that an attack has become imminent.
“We can now see the demonstrated success that an ATLAS-M can have on the enemy. It has bolstered our confidence in our own ALTAS-Ms that we have built in D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco if the United States were to have another outbreak. I would like to remind our small audience here that the fact that the United States has even built ATLAS-Ms is classified information, not to be disclosed to the public.
“Despite the successes in Israel, we are indeed receiving some troubling information about Iran. Iran is mobilizing various military units of the IRIA along the Iraq-Iran border, around… forty thousand or so. In addition, we’re also seeing mobilization in known nuclear facilities in the country. Of course, Rouhani is denying that anything is happening.
“Now if we go ahead and look at what’s going on in Seoul, things are even worse. The most recent reports state that they have been unable to activate the single ATLAS-M that they have there. The infection has been… completely devastating all across the city, with extensive outbreaks happening in almost all corners of South Korea. Our military units that have been stationed there have been assisting the Korean Army, but with little success, since they are not specially equipped with EMP weapons. The problem with South Korea is that our American forces that are fighting the infected are supposed to be there as an active military deterrent of North Korea. With that deterrent now absent, we are seeing blatant military mobilization in North Korea. Now I’d like to ask everyone, do we see a pattern here?” Raff asked the group.
The silent screen of faces stared blankly.
After a pregnant pause, Raff continued. “The only other city where we see a deliberate attack is Mexico City. Our intel suggests that the brotherhood of the Sirr is responsible for the concerted attacks in Jerusalem, Seoul, and Mexico City. It has become the belief of this administration that these three cities have been targeted for specific reasons. One main reason is to target influential and powerful countries around the world. The small attempt on the White House by a drone was a mere gesture… a taunt to us.
“It is cheaper and easier to just start an infection in one of the most populated cities in the world and just bring the infection to our front door. That is why they target Mexico City. Mexico city has a population of just a little shy of nine million people.” He paused for a moment. “At this point, we are way beyond trying to control the infection within Mexico City. The horde has left. We have an army of nine million infected people that are moving north toward more populated cities.”
“And the Mexican Army can’t keep it back?” Mayberry interrupted.
“The Mexican Army doesn’t really exist anymore. Mexico is completely taken by the infection with the government no longer intact. I believe it is the Sirr’s intention that the infection spread from the south up to us.”
“Where do we think the brotherhood operates from?” a woman’s voice shot out.
“Venezuela.”
“Venezuela?” three voices said in unison.
“Yes. We’ve received very dependable intel from a CIA operative who is within the brotherhood, who reports that we focus our efforts on Venezuela. Over the past two years they have developed extensive military operations in various regions, as well as a very capable navy. What I’d like to get across to everyone is the complete paradigm shift that has occurred since the U.S. outbreak two years ago. Although a third of all global defense spending is done by the United States alone, other countries no longer fear us when they know that there is an enemy that has no agenda, no political repercussions, no allies, unlimited armies, and absolutely no fear. We must be extremely wary of other countries feeling they can scavenge us once we are infested. All the rules are different now, and if we don’t adapt to the way we regard our supposed allies, it could mean a full-blown invasion. Trying to maintain our Mexico border and also providing military aid to Israel and Seoul is stretching our defenses extremely thin. We’re actually much more vulnerable than we appear. So, please don’t be so surprised when I tell you that Venezuela, possibly in conjunction with China, is preparing for something.”
“So what does the brotherhood of Sirr have to do with all of this?” Mayberry asked.
“Excuse me ladies and gentleman,” Rambert cut in. “This is not a time for questions but only a report from our Secretary of Defense. Please Colonel Raff, continue.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. The last update I’d like to leave you with is that we are expecting another attack to occur in Europe and have already warned the major European powers of the threat and the credibility of our sources. We believe the Sirr will focus their attention there next. That is all I have to report.”
“Thank you, Mr. Secretary,” Rambert said. �
�We now have to adjourn this brief meeting, thank you all for joining us.” The screen flickered for a moment and flashed back on, showing the three faces of Rambert, Mayberry, and Colonel Raff. “Dr. Stark,” Rambert said, “you are now only joined by Chuck Mayberry, who you know, and our new Secretary of Defense, Jason Raff. We would like to hear of your plans for our Mexican border.”
“Oh…” Stark looked back at the screen. “Yes, of course.”
“You may please be seated,” Rambert added with slightly too much formality to his tone. “Dr. Stark, please go ahead.”
Stark spoke, “As I understand it, the outbreak in Mexico has made it well passed Chihuahua, and is now within a couple hundred miles of the city limits of Juárez City, which borders El Paso. Needless to say, Juárez is not equipped with an ATLAS-M to kill the infection there.”
“No, it is not,” Raff interjected.
“And as I’ve been told, the infected horde is approaching, what… seventeen million?”
“Those are very rough estimates,” Rambert replied. “We are choosing to keep that number classified for the moment.”
“At any rate, I understand the urgency of the situation, and I believe we may be able to use the city’s own power grid to create a low level EMP that might, and I repeat might, be large enough to destroy the nanovirus in the infected individuals. As we all know, we only have three ATLAS-Ms in our country. If another outbreak happens in one of these cities, we can simply flip the switch on our ATLAS-M, which will release an electromagnetic pulse not unlike the same pulse from the nuclear warheads that we had to detonate in the atmosphere two years ago.”
“So what about our cities that don’t have an ATLAS-M?” Raff asked.
“There are certain measures we can take to disable the virus in an infected population.”
“Really? I haven’t heard anything like this before…” Mayberry said.
“It’s something… very new that I’ve been thinking about. Basically, we can take advantage of all the power lines that are in a city. Ever hear of power surges that can happen during like a… like a thunderstorm?”
“Yes,” Raff said.
“Well, we could induce such a power surge by dumping a hell of a lot of voltage into the power grid itself. Once the voltage gets dumped in, it could theoretically cause a citywide power surge that would result in quickly forming magnetic fields from all power lines. If those magnetic fields are created fast enough and then collapse fast enough, you could maybe get a small electromagnetic pulse from them, all at once, all across the city.”
“Wow,” Raff and Mayberry said at once. “So you could turn any power grid of any city into a weapon?” Raff asked.
“Yes, and the great thing is that the nanovirus is actually quite weak in the face of even a small pulse. It doesn’t take much to just knock them out. So, in theory, this could work, but we would have to put enough voltage into the power system that it would utterly destroy the entire power grid in one swoop. It’s basically a last resort strategy, and it would only work once. Just one small EMP from the power grid and the entire system would be fried after that. It’s all theoretical right now, however.”
“Sounds really implausible,” Mayberry said.
“I actually agree,” Stark replied. “I suggest we just pull the trigger right now and detonate a couple of high altitude nukes again right over the area. It will cast the same EMP like it did in New York.”
Rambert quickly interjected. “Considering how much money we’ve had to spend, and continue to spend for detonating those nukes above our Eastern coast two years ago, I’ve decided I’d like to try this ground approach first.”
“Mr. President, I’d agree with Dr. Stark. The risk is too high to try this untested measure that Dr. Stark is talking about. We should bring out the nukes right away,” Raff said.
“Absolutely not,” Rambert replied. “I’m not doing that again to our country.”
Stark continued. “I understand, it’s just, it’s so far-fetched that this is going to work. We will have to input a tremendous surge into the city’s power plant. We’ll probably have to bring an enormous electric generator just to kick-start the surge from the plant. And then there’s the complete unknown if the resistance will be low enough in the power grid to even sustain the short EMP. The entire system may just overload and fry before a pulse can even be released.”
“And what if it does work, Dr. Stark?” Raff continued his stern expression on the monitor.
“If it works, every power line in the entire city will release an EMP, which would destroy the nanovirus in every infected person that is within about twenty yards of any line.”
Raff interrupted. “Mr. President, I suggest we have our nuclear weapons armed and ready to detonate in the atmosphere above Juárez, ensuring that we get a large enough EMP to destroy the infection.”
“Thank you for your input Secretary Raff. We will first proceed with the ground approach,” Rambert said with finality.
“Okay, I think we can give it a try… I just hope we’re not…” Stark trailed off.
“What, Dr. Stark?” Rambert asked.
“Grasping at straws,” Stark said.
“Dr. Stark, is there anything else you can tell us about Dr. Beckfield?” Rambert replied, ignoring him.
Stark paused. “He’s finally awake and actually doing quite well concerning his health. He otherwise is not fully cooperating with me—seems to be trying to play some sort of cat-and-mouse. He speaks in vague terms, claims he knows where attacks are going to happen next, and he also says he knows new information about the nanovirus.”
“What sort of new information?” Raff interjected.
“Nothing that he is willing to say, yet. He demands that I do a full CAT scan of his abdomen, and it will somehow lead me to the answer. It’s hard to tell at this point, but I’m fairly confident that the man is at least bordering on psychosis, making essentially anything he says unreliable. I do believe he was kidnapped by the Sirr group to develop the nanovirus for their purposes. I’m not sure if he was willfully participating with them or not. They may have already obtained the nanovirus and were using him to help them copy it or distribute. I’m not really sure. He won’t tell me much about his time with the group, but he does say he was with them for at least six months.”
Raff spoke up again, “You say he has information about future attacks?”
“He claims to, but I don’t think we can believe anything he says at this point.”
“Dr. Stark,” Rambert cut into the conversation, “did you get the CAT scan that he requested?”
“Uh, yes, yes. I’m actually waiting on the radiologist report right now, but I haven’t had time to look at it myself.”
“Why did he want you to do the CAT scan?” Mayberry asked.
“He said he had pancreatic cancer and that I should do the scan and tell him what I see.”
“Well, do you have access to it right now?” Rambert asked.
Stark turned and looked down at this side. “Uh, yeah, there are computer terminals in here as a matter of fact.”
“Would you mind taking a look at it while we wait?”
“Mr. President, I feel that we shouldn’t get too excited about any wild goose chase that Beckfield wants us to pursue. I believe we need to focus more on what’s going on at our borders.”
“What about the incident where one of your lab assistants was killed during what you considered to be a routine live autopsy?” The chastising tone in Rambert’s voice was not subtle.
“Yes.”
“Dr. Stark…”
“Yes?”
“Pull up the CAT scan. We will wait, ” Rambert demanded.
“Of course, Mr. President.” Stark turned from the screen and sat at a computer terminal by the edge of the room. He brought up Beckfield’s medical file, opened the radiological results, and froze. The oval, single-sliced view of a black-and-white abdomen was shown on the screen revealing a typical liver, small intestin
e, and stomach. However, in the center of Beckfield’s abdomen was a brilliantly shining and completely opaque cylindrical structure where his pancreas would normally be.
“What?” Stark said to himself.
“What is it?” Rambert’s small voice shot out from the speakers.
“I don’t quite know what I’m looking at here. His pancreas is… well, it’s gone, but it’s replaced with something heavily metallic. The only thing I can make from the scan is that his pancreas is shining with the exact same artifact that metal produces in these scans. You see this type of signal from a knee replacement where they put in metal parts but never where an organ is. And this thing is pretty big… probably at least twelve centimeters across. This is just very strange.”
“Dr. Stark? Would you mind coming back to the camera?”
“Yes, of course.” Stark walked back over to the screen. “I’m not sure what to make of it. I can’t do any more imaging like an MRI because that might just tear the metal right out of him.”
“Why don’t you go ask him? It very much seems like he wants to tell you anyway. When you’re done with Dr. Beckfield, you’ll need to head down to El Paso.”
“El Paso?” Stark responded with annoyance.
“You’ll be meeting with a Captain Douglas.”
*****
Beckfield was sleeping when Stark entered the room. The man lay on his side and breathed lightly, as his eyelids hummed silently with dreams. Stark saw a deep sagging of skin at his temple from the severe weight loss he had experienced. He looked like an elderly mouse with his arms curled up around his chin, yet his face exhibited a calmness. Stark marveled at the transformation that must’ve occurred in his mind to convince himself that he was a force for good in the world, when his actions directly brought death to millions of people. His moral compass has just become completely deranged, Stark thought. He probably still means well, but he’s just got it all backward.
