by JC Ryan
“I know what you’re trying to ask, and I think we’ll be okay. Sarah, don’t say anything yet, but we haven’t had any new cases since the workers got sick. Either they all got exposed somewhere else, where we haven’t been, or we’re somehow immune. As soon as Daniel gets here with the virologist, I’m going to test everyone here and see if we can find some answers.”
“Be safe, Becca. And take care of my Daniel, will you?”
“You know it, Sarah. After all, he’ll be my brother-in-law soon.” Rebecca wasn’t as certain as she’d led Sarah to believe, but she hoped it had given the other woman some comfort. She didn’t know what she’d do if she and JR were separated while one faced an unknown danger. It was bad enough facing it together.
Eventually, Rebecca found time to check her email and found the spreadsheet with the projection extended out for several months. As she read the figures for weeks sixteen, seventeen and eighteen, she paled and felt lightheaded. This was a nightmare, and unless she and the CDC could find a solution soon, it appeared that the entire population of earth could be wiped out within months. Surely the 100% death toll couldn’t continue. She’d never heard of something so uniformly deadly to those who contracted it. And why weren’t she and the other scientists sick? They’d worked closely with the patients who were now dying. What could it mean?
With the figures in hand and expecting reinforcements any time now, Rebecca decided to jot down summary notes of everything she could think of that might help the virologist. She started with the five who never returned from their first rotation home. Where in the valley had they been working? Did they contract the illness here, or on the plane? Rebecca suspected here, because el-Amin and the other four who died next hadn’t been on any plane with the first five. Then five more, followed within three days by the other forty. Where had they all been that she, JR and everyone else hadn’t?
Summers would know. Unfortunately, he was in the valley, stubbornly excavating at the hospital site on his own. In fact, besides the support crew and JR, she was alone here. All of the scientific personnel were in the valley. It dawned on her that whatever the sick ones had encountered, it had to be in the valley. Frantic, she flew through the passageway to reach JR.
“JR!” she cried breathlessly. “We have to get those guys out of the valley!”
“What? Babe, calm down. What are you saying?”
“I’ve been figuring out where they got sick, and it has to be in the valley! We’ve got to get the scientists out.”
“Wait a minute, Babe. You and I, Summers, Robert, Cyndi and Angela were all in that valley for thirty-six hours or so last February. We didn’t get sick.”
“I know, but it couldn’t have been anywhere else. The workers were the first, and then they went home and everyone’s thinking maybe the plane, but Haraz and the others weren’t on the plane. It has to be here, or in the valley.”
“Slow down, Becca. Okay, let’s say it’s in the valley. The scientists been in there almost every day since everyone got sick. If it was going to make them sick, it would have already. Besides, didn’t you tell me that a virus can’t live without a host? We haven’t found anything alive in there but the vegetation. Can you get a virus from a tree? Or a vine?”
Rebecca began to catch her breath, and calm down with JR’s rational breakdown of the facts. “You’re right. Maybe those first five got something on the plane here that took a long time to incubate. But, JR? I’d feel better if we shut down the projects until we’ve figured out where it came from. Can you do that for me?”
JR expected that it might be an uphill battle, but to help Rebecca cope with the overwhelming strain she’d been under, he agreed to propose it. If he could get the support of one or two of the others, it could work. Once she showed him the spreadsheet, a shaken JR was willing to do anything to stop the inexorable progress of the disease.
“JR, we need to make sure everyone coming in puts on a face mask, too. I know you think we’re okay, but the others haven’t been exposed yet, and I don’t want them to be.”
“Okay, Babe, I’ll meet them in the airlock and make sure they put masks on as soon as they take their cold-weather masks off.”
He made good on his promise an hour later, when Daniel arrived with the promised virologist, Ben Epstein, and two young doctors, Beth Proctor and Janet Smith. Rebecca’s heart sunk when she saw that there wasn’t a male to help with patient care. She should have mentioned it, but she wouldn’t now. She showed the virologist to the infirmary, where he would set up a lab, and then helped supervise the unloading of the medical supplies so the new doctors and JR could start the worst of the patients on oxygen. She left JR to brief Daniel on what they’d learned since he left Boulder.
Chapter 15 - It’s about to hit the fan
Rebecca was busy bringing the virologist up to speed on patient history and her attempt at investigation, apologizing that she hadn’t had time to make more progress on studying the disease itself.
“I can’t imagine that you could have done any better, Dr. Mendenhall. You had quite a crisis on your hands.”
“Have, and please call me Rebecca. I’ve got forty-five critically ill patients, including five who would have died by morning without the oxygen you and Daniel brought. I’d call that a crisis.”
“Just so. I’m Ben, by the way. I didn’t mean to downplay what you’re still up against. But from what you’ve told me, there’s little likelihood that you’ll have any more cases, once these die.”
For a moment, all Rebecca could do was stare at Ben, her mouth open in readiness to say something that her brain wouldn’t supply. “I would hope that we can save them,” she said, finally.
“You can hope. But the truth is, by your own records, they have less than a week to live. I can’t imagine that we’ll make enough progress in that time to avoid the outcome. Unless this larger sample proves that we don’t have a one-hundred percent death rate after all.”
“Try,” she snapped, knowing she was taking out on an innocent bystander her days of worry, grief and exhaustion. She wouldn’t give up on these men, not if it took the last reserves she had. She didn’t appreciate the newcomer’s seemingly casual acceptance that all of them would die.
“I will, but please, Rebecca, you have to be realistic.”
“Fine. What can I do to help you?”
“Walk me through what you know of the progression of this disease. Then I’ll need a blood sample of an infected patient, so we can take a look at the bug.”
“All right. The first five became ill after they left on a two-week rotation leave. We don’t know exactly when their symptoms started. When the rest of them, all of these who are sick right now, came back, those five stayed behind, and we were told that they were too sick to come. Five more, who all died last Wednesday, never left the area. On the Monday before that, the others started reporting in sick, and by Tuesday morning the entire work crew was ill, all with the same symptoms. We know from the five who died here that antibiotics don’t help, and we’ve verified that it’s a virus, though I don’t think we know what type yet.”
“What was the experience of the five who died here?”
“They presented with sore throat, mild respiratory distress and slight fever, which is why we thought bacterial infection at first. It was only when we sent for information about the five who didn’t come back that we put it together. By that time, those five were dead, and the ones here were worsening daily. Nothing that we did helped, and they all died within hours of each other, approximately two weeks after they became ill.”
“Was there any contact between the sick ones and the work crew that’s ill now?”
“No, not really. They were in the infirmary, and the work crew didn’t start coming in there until a week later. They’d been here a week on their second rotation.”
“So, you haven’t determined the vector?”
“No. One thing I have noticed, though. There haven’t been any other cases since these forty-
five became ill. So everyone that’s left here is either immune for some reason, or we haven’t been where they’ve been.”
“Is there any way to determine where they’ve been?”
“Yes, here in Antarctica there is. Where they were before, I don’t know if we can track that down. Probably not in a hurry. But, Dr. Summers will know where the work crew was assigned. I believe he had the workers divided into five-man crews for their excavations.”
“Five. And you say the first to die were five, and then five more.”
“Yes, but the second five weren’t work crew. One scientist, our botanist, and four assistants working with several different scientists, including Dr. El-Amin. They wouldn’t have all been in exactly the same area of the valley.”
“All right, that’s an anomaly for now. How about the rest. Was it all of them at the same time?”
“All within a twenty-four hour period.”
“Were these men ever together in a group?”
“Yes, on the train into and out of the valley each day, in their dormitory and at mess. Some of them in the prayer room. Fifteen or twenty are devout.”
“So, we don’t even know if they all were exposed to one source, or if some infected others.”
“No, not yet.”
“All right, let’s go talk to Dr. Summers.”
“I’m sorry, but he’s in the valley. All of the scientists and the remaining assistant are there. They’ll be back shortly, at the end of the day.”
“Then let’s get that blood sample.”
Rebecca led the way to the dormitory. Epstein decided that he’d like samples from several patients. The likelihood that there was more than one virus working was remote, but the virologist was thorough. With five samples from five randomly-selected patients, he returned to the infirmary that was now his lab to examine them. It was fortunate under the circumstances of the remote location that 10th Cycle technology had replaced bulky electron microscopes with a much more portable device; otherwise something as small as a virus would not have been visible. In short order, Epstein had prepared each sample for cultivation. When the virus had time to multiply, it would form plaques, or colonies. Rebecca watched, fascinated, as he worked. She had a basic understanding of the process.
Once the virus had been introduced to a medium of growth, colonies called plaques would grow until they were eventually visible to the naked eye. From the plaques, various methods would allow for DNA and RNA sequencing, which would identify the specific virus at fault. The 10th Cycle microscope would allow Epstein to get a look at an individual virus cell, which in itself could narrow down the family of virus they were dealing with. However, none of this could be done instantly. They had to be patient while the plaques grew. Rebecca was acutely aware of the passage of time, knowing that her patients were worsening hour by hour. Epstein was methodical and would not be hurried. Better to do it right the first time, he insisted, than hurry and perhaps get the wrong result.
When all the samples were prepared, Rebecca suggested they move along to the dining room and wait for the others to arrive. Epstein continued to question her, asking insightful questions and exploring more questions that the answers brought up. He’d just begun to understand that the illness was confined to one ethnic group when JR and Daniel arrived, with Summers and the science crew on their heels. As soon as the group had served their plates from the cafeteria line, Epstein addressed Summers.
“I understand you would have records of the locations in the valley where each of the men have worked, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Summers confirmed. “But, do you think this illness originated in the valley? How can that be? I’ve been there every day since we arrived; well before the work crews got here, and I’m not sick. Same goes for everyone here,” he said, waving his fork around in a circle to indicate the entire table.
“It’s just one avenue of investigation,” Epstein answered. “However, I understand that Dr. Mendenhall has applied some logic to the puzzle, and does have some concerns about the valley. Frankly, I’d like to see this miraculous valley.”
JR interrupted. “Daniel and I have been talking, and we think it’s prudent to shut down work in the valley until we know more.”
He in turn was interrupted as Summers, Angela, Robert and even Nyree protested. “We don’t have time. We’ve only got about three months before we have to button it up for the winter,” Summers said for all of them.
“I’m sorry, but the decision is final. Anyone else going into the valley will have to wear protective gear, and it will only be in support of Dr. Epstein’s investigation.”
Before more discussion could ensue, Daniel also had something to say. “We have other issues to deal with right now. I’ve been in touch with our agent in Indonesia, who has notified the families of the crew we still have ill here. They are demanding that we send them home.”
Rebecca gasped, clapping her hand to her mouth. Daniel looked at her, waiting for her to voice her thoughts. “That’s a death sentence! They’re too ill to be moved, and they’re contagious! It would be irresponsible.”
“I’m afraid we have no choice. We can’t hold them here against their wills, and they’ve all asked to be repatriated. McMurdo will be sending both helicopters first thing in the morning. I’ll send one of the doctors with each helicopter, but that’s all we can do.”
“What about our investigation?” Rebecca asked.
Epstein answered her. “I have all I need from these men. I agree we should send them home, where they can get better care and be with their families. It’s the humane thing to do, especially if they’re all fated to die.”
With that, Rebecca realized she had no chance, and indeed no right, to keep the patients in camp. Of course, they should be with their families.
Hours later, lying in JR’s arms with the expectation of her first uninterrupted night of sleep since the whole ordeal had begun, Rebecca had a feeling that she was missing something, something important. But, her exhaustion overtook her before she could examine her mind for it. Her uninterrupted sleep was not to be, however. At about three in the morning, a knock on the door woke JR, who went quietly to see what the matter was. He returned in a moment and gently woke Rebecca.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but it’s one of the doctors Daniel brought with him. She has bad news.”
~~~
Rebecca, Daniel and JR were on hand to see off the two helicopters the next morning. Rebecca’s exhaustion was almost unbearable, and JR intended to insist she go back to bed to get the sleep she’d missed last night. The three a.m. wake-up call had been to go to the bedside of one of the ill workers, who had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Despite all she and the other doctor could do, they were unable to lower the man’s fever, and his kidneys had shut down. By the time his fever reached the fatal 108F mark, he’d died in convulsions. Four others were in similar circumstances before he died, and the three doctors had lost all five men by eight the next morning. Now Rebecca and the two Rossler brothers watched as the helicopters took off, each bearing an exhausted doctor and twenty gravely ill men toward McMurdo and a chartered flight to Indonesia.
From Indonesia, the men would be sent to the four corners of the globe, almost. Nineteen were from Middle Eastern countries ranging from Iran to Egypt and points in between. Four were residents of the United Kingdom, and seven were to be sent to the US. The other ten lived in various European countries.
Daniel had learned the previous day while communicating with Sarah that the death toll outside of Antarctica had risen to over four hundred, with more than twelve hundred now suspected of having the same virus, exactly as Raj’s spreadsheet predicted. Some countries in the Middle East, where most of the cases were located, had put quarantine procedures into place. News media was reporting it as a new strain of MERS, or Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, a flu-like viral illness that was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Unlike the current outbreak, MERS wasn’t particularly quick
to spread, although the first four hundred or so cases, most of which were confined to the Arabian peninsula, produced about a thirty percent death rate. The obvious fear was that the virus, of the type coronavirus, had mutated to a more deadly form.
When the helicopters were out of sight, JR insisted on taking Rebecca to their room for some much-needed sleep, despite her protests that she needed to be available to help Ben Epstein, or to be on hand in case anyone else became ill. JR assured her that he would come and get her if she were needed in either capacity. When she caught sight of herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, Rebecca was grateful for his interference. She was a mess, her hair in need of a shampoo and black bags under her eyes, her skin sallow and loose, as if she had lost ten pounds. Hopefully, eight full hours of sleep and then a shower would go a long way toward restoring her to normal. JR stayed to be sure she actually got in bed after her shower, and tucked her in with such care that Rebecca’s last thought before succumbing to the exhaustion was of how tender he was. She went to sleep smiling.
JR joined Daniel in the dayroom of the science staff dormitory, a smaller building than either of the crew buildings. There he found Summers in near-mutiny, with almost all of the others supporting him. Robert, with Cyndi standing sturdily beside him, was urging that they just be patient for another day or two.
“JR, I’m glad you’re here,” Summers said, though why he thought JR would switch sides was a mystery to JR. “Tell your brother we have to make more progress here. We can’t just stop. It would be like, like those men dying in vain.”
JR was fed up with Summers’ intractability. It seemed the man did nothing but whine and worry about his precious excavations, caring not at all for the loss of life that was taking place even now. “Charles, you need to stand down. There’s more at stake here right now than making progress on your excavations. That goes for all of you. The virologist says the virus plaques will be ready to read later today. Let’s at least wait until we know if it’s this coronavirus they’re talking about, and whether or how we can protect ourselves. I’ll ask Epstein to give us a layperson’s understanding of it at dinner. Fair enough?”
