The Dolos Conspiracy

by Frank Perry

technically the lead scientist in the lab, but he rarely showed up and probably wasn’t even familiar with everything being processed anymore.

  She went for a second cup of coffee a little after nine o’clock when Jules rushed in for bottled water. “Oh, hi, Kelly. Look, I’m going to be late and maybe won’t make it to the lab today; some investor stuff. Get together with the lab assistant, his name is John, I think, and he can brief you on what’s hot right now.”

  So, Jules doesn’t know John is gone. She finished a hot sip, “Okay Jules, I’ll do my best.” He’d probably find out about John soon enough. Upon return to BSL-4A, she told her lab assistant Fred that she needed to go out to her car and would be going to 4B after that.

  She walked calmly out the front door in case anyone, particularly Jules, was watching. Inside her car, she called John.

  He was relaxing between baiting the boats and processing the catch which would begin in a few hours. He felt comfortable enough around Gort to take the call, indicating it was personal. He walked off of the dock, along the breakwater. “Hi, Kell, I can’t talk long.”

  “Good, neither can I. Look John, Jules hasn’t noticed you’re gone.”

  “I think he’ll figure it out soon enough. Someone will.”

  “I’m supposed to work in 4B alone today and supposed to have you fill me in.”

  “Okay, wow, 4B, it’s completely different than 4A. We’re producing products in there, supposedly to stop the next outbreak. It’s not research.”

  “Yeah, well, what am I gonna do?”

  He let out a breath and paused to think. “Okay, for the first day, you should be okay. When you get into the growth chamber, just go to each work cell and notice the touch screen with all the templates and parameters. All you need to do is enter the values in all the blocks. The data goes to my terminal outside, where it’s analyzed. There’s usually no issue, and we’re not ‘canning’ this week, so you don’t need to do anything but monitor it. If you get really stuck, I can probably help you after explaining things to you, just call me.” He didn’t figure she’d have any problems, he knew she was competent and the production processes were a lot simpler than the research she had been doing in 4A with so many changing parameters. In production, all the variables were fixed to yield a consistent batch. “I’ll call you later tonight, and we can talk more. You’ll do fine, but let’s reconnect later.”

  She hung up, not sure if she felt more confident, but she really didn’t have a choice; she needed to go into the 4B chamber.

  Outbreak

  “This is Dr. Abagael Van Acker, who am I speaking to?” She cupped her hand over the phone to hear well. She was still standing on the dirt street in front of the clinic where Lorne Bridger’s body lay on a slab inside a sealed room with no refrigeration. The local health authorities didn’t know anything at all about proper precautions with the virus like this. They’d seen hundreds or thousands of dead victims in the past but had no real training or equipment to handle a quarantine of this level. Dr. Van Acker was the best qualified person on scene, yet they weren’t going to let her dictate protocol. She, on the other hand, wanted the body preserved and moved to a proper lab in the states for examination. Every day that it laid at room temperature threatened to compromise any tests.

  She tried to speak clearly, using simple English. “Look Dr. Mecheba, I know this is your country, and we respect your laws, but something has to happen soon …Yes, we’ve been through this with everyone here; I just need you to take the lead as the country’s Health Minister and help us get Dr. Bridger’s remains to a proper laboratory for examination. This might mean the difference between life and death for thousands of your people.”

  She listened, wiping dust and sweat from her forehead, then responded, “Look, Kerfalla, we’ve known each other a long time, and I’m here to help you. I’m not telling you how to do your job. I’m just telling you, as a friend, that you can stop a lot of negative publicity if we can define the pathogen and stop it before it makes world news. You must see this.”

  She listened. Finally, a breakthrough. “Okay, Kerfalla, I will wait for the ambulance. Tell them that they must use full hazmat restrictions for everyone’s safety. Have them bring two bio-hazard material bags big enough for the body along with as much dry ice as they can find. I’ve contacted WHO headquarters and expect a medivac plane at Conakry International in a few hours … Okay, thank you.”

  She put the phone back into its case in one of her cargo pockets. Her pulse rate was returning to normal. Now, she wished for some shade and a drink before they arrived. Third world bureaucracy!

  M&A Meeting

  “I’m telling you, Charlie. We finally made it. We’re sitting on a gold mine; it’s just a matter of how deep we want to dig.” Jules was in Charlie Ritter’s office with the door closed and feet on the desk. If it wasn’t still mid-morning, they’d be sharing a bottle of Scotch.

  Charlie’s expression remained serious. “Look, Jules. With all the money flying around, I’d be happy to grab the first bluebird and retire on some tropical island and fish all day and drink on the boat all night.”

  “You gotta be patient, Charlie. Trust me. We’re about to make headlines whichever way we go. This thing’s got a momentum of its own with all the publicity.”

  “That’s your area, Jules. I hate dealing with all those financial morons. None of them ever invented anything or invested their lives to save people. I’ve never met a one that I’d hire to clean floors at GHI. When I went to school, most of my friends went the business route so they could party and avoid hard subjects. I worked my ass off, studying science and math for eight frigin’ years. So, what did the business guys do? They went to some fat job at an investment bank and think they know something about the value of this place. They don’t have a clue. Laziest bunch of overpaid dummies in the world. Hell, what they do isn’t even honest by my standards.”

  “Stay calm, Charlie. Like you said, I’ll handle them. When it’s all over, you’ll thank me for grabbing the gold ring. Hell, I don’t think there’s an offer on the table we would take now. Think about it. GHI solved two world health catastrophes since 2012. No one else on earth can claim even one.”

  Charlie remained serious and leaned forward for emphasis. Making tons of money didn’t shake his demeanor after all the years working in labs. “I don’t like the odds, Jules. We could screw the pooch next time.”

  Jules just smiled, “Trust me partner … ain’t gonna happen.”

  Across the building, Kelly was suiting up. Fred came over to 4B to help. He took full advantage of any chance to brush against her female parts accidentally while assisting. She didn’t like him touching her but needed his help for some of the more awkward parts of the suit and didn’t know how to scold him at the same time. Once inside the inner lab, she was amazed at the shear scope of things. It was huge. For a bio safety level-4 lab, the place was immense. It wasn’t a research lab at all; it was a production facility divided into four different areas behind floor-to-ceiling glass walls. What’s this all about? We’re a research Institute, but this is something else.

  On the island, John excused himself, leaving the house after a lobster bisque and fried cod dinner to call Kelly. He hoped that Mary would be asleep when he returned – in her own room. He hadn’t slept well the night before, afraid that Mary would creep into his bed. She hadn’t. He let the phone ring until it went to voice mail, then hung up and waited before trying again. She called him back. “Hey, John, I was just getting in the car.” It was after seven in the evening. “I had a lot to do, and it’s been a long day.”

  “Did you get into 4B?”

  “Yeah. Yes I did. That place is immense. How come you never told me about it before?”

  “You never asked. I’m just a basic lab rat, barely able to talk to you ‘real’ scientists. Besides, I was told from the beginning that talking to anyone, which inclu
des you, would violate my proprietary protection agreement. You never asked, anyway, so I didn’t need to lie.”

  “Okay, I’m asking now, and I hope you’re not lying.”

  He sat up on the back of the bench with his feet on the seat. There didn’t appear to be anyone else out in the cold night air or anyone working on boats within hearing distance. “Wouldn’t be much of a breach now would it, since you’re now the lab boss, and I’m the outsider.”

  “I’m not the boss; I work for the three musketeers, just like always. Besides, I don’t think anyone has even noticed you were gone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t think Jules has been there mentally for weeks. He’s off doing stuff outside of GHI. There’s speculation that the Institute’s being sold, and Jules is gone a lot, sometimes with the finance people.”

  He rubbed his temples, “Okay, I don’t know what to do. Lorne warned me to leave quick. Now, I don’t know what else to do.”

  “I can’t do this alone, John. You know all the work going on, and I’m like a lost deer in a