An Eighty Percent Solution (CorpGov)

by Thomas Gondolfi

  “What about the others?”

  “Nothing like this. Jonah’s symptoms seem to be that of radiation poisoning. Frances looks more like malaria. Andrew, Colin, and Arthur have each complained of fevers, but have no further symptoms. The only core members that I know of that don’t seem to be affected are you, Augustine, and Christine.”

  “What about you?” Tony asked.

  Sonya’s composure momentarily slid. Deep lines showed out from under her eyes while the frown of her face intensified. A yellow pallor became visible under the olive skin. These images flashed for but a moment, and once again fell victim to her iron control. Her brows knitted tighter together in concentration.

  “Mine seems to be focusing on my liver, similar to severe sclerosis. I’ll be honest…I’m holding myself together with spells and little else at the moment.”

  “I think you made mention of a deeper probe into this. How can I help?” Tony asked.

  “I brought my blood-drawing kit.”

  “I’ve always hated needles,” Tony said with a shudder.

  * * *

  “Encryption enabled. Connection established,” said the sultry computer-automated device. Tony often wondered if they chose those voices to make certain men, at least, would pay attention. This time he, Augustine, and about eighty kilos of computer equipment crammed themselves into a two-and-a-half-meter square women’s bathroom in Benito’s Fine Dining. Andrea, duplicitously garbed in bodyguard yellow, watched the door. Based on the two previous meetings, they didn’t expect any danger, but they could take no chances.

  “As we agreed, this will be my final call,” Nanogate said without preamble. He didn’t have to like what survival dictated.

  “As agreed,” Tony said as he watched Augustine’s face for any sign of a trace, but it remained passive. While the last call, it also was the most dangerous in other ways—very little held the other from reneging on any promise.

  “I hope by now I’ve given you enough evidence that I can be trusted.”

  “You’ve been very forthcoming thus far.”

  “As have you. My final intelligence is how to obtain a direct tap into the Taste Dynamics net.”

  Augustine’s head jerked up.

  “We have a tap into their network,” remarked Tony casually.

  “Not beyond their executive firewall you don’t.”

  The lust in Augustine’s eyes struck Tony harder than anything she could’ve said. “OK. You have our attention.”

  Nanogate allowed himself a tiny chuckle. “I thought I might. As before, I won’t admit to any technical knowledge I don’t have. I’ve been assured by a very good source that there is an old fiber optic link inside Taste Dynamics that passes through a low security janitorial closet because of a remodel this last week. You will find the schematics and pictures on the data carrier.”

  Augustine nodded.

  “Apparently,” continued Nanogate, “some contractor didn’t know what it was and decided that for his ease of work, sliding it over a meter would be acceptable. I don’t know how long it’ll remain in place, but I expect until the inspection at the end of construction approximately one week from today.”

  “That’s very impressive and seems complete. Anything more to share?”

  “Just a question.”

  “Go on.”

  “How long will you leave Nanogate alone after this?”

  Tony paused. It wasn’t a question he’d considered. He could lie. He could make something up. It wasn’t anything they as a team had remotely discussed.

  “Assuming the information you gave us pays off, we won’t directly attack any physical asset of your conglomerate for three full years.”

  “Acceptable. This finalizes our agreement, Mr. Sammis.”

  Before Tony could respond the line went dead. Augustine once again went wide-eyed, but for a reason that Tony didn’t understand.

  “Three years?!” burst Linc’s voice over the alternate line. “How could you propose such a thing?! We’ve finally got them on the run and you throw it away?” Venom dripped with each word, but it broke when Linc began a series of wracking coughs that just didn’t seem to end.

  “I do have to agree with Linc’s assessment, if not his vehemence,” Sonya rasped in a voice that broke twice into a hoarse whisper.

  “I had to come up with something on the fly,” Tony snapped from fatigue. “Look, I don’t see any of you sitting in the hot seat.” Between missions and Suet’s bedside vigil, his sleep in the last week totaled less than five hours, and that only because Sonya slipped a needle full of Doz into his ass.

  “No one questioned your—”

  “Yes, Sonya, they did. Before I drop this call, I want you to understand two things about this.

  “First, we always have the option of NOT living up to the agreement I made. I don’t like that option, but it exists. Second, if we work through the other major conglomerates, it’ll take us at least three years, even with an increase in operational tempo, to get back to Nanogate.”

  “But we’d finish off Nanogate without a sweat in just a few weeks.”

  “True, but we’d be hitting lower priority targets when we need high visibility right now. We need to increase our recruiting to a point where we can run multiple operations every day all across the solar system. That’s something our pitiful dozen can’t manage, not even with the second cell that seems to be coming along so well.”

  He sucked in a couple of deep breaths, rubbing his eyes from fatigue. “I’m sorry, I’m so tired I can’t be diplo.”

  “Go back to your flat. We can hold the fort. Aces!”

  “Just one more thing,” Augustine interrupted. “How did he know Tony’s real name?”

  * * *

  Tony entered the ancient theatre, stepping around the worst of the mold and mildew on the floor. Nearly one hundred people milled about, not settled and confident as usual before an all-hands strategy meeting, but more like a disturbed anthill. They whispered, but with large spaces between them and their confidant. No one shook hands, or kissed on the cheek or patted on another’s back. If any doubt remained, it erased itself as he moved closer. The stinging scent of nervous perspiration mixed with other less pleasant smells.

  Sonya stepped around the puddles and the one large hole on the decrepit stage, bearing dark lines in her cheeks and creases in her brow. The ripped flatie screen behind her bore graffiti on top of other graffiti from several generations of tag artists. As she called the meeting to order, the team sat not in little knots as usual but spread wide, with no fewer than two seats between each listener. Tony found himself making a point to sit right next to Augustine in the front row as a show of confidence. Unfortunately for him, the seat upholstery held a vast quantity of water from the leaking roof and the moisture wicked up through his pants. He showed his solidarity by suffering the minor discomfort and not changing seats.

  “I have two topics for our agenda, and then I’ll open it up for new business,” began Sonya. “First, Suet is doing as well as can be expected. Her seizures abated last night but she’s still running an excessively high fever.

  “The other three aren’t doing as well.” What few smiles Suet’s condition prompted disappeared with the speed of a candle in a glass furnace. “Because of his high fever, Linc’s kidneys shut down yesterday and he’s being forced to suffer dialysis along with other treatments. I won’t trouble you with describing Tolly and Jonah’s symptoms. Just say they’re dissimilar and life–threatening, and leave it at that.

  “Additionally we have four other cases of people coming down with mysterious ailments over the last week. While we aren’t sure they’re connected in any way, we’ve drawn blood from everyone in this room. The testing we’ve done thus far is inconclusive. As I know more, I’ll let you know.” The group murmured. While she couldn’t hear their words, Sonya felt their fear even more than when she had entered. “Are there any questions?”

  “Are the symptoms at all similar?” someo
ne called out.

  “No, as I said earlier. The only common thing among all of them seems to be a fever. However, this is one of our body’s standard defense mechanisms to most illnesses.”

  “Anyone outside of our group getting ill?”

  “There’s no evidence of any others, associated or not with our group, getting ill in larger numbers or with similar pathologies.”

  “If they’re so dissimilar, is there any reason to believe these illnesses are connected?”

  “The statistical probability that this number of a small group should come down with seriously debilitating disease within the same timeframe is vanishingly small. In fact, ‘small’ is giving it too much credit. That they’re dissimilar actually makes it less likely, not more likely. When all factors are added in, the correct descriptive might be infinitesimal. If I covered this flattie screen behind me with zeros, it might not be enough. Any more questions?”

  Sonya paused for just a few moments before moving on. “Item two: We have an opportunity for a coup in tapping into the corps’ executive data nets. This isn’t your standard icebreaker job, but rather a physical tap. Additionally, the data we may be obtaining could possibly be falsified, leading us into more than one trap. Any questions?”

  “How did we find out about it?”

  “We’re keeping that tight to our vest at the moment. Let us just say our source gave us other information that allowed us to successfully complete seven other very profitable missions with zero losses.”

  “Why kinds of information are we likely to get?”

  Augustine fielded this one. “Any new net we tackle gives us scads of useless information and a handful of gems. We feel this net will be the inverse, with a majority of the information truly valuable. Specifically what that information is, well, we can’t tell right now.” The auditorium fell silent except for the drips from the ubiquitous leaks from the ceiling.

  “Normally, this type of decision would’ve remained at the executive action committee,” explained Sonya, “but that committee is down by four members and this kind of action could decimate our action member ranks.”

  “Fuck that, we’re being decimated now,” someone called out from the back.

  “In all good faith,” Tony threw in, “I should let you know the executive action committee did discuss this. They recognized the risks and the potential benefits. We agreed to bring it to the membership as a whole, but we also took our own vote. Seventy-five percent felt it should be done, the lowest of any action taken by the committee in nearly its entire existence.”

  “OK, if there’s no more discussion, I will call for a vote. All those in favor of continuing with this action.” A mass of hands flew up into the air, covering most occupied seats. “Those opposed?” Exactly eleven hands went into the air, less than ten percent of the assembly.

  “Passed. We’ll go ahead with this mission. To do so, we need some help from you. We’re in need of some specialized equipment. As I said, this isn’t your standard icebreaker mission, nor is it a simple breaking and entering. Please avail yourself should you be called upon by the team doing the job. With that, I’ll close the meeting.”

  For the next thirty minutes Sonya did the meet-and-greet thing. Tony watched from his seat as people came up to talk with her, but never too closely. Sonya slumped slightly between each new face and then stood up straight in alternation, like someone catching themselves just before falling asleep in class. Not only that, but her hair had lost its black luster, like the faded look of a billboard out during one too many rainstorms. As she disengaged from her final conversation, her right hand twitched nervously. She dropped unceremoniously into the seat next to Tony wearing a frown of concentration.

  “You look exhausted.”

  “More than you can imagine.”

  “I’ve been doing some research on witchcraft.”

  “Research? The library, right?”

  “Yeah. I read that some witches can draw energy from those around them. I’d like to volunteer.”

  Sonya didn’t laugh, but the corners of her mouth did manage to go up. “Well, in this case your book learning didn’t do you one whit of good. That one’s a fable.”

  “It was worth a try.”

  “The only way you can help me is to carry me home.”

  “I will if you want. Not like you’re large enough to make more than an armful.”

  “Thanks, but no. Besides, we have something else to do.”

  “Oh?”

  Sonya scanned the room briefly, but no one lingered. “I dissembled when I said I didn’t have any more information about the disease. I do. The blood work shows a common base virus in each of those affected. The same base virus is in the vast majority of those in the audience.”

  “Shit.”

  “In that you’ve mastered the understatement, Tony.”

  “So what’s next? Who do you know in the influenza game?”

  “Our organization is missing medical people. For whatever reason, we’ve never been able to recruit anyone significant in that field. I’m the closest. However, I personally have someone who owes me a favor. His Shih Tzu nearly died of a respiratory infection. I think it’s time to call in that marker.”

  “I can’t think of a better time,” Tony said, his damp ass reminding him of another issue. ”But can we stop by my place first? I have a wardrobe problem.”

  * * *

  “It’s a two,” the tiny Korean said, looking at the virus projection on the wall. He flicked to yet another picture that bore similarities.

  “Come again, Doc?” Tony said, sitting on the padded examination table.

  “Sorry. Common name for one of the genetically engineered war viruses.”

  “A war virus? I don’t think I ever heard of that.”

  “Probably not. It was a failed experiment in the ABC teams back some hundred years or so ago. The bio warfare folks were trying to create a plague that wouldn’t wipe out the entire population, but rather stop after causing a bunch of damage. Best they came up with was a strain of influenza that would only be passed on by two generations of hosts, hence the name.”

  “Want to give an example, Doctor?”

  “Sure. Let us say we give a two to patient A, also known as patient zero. He’s the original host. Once the disease has spread to a certain point, he can pass the disease to anyone he comes into contact with—let’s call them patients B1 through B20. Note that it passes just like any influenza, mostly large droplets or touch. All the B’s are contagious when this disease progresses to a certain point. They pass it on to C1,1 through C20,20, if you can envision the matrix in your head. Note that the study I read showed a contagion rate of twenty individuals was nominal during normal activities, at least with an agent deadly enough to be effective for its original intent.

  “By the time it reaches the C hosts, the virus has worn out its ability to replicate and is no longer contagious. The Cs can’t give it to anyone. Note by this time A is dead and ninety percent of Bs are dying. The Cs will have about a seventy percent mortality. It worked out to an optimax of about four hundred total victims, with an overall mortality rate of seventy-one or seventy-two percent.”

  “Only four hundred people, eh?” Tony said sourly.

  “Yes, sir. The risks weren’t worth it. Bio weapons then, just as today, are only a good way to get the entire deploying country removed from the gene pool. They tried to work it up to a three transfers or higher, but it never scaled. Anyway, they passed it on to the black ops folks. Never heard of it being used.”

  “You do now.”

  “Really?”

  “Those are all blood samples from people I know,” Sonya said quietly. Her eyes barely changed when she heard her own death sentence.

  “Are you…” The doctor looked up to hear the continuous—and, in this case, reassuring—whisper of a decontamination particle flow coming down from the ceiling.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry, Sonya. It’d take mont
hs to work out something akin to a vaccination. Note I said vaccination, not a cure, and any vaccine has about a two percent disease rate. It would just restart a disease that’ll die out after two generations on its own.”

  “I know. Still, can you explain why it would manifest differently in each host?”

  “Maybe because of the catalyst. Ah, your look reminds me I forgot to share that bit. This disease requires a trigger to start its actions. No catalyst, no disease. It’ll lie dormant for years waiting. Some catalysts can be gengineered to be as common as oxygen, but others can be quite complex, such as the specific ethanol combination that makes up Bailey’s whiskey, but not Jack Daniels. Others may be just any alcohol. If the catalyst possessed the latter’s broadness, each set of symptoms would depend on the type of trigger.”

  “Doc, I have just two more minor requests and then I’ll consider our debt wiped.”

  “Ask away.”

  “I need to know which of these samples shows patient zero and what catalyst this particular strain would trigger on.”

  “Give me two days.”

  * * *

  Tony sweated despite the November chill. He huddled further under the active-camouflage cloak. His right hand flexed spasmodically around a machine pistol, chosen because its larger slugs were more effective against any of the possible armored targets today than those of a flechette gun. Two pairs of footsteps closed on his position and approached within a meter of his position before veering off along the fence line.

  The GAM members knew they all remained undetected by the simple fact that no cries of alarm pierced the chill night air, nor were any weapons discharged. When Tony could no longer hear the footfalls, he risked lifting his poncho just enough to see the guards at over 100 hundred meters and moving away. The aerial purr from a hover drone caused Tony to freeze in place. Drone visuals focused like some primitive predator, mostly on motion. While he couldn’t see it, he could hear it pause and hover in place.

  “Just move on,” Tony thought. “Nothing here but a patch of grass.”