Snow Outbreak

by Boris Licina

  "Oh, fuck", Jessica blurted out. "I'm sor…"

  "It's OK", Gene said, "but you know that CDC would never give such an order if the situation was not serious. Thirty million dead are speculated at this moment. This is not yet official and we somehow hope also not true. But, it was only seven million a few days ago. The Snow Outbreak's obviously out of control."

  "And you haven't the slightest idea for how long? Some predictions from CDC?", Jessica was fishing for some answers.

  "Unfortunately none. The problem is not just to prevent the epidemic, but also the sick staff at airports. Most of them have not enough healthy people to operate at all. You know how dangerous this is in the tower. As soon as you cough a little, it's sick leave for you. And now, everybody who can, or feels able, is working."

  "I understand, fine."

  "I'm sure this will be resolved soon", Gene said. "Our best people are working on it."

  "Thank you, Gene. Hang on down there."

  "We'll do that! We've survived even worse", Gene was optimistic. The call ended.

  Ava was standing near the departure bay overseeing the last cargo boarding, when her cell rang. The screen said: Jessica.

  "Hey, Jessica, forgot something?", she asked.

  "We need you in the cabin. Unforeseen circumstances."

  Ava passed by the passengers and nodded her head at everybody. They responded with a smile. Not many people were leaving such a vacation unsatisfied. Naturally, there were a few nervous smiles, but it was just the fear of flying. The cockpit door was open, Jessica and John inside were facing her.

  "Hey, what happened?", Ava asked and sat down on the third seat in the cockpit.

  "Kennedy's grounded us", Jessica said. "The quarantine has been expanded. All domestic and international flights cancelled."

  "Until when!?", Ava felt her own heavy breathing and the approaching panic attack.

  "Until … I don't know. Nobody does."

  Breath, Ava told herself. In and out. Let's deal with this one by one. Focus, Ava. She sighed deeply.

  "Fuckin…", she was going to swear, but held back.

  "That's what I said, didn't hold back."

  "True", John confirmed, looking rather uninterested for the situation.

  "Oh, damn", Ava sighed. "Disembarkment. What's the protocol? Who notifies the passengers?"

  "There is no protocol for such situations", Jessica revealed.

  "Then I'll do it", Ava was a bit more decisive though her heart was beating hard.

  Jessica showed her the third set of the overhead phones and mike.

  "Dear passengers", she began, "the Kennedy Space Center did not approve our take off. As you know, there is a flu epidemic on Earth, the so-called Snow Outbreak, and the reason for the partial quarantine on airports, train and bus stations and so on. Today, the quarantine was significantly extended and all flights whatsoever were grounded. CDC announced the quarantine in the entire US, other countries followed. At this moment, probably only emergency medical planes fly. We are sure the situation will be resolved very soon, so that you may head home tomorrow or the day after. Please be patient. Return to the your rooms once more. At no extra cost, of course. All entertainment during your extended stay will be free of charge. Thank you."

  Ava rushed through the surprised passengers and straight to her office. She had no time to study their reactions, but it seemed to her they were not overjoyed. She would think about that later, now she had to talk to John Golt.

  Ava clicked the video call button on the screen.

  "Ava, greetings", said an older woman with thin glass frames.

  "Greetings. I was calling John, I don't know …"

  "I'm sorry to inform you, but John is dead."

  "Fuckin…", she blurted out again. "We've only talked a little while ago."

  "I know. It's unexpected. But, it seems the snow flu found some new pathways. This one is quicker, only two days. My name is Melissa Corner and am currently the CEO instead of John."

  "I don't understand, two days?"

  "From the first symptoms to death."

  "Oh, my God. It's awful!"

  "Yes, it is."

  "And CDC?"

  "We have no information. We believe they are working on the solution."

  "Not a good situation."

  "No. The hotels are half-booked, understaffed. Reservations are not being cancelled at all, people just don't show up. We have no idea whether they are dead or just scared. And this quarantine today will surely not help. It'll take years to bounce back."

  "Yes, that's the reason I call. Kennedy grounded us. We put the guests back to the hotel. I suppose the next shift is stuck somewhere on the airports."

  "Some at Kennedy's, some have never made it. We are in the process of contacting all the bookings, but we still have no final decision what's next. Most likely refunds until we know more."

  "Fine."

  "All I can tell you is to wait, along with us."

  "We don't have many options", Ava said. "Take care."

  "You too, good luck!"

  Ava closed the screen and stood up. She felt somehow relieved. As if John's death took away the burden of responsibility off her back. A lot rested on the Company now, she only had to take care of the guests at hand.

  18.

  Dinner had already started when Ava came to the hotel's restaurant. Although the guests usually distributed evenly during the three hours reserved for dinner, it seemed they had all come at the same time that day. Ava decided to skip the entree and only have the garlic soup. She would eat during the short meeting with Cody on the meals for the next several days.

  "Actually", Cody said while he was keeping his half-opened eye on the kitchen, "it should not be any different for us. It's the same for us whether these are new or old guests, the meals go on schedule."

  "Excellent soup, excellent!", Ava said while slurping the soup. "It's a remedy. Just what I needed. As for the meal plan, I'm aware it can go according to the plan regardless of the guests, and this is exactly what I want to change."

  Cody pursed his lips. He did not like where this was going. But, that often happened when things changed direction.

  "Ava, let me say this right away", he decided to be honest, "I don't like where this conversation is going."

  "Me neither", Ava admitted. "And I'd rather we talked about something else. But, unfortunately, this is force majeure."

  "OK, I'll listen, since I have to."

  "OK. I'd like to cancel the special offer during dinner, at least for three days."

  "What? Why? That's our signature …"

  "Hey! It's not like we have competition! And I'm not happy to do it, but I think we must."

  "Why? At least food is abundant."

  "Well, yes … for now."

  "Oh, come on, Ava. This will all be over in a few days", Cody laughed, "don't be pessimistic."

  "I know", she said, "we're OK, but the production on Earth is questionable and we don't know how long it's going to take them to recover."

  "Even if they don't, there'll be outside suppliers."

  "More likely they'll sell that business to someone. And to whom and whether the quality will drop, that we don't know. Trust me, I've seen similar problems twice. A sudden drop in the food quality is a catastrophe. If it must drop, let it be 10%, not 60%."

  "These are all speculations, not grounded either in reality, or facts."

  "If we believe Melissa …"

  "Who's Melissa?"

  "The new CEO …"

  "… and where's John?"

  "Uh, he died."

  "Oh, shit."

  "Yes."

  "So, Melissa says we should cut back …"

  "She did not say so. I did. She said 'it will take us years to recover'. If the Snow Flu outbreak dies out tomorrow, the Company is still in deep problems. Deep enough to dump its core business, and food production for the space hotel is certainly not core. I'm sure they'll sell some of the resorts as well and
focus on the space hotels. I'm not saying the new guys would not know what to do. And I'm sure you can prepare a great meal even with the worst of ingredients. All the same, we should prepare."

  "I understand. I suggest we ditch Monday and Wednesday next week and see what next."

  "OK, Monday and Wednesday", Ava consented on one less day and decided to have another garlic soup, "but get me another bowl. The soup is incredible."

  "Thank you, I'm glad you like it. The garlic is ours, home-grown."

  "In space?"

  "Yes!"

  "Ha, great. Our times are absolutely incredible … space garlic."

  19.

  Morris was sitting in the control room, thinking. The Falcon Enterprise did not take off, there was no telling when this might happen. In the room with him, several meters away, two people sat in front of their screens. They controlled the software that controlled the hotel. Absolutely everything was programmed, adjusted and optimized through hundreds of thousands of code lines. Some basic stuff the software learned on its own, but there was always room for improvement if the software was let loose, but the hotel decided to take smaller steps to ensure less errors. For now, it worked perfectly.

  Morris took his mobile device from the table and started to write a message to Rachel.

  "Hey, total quarantine? Not great. Sorry if I woke you up."

  He was waiting for the reply. It was 6 am in Atlanta. Morris believed Rachel was already up, if she had slept at all. He was right.

  "Just got to the office. Call me on video conference, I could use a friendly face."

  Morris started the video and put on the headphones.

  Rachel looked tired. There were circles under her eyes, but she was still the nice, mellow face from college. Reading glasses were new but they sat nicely on her snub nose and a slightly upturned upper lip. She wore a black turtleneck and small silver earrings. Even today, some twenty years later, she passed for a student.

  "You don't look good", Morris laughed.

  "I know", she smiled slightly, "nobody's looking."

  "I get it, you know I didn't …"

  "Don't worry, I know you just wanted to cheer me up. But, that's kind of hard these days."

  "Tell me what's happening and I'll show you space."

  Now she laughed openly.

  "Morris", Rachel said with a serious look on her face, "the largest outbreak ever is happening. The Snow Flu is now a fucking avalanche. From a three-week incubation period we are now down to two days. We stopped counting the dead …"

  "What do you mean?"

  "There's nobody to count them anymore, we believe there are over four hundred million casualties."

  "What!?"

  "Yes."

  "When did this happen? Everything was under control."

  "Well, you see, this is how it seemed. Then this two-day flu killed three hundred million people and it's not stopping. And it's not alone, other diseases joined in because we can't burn the bodies soon enough. For China and India the information is even more scarce."

  "Is there any solution on the horizon?"

  "Honestly, I don't know. We are working full steam, but it's impossible to say. Everything happens too fast", her voice trembled a little."

  "Hey, I'm sure it's going to be OK. You're the smartest pers…"

  "I'm afraid I'm not. There are a lot of intelligent people here, we've brought them here from all over the world. And there is … no progress. Fuck!", she sighed and started to bang her hand on the table, but stopped herself and held her head with both hands.

  "Rachel, I know it's bad, but focus is important. You can't lose focus."

  "I don't. I'm just frustrated with this feeling of helplessness. We'll find something, but I'm afraid too late."

  "That means that the quarantine won't be lifted soon?"

  "Probably not. But, it's impossible to predict anything. The Snow Outbreak may just die down of itself or we'll eradicate it. The first option is not likely, the second will most probably last longer."

  "Do you have the worst case scenario?"

  She looked him straight in the eyes, covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers, then lowered them and said:

  "We do. If the two-day flu continues this fast, the number of casualties will be in billions in two months. In six months there will be only a couple of million people on Earth. And they'll be dead in a year, maybe two. Depending on where they are."

  "You're kidding?"

  "Hey, you wanted the worst case scenario."

  "What is the probability for this?"

  "You're asking me or you need an official estimate?"

  "Official?"

  "Supercomputer's."

  "Tell me yours."

  "55 %."

  "Jesus Christ", Morris was holding his head now. "And the computer?"

  "70%."

  "I can't believe it. I C A N ' T!"

  "I'm afraid it's true. I'm always very cautious with the estimates and tend to offer the worst options, hoping for the best. With the results by our supercomputer and all the combinations it calculated, I'm afraid I might be right."

  "Oh, shit. This is not good. Not good at all. How much do people know?"

  "They'll soon know, in a week or so. The media are still under their own quarantine, we don't give out much information. But, this too shall not last. Leakages on the Internet and gossip …"

  "Of course. The Internet always leaks."

  "How is it up there? Tell me more …"

  "Here? As in any hotel. Only different. The guests from two weeks ago could not leave, and it seems they won't go any time soon. I think that nobody is aware of the magnitude of trouble."

  "Don't tell them until it's official, let people enjoy", Rachel told Morris.

  "We won't. Besides, it's all standard and nothing special. We cruise and socialize. Well, they do. Me, a bit less. I'm sitting in the control room and … control. Not that there's much to control. Most of it is automated. I just monitor what happens and react to trouble."

  "Good job. I'd trade with you", she smiled.

  "Hey, who knows? When it's all over, have a vacation with us!"

  "Hah hah, if this hell ever ends. Listen … thank you, it means a lot that you care about me."

  "It's not caring, I'm just curious", Morris winked at her.

  "I have to go, the first morning meeting starts in a few minutes."

  "Go, go. I'll talk to you soon."

  "You, too", she raised her hand in a Vulcan greeting and made Morris smile.

  20.

  The huge glass surface was turned straight towards the artificial sunset of the planet Requiem. Captain Del Rio stood there thinking and gazing in the distance. Eli and Oliver floated nearby.

  "This is one of my favorite battles", Eli said turning towards Oliver.

  "I never played it, but I can see why I should correct that", Oliver responded turning towards the bridge of the UNSC Infinity ship. "It looks spectacular."

  They were in the ship's interior in the game Halo, one of the many simulations in the zero-gravity chamber. Since they got back from the Falcon, the chamber was free of charge, so they were spending a lot of time there. Three days had already passed since the onset of the total quarantine, but no significant progress was made. The only new information was that the quarantine still stood.

  "You know", Oliver floated closer to her, "I'm not sorry we're stuck here. Actually, I like it. Spending time with you is just …

  "Hey", she interrupted him and started towards another simulation, "enough talking! It's time for a new adventure. Let's goooo!"

  She pushed herself towards a discrete and almost invisible passage that lead to another ship. This time it was the Death Star! OK, Oliver thought, we don't have to talk about it. Nothing special happened. Only occasional accidental touching of hands that brought a small smile to the corners of their mouths, the relaxing silence in the telescope room when they only nodded mysteriously while handing over the telescope. L
ong conversations with the view to Earth. Remembering school adventures. Fears. Happy future. But never the Snow Flu, because it did not exist for them, and neither for most of the other hotel guests.

  "Again, somewhere in your own world", Eli approached Oliver and pulled him towards the Death Star. "It's time you crossed over … ta ta ta tata ta", she was singing the famous Darth Vader's theme. Even she knew it, although Eli was never a big fan of Star Wars.

  "I was just thinking", Oliver said floating towards the top of the Vader's bridge, "nothing important. Let's destroy Yavin 4!"

  "Let's! Though I can see it in your eyes that would not make you very happy", Eli told him.

  They stood on the bridge looking towards the planet from where the rebels attacked the Death Star. Imperial soldiers sat in the pit at the controls and managed this most lethal weapon! They stood there in silence for some time, just listening to the humming of voices below them. Soon the attack would begin! They also heard Vader's breathing from the distance, coming ever so closer.

  Eli took Oliver's hand.

  "I'm not sorry we're stuck either", she said still looking at Yavin 4. "You know that I like spending time with my grandpa and Millie in the hills and nature, but I would not trade any hill or landscape for the time we spent together. I enjoyed every moment."

  She turned towards him and kissed him on the mouth. It was his first long kiss ever. Oliver blushed a little.

  "Look", she said, "I don't know what will happen. It's difficult to think further that two days. Let's just live from day to day, let's see what happens."

  "See what happens", he repeated.

  "Yes! No grand plans."

  "SWH", Oliver repeated still a bit abashed.

  "Yes, Oliver, get a grip and kiss me."

  He drew his lips towards her and kissed her until the final end of the Death Star, when it disintegrated into millions of pieces and enabled the rebels to survive.

  21.