The Malthus Pandemic

by Terry Morgan

CHAPTER 69

  I had never entertained more than one person at a time in my small Queensway flat but, with Anna organising tea and coffee, there was now six. It was late afternoon. Larry had just flown in from Washington, Kevin and Tom Weston had come by train from Bristol and Colin had been there since early morning.

  I instantly liked Tom Weston. He is my sort of ex teacher, academic and second hand book seller. If all school teachers end up like Tom once they'd retired the world will be a much more interesting place. And it was plain to see that Tom like Anna. She immediately became "my dear".

  I was trying to pull together a complete summary of what each of us already knew.

  We had all started at different points but, completely unknown to each other, had all arrived at the same conclusion - that something needed to be done urgently on a huge and co-ordinated scale at international level.

  But, as separate, private, individuals it was proving difficult to persuade anyone to listen, let alone act. Larry now felt he might be getting somewhere but Tom and Kevin were already frustrated and had heard nothing from Lord Stevenson for two days. We agreed it was because we were lone voices, offering private, individual opinions and relating just a few recent experiences. It was not enough. It was certainly proving time consuming and time was running out.

  "It's as if we weren't convincing enough, Daniel," Tom moaned. "And I've known Bill Stevenson since his days at University College, London. Perhaps it was because we'd just walked in off the street looking like a couple of fools trying to sound off about lack of adequate controls on virus research - Kevin being a mere lecturer in Social and Economic History and me an old codger who runs a book shop."

  "Exactly," piped up Kevin. "What do the bastards want? Aren't they supposed to listen to the people who vote for them?"

  "But there are just too many people trying to grab their ear," said Tom. "Just too many people. Sound familiar, Kevin?"

  Colin and I had agreed the night before that the first thing we needed to do was produce a complete summary of what each of them already knew. And with Colin, and now Larry, convinced that any concerted international action to make arrests or to carry out forced inspections of suspect companies would, despite the digital age, require a mass of hard copy paperwork, they had decided to produce some sort of formal report that would be ready and waiting once they had established exactly who could instigate some action. It needed to be strong on facts with as much independent evidence as possible - evidence from third parties such as Kevin's friend Tunje, Abdouleye, the Nigerian doctor Larry had met and Jimmy's photos of the inside of the Shah Medicals factory would be invaluable.

  With Colin in his organisational element with the flip chart from his office, I began the summary.

  "There have been three separate starting points for what we now know," I said. "And there are also two quite separate but inter-linked sides. On one side is the development of the influenza virus tailor-made to use as a population control method and on the other side is the commercial exploitation. This is what has made Larry's job of persuasion so difficult.

  "So let's first look at this artificially created virus, which has been called Malthus A by its creator. We know there are plans to use it as a tool for mass population control. All that is needed is for it to be released in a controlled and systematic way.

  "For me, it started with my investigation for Virex in Boston. This was a very vague request to find out where some valuable research material had gone. It's unlike me to take on a client with such a vague remit but I admit I needed an excuse to go back to Bangkok where there was some other private, unfinished business waiting for me."

  Despite my attempt to keep my summary serious, Anna suddenly clapped her hands and smiled. I blew her a kiss, smiled and continued.

  "But that investigation got me looking at scientists that had recently gone missing. One of them was David Solomon."

  "Then there was Larry's discovery of the hundred Nigerian deaths from an influenza-type disease. He reported these to the WHO.

  "Thirdly there is Kevin's Malthus Society website. The website occasionally attracts some extreme views but is otherwise well monitored by Kevin. But this led him to a meeting in London with an Arab called Mohamed El Badry. El Badry claimed to have a solution to world population control that was ready to launch. It looked as if Kevin was being invited to take part.

  "Then Kevin discovered that another Malthus Society member, Tunje Fayinka, a Nigerian and close friend based in UK, had also met El Badry. Tunje reported all this to Kevin. Tunje has since met another Arab who, he says, was not El Badry but a different man. This man has offered Tunje money to help with what appears to be the spread of the virus in Nigeria. Tunje has promised to keep us all posted.

  "Now, we are still unsure about this man Mohamed El Badry. It is possible he is using two or three different names including Mohamed Kader. The name Mohamed Kader also crops up on the other side - the commercial side. And there are at least two other men of Arab origin - one is possibly Egyptian. We have possible names but it is a weak point for us. There is a definite link to an Egyptian doctor going by the name of El Khoury and we have an address in Cairo. This man is linked to Fatima El Badry, at the same Cairo address. In most Arab countries, women keep their full birth and family names and do not change their family names to their husband's name. So have we got a case here of Mohamed Kader also using his wife's name of El Badry when it suits him? But Fatima El Badry is certainly involved somewhere as she seems to harbour the same hard-line views on population control as Kader's. But this is definitely a weak area for us.

  "Now alongside the Nigerian deaths were the reports of deaths in Thailand and a single Kenyan death. All these got reported at the Infectious Diseases Conference in Bangkok so they are already on record. There are now other links to Thailand and Kenya that we have uncovered.

  "Subsequently WHO got involved but there is very little information from them that has been made public.

  "It was Larry who got more detail on the Thai deaths from the virology research laboratory in Bangkok and it was from here that we learned of a link with the use of mini aerosol canisters either to spread the virus or to administer a genuine treatment or to sell as a fake treatment for profit. We'll also come onto that in a moment.

  "But let's look at David Solomon. When I started the work for Virex I was never told precisely what the lost material was. It turned out to be a potential drug to treat several types of influenza and it was nearly ready for clinical testing. But it had clearly been stolen and we now know who the culprit was - a Virex scientist called Jan de Jonge. We know where he is located. He had passed the material to David Solomon. But that is not all he stole. He also stole a modified virus from their so-called secured stocks

  "No-one else knows where Jan de Jonge is yet. I suppose I have a duty to inform Virex as part of my very loose contract with them but I am reluctant to give them any chance to cover their tracks and reduce their liability for their lack of adequate controls. Biox, David Solomon's former employer, and Virex appear to co-operate whenever it suits them. There has to be some shared responsibility here. But he question is, who could deal with that?

  "So something that Larry can take up in the USA is the lack of adequate controls put on biotechnology companies and any other organisations working with viruses. If USA sit up and then act then maybe other countries will follow suit. These companies and research organisations are all funded from somewhere. If their funding is limited until proper controls are put in place then I think we will have made a very positive contribution.

  "But David Solomon is a British citizen and he is no longer an employee of Biox. He is a leading expert on virus engineering. He is basically freelance. He is a loose cannon and his funding seems to come from a company or companies already associated with fraud and embezzlement.

  "Thanks to Tom, we have evidence of his extreme views about direct action on population. He is, to all intents and purposes a terroris
t hell bent on ignoring the rights of others or democratic government in the same way as a bomb maker is for Al Quaida or the Taliban or Boko Haram.

  "We do not know David Solomon's precise location. This is classic terrorist behaviour. Thanks to Anna, we suspect he is in Thailand but he may be moving around. And we have evidence from Larry's contact Abdouleye that someone called Solomon was in Kano in Nigeria around the time of the tests on the new virus. All this needs recording."

  Finally I stopped. Colin was still busily trying to catch up by writing names and draw lines connecting them on his flip chart.

  "Can we agree that that Is a rough summary of the situation on the virus and the key people involved?" I asked.

  "Yes," said Larry, "But we could add in details of the virus structure, which, by the sound of it, the Thai laboratory is working on. And the symptoms of the infection."

  Colin drew a line to 'symptoms' and another line to "virus structure."

  "Yes," said Tom, "And I also have copies of papers and articles written by Solomon. They are self incriminating and would add weight to the case and be invaluable in re-enforcing the argument."

  "OK," I said. "Let's come back to all that. Can we now summarise what we know about the commercial side because this is what I've been trying to piece together for the last few weeks and you'll need to bear with me on this - it'll be a bit like trying to describe a ball of knotted rope."

  I looked at Colin. "Are you making sense of all this?" I asked.

  "I think so. Shall we have a coffee?"

  "Good idea."

  Anna got up to make coffee. Tom tried to stand up. "My back gets stiff if I sit for too long," he groaned.

  "Well, that's the first time I've heard you say that, Tom." said Kevin. "You know, he'll sit for hours reading his books and barely notice his back and he never complains in the pub."

  "It's the chair," explained Tom. "Perhaps Larry can give me something for it."

  "How about a beer instead of coffee, then Tom?" I suggested. "We have a few in the fridge." Then I turned to Colin again.

  "I can't stop worrying about Jimmy," I said quietly. "Something has gone wrong. Can you try phoning Louise in Nairobi again?"

  As Colin picked up the phone, I went into the kitchen to help Anna and fetch some beers.

  "You are worried about your friend, Jimmy?" she asked me.

  "Yes. It's unlike him to be silent for so long. But he often worries me. It's not so unusual. But Colin calls him a ferret - it's a long, slender animal that runs very fast and burrows down into tight holes to find things. It's a good description of Jimmy but he also takes risks. He's very enthusiastic but he sometimes runs first and thinks later. It has always worried me that he might, one day, get caught out. In this case though I blame myself. It was me who suggested he take a risk. If anything has happened to Jimmy I'll blame myself."

  Colin joined us in the kitchen. "No news. Louise is now getting worried. Jimmy has not been home, phoned her or come to the office."

  Still trying not to think the worse, I rejoined the others and we continued.

  "OK, let's look at the businesses involved here. Putting Virex and Biox to one side we've basically got two companies - Al Zafar and Livingstone Pharmaceuticals and several smaller businesses who have either been bought out by Livingstone or Al Zafar or are distributors. The main trade name you will hear mentioned is Shah Medicals. Companies with the name Shah who are also linked to Livingstone and Al Zafar operate in Hong Kong, Singapore, Egypt and Kenya. Colin's research has thrown up many more with the same name but they are almost all Indian and have no connection with this. However I suspect we might find a number of other companies that have business relationships of one sort or another with Al Zafar and Livingstone. It is just that we don't have the time or resources to do thorough checks.

  "And another clever thing about the Shah Medicals set up is its apparent ability to attract highly qualified, American and European trained scientists - virologists. I think that's David Solomon's influence but we have three working apparently innocently on viruses and antiviral therapies in Egypt. It's pioneering work, but Solomon is probably the guiding hand. They have no idea about the other, shadier side of Shah Medicals, of Livingstone or even Solomon himself.

  But Jan de Jonge is one, a guy called Phillippe Fournier from Kenya is another."

  Larry jumped. "So that's where he is."

  "Yes, you see how it all ties up? But the third guy working in Egypt is an ex work colleague of Solomon's from Boston, another Brit, Guy Williams. Yes, they are allowed to get on with their work, enjoy the facilities and the big villas and the pool beside the River Nile that they live in But I do not envy them. Someone is keeping a close eye on them and one false move or some argument about the direction of research might not be to their advantage.

  "But the main guy that concerns me is Greg O'Brian - Colin calls him GOB. Colin will confirm that GOB's background is sinister. He came from Northern Ireland, had links to the IRA and is now an American citizen. But, as far as we know, he has not entered the USA for several years. He is a rich man with most of his cash stashed in the Cayman Islands although I suspect he is astute enough to have scattered it around elsewhere.

  "How did he make his money? Well, fraud, embezzlement and insurance scams rank quite high and he hates people getting in his way. Colin will confirm that garden forks are one tool he uses to rid himself of anyone who causes him a headache.

  "We believe he bought Livingstone for a knock-down price when no-one else really wanted it with the intention of using it as an ethical-looking front for far less ethical pursuits. He has staff who I suspect he is not the slightest bit interested in. They might suspect something about their owner but it'll only be company gossip.

  "So Livingstone, the company, gets on with running itself while GOB stands back and has dreams lit up by dollar signs and pound signs. He is not the slightest bit interested in David Solomon's political views on population control because he is using Solomon. But Solomon is also using him. So when Solomon says he has created a virus that can kill thousands and has a treatment that will work, GOB sees three big opportunities for himself.

  "One. He wants to cause trouble. GOB is still just one, big, street-wise hooligan. He is also a frustrated small time politician who has a few scores to settle. He operates in a kind of underworld and, if the whole truth ever came out, I suspect he's still deeply involved in other rackets. So he still has a few old friends around that he wants to impress. That's how pathetic some of these guys can be.

  "And what really turns him on is when he can show these old mates that no-one can touch him. He'll adopt a can't catch me approach, stick a middle finger up and put a thumb to his nose. And he'll stay out of the limelight under a different name in a big villa in the Caribbean or some other safe haven and remain untouchable unless..........well let's discuss how we might get him in a minute. But as far as we know, and Colin has checked, he is currently not on any wanted lists anywhere and that includes Interpol. That is despite his record.

  "So on to GOB's second big opportunity. GOB wants Livingstone to be the distributor of an effective treatment for the influenza epidemic he has deliberately created. Just think of the profile that would give to Livingstone. He'll enjoy that but don't expect him to stand up at an annual shareholders meetings and pronounce on expected dividends. The only person likely to be benefitting, other than the innocent, hard working staff he employs to work nine to five in total ignorance of who their ultimate boss is, is GOB himself.

  "And don't think GOB will let a little thing like USA Federal Drug Administration - FDA - or UK NICE approvals get in his way. The world is a big place. If America or the UK don't want to approve his treatment while a flu pandemic rages then so be it - others will probably rush approvals through. The public will demand it.

  "Finally, I believe, and we have some evidence from Kenya of this, that GOB wants to make and sell large quantities of a counterfeit products no
t just for influenza. They'll cost almost nothing to manufacture but sell at an extortionate price to innocent victims through pharmacy stores. And with Livingstone's new profile it'll be easier to exploit because this is where Livingstone's and Al Zafar's international distributor network fits in. These distributors are scattered right across the Far East, Africa and the Middle East. They are all small businesses often run by local guys who are just after making a quick profit and will rely on suppliers to guarantee any product safety.

  "Just look at what drugs you can buy online these days. You can even buy asthma inhalers in supermarkets. Now just imagine the implications if some of these inhalers contained not medicine for asthma but a flu virus? And it struck me on the flight over from Nairobi as I watched a woman use a breath freshener. It was like a miniature deodorant spray. What controls are there on these things? Are counterfeit breath fresheners on the market?

  "Apart from improving controls on research on viruses, the so-called gain of function research we talked about earlier, I think we need to scare the pants off politicians with possibilities like this."

  I stopped once again. "Any questions so far?"

  "No, keep going, Daniel," said Larry. "This is exactly what I needed before talking to Senator Mary Collis. If we can get this into some sort of report form all the better."

  "OK," I said. "Then let's look at the other commercial organisation, Al Zafar. Colin has dug out a lot of research on this organisation. Mohamed Kader is its owner. Basically it's an importer and distributor of pharmaceutical products. It started in Jordan. Mohamed Kader is an Egyptian. But here we have the problem referred to earlier. I've got a photo of Mohamed Kader but it does not resemble the descriptions of the other Arabs we seem to be encountering. Is Mohamed El Badry another name used by Mohamed Kader? We suspect it is.

  "Kevin's description of the woman at the Chelsea flat where he met Kader fits perfectly with the description of the woman working at the Shah Medical Clinic in Cairo - Fatima El Badry. There is also the mystery surrounding an Egyptian called Doctor Ramses El Khoury who seems to own this clinic but travels a lot. Who is he? What we do know is that he, too, appears to have very similar views to the Mohamed El Badry that Kevin met.

  "What I'm saying here is that it is impossible to pull this complicated picture together on our own. We have, I believe uncovered a plot technically masterminded by a skilled virologist to kill millions of people using a biological weapon for ideological reasons and a network of companies run by some highly unethical people one of whom already has a record in international fraud. It's terrorism working hand in hand with international commercial fraud.

  "Now what makes everything so urgent is what we have learned in the past few days mostly from Jimmy Banda working in Nairobi. Jimmy infiltrated Shah Medicals Nairobi. This business was, up until a few days ago, fully functional but it suddenly started to lay off people. This is where Jimmy photographed aerosols.

  "Who was running Shah Medicals, Nairobi? Well, here's another name: Dominique Lunneau, a French, Tunisian or Algerian once worked for Al Zafar and was production manager for a small pharmaceutical company in Lebanon.

  "Jimmy and I were sat outside the Shah Medicals site long after midnight two days ago when guess who turned up - GOB, Greg O'Brian himself, with another unidentified man and Lunneau. There were only three employees left by this stage - all Pakistanis. Mohamed Kader, Mohamed El Badry, or whatever his name is, has some sort of relationship with Pakistan that needs checking out. But it just shows the international spread of this organisation.

  "But how many employees were left by four in the morning? None. The last three were killed somehow, their bodies stuffed into the back of a Toyota and driven off."

  Tom sat up straight.

  Kevin said "Bloody hell."

  Larry said "Jesus."

  Anna looked shocked. "Oh!" she cried, "You saw that?"

  "Yes, Anna. Jimmy and I were hiding in Jimmy's car outside. The Toyota was driven off, presumably to dump three bodies. A van carrying the last remaining boxes from the warehouse went in another direction and Jimmy and I followed GOB in his black Mercedes to a hotel.

  "Next morning, I watched GOB hand over some paperwork to an employee of Livingstones. I'd met this man at the trade show in Bangkok and think he is probably completely unaware of what is going on. I then followed GOB to the airport where he got on a flight to Bangkok. Jimmy, meanwhile, had followed Lunneau to a freight forwarders warehouse at the airport. I spoke to Jimmy twice while he was there. But then....." I broke off. "I think something went wrong. We've been unable to talk to Jimmy since."

  There was a moments' silence before Larry spoke. "You are right, Daniel. Time is running out or has already run out. O'Brian flew to Bangkok you say?"

  "Yes, and we think David Solomon is also in Bangkok. Question is what do we do now?"

  Tom, Kevin and Larry all sat back in their chairs. Anna was sitting cross-legged on the floor with her head resting on my knee. It was Larry who again spoke.

  "Let's get this report written, Daniel. Paperwork seems to be what they need to take any action. A conversation and opinion, however passionately conveyed by a few people just walking in off the street is just not enough to get anything started."

  Colin had been half sat, half standing by his flip chart for an hour. This was exactly what he had been saying to me for the past two weeks.

  "That's exactly it, Larry. I've been in this business a while now. Even the way private investigators operate has been the subject of a lot of debate in the UK over the last few years. Politicians, the police, whoever they are, require more information and evidence before they'll even get out from behind their desks.

  "For instance, in the USA, the FBI and CIA should be involved. They need to be made aware of what we know urgently. What they do with it afterwards we can't say.

  "But why the CIA? Well, their top three prime functions are gathering information about foreign governments, corporations and individuals. And why do they do this? For reasons of national security. So does the risk of bioterrorism fit the bill here? Of course it does. Are the risks of uncontrolled tampering with viruses a risk to national security? Many voters in the USA will say yes. So what are the CIA doing about it?

  "And what can the CIA do with the intelligence they acquire or we give them? Well, they could carry on or take over what Daniel has been doing for free with the help of Jimmy. They can carry out further covert activity and then, once enough evidence is there - and I think we've got enough already - they can oversee tactical operations by their own CIA employees, by the US military or by overseas partners. In other words put a stop to it.

  "What I'm saying is that, unless I'm totally misunderstanding the way US security operates, I think the CIA should deal with this - certainly as far as ensuring security for US citizens. But don't imagine the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology sounds like just the body you need to talk to. Science and technology in the CIA is about satellite surveillance and electronic gadgets. The only viruses they know are computer ones. And if you talk about designer viruses with the CIA they'll think you're talking about a way to block the Russian or Chinese internet.

  "So who do you need to speak to, Larry? Well, ideally the President, after all he's the man in charge. But if you can't get that far up then get as close as you can like the Director of National Intelligence. Nobody will want another run in with the way the CIA about how it's run. There has already been criticism of CIA work relating to security failures and intelligence gathering and they won't want another probe into the way it operates. It's timely, Larry, but you are right. Senator Mary Collis has probably done all she can with what you've told her verbally. She needs more, and that is why we are sat here.

  "Now let's look at the UK. What have we got here in the way of an organisation that could deal with this? We've got the equivalent of the CIA, the SIS, the Secret Intelligence Service - MI5 and MI6. And if you look at the SIS you see something very s
imilar to the CIA. Its priorities are dictated by politicians. If politicians think that stopping more bombings of the London Underground by disgruntled Moslems are a priority then that is their priority. If you ask them this evening if they are keeping watch on a British virologist called David Solomon as a potential terrorist threat then they will ask you who David Solomon is.

  "And while their intelligence gathering doughnut, GCHQ, in Cheltenham, has a list of key words it looks for in all our emails I suspect the words 'engineer', 'virus' and 'influenza' seen together in a sentence won't flash a red light.

  "SIS functions are just like the CIA's - to obtain and provide information and perform other tasks, in this case relating to the UK Intelligence Services Act 1994. This includes national security, the economic well-being of the country and the prevention of serious crime. Terrorism is so-called Tier One risk and so you would assume the SIS remit fits what we want like a glove. But ask them exactly what their priorities are within this Tier One and they'll say Al Qaeda. They won't say Shah Medicals, Greg O'Brian or David Solomon.

  "And then in the UK we have SOCA - the Serious Organised Crime Agency - who's remit is to describe and assess the threats posed to the UK by organised criminals and to consider how these may develop. What are SOCA's priorities?

  "Well they do, at least, recognise that criminals are entrepreneurs at heart, that they spread their criminal, commercial activities around and that they move around. But their priorities are, as ever, decided by politicians. So in the case of SOCA we see drugs - by which they mean Class A drugs not counterfeit medicines - money laundering, fraud, human trafficking, identity crime, cyber crime, kidnap, extortion and so on. But I know from experience that their intelligence is woeful. I often know more about certain individuals than they do. That's because they are not a single force but work in partnerships. Not their fault but that's the way it is.

  "But Is GOB known to SOCA? I doubt it. SOCA, a bit like the CIA, spends half its time navel gazing and trying to protect itself.

  "So what have we got that crosses international boundaries?

  "Clearly there is the UN, the European Union and the other global partnerships like ASEAN in South East Asia and the African Union. But how long do you think it would take to get the African Union to do something about a small pharmaceutical company making counterfeit medicines and selling them on the internet through small distribution outlets scattered across the globe?

  "Interpol is the only body I think could react quickest and make a few arrests to get a few people out of circulation. Getting GOB onto its wanted list would be a good move. But we still can't just wander into the London liaison office of Interpol and ask them to stick a few photos of GOB and Solomon on their lists and ask for help from police forces in all the other signed up members. There are procedures.

  "But Interpol concerns itself with just the things we need - public safety, terrorism, organised crime, corruption and illicit drug production. And Interpol agents do not make arrests but call upon the law enforcement agencies in other countries. That would make it easier to ask, say, the Egyptian police to check out Shah Medical Centre in Cairo or the Shah research operation down the Nile at Beni Suef and take a few people in for questioning.

  "There is a secure 24/7 communications network, an incident response team on hand and a Terrorism Watch List which we might be able to lock into to track down Solomon - that is if we can get him classified him as a terrorist.

  "To me, Interpol is probably the best solution to our immediate needs. But the challenge remains that we need to convince certain people with our evidence so that they will activate the system. We can't just march into a police station and expect a response. In the UK the National Central Bureau which acts as the focal point for enquiries is based at SOCA. So we are back to SOCA again. And in the USA, Larry, Interpol Washington makes it quite clear what the process is and its bureaucracy, paperwork, statements, reports and full details of the alleged crime - and you can't do it yourself. The least you'll need is Senator Collis at your side.

  "So, if we agree that Interpol is the best option, we then need to decide who to talk to guarantee some action.

  "In the UK, I think it's no lower than the Home Secretary. If we can get the ear of the Prime Minister all the better. And, yes, Tom is right to be concerned about Lord Stevenson. He has probably done little more than carry around the few notes he scribbled on a pad while Tom and Kevin were talking, scratched his head a few times, perhaps spoke to another colleague on his Lords Science and Technology committee who dismissed it and then started to plan his next meeting on science funding for the next budget. I think our report needs to go straight to the top and somehow we need to make sure it's read properly and urgently."

  Colin drew a breath. "So, the first job is to write this report with an opening paragraph or two that gets the attention. The second job is to get it read. The first job is easy. I'll have it ready by the morning."

  The six of us had now been sat in my small apartment for four hours. With Colin's final summing up, I asked how long they were prepared to carry on.

  "Until we've done all we can," said Tom. "Kevin and I can get the last train back to Bristol or we can sleep on the floor. I haven't done that for years."

  "And I'm booked at a small hotel in Notting Hill," said Larry, "So no rush."

  "Then I know what we'll do," said Anna. "I'll phone my new friend from the Tamarind Thai Restaurant and order some Thai food."