“Right.” He frowned, grabbed a cup of coffee and hurried downstairs to his waiting staff. Shutting the door he immediately barked, “All right, what’s got everyone so spooked? Something worse than nuclear war?” Hoping to lighten the mood, instead his joke fell with a thud.
Lieutenant Colonel Muzik was already on his feet. “Sir, something really strange. Intel and mil-ops both have been getting reports from around the world. The news media and political channels are heating up too. It’s an outbreak of some kind of disease.”
Markis sat back, took a drink of hot coffee. “So what do we know right now? Facts, not rumors.”
Muzik nodded to a young lieutenant. Markis dredged up her name. “Ilona, right? Intel?” Bright, studious, geeky, eager. Perfect for her work.
“Yes, sir. It’s a widespread outbreak but only in certain places right now. We’ve plotted the reports on a map and this is what we see.” The map showed the swaths of the disease where the as-yet unrevealed probes had scattered the Meme phages. “We are seeing flulike symptoms among normals. A few deaths of old and weak, those with compromised immune systems. It’s scaring them, though, there have been widespread outbreaks of violence, looting and so on. But among Plague carriers, it seems to trigger a massive immune response. Hundreds dying every hour.”
Markis’ blood ran cold. As I feared so long ago. Some kind of hidden mutation, some kind of time bomb waiting inside the Plague’s genetic code. Is everything I’ve done for nothing? Have I become the biggest mass murderer in history?
“Are there any reports of successful treatment?”
“Nothing so far, sir. Intensive care with fluids and drugs improves the survival rate but there are so few hospitals in the Free Communities anymore that those still in operation are completely overwhelmed.”
“I noticed there were no cases in Australia. Anyone know why?”
Lieutenant Ilona glanced at Lt. Colonel Muzik. He said, “Uh, sir, we have a theory. It’s pretty wild, but…”
“Go on, spill it.”
“Okay, sir, but…well, here it is. Under each of the footprints of the outbreaks there were sightings of UFOs.”
“UFOs? Flying saucers?”
“No, sir, more like fast-flying craft. Some people reported meteors, some thought it was more missiles or bombers. But there were a lot of sightings. Roughly six hours later the first reports of illness started coming in.”
“So you think someone did this.”
The two officers exchanged glances again. They nodded in unison.
“The Australians?”
“Maybe,” Muzik replied. “Australia is the only continent not hit. But the Japanese are as unaffected as well, and the South Africans, Scandinavia…you can see the map for yourself. Anyone not under a footprint could be the culprit.”
Lieutenant Ilona chewed the inside of her cheek, looking back and forth between her two superiors.
“You have something to say, Silvia? It’s Silvia, right?”
Ilona nodded. “Sophia, sir. I just…well, I read all the reports from the research program. Everything I’m cleared for, anyway. Just out of interest.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose nervously. “Anyway, Mrs. Markis wrote in one of her reports that she believed the original virus phage – the one they called the Devil Plague – was extraterrestrial in origin.” She stopped.
“So…you think this might be too? I know my wife’s theories, and I know that some of the scientists agree. But not all. Do we have any more hard evidence about these UFOs? Can we look at radar tracks, air traffic control records, anything like that?”
Muzik replied, “Uh, sir, even where the nukes didn’t land, the EMP wrecked a lot of the infrastructure. The best one we got was from the Royal Air Force. They have a track of something coming in from high orbit over the pole, decelerating all the way until it slowed down to subsonic speeds over London, where it flies south for Paris.”
“High orbit. Refresh me, but ballistic missiles never enter high orbit.”
Ilona replied, “No, sir. Whatever this was, it came in high, it was under power, it maneuvered, and I believe it released whatever is killing people now.”
Markis sat back, looking around the room at his staff. “Are any animals dying?”
Muzik responded, “No, just people. Not even primates.”
“Right,” Ilona said excitedly. “If it’s just humans, it means this new disease was tailored for us!”
Markis nodded. “So maybe the aliens have come back. If Elise is right, they tried to wipe us out a few millennia ago, and they’re trying again now. Maybe we got their attention with all the nuclear detonations. But does it really matter? Whether it’s aliens or someone on Earth, the immediate problem’s the same. Everyone needs to implement their pandemic protocols, get the labs working on it, do what we can. In a way, this is good news.”
A buzz of chatter started around the room. “Hold it down,” Muzik’s voice boomed. “Sir, what do you mean, good news?”
“At least they’re not arriving with mile-wide spaceships and death rays. Or dropping asteroids on us to wipe us out. The good news is, this attack seems to be limited in scope. There are only three reasons to conduct a limited war that I know of. One, some kind of moral compunction. Two, inability. Or three, most likely, they want to limit damage to the prize. I’d put my money on number three. They want the planet. They want the ecosystem. They just don’t want us in the way.”
This time no one tried to suppress the buzz around the room. Markis caught Muzik’s eye and they let it run its course. Once it started to die out naturally, the Chairman reasserted control. “All right, here’s what I want done. Captain Ilona, you are now in charge of the analysis team. Yes, I said ‘Captain,’ you’ve earned it. Colonel Muzik, find General Ribera and start drafting reports to the Free Community militaries. Millie, do the same for the Council and the Neutral States. And something for the press. Rick, get me a secure line to Shawna Nightingale and my wife, preferably together. Once you’ve done that, get me a Council meeting and include as many of the Neutral States and the former Big Three as you can get. Twelve hours? Okay. Everyone else, talk to your bosses, help out, do what you can. Get to it.”
To emphasize his point, Markis got up and walked out. Best if I just issue the orders and get the hell out of the way. It’s how I always wanted my superiors to lead and I’ll be damned if I start micromanaging now.
He knew from the last ten years that there was no need to seek out crises; they would come looking for him. The first one walked into his office ten minutes later: Rick Johnstone.
“Sir, Mrs. Nightingale and Mrs. Markis will be on from South Africa in about forty minutes, but I have a call from Australia right now that I think you need to take on the secure net.” He walked over to the terminal set to the side of Markis’ desk. A few keystrokes and touches on the screen brought up the ready icon. Rick picked up and extended the phone handset to his boss. “Sir…it’s Spooky. It’s Colonel Nguyen.”
Markis seized the handset, throwing himself into the seat in front of the screen and touching the icon for two-way video. Immediately his friend’s well-known face sprang to life in front of him, and he knew his image was being sent to the other man.
“Spooky! Glad to see you, are you all right? What’s been happening?”
Nguyen’s face was warm and friendly, but when Markis heard his voice he thought he detected a slightly false note. “Everything is well here, Daniel. I know you have a lot of questions so let me answer them up front. I have been offered a position in the Australian Army. I have decided to settle here with a woman I met. It’s simple as that.”
“But why didn’t you contact me right away?”
Spooky smiled, looking pained. “They had me in isolation. Interrogation. They felt responsible for the missiles that hit the Big Three, since it was their liaison officer that went rogue, but they wanted to be fully satisfied so they held me here. That’s not why I’m calling you. I’m just here as an introduction
, and to provide assurance of truth.”
“Truth of what?” Markis sat back, a skeptical look on his face.
“I’d rather let the Prime Minister tell you.” The video feed backed up to show another man sitting next to Nguyen. Markis just had time to notice Spooky was wearing a Brigadier’s uniform before Australian Prime Minister Hogan started speaking.
“G'day to you, Chairman. I would have had Councilwoman Grenstead here as well but she is out of town away from a secure link. I hope your old comrade in arms here will help assure you of the veracity of what I am about to tell you.”
“Why would I need anyone to assure me you are telling me the truth, Prime Minister? You’re the duly elected leader of a Free Community state.”
“Well, yes, thank you. Just wait until you hear it and you’ll see. Besides, we owed it to you to let you know what was happening with General Nguyen, since we held him incommunicado for so long.” Hogan smiled affably, a politician’s expression.
“All right, let’s hear it.”
“You may not know, but the old SETI program had a lot of our facilities here on the payroll.”
“Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence? Is this about the UFOs?” In spite of himself, Markis relaxed, leaning forward.
“UFOs? No, not specifically. It’s about SETI. You know how scientists are. Even when it wasn’t funded, they kept the lookout going – you know, pattern recognition, that sort of thing. Starting two days ago we began receiving this, in plain text, repeated ten times each hour on the hour.”
The feed switched to show a slide with lines of text on it. It read, Greetings, people of Earth. My name is Raphael. I am a nonhuman entity. Please arrange contact with Chairman Daniel John Markis.
“A joke?” Markis decided to keep their UFO connection theory out of it for now.
“We think not. The signal was very faint. Only something like a radio telescope pointed in the right direction would be likely to pick it up. And the signal is coming from a point in space approximately twenty million miles outward.”
“Is there any indication anyone on Earth could have done this? Are there any unmanned probes out there?”
“Daniel,” Spooky broke in, “This is real. We’ve asked all these questions already. There are some very bright astrophysicists and astronomers that have looked at this. It’s real. And it’s on its way here.”
Markis sat back, switching views back to the video. “Okay. You’ve convinced me, but others won’t be, so we need independent verification. Send a file with all the details so I can have the big arrays in South America look at it too.”
“Mister Chairman,” the Prime Minister said, “if you can accept this fact in principle, let’s discuss what you will do.”
“I don’t know what I will do. I don’t know a damn thing about what I am going to do. How soon will it get here?”
Spooky responded, “Four weeks, more or less, if it stays on course and speed. They tell us it’s on a near-perfect orbital insertion trajectory with just a tiny correction needed at the end.”
“Any idea what it is?”
The PM replied, “Well, someone blew the orbital telescopes all to hell, didn’t they? The best we know at this distance is it has a high albedo, very reflective. Our best people say they think it’s a spacecraft.”
“Of course, what else would it be,” Markis whispered. His eyes stared far into the distance, mind whirling. “Do you know about the UFO reports?”
“You asked about that before – but no, what are you talking about?” the PM replied.
“You must have heard about the new illness. The one nobody in Australia has? There is hard evidence to go with the reports that something came in from high orbit and dispersed a biological weapon in six areas of the globe. It might be something from here on Earth, something someone put up long ago as some kind of doomsday device – and the only major power unaffected is Australia.”
“Just what the bloody hell are you saying, Markis?” The Australian’s naturally fair skin went blotchy red with anger.
“I didn’t say I think it’s true, I’m just pointing out what a lot of people are going to be saying pretty soon if you don’t get ahead of it. That’s why I’m calling an open meeting. We need to address as much of the world as we can. Maximum transparency. That’s why you need to send me everything you have on this now, because anything you conceal will indict you later. I’ll check it through my own sources and then we will see. And Prime Minister? I expect Australia will do its utmost to help. With everything.” The PM couldn’t miss the steel in Markis’ voice.
“Of course. Wise course of action. We will see you then.” The Prime Minister reached to cut off the video, but General Nguyen held up his hand.
“One moment, please. DJ, consider the timing. On one hand these aliens could be coming to take advantage of our weakness. On the other hand, it could be the best time for them to arrive; it pales in comparison to nuclear war and the pandemic, and will not have the impact it otherwise would. Just something to think about. Take care, my friend.”
“You too, Spooky. You still owe me a lot more explanation but it will have to wait. Markis out.” He touched the cutoff and turned to Millicent. “Get me Councilor Guzmann in Argentina.”
***
Elise’s frustration was palpable even across the link. “Damn it Daniel, you know I love you but I’m not liking you much right now. This will make the second change of objective in just a few days. The lab is in chaos, I don’t have enough resources, people are beyond upset because of the nuclear war – my God, I can’t believe I’m speaking those words like it was a normal occurrence – and now we have alien plagues falling and an ET on his way? People can only take so much!”
Markis nodded, sympathetic. “I understand, but I hope you can communicate to your scientists how much hell parts of the Earth are going through right now. The Eastern Seaboard of the US is a broken wasteland barely controlled by the National Guard; ditto the East Coast of China. Western Europe has seen hundreds of thousands of Edens die and Africa and Brazil just lost millions. So I’m going to ram a motion through the Council for a Manhattan-project style effort against this Demon Plague. It’s as good a name as any – a name to focus on and hate.”
“But right now it’s only killing Edens. Why?”
“Elise, that’s what I need you to find out. What’s it doing to people, with or without the Eden Plague? Why is it not hurting normals? We’re blind without information, and South Africa and is now the center for Free Community bio-research. That means you. Pretty soon you’ll have more resources than you know what to do with. Shawna will be your administrator and I’m sending General Ribera to provide you with top cover and coordinate everything. He’ll speak in my name. You let them know what you need.”
Elise’s face was slack, stunned for a moment. “Too much, Daniel, too much. I can’t do it.”
Daniel’s heart caught in his chest, aching for his wife. “My love…you have to. We both have to do the best we can, that’s all. Just remember I love you. Rely on your people, tell them what to do but not how, they won’t let you down. Lean on those above you. If we all work together, we can do this.”
“I hope so. Daniel, I surely hope so. I love you too, but I have to go.”
Daniel watched her turn away from the video link as if the weight of the world rested on her. Which it does. On both of us. Dear God, I try not to bother you too much with my little problems but I think this one is big enough for Your attention. Please give her the strength to do it.
***
The conference room was filled to overflowing, with extra chairs and standing room. Chairman Markis stood front and center, flanked by Millicent and his military chief, General Arlo de Sanchez Ribera.
Markis nodded at the video tech, who gave him the countdown. When they went live, he spoke. “Good morning from Medellin, Colombia. We welcome the representatives of all nations to the first live open meeting of the Free Communities Council. My fee
d, and anyone who has the floor, is also being broadcast live around the world, so I also welcome all the people of Earth.”
The red lights showing requests to speak were already popping up on his board, but he ignored them. “First let me say again, on behalf of all of the Free Communities, how utterly appalled we are at the horrific loss of life brought about by the rogue nuclear strikes. The investigation continues and we will eventually publish a full report, but at this time all I can say is that it appears to be the work of one deranged individual who eluded our psychological screening and reprogrammed the missiles.”
The longer I hold this job the more I become a politician – evasions and half-truths. I can’t fully disclose what I know or it would shatter the Free Communities’ unity. It would embarrass and alienate the Australians. I feel that slippery slope under my feet. Lies for the greater good? God, give me wisdom.
“That aside, there is only one thing on the agenda right now, and here it is. Most of you will have heard about the outbreak of a terrifying new disease in certain areas of the globe. Free Community scientists and technicians, in conjunction with their Neutral States counterparts, believe that this disease is a biological weapon, deployed deliberately against humanity by one or more sophisticated spacecraft.”
His whole board immediately went red, and he could see the thumbnail images spasm into frantic motion. He ignored this too. “We have very solid evidence that the spacecraft that deployed this bio-weapon is extraterrestrial in origin. Let me say that again, quite clearly: we believe this disease was sent here by some nonhuman power, with the intention of harming us.”
“At approximately the same time” – this was stretching the truth a bit, but he did not yet want to implicate the Australians by pointing out to the world that the radio transmission had arrived before the disease – “Australian scientists picked up a communication we believe to be from an extraterrestrial intelligence. It appears to be inhabiting a spaceship approximately twenty million miles from, and on course for, Earth.”
The Demon Plagues Page 18
