Virus Hunters 3: A Medical Thriller

by Bobby Akart

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Third Pole Environment Research Facility

  Gar County, Ngari Prefecture

  Tibet, China

  “It was a tragic loss for us all. Not just because these young men were in the prime of their lives, but they had just made an extraordinary discovery.” Professor Yang led them through a room full of cubicle workstations, where personnel sat in front of computers, inputting and analyzing data derived from the TPE’s research.

  Harper continued to take the lead, with Kwon remaining completely silent throughout the interaction with the TPE personnel. This allowed him to focus on their surroundings. Harper broached the subject of the police inquiry.

  “We never really found out what happened at the summit. Benton mentioned the police came by and asked a few questions. Did they suspect foul play?”

  Professor Yang shook his head. “No, not exactly. I was not part of that initial inquiry. However, I did receive a phone call, oddly, from the CDC in Beijing. They asked me several questions about Mooy and Maclaren, especially about their travels prior to their trip to Mount Everest.”

  Harper gulped. She had to be careful to avoid alerting the professor as to why they’d come to TPE. Thus far, he and Benton had been chatty and forthcoming. However, one question too many and red flags might be raised.

  “Had they traveled anywhere?”

  “Not since their arrival here more than two months prior,” he replied. “Well, other than for their core-drilling responsibilities on the Guliya Ice Cap.”

  “I wonder what made the CDC think the guys were sick. They seemed fine to us except, well, Adam seemed to have a bit of a cold, but he was taking medicine for it.”

  “We don’t know either,” said the professor. “The CDC person asked about who the young men had come in contact with and if anyone was exhibiting symptoms of the flu. The answer was no.”

  “What about animal contact?” asked Harper. One too many? She acted like she was only casually knowledgeable on the subject. “Don’t many of these diseases originate in wet markets or by coming in contact with bats and such?”

  “The CDC was curious about that as well,” replied the professor. “There are no wet markets in Gar County or in any part of Ngari that I’m aware of. As for bats or any other mammals, during the time Mooy and Maclaren were drilling for core samples, it was February through April. Most, if any, wild animals are found at the Qiangtang Nature Preserve many miles away from the area where the drilling was taking place. Even then, the animals are mainly horses, deer, and pangolin.”

  Harper stopped and turned to Kwon to confirm he’d heard the professor’s statement. He provided her an imperceptible nod and spoke for the first time.

  “Professor Yang, would it be possible for us to see your core samples. I’m fascinated by the work you do, and I’m most interested in the geological aspect.”

  The professor was glad to turn his attention back to the research they undertook at TPE. “Certainly. We have a state-of-the-art cooler designed to maintain frigid temperatures to preserve the samples. Follow me.”

  As he continued taking them toward the rear of the complex, he explained a little about the geological aspects of their work. “Detailed ice thickness measurements of these alpine glaciers are of high value and importance for a variety of glaciological applications. For our purposes, by focusing on the Guliya ice cap, which is one of the highest and largest ice caps on the planet, we are able to study the glacier elevation changes in terms of depth and mass. This information is then extrapolated with temperature change data to generate a model based upon existing trends.”

  He paused and pointed to a pegboard wall full of oversized fur-lined parkas. The full-length jackets completely covered the wearer’s body from head to ankle.

  “We have a variety of sizes. Temperatures are far too cold to enter the cooler without one of these.”

  Kwon assisted Harper with her jacket and then indicated to the professor that they were ready. He opened the door, which resembled a walk-in freezer entry in the back of a full-service restaurant. Six-inch-wide plastic strips were affixed to the interior door frame and dropped all the way to the floor covered with nonskid rubber mats. Professor Yang pulled the strips aside and motioned for Harper, and then Kwon, to enter.

  The Americans immediately began to blow smoke out of their mouths as their breath condensed into tiny droplets of liquid water and ice, creating a fog-like cloud. Harper shoved her hands into her pockets, where she found a pair of gloves. She took in her surroundings. Hundreds of cylinder-shaped hunks of ice were stacked on curved-steel racks. Each was toe-tagged, as she viewed it, with a small nail, a thin wire, and a red tag containing an identifying combination of numbers and letters together with a date.

  Professor Yang stepped past them and spread his arms apart. “This is what we do. You see, during the last glacial period approximately fifteen to twenty-five thousand years ago, the ice sheet gradually covered the Tibetan Plateau. As this glaciation took place, annual average temperatures worldwide dropped nearly fifteen degrees. The impact on the climate, in this region especially, was profound.

  “In addition, our research team hypothesizes an enormous uplift of Tibet took place following this glacial maximum. During a remarkable stretch of glaciogeomorphological discoveries in the last month, we can now confirm the Tibetan uplift, as it is known, was accompanied by a corresponding uplift of the Himalaya chain.”

  Harper’s eyes glazed over, but she wondered how many points the thousand-dollar word glaciogeomorphological would garner on a Scrabble board.

  “Is this the important discovery you referred to previously? You know, the one made by Adam and Trent?”

  “Well, not exactly. Their core drillings led to this theory, but what they found is far more interesting. It’s wholly unrelated to our studies here, but remarkable nonetheless. I will show you.”

  He led them through the stacks of ice samples and turned right at the end of the last row before approaching yet another, much smaller, walk-in freezer door. This entry was not equipped with the plastic strips, and perhaps it was Harper’s imagination, but the interior temps were somewhat warmer.

  Professor Yang flipped on a light switch and the fluorescent bulbs struggled to illuminate. After a series of flickers and fizzes, they lit up. He walked to the back of the cooler, where a shelf contained a single object covered in a blue tarp.

  “Let me introduce you to Doggo.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Third Pole Environment Research Facility

  Gar County, Ngari Prefecture

  Tibet, China

  Harper and Kwon cautiously approached the frozen creature lying on the shelf, with its toothy jaws spread open. Professor Yang expanded on his introduction.

  “During the process of drilling through the ice cap to obtain samples, it’s not unusual for the team to unexpectedly encounter soil, rock, and decayed plant material. While we do have geologists on staff who study these samples for a variety of reasons, it’s not our primary focus here at TPE. In our twelve years of operation, we have never recovered a perfectly intact animal. This creature, which Mooy and Maclaren nicknamed Doggo, came from a sample on the Guliya Ice Cap near the base of the Kunlun Mountains.”

  He stepped past Harper and Kwon to grasp the actual toe-tag of the specimen. Like the ice cylinders, the frozen animal was labeled with certain identification markers but was bestowed with an actual name—Doggo.

  Inside, Harper was ecstatic. She could hardly contain herself as she realized what this discovery meant. For decades, research epidemiologists had pondered the prospect of microbes and viral populations being locked within the depths of glacial ice around the planet. It represented a myriad of possibilities for scientific research while posing an interesting conundrum.

  Her mind raced as she asked herself—if these ancient pathogens were discovered and later released into a world that had not built up immunities to them, invading unsuspecting spec
ies, like man, could they be stopped?

  “Has this creature’s remains been maintained in a frozen state the entire time since its discovery?”

  “As far as we know,” replied Professor Yang. “Adam and Trent returned the core drilling samples in the same manner as they always do. It happened to be on a weekend because they were working overtime to leave on that Monday for Mount Everest. None of us were here when Doggo was brought into the coolers.”

  “Have you been able to determine an age?” asked Kwon.

  “Based upon the ice samples taken the prior week in the area, the glaciation in this particular region took place roughly fifteen thousand years ago.”

  “And this is your first discovery of an animal frozen intact?” asked Kwon.

  Professor Yang crossed his arms as the three stared in wonderment at Doggo. “Yes. Today, the Tibetan Plateau is a vast arid grassland, home to species like the snow leopard, wild yak, and the Tibetan wolf, the most likely descendant of Doggo although today’s species are somewhat larger.

  “Of course, we haven’t been able to discuss the details of this with the young men, but our staff believes the sample must have come from one of thousands of frozen rivers embedded deep within the Guliya Ice cap. At the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum, it was possible some mammals failed to migrate to the south before the freeze took place.”

  A young woman appeared at the entrance to the small cooler. “Professor Yang, there is an urgent phone call for you.”

  “Please excuse me. You’re welcome to stay, but I’d ask that you not touch the specimen.”

  “Sure,” replied Harper. Then she gathered the courage to ask, “What are your plans for Doggo?”

  “To be determined. Frankly, the Chinese government doesn’t know about the discovery. They’d immediately take Doggo to Beijing’s universities for dissection. We have a couple of options in the United States, but nothing has been decided yet. Now, excuse me for a moment.”

  Professor Yang and the young woman left. Kwon stepped out of the cooler to confirm he and Harper were alone. He’d barely turned around when she hit him with her idea.

  “I want him, Kwon. We need to figure out a way to get Doggo on the plane back to the States. I’m so pissed that my idea for our cover identified us as environmentalists or some such. I can’t tell them the truth now. They’ll throw us out of here and we’ll never get to see Doggo again.”

  Kwon walked past Harper and stood immediately adjacent to Doggo’s frozen remains. He bent at the waist to take a closer look at the animal’s head.

  “He’s been thawed. Look.”

  Harper joined his side, and Kwon removed the gloves provided with the parka in order to point at certain aspects of the animal’s head.

  “Do you see this tear along his muzzle from the flew to just below the cheek? It was torn open. The ice crystals indicate the remaining moisture in the muzzle froze differently from the rest of the body. Also, note the two broken teeth. If this happened during the dog’s life, or at the point of death, it’s doubtful they’d be stuck to whiskers.”

  “Are you saying it was thawed and then refrozen?” Harper asked.

  “Very possible. Yes. If that’s the case, these two men may have been exposed to something, viral genomes, perhaps, that have never been discovered.”

  “Creating a novel virus …” added Harper, her voice trailing off. “This is the missing piece of the puzzle. We’ve got to come up with—” Harper stopped midsentence as she was interrupted by the sound of excited voices coming from the main cooler.

  Kwon’s tone of voice was urgent. “Harper, quick. We’ve got to go.”

  She didn’t hesitate although she took one last glance over her shoulder at Doggo as they exited the small cooler. Rather than return to the main walkway leading to the back of the building, Kwon ducked and ran down a parallel row of core samples. He used the cover to avoid the oncoming contingent led by Professor Yang and two other people dressed in the parkas. Kwon studied their feet as they passed them going in the opposite direction. They were wearing spiffy white tennis shoes like the professor.

  He motioned for Harper to duck into an empty space that was awaiting more core samples. The three figures walked briskly toward the small door entering Doggo’s cooler. Kwon grabbed Harper by the arm and began to run toward the exit to the cooler. He wasted no time pushing open the door and slinging his jacket onto the floor. Then he retrieved his sidearm from the paddle holster concealed under his sweatshirt.

  In the storage warehouse area, he noticed a side emergency exit with a push-bar handle. He hoped it didn’t set off any alarms, but he didn’t see that they had a choice. He burst through the door, his gun leading the way, expecting to find the building surrounded by security patrol officers or, worse, trained agents of China’s Ministry of State Security.

  Kwon breathed a sigh of relief when he found the vehicles were parked exactly where they had been upon their arrival. Earlier, out of precaution, he’d parked to the windowless side of the building so no bored or overcurious occupants of the TPE facility could stare at it while they worked.

  With Harper hot on his tail, he jumped into the Roxor and drove off the property without garnering the attention of anyone, including the two TPE scientists smoking cigarettes near the front door.

  Moments after they were out of sight and driving into town, Harper turned to Kwon. “Do you have a plan yet?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Gar County, Ngari Prefecture

  Tibet, China

  Kwon parked between two utility trucks across the street from the Gar Health Bureau. It was lunchtime and the Happy Tea House was packed with patrons. Kwon placed an order for sha phaley, a traditional Tibetan snack created by wrapping seasoned beef and cabbage in bread, fashioning it into a semicircular shape like a pot sticker, and then deep-frying it. He also ordered a cup of hot sweet tea for the Southern girl.

  “I’ve never had hot sweet tea,” said Harper as she hungrily chomped into the sha phaley.

  “They didn’t have any ice. I asked and was told ice is only available in the most expensive restaurant in town.”

  Harper talked with her mouth full. “So much for putting Doggo on ice for the return trip to Kathmandu. I’m guessing the temps are mid-fifties. Right?”

  “Yes. Even if we’re successful in securing the remains, there’s no way to prevent him from thawing out.”

  Harper pointed toward the windshield, with the last bite of sha phaley filling her mouth. “There’s our answer—the hospital.”

  The Gar Health Bureau, a small hospital with two entrances, one for regular patients and the other for emergencies, only contained thirty beds and probably two or three surgical suites.

  “What are you thinking?” asked Kwon, who waited for the delicacies to cool before eating. He’d inadvertently bit down on his tongue during the rock ride into Tibet. His first attempt to take a bite of the hot sha phaley had caused a searing pain to soar through his mouth.

  “The hospital is small, but I’m sure they have a supply of body bags. Heck, Yeshi was able to find a couple in Lhasa, and that city was taking on a lot of diseased patients. Ideally, we’d be able to find a biohazard bag large enough for Doggo’s remains, and then, as an extra layer of precaution, we’ll wrap him in a heavy-duty body bag.”

  Kwon continued eating, but asked, “Do we need both?”

  “If they’re available. Those red biohazard disposal bags are usually one-and-a-half mil thick and tear resistant. If we couple that with the heavy-duty PVC vinyl material of a body bag, we should be able to keep deadly pathogens in as well as the stench from when Doggo begins to thaw.”

  Kwon finished his food and chased it with the now lukewarm sweet tea. “Something alerted those people back at the TPE. There weren’t any vehicles around the parking lot that were any different than when we arrived. Either some type of fugitive alert came out through their social media or emails, or someone recognized us from a news report. It’s
hard to tell. As we walked through the facility, I tried to study everyone in the building to determine if anyone took particular notice of us. There were a couple of curious sets of eyes, but nothing obvious.”

  “Do you think the hospital personnel may have been alerted as well?”

  “Possibly,” Kwon replied. “Here’s the plan. We both know we have to preserve Doggo’s body for our safety and the rest of the world. We don’t need to make any attempt to retrieve it before we have safety measures in place.”

  Harper pointed across the street and then shifted her body to face Kwon. “I know what we need.”

  “I do, too. However, I’m the one who has to get it.”

  “I can help,” she insisted.

  “Not this time. Look around us. How many Anglos have you seen here? Outside of the TPE building?”

  “I don’t know. A few.”

  “Harper, the answer is none. I’ve been looking. You stand out too much, especially because of your height. I’ll go in through the ER entrance, using some type of distraction for cover. I’ll bide my time, and once I’m in, I know my way around an ER well enough to find what we need.”

  Harper sat a little taller in her seat and looked at the clock on the Roxor’s dashboard. “Do we have time? If Professor Yang reported us to the security police, they’ll be all over that building.”

  “It is what it is,” said Kwon as he rubbed his temples. “We have to hope they let it go and focus on what they do there. In any event, we need to wait for dark or the building to empty, whichever comes first.”

  “It doesn’t get dark ’til almost ten around here. We’ll lose our window of opportunity. Why don’t we just get the body bags and go back there right away?”