Extinction Level Event

by Jose Pino Johansson

  06 CSI: DENIABILITY

  UCLA

  After waiting three days, Krishnan finally received the information from Medina regarding the NBACC tests done on infected earthworms. Scrolling through the pages of notes on earthworms and the effects of EWK-1 on the earthworm population, Krishnan reminisces over Konovalov's gloomy hypothesis. They certainly have done a lot of research on the genetic structure of EWK-1, how it relates to each species of earthworm, and tested measures of EWK-1 preventability. Although, Krishnan reminds himself, that is to be expected since NBACC's whole mission revolves around thinking of ways to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases.

  Two species of European origin, Lumbricus Festivus, a variant of the common Lumbricus Terrestris, and Eisenia Veneta, a large pinkish worm, were found by scientists to be still living in small numbers around several isolated areas of Idaho, Washington, and Colorado. These specimens were brought back to UCLA, where Krishnan's team ran tests on them. So far, the scientists from CBEID had managed to collect and categorize over 1,689 separate earthworm species. They had then taken a hundred specimens of each species and injected them with the EWK-1 virus. None of the worms survived more than two days. Sadly, the Lumbricus Festivus and Eisenia Veneta brought back from the wild had suffered the same fate.

  Then, a surprise happened. A specimen brought in after all the others had survived the viral injection it had been given, and seemed to be doing fine. The worm belonged to the species Driloleirus Americanus, also known as the Giant Palouse, a rare earthworm found in areas of Wyoming and Washington State. Driloleirus Americanus is a highly unusual large earthworm, often over 18 inches long, entirely albino white in color and even capable of spitting in self-defense. The worm is reported to be able to burrow up to 15 feet below the ground. However, Gonzalez, upon hearing of the news, quickly pointed out the many problems. Firstly, he reminded Krishnan that Driloleirus Americanus is a species considered vulnerable by the World Conservation Union, due to loss of habitat and general rareness of sightings. In fact, since 1980 to the present day there had only been six confirmed sightings of the Giant Palouse worm, including the specimen captured and tested that week.

  Gonzalez pointed out the futility of trying to acquire a large number of the worms due to their seeming isolation and rarity; however he also explained to Krishnan that there was no conclusive scientific information on their abundance in the wild. When Krishnan suggested that expeditions be sent out to collect more Giant Palouses, Gonzalez pointed out several attempts to do just that in the recent past had failed. However, since it was now an issue of national interest, Krishnan had pushed the issue with the CBEID staff and LaJoy had approved it.

  After being told what to do by Gonzalez, the Universities of Wyoming, Washington, and Idaho had quickly formed groups of interested professors and graduate students to begin searching for more Giant Palouse worms which were then to be brought back to the lab. Krishnan was hoping that they would be able to find many specimens in a short amount of time, so that they could set them up in a quarantined habitat where they would be able to quickly reproduce. If the search teams could get several specimens to UCLA, and if the worms would be willing to mate, and if numerous offspring were produced and survived, Krishnan imagined that the Giant Palouse could potentially be a critical step to repairing the ecosystems and agriculture currently in jeopardy. In the meantime, Krishnan continued to look for a breakthrough in genetic research that could produce an artificially resistant earthworm.

  Drs. Miyazaki and Wang, along with their respective teams, had had no luck. Even though they had isolated multiple specimens of EWK-1, and more so managed to produced a vaccine, there was no way to inoculate the entire population which consisted of several hundred diverse species. Furthermore, the vaccination produced only provided fifty-two known species with immunity.

  On the other hand, Krishnan was getting closer. Numerous new variations of earthworms were being created on a daily basis, by splicing genes from two different species into the gamete cells' DNA. Some earthworms could create hybrid species, others couldn't. Generally, a species cannot breed with another species and create viable offspring, but as many dog breeders and animal experts could testify this is not always the case. From mixed-breed mutts to 'Grolar' Bears; a cross between a Grizzly and Polar Bear, nature and humans have found ways to go around this basic rule of species' individualism. Krishnan was hoping that a hybrid of a commonplace species, such as Lumbricus Terrestris, could be created that would be resistant to EWK-1. If that were the case, it would not be necessary to create an entirely new species from scratch.

  Meanwhile, Dr. Medina had requested files from Konovalov's company GeneZTech. Krishnan decided that he better go ask Konovalov why Medina would want his private company files. Thinking about the request, he thought it highly unusual that a high-level government employee working for a top-secret installation would want some obscure files from a biotech company. Perhaps they were contracting out research on EWK-1 without informing me about it? But if so, wouldn't Viktor be at his own lab right now instead of wasting his time here in LA? Krishnan, not knowing what to make of it, figured he would get the answers from Konovalov.

  He dons a anti-bacterial lab suit, latex gloves and shoe pads before entering lab 204. Seeing an associate researcher of Konovalov's Krishnan asks where Konovalov is. He points towards the rear room. Krishnan walks through the sterile environment of humming supercomputers and giant refrigerators before he sees Konovalov running a DNA sequence on a large screen. The black and white screen changes into a myriad of colors, all indicating different codons along the genetic code displayed.

  "Hey, Viktor. I need to talk to you." Konovalov turns around, pausing the shifting color patterns on screen as he does so. "About?" "Medina, the chief of operations at NBACC asked for access to your files. I wanted to know why would he need, or want this." Konovalov sighs, takes off his black-rimmed glasses and sets them down on a table. He stares vacantly into space. "I suspected it would come to this. It was too close to be coincidental." "What is too close to be coincidental? What are you referring to?" "It's a long story." "It is probably better if you explain everything now, so that I could corroborate it later if the need arises. I'll be your witness, your defense for anything; you know that. What is Medina looking for?"

  Konovalov looks at Krishnan directly in the eyes. "Two years ago, Medina contacted me on behalf of NBACC. He wanted to create a business partnership, of sorts. Really, it was contract work, of the type where I had to sign several fairly serious non-disclosure agreements and promise not to share the details with anyone. Government contract work." "What did he ask you to work on?" "He claimed that eco-terrorists were introducing non-native species of earthworms, and that he needed a defense. Specifically, a viral agent to kill the invasive species. I was a little puzzled as to why NBACC and Homeland Security was so interested in this field and not the USDA, who usually deals with invasive species, but the contract was worth millions so I ignored that. GeneZTech categorized hundreds of species and came up with novel bacterial and viral methods of eliminating the creatures. We created entirely new strains. But each one of the strains was designed for a particular species." Konovalov takes a pause, trying to gauge Krishnan's reaction to his revelation, "Obviously, we created thousands of strains in the end."

  Krishnan takes in Konovalov's story, simply surprised at how naive his friend sometimes was in business matters. "So you didn't make EWK-1?" "No. I think that NBACC was responsible ultimately for that superstrain which is now EWK-1. Really the culmination of all that work." "And now you think that it's really a government weapon. . . . how typical of you." "It is!", exclaims Konovalov defensively, "What possible other purpose could there be to such a superstrain other than disrupting a nation's agriculture? A truly twenty-first century weapon. And then they could claim its some new disease from the backwater of constantly emerging new diseases."

  "You couldn't figure this out before? I'm sure that it was
contracted to other companies besides GeneZTech. That way most traces of the work wouldn't show up in their documents. The project would be virtually secret and very few people would know anything about it. Medina probably knows more about it that anyone else. In fact, I managed to run a few contacts from my days on the board of directors- they did have a project to work on agricultural diseases. It was known as Project Deniability." "Project Deniability?- never heard of it.", answers Konovalov, intrigued. "It was also started by Dr. Medina, as a proposed way of finding ways of countering enemy agents that harm our agriculture. I don't know what became of it, but perhaps he reversed its original intentions. Ironic how things play out."

  "The project must have been set by the DoD. If this project was under the supervision of the Secretary of Defense, it will be difficult to uncover any more information or try to get this out to the public. The DoD will want everything quiet." "No. We're going up to my office right now. I'll talk to Secretary Onassis and see if we can get access to the latest files from Project Deniability." The two men leave the lab, taking off their gloves and protective face masks. Krishnan straightens out his tie as they walk through the red tiled corridors. "I can't believe you didn't tell me all this before.", he states exasperatingly, "You should have told me the moment you heard something- anything- on the news regarding the outbreak." The two men enter an elevator, heading upstairs. "I couldn't. . . ", replies Konovalov weakly, "There are too many forces tied up here. I figured the best I could do was to get myself up here as soon as I can and help fix the problem I created." "You didn't create it.", assures Krishnan, trying unsuccessfully to get rid of the man's guilt, "But you did lay out the foundations for this to happen."

  The elevator doors open, and the two men walk out right into a group of four FBI agents. "Excuse us", Krishnan says politely. "Wait", states the Agent in Charge, distinguishable from his colleagues by his business casual suit. "You are Dr. Konovalov?", he states sternly, pointing at Konovalov. "Please come with us." "Officer, what's the charge?", demands Krishnan, taking in the situation and gripping his friend's shoulder tightly, as if to keep him away from the agents. "Negligence of items deemed vital to National Security, reckless endangerment of civilians' lives." Konovalov's already white face pales even more so. He turns quickly to Krishnan. "It can't be. I wasn't responsible for this!", he begs. "I was not negligent! The items were not under my control! You must clear my name!" "I will." "You have to! This is absurd!" Two agents cuff Konovalov. "Where are you taking him?", asks Krishnan. "I'm not at liberty to disclose that, sir", replies the lead officer. "This man has been charged with those crimes. You can take it up with the Director, sir, for any more information on this matter. My orders come from him directly." The men step right back into the elevator. Konovalov heads over to the second-floor window, watching as the agents put Konovalov into a dark, unmarked car.

  The car drives off, leaving Krishnan without his closest confidant and missing a great scientist. Determined to find out what was going on, Krishnan rushed into his office down the hallway and punched up Medina's address on the teleconferencing website. Failing to connect, he phones him and finds the line busy. Forced to use the slowest and last resort, Krishnan sends over a wordy e-mail to Dr. Medina. He should get back to me by tomorrow the latest. Preoccupied with Konovalov's abrupt arrest and trying to focus back onto work, Krishnan instead decides to make a few phone calls and dig up some dead ends. Did I not know you as well as I though I did, old friend? Perhaps more than a few skeletons will appear in the closets of Konovalov and his associates. He dials the Office of Homeland Security.

  Bangkok, Thailand

  Bangkok, a bustling metropolis known internationally for its modern city skyline, awesome spires, royal palaces, golden Buddha statues, and adult entertainment venues. The streets are awash with buses, automobiles old and new, trucks, and auto rickshaws, while monorails float above the streets unobstructed by the other traffic below. In addition to fame due to perceived exoticism, this city of over ten million inhabitants has also gained notoriety for large traffic jams, air pollution, wetland mold, and more recently violent demonstrations and shaky governments. Manjak worries that the precocious state of the new national government, recently brought to power in disputed elections, will leave it in no position to begin implementing a plan in time to prevent the EWK-1 virus from unleashing its full fury upon the semi-tropical nation.

  Manjak takes a taxi, and hopes for the best. By 8:30pm, some of the afternoon traffic died down, but most was quickly replaced by nightlife traffic consisting of partygoers heading to clubs and other venues. In the dimming sky, the orange glow from the setting sun dazzles across the golden spires and steel-glass precipices of skyscrapers, showing the city in all its glory. The Chao Praya River, full of boats and barges, creates a large natural western boundary for the downtown city limits. The spires of the Grand royal palace come into view, jutting out into the dusky sky, conspicuously present amongst the foreground of modern office towers. The rest of the downtown, leading from the palace to the Parliament and Government House is a maze of businesses, residences, shopping malls, and temples that form part of Bangkok's unique metropolitan aura. Crowds of pedestrians flood the sidewalks, heading out to restaurants, movies, nightclubs, or simply heading home for the evening.

  Manjak's taxi drops him off near the intersection of Thanon Rama V and Thanon Phitsanulok Avenues, only a block away from the Government House of Thailand. The House, which is a blend of early twentieth century Thai and Venetian architecture, was originally designed to be the House for one of the King's favorite generals. Now it is used to house the offices of the Prime Minister and his cabinet. Manjak is expecting to meet with the ministers of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and the Interior.

  His phone goes off. Manjak checks the caller ID, sees that it is his secretary Maria Pereira, and picks up the call. "Yes?" "Trip. You are planning on visiting the People's Republic in two days, right?" "Yes, its on your schedule, why?" "I've just got a look at a report from the Beijing office; it seems that they're having an outbreak there." "I know that already." "I meant a human outbreak, Trip." "A what?", Manjak rolls the words in his head. "A human outbreak. They have several hundred people sick, and twenty dead, in the Shanghai region, in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces where EWK-1 was confirmed." "You sure? How do they know there is a link?" "Its the hypothesis their scientists have right now. Geographic overlap, timing of victims getting the symptoms." "So they're suggesting the virus has leapfrogged to humans as well? Reports from Mexico stated that the virus only affects the worms. The human populations were fine." "I'm just giving you the news, Trip. It will be all over the major networks within a couple of hours." "Fine Thanks for the advance warning, good to know." Manjak hangs up, and crosses the street.

  The uniformed guards in front of the building's entrance stop him briefly, before escorting him through the gate after reviewing his UN identification and name.

  Once in the building, Manjak is greeted by an aide who shows him to a large conference room. After explaining that the Ministers will be there shortly, the aide assists Manjak in setting up his laptop to the screen in front of the conference table. Manjak sips a glass of water, taking a moment to check his watch- 9:16pm local time. Another aide opens the ornate doors to the conference room, while several men enter the room. Manjak is first introduced to Kasemchai Sumjialongkorn, the Minister of Agriculture, whom he had previously met at UN conferences in New York. Next he quickly shakes hands with the Deputies of the Interior, Natural Resources, Public Health, and one of the three Thai Deputy Prime Ministers. After taking another sip of water, Manjak quickly begins explaining the nature of EWK-1 and the likeliness of it coming down across central China to Thailand soon. He also briefly stresses the fact that Thailand is a crossroads between mainland Asia and the islands of Southeast Asia. After listening quietly for fifteen minutes, Sumjialongkorn interrupts him, asking, "We understand and see that this plan is critical for not only us, but for th
e rest of the ASEAN region as well. But even if we prevent EWK-1 from affecting our heartland and agriculture, we have heard today of the virus harming humans as well. Even with superb public health measures, it seems we cannot guarantee non-contamination anymore merely by a physical barrier. Trade will come down significantly if we take some of the measures that you propose." "It will. But in the long run, trade will always spike back up once the crisis is averted." "It seems that you are interested in using our capacity to feed over three times our own country's population, and using it to as leverage, Dr. Manjak.", points out the Deputy Prime Minister dryly.

  'I am", he admits honestly, "But I am sure that every other ASEAN member will appreciate it if Thailand were to become their breadbasket for the next year or two. It would be a major favor, and, leverage to your advantage.", Manjak reminds them, trying to make the large changes requested of the Thai government seem more sweet than bitter. There's always a carrot and a stick. Yes we're counting on their high agricultural capacity, that's because no one else will be growing anything in another three months! "It is likely that the world will experience a recession due to EWK-1 halting of trade, as we have already seen happening now on the US and Mexico's western coasts. Agricultural exporting will increase in importance if EWK-1 has its way, in both southeast Asia and around the world." The Ministers take a moment to converse between themselves in Thai. Manjak, who can't speak any except for 'Hello', waits patiently. Then the Deputy Prime Minister switches back to English, "We'll start working on your plan, Dr. Manjak. We're convening an special session of the Parliament tomorrow, I will inform the Prime Minister, and that should be that. But, another question. How does FAO intend to deal with the emergence of EWK-1 internationally? You won't be visiting all members individually, I presume?" "No. We're working on getting an emergency meeting of the FAO in two weeks, where we hope to lay down a longer term , and more expansionary strategy. But by that time, EWK-1 would have already made it to Singapore." "Very well then." The Ministers soon exit the room after exchanging farewells with Manjak, although Sumjialongkorn stays a bit longer. "If I may ask, what is FAO's idea for China? I suppose EWK-1 would have an even more acute effect on them than on us, and to make matters worse it seems to have planted itself there after presumably being transported over on a container ship. Shanghai is one of their larger ports." "We haven't come up with one yet. Besides, their government is more reluctant to have FAO take a look at what they call their internal affairs", answers Manjak truthfully, once again being reminded of the many gaping holes that still needed to be fixed. "I see. Hopefully your experts back in Rome will come up on something that we can have consensus on before the Emergency Meeting begins." "Hopefully", agrees Manjak. Sumjialongkorn shakes hands and walks off, before one of the aides arrives and tells him a taxi is ready to take him to his hotel. Manjak weary from the flying and remembering that he needed to rush in order to actually get the preparations for the meeting in Rome rolling, fell into bed immediately upon entering his hotel room.

 

  Los Angeles, California

  It may be November, but in lower California the weather is still sunny and the temperature still warm enough to give pedestrians a false impression of spring. A bright sun blazes across the pavements and rooftops while a gentle wind breezes from the west, keeping the temperature at a cool 16 Celsius. Peter LaJoy parks his car at one of the many multi-story car parks in downtown, puts on his sunglasses and a hat for the bald spot, and gets out of his Prius. The car park, conveniently located only six blocks from City Hall, is already filling up with businessmen, lawyers, and politicians coming from their daily commute. Walking out of the darkly lit place smelling of an oil, tire, and new paint aroma, he buys the daily newspaper at one of the kiosks near the pedestrian entrance to the building. Reading the paper on his way to work at City Hall, he is surprised to read about the virus in China. Didn't we halt all trade out of California's ports? How did it get there? Reading about the Chinese authorities suspecting the transfer of EWK-1 by cargo ship, and the rapid spread of the epizootic on the Chinese Mainland, LaJoy began thinking about how much larger the problem of agricultural disruption would be to the Chinese, when EWK-1 ran its course. Another problem to worry about- as if the increasing robberies of food items and McCarthy's ridiculous request for a few National Guard troops wasn't making the situation hectic enough.

  Then he read the shocking news: humans were being affected, after thousands are hospitalized and dozens die after exposure to what is presumed to be the same virus. Uh-oh. Thats bad. And why hasn't that happened here yet? EWK-1 was first found here, why don't we have people sick and dying? Making a mental note to get the scientists at UCLA to give him an answer, and start developing a vaccine against whatever flu was making its way in China right now, LaJoy continued flipping through the pages.

  Mired into the paper, LaJoy barely functioning peripheral vision didn't pick up the van speeding by a bus half a block away. Stepping off the curve even as the pedestrian crossing sign turns red, LaJoy inadvertently walks into the path of the speeding hunk of metal. The driver sees LaJoy and attempts a small swerve, which does little as the van is hemmed in by cars on all sides. LaJoy is pummeled into the air and lands five meters from the collision point. He doesn't move, as some passerby yell for an ambulance while another rushes from the sidewalk to help the fallen USDA official. A policeman runs towards the crosswalk, halting all incoming traffic, hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. . .