The Viral Epiphany (22 page)

           
“I’m sorry,” General Baker said. “I haven’t quite finished.
 
There is a very severe penalty for anyone who divulges any of this information outside this room.
 
Ever.”

           
“Oh,” Dr. Goodfellow said quietly as he stopped tearing the plastic. “And what penalty is that?”

           
“Death,” General Baker replied.
 
“Anyone who is suspected of violating the secrecy of this document will be dealt with by special agents of the Omega Project.
 
In this regard we are operating under the Presidential emergency executive order number…”

           
“That’s enough, General,” President Cranston said, “I think he gets the idea.
 
Just don’t tell anyone, Charlie.
 
OK?”

           
“Yes, sir.
 
Sure thing,” he replied, but he didn’t rip open the plastic cover.
 
Instead he sat for a few moments and watched the others.
  
When everyone had torn off the covers of their documents he finally did the same. Then he began reading:

TOP SECRET

EYES ONLY

Operation Clean Sweep

Executive Summary

           
Under certain eventualities a very aggressive disease agent may be released in an arbitrary worldwide location.
 
Such agents can, in general, be countered with a variety of biological and chemical defenses.
 
However, the remote possibility exists that agents that have been exposed to the natural environment may mutate into even more aggressive forms for which no chemical or biological remedy is available.
 
The propagation of such disease agents may possibly inflict very heavy and unwanted damage on friendly populations.
 
Computer models indicate that such aggressive disease agents must be stopped and annihilated at the earliest possible opportunity. The only completely reliable method of destroying any arbitrary disease agent is by extreme heat.
 
Extremely high temperatures break all of the chemical bonds within the agent thus completely destroying the capabilities of the agent.
 
This Operation Clean Sweep document provides detailed plans for the worldwide targeting and absolute destruction of these disease agents and population centers that have been infected.
 
Among the enabling technologies for this task are the existing U.S. stockpile of intercontinental ballistic missiles, long-range bombers, and thermonuclear weapons.

TOP SECRET

Twenty-Two

           
Tink, tink…tink…tink.
 
Crystals of ice, driven by a fierce wind from the Celtic Sea, flew against the windowpane and then fell in the deepening twilight to the street below.
 
Sheila sat by the window, a cup of warm, but yet unsipped, hot chocolate in her hands, while she watched the hastening, gray storm clouds tumble in from the east.
 
It would be a wild evening tonight.
 
The weather forecast on the television had warned of increasing gale winds with sleet and possible snow with temperatures plunging more than twenty degrees Celsius in the next two hours.
 
Sheila smiled. She loved these untamable winds, the ice and snow-filled gusts that rattled the windows, and the drama of the ever-shifting clouds as they charged across the sky.
 
Brendan’s cozy apartment with the turf fire burning in the fireplace and the soft, overstuffed sofa and chairs that were set back only slightly from the fire made it all the more enjoyable.
 
The warm drink would make it perfect.

           
A few snowflakes were already appearing now, intermixed with the small, nearly rectangular pellets of ice that were accumulating on the sill but which still melted on the
  
asphalt of the streets.
 
The falling ice soon changed to soft snow that alighted ever so gently on the window frame and then, seconds later, blew off in a gust.
 
She noticed that a lower corner of the window was becoming slightly less transparent.
 
Frost had started to paint feathered swirls and interleaved patterns that looked almost like the script of an ancient Celtic text.
 
Like a fairy’s magic charm she was drawn to the icy writing and soon became absorbed in the delicate intricacies they traced.
 
It was almost as if she could understand what ephemeral secrets were slowly being written on the glass, and all the while, as if in a competition of the elements, the wind whispered its own words of enchantment.

In the distance she heard a sudden, loud sound - a thump, and then another, and then another until her consciousness was filled with the thumping sounds, and then the door of the apartment swung open and Dan and Brendan stamped in, shaking the ice and snow off their clothes.
 
She shook her head as she turned and the fairies were gone.

           
Brendan took Dan’s coat and hat and walked over to hang them in the closet while Dan took a seat on the sofa by the fire.
 
He rubbed his hands in the welcome warmth then turned to Sheila.

           
           
“What took you so long?” she asked, “I thought you were only going to have but one pint!”
 
She couldn’t help smiling.

           
“Oh, but we did,” Dan replied with a quick look towards Brendan, “it was just the one.
 
But we got to talking, you see…
 
Now then, Sheila, what have you been doing?
 
Having hot chocolate by the window, I see,” Dan said returning her smile, “and all the while the television running with no one paying the least bit of attention, I suppose.”
 
He walked over to turn off the television, but the show that was being broadcast was abruptly interrupted and replaced with the evening news anchor, Sean O’Flynn.
 

Radio Telefis Eireann interrupts this broadcast,
he said,
to bring you an important announcement.
 
Here is a news bulletin just in:

           
Several cases of the extremely deadly disease, Asian Fever, have today been reported in several major European capitals including London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, and Rome.
 
So far no cases have been reported in Ireland.
 
An emergency meeting of the Dail was conducted an hour ago and the Taoiseach has just announced that a decision was made to close the island of Ireland’s borders immediately and entirely. The government of Northern Ireland and the Republic are cooperating fully in this regard. All ports of entry are now closed to any and all travelers.
 
This includes all commercial airlines and all shipping.
 
Airplanes and ships that are presently enroute to Ireland are being redirected to other locations.

           
In a further development, the government of Japan announced today that they have found the source of the disease that has already claimed so many lives in Asia.
 
Although details are scarce, it was reported that a bio-researcher, Dr. Stephen Itagaki, had inadvertently resurrected a long extinct virus when he cloned a mammoth at the Tokyo Zoo!
 
In a story right out of science fiction novels, the disease was somehow transmitted to humans, beginning with the first cases in Bangkok, Thailand.
 
Japanese police have strong evidence that Dr. Itagaki recently fled from Japan and they are working closely with other police forces to locate him. Tune in to the six o’clock news for a full report on all developments.

           
“I don’t believe this!” Sheila whispered as she joined Dan on the sofa.
 
“They’ve just closed all the borders!
 
And that disease – a cloned mammoth!
 
Dan…your friend!”

           
Dan sat and stared at the television for a few moments; then he said, “Stephen Itagaki unleashed Asian Fever? From a cloned mammoth?
 
Oh, my God.
 
Stephen!”
 
He said nothing for several seconds and then he sat up straight, “ Brendan!”

           
Brendan was standing quietly beside the fireplace, staring into the flames, as if in a trance.

“Brendan!!” Dan called again and Brendan slowly turned towards him.
 
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
 
Brendan nodded, but said nothing. “What do you think?” Dan asked, “Would it work?”

“I…I don’t know,” he replied, “I mean, it was just an exercise.”

Sheila looked from one of them to the other, not understanding.
 
“What are you two talking about?
 
What was just an exercise?”

Dan turned to her, but she could see he was still searching his mind, trying to understand something.
 
“When we were at the pub we talked about the thesis work that Brendan had done and how he had discovered a virus in the mammoth tissue sample that Stephen had given us.”

“Yes, OK.”

“Why don’t you explain, Brendan?” Dan said as he turned back to him.

“Well,” Brendan said, “truth be told, I was able to discover the virus fairly soon in my study. I mean, after all, it was right there. All you had to do was look.
 
So, when I had finished characterizing the viral DNA, I thought I would try another experiment, just for fun actually, because it wouldn’t really have any application and it wouldn’t really fit into the thesis project”

“What did you do?” she asked.

“I did a computer analysis of the viral DNA and then I used a genetic engineering program to see if I could design a vaccine for the virus, just as an exercise, of course.”

“You designed a vaccine for the mammoth’s virus?”

“Yes, actually, I did a little more.
 
You know that genetic engineering is becoming fairly routine these days and, well, I have a good friend who works at one of the major pharmaceutical plants in Cork.”

Sheila only nodded, anticipating what would come next.

“Together we made a small quantity of the vaccine – just as a test you see.
 
I have it stored in the refrigerator.”

“The refrigerator?
 
Where?”

“Here, of course,” he said pointing to the refrigerator in the kitchen.
 
“It’s just there – six doses.”

Dan and Sheila looked at each other for several seconds with neither saying a word until Brendan finally said, “Listen, the vaccine I made is for the virus I found in the mammoth tissue. The virus that causes Asian Fever, even if it came from a mammoth, isn’t the same.
 
It must have changed so that it could jump the species boundary. The vaccine I made might not be effective.”

“That’s true,” Sheila said, “but listen, the virus that causes Asian Fever is still probably quite similar to the original.
 
Viruses don’t usually make huge changes in their DNA when they adapt to new conditions.
 
Chances are the DNA is at least ninety percent the same, so your vaccine, if it is effective, would also have a very good chance of being effective against Asian Fever too.
 
Right, Dan?”

“You’re absolutely right, Sheila.
 
Absolutely,” Dan said and then turned to Brendan, “We need to figure out what to do next.
 
This could be a very important thing you’ve done here.”

Brendan didn’t say anything.

“But there is one other thing that you couldn’t have simulated with a computer,” Dan said, “We don’t know if the vaccine is harmful.
 
I mean sometimes vaccines are created that look good on paper but can actually cause harm or even death.
 
It would still have to go through a series of trials before it could be deemed safe for use.”

“Oh, it’s safe,” Brendan replied.

“How can you be sure?” Sheila asked.

Brendan smiled at the two of them, “Because I originally made seven doses.
 
I vaccinated myself two weeks ago.”

“What?” Dan exclaimed, “are you crazy?
 
You could have killed yourself!”

“I…I was pretty sure, sir,” he said quietly.