The President sat quietly, contemplating the findings with his finger lining the side of his face and thumb positioned under his chin.
“How fast can it spread?” the President asked.
“We don’t know how highly diffusible the infectious agent is – but based on all that we know from the village in the Congo, it spreads fast,” her voice dropped to a biting reality.
“What are you trying to tell us?”
“Reports came that the village was visited only one week prior, all of the villagers were seemingly healthy at that point. Within that one week, every resident of the village was dead. The contagion has a 100% mortality rate.”
“My God…” Jacobs gasped. “Imagine what that could do in a busy metropolitan area like Washington.”
“Could it have been some kind of local growing bacteria? Something in their water?” Powers asked, pursuing a hunch.
“It is possible, but we found something even more strange in the village,” she responded.
“And what is that?” the President asked, leaning forward in his seat.
“The dead bodies were taken to a nearby containment facility for incineration. But one of the bodies among them was not African like the others. It appears the village had a visitor – a Middle Eastern visitor, judging by his skin tone.”
“A field test for the terrorists’ operation?” Powers asked.
“Maybe…” Hardy chimed into the discussion. All heads turned to the opposite side of the table, where Hardy’s chin rested in a contemplative palm. With the new facts on the table, the discussion had quickly moved from science to tactical strategy. “Or… they were trying to get it noticed.”
An uneasy silence beat through the room as his expertise cast a new light on the subject.
“Why take it to the Congo?” he asked the room, trying to lead them through his logic.
“Because of the WHO office there… They baited us to bring it here for testing,” the President realized. “We provided its transport.”
Chapter 20
Safe House #29
South DC
7:30 AM
Cusick joined his fellow computer nerd, Mac, at his apartment to offer field support. As a former black hat hacker, he was recruited by Colonel Jackson Hardy to aid in the training of the recruits of Project Sparta. From that moment on, Mac had become his protégé and together they defended America’s digital infrastructure. Over the years they had prevented more attacks than all of the Spartans combined, but the attacks were of a different nature. Without a doubt Mac, the apprentice, had surpassed his mentor by this point, but they had a strong friendship, because they both spoke the same language – binary.
Cusick sat at a finely varnished oak coffee table with a laptop before him, while Mac controlled the large computer console against the window.
“Alright I just got off the phone with Xander. He wants us to investigate some lose ends he had from Geneva. The last words that his mark, Gregory, said to him was ‘They’re going to release Apollo’. Gregory obviously had knowledge of today’s attack. The mission in Geneva is somehow related to today, we need to figure out how.” Mac spun in the chair toward Cusick.
“Alright…” Mac approached a whiteboard on the wall next to the computers. He wrote two names in large-capital letters.
I know where Henry Bosco and Caroline Keener are
“This was the text message on Gregory’s phone, we need to find them. They are somehow connected to all of this. They may be the price for the cure.” Under the names, Mac wrote three bullet points.
- Who are they?
- Where are they?
- How are they involved?
Cusick investigated the whiteboard as Mac continued to write down his points. He wrote another word: Scientists.
“Four scientists, prominent in the field of infectious disease went missing. Xander was pursuing a lead on them that led him to Geneva in the first place, again another connection. We need to figure out where they are,” Mac instructed.
“We’ve been looking for them for months and turned up nothing,” Cusick explained.
“Yeah but we know now that they are related to this crisis. This narrows our search. Keep them in mind as we look for Azir. They should turn up,” he explained, writing another name on the board, Mohammad Azir.
“If Ezra is behind all of this, he must have someone on the outside carrying out his plan,” Cusick explained, clarifying Azir’s role.
“Yeah and it is safe to say that he is in the city and has transported the disease here, since one target had already been hit,” Mac added.
“So, how do we find them?” Cusick asked.
Mac scribbled underneath the name on the whiteboard a ten-digit phone number.
“Gregory texted these names, Henry Bosco and Caroline Keener, to this number. Look at the area code.”
“240 is Bethesda…Could this belong to Azir?” Cusick asked.
“Could be… I ran the number, but it didn’t bring up anything, must have been a prepaid phone—” Cusick cut him off.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter…” Mac paused a moment and swiveled in his chair to Cusick.
“What do you mean? It’s not registered to an address, how am I supposed to track it?” Mac asked.
“Hack into the NANPA… It will take a fair amount of time, even for us… but it should give us what we need.”
“NANPA?” Mac asked.
“The NANPA is the North American Numbering Plan Administration. While a consumer receives a phone number from a phone company, the phone company receives their numbers from the NANPA. Think of it as the bank of telephone numbers. We trace the number through the system to the retailer,” Cusick explained. The logical progression formed in Mac’s head.
“Not bad…” Mac arched his eyebrows, taking his seat at the computer console again.
“Oh, young Padawan, you have so much to learn,” Cusick gibed back at his former student. Mac had already started digging behind firewalls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Catherine Mueller worked methodically, with smooth, slow strokes of the scalpel. After opening up the cadaver, she dissected each organ to measure the effects of the disease. Tobias aided her in the isolation unit. The Spartans outside the unit observed from a camera feed monitor aimed down into the body’s cavity.
Xander was just briefed on the developments from the White House and had collected audio/visual equipment for the impending clues. He checked his watch.
7:45…next clue is coming. The first target was in an isolated area, will the second one be? He definitely is playing a game with us… Giving us our own sample of the disease to test. Why would he help us? Is it all part of his plan?...He gave himself up to us on the Fourth of July. He is still right where he wants to be…
A thought revealed itself from the infinite databank of his brain.
Attacking the city is a secondary end for him. This isn’t about the city, it’s about me. He wants me to win his game because he has something in store for me, I know it. He’s exposed my wife. He said the cure is truth. There will be some sort of revelation to all of this.
“It’s just another puzzle…” Xander said under his breath.
Now that the isolation unit was in use, there was no need for respirators. Ashton stepped up alongside Xander and watched the monitor as Catherine sliced through the Lieutenant’s lung in her gloved palm. As it opened a deep crimson fluid seeped out.
“His lungs are filled with blood,” Catherine’s voice came over the monitor. “Tobias, can you collect a sample?”
“You got it…” He placed a plastic syringe into the lung and pulled the plunger up, filling the tube with Lieutenant Walker’s blood.
“How are Mac and Cusick doing?” Seamus asked.
“They are following some related leads I got from Geneva.” With the sample now in place, Tobias and Catherine began to scrub down. After disrobing in a separate side unit, the two scientists emerged from the plastic sheets, vial
in hand.
The Spartans turned to face them for an update.
“Okay… this disease violently attacks the lungs, judging by the amount of fluid, a fit of coughing seems to be the first symptom.” Catherine explained.
“Tell us about the disease itself,” Xander said.
“We will know more when I have time with it under the microscope, preliminary results indicate that this bacteria acts kind of like a releasing agent. It causes the release of blood into the lungs, which then naturally leads to a pulmonary embolism. It also appears by the look of it that blood from the nasal vessels are also released. Could be linked to an acute subdural hemotoma…won’t know until we open the brain.” Her words came out in a rushed thought aloud.
“The torture of the disease is more violent than anything I have ever seen. Imagine your body flooding itself and you literally feel like you are drowning in your own blood,” she shuddered at the thought.
“How does this spread? When we are out in the field what should we be looking for?” Ashton asked.
“Bacteria can thrive in a number of ways within the body. It could grow off the acid secretions in the stomach or even the electrical currents in the brain. In order to better understand, I need to first map out the bacterial genome. There are small circular DNA molecules called plasmids and chromosomes, along with proteins and RNA to all be considered. If I find the genome I should be able to observe it split and multiply. I can already tell you that this one spreads very fast within the host anatomy.”
“What about infecting other people though?” Ashton clarified for original question.
“When it comes to transmitting the contagion outside of the body, it is important to remember that bacteria can spread just like viruses by coughing, touch, saliva, water, whatever… It could even dig its way through the skin to a subcutaneous level, entering the blood stream that way. Transmission could occur through airborne contact with the lungs, there’s no telling until we see how it reproduces—” Xander cut her off.
“If it is airborne, it could be weaponized…”
“Yes, these terrorists could in theory make some sort of device to release the bacteria into the air, water or whatever medium that the bacteria could survive. It appears that their first victim was directly injected. I found needle marks on his arm and another in his neck, where someone would inject a sedative.”
“We need a treatment,” Ashton declared.
“That’s a problem…” Tobias spoke up. “Treatment for a pulmonary embolism is a blood thinner, which only intensify the nose bleeds. If you treat the nosebleeds by a clotting aid it will only heighten the risk of clots in the lungs. If you treat one of the symptoms, you only make the other worse.” A disappointment swept the room.
“Okay… then we need a cure,” Xander said with building frustration.
“That is the best approach. You treat a virus, you cure bacteria. This is bacteria,” Catherine answered.
“Tell me about the cure?”
“This disease isn’t too different from Ebola. We have no cure for that, obviously. What we need are the antibodies that can combat this pathogen.”
“Okay I skipped biology class for ballistics training. So, can you help me out here… what are antibodies?” Seamus asked.
“Antibodies circulate in the blood stream. These antibodies can be developed naturally by the body after repeated exposure to the bacteria. In short, we need someone who has survived this bacterium… but by the look of him, I don’t know if anyone can survive this…”
“How exactly do the antibodies treat the bacteria?” Xander asked.
“If the correct antibodies come in contact with the antigen they bind to the target. Depending on the antigen, the binding may block the biological process that causes the disease, or it may recruit white blood cells called macrophages to engulf and digest the antigens,” Catherine explained. A silent beat passed, Seamus’s mouth hung open – his eyes darted side to side, looking to make sense of it all.
“Can you repeat that?” Seamus quipped, lost in the lecture.
Xander couldn’t help but to crack a smile. Catherine adjusted her approach by offering a more layman’s translation.
“You guys are used to war. You have seen it more than most people. Hell, you bloody Americans can’t seem to get out of them. But our bodies are in a constant battle against foreign substances. This disease is an enemy that has infiltrated your base camp. From the inside it takes down your defenses and your body folds onto itself and dies. The antibody is our kick-ass soldier that goes in, finds the enemy and kills it. Different bacteria have different properties, Malaria destroyed red blood cells by digesting them like food, while others may produce a harmful enzyme or may fortify the cell wall with protein making it resistant to white blood cells. How does this one work exactly? We don’t know. Are the toxins secreted by it causing the destruction of red blood cells in the host? We don’t know yet. All we know is that we need to find that kick-ass soldier who can go in and kill this thing.”
Seamus nodded his head finally understanding.
“This is some sort of violent, diffusible releasing antigen. But every bacterium has a weakness. We need to find the antibody that exposes that weakness because only then will it be able to defeat it,” Catherine explained.
“Oh, it’s that simple?” Seamus responded with sarcasm.
“Can you develop an antibody?” Xander asked her directly. Catherine surveyed the make-shift facility around her.
“You can develop an antibody in two ways, first by contracting the disease. This only works if the infected body can naturally fight off the bacteria itself and survive. Second by getting the vaccine, this is much safer. The vaccine preps your body for battle and mobilizes the necessary defenses against the contagion. But, it’ll be impossible to develop a vaccine in time.” She nodded back at the body.
“Ezra said there was already a cure developed and we are working on finding that cure. Ezra is leading us to it, but we have to play his game. You stay here with Tobias and try to develop a vaccine—”
“But that’s the problem…” Catherine interrupted, seemingly distant in her own thoughts.
“What? What is it?” Xander asked.
“Even if we develop a compound that we could use as a vaccine, there would be no way to mass produce it for the population of Washington, DC. The contagion has proven itself to work quickly, so even if we could figure this out, countless people are going to die. It takes teams of people working around the clock for months to mass produce an antibiotic, not to mention the governmental oversight needed to disseminate a drug to the public…”
“Your objective should be to figure out what can slow its progress. So, to do that what do you need?”
“I need a variety of different growth mediums, petri dishes for the cultures and antibiotics for reactionary testing… I will hopefully be able to measure the effect different antibiotics have on the contagion and hopefully Tobias and I will be able to pinpoint the disease’s weakness.”
“Okay I have no idea what you just said but Tobias, hopefully you can translate…” Ashton turned to him, showing a smile. Tobias nodded a ‘no problem’ to her.
“Catherine, you have to be quick – time is of the essence. Make a list of the antibodies you need, Ashton run to the pharmacy –”
Xander’s phone rang and cut them off. The clock read 8AM. It was Fiona with the next clue.
Chapter 21
The Situation Room
8AM
Xander’s face displayed on the monitor in the Situation Room. Marty Jacobs, Janet Powers, Michelle Fernandez, Vice President Johnson, Colonel Jackson Hardy and President Hooper were all present at the conference table. Three new faces were seated down the table as well.
“Xander, we are here with the directors of our major intelligence agencies. This is NSA Director Deacon.” The older man shifted in his seat to smooth out the press of his suit. His decorum resembled more of a Wall Street penthouse a
nd less of a cyber underground.
“FBI Director Fangold,” the President continued the introductions. Fangold, also dressed in a slick suit, nodded his greeting toward the monitor. His black hair held in a firm pose above his handsome face – squared off by his wide jaw line.
“And, Director Hunterson.” The Director of the CIA featured sluggish accents, as his comb-over tragically failed to cover his balding scalp. The wrinkles crevassed in his cheeks exposed the blight of his life. He had a bulbous shape that stretched his dress shirt at the point of every button. One could tell that he was worn out by his career, slowly withering toward a much-needed retirement.
“The ladies and gentlemen in this very room comprise the joint-task force that will provide support for the crisis we have on our hands. We are here to aid the Spartans in finding the cure and containing the disease. We have all hands on deck for this one. They have been briefed and we are ready.” President Hooper spoke loud toward the monitor.
“Yes Mr. President, thank you for the support,” Xander affirmed.
“Now give us your update.”
“We have just received the second clue, Mr. President,” Xander briefed. The President turned to Hardy who grabbed a pen and a notepad, ready for the clue. Xander spoke it slowly.
To see your clue find us frozen in time
But where are we? Answer this ticking rhyme
Six deities guarding two sets of three
You must remember the truth shall make you free
“Mr. President, I am confident that this clue indicates a location in the DC metro area,” Xander offered.
“What are you thinking?” the President asked him.
“We need to be fast on this one because this isn’t the clue to the target. This is a clue to the clue, as indicated by the first line. There are a couple of mentions of time, which could speak to the timed nature of this game that Ezra is playing with us. It’s the last two lines that are important. Six deities guarding two sets of three. I know that there is mythological art all over DC, I suspect this location will be marked by such artwork,” he thought aloud, still processing the clue himself.
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