by A. G. Riddle
also by A.G. RIDDLE
The Long Winter
Completed Trilogy
The Origin Mystery
Completed Trilogy
Departure
Standalone
see more at: AGRiddle.com
Contents
Stay in the Loop
A Note about Fact & Fiction
Pandemic
Prologue
Day 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Day 2
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Day 3
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Day 4
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Day 5
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Day 6
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Day 7
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Day 8
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Day 9
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Day 10
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Day 11
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Day 12
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Day 13
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Day 14
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Day 20
Chapter 137
Epilogue
Genome
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Epilogue
Winter World
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Also by A.G. Riddle
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Published in North America by Legion Books.
Published in print in the UK and Commonwealth countries by Head of Zeus.
Pandemic and Genome Copyright © 2017 by A.G. Riddle
all rights reserved.
printed in the united states of america.
Pandemic and Genome are a works of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Pandemic isbns:
&
nbsp; isbn 978-1-940026-15-2 (hardcover)
isbn 978-1-940026-09-1 (paperback)
isbn 978-1-940026-12-1 (e-book)
Genome isbns:
isbn 978-1-940026-16-9 (hardcover)
isbn 978-1-940026-14-5 (paperback)
isbn 978-1-940026-13-8 (e-book)
edition 1.0.0
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LegionBooks.com
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This novel is dedicated to a group of heroes we rarely hear about.
After hurricanes and other natural disasters, they are among the first to arrive and the last to leave. Around the world, they operate in war-torn regions, though they carry no weapons to protect themselves. Right now, these individuals are putting their lives at risk to protect us from threats that pose a danger to every human, in every nation on Earth.
They live among us; they are our neighbors and our friends and our family members. They are the men and women working in public health in the US and abroad. Researching their exploits was a source of great inspiration while writing this novel. They are the true heroes of a story like PANDEMIC.
A Note about Fact & Fiction
Pandemic is a work of both fact and fiction. I have attempted to depict the CDC and WHO responses to a deadly outbreak in Africa as accurately as fiction allows. Several experts in the field contributed to this work. Any errors, however, are mine alone.
Much of the science included in Pandemic is real. In particular, research regarding the M13 phage and GP3 protein is 100% factual. Therapies developed from M13 and GP3 are currently in clinical trials, where they show great promise in curing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyloid disorders.
My website (agriddle.com) includes a fact vs. fiction section and other bonus content for Pandemic.
Thanks for reading.
- Gerry
A.G. Riddle
Pandemic
The Extinction Files, Book One
Prologue
The US Coast Guard cutter had been searching the Arctic Ocean for three months, though none of the crew knew exactly what they were searching for.
At their last port, the icebreaker had taken on a team of thirty scientists and a dozen crates filled with some very strange instruments. The crew was told nothing about their guests or the mysterious equipment. Day after day, ice broke and crumbled at the Healy’s bow, and the men and women aboard carried on with their duties, operating in radio silence as instructed.
The secrecy and monotony of the crew’s daily routine inspired an endless flow of rumors. They speculated while they took their meals and in their off-hours, while playing chess, cards, and video games. Their best guess was that they were searching for a submarine or sunken military ship—likely of American or perhaps Russian origin—or perhaps a cargo vessel carrying dangerous material. A few of the crew believed they were searching for nuclear warheads, fired decades ago during the Cold War but aborted over the Arctic Ocean.
At four a.m. Anchorage time, the phone on the wall by the captain’s bunk buzzed. The man grabbed it without turning the light on.
“Miller.”
“Stop the ship, Captain. We’ve found it.” The mission’s chief scientist, Dr. Hans Emmerich, hung up without another word.
After calling the bridge and ordering a full stop, Captain Walter Miller dressed quickly and made his way to the ship’s main research bay. Like the rest of the crew, he was curious about what it was. But most of all he wanted to know if what lay beneath them was a threat to the 117 men and women serving aboard his ship.
Miller nodded at the guards by the hatch and ducked inside. A dozen scientists were arguing by a bank of screens. He marched toward them, squinting at the images that showed the rocky sea floor bathed in a green hue. In the middle of several of the images lay a dark, oblong object.
“Captain.” Dr. Emmerich’s voice was like a clothesline, stopping Miller in his tracks. “I’m afraid we’re exceptionally busy at the moment.” Emmerich stepped in front of the Coast Guard officer and tried to corral him away from the screens, but Miller stood his ground.
“I came to see if we can provide any assistance,” Miller said.
“We’re quite capable, Captain. Please maintain your current position—and radio silence.”
Miller motioned toward the screens. “So you’ve been looking for a sub.”
Emmerich said nothing.
“Is it American? Russian?”
“We believe it’s a vessel of… multi-national sponsorship.”
Miller squinted, wondering what that meant.
“Now, Captain, you really must excuse me. We have a lot of work to do. We’ll be launching the submersible soon.”
Miller nodded. “Understood. Good luck, Doctor.”
When the captain was gone, Emmerich instructed two of the younger researchers to stand by the door. “Nobody else gets in.”
At his computer terminal, Emmerich sent an encrypted email.
Have located wreck believed to be RSV Beagle. Commencing search. Coordinates and initial imagery attached.
Thirty minutes later, Dr. Emmerich and three other scientists sat in the submersible, making their way to the ocean floor.
On the other side of the world, the cargo ship Kentaro Maru was moving through the Indian Ocean just off the coast of Somalia.
In a conference room adjacent to the ship’s bridge, two men had been arguing all afternoon, their shouts causing the crew to wince periodically.
A bridge officer knocked on the door and waited nervously. They ignored him and continued yelling at each other.
He knocked again.
Silence.
He swallowed hard and pushed the door open.
A tall man named Conner McClain stood behind the long conference table. His angry expression made his badly scarred face look even more hideous. He spoke quickly, with an Australian accent, his volume just below a yell.
“For your sake, this better blow my mind, Lieutenant.”
“Sir, the Americans have found the Beagle.”
“How?”
“They’re using a new seafloor mapping tech—”
“Are they on a plane, submarine, or ship?”
“A ship. The Healy. It’s a US Coast Guard icebreaker. They’re launching a submersible though.”