by Dave Edlund
“Yeah. Based on my recommendation.”
“Really? As I recall, you analyzed various components from the first aerosol machine. Together, we communicated that data to Colonel Pierson and the President. At what point did you suggest a nuclear cruise missile be launched on the site?”
Peter stared back in silence.
“The evidence you gathered from the electron microscope was only part of the puzzle. There was also the explosive composition and anti-clumping agent.” Peter knew this chemical evidence came from the Air Force labs here at Ramstein Air Base. “Plus, we had the written orders you lifted from General Gorev’s desk, indicating a direct connection to Russian Special Forces. And don’t forget the papers and other information taken from prisoners. It was all pieced together and, when taken in total, President Taylor made his decision.”
“Had I known what was at stake, I would have insisted on more data.”
“You know that’s not true! Science is about unbiased interpretation of data collected from reproducible experimentation. That’s exactly what you did; what Lacey and her team did. To suggest you would shade your data if you knew that it might lead to decisions you don’t agree with is to betray your belief in, your commitment to, the scientific process. The data and evidence do the speaking—you don’t have to.”
“And look what happened,” Peter said.
“What happened? I’ll tell you what happened. A factory responsible for making biological weapons of terror, aimed specifically at civilian populations, for the goal of deceiving world opinion to support Russian expansionist aggression, was destroyed. Not only was the site destroyed, but the method of destruction ensured complete incineration of any virus stockpiles, rather than running the risk that those stockpiles would be dispersed and cause further outbreaks.”
Peter sighed deeply. “You make it sound logical.”
Jim shrugged. “It is logical. That site had to be removed in order to eliminate the risk. Conventional weapons would have knocked down the buildings, and in the process the smallpox virus, and anything else they might have had, would have been scattered to the winds. That was unacceptable.”
“And a nuclear bomb was?”
“The lesser of two evils. The location is very remote. The research site was several miles away from the main city—to enhance security, you know. And the prevailing winds blow from Sary-Shagan to the research compound, so risk of fallout on the small civilian population is minimal.”
“You make it sound easy, even sensible.”
Jim shook his head. “I never said it was easy. Ever wonder why our Presidents go into office looking young and vital, and within a handful of years, their hair is gray, and they usually suffer heart and other health troubles? I can tell you what you already know: It’s not easy making the decision to take another’s life.”
Peter looked at Jim with a neutral expression.
“But as you also know,” Jim continued, “sometimes it is necessary.”
Peter decided to change the subject. “How is the population of Minsk being treated? Do they even know of the smallpox exposure?”
“Thanks to your fast thinking and creative ingenuity, it appears very little virus actually made it away from the fire you set above the machine. The Army has been collecting samples from many locations around the KGB building, but only a few, three or four I think, have tested positive. However, as a general precaution, a smallpox vaccination program was initiated. A thousand cases of vaccine have started to arrive and the Belarusian government is administering the program with assistance from Army and Air force doctors and nurses. It should be completed within a couple days, and if any cases of smallpox are reported, the local hospitals are prepared to quarantine the patients and aggressively treat the infection.”
Peter nodded. “Good, I’m glad to hear that.” But his demeanor remained gloomy.
Jim placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. They had been through a lot together, and Jim understood how Peter ticked; he accepted that Peter was uncomfortable with taking another’s life. But he also knew that if Peter was pushed into a corner, he would do just that.
“You did good here, Peter. Your actions saved thousands of lives, innocent lives. Women, children, young, and old. I’ve seen what smallpox will do—it’s not clean or pretty. And this strain of hemorrhagic smallpox has a mortality rate exceeding 90 percent. You were forced to do what you did, as was President Taylor. In this case, I’d say the ends do justify the means.”
Peter closed his eyes in thought, his mind swirling with memories and emotions. Quickly they settled on Maggie, her red hair brilliant in the afternoon sun, her face radiant with joy, equally intense in her green eyes and her smile. The scent of pine and water filling his nostrils; his ears registering her laughter. His gazed moved beyond Maggie, to the edge of the lake where Joanna and Ethan, both young children, giggled and splashed in the shallow water.
Then Peter was pouring wine into the cup Maggie held. He saw themselves sitting on a checkered green blanket, in a grassy meadow only yards from the water’s edge. He put the bottle down and then picked up his glass. “If all I ever have is a lifetime with you, I’ll be the happiest man in the world,” he had said.
The words still echoed fresh in his memory.
The sadness and the pain from her loss had never gone away. Her death was like an infection that wouldn’t heal.
Eyes still closed, Peter’s lips moved as he mumbled softly, “What would Maggie have me do?” He didn’t address the question to Jim, didn’t even consciously think that Jim heard him. But he did.
“She would say that what you did saved the lives of children just like Jo and Ethan and saved families the pain of loss that you feel.”
Although Jim had spoken softly, his words jolted Peter back to reality. He opened his eyes, red and glistening. “And that I always will.”
Author’s Post Script
THIS IS WHERE I ISSUE MY standard warning—I urge you to read the story first, and then these comments. To do otherwise will deprive you of some of the suspense that I hope you enjoy as the story unfolds.
One of my goals in writing Deadly Savage was to bring to light the very real risk presented by the existence of smallpox and other biological weapons. These viruses and bacteria—most notably smallpox and anthrax—are horrible diseases. Smallpox is credited with killing more than 300 million people in the 20th century alone.
I chose to focus on smallpox for three reasons. Firstly, there is presently no known cure for smallpox, and certain strains are very deadly. Secondly, humankind has a history of using smallpox (and other bacteria and viruses) as weapons to inflict indiscriminate death and suffering on an enemy population. That the United States government used blankets contaminated with smallpox to infect indigenous Americans in the 19th century is well documented; one tool of many put to use as our government waged a protracted genocidal war against the native population. Thirdly, stockpiles of weaponized smallpox are still held by both the U.S. and Russia.
It is true that smallpox is the only viral disease to have been declared completely eradicated, thanks to a massive global immunization program that was completed in the 1970s. Since then, immunization against smallpox has not been a regular practice. The result is that we now have multiple generations vulnerable to this highly contagious disease.
So why are stores of smallpox still held by the U.S. and Russia? The obvious answer is so that it can be put to use in weapons of mass destruction, although this has been repeatedly denied by our elected leaders. However, an alternative justification that stands up to logical scrutiny has not been offered.
Supposedly these stockpiles are held safely behind multiple layers of security. However, in 2014 several vials containing viable samples of smallpox, along with samples of other infectious (and sometimes deadly) diseases, were found in a cardboard box in an unsecured storage room on the Bethesda Campus of the National Institutes of Health. The smallpox samples were dated 1954. Although we hav
e been assured that samples of the virus are held at only two locations, the CDC in Atlanta and a laboratory in Russia, obviously that is not true.
Have all samples of smallpox, anthrax, Spanish influenza, and other deadly diseases truly been accounted for? Are they really secured? Could terrorist organizations, or rogue nations such as North Korea, acquire such weapons? And if they did, how would we respond?
At the end of the story, I’ve imagined the U.S. President using a nuclear weapon. Hopefully, the characters in this novel have reflected adequately the enormity of such a decision—one I hope is never made. Still, the truth of geopolitics is that there are seldom easy choices, and more often than not one must choose between many evils—which is the lesser?
Equally true, I believe, is that it is the innocents who pay the highest price of conflict. Men, women, and children who have no say in, or benefit from, the reckless actions of politicians bent on acquiring power and wealth—or madmen drunk on religious zeal for the purpose of dominating those deemed unworthy.
If for no other reason, this is why force should only be taken after very careful and thorough deliberation. Sadly, this seems to be a lesson all too often pushed to the margins of national debate.
About the Author
Dave Edlund is the author of the best-selling, award-winning Peter Savage series and a graduate of the University of Oregon with a doctoral degree in chemistry. He resides in Bend, Oregon, with his wife, son, and three dogs (Lucy Liu, Murphy, and Tenshi). Raised in the California Central Valley, he completed his undergraduate studies at California State University Sacramento. In addition to authoring several technical articles and books on alternative energy, he is an inventor on 97 U.S. patents. An avid outdoorsman and shooter, Edlund has hunted North America for big game ranging from wild boar to moose to bear. He has traveled extensively throughout China, Japan, Europe, and North America.
The Peter Savage Series
by Dave Edlund
Crossing Savage
Book 1
Relentless Savage
Book 2
Deadly Savage
Book 3
More to come!
Follow Dave Edlund at www.PeterSavageNovels.com, tweet a message to @DaveEdlund, or leave a comment or fascinating link at the author’s official Facebook Page www.facebook.com/PeterSavageNovels.