The Pattern Maker
Page 37
A trickle of water found its way inside her collar. She shivered. The lights along the coast were no longer visible. It didn’t look like she should wait.
She started down the footpath, careful of her footing on the wet chalk. Leaves somersaulted on the wind and wrapped her feet. Sycamore keys whirled past. She walked on in the falling silence of the rain.
THE END
Report on malaria epidemics in continental plover flocks
to the WHO SEAN, Jakata Indonesia
Molecular epidemiology findings
Executive Summary, August 2028
This report sets out the findings of the SEAN Emergency Epidemiology Group after preliminary investigations into recent malaria epidemics in continental plover flocks. Following molecular assays, it is beyond doubt that the unusual infection is a mutation of the Krissa strain, highly lethal and orally-transmissible. The infamous “Krissa message” was found at its original location on Chromosome 8 at Base Pair 1,102,223. There are minor differences due to transcription errors but the encoded name “Professor Stephen Richardson” is still carried in the malaria’s genome unaltered.
The most plausible explanation for the new disease is that a transfer event took place through digestion of inappropriately-disposed-of corpses. Crab plovers are scavenging birds. Possible sites have been identified off Sumatra and Kalimantan. Rapid dispersal of the bird malaria appears to have occurred along migration routes out of the Indonesian Archipelago. The new strain is now so widespread it is effectively ineradicable. Fortunately the antidote appears to be still fully effective. WHO SEAN has commissioned an immediate follow-on study into the threat of future transfer events, reservoirs of infection and mutation.
“Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver
after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths,
in the end the fresh air brings vigour,
and the great spaces have a splendour of their own.”
Bertrand Russell, What I Believe
About the Author
Nicholas Lim lives in London with his wife and two sons. An Oxford and Faber Academy graduate, he has been writing and editing for over twenty years, publishing poems and short stories in a number of award-winning anthologies. His first novel, The Pattern Maker, won the Pen Factor prize in 2012 and is due to be serialised in print, audio and e-book form early in 2014. A new short story, The Piper's Songs, is out next month. Subscribe to the author’s newsletter to receive updates on new releases, or for more information on Nicholas Lim please visit his website.
Thank you for reading this story.
If you enjoyed it, please share your thoughts here
and receive a free short story as a thank you for your support.