by C. Martens
The highest priority was to find any travelers with symptoms of an unusual mutual illness. Through Church contacts the various lodgings for hire were scrutinized by member employees. That process resulted in a couple from Des Moines, Iowa, the recipients of an all-expense-paid vacation, being detained on a trumped up charge within days of the scan beginning. They were placed in an isolated cell block of a facility that was slotted for demolition. A Chinese couple visiting Temple Square was noticed using several tissues during their visit, and they ended up in the same facility under similar deviant charges. Altogether, eighty-four more people found themselves incarcerated for reasons they denied being guilty of. They were manipulated away from contact with legal counsel or outside communications, and they sat fuming, frightened, and neglected in uncomfortable surroundings.
The eighty-eight “guests” were incarcerated without any reason except they were ill. Tested within hours of the new breathalyzer information being supplied to the offices of the local FBI, the Chinese couple proved positive for the Arab strain and the Iowans, positive for the related strain. As all of the imprisoned had been maintained in separated areas, the eighty-four testing negative were released in the order they had been picked up. A sum of “settlement” money and promises of their accommodations being paid lessened the sting for most. Those that threatened legal action were ignored. The courts were under Church control.
The four remnants were told nothing. Since they were caught very early, tracing their steps was easy. One hundred twelve additional people were found to be contagious, some as many as three evolutions past the original vector. They soon occupied adjacent cells to the first inhabitants. There was no reason to separate the residents now. Plans were made to dispose of bodies if the facility became overcrowded.
The Salt Lake City FBI office notified FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, which flights the infected had come from. Information gathered from the couples filled in gaps in what was known, and the agency was able to identify the path of infection back to its source. Because of the speed of the investigation and lack of opportunity for the contagion to spread, the national headquarters of the law enforcement agency felt confident they could contain the entire outbreak.
What was not known was that the delivery system was twofold. Infected bottled water, an increasingly expensive and in-demand commodity, was flooding the convenience stores along all major highways. A few communities that were holding events in strategic locations found pallets of water dropped off by anonymous trucks.
Anticipating the possibility of an alternate plan, the Danites kept their eyes and ears open. They were especially aware of ground vehicles once the airline route had been disclosed. When some tourists driving a car triggered the attentions of a Church member employed by the largest convenience store chain in Utah, they investigated. What they found scared them into overdrive.
Salt Lake City became the first major metropolis to set up main artery roadblocks with breathalyzer testing mandatory. The true purpose was easily hidden by claiming a restored intent to get back to the old alcohol restriction laws of the past. Unusual legal restrictions were nothing new in Utah, and the local population grumbled but accepted that the intrusion was just another strange manifestation of Church politics.
The Utah discovery of tainted bottled water coincided with the successful tracing of Ann Callagory’s exposure. The two independent offices reporting an identical source of jeopardy led to immediate alarms being sent nationwide. Although the country at large was notified, other cities and states were slower in the uptake. Where Utah closed all stores adjacent to freeways until the bottled water could be collected, other states tested the containers in place, allowing many bottles to go missing during the testing process.
Quickly, the containment facility in Salt Lake City neared capacity. Those in charge were hesitant about the proposed solution and begged for another abandoned facility to be used. Even larger than the first facility, the old state prison was reopened at the Point of the Mountain. The unsavory solution to overcrowding was delayed.
In full defense mode, The Church considered its options. They controlled the state. That state control was something that members denied vociferously, just as they rejected other things “officially” denied by their leaders. All of them, however, even the most deeply in denial, knew the truth. Such control was a hidden source of pride. Now the LDS faithful would be tested.
Where the national powers were reluctant to call the situation out of control to avoid political fallout, the Danites had no such issues, and their tentacles reached far into both the government and The Church hierarchy. They kept their attentions tight over the progress, and the failure, of the strategies and results in dealing with the situation. By the time statistics came in to the national offices that were involved, those showing that the contagions were being contained and showing which cities were more or less successful, the Danites knew that the battle was being lost outside of Salt Lake City. Their fears were confirmed as the first deaths in detainees occurred. Where the other states and the federal government had failed, the Danites were succeeding. They knew, though, their current success would change for the worse in a growing conflagration. The time had come for bypassing the chain of command.
§
In the fight to contain all avenues that the plagues could use, the airline information designating infected flights was critical. Though taking time to trace all the contacts, the Los Angeles FBI had the original vectors identified and in custody within hours of having the information. The problem was they had been on the ground for four days by the time they were scooped up.
Housed in the quarantine rooms along with the infected FBI supervisor, Ann, the couples were kept in the dark about why they were being detained. Ann was tasked with investigating them and their stories as an undercover operation. She applied her skills in blending and soon had their confidence in hand. Where the detainees were justifiably suspicious and reluctant to speak with the bureau enforcement officers that were telling them nothing, they opened up willingly to the frumpy and disheveled woman they were incarcerated with.
Soon the simple story was unfolded before the entire investigative team. Both couples had been award winners in contests that promised cash and travel as prizes. The similarities of the strategies, resulting in two seemingly independent plagues, was justifiably questioned.
After all the technical information came in, though, the similarities within the diseases made it apparent that the two were related. Just as descendants can find ancestors-in-common several generations back by gene sequencing, these organisms told a tale of their being developed from a common strain. The surprise was that the genetic trail led to a strain of organisms that were known to be securely contained. The CDC was unable to explain how two diseases came from genetic materials supposed to be safely held in their own vaults.
Another investigation ensued, and the confidence of the team developing a cure surged. Combating contagions that shared genetic information would be easier than developing cures for unrelated strains.
Work progressed. The CDC scientists knew there was a time limit, and they knew they had a good chance to beat it. After some initial failures, there were confidence-boosting successes as well.
All of the non-quarantined personnel had been vaccinated as soon as the Arab culture produced antibodies that could be used. Soon, the second plague provided a vaccine as well, and the process of immunity to that contagion was instituted. Strangely, there was a death within days. The loss was chalked up to a reaction, and the body went into the morgue to be held pending an autopsy. There were more important fish to fry with the necessity to find a cure for the infected.
Finally the curative agent was determined, and manufacture began. The victory came almost two months into the first threatening information being discovered, and everyone was elated. They expected deaths, but there was a cure.
By this time the original couples had been informed of the reasons for the
ir being detained. Helping them through the process, Ann maintained her undercover status. They had not even questioned her long absences during daylight hours when she was doing her job, believing her daily disappearance was all part of the investigative processes that they were not privy to. When Ann stepped up and volunteered to use the newly developed cure, her participation went a long way toward allaying their fears. They trusted her. The couples volunteered as well. The medical people had plenty of guinea pigs, so all five were used as test subjects. They knew time was running out and were confident in their procedures.
Within two days the four people lucky enough to win the vacation trips were all coming down with colds. The medical team believed the symptoms were a reaction to the treatment and remained hopeful since Ann appeared well. Their confidence was shaken when the four died the next day within hours of each other.
Immediately, as each succumbed, the bodies were autopsied. Each held the same information, something that had not been anticipated. An emergency meeting was called. Next to the four freshly carved bodies, on the fifth of the five tables in the autopsy room, the cadaver of the uninfected agent that had died after receiving the vaccine received the team’s attention. Since the team was already there, they thought it a good time to resolve any issues involved in the new vaccine.
Sitting behind glass, Ann was puzzled and a little afraid of why she was being excluded from contact with her colleagues. In the meetings prior, masks were worn, hands washed thoroughly, and paper coveralls discarded after, but people were still present in the same space. Her apprehension grew as the people filled the chairs opposite the barrier. They were making every effort to avoid eye contact.
Sitting beside her, Bull sensed the strange atmosphere as well. His hand crept to hers, and they took what comfort they could in each other’s touch.
Just as the meeting came to order, a young man approached one of the seated medical department supervisors. He left a thin sheaf of papers in front of her as he bent to her ear. Her expression changed as she listened, and she immediately started to peruse what lay on the table.
The information everyone dreaded was not long in coming. The news was confirmed by each of the four dissected bodies.
“We have a problem, people.” The man at the head of the table appeared world weary as he spoke. “The two plagues have mutated.”
The entire room rustled with low murmurs as everyone conferred in low tones. Several people paled, and two put their hands to their mouths as their eyes widened.
“It’s confirmed, the two organisms were genetically programmed to mutate. Just as some of the reintroduced extinct species have been programmed to cycle through a limited number of generations and then become sterile through a planned genetic exhaustion, these plagues have been programmed to have a highly contagious phase and then morph into a deadly phase.”
Her hand was being gripped in a vise, and Ann took no notice. She realized that she now carried a death sentence. There was no time to develop a cure for her. Suddenly the truth dawned on her that she was not the only one.
“It appears, further, that with respect to the cure we’ve been working on, the disease of each will mutate regardless of the medication being administered before the mutation.” The man closed his eyes, and his head dropped to his chest. He hesitated in a silent room. “There will be deaths soon. I extend my sympathies to those in this room that are infected. I have nothing hopeful to confide. I hope you will take comfort in the fact that the end will be sudden and, as far as we’ve determined, painless.”
The man made the effort to glance up and meet the gaze of the people behind the partition, but he failed for the most part. His focus brushed past each of them and immediately dropped to the table in front of him.
Pivoting in her seat, the infected FBI woman turned her gaze to Bull. Her hand was scorching under the pressure of his grip, but she still did not notice. Bull appeared stunned into catatonia. He sat, rigidly upright, his eyes unseeing in a locked focus on nothing at all. Her free hand moved to encompass their entwined hands. There was nothing to be said, and finally she noticed the iron grip. She embraced the pain and appreciated it. She had too short a time to enjoy, so she would take what she could get. Suddenly feeling a surge of affection for the big man, an all-encompassing love, she entirely missed the next words spoken to the group.
“That’s not all, folks,” the woman with the sheaf of late-minute papers enunciated in a low voice. “We just got the preliminaries on the agent that died. It wasn’t a reaction. It’s a third plague.”
§
Granite Vaults in Little Cottonwood Canyon east of Salt Lake City were owned by the LDS Church. Officially, they were used as secure storage for genealogical records. The cover was successful as for the most part it was true. There are other uses, however, for huge, climate-controlled caverns sheltered under mountains and protected by massive, hardened-steel doors.
A small truck pulled into the limited parking area below the vaults. Filling one of the parking spaces allotted to short time visits, the occupant made his way to the entrance. Palming a flat surface under the scrutiny of a watchful guard, he was admitted without any questions. The guard had been informed, the security camera obscured momentarily, and he would deny seeing the visitor if asked.
Only a short interval passed, and the caller emerged and hustled back to his truck. He carried what appeared to be a small lunch cooler with some age on it.
Twelve men had instigated the visit. They met in person, speaking face to face even though they were confident in the security measures of their usual forms of communication. The chance of exposure was not what concerned them. The importance of the moment demanded that they meet. Some had left critical operations to underlings. One had left the bedside of a wife expected to die while he was away. The gravity of their decision was the largest priority the Danites had ever faced. After all, it went against everything The Church had been doing publicly since the Mountain Meadow Massacre.
Since then, and especially in the last fifty years, the focus of the entire religion had been on acquiring and retaining membership. Numbers were their path to power. Where many considered the LDS faith to be a cult, they made every effort to change that perspective in the eyes of the public. Strategies were developed and instituted. Not many people noticed the encroachment within the Hollywood and media communities. While they had limited success with the drive to develop entertainment superstars, they had huge levels of influence in other avenues. The Church, the state, members, and anything referring to the term, Mormon, were positioned in any way they would reap publicity. Participants on reality shows were rarely introduced by religion. Mormons were by intent. While Utah was one of the least populous states in the nation, it was mentioned in national news coverage almost as often as California and New York. Human interest stories, especially related to family issues, were targeted in particular. Even negative coverage was embraced enthusiastically. The old practice of polygamy was pushed into every home as a strategy to gain interest, even though The Church had officially denounced the practice. And The Church grew.
Now these men, meeting in secret, these members of an underground and unauthorized society sworn to preserve The Church in every way, were about to make a decision that was counter to everything The Church stood for. They were making the decision in order to protect The Church.
In order to save the population of Utah, and especially the Salt Lake Valley, they were going to use a biological weapon salvaged from the ruins of the old Tooele Army Depot, west of Salt Lake. The military facility and the Dugway Proving Grounds attached to them had housed weaponized toxins and nerve agents and numerous other methods of bringing death to the earth.
Military testing at the facility was controlled and hidden from the public for years. In 1968 there was an unfortunate leak to the media. The news of several thousand sheep succumbing to nerve gas hit the newsstands. While the official count presented by the Army was just north of thirty-eight hun
dred dead sheep, private estimates generally considered more reliable stood at over six thousand. In numbers like this, sheep are normally under the care of shepherds. Strangely, no human deaths were ever revealed. It was not in the interests of the Army, the State of Utah, or The Church to publish any information on the possible deaths of any Basques tending the sheep. Some thought the masking of human deaths was because the shepherds were not Church members. The real reason had more to do with a concern over what kinds of materials were being mishandled in Utah and for what purpose. The cover-up kept the incident out of the news.
The agent the Danites would use in their effort to protect the population of Salt Lake City was something that the Army had developed long ago. The disease had been developed, manufactured, and tested thoroughly before being split into fragments, a small portion disappearing into the bowels of the granite mountain. An option with a use that was never considered likely, the contents of the small cooler reappeared into the light.
In order to shelter the environs of the LDS Church, the Danites would create several consecutive perimeters of death around Salt Lake City and Utah. This third agent worked much more quickly than the two plagues already in evidence so could be depended on to vacate the chosen real estate much as a moat protects a castle. If directed appropriately, the contagion would move outward from its source, and the Danites would have done their duty.