by JT Sawyer
Tso turned and walked back to the examining table, where the coroner was busy removing the worm-riddled liver with a stainless-steel pair of tongs. “I have put in a call with the director of the plantation in Fujian Province to inquire about the work conditions there and whether he has had any other employees calling in sick, but I’ve not heard back. Not terribly surprising, as the relations between Taiwan and China aren’t exactly the best, as you know.”
“The images you emailed me of the worms resemble Bertiella parasites,” she said. “Those are usually transmitted to humans by the accidental consumption of oribatid mites, which are the intermediate hosts. The mites are important components of soil fauna but not normally found in great enough concentration to pose a threat to humans. These mites are sometimes an issue in the tropics when children ingest fruit where the mites are present and then develop tapeworms, but I’ve certainly never heard of any outbreaks at tea plantations before.”
Tso returned to the examination table and adjusted an overhead camera, pulling it closer to the exposed innards of the corpse. The image showed up on a television monitor anchored to the wall next to Selene.
She could see the body clearly now. The skin looked almost transparent, with gray veins running along the surface. The edges of the exposed chest cavity were covered in reddish-black blood, and numerous white worms were clinging to the sides. They were hair-like and waxy in appearance, and reminded her of hookworms found in feral dogs. The parasites were around three inches long and had segmented bodies with a tinge of brown where the head appeared to be located. Each worm was reared up, their heads poking at the air, searching for a new host.
Her eyes darted over to the center of the exposed innards, which had more worms crawling over the surface of the organs. They didn’t appear to be consuming the tissue as much as they were probing it.
Selene was both fascinated and repelled at the same time. “They don’t appear to be consuming the organs.”
Tso used a steel tool shaped like a small spatula to move aside the pancreas and stomach. A fine ribbon of worms was moving upward along the spinal column, their movements in unison, as though it was a rivulet of white liquid being drawn towards the skull.
“Crimony, what are they doing?” said Selene, whose eyes had widened.
“That’s what I was hoping you could tell me.” Tso removed the paddle, letting the organs slide back with a wet smack against the ribs. “The last victim we examined prior to this one had a globular mass of hundreds of worms centered around the cerebellum, with a few dozen more situated near the throat and mouth.”
“Why would they migrate there? There are no secretions to feed off of other than the pituitary gland.”
“And here’s the interesting thing—I checked on the last victim that we autopsied and the cerebellum is completely intact, so they don’t appear to be ingesting the tissue.”
Selene reflected on the anatomy of the brain, recalling her coursework in neurology. She knew the cerebellum received information from the spinal cord, sensory systems, and other regions of the brain for controlling motor movements. Without the cerebellum, things like balance, posture, and coordination of limb movement would be impossible. Why are the parasites massing in that region? She looked up at the screen again at the floss-like movements of the worms. First, I need to find out what type of parasite you are and your connection to the virus, then maybe we can figure out what the hell is happening.
She looked back at Tso. “I’d like to get a few specimens of the parasites for further examination. Before I get started on that, I want to see bloodwork results from patients currently in quarantine.”
Whatever this was represented a new disease mechanism which modern medicine had never faced. In particular, the presence of the anomalous parasites which carried the deadly influenza strain. Even with all of her training and field experience, she felt like a blindfold had slid over her eyes and she was treading into unexplored territory. Selene knew she needed more data and was eager to get started. She felt her cellphone buzz in her coat pocket and pulled it out.
The text message was from Weaver at the CDC:
8300 additional confirmed cases throughout the U.S. with 967 dead.
Selene felt her pulse quicken and the room squeezing in around her. How can that be? There was only a third of that last night when I left for the airport.
She read the last sentence, which caused her face to go taut.
There are also news reports out of China indicating they have implemented martial law and have closed off their borders and airports. Get the lab results from Taipei and get out of there!
Chapter 15
Langley, Virginia
Jonas Runa was sitting in his office, poring over the closed-source reports that the intel staff had just posted about the deadly virus sweeping across the world.
His eyes scanned the bold-faced headings which indicated that much of Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia were being decimated by a fast-moving virus that had a 100% fatality rate. In every case, there were reports of patients coughing up bloody sputum lined with tiny worms, then dying shortly afterwards. He spoke to CDC Director Gabriel Weaver, who informed him that he had all of his top researchers, including Doctor Selene Munroe, working on tracing the pathogen’s origin. Weaver indicated a glimmer of hope when he said Munroe was in Taiwan, where patient zero had been identified. If she could come through on her end, they might have a chance at better tracking down the nature of the deadly virus.
Reports of outbreaks in U.S. hospitals and cities were also beginning to flood in, and much of Europe and South America were under siege.
Runa steepled his fingers in front of his face. What in God’s name is going on?
His cellphone rang, the five numbers indicating it was an encrypted call from Reisner. His heart skipped a beat as he picked it up.
“Alpha Team reporting in.”
“Go ahead—we are secure.”
“Drone intel compromised—the bodies of CN2s were discovered on board, but the vessel has been destroyed.” Runa deciphered the code and quickly realized his worst fear when he heard that two Chinese nationals had been discovered. They were most likely agents of Chinese Intelligence Services, which was that country’s counterpart to the CIA. Shit, if this gets out…
“Understood,” said Runa.
“We have acquired critical intel from the captain and the research lab.” He heard Reisner pause then lower his voice. “Two of our team are KIA by infected personnel on board. Requesting medical assistance in Manila—we need a facility with a biohazard containment unit.”
Runa balled his fist and thrust his head up at the ceiling, silently cursing at Siegel. “Negative on Manila. That nation is compromised and we’ve lost comms with our section chief there.”
He swung around to his laptop and began typing. The database for the Agency’s safehouses, assets, and medical resources in Southeast Asia pulled up. He scanned through the list, seeing that many were offline.
He put his phone on speaker and set it on the desk. “Your nearest facility is in Taipei. There’s a hospital there and one of our former assets works in the ER. His name is Victor Tso. I will initiate contact with him.”
“Copy that.”
Runa rested his elbows on the table, leaning forward towards the phone. “Once you’re on the ground, head to the safehouse coordinates I’m sending you and contact me once the rest of your team is secure.”
“Sir, there’s something else you should know. The infected crew members…” He could hear a rare hesitation in Reisner’s voice. “They weren’t dead. I, uhm, I can’t explain it. They were these maniacal creatures that had worms coming out of their mouths. They moved like a pack of wolves, attacking us—biting whomever they grabbed. I’ve never seen a person move with that kind of speed.”
Runa’s face tightened and his eyes darted around the room. He’d seen terrorists jacked up on synthetic drugs before that made them more impervious to pain and f
atigue, but nothing like what Reisner was describing. The man sounded apprehensive, and that was something Runa wasn’t used to hearing in Reisner’s voice.
“Glad you got the hell off that ship. Now, make it to your secondary location and I’ll figure out how to retrieve you from there.”
Runa placed his cellphone in his pocket then returned to his laptop. He pulled up a map of Southeast Asia, focusing on where the Atropos had been located. He calculated the distance from the vessel to Fujian Province in China. The roundtrip mileage was just outside of the capability of a UAV drone. That would most likely rule out China determining it was one of the Agency’s drones. He studied the map again, then narrowed his eyes as he thought back to Siegel’s briefing earlier, when he mentioned the crew of the Atropos had recovered a downed drone.
Siegel pushed the limit on the drone, knowing it would ditch in the ocean after dropping its viral payload in China. That way, it couldn’t be traced back to the U.S. Then the crew of the Atropos retrieved it. He sat back in his swivel chair, slowly pivoting from side to side. That cruise ship must have been in the same proximity to the drone when it unleashed its precious cargo along the Chinese mainland.
Runa clenched his jaw then sat forward, grabbing his phone and depressing the button for the direct line to Siegel’s office.
“Jonas, I don’t have time right now. I’m in the middle of—”
Runa seethed into the phone. “I just have one question for you, David. Is what’s happening around the world connected with your little project in the South China Sea?”
Runa could hear the man dismissing others from his room. A second later, Siegel came back on, his voice lowering as he spoke.
“We don’t know if this is connected with the Atropos. I’ll need to analyze the intel from Reisner when he returns.”
“Don’t insult me—that sounds like a steaming pile of bullshit. I just spoke with Reisner. He said the drone intel was gone and there were two dead Chinese operatives on the lower level.”
Runa could hear an ocean of silence on the other end. When Siegel spoke a few seconds later, his voice crackled. “Did he obtain the other sensitive items I requested?”
“Yes, but lost two of his people in the process. I told him to contact me when they had boots on the ground in Taiwan and I would arrange extraction.”
“Good…good. Then there’s still hope.”
“Hope for what?” Runa yelled. “What have you done?”
Siegel cleared his throat. “I have a briefing to attend with the president and sec-def in thirty minutes. And, Jonas, it won’t include what we just discussed. That stays between us until I can sort through everything that happened on the Atropos. Is that clear?”
Runa clenched the phone so tightly he thought it would snap in half. “This discussion of ours isn’t over yet.”
“This is about more than just you and me now. Alliances that were decades in the making are at stake. I’ll explain everything when I return.”
Runa placed the phone down and slammed his fist into the side of his bookcase. A photograph of him and Siegel in Tora Bora fell to the ground, the glass shattering. He stared down at the image, pressing his shoe over the frame and grinding it into the floor.
“You had better have a fucking ace up your sleeve to get out of this one, David, or the whole world is going to burn.”
***
Siegel had ten minutes to spare before his meeting with the president and the secretary of defense, and he would need every second. Siegel’s pulse was racing so quickly from a recent call from one of his intel staff that he thought his heart was going to punch through his chest. Upon taking the elevator down to the fourth sub-floor beneath Langley, he walked down a brightly lit corridor, past two guards, who merely nodded at him, then he passed through a set of steel double doors into a small operations center designated solely for the CIA’s drone program.
He motioned to the four other intel staff in the room to leave and then walked up to the computer operator, whose badge read Stevens. The young man had called him earlier, after Siegel had put in a request to correlate UAV movement in the South China Sea with satellite imagery of the area between Taiwan and mainland China.
The lanky man with red hair sat up straight as Siegel approached, and began typing on his keyboard. A few seconds later, an image of the coastline north of Hong Kong pulled up. “Here’s the information you requested, sir.”
The man pointed at the screen, showing a white dashed line that arced in from the south and headed inland towards Fujian Province. “So, this is the trajectory of a UAV that flew over that area seventy-fours ago.”
He brought up another image, this one black and white, which showed the satellite topography of the region. Siegel leaned forward, his right hand resting on the desk next to the agent. Siegel tapped his index finger at a tiny rectangular speck on the screen. “Enhance that. I want to know what it is.”
The man kept increasing the scale and then zoomed in on a large vessel moving along the coastline south of Fujian Province. “By the size and configuration, it appears to be a cruise ship. It’s the only vessel in that particular area.” Stevens enhanced the image further, making out the inscription on the command center in the center of the deck.
Asian Princess
Siegel stood up straight, taking a slight step back to the right of Stevens so the man didn’t notice the concern that he was certain was etched all over his face. He bit his lower lip. Dammit—this can’t be a coincidence. That ship was present at the same time our drone was over Fujian Province. He shook his head, trying to piece together the timeline. Hayes didn’t disperse the aerosol until the drone was inland, and even then it was a precision delivery of the payload from what he described.
Stevens hesitantly leaned back, giving Siegel a partial glance. “Anything else I can help with, sir?”
Siegel’s eyes were darting around the floor, then he shot his gaze back up at the monitor. “Can you retrieve any climate data for that region from the same time?”
The young man eagerly slid forward like a golden retriever given a new task. “Asia has its own version of NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric—”
“I know what NOAA is,” Siegel said with a gruff exhale, knowing the man was trying to impress him. When the weather summary emerged, it showed a map with high and low temperatures, followed by curved lines indicating wind patterns.
“There—that’s it,” Siegel said with fervor. He pointed to Fujian Province, which showed an increase in southerly winds pushing towards the coast that ranged from 35-40 mph. The timestamp at the bottom right indicated it was during a brief window of atmospheric instability at the same time the drone had dropped its payload.
He shot back, his posture going rigid. “A perfect storm,” Siegel said, half-mumbling to himself as Stevens stared in wonder at the clear forecast from three days ago.
Siegel’s highly disciplined and logical mind knew what the facts were relaying, but the concern in him that Hayes had just unleashed a deadly pathogen upon the world was erupting into panic. How can this be happening? What if the Chinese got intel off the Atropos before it went down? Shit, how did they even locate the vessel?
Siegel still held a hint of hope. He always had a backup plan. Reisner’s team and the critical items they gathered off the vessel may just provide Siegel, and the world, with the means for stopping this virus from unfolding further. Most importantly, the Atropos and any evidence connecting Hayes back to Siegel had just sunk to the bottom of the ocean. No one other than Runa and Reisner’s team could place him at the epicenter of this outbreak. Now, he just had to figure out how to handle those loose ends so it didn’t compromise his position at the Agency.
In the meantime, he needed to stand by the president and support his recommendation that all personnel critical to the operation of the U.S. government be sequestered at the designated underground bunkers put in place for biological or nuclear threats. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his
phone, texting his wife in Alexandria to get their son and meet him at Langley in two hours. There were dark days ahead, and he wasn’t going to lose his seat at the table or compromise his placement at one of the secure locations. When he was done, he cleared his throat and then patted the young man on the shoulder.
“Keep up the fine work you’re doing down here, son. The world needs more of your kind.”
Chapter 16
Selene had just examined some blood samples under the microscope, comparing specimens from the recently deceased with those of several patients still in intensive care at the Cheng Hsin Hospital. What she saw confirmed that it was some type of avian influenza, but identifying the strain or determining if it was indeed something novel was going to require samples to be sent back to the CDC in Atlanta.
Despite examining the gruesome autopsy footage from earlier, Selene was trying to ignore her growing hunger. On the flight over she had only had a light meal and then had raced to the hospital to meet up with Tso. Her assistant Anna had brought her a chilled bowl of rice and vegetables earlier, but it had done little to soothe her growling stomach.
Now she was feeling light-headed, but she had always excelled at ignoring her own needs. Her mother, a social worker, had once said that if a person can’t fix themselves then they often try to fix the world. That was certainly the case when she had been deployed abroad with the WHO in third-world countries. On her last assignment in Uganda, it had nearly cost her her own health, along with her sanity, which is why, at the urging of friends, she had taken the research position at Johns Hopkins.
Selene next turned her attention to the wire-thin worm in the specimen jar to her right. It was lying motionless in a solution of formalin. Picking up the tweezers with her gloved fingers, she reached into the container and carefully extracted the limp parasite. Its two-inch-long, flat body was dull white and segmented. Outwardly, it resembled the type of tapeworm she’d seen in feral dog scat in Africa and on Indian reservations around the U.S., where wild canids dwelled. This particular parasite had come from the liver of a deceased twenty-nine-year-old woman from Taipei, whose eviscerated body was visible through the glass window that separated Selene from the autopsy chamber.