by Hank Parker
The smaller boy stared at a small, black, pillow-shaped object with spikes at both ends. “I dunno. Looks like a piece of plastic to me.”
“Nope. It’s a skate egg. My mother calls these mermaid’s purses. The baby skate hatches out of them.”
“What’s a skate?” asked the younger boy.
“It’s related to a shark and swims through the water with wings.”
“Do they bite?”
“No, but their tails can sting you.”
They continued down the beach. The older boy pointed out various shells, seaweeds, marine creatures, and pieces of flotsam and jetsam. He explained them all to his friend. For his age he knew a lot about marine biology and he enjoyed teaching others. He often came down to the beach alone to explore. His mother forbade him from doing this—she said he should always be accompanied by an adult. Plus, they were skipping school today. But his mom was at work now. She’d never know.
The younger boy saw it first—a large cooler lying on top of some seaweed at the high tide strand line. He pointed. “Let’s check it out,” he said. “Could be something valuable inside.”
“I don’t know,” said the older boy. “It’s probably somebody’s lunch. Fell off a boat or something. It’ll all be rotted and gross.”
“It’s sealed up,” said the younger boy. “I’m gonna open it.” He bent over the container and peeled away a layer of duct tape. Before opening the cooler’s lid, he looked up at the older boy and saw that he was edging away. “Ha ha, you’re a chicken.” He swung the lid open. “Just some plastic containers,” he said. “Wonder what’s in them.” He pulled one out and waved it at the older boy. The container was about four inches in diameter, three inches deep, and had a screw cap. Tiny holes perforated the cap. The plastic was opaque and the boy couldn’t see inside. He started to twist the cap.
“Wait, maybe you’d better not open it,” the older boy said.
“Why not?”
“I dunno. Maybe it’s dangerous.”
“You are a chicken.” The younger boy felt good about calling the shots, being bolder than his friend for once. He unscrewed the cap. “Gross!” He quickly dropped the canister. “Bugs!”
The older boy looked down at the beach where the open container lay. Small black insects were scurrying over the sand. He’d seen these before. Plenty of times. “They’re just ticks,” he said. “They won’t hurt you. Come on, let’s go.” But he wondered why a cooler full of ticks had washed up on the beach. Maybe he should tell someone—his mother perhaps. No, he couldn’t do that. He’d just get into trouble.
GLOSSARY
Abu Sayyaf: Islamic separatist group based in the southern Philippines.
Acepromazine: Anxiety medication for dogs and cats.
Achuar tribe: Indigenous tribe in the rain forests of Ecuador.
Aerosols/aerosolize: Minute particles or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. To aerosolize is the process of creating aerosols.
Aliquot: A precise portion of a larger volume of a chemical solution.
Amplify/amplification: Relating to microscopic pathogens, to substantially increase the population.
Animal model: Research animal, such as a lab mouse or monkey, used to test the virulence of a pathogen or the efficacy of a vaccine or therapy; obviates the need to directly expose human beings.
Animal Rights League: Fictitious animal protection organization.
Badjao: “Sea Gypsy” of Southeast Asia. Nomadic cultural group that spends its entire existence on the ocean.
Banyan tree: Large tropical fig tree that starts life as an epiphyte (a plant growing on another plant).
Barn, the: See National Laboratory for Foreign Animal Diseases.
Betel nut: Common name for the areca nut, a tropical palm nut that is frequently chewed as a stimulant.
Biohazard suit: Impermeable, whole-body garment worn to provide protection against dangerous chemical or biological agents. See also hazmat suit.
Biological Investigative Service: Fictitious branch of the Central Intelligence Agency; Curt Kennedy’s employer.
Bioreactor: Apparatus used for large-scale production of bacteria, viruses, and vaccines.
Biosafety: The application of knowledge, techniques, and equipment to prevent personal, laboratory, or environmental exposure to potentially infectious agents or biohazards.
Biosafety cabinet: A local ventilation and air filtration device designed to protect the user or enclosed material from contamination.
Biosafety level: Level of biosafety protocols and facility design for working with specific infectious agents.
Biosecurity: Defined by the National Academy of Sciences as “security against the inadvertent, inappropriate, or intentional malicious or malevolent use of potentially dangerous biological agents or biotechnology.” Originally applied to the protection of livestock and crops against infectious disease transmission.
Bioweapon: A living organism that has been deliberately adapted or developed to sicken or kill other living organisms.
Black Death: Devastating outbreak of bubonic plague, a bacterial disease transmitted by fleas on rodents that, in a Middle Ages pandemic, killed over a third of the population of Europe.
Black-legged tick: Ixodes scapularis, also known as the deer tick. Vector for Lyme disease.
Blue suit: Biohazard suit made of blue Tyvek material.
Breaking with: Coming down with an infectious disease.
BSL: Biosafety Level.
BSL-1: The lowest level of biosafety, applied when working with agents that do not normally cause human disease.
BSL-2: A level of biosafety considered appropriate for agents that can cause human disease but whose potential for transmission is limited.
BSL-3: A level of biosafety considered appropriate for agents that may be transmitted by the respiratory route and that can cause serious infection.
BSL-4: The highest level of biosafety. This level is used for the diagnosis/research of exotic agents, such as the Ebola virus, that pose a high risk of life-threatening disease, which may be transmitted by the aerosol route, and for which there is no vaccine or therapy.
Canine ehrlichiosis: A tick-borne hemorrhagic fever disease of dogs. Also known as canine rickettsiosis, canine hemorrhagic fever, tracker dog disease, canine typhus, and tropical canine pancytopenia.
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, Georgia–based medical agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Cell culture: Process of growing cells in controlled laboratory conditions.
Confocal microscope: Imaging instrument using point illumination to improve the optical resolution of a specified area of a specimen.
Deer tick: See black-legged tick.
Dengue: An acute infectious tropical disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus. Also known as dengue fever and breakbone fever.
Deuce and a half: Two-and-a-half-ton military truck usually used to transport soldiers or equipment.
DHS: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
DOD: The U.S. Department of Defense.
Dugway Proving Ground: U.S. Army facility in a remote desert area of western Utah.
Ehrlichia canis: Scientific name for the rickettsial bacteria that causes canine ehrlichiosis.
Ehrlichiosis: See canine ehrlichiosis.
Fixative: In medicine: a medium such as a solution or spray that preserves specimens of tissues or cells.
Flow cytometer: Laser-based instrument used to analyze characteristics of particles, including cells, in a fluid.
Fluorometer: Instrument used to measure the fluorescent light spectra given off by a sample at different wavelengths.
Flying foxes: Large bats of the genus Pteropus, also known as fruit bats.
FMD: See foot-and-mouth disease.
Formalin: An aqueous solution of formaldehyde used as an antiseptic, disinfectant, or fixative.
Fort Detrick: Headquarters of the U.S. Army Medical Command in Frederick, Maryland, and location of U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
GI Bill: Legislation that authorizes a wide range of benefits, including educational assistance, to military veterans.
Grippe: Old-fashioned name for influenza.
Growth chamber: Equipment used to grow biological organisms such as plants and insects under strictly controlled environmental conditions.
Hazmat suit: Impermeable, whole-body garment worn as personal protective equipment against biological and chemical hazards. See also biohazard suit.
Heifer: A young cow that has not yet given birth to a calf.
Hemorrhagic fever virus: Any of several arboviruses causing acute infectious human diseases, characterized by fever, prostration, vomiting, and hemorrhaging.
HEPA filter: High Efficiency Particulate Air filter for removing submicron-sized particles, including viruses, from the air.
High-pressure liquid chromatograph: Analytical chemistry instrument used to separate components in a mixture.
“Hot”: Colloquial term for highly infectious.
Hot agent: Highly infectious pathogen.
Hot strain: Refers to a highly virulent subset of an infectious organism.
Hot virus: Highly infectious viral agent.
Image analysis/stereology inverted microscope: Microscope used for detailed analysis of images to determine the fine structure of objects, including cells.
Ixodes scapularis: See black-legged tick.
Jolo: Island in the province of Sulu in the southern Philippines. Also refers to the largest city on the island.
Kandahar hemorrhagic virus syndrome: Fictitious, tick-borne viral disease in this novel.
KIA: Killed in action.
Level 4: See BSL-4.
Long-tailed macaque monkey: Monkey species of the genus Macaca, indigenous to Southeast Asia, Borneo, and the Philippines. Also called crab-eating macaques.
Macaque: See long-tailed macaque monkey.
Machupo: Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, a rodent-borne viral disease of humans endemic in Bolivia.
Mass spectrometer: Analytical chemistry instrument that can measure the relative concentrations and masses of molecules and atoms.
Maximum containment laboratory: Enclosed space offering the highest level of biosecurity and biosafety.
MCL: See maximum containment laboratory.
Mercurochrome: Trade name for merbromin, a traditional, over-the-counter topical antiseptic. Because it contains mercury, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration removed it from the “generally recognized as safe” classification in 1998.
MI5: The security service of the United Kingdom, responsible for protecting the nation’s citizens and interests against major threats to national security. Primarily focused on domestic threats.
MI6: The United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, operating globally to gather information in support of national security, defense, foreign policy, and the economy. Primarily focused on foreign threats.
Micron: Unit of measurement equaling one millionth of a meter.
Mindanao: Large island and province in the southern Philippines.
Moon suit: Inflatable biohazard suit with external air supply.
Mount Dajo: Mountain on the island of Jolo, Sulu, Philippines.
Nanometer: Tiny unit of measurement; equal to one billionth of a meter.
National Laboratory for Foreign Animal Diseases: Fictitious animal health research facility operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in this novel. Also known as “the Barn.”
Necropsy: Autopsy.
Negative air pressure: When considered from inside a container, the state when air pressure inside the container is lower than that of the outside.
Nipah/Nipah virus: A virus causing encephalitis that infects pigs and people.
Palawan: Island province in the western Philippines. Also refers to the largest island in the province.
Pamboat: Motorized outrigger canoe common in the southern Philippines.
Pathogen: Disease-causing agent, especially a virus or bacterium.
PCR: Polymerase chain reaction, a molecular technique that allows the production of a large quantity of a specific DNA. Commonly used for diagnosis of diseases.
PCR thermocycler: Instrument that uses the polymerase-chain-reaction process to amplify DNA and RNA samples for applications in genetics research.
PDA: Personal digital assistant, such as an iPhone.
Penn Hospital/Pennsylvania Hospital: Large private teaching hospital in Philadelphia, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania.
Petechia: A small purplish spot on a body surface caused by a minute hemorrhage.
Plausible deniability: A posture whereby an otherwise accountable individual can credibly disavow knowledge of or responsibility for a culpable act.
Positive air pressure: When considered from inside a container, the state when air pressure inside the container is greater than that of the outside.
Purpura: A condition characterized by purplish patches on the skin or mucous membranes caused by hemorrhages.
Reston Ebolavirus: Hemorrhagic virus of macaque monkeys first evident in a monkey holding facility in Reston, Virginia. While fatal to monkeys, the disease has not yet affected humans. The disease was traced to macaque monkeys imported from the Philippines for research purposes.
Ribavirin: A synthetic, broad-spectrum antiviral drug.
Rickettsia/rickettsial bacteria: A genus of gram-negative bacteria that are carried as parasites by many ticks, fleas, and lice and cause diseases such as typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
RNA: Ribonucleic acid. A nucleic acid similar to DNA that forms on a DNA template and plays a role in protein synthesis and other cell activities.
RPG: Rocket Propelled Grenade (launcher).
Sabah: A Malaysian state in northern Borneo. Once part of the Sultanate of Brunei, later a British protectorate. Became part of Malaysia in 1963.
SEAL: Member of a U.S. Navy special warfare unit; stands for SEa, Air, Land.
SEM: Scanning electron microscope.
Sharps: Pointed or sharp objects or instruments used in biomedical work, such as scalpels and needles.
Sibutu: Island in Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost province of the Philippines. Sibutu is approximately ten miles east of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
Special ops: Abbreviation for special operations forces, composed of elite, highly trained active-duty and reserve/National Guard members of the U.S. military services and Department of Defense civilians, under the U.S. Special Operations Command. Includes Navy SEALs and Army Rangers.
Spectrophotometer: Instrument that measures the amount of light of specified wavelengths passing through a medium.
Straits of Malacca: Narrow sea passage between the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Malay Peninsula. Connects the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Sulu: Area, province, or archipelago in the southern Philippines consisting of numerous islands stretching from Mindanao to Borneo.
Symptomatic: Showing symptoms of a disease.
Synovial fluid: Viscous liquid that lubricates joints in mammals.
Tagalog: A member of a people native to the Philippines and inhabiting Manila and its adjacent provinces; also the language spoken by those people.
Tuba: A fermented palm wine. In the Philippines, it is manufactured from the sap of a coconut tree.
Umbilical: Cord connecting biohazard suit or hazmat suit to external air supply.
USDA: U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USDA Wildlife Services: Program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that manages wildlife conflicts to help people and animals to coexist.
Vector: A carrier that transmits a disease from one organism to another.
Vinta: Traditional sailing outrigger canoe of the southern Philippines.
Virion: A complete viral particle consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by a protein shell and constituting the infective form of a virus.
Zoonotic disease/zoonosis: An infectious disease in animals that can be transmitted to humans.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many, many people had a hand in helping to shape this book and bring it to publication. My special gratitude goes to the following:
To my agent, Lauren Sharp, of Kuhn Projects, LLC. I cannot imagine a better agent. Her cheerful encouragement, unfailingly sound advice and judgment, and responsiveness were keys to significant improvements to the manuscript and a publication contract with a major publishing house. I also greatly appreciate the professionalism and support of the entire team at Kuhn.
To my editor, Matthew Benjamin, at Simon & Schuster. It has been a joy to work with Matthew. I am grateful for his enthusiasm for the novel, sharp insights, fresh ideas, and excellent suggestions. I particularly appreciate his quick responses to all inquiries and the fact that he does what he says he’ll do, when he says he’ll do it. My gratitude also to Lara Blackman and the top-notch editorial and production crew at Simon & Schuster.
To professional colleagues, whose expertise in agricultural and veterinary science and in biosecurity, biosafety, and biocontainment helped to ground-truth the novel’s fictitious settings and premises. I am especially grateful to Dr. Rob Heckert, a veterinary scientist who formerly led USDA’s animal health research program and has worked extensively in high-containment laboratories. Rob carefully read several drafts of the manuscript and made immensely valuable contributions. Jenny Withoff, another veterinary scientist, also graciously reviewed the manuscript and provided helpful feedback. Joe Kozlovac, a certified biosafety professional who has also worked in both the federal government and in academia, also provided valuable insights and suggestions.