The Manhattan Incident

by Raymond Poincelot

  “Excellent,” said the General. “I want you to contact ProTek Armor in Greenville, Maine. Turn the results over to them and ask for a prototype using their ToughTex technology. They have a small contract for military armor currently. Tell them big orders could come their way, so the quicker, the better. What about General Douglas’ progress on the weaponry?”

  “The fighter’s laser cannon and the alien’s pistol have been reverse engineered to the point where we can produce working prototypes. I think it is time to hit up President Chung for big bucks and resources to start manufacturing large quantities of these devices. We also want to research a much larger version to counter the ones on the larger alien vessels. I wish we had the computer software that controlled the rapid, tightly targeted firing patterns observed on their larger ships. I would like to request the best software engineers in the country to work on that aspect.” “Colonel, consider it done. I doubt that the President would say no to anything that might protect us the next time around. I’ll also request additional funds and resources for the rail guns and particle beam experimental weaponry. I just hope we have enough time before the aliens return.”

  “On another subject, Colonel, how are we doing with our borders and larger cities?” “General, we have some problems. The worst is the Mexican-American border region. Between the drug cartels and Mexicans fleeing their big cities, we are pushed to the limit. There are large areas of desolate desert where these people try to cross. Most appear to be healthy, but as time drags on, the numbered of infected Mexicans will rise. Fortunately, the warmer weather in that area has kept the infection rate down. We place captured ones in isolation quarantine, keeping those showing any symptoms or elevated temperatures in separate facilities. We are experiencing growing numbers of fire fights and increasing casualties. The situation has become even more complicated, as the locals have formed vigilante groups who shoot first and ask questions later. Sometimes the vigilantes lose, as the drug cartel soldiers have some very heavy firepower. They have even shot down some of our helicopters at this point with Stinger missiles. We also have pressure in Florida from boatloads of fleeing Cubans. We are managing to hold our own there easily, as aircraft spot them long before they reach our shores. Most of them are turned back before they even get to the halfway point. The Canadian border is stable. If anything, the Canadians are complaining that Americans are trying to sneak into their country. Bottom line, General, we need more troops in Texas and Arizona.” “Noted, I’ll see what I can do,” said the General.

  “Finally, Colonel, how goes the situation in the big cities?” “General, so far outside of a few riots, generalized looting, and roadblock running, OK. The worst were Boston and Atlanta; those cities were hit both by the virus and tactical nukes against their BSL-4 labs. We had to evacuate civilians beyond containment zones around the radioactive sites as well as cope with radiation burns. The hospitals are being overwhelmed between radiation and viral problems. We also had evacuation problems beyond the radioactive containment zones in those smaller cities that were home to BSL-4 labs, but were not hit by the virus. We now have that situation under control in Bethesda, Fort Dietrich, Galveston, Grafton, Hamilton, Kent, Manhattan, Richmond, and San Antonio. Their hospitals are struggling with radiation victims. If the virus gets to them, we’ll have a very serious problem.”

  “Troop morale has slipped, given the killing of civilians running the checkpoints. There is a new, disturbing trend. People have figured out that it is nearly impossible to run the three ring gauntlet to escape from the cities. We are seeing a new, disturbing change. Some of our roving patrols at night have come across escapees on foot, carrying backpacks, well-armed, dressed in black and carrying large amounts of ice. They have figured out the best nighttime camouflage and the ice foils thermal infrared sensing to a considerable degree. If these numbers increase, I can’t guarantee that the cities will be contained. We just don’t know yet the extent of this operation or whether any got through. I have alerted areas beyond the city to watch for new comers and to report them immediately. Our troops are also asking their locals to do the same. Given the fatality level of the disease, I suspect cooperation outside the cities will be high. So far we haven’t detected any disease incidents further out from the cities. I doubt that can last, though.”

  “Thanks, Colonel. Keep me updated on any changes with the alien or its weaponry, our borders, and the infected cities. Shit, I almost forgot one thing. Dr. Cabrot’s team has identified the Blue Flu virus as being in the Bird flu family, but modified to make it more deadly. We are in the process of planning to vaccinate as many people as possible with our stockpiled Bird flu vaccine. That should calm things down in the infected cities. We’ll still have a border problem with Mexico, at least until they get their own vaccine program going. Finally, there is some good news, Colonel. That will be all for now, Colonel Lanzo.”

  When the Colonel left, General Straub sent out a message to Major Irene Newcomb. He had placed another group into the level one priority vaccine program, ProTek Armor.

  In Dr. Cabrot’s office, the phone rang. John picked it up and said “Hello Ralph.” John knew it was Dr. Miller from the caller ID. “John, I have some good news. We have been running some clinical trials with the latest version of double-stranded RNA activated caspase oligomerizer, DRACO for short. I’m sure you know what it is, but it is a third generation genetically engineered product from MIT that now seems less toxic to the body. It is able to identify viral infected cells and then selectively destroy them, leaving only healthy cells behind. We have been able to cure the Blue Flu virus infection in the early viral stages. Once breathing becomes difficult, it doesn’t seem to be effective.”

  “Ralph, I thank you for that wonderful news, wonderful effort on your part. You haven’t heard our good news yet. We have identified the alien Blue Flu as a genetically engineered airborne variant of our own Bird flu. We are starting a major vaccine program immediately; we just don’t have time for clinical trials to test the efficacy of our vaccine against the Blue Flu. We can now hopefully prevent most new cases with the Bird flu vaccine and cure those with early stage virus. We now have a one-two punch. We need the knockout punch, though. I know we are missing something here. I’m sure it has to do with the three extra unknown proteins coded by the virus. Damn it, we are running out of time for those near the end. It is a death sentence. Ralph, end the clinical Diminaflu trials and start vaccinations here as soon as our supply of vaccine arrives. Send all the details about DRACO in layman terms to General Straub. I’ll get in touch with General Straub to tell him the good news. We are going to need mass production of DRACO, whether the big pharmaceuticals like it or not. I’m sure they’ll be forced to cooperate because of the Emergency Powers Act. Those CEOs will just have to worry about payments later when this is all over.”

  John immediately called General Straub. “Tyler, we have a cure because of Dr. Miller’s clinical trials. It is called DRACO. Dr. Miller can provide the details and be the point man with the companies. He will be sending you the technical information shortly. I’ll pass this information on to my counterparts in the other nations. There is one down side. It only works for early stage infection. You will need the President to use her powers to get the pharmaceutical companies into even higher gear, as we have only a limited supply of the cure.”

  The following day, John sat in his office. He was feeling very frustrated. Suddenly Ahmed raced in. “John, we did it. We have identified the three proteins. One is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of leucine to epiheterodendrin. That compound is found in barley and it contains cyanide groups. The second protein is another enzyme, beta glucosidase, which converts epiheterodendrin to a cyanohydrin. The third protein is another enzyme, alpha hydroxyl nitrilase, which catalyzes the cyanohydrins causing the release of cyanide.” These products are coughed up from the upper lungs during the night and day. A lot is swallowed while the victim is asleep. The amount of cyanide produced in the stomach isn�
��t high, but in the weakened condition with breathing difficulty, it is enough to kill the patient. They die finally from cyanide poisoning, hence the blue skin coloration. These enzymes are very active and differ considerably from our terrestrial versions in structure, activity and pH optimums. The viral RNA beyond a doubt was deliberately engineered to produce this potent cocktail of killer enzymes.”

  “Brilliant work, Ahmed. Have you characterized any of these enzymes yet for their pH optimums?” John was working on an idea in his head. “Yes, we have. The enzyme that makes epiheterodendrin has a very low pH optimum, 2.5.” The others are more like 3 to 4.” “Bingo,” said John. “I know why I survived and why a small number of others did, too. We can save those in the later stages now, but we must hurry. I am on omeprazole for GERD. It effectively stops most acid production in my stomach. So the production of epiheterodendrin never happened. We have to get those late stage patients on omeprazole or Nexium or any other acid reflux medication. However, they take a few days to work, so the patient must receive a heavy dose of calcium carbonate first. If the acid reflux drugs aren’t available, keeping the patient on a high dose of calcium carbonate or even calcium citrate for several days should do the trick. You should contact Dr. Miller and give him the good news. Then ask him about his good news. Thank you, Ahmed. Tonight, we will celebrate! This party is well earned. But first I have to contact General Straub so that he can update President Chung.”

  The voice-over video narrator cut in at this point in the video. The one, two, three knockout punch of vaccine, DRACO, and acid reflux drugs were eventually delivered. Many more patients were saved by the third simple discovery. Still, 25% of the United States population was lost, mostly due to the Blue Flu virus and to a lesser degree, radiation poisoning or nuclear blast incineration. The rest of the world didn’t fare as well. Their average was 50%. Third world countries were hit very hard. Europe was spared more. Word about the last treatment went out via radio, television, the internet, and even loudspeakers mounted on trucks. The populations were ecstatic, with one exception, Reverend Jeremiah Cooper. He cursed Dr. John Cabrot and called him the antichrist.

  That night, there was a huge party at Area 51 and in the White House bunker. Most of those thanked God either silently or out loud. These two extreme views would clash, but not for now. There were a lot of hangovers the next day, but life went on.

  Things could have been much better, if not for human greed, corruption, mistrust and all the other dark emotions that cloud human activity at times. Greed reared its head on many levels and slowed vaccine and DRACO production unnecessarily. In the United States it was corporate greed. Pharmaceutical corporations continued to make obscene profits oblivious to ongoing human suffering. Greed was fueled by extravagant salaries of CEOs and bonuses for themselves and upper management types. Negotiations with the President’s office for Blue Flu vaccine and DRACO were fraught with difficulties. President Chung had the upper hand because of the Emergency Powers Act, but was loath to use it because an election would come up in a few years. Corporate donations were always welcomed at such times. Working against the position of the pharmaceutical corporations were the health insurance companies. Given mandated coverage that originated with President Obama in 2010, the insurers had to cover either the vaccine or DRACO for every American. Costs for proton pump inhibitors and antacids paled next to those needs. The costs were astronomical, given the demands from the pharmaceutical corporations. It was the classical stalemate, the gridlock, which Washington DC was famous for. The stalemate was broken by the power of the people, actually, one person with the help of many. Here is her story.

  Anita Gray became increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress toward vaccine and DRACO mass production. She lived in upstate New York in Utica. Anita read all the New York Times coverage and the dozens of blogs covering the issues. She was a single mother with one young child, Jolene whom she adored. She could not understand why someone should profit so much while her child might die before the means to save her became available. At the office where Anita worked, she aired her gripes with the IT person fixing her computer. Henry Zisterwicz listened. Henry had a crush on Anita, but being the geek that he was, he thought she would never notice him. So he kept it bottled up. But now he had an idea.

  “Anita, I have an idea. I could hack into the biggest pharmaceutical company that seems to be the holdup. Maybe we can find some information that, if made public, would cause the company to cave. Once they give in, I’m sure the others will follow.” “Henry! That sounds dishonest and is likely a crime.” “Only if you get caught, and besides, what jury would side against someone who saved millions of lives by forcing earlier vaccine and DRACO production,” said Henry. Anita looked at Henry and decided he was serious. “Henry, I don’t know. Let me think about it. I have a sign at home which says, “All decisions must be postponed for 24 hours.” Of course, she thought, it applies to my kid, but Henry doesn’t need to know. Anita had a restless sleep that night. She was taunted by dreams that her child died before the vaccine or DRACO became available.

  She called Henry the next day at work. “Henry, your computer fix yesterday didn’t work.” “OK, I’ll be there around 11:30.” When Henry arrived, Anita handed him a note. The note read as follows. Henry, the computer is fine. I have thought it over. Let’s do it.” Henry smiled. He reached over and tapped at her keyboard as if he was working on the machine. He whispered into her ear. “I’ll get on it tonight. I plan to do it at home, so we leave no tracks here at work.” A few minutes later, Henry stopped typing at the keyboard. “There, it is fixed. Just a minor tweak was needed. See you around.” Henry walked out of the office with a big smile. Things were looking up.

  After dinner that night, Henry went to his computer. Actually, computer was an understatement. There were several computers hooked up in parallel. Processing speed was awesome, but so was the power drain. Before Henry used his computer setup, which he called Dawn, he shut down the power to essentially everything in the house with the simple throw of one switch. The main reason was to avoid detection by the authorities, who were constantly looking for high power consumption in residences. A particular group of hackers needled the U. S. government to no end. While they didn’t harm infrastructure or damage the financial underpinnings of the country, they did leak information that the government would rather not let their citizens know about. The group had a name, the Hacker’s Guild. For short they referred to themselves as HG. HG was the crème de la crème of hackers. You didn’t join or ask to join. If you were really good and did something amazingly good, HG found you and invited you to join. Only the best got in, as HG needed to stay one step ahead of the government, so you had to be very good. HG took pride in besting the U. S. government and often corporations. They had no qualms about besting other governments such as the People’s Republic of China.

  Henry sent out an encrypted message seeking help from his HG cohorts. Response was rapid. Speeding up vaccine and DRACO production struck home with the group. While somewhat paranoid, it didn’t take much imagination to think a government-corporation conspiracy was in progress. Greed was likely the motivator as usual. The HG collectively decided their target would be RGen, the leading pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices and manufacturing facilities around the globe. They controlled the market for vaccine and viral medications such as DRACO. There had been leaks in the blogosphere that RGen was playing tough with President Chung over costs and quantities. The HG community was outraged that a corporation would play with their lives with greed being the motivator. They were going to bring RGen to their knees.

  While Henry was good, it took a lot of processing power beyond his system to run password detectors that tried random combinations to arrive at the key into others systems. The random password generators of the combined HG membership worked in tandem for several hours. Around 11:00 PM Henry fell asleep on the futon in the computer lair. He was awakened by a voice, the synt
hesized voice of Dawn. “Henry, my love, we have a winner. Come to me and I’ll give it to you.” Henry awakened with a start. He felt guilty about the way he programmed Dawn to talk with him. Still, her attitude made him feel good; he reasoned it was a harmless fantasy. “What do we have, Dawn?” “Sweetheart, why don’t you come over here and see.” Henry sheepishly walked over to the monitor. The clock said 3:00 AM. There was the password, 123RGen rocks! Christ, what a stupid password thought Henry. Henry and his HG colleagues decided to go for it right now. They would hack into the RGen system and troll for whatever emails or data they could find to expose the corporate greed. Henry just knew he would call in sick for work the next day. In his mind, exhaustion qualified as being sick.

  By 7:00 AM HG had what they needed. Henry became the point man and accepted the information and distribution task. That was the easy part. HG had a strict rule that no member could leak the data, because some agent might get lucky and track the leak back to the releaser. Now the hard part, thought Henry. He would need Anita to leak the information. Henry felt badly, as he was definitely soft on Anita. He vowed to do everything possible to protect her identity. But first things first, he needed some sleep. His dreams were troubled by scenarios of how he would get Anita to do the dirty work. He awakened late in the afternoon. He immediately called work and pressed the buttons for Anita’s extension.