Blood on the Water

by Mark Hildebrandt

  “Do you mean like cold sores? This doesn’t sound much like cold a sore, besides herpes exists in my world, I don’t understand.”

  “Sure, the herpes family exists in your world, but this strain or mutation doesn’t - at least not yet. The other members of the herpes family are for the most part a nuisance, most are not deadly. The ones you are familiar with such as the ones that cause cold sores or genital herpes or shingles and chicken pox. Those viruses invade the body cause an outbreak and then take up residence at the base of nerve cells, where it lies dormant for long periods of time until awakened. The awakening mechanism for most of the herpes viruses tends to be things such as another viral infection, a cold, or flu, or it might be emotional stress.

  “This version doesn’t limit itself to nerve cells. During the initial exposure it moves to all parts of the body and then becomes dormant in every internal organ. The triggering mechanism is completely different as well. It involves a process we do not yet completely understand and is related to the ageing process. There is a switch or switches in our DNA that regulates ageing. When the trigger tells the body, it is half way through life, it also tells the virus, it is time to wake up and begin multiplying. Through some remarkable evolutionary mechanism, the virus knows it is time to get busy replicating, the host is nearing the end - and it must begin making copies to survive.

  “I don’t know if that helps or not, but in fact, it isn’t really relevant what type of virus it is. What is important is that we can cure it.” Marcus smiled, looked at his data pad, “Ah good, the lab technician is on the way, so I’m going to the nurses’ station and make sure my instructions are to be followed to the letter.”

  He started to get up to leave but paused, looked at the concern on both his sisters and James faces, and produced a smile he hoped would project confidence, “Don’t worry there is no pain, or for that matter there isn’t any sensation at all associated with the treatment. One minute you have the virus and a few hours later it is gone. I’ll be back with my team shortly after lunch. Make yourselves comfortable, I recommend against wandering around the facility, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  ◆◆◆

  Octavia was busy at the Nurses Station when Marcus approached. “Octavia I will be conducting some confidential investigations on Dr. Woodman in the Senatorial suite. Please make sure he and Dr. Vespus are not disturbed. My team will take care of everything including nursing care. Please pass that on during report.”

  “Yes sir. Dr. Vespus. How long will Dr. Woodman be staying?”

  “He will be leaving tomorrow evening.”

  Marcus then stopped at Dr. Singh’s Lab, where the activity appeared to be controlled chaos. Obviously, Dr. Singh got the message, Marcus thought. “Dr. Singh, you should have the viral titer for the second patient in an hour or two. I would like to start treatment late this afternoon. Will you be ready?”

  Dr. Singh was usually on the go, but for the most part he was always under control. He always appeared to have a purpose. However, today for the first time Marcus could recall, he appeared haggled. Singh slowed his frenetic activity just long enough to respond, “I don’t know how, but we will be ready. This is, after all, what my team has been praying for. We won’t miss it.”

  “Excellent. Let me know when you will be going to the suite to begin the treatment, because I wish to meet you there.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good.” Marcus let the door close on the activity and headed for his office.

  Aeliana was behind her desk and greeted Marcus warmly, “Good morning Dr. Vespus. Josephus is already in your office.”

  “Very well, please hold my calls and appointments.” He answered smiling at the dark young beauty. Marcus assumed her dark complexion came from a southern Italy or even Sicilian ancestry, which was consistent with her accent, but the facial features didn’t quite match. The dichotomy had been nagging at him and someday he would figure it out, but not now.

  “Josephus what brings you up this way so early in the morning,” Marcus said walking into the office.

  The Security Director rose to great Marcus, the two men clasped forearms and Josephus said, “Do you plan to keep your sister and Dr. Woodman here at the Institute?”

  “Yes, I do, there are a couple of tests that still need to be done before they go back to London day after tomorrow. Why? Is that a problem?” By the gods, don’t let there be a problem, Marcus thought. Everything was finally lined up; this opportunity may not come again.

  “Oh no. There is no problem, in fact it is probably better they stay here”

  Marcus found himself taking a deep breath, “Good. I cannot tell you how much better that makes me feel. Okay if not for James and Cassandra, why the visit?”

  “You asked me to investigate this Morning Star group. Well I have, and I think turned up some interesting aspects.”

  “Really,” Marcus said. “Well sit man and tell me the rest.”

  Josephus took the chair in front of the desk and continued. “It seems this group is a living relic. They have been discreetly practicing a pagan religion that dates back several thousand years. It is based on ancient Mayan calendar.”

  “Ancient pagan religions, big deal, there is nothing odd or illegal about that.” Marcus injected. “Is it some kind of numerology thing?”

  “Not at all” Josephus said shaking his head, “These people believe the world has been created and destroyed several times. The current version is fifty-one hundred years old, and it is scheduled to be destroyed and remade once again in just a few years’ time, on a date they refer to as Baktun 13.”

  “Josephus, I’m not sure I understand. So, what if we have some nut group saying the world is about to end? That is not particularly new either.”

  “This time things might be different. You see according to the Maya, every 5125 years the earth is remade. The calendar starts a new as does the world.”

  “So what Josephus? You are not saying you believe this do you? There may not have been any civilization in the Mayan province five thousand years ago, but there sure was in the Middle East and Egypt. They obviously were not destroyed when the earth was remade as this … religion … would have you believe.”

  Josephus nodded and said, “Of course Marcus, but consider how active Kukulcan has become in the last few years.

  Marcus sat back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. Josephus may be on to something, he thought. This Kukulcan had been a very busy person, busy at covertly amassing power. “Yeah I think I’m beginning to understand Josephus.”

  Josephus was still nodding his head but was now smiling as well. “Just think about all the power he has consolidated. He has clearly become the most important man in the Senate, and how has he done that?” Before Marcus could say anything, Josephus continued, “He has very discreetly eliminated his rivals, but not just any opponent. He only removed Senators with leadership qualities. All the true politicians he left alone. He has never viewed them as a threat, and why should he. He can deal with them. He understands their needs, get reelected and maintain the façade of power, their concern is always for themselves. And that is an easy monster to feed.

  “The way I see it, Kukulcan is not about to be a bystander in this destruction and rebuilding. He plans to oversee the whole process personally, but I’m still not quite sure how.” Josephus frowned, “He has the Senate, and he has been slowly chipping away at the Imperial branch, but I don’t see how he can go much further. He will never be able to beat Emperor Claudius. The Emperor is just too strong, and he is still young. He has many good years ahead.”

  Marcus watched his friend wrestle with the dilemma and decided to add a little fuel. “Josephus, during my initial meeting with Kukulcan he threatened me. He told me things would go very bad for my family and me, if I developed a cure for the virus. He said he had the Emperor’s son Flavious in his pocket, all he needed was for the Claudius to become ill and the Empire would be his.”


  “That’s it!” Josephus exclaimed. “Kukulcan must be planning his attack to coincide when the Emperor is most vulnerable to the virus. I’ll compare the date Baktun 13 with the Emperor’s age. I’ll bet it coincides with the time Claudius would be expected to get sick.”

  A big broad smile had formed on Marcus’s face, and he could see Josephus was completely baffled. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” Marcus said still grinning from ear to ear, “You see, we have the cure, and the Emperor won’t be getting the virus.” Then Marcus watched as Josephus look of concern vanished and was replaced with an equally large smile, and both men started laughing.

  Chapter 34

  - No check -

  Marcus met Dr. Singh and his team outside the Senatorial suite at four o’clock in the afternoon. “Dr. Singh please remember Dr. Vespus is to be treated as any other patient. She is aware that she and Dr. Woodman are the first two non-terminal people to be given the phage, but that is all she needs to know. If she asks any questions, I will answerer them. Is that clear?”

  “Yes sir. What about records?”

  “The only records we need to worry about are Dr. Woodman’s. Those and only those will be used to document the treatment. All the work on Dr. Vespus is being kept under an alias. No one ever needs to know she and Dr. Woodman were treated at the same time.” Marcus looked at the other members of the team. “Now if everyone is clear let’s make medical history. Smiles everybody.” Marcus turned and opened the door.

  The entourage Marcus led into the room appeared daunting. In addition to Dr. Singh were four of his team members each pushing a cart full of equipment. Marcus could tell from the expression on Cassandra’s face the spectacle was just a little unsettling. “Please don’t be concerned Cassandra. Most of this is merely noninvasive monitoring equipment. We need to track and record the destruction of the virus. As I told you earlier, the actual procedure is painless.”

  Marcus smiled then turned to Dr. Singh. “What do you think, should they be in the bed or just on the couch?”

  “It does not make much difference, Dr. Vespus. Either is fine, but they will need to remain still for several hours, any movement will interfere with the monitoring.”

  Cassandra squeezed James hand and looked back at Marcus, “We’ll just lie side by side on the bed. So, what do we need to do?”

  Dr. Singh walked to one of the carts and picked up two suits that looked as if they were made from chain mail. He then walked over to Cassandra and held the suit up to her shoulders as if he was a tailor. “This should fit nicely. If you would please remove your clothing and put this on.” He then checked the second suit against James frame and gave him the same instructions.

  When each returned from the bathroom, they did look like mid evil knights preparing for battle, but the chain mail they had dawned was not made of iron or low-grade steel. It was some type of a non-ferrous metal coated with a composite resin. Marcus and Dr. Singh helped the two to the bed, and once settled, the other four technicians descended like a cloud of locus. There were wires connected to several terminal outputs at various places on the suit. The wires were then fed to the myriad of instruments on the carts.

  Once satisfied that the electronic monitoring systems for both suits were functioning properly, a team member introduced as Dr. Magenta stepped forward and explained her job was to adjust the internal bio-scanners. She inserted tiny microtubules into Cassandra and James liver and kidneys. There was no pain associated with the insertion, but any movement would disrupt the placement, and in turn halt the procedure.

  Satisfied everything was connected properly and all the equipment was operating correctly, Dr. Magenta gave Dr. Singh the thumbs up. Dr. Singh then turned to Marcus, “Dr. Vespus. We are ready. Would you care to start the treatment?” He said as he held out two, quart containers, full of clear liquid.

  Marcus just said, “thank you” and took one of the containers, the one marked with James control code. “Are you absolutely certain this is the one for Dr. Woodman?” He queried Dr. Singh.

  “Yes sir, and this other one marked A is for Dr. Vespus. Both have been checked and rechecked.”

  Marcus nodded understanding, inserted the bottle into the administration pump and applied the transdermal application device at James neck, just above the carotid artery. Once in place he double checked the connection and turned on the pump. “And that is that, James. We should be detecting destroyed virus as it is cleaned from your blood in the liver at any moment.” He turned to Dr. Magenta, who was intently staring at the monitoring equipment on her cart. After only a couple of moments, she smiled and once again motioned thumbs up. “Excellent”. Marcus smiled and moved to Cassandra where the steps were repeated. A few moments later Dr. Magenta looked up from her monitor, and signaled Dr. Singh and Marcus the instrument was detecting destroyed virus. Marcus, nodded understanding, bent down and kissed Cassandra on the cheek. “You will be the first Roman in over sixty years to be virus free. Middle age will no longer be a death sentence.” He said smiling and squeezed her hand.

  The procedure took the rest of the afternoon and most of the night. During which time Cassandra and James lay side by side hands grasped and speaking to each other in hushed tones. For all appearances the two seemed to have become completely detached from the procedure and hospital. Although Cassandra and James were paying little attention, that was not the case with the researchers. They carefully monitored every minute physical detail during the phage administration, not because they expected any physical problems, but instead to clearly document for the literature the destruction and elimination of the virus.

  At just over an hour into the treatment, Marcus’s communicator announced his wife was calling. He quietly excused himself, walked to the far end of the suite, and connected the call. Irena’s beautiful face was contorted and streaked with tears. “What is it? Did something happen to one of the children?”

  Irena, still sobbing shook her head, “no”. She then wiped her eyes with a hanky, cleared her voice and said, “Marcus, Emperor Claudius has been killed in an accident. What are we going to do, the Empire is doomed?” She said and began weeping once again.

  Marcus felt like he was going to be sick. Was the Empire really in jeopardy. He decided it didn’t make much difference, if it was or was not. He had an experiment to finish, one even more important than who was Emperor. “Irena stop it. You are going to upset the children. Look, Emperors have been dying for thousands of years. The Empire will survive. We may have some difficult times ahead, but things will work out. I promise. Now I am in the middle of a very important experiment. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

  Marcus stood looking at the empty space left in the wake of Irena’s holo-image and wondered what he would do. It didn’t take long for him to realize exactly what he needed to do. Finish the experiment and document the results. With the Senate on recess, it would take Kukulcan maybe as much as a month to muster his full resources, and if Marcus moved fast, he could have the phage data documented, and sent out for peer review long before then. Confident his path was clearly defined, he resurrected his plastic smile and returned to his research team.

  Dr. Magenta was very carefully monitoring hepatic and renal functions when he approached, “Well doctor. Is the rate of viral elimination consistent with your computer modeling?”

  She turned and smiled at Marcus, “Not exactly, things seem to be progressing a little faster than the models would have predicted, but everything is still in the probability band. We should be finished in only a few more hours.”

  “Excellent,” he said, smiled and gave her a friendly pat on the back. Marcus then walked over to Cassandra. “Everything is going very well. We should be done here in a few hours, and you will be completely free of the virus. How are you feeling? Are you having any discomfort?”

  “No, I’m fine.” Cassandra answered, “This chain mail suit is not very comfortable, and I am sleepy, but that seems a small price to pay. Was that Irena who
called? Is everything okay?” She asked in a groggy voice.

  “Yes, it was. Everything is fine, nothing to worry about…” While Marcus was talking Josephus came into the suite, and Marcus quickly ended the conversation, because the expression on Josephus’s face was not fine. “Excuse me Cassandra, I’ll be right back, I need to speak with Josephus.”

  He grabbed Josephus and led him to the farthest corner of the suite. “Easy old friend. You look a bet haggled. What is up?”

  “By the gods have you not heard?”

  “Yes, I just spoke with Irena, but you look as if it wasn’t the Emperor that was killed, but the entire Empire.”

  “Marcus it just might have been. Kukulcan is moving fast.”

  Marcus shook his head and smiled with the same smile, he had been trained to use to calm a patient. He was certain it would also work to sooth the fears of a close friend. “There are almost three thousand years of fail safes built into the fabric of government to prevent someone like Kukulcan from seizing power. We must have some faith in the system.”

  Josephus took a deep breath and said, “I hope you are right.”

  “Of course, I am. Now what is going on?”

  “As Senate Majority Leader, Kukulcan has put out an emergency recall for all Senators. He issued a press release urging calm and said the full Senate would be back in session by late tomorrow, and ready to continue the business of the people.”

  “Certainly, that’s as expected,” Marcus said, then took Josephs shoulder and both turned to the wall, “What exactly happened to the Emperor. Irena said it was an accident. What kind of accident?”

  Josephus nodded, “Yes it was an accident, at least it was quick and painless.”

  “Josephus, what kind of accident?”

  “Oh. It appears containment was lost in the fusion generator on the Imperial yacht. Not much of the Imperial entourage left, just a few cells they hope to use for identification.”