Virus Hunters 3: A Medical Thriller

by Bobby Akart

  “What? Aw, shit. I forgot. I was supposed to after we left China and snuck into Nepal. Does that mean they might have been tracking us?”

  “Well, since you haven’t used your phone since we came back in, I think we’re good.” Kwon dug into his pocket and handed over his phone to Harper.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I’m still learning all this spy stuff.”

  “That’s what I’m here for. Call on my phone, but after you talk with him, let me explain what we need, okay?”

  “Roger that, admiral.”

  Kwon chuckled and shook his head. Harper called Joe’s cell. He didn’t answer, so she left him a message advising him that the number on his display was hers. She told him not to call back but to watch for her return call ten minutes later.

  Ten long minutes. Harper watched the seconds tick away on the Garmin. At the precise time, she dialed the call. The conversation between them was painful because they couldn’t speak openly. Neither used their names, and they couldn’t relay any kind of personal information. Harper promised to explain everything in a few hours, but for now, she desperately needed his help to arrange transportation of a package. She turned the phone over to Kwon.

  “Hi. Please write this down. Panther. Kilo. Tango. Mike. Then Mike. Golf. Echo. Nonstop.”

  Joe acknowledged his understanding and disconnected the call without another word. Kwon took a deep breath and handed the phone back to Harper. He’d used military phonetics to identify the two airport codes for the pickup and delivery destinations. Panther was the nickname used by Air Force pilots for the F-35A fighter jet.

  “Hold on to this in case he calls back,” he began. He pointed toward the windshield. “We’re about to lose our cover.”

  By the time they reached the gravel road leading into the mountains, the Roxor was awash in sunshine. Kwon and Harper remained on high alert for military vehicles, especially patrolling helicopters. They were barely twenty miles from the Nepal border, but soon they’d be moving at a snail’s pace due to the uneven terrain and to protect their precious cargo in the back seat.

  Periodically, Harper checked the Blackberry’s display for lost calls. The tall rock walls of the ridges, coupled with the mountains that surrounded them, caused their satellite cell signal to be sporadic.

  Mile after grueling mile, Kwon navigated the Roxor over the rocky surface. He was able to make better time on the return trip thanks to the full sun rising over the majestic mountains to their east.

  “I think we just crossed the border,” announced Harper. “We’re good, right?” She wanted to relax.

  “Not yet,” replied Kwon. “If the Chinese military wants us, they won’t care about a line on a map. We’re not safe until we turn onto the main road leading back to Kathmandu.”

  Whomp. Whomp. Whomp.

  “You had to go and say it,” said Harper, full of apprehension. She craned her neck to look up through the windshield. The thunderous thumping of the approaching helicopter’s rotors was especially loud in the bottom of the valley.

  “Roll down the window and look behind us,” ordered Kwon.

  Harper wasted no time cranking down the passenger window, and slowly stuck her head out to look into the skies of Tibet. Off in the distance, a Chinese WZ-10 helicopter was hovering, its stub wings pointing directly at them with four missiles mounted underneath.

  “Aw, shit, Kwon. They’re pointed right at us. It’s got missiles and machine guns mounted on the front. I mean, he’s just sitting there watching us.”

  Kwon glanced in the side-view mirror and then picked up the pace. The truck rocked back and forth as he gave up on trying to make the ride comfortable. He had to put some distance between them and the chopper.

  “He’s still there, but he’s not advancing,” said Harper.

  Kwon managed a slight smile. The WZ-10 was waiting on orders to cross the Nepal-China border or, in the alternative, permission to release one of its guided air-to-surface missiles.

  “I just need a little longer,” he muttered.

  He continued on the rocky trail, and then he saw an opportunity to change course. He wasn’t sure where the trail might lead, but he didn’t intend to stay on it long. He just needed to put the fingerlike ridge between them and the attack helicopter. He pulled between the rocks until they were too narrow to continue. Then he shouted to Harper, “Quick, out of the truck!”

  Harper didn’t question him. She flung open the door and ran away from the truck into the crevasse in front of them. While she ran away, Kwon opened the back door, wrapped his arms through the nylon straps of the body bag that contained Doggo, and with a grunt, lifted the frozen animal onto his back.

  He trudged along the trail until he saw Harper. “Keep going! Hurry!”

  Harper turned and ran. Kwon lumbered along behind her, his breathing becoming shallow and heavy. They didn’t have to run much farther.

  Seconds after they squeezed into a narrow split in the ridge, a thunderous explosion shook the ground beneath them. Rocks and debris rattled off the sides of the mountain, striking them on their heads and shoulders.

  Using advanced technology, the Chinese variant of the Hellfire heat-seeking missile had found its mark. In just seconds after it was fired, the Hellfire dropped to just six feet off the surface of the trail and followed the path taken by the Roxor. With the precision provided by artificial intelligence, it cut the ninety-degree left turn onto the trail and smashed the truck. The Roxor exploded into thousands of pieces and sent a ball of flames and black smoke into the sky.

  The WZ-10 pilot wasted no time in racing away from the scene after the kill shot was confirmed. However, all he’d managed to do was destroy the evidence of their incursion into China. Harper, Kwon, and Doggo survived the attack.

  Harper leaned her head back against the rocks, her hair matted with sweat. She tilted it toward Kwon, who still had a death grip on Doggo’s body bag. He stared upward, a look of determination on his face as mind and body refused to decompress.

  After a deep breath and an equally noticeable exhale, she asked, “Now can we go home?”

  Part III

  Now the Real Work Begins

  Do or do not.

  There is no try.

  ~ Yoda

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Office of Congressman Joe Mills

  Longworth House Office Building

  Washington, DC

  Joe disconnected his lengthy phone call with Harper and leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and thanked God for protecting her. Then, for the first time since she’d left for China, he allowed his emotions to spill out. Tears of joy and thankfulness filled his eyes as he thought of holding her again. He wished he could cancel his schedule and rush back to Atlanta. He wanted to be with her. Lay in bed all day. Binge-watch Netflix or Hulu. Or just talk.

  Unfortunately, neither of them was in a position to relax. The hard work was just beginning for Harper. She’d gathered all the facts from the far corners of the Earth. Now, with her team assembled in Atlanta, she had to put the puzzle together and solve the mystery. More importantly, she had to set the wheels of the pharmaceutical industry in motion.

  Some of the brightest minds in the world worked for the much-maligned Big Pharma, as the industry as a whole was called. As a politician, Joe understood why it was easy to hate the pharmaceutical industry. Prescription drug prices were absurdly high compared to the rest of the world. Executive salaries could be stomach-churning. Lobbyists treated Washington politicians like they owned them. By all media accounts, the biomedical industry had gotten greedy and overstepped.

  Joe, on the other hand, looked at this from a different perspective, one that was based largely on his experiences from his father’s death and how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the nation many years ago.

  Regardless of which side of the political spectrum a politician sat, the uncomfortable truth was that a vaccine was the only real hope for preventing a global pandemic. Furthermor
e, only the pharmaceutical industry had the capital, human workforce, and physical infrastructure to create one. There was a big difference between waiting four months for so-called Big Pharma to create a vaccine and four years if governmental agencies tried to undertake it. In that length of time, millions of lives could be lost and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent.

  To Joe, the cost of producing a vaccine, in other words, was priceless. If it meant that he had to hold his nose while pharmaceutical companies delivered the cures and vaccines upon which Americans relied to live, then so be it. The very economic logic employed to make rapid drug development possible in order to save lives also resulted in high drug prices and fueled the constant political outrage. They were, in actuality, two sides of the same coin.

  For whatever reason, whether it was the political positions he’d adopted over the years regarding Big Pharma and the relationship it had with government or his support of the CDC, Joe was being bombarded by the media as well as his political opponents during this new crisis.

  Sadly, Harper had been dragged into it unknowingly. While she was racing around China in search of patient zero, he found himself defending the political firestorm. He still had the support of his newfound friends courtesy of Herbert Brittain, the international financier and businessman. But they were also exerting intense pressure upon him to get his political house in order or, in the alternative, shift the narrative away from him.

  In short, Joe needed to find a bogeyman.

  The logical choice was the leader of the opposite political party, who was, at the moment, the President of the United States. The two had been sniping at each other for weeks, especially since that momentous night at the Brittains’ home.

  A second option, one that might garner him favor with independent voters, was to go on the offensive against China for yet again failing to disclose a deadly viral outbreak to the world. The U.S. had barely recovered economically from the COVID-19 pandemic. China had received a slap on the wrist thanks to their allies at the World Health Organization, and said slap was reduced in effectiveness as a result of a backroom, handshake deal with the current administration.

  Joe and his chief of staff had had an extensive conversation about this before Harper called that morning. As Andy put it, “You have an opportunity to stand tough against the Chinese while throwing shade on the president at the same time.”

  After Joe hung up with his wife, he was ready to go on the attack. Beijing had just released a statement on the outbreak. It was far different from their prior denials. Joe presumed Harper and Kwon’s success had forced the Communist Party’s hand. The two brave doctors deserved a medal for their efforts; however, it had been agreed their endeavor would have to forever be kept a secret from the public.

  Joe sent Andy a text asking him to schedule a 5:00 p.m. press conference. He wanted it to be carried live by the cable news networks while giving local news stations time to receive and edit the feed for their evening broadcasts.

  He sat at his desk, looked over to the picture of Harper smiling back at him, and winked to her. She was his life, and he’d take whatever political risk necessary to advance the great work she did on behalf of humanity.

  He reviewed the Communist state-run media reports of the last twenty-four hours. They talked about instituting measures to counteract the spread of the disease. They used direct attacks at the U.S. for allowing the Vegas virus, as their media called it, to infect the People’s Republic of China. That morning, during a speech before China’s elite Politburo, President Xi Jinping announced a people’s war to prevent an epidemic and vowed to seek sanctions against Washington for allowing this highly transmissible disease to infect China.

  Joe was tired of the propaganda. He knew that eventually, just as it did in 2021, the source of the deadly virus would be revealed. He wasn’t going to wait years to take the fight to Beijing. The time was now and it would be the first of several foreign policy statements he’d be making to show the American people he was more than just a congressman who inherited his seat from his deceased father. He’d earned his seat at the table.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Capitol Rotunda

  U.S. Capitol Building

  Washington, DC

  The U.S. Capitol Rotunda was one of the most recognizable locations in Washington. The large domed circular-shaped room was located in the center of the Capitol on the second floor. Standing one hundred eighty feet tall from floor to ceiling, the Rotunda was often used for ceremonial events. In recent years, as political grandstanding became commonplace, members of Congress made arrangements to stand beneath the beautifully painted canopy and surrounded by the walls holding historic works of art as well as a frescoed band depicting significant events in American history.

  Joe had taken part in press conferences in the Rotunda in the past, but usually as part of House leadership announcing a major legislative initiative. His press conference today was designed to elevate his stature politically while simultaneously taking a jab at the administration.

  In order to comply with House rules requiring a certain level of importance for reserving the Rotunda, Joe had his legislative staff quickly draft a House resolution to be submitted the next day. It’s sole purpose was to impose sanctions on China for their malfeasance in hiding the extent of the novel virus outbreak in their country. He knew the proposed resolution might not make it to the House floor for a vote, but it showed he was making an effort.

  After a few brief words in which he outlined how the Chinese had intentionally covered up this new virus, he agreed to take questions from the pool of Capitol Hill reporters.

  “Congressman Mills, how does the present situation differ from 2020?”

  “There is no difference, and therefore, their actions are unconscionable. China’s failure to share necessary information with our CDC representatives before they were expelled—or the World Health Organization, for that matter—prevented our nation, as well as others, from instituting containment protocols.”

  “What would you ask of the Beijing government?” another reporter asked.

  “First of all, I’d remind them of the historic pandemic their malfeasance caused just a decade ago. The way you deal with a pandemic is you practice transparency from the beginning. You share information as it becomes available, and you accept the assistance of the many experts from around the world. When it comes to infectious diseases, we shouldn’t allow geographical or political borders to stand in the way of the investigation.

  “Now, and in the future, China must be called upon to share the outbreak of a new disease with global research facilities so the world can start working on developing treatments and vaccines. China, as always seems to be the case, didn’t do that in the present crisis. This lack of transparency and failure to share best practices, infection numbers and statistics with global health experts prevents our country, and others, from taking the necessary precautions at the onset of an outbreak.”

  “Congressman, you’ve been openly critical of the World Health Organization as soon as the first cases were reported in Las Vegas. The president, on the other hand, has continuously praised their efforts. How do you reconcile this?”

  Joe nodded and paused to ensure the reporters were paying attention to his response. As he spoke, he could hear Andy Spangler’s Southern drawl in his ear saying, “It’s awwwn now.”

  “This administration has continuously allowed the Chinese to run roughshod over Americans, related to everything from the trade deficit, tariffs, and most importantly, our health.

  “For example, China has a virtual monopoly on the exporting of basic antibiotic chemicals to the United States. Our pharmaceutical companies have a genuine concern that Beijing could use their pharmaceutical leverage to block critical components and supplies from our U.S. drug companies. As an active provider of active pharmaceutical ingredients, especially the basic components for antibiotics, for example, a stoppage of the supply chain could result in millions of America
n lives lost. Despite my very public calls for President Taylor to address this situation, he’s done nothing.

  “Furthermore, the president has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the WHO in allowing China to skirt the sanctions placed on them after the COVID-19 pandemic. Even now, the Chinese have prevented any team of outside investigators to research the outbreak, and the WHO has failed to press the issue, an indication of China’s widespread influence and intimidation tactics.”

  “Congressman, a follow-up?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Sir, the president stated in an interview yesterday that the Chinese have included the European contingent assigned to their CDC to participate in the investigation. A team was sent to the northeastern section of the country as they searched for the zoonotic source of the disease. How do you respond?”

  “That’s nothing short of subterfuge on the part of Beijing, and the president was remiss not to challenge them. It’s the functional equivalent of a wild-goose chase, but rather, they’re in search of yaks. They were intentionally looking in the wrong end of the country, as the source of the outbreak was Tibet.”

  Damn! Joe swallowed hard as soon as he made the statement. This was not public knowledge, and even the administration was not aware of this fact. Unfortunately, the statement had been made and the press pool was now abuzz. Joe was certainly guaranteed the airtime he’d sought, but maybe not in the way he wanted it to go down. Several reporters were now trying to get his attention, including those who’d already taken a turn.

  “Congressman Mills!”

  “Congressman, have you been briefed to this effect?”

  “Sir, has there been a new development?”

  Joe raised his hands to calm down the press scrum that was pushing closer to his podium. The camera crews on scene forced their way past the reporters, holding their cameras above their shoulders to get a clear shot of Joe.