Pandemic

Nantal consulted the notes written in flawless script on the pad in front of him. "Two of the cases showed up within twelve hours of the little girl. The other two just declared themselves this morning. They were guests at the same hotel. As soon as they developed fever and cough, they were immediately isolated."

"So we have a two-day gap between the initial cases and the last two. Those two must be the result of collateral spread from the first set," Haldane said, describing the phenomenon of secondary spread of the virus from one "generation" of victims to the next.

"I agree," Nantal said.

"And none of the hospital staff who treated the victims have shown signs of infection?" Haldane asked.

Nantal shook his head. "Thankfully, the hospitals have been very responsible in instituting early precautions, but several of the nurses and doctors are in quarantine."

"Good," Haldane said. "Five days should be long enough. What about the staff and guests at the hotel?"

"All of them are in quarantine," Nantal said.

"Voluntary?"

"We're talking about England, my friend," Nantal pointed out graciously. "I don't think they erect barbed-wire fences. But from what I have heard people are cooperating."

"They had better," Haldane said. "Are they getting word out to the public, Jean?"

"I don't yet have those details," Nantal said. "I hear that the media in London is spreading the news, but the authorities are concerned about the public's response. They are worried about causing wide-scale panic."

Haldane threw up his hands. "If they don't get on top of this thing now they'll see wide-scale panic, and with damn good reason!" Realizing he was "shooting the messenger," Haldane lowered his voice. "Jean, they need to immediately set up screening clinics like we did with SARS. It's the only hope of containment." He paused. "If that still even is a hope."

Nantal reached over and patted Haldane on the hand. "We helped contain it in Jiayuguan City, Noah. We can do the same in London."

Haldane looked down at the liver spots on his mentor's hand. The sight dejected him. Even the great Jean Nantal, a pillar in the struggle against nature gone awry, wasn't immune to the inevitability of biology. "We need to find that index case, Jean."

"You'll go to London then?"

Haldane closed his eyes and exhaled heavily. Then he nodded.

Nantal squeezed Noah's hand once before withdrawing his hand. He studied Haldane, hesitating, before he finally spoke. "Noah, I know you won't want to hear this now, but we have suspect cases elsewhere. Not confirmed yet microbiologically but clinically very suspicious."

"Outside of London?"

"Quite a ways." Nantal smiled halfheartedly. "Two people in Hong Kong have developed classic symptoms."

The sense of deja vu slammed Haldane like a punch. It was SARS all over again, but with a far more vicious bug. "We have to get out of here, Jean. Tonight!"

HEATHROW AIRPORT, LONDON, ENGLAND

The flights were a blur. Emotionally drained by the catastrophic developments and the subsequent phone call home to explain his further delay, Haldane dozed in and out of a restless nonrestorative sleep for much of the eighteen hours and three transfers it took to get them to Heathrow Airport in London.

The whole team had been rocked by the news of the spread, but Duncan McLeod seemed to take it hardest. "The son of a bitch has decided to visit my miserable island. I'm not going to take that lying down!" he said when he first heard the news. He had hardly spoken since.

At the Beijing Airport, the team had separated. Nantal, Streicher, and Yuen boarded a flight for Switzerland, while Haldane and McLeod headed directly to London.

Through the throngs of people standing at the arrival gate of Heathrow — which struck Haldane as a microcosm of cultural and global diversity — he spotted a thin woman holding up a placard reading: "Drs. Haldane and McLeod." He nudged McLeod with an elbow, and the two of them walked over to meet her.

"Doctors, I am Dr. Nancy Levine, the Assistant Director of the London Health Commission," she said without smiling as she met their handshakes. "I can explain further once we are on the road. Please follow me" She headed for the exit. Of average height but skinny to the point of bony, Levine had black hair tied in a tight ponytail, thin lips, and sunken brown eyes. She wore no makeup. Her humorless expression was consistent with her abrupt to-the-point disposition. Haldane suspected it long predated the current crisis.