Pandemic

Desperate to avoid thoughts of the train wreck of his personal life, he lay in the warm strange bed and focused his mind on viruses. In spite of their oblivious malevolence, they held such fascination for him. They lived only to reproduce, and yet, they didn't really live at all. Nature's lethal half-measure, viruses were just floating bags of parasitic DNA or RNA, which required the complex machinery of a living cell to reproduce.

In his mind's eye, he imagined the electron-microscope-enhanced images of influenza crystals — perfect spheres surrounded by two proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, which stuck out of its surface like a ring of open umbrellas. Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, which help bind the virus to its potential target, were also influenza's fingerprints, allowing scientists to classify strains of the virus by their H and N type. He had heard the previous day from the WHO Influenza Surveillance Lab that the Gansu strain had been identified as H2N2, the same subtype that accounted for the Asian Flu of 1957. But he knew that ARCS was not the Asian Flu. After intermixing with other species' viruses new proteins had hopped onto its surface and new genes had crawled into its RNA creating a superbug that had found its way from the farms of China to the streets of London and Hong Kong. And from there who knew where this minute monster might hit next?

Haldane glanced at the clock. It read 6:32 A.M. Time to move. He dragged himself into the shower. He was changed and in the lobby by 6:45. Duncan McLeod greeted him by the elevator with a steaming foam cup. "Here's a double-shot espresso for you," McLeod said. "You'll need this before Princess Charming shows up."

No sooner had he said it than Dr. Nancy Levine strode across the lobby toward them in a dour gray pantsuit. Her hair was in another tight bun, which served to accentuate the sharp ridges of her cheekbones and chin.

"Speak of the devil," McLeod whispered to Haldane. "Literally."

Haldane nodded to her. "Morning, Dr. Levine."

"Good morning, Doctors," she said crisply. The creases of her frown deepened. "We had best get a move on it There have been more cases."

Levine started to walk, but Haldane stood his ground. "How many more?" he asked.

Levine stopped and turned to him. "Eight people inside the hotel."

"And outside the hotel?" Haldane asked.

"There are seven more suspect cases in Greater London," she said. "All of them are traceable directly or indirectly back to a tour of the Tower of London where they had contact with the first casualty, an American oil company executive named Fletcher."

"Fucking marvelous!" McLeod hollered in the middle of the lobby. "Some brilliant Yank takes a walking tour with walking pneumonia."

Haldane ignored his colleague. "How geographically spread is this new cluster?"

"A family in North London accounts for four of the cases," she said. "The other three are Dutch tourists staying in a hotel in the city center."

"And their contacts are quarantined?"

"Of course," Levine said coldly. "To the extent that is possible. The victims are tourists. Therefore, they have been visiting all over London."

Haldane digested the information without comment. After they had loaded into the Land Rover and headed out into the morning traffic, Haldane summarized. "So we have at least three distinct clusters of infections in the city now. Most of it among travelers. What sort of screening is going on at the access points like airports and train stations?"

Levine glanced at Haldane with an unfamiliar expression. It bordered on respect. "We immediately instituted our SARS screening plan at the airport. We have used the same questionnaire regarding fever and cough. And we are screening temperatures," she said. "We have tried a similar approach at the train stations. However, we have far less control of the traffic there."

"How many of the guests at Park Tower Plaza have left the country in the last five days?" Haldane asked.

"Several," Levine said. "We have been going through the hotel's checkout lists and the flight logs, contacting affected travelers. So far, no one we have reached has developed symptoms. We have recommended home quarantine to all of them for a minimum of five days."

"Good." Haldane nodded. "There have been no cases reported outside London?"

"No." Then Levine added, "Not yet."

The fatalistic comment brought a lull to the conversation. Haldane stared out the window at downtown London. There were cars and people on the sidewalk, but it looked very different from the bustle he remembered. The sight was eerily reminiscent of the streets of Jiayuguan City. He knew it wouldn't be long before faces everywhere in London were hidden behind surgical masks.