Pandemic

Once their drinks arrived, Haldane took a long sip of his beer. Placebo or not, the relief was immediate. With the bottle still on his lips he viewed Gwen, appreciating her striking features for the first time. With shoulder-length sandy blond hair, full lips, and the most aqua-green eyes he had ever seen, she was prettier than he remembered. But the steely resolve behind those eyes reminded him of what had struck him the only other time they had met in person: her serene confidence. Considering the circumstances, he found her self-assuredness soothing.

Haldane had little doubt that she had been sizing him up, too, but her placid expression was undecipherable to him. "How are things in London?" she asked.

Haldane exhaled. "Sixty more suspect cases of ARCS were reported today."

"Where?"

"There are three distinct clusters, so far." Haldane described the geographical dissemination of the virus, which followed the oil company executive's tour of the Tower of London. "Most of the infected are tourists."

Savard drained the last of her drink. "Which will make it very difficult to contain the virus to London."

He shrugged. "That's probably a moot point."

Savard spun the glass in her hand, staring at the swirling ice cubes at the bottom. "Oh?"

"ARCS didn't get to London on its own."

She stopped swirling. "No?"

"Someone meant to bring it." He studied her face waiting for a reaction but saw none.

"What makes you so sure?" she asked.

"I don't think you would be here if that weren't the case," Haldane said. "Besides, I've seen enough to know that infections don't just pop up on the other side of the world without leaving a trail." He paused. "And then there's the highly suspicious index case who by all accounts went out of her way to spread her germs." He described what he knew of the mysterious woman from the Park Tower Plaza's elevator.

Savard put her glass down. She stared at Haldane with a look of calm concern. "I agree, Noah. Someone has weaponized the Gansu Flu."

"Who?"

She shook her head.

He pointed the neck of his bottle at her. "No theories?"

"There's always the usual suspects, though we have nothing linking it to them." Her bone-straight shoulders sagged a few inches. "Some sophisticated lab equipment disappeared in Africa, but we don't know if it's related."

"Africa?" Haldane grimaced. "How does ARCS get from China to Africa?"

"It's just conjecture," she said. "The bigger question is where will it go next?"

"Depends on who has their hands on it, right?" he said.

Savard leaned over the table and locked her eyes on his. "Noah, how difficult is it to grow this virus in a lab?"

"You're not asking about WHO or CDC or any other legitimate lab, are you?"

"No."

Haldane nodded. "It would be dead easy. It's a type of influenza. Once you had a sample, you could incubate it in eggs, chickens, primates, or…"

"Humans!" Gwen jumped in.

"No lab required." He nodded. "Just people crazy enough to deliberately infect themselves with the Gansu Flu."

Gwen's eyes narrowed. She spoke quietly but with a noticeable edge. "There are people willing to strap bombs to their chests and walk into theaters, malls, and daycares. How different is this?"

Haldane rubbed his eyes. "Viral suicide bombers, huh?"

"Carrying a load more dangerous than any conventional explosive."

"Much," Haldane agreed. He pointed at her empty glass. "Another?"

"I'm okay, but you go ahead."

Haldane waved the waiter over and ordered a second beer. Then he turned back to Gwen. "I don't know if I can be of much more help."

Her smooth brow creased into a skeptical frown.

"Gwen, I deal with emerging pathogens of the natural kind. I have no expertise…" He sighed and then grunted a laugh. "Expertise! Christ, I don't have the first clue in dealing with man-made spread. That's your department."

"Man-made or not, we're facing a potential pandemic here." Then she added firmly, "And for that, we need your help."

The waiter arrived with Haldane's second beer. It felt like ice in his hand, but this time the long sip brought no relief. "I'll do whatever I can," he said. "I'm just saying this is virgin territory for me."

"For all of us." The crow's-feet deepened at the comers of her large green eyes. Her lips parted into a wide smile. "But thank you."

Haldane laid the beer on the table. "So what's the next step?" he asked.

"We deal with each outbreak while we track down the source."

"Or sources," he said.

"Yeah."

"How?" he asked.

She swept her hand over the table. "A coordinated international police and intelligence effort."

"The CIA?"

She shrugged. "And Interpol, MI5, FBI, NSC, CDC, WHO, DHS…"

Haldane forced a grin. "Maybe the AAA?"

"If necessary." She laughed. "Whoever it takes." She bit her lower lip and eyed him intently. "Do you have any ideas?"

Haldane hunched his shoulders and grimaced. "For catching bioterrorists?"

"For dealing with this."

"A vaccine should be a top priority," he said.

"Which could take months, if not years."