Pandemic

Delorme reviewed the "To" and "From" rows. Both the sender and the receiver had the same domain, CairoPol.com, which he learned with a quick Internet search belonged to the Cairo Police Department. Delorme looked at the path and was surprised to see that the e-mail never reached its recipient. He wondered if the sender had mistyped the second letter, spelling "RWszir" instead of "RWazir." Whatever the reason, the e-mail had bounced back to "AEleish" as "undeliverable."

Savoring the contents like the last chapter of a favorite mystery, Delorme turned to the body of text. His pulse quickened with the very first word, "Vancouver." By the time he had read the brief series of cryptic notes about a virus carrier and a base in Somalia, he trembled with excitement.

Rand Delorme didn't know exactly what the message meant, but he was convinced beyond a doubt that he had just hit the motherlode of e-mail intercepts.

Smiling, he reached for the phone.

HARBOURVIEW HOTEL, VANCOUVER, CANADA

Four days of quarantine had passed without incident for Savard and Haldane. Noah had checked his temperature after waking, but he knew he hadn't spiked a fever. While he had always considered his chances slim, by day four he was certain he hadn't caught the Gansu Flu from the now-deceased Dr. Jake Maguchi. The realization that he was free of risk brought an unexpected wave of relief.

However, sitting at his laptop computer and staring at the camera clipped on top, butterflies still fluttered in his stomach. Two videoconferences awaited him. The second was with the President and the senior members of the National Security Council, but it was the first call that provoked the most anxious anticipation.

Noah felt sad and guilty about having to miss Chloe's birthday party, but in four introspective days of quarantine he had come to realize that there would likely be many missed milestones in his daughter's life. He had heard from friends, who alternated custody of the kids with ex-spouses on holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, that special occasions were the most difficult times to be separated from their children.

Noah had little doubt that many lonely times awaited him, but things had changed in the past days. The anger had drained from his system, replaced by resignation. Realizing how weary he was of fighting for his wife's affection, he felt ready to step away. He had begun to envision a life without Anna. He even considered where to live, realizing that it would have to be in the Glen Echo Heights district, so that school and friends would not be an issue for Chloe as she shuttled back and forth between homes.

A musical tone rang out from his computer. He clicked on the icon and the video window box popped open with his wife's and daughter's images framed inside. The video feed was of the low-resolution, jumpy home Internet-camera variety — a far cry from the high-quality videoconferences he had sat through over the past days — but Haldane didn't care. He was thrilled to see his daughter's face again.

Chloe sat on Anna's lap in a chair in their home office. A sea of multicolored, helium-filled balloons filled the backdrop and Chloe held a bouquet in her hand. Haldane was tickled to see Chloe wearing the Snow White princess dress he had ordered online for her.

"Happy birthday, Chlo!" he said.

"Daddy. Daddy! My balloons!" she said and tugged at the bouquet in her hand.

Haldane beamed. "And your dress. You look so pretty!"

"All my friends are princesses," Chloe said, referring to the theme of her party. Then her forehead furrowed into a concerned frown. "Daddy, what if someone else is Snow White?"

"You'll always be the most special Snow White. The fairest of them all." Haldane winked and then nodded solemnly. "But don't tell the others. It will be our secret, okay?"

"Secret!" Chloe bounced up and down on her mother's lap. "Daddy, are you going to play the hide-and-seek game with me and my friends?"

Haldane felt a little jab in his chest. "Chlo, I am too far away. I can't make the party. You knew that, didn't you?"

Chloe gave a little shrug that squeezed Haldane's heart. The gesture came straight out of her mother's chromosomes. "I guess."

Anna rubbed Chloe's shoulder. "Daddy will be home soon and then you'll have another party, remember?"

Chloe nodded, but the disappointment stuck to her face.

"Why don't you go downstairs and see if Nana needs help with your cake?" Anna suggested to her.

The mention of her cake was enough to wipe the dejection off Chloe's face. She hopped off Anna's lap and started to run out of the frame, but she turned back to Noah with a big wave. "Bye, Daddy!"

"Happy birthday, Chloe. I love you!" Haldane said and then she was gone.