Дэвид Балдаччи - The Escape

“And what was the mission?” asked Puller. “Something to do with chemical weapons in Syria, maybe?”

“No. We were provided intel about a cache of weaponized Ebola-Zaire in Africa.”

“Ebola-Zaire?” said Knox.

Johnson nodded. “There are four types of Ebola virus. Ebola-Reston is one. There was a lot of hoopla about that because it involved monkeys and was in a heavily populated area, Reston, Virginia, hence the name. But Ebola-Reston is nonpathogenic to humans. Ebola-Zaire, on the other hand, is deadly to human beings.”

“You said weaponized,” pointed out Puller.

“We believe it’s been aerosolized. Meaning it can be distributed through the air. Up to this point we always believed that all strains of Ebola required hands-on exposure, exchange of fluids, that sort of thing. That made the virus, while still extremely dangerous, manageable under most circumstances. It was rumored that the Russians had aerosolized Ebola-Zaire some years ago, but the trail on that petered out. We thought it a rumor. Until we received this latest piece of intelligence.”

“And Reynolds was running your end of the mission? Was she also the source of the intel?”

“That is not clear,” said Johnson, with a very troubled look. “But she may well have been. She and Aust went way back. It was her idea to call on him to track this cache down. He was successful.” He paused. “With a disclaimer attached to that.”

“I thought there might be,” said Puller. “What disclaimer?”

“He didn’t believe he got it all. At least that’s what he confided to Donovan and Donovan in turn told me.”

“Why didn’t he get all of it?” asked Knox.

“Because he believed that someone had been there ahead of him and taken a portion of the supply.”

Knox and Puller exchanged glances. She said, “So Reynolds piggybacked on Aust to get what she needed? He was probably feeding her daily reports. He gets the location of the stuff nailed down and tells her. And she has her team show up first to take some of it”

Johnson held up a hand. “I’m not speculating on that point. But we don’t have time to worry about that. We have a major problem if that cache is going to be used.”

“I have no doubt it’s going to be used,” said Puller. “And I would be seriously surprised if it weren’t going to be used against us.”

“Us?” said Johnson. “You mean in this country?”

“I mean in this area.”

“What do you base that on?” Johnson demanded.

“On the fact that Susan Reynolds is here.”

Knox said, “Aerosolized Ebola-Zaire. What sort of casualties are we looking at with the amount of virus they might have?”

“Catastrophic in a high-population area like this. If one drop of virus-infected liquid enters the body, it’s enough to kill. There is no cure, and really no widespread approved vaccine for humans. As you may know, there’s been another outbreak of it in West Africa. Many have died and they have yet to contain it.

“So people exposed to it will be contagious?” asked Knox.

“Of course. But the one good thing about Ebola is that, unlike other diseases, it’s only after you develop symptoms, meaning you are sick and feverish, that you become contagious. However, it is damn difficult to diagnose Ebola because its symptoms mirror so many other types of diseases. Ironically, the best diagnostic tool is one’s passport. If you’d been to areas in Africa that have had outbreaks of Ebola, that helps to narrow the diagnostic possibilities.”

“But if it happens here?” said Puller. “People could just think they have the flu. And ten days or two weeks pass and they’re contagious and they spread it to a lot of other people without even knowing they have Ebola.”

“It is quite an unprecedented possibility,” said Johnson glumly.

“How much of the stuff did Aust think had been taken before he got to the cache?”

“Three five-foot-tall canisters. Now, that may not sound like a lot, but with the aerosolized Ebola a little goes a long way. And infection through the lungs, which are chock-full of blood vessels that travel the length of the body, is quite rapid.”

“What happened to the canisters that he did recover?” asked Puller.

“They were transported to a highly secure facility equipped for dealing with bioterrorism elements. They are scheduled to be thoroughly examined and then they will be destroyed.”

“So the examination hasn’t started yet?”

“No. These things take time to prep, to make sure it’s done safely. The examination may lead us back to who engineered the weapon. If so, I would imagine severe consequences will follow.”

“Could it be the Russians?” asked Knox. “You seem to think that’s where this stuff came from.”

“It might very well be. And with the state of the world right now, and Russia seemingly raising its imperialistic head again, things might get a little unstable.”

“I think they’re pretty unstable right now,” interjected Puller.

“So would those infected in that way be able to infect others by just breathing on them, or will it require a transfer of bodily fluids, or touching someone else?” asked Knox.

“I can’t answer that definitively, because we’ve never been faced with something like this. I have our people here working on it, but don’t expect a fast answer. Scientists aren’t wired that way. But, worst case, I think we have to assume that those infected through the air can in turn infect others the same way: a cough, a sneeze. Which means a serious multiplier effect. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. It would be like a Hollywood disaster movie.”

“So canisters that have been aerosolized, like oxygen containers?” said Puller.

Johnson nodded. “Yes. I’ve seen photos of the ones that Aust found. That’s exactly what they look like. And you think they might be deployed somewhere in this area?”

“D.C. is the capital. If you want to make a big statement, where else would you do it?” said Puller.

“But where, Puller?” asked Knox. “There are too many targets to cover.”

Johnson said, “Now, many obvious targets have air monitors, which will detect numerous airborne pathogens and also any deviation in the typical makeup of the air moving through a facility. Many significant military installations have them. The White House, DHS facilities – the list goes on and on. If a deviation or specific pathogen is detected, the air system is immediately shut down and a whole host of procedures will kick in, including possible evacuation or even quarantine, depending on what exactly is in the air.”

“Well, that’s some comfort,” said Knox.

“But again, I’m not sure if many of the monitors deployed now could pick up aerosolized Ebola, since we were not aware such a biological agent existed.”

“Okay, there goes the comfort factor right out the window,” said Knox.

Puller’s phone rang. It was his brother. He moved to a corner of the room and filled Robert in on what Johnson had told them.

“Weaponized Ebola disseminated through the air is some serious shit, John.”

“So I gather. Our problem is we know it’s out there. We just don’t know where the target is. And even if we narrow it down to this area – and I could be totally wrong on that – it’s still a lot of options. And I don’t think they want to go public with this because of the panic.”

“Well, I can’t say I can blame them on that,” replied Robert. “But I have been giving it some thought. And I’ve made some phone calls.”

“You made phone calls?” said a surprised Puller.

“Yeah. Pretending I was you. We sound alike, bro, in case you hadn’t noticed. Anyway, I got hold of one guy at Leavenworth, a Command Sergeant Major Tim McCutcheon. He said he had spoken to you before.”