Paul McKellips - Jericho 3

“Junior’s over there somewhere, you know,” Ruth said to Sea Bee who did not respond.

“ According to senior Israeli government officials, more than 200,000 rockets and missiles are pointed at Israel by enemy countries every day, ” the news continued.

“They’re gonna just blow that place up, aren’t they?” Ruth said.

“ While UN sanctions are starting to sting within the increasingly isolated Iranian regime, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs told a press briefing at the Pentagon today that he believes Iran is still a rational actor and will eventually get in line with the will of the world community. ”

“Who told him to say that?” Ruth spouted at the TV screen as CBS News went to a commercial break.

Sea Bee picked up the crossword puzzle book, gave it a look, and set it back down, right next to a bowl of ice milk on the metal TV tray.

Queen Alia International Airport

Amman, Jordan

The Royal Jordanian jetliner arriving from Lyon, France taxied to the terminal as US Navy Captain “Camp” Campbell and Billy Finn, dressed in 5.11 tactical khakis, desert boots and casual polos, stood in the exit queue on the plane.

The terminal emptied out into the customs bay where Camp and Finn exchanged a wad of Euros for Jordanian Dinars. They presented blue-jacket American tourist passports and told the customs official they were visiting for pleasure, planning a three-day trip to see Petra and other famous sites in Jordan.

They got into the backseat of the taxi for the 18- mile ride to the Four Seasons hotel in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. It was dusk, and campfires were blazing on both sides of the highway as people parked their cars, trucks and camels for evening picnics. Camp looked out the window and saw a blonde woman, maybe 25 years old, dressed in a pink shirt, and riding atop a camel as the owner made a few tourist dollars from a passing taxi.

“Finn, care for a camel ride before we get to the hotel?” Camp asked.

“I’m good,” Finn said shaking his head.

The taxi pulled through the wealthy Al Sweifiyah residential neighborhood at the outskirts of the Al Shmeisani financial district and into the Four Seasons pull-through driveway. The hotel was impressive, a crown jewel, sitting atop the hills overlooking Amman.

The bell captain put their two small backpacks on an enormous polished brass luggage cart and took them into the first security checkpoint. The bags were run through a security scanner. A walk-through metal detector greeted Camp and Finn followed by a full body pat down.

The Jordanians had grown intolerant of suicide bombers at the hotels and resorts that attracted international tourists of every language and culture.

With room keys in hand, Camp and Finn found the Square Bar just off the lobby galleria and grabbed two chairs away from other patrons.

Arabs, Americans, Asians, Europeans and Africans were all enjoying cocktails and snacks, in the middle of the bar, in the middle of the capital city, in the middle of a progressive and moderate Islamic country.

“So what’s the plan?” Finn asked as his Amstel Light was delivered.

Camp spoke in hushed and subdued tones.

“He said he was coming in from Islamabad through Istanbul.”

“Probably on a Pakistani passport,” Finn speculated.

“Didn’t ask. Wants us to rent a car from the hotel. Doesn’t want his credit card used or anything else to track him.”

“Is he staying here?”

“Don’t know. I assume so. This is where he said we’d meet tonight.”

“When?” Finn asked.

“Nine tonight. He said they have a spa, a steam sauna. Guess we’re going to strike up a casual conversation while we’re naked in the sauna.”

“And if you’re not alone?”

“Don’t know that either.”

“What about your Molly Bloom friend?”

“I told him to contact me tonight.”

“Does he know where we are?”

“Yes.”

LyonBio

Lyon, France

Raines watched the wall clock in her lab move closer to 8:00pm in Lyon. The days on the calendar seemed to be moving faster than the hands on the clock.

Raines thought back to her break-through moment at Fort Detrick. It was the adjuvants. Adjuvants helped her boost the immune response to the tularemia which ultimately prevented the monkeys from dying.

A vaccine adjuvant was a substance added to a vaccine to increase the body’s immune response to the toxin. Aluminum gels and aluminum salts were the only approved adjuvants licensed for use in the United States. Small amounts of aluminum helped stimulate a better immune response.

Raines needed to move beyond alum adjuvants and felt constrained by US rules. That’s when LyonBio moved to the forefront, as well as an adjuvant called squalene.

In early drug discovery, vaccines contained a weakened, or even dead, pathogen of the same disease the vaccine was supposed to prevent. The pathogen itself forced the body to fight off further infection and therefore became a natural immune booster. Modern vaccines used proteins, or protein fragments from the pathogen, which made them more pure, safer and quicker to produce.

During Raines’ first attempts at producing a new tularemia vaccine, the protein fragments she used — instead of weakened or dead complete pathogens — left too many holes missing from the whole bacteria. The missing parts caused an insufficient immune response.

The adjuvants provided the boost she needed. But she didn’t use aluminum. Dr. Groenwald recommended she try squalene.

Squalene was a natural organic compound found in both shark liver oil as well as plant-based oils like rice bran, wheat germ and olives. Squalene was one of the key components of the Mediterranean diet and was found naturally in animals, plants and humans. By using the oil-in-water emulsions of squalene, Raines would not only be able to boost the immune response, but she hoped she could produce four-times as many doses from the same amount of protein fragments.

Squalene was the greatest weapon in her biomedical arsenal. She prayed that it would be faster, more effective and much more powerful than bio-weapons, nuclear bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles, at least in the short-term.

In the temporary French laboratory that belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Raines, the only thing that stood between the mutual annihilation of two countries was olives, wheat germ and shark liver oil.

As two long-time enemies stared each other down with bio-weapons and the threat of nuclear destruction, one biomedical researcher prepared to out-maneuver them both with shark liver oil. It was all on Leslie Raines’ shoulders.

Four Seasons Hotel

Amman, Jordan

Camp got his locker key and was issued a large white, Turkish towel from the spa attendant and quickly got undressed. The hiss and whoosh sounds of the nearby steam sauna already felt good on Camp’s deep tension.

The sounds of another man in the locker room were distinct and clear. He wasn’t alone.

For a split second, Camp thought about the defensive moves he’d take if the man was in fact Omid, and if Omid had arranged this elaborate meeting scheme just to eliminate a man who knew too much.

No one emerged from the other aisle of lockers. No knife appeared from around the corner. Camp covered himself with the towel, walked over to the steam sauna and pulled on the glass door.

He stepped up to the tiled upper level of the sauna and moved to the corner of the intersecting walls. He was at the farthest point away from the only door, his only avenue of escape. And he was all alone.