McCarthy folded his arms and made them wait for his reply. ‘OK. You got five minutes.’
‘I need ten. Come on, Kate, Paul, let’s get back into the plane.’
‘So what the fuck is going on?’ Paul asked.
Harley had the demeanour of a middle manager who has been told to make half his team redundant. He rubbed his eyes, then reached under his seat and produced a newspaper. He handed it to Kate, who gasped at the
headline then scanned the text. ‘Fifty-nine dead already? The containment at the reservation failed?’
Harley avoided her eye.
She opened the paper. The headline across the inside spread read: KILLER FLU SWEEPS THROUGH LOS ANGELES. The first four pages were dominated by the story, accompanied by snapshots of a few of the victims:
a young mother in her twenties, an elderly black man, a muscular guy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt and, worst of all, a seven-year-old boy.
Kate gazed with horror at the picture of the boy. It was the kind of school photograph kids across the world pose for once a year, the school sending home glossy prints to the parents. Kate had almost identical portraits of Jack in her suitcase. The caption read: Tommy Walker, 7 – the youngest victim of Indian Flu.
Paul read aloud over her shoulder: ‘A doctor at Los Angeles County Hospital, who did not want to be named, told us that none of the antiviral drugs that are normally effective have worked in combating what he believes is a new, deadly strain of flu. “This is far worse than swine flu or any of the other epidemics that have broken out in recent years. We are at a loss how to treat it and are desperately seeking advice from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control.”’
Paul read on. ‘The number of people suffering from the disease is currently unknown, as few people report to hospital with flu, especially in poorer communities where people have no health insurance …’ Paul skimmed to the final paragraph. ‘If you develop flu symptoms, the advice is to stay at home, drink plenty of fluid, do not travel. Family members you have come into contact with should call the number below but should also stay at home, away from other people, even if they currently feel well, blah blah blah … Oh shit.’
Kate couldn’t tear her eyes away from the picture
of seven-year-old Tommy Walker. It hit her like the wave of heat that had almost floored her on the steps of the plane. She tried to imagine how Tommy’s mother must feel, if she was still alive. Suddenly, even more so than when she had learned of the bombing and Isaac’s death, this whole thing, the outbreak of this new strain of Watoto, all felt very real.
‘As I told you in London,’ Harley said, ‘the authorities here decided not to go public about the outbreak. They didn’t want a repeat of the fallout that followed the swine flu pandemic, when the WHO were accused of exaggerating the dangers so the sale of vaccines would soar, boosting profits for the drug companies. The allegations were rubbish, but it’s made some of the decision-makers cautious, if not paranoid. So they decided to keep it under wraps until they knew exactly what they were dealing with. They put together this team in secret, hoping some progress would be made before the situation escalated.’
‘But you can’t keep things like this quiet these days!’ said Paul. ‘Let me guess – it leaked online.’
‘That’s right. First of all, Twitter. A lot of people in LA tweeting about how sick they felt. Then a couple of days later, those people stop tweeting, and the friends and families start to leave messages mourning the deaths of their loved ones, apparently from the flu. And then a doctor at a hospital in LA ripped the whole thing open with a blog post about how this super-flu had started filling up the hospital, how he’d never seen anything like it – not realising it’s actually Watoto because no doctor in LA would ever have encountered Watoto. Of course that blog got picked up by people on Twitter and Facebook and it hit the national press. I only found out about it at the airport when you were saying goodbye to Jack. Fortunately, the message we received after the terrorist attack on the hotel has not been leaked.’
‘Isn’t the CDC supposed to be in charge in these situations?’ Kate looked up from the paper. Her entire body felt cold.
Harley nodded. ‘In the normal course of events, yes. But in this instance … well, I haven’t been entirely … forthcoming with you about how this is all set up.’
‘Why doesn’t that shock me?’ Paul said.
‘All right, all right.’ Harley glanced nervously out of the plane window. The three FBI agents were standing motionlessly by their cars. ‘Look, I shouldn’t really be telling you this, but we’re in a need-to-know situation here. Under normal circumstances, the Centers for Disease Control would take the lead in the event of an epidemic or pandemic within the United States, while the WHO would have global responsibility. But in cases where terrorism is—’
‘Terrorism? So you suspected terrorist involvement before the bombing?’ said Paul.
Irritated by Paul’s continued antagonism towards Harley, Kate flapped a hand at him to be quiet so they could hear what the MI6 man had to say.
Harley continued: ‘After the anthrax attacks in America in 2001, the US Government set up an agency called the BIT – Bioterror Investigative Team. Initially it was a small unit, working out of FBI headquarters, monitoring and investigating suspected bioterrorist groups and individuals. Then, after Clive Gaunt’s attempt to release the Pandora virus in London by infecting your son with it, the two governments decided it was time to join forces. The BIT became an international agency, charged with monitoring bioterrorism on a global basis. Whenever something out of the ordinary happens – like an exotic virus breaking out where it shouldn’t – the BIT steps in. I joined them not long afterwards, and because of our previous … involvement, it fell to me to enlist your help and escort you over here. Usually I’m based in London, but I’ll be staying on to help with intelligence.’
‘So you did suspect terrorist involvement before the bomb went off?’ Kate asked.
‘Like I said, if something out of the ordinary occurs, we investigate. And this case was unusual from the start. It made no sense, Watoto showing up on the reservation. No one who worked there had been to Africa. And even though hundreds of people pass in and out of the casino every day—’
‘Watoto has a short incubation period,’ Kate interrupted. ‘It’s highly unlikely someone who’d contracted the disease in Africa would make it all the way to a casino outside LA. They’d be far too sick by that time to want to go gambling.’
‘Exactly. Which made us suspect the source of the virus was closer to home. That’s why BIT took the lead on this. Obviously we’re working with the CDC, who will keep the public informed and try to contain the outbreak. But it was BIT who put together this team and set up the facilities where you’ll be working. Previously, the team were going to be based in LA, but in light of the media coverage we’ve decided to move the whole operation out here. Also, it hasn’t been announced yet but the airports in LA are going to be shut down tonight. No more domestic or international flights in or out of the city.’
‘That makes sense.’
‘And to prevent leaks to the media, only necessary personnel will be permitted anywhere near the lab. Which is why we can’t allow you in there, Paul.’
Before Paul could respond, there was a loud knock on the door of the plane. It opened and Agent McCarthy stuck his head through. ‘Time’s up.’
‘Give me one more minute,’ Harley said.
‘We’ve got to get moving.’
Kate stood up. ‘Let’s go. I’ve heard enough.’
Paul blinked up at her, surprised. ‘Kate?’
She gestured to the pictures in the newspaper. ‘I