"Mr. President, do you know what the Ebola virus is?"
"Africa," Jack said. "Some jungle disease, right? Deadly as hell. I saw a movie—"
"Pretty close," Alexandre confirmed. "It's a negative-strand RNA virus. We don't know where it lives—I mean, we know the place but not the host. That's the animal it lives in," he explained. "And it's a killer, sir. The crude mortality rate is eighty percent."
"Okay," POTUS said, still standing. "Go on."
"It's here now."
"Where?"
"At last count we had five cases at Hopkins. More than twenty countrywide—that number is about three hours old now. Can I use the phone?"
GUS LORENZ WAS alone in his office when the phone rang.
"It's Dr. Alexandre again."
"Yes, Alex?"
"Gus, what's the count now?"
"Sixty-seven," the speakerphone replied. Alex was leaning over it.
"Where?"
"Mainly big cities. The reports are coming in mostly from major medical centers. Boston, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, one in Richmond, seven right here in Atlanta, three in Orlando…" They could hear a door open and a paper being handled. "Eighty-nine, Alex. They're still coming in."
"Has USAMRIID put the alert out yet?"
"I expect that within the hour. They are having a meeting to determine—"
"Gus, I am in the White House right now. The President is here with me. I want you to tell him what you think," Alexandre commanded, speaking like an Army colonel again.
"What—how did you—Alex, it's not sure yet."
"Either you say it or I will. Better that you do."
"Mr. President?" It was Ellen Sumter at the side door. "I have a General Pickett on the phone for you, sir. He says it's most urgent."
"Tell him to stand by."
"John's good, but he's a little conservative," Alex observed. "Gus, talk to us!"
"Sir, Mr. President, this appears to be something other than a natural event. It looks very much like a deliberate act."
"Biological warfare?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, Mr. President. Our data isn't yet complete enough for a real conclusion, but naturally occurring epidemics don't start this way, not all over the place."
"Mrs. Sumter, can you put the general on this line?"
"Yes, sir."
"Mr. President?" a new voice asked.
"General, I have a Dr. Lorenz on the line, and next to me is Dr. Alexandre from up the road at Hopkins."
"Hi, Alex."
"Hi, John," Alexandre responded.
"Then you know."
"How confident are you in this estimate?" SWORDSMAN asked.
"We have at least ten focal centers. A disease doesn't get around like that by itself. The data is still coming in, sir. All these cases appearing in twenty-four hours, it's no accident, and it's no natural process. You have Alex there to explain things further. He used to work for me. He's pretty good," Pickett told his commander-in-chief.
"Dr. Lorenz, you concur in this?"
"Yes, Mr. President."
"Jesus." Jack looked at his wife. "What's next?"
"Sir, we have some options," Pickett replied. "I need to get down to see you."
Ryan turned: "Andrea!"
"Yes, sir?"
"Get a chopper up to Fort Detrick, right now!"
"Yes, Mr. President."
"I'll be waiting, General. Dr. Lorenz, thank you. Anything else I need to know now?"
"Dr. Alexandre can handle that."
"Very well, I will put Mrs. Sumter on the phone to give you the direct lines to this office." Jack walked to the door. "Get on and give them what they need. Then get Arnie and Ben in here."
"Yes, Mr. President." Jack walked back to sit on the edge of his desk. He was silent for a moment. In a way, he was now grateful for the failed attack on his daughter. That had hit him with a dreadful immediacy. This one as yet had not, and though intellectually he knew that the ramifications were far worse, he didn't need the emotional impact for the time being.
"What do I need to know?"
"Most of the important stuff we can't tell you yet. The issues are technical," Alex explained. "How easily the disease spreads, all we have now is anecdotal and unreliable. That's the key issue. If it spreads easily by aerosol—"
"What's that?" POTUS asked.
"Spray, little droplets, like a cough or a sneeze. If it spreads that way, we're in very deep trouble."
"It's not supposed to," Cathy objected. "Jack, this bug is very delicate. It doesn't last in the open for more than— what, Alex, a few seconds?"
"That's the theory, but some strains are more robust than others. Even if it can survive just a few minutes in the open—that's pretty damned bad. If this is a strain we call Mayinga, well, we just don't know how robust it is. But it goes farther than that. Once a person gets it, then they take it home. A house is a pretty benign environment for pathogens. We have heating and air-conditioning to make it that way, and family members are in close contact. They hug. They kiss. They make love. And once somebody has it in their system, they're always pumping the things out."
"Things?"
"Virus particles, Mr. President. The size of these things is measured in microns. They're far smaller than dust particles, smaller than anything you can see."
"You used to work at Detrick?"
"Yes, sir, I was a colonel, head of pathogens. I retired, and Hopkins hired me."
"So you have an idea what General Pickett's plans are, the options, I mean?"
"Yes, sir. That stuff is reevaluated at least once a year. I've sat in on the committee that draws the plans up."
"Sit down, Doctor. I want to hear this."
THE MARITIME PRE-POSITION Ships had just gotten back from an exercise, and what little maintenance had been required was already done. On receiving orders from CIN-, they initiated engine-start procedures, which mainly meant warming up the fuel and lubricating oils. To the north, the cruiser Anzio, plus destroyers Kidd and O'Bannon, got orders of their own and turned west for a projected rendezvous point. The senior officer present was the skipper of the Aegis cruiser, who wondered how the hell he was supposed to get those fat merchants into the Persian Gulf without air cover, if it came to that. The United States Navy didn't go anywhere without air cover, and the nearest carrier was Ike, 3,000 miles away, with Malaya in the way. On the other hand, it wasn't all that bad to be a mere captain in command of a task force without an admiral to look over his shoulder.
The first of the MPS ships to sortie from the large anchorage was USNS Bob Hope, a newly built military-type roll-on/roll-off transport displacing close to 80,000 tons, and carrying 952 vehicles. Her civilian crew had a little tradition for their movements. Oversized speakers blared "Thanks for the Memories" at the naval base as she passed by, just after midnight, followed by four of her sisters. Aboard, they had the full vehicle complement for a reinforced heavy brigade. Passing the reef-marked entrance, the handles were pushed down on the enunciators, demanding twenty-six knots of the big Colt-Pielstick diesels.
THEY WAITED FOR Goodley and van Damm to come in, and then it took ten minutes to bring them up to speed on what was going on. By this time, the enormity of it was sinking into the President's consciousness, and he had to struggle with emotions now in addition to intellect. He noted that Cathy, though she had to be as horrified as he was, was taking everything calmly, at least outwardly so. Well, it was her field, wasn't it?
"I didn't think Ebola could survive outside a jungle," Goodley said.
"It can't, at least not long-term, or it would have traveled around the world by now."
"It kills too fast for that," SURGEON objected.