Allenby was the first agent to reach the body. He stared down at the Arab with disgust and gave the corpse a nudge with the toe of his shoe. There was no movement. Blood was spreading out on the concrete, and he moved back so the thick brown liquid didn’t soil his shoes.
“Secure the area,” he said to the leader of the SWAT team. He turned to his second in command. “Get the experts in here and let’s find out if we’ve got the right place. I want to know if the virus is here, and if it is, in what quantity.”
“Yes, sir,” the agent said.
Allenby let his eyes run over the glass-enclosed lab. The operation was definitely high-tech. The tables were polished steel, with solid tubular legs and one stainless-steel chair in each enclosure. The equipment was clean and well organized, with rows upon rows of tubes and beakers, culture dishes, and state-of-the-art centrifuges. Including the HEPA filters, millions of dollars in hardware.
Millions of dollars spent with one goal in mind. To kill innocent people.
Jim Allenby turned his back on the scene and walked out. His people could clean up. He would wait for the experts to determine whether they had the right lab, then he would make a phone call. And right now, one man sat next to his phone in L’Enfant Plaza, wondering when that call would come, and when it did, what would be the news.
58
He was expecting the call, but when it came, he hesitated before picking up the phone. The next few seconds were crucial. The country was embroiled in severe crisis, fighting a horrific disease with a new wonder drug, but would they still be wondering where the production facilities were or would they know? That was the question this call would answer. Slowly, he closed his hand on the phone and lifted it to his ear.
“Rothery,” he said. At least to him, his voice sounded weak.
“We got it,” Jim Allenby said. “We got the lab, J. D.”
Rothery let out a long breath. “Are you sure, Jim?” he asked.
“Positive. The CDC guys are all over it. They’ve identified traces of the virus and have confirmed that the setup is correct for viral production. They’ve quarantined the building and will be dismantling the operation and moving it to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick. They’ll put it in storage and keep it for evidence. Not that we’ll be pressing charges against Ismail Zehaden.”
“Why not?” Rothery asked.
“Zehaden showed up just as we were getting ready to go in.
He made a move for a container we thought may contain the virus. The SWAT team took him out.”
“He’s dead?”
“Very. Took at least ten bullets to the chest.”
“Okay, it shouldn’t be hard to sell that to the general public. This guy is ready to dump a ton of lethal virus on us, and when we catch him in the lab we shoot him. Pretty cut-and-dried.”
“Yeah,” Allenby said. “But we do have one small problem, J. D.”
Rothery stiffened. Jim Allenby didn’t play stupid games. Something was wrong. “What is it, Jim?”
“There’s no stockpile of virus in the lab. Whatever was manufactured here has been moved.”
“Christ Almighty,” Rothery said. “So whatever plan Zehaden had in mind could potentially still play out. He’s sure to have other members inside his cell that are responsible for getting the virus out into the community.”
“I would think so.”
“Jim, get every man and woman you have on this. Find out what’s been going on around the warehouse in the last couple of weeks. Have there been delivery trucks, unmarked half-tons, or vans pulling in or out? Was there more human activity than normal? Were they working odd hours?Whatever. Find out if anyone noticed anything. We need to find out where that virus went.”
“Yes, sir,” Allenby said. “I’ve got a full contingent of agents with me. We’re already on it.”
“Thanks, Jim,” Rothery said, hanging up the phone. He hit the intercom button and his receptionist came on the speakerphone. “Get me Barry Flath at the Food and Drug Administration.” He was getting impatient waiting for Tony Warner to get back to him with the results of his conversation with the FDA employee. Less than two minutes later, the phone buzzed.
“Barry Flath on line two, sir.”
“Barry,” Rothery said. “How are you this morning?”
“Well, thank you,” Flath said. “How can I help you, Mr. Rothery?”
“How are things going on approving Zancor?”
“I have a problem with that, Mr. Rothery. I’ve already discussed this with Tony Warner.”
“What problem?” Rothery asked. The ice in his voice could have frozen the fiber-optic cable that connected the two men.
“Well, there are side effects to the drug that concern me. I’m not going to get technical with you, sir, but they can be quite serious at times.”
“Bruce Andrews at Veritas has indicated that many of the drugs the FDA has approved have serious side effects. Is that true?”
“Well, yes, I suppose. But we measure things by evaluating the benefits of the drug as they relate to the downside. Zancor is, in my opinion, not worthy of FDA approval. The benefits don’t outweigh the corresponding side effects.”
“Listen to me very closely, Barry. Unless Zancor kills people outright, the benefits now far outweigh whatever the side effects are. This drug is necessary to stop the spread of a hemorrhagic virus that could be released in two days. I want the approval, Barry, and I want it today.”
“This is highly irregular, Mr. Rothery,” Flath said. “I’m not used to being threatened.”
“Well, Barry, get used to it. If you don’t approve Zancor and people start to die because the cure is tied up in red tape, I’ll make sure the entire world knows it was you who refused to okay the drug that could have stopped the virus in its tracks.You will be the most hated man in America, and a hero to al-Qaeda.”
“These threats are not necessary, Mr. Rothery.”
“Then what is?”
“I’m just concerned that once I approve this drug, it will become a household name and some people will suffer. I’m not kidding when I say there is a real downside to this medication. And if this hits the shelves, it will be widely used.”
“So just pull the approval down the road. You guys recall drugs all the time.”
“Recalls are not that simple, Mr. Rothery. “We need definitive proof that a drug is dangerous. And with the side effects that Zancor causes, that may be hard to prove.”
“Jesus, Barry, you’re all over the map. First you say it’s dangerous, now you tell me you won’t be able to prove it’s dangerous.”
“If you have the time, I can explain it to you, but it’s complicated. Zancor is an antiviral medicine, and patients only take the meds when they’re sick or have an infection. It’s like Cipro, the Bayer Pharmaceuticals antibacterial drug that was so effective against the anthrax scare of 2003. Three hundred million people have taken Cipro, but none of those users have taken the drug long-term. So does Cipro have a downside? We don’t think so, but without a test group who are on the meds for a long time, it’s difficult to say. And that’s the problem we’ll run into with Zancor, except we know it has some ugly side effects.”
“I appreciate the explanation, Mr. Flath, but I’m running out of time. I have a press conference set for just after nine o’clock this morning. That’s in about ten minutes. I need an answer right now.”
There was dead air on the phone for at least thirty seconds. Finally, Barry Flath said, “All right, Mr. Rothery, you’ve got your approval. I’ll have the paperwork completed and sent over to Veritas by noon today.”
“Thank you, Barry. And could you please send a copy of that approval to my office as well?”