The room that had been pressed into service for the meeting was a bit small for the twenty or so people who attended. Neef found it unpleasantly hot and stuffy.
“Some of you know of course, about the latest development but others may not. There has been another case; an electrician on the staff of St George’s. We think we know how this man was affected and because of this, it has become untenable to propose contamination at a common primary source. We must in fact, consider that the carcinogenic compound has been still present on or in the patients when admitted to hospital. A most interesting and unfortunately alarming alternative has been proposed by Dr Max Pereira of Menogen Research who is currently collaborating with staff at St George’s in a Gene Therapy trial on cancer patients. Dr Pereira suggests that we should be looking for a brand new virus as the agent responsible for our outbreak.”
There was a sudden hubbub in the room as people hearing the idea for the first time, made all the objections that had been voiced before. Lennon held up his hands for calm.
“I know, ladies and gentlemen, this is heresy but the suggestion has been made by someone I understand is an expert in such matters so it is only right that we consider it.”
Another hubbub broke out.
“In the interim, I have issued an alert to hospitals, asking them to isolate all suspected viral pneumonias and to notify Public Health so that contacts can be traced and advised.”
“Don’t you think this is all a little bit premature?” asked a man Neef knew to be a member of the Regional Health Board. “If you are proposing the existence of a virus completely unknown to medical science, don’t you think you should wait until you have at least a shred of evidence to support it?”
There was murmured agreement for his comment. “All you apparently have to go on is the word of this, Pereira man.”
“I believe Dr Pereira is with us,” said Lennon, seeing the small swarthy man standing beside Neef.
“I’m here,” said Pereira.
“Perhaps you’d care to comment?” asked Lennon.
“Do you know how long it took the medical establishment to acknowledge the existence of the AIDS virus?” Pereira asked.
“Surely you’re not suggesting that this is anything like...”
“Who’s to say?” interrupted Pereira. “I think a few precautions are just common sense. Don’t you?”
“There’s a world of difference between taking precautions against a known risk and causing widespread public panic over something you’ve just made up!” retorted the Health Board member. Neef noticed the man had gone red in the face. Pereira had an unsurpassed talent for rubbing people up the wrong way, he conceded.
“I’m against anything that causes unnecessary public alarm,” said the health board official.
There were murmurs of agreement all round.
“Yeah, yeah, the mushroom approach to the public,” said Pereira.
“What do mushrooms have to do...”
“Keep ’em in the dark and feed ’em bullshit.”
“Gentlemen, please,” interrupted Lennon. “We all want to see this thing resolved as soon as possible. Bickering among ourselves is not going to help. Is Dr Farro-Jones here?” he asked.
He wasn’t.
“The reason I asked, ladies and gentlemen, is because Dr Farro-Jones has been conducting an electron microscope search on lung tissue samples taken from Charles Morse in an effort to detect the presence of any such new virus. He has been working all day on it. I hoped he might be here with some news but apparently not. In the meantime I’ll furnish you with details of the new case and his relationship to the old ones. I apologise for the hastily rigged screen. Copies of the summary will be available as you leave.”
As the first overhead appeared on the screen, Pereira whispered to Neef, “I’m off, I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
Neef nodded. He saw that as Pereira opened the door to leave, David Farro-Jones entered. The two had a brief whispered word then Pereira left and Farro-Jones sidled quietly into the room. He joined Neef to watch the succession of overheads.
Neef now felt that he knew them off by heart. He looked away for a moment but then caught sight of the expression on David Farro-Jones’ face. He had obviously seen something up on the screen that had shocked him to the core.
“Are you all right?” whispered Neef.
Farro-Jones nodded without taking his eyes off the screen.
Thirteen
Lennon finished his up-date on the persons affected and asked if there were any questions or comments.
“It does look uncannily like the work of an infectious agent,” said Alan Brooks, Dean of the Medical School. The ensuing silence suggested this was not a popular comment.
“But there’s no established link between the first and second cases,” said Lennon, catching the mood of the meeting. “That’s absolutely vital and we looked hard enough, believe me. We’re pretty sure that these two girls never met.”
No one else seemed keen to promote the infectious agent argument.
“Neef said, “Dr Farro-Jones has arrived.”
Lennon turned up the lights again and turned away from the screen. “Ah, Doctor, any news?”
Farro-Jones said distantly, “I’ve spent the entire day examining uranyl acetate preps of lung secretions from Charles Morse. I found no evidence at all of any new virus being present.”
The room was filled with general murmurs of relief. Neef did not join them; he was wondering what Farro-Jones had seen earlier. He still looked preoccupied.
Lennon said, “I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I am mightily relieved to hear it, Doctor. I’m due to brief the Press after this meeting and my biggest fear was the prospect of having to announce the birth of a nightmare in the form of yet another new virus for humanity to contend with.”
There was laughter in the room as the mood relaxed.
“My findings of course, are not absolutely conclusive,” said Farro-Jones. “There’s always the possibility when looking for something entirely new that the staining conditions were not quite right or some step in the preparation wasn’t quite what it should have been.”
Neef found Farro-Jones’ rider a little puzzling. He hadn’t liked he idea of a new virus in the first place. Why was he being so guarded abut a negative finding?
“Quite so, Doctor,” said Lennon, “But I’m sure your findings are correct. We’re most grateful to you.”
“Did you find anything else in the samples?” asked Neef. He was irked at how keen the meeting had been to dismiss the virus theory.
“Like what?” asked Farro-Jones.
“Like fibrous or particulate matter.”
“A good point,” said Lennon, nodding his head.
“No, nothing,” replied Farro-Jones.”
“Nothing that looked like it might have been the carcinogen?”
“No.”
“Then we’re no further forward.”
“I’m afraid not,” agreed Farro-Jones.
“Do you have a point to make, Dr Neef?” asked Lennon.
“I’m sure we’re all relieved that there was no sign of a new virus but on the other hand there was equally no sign of any particulate matter either. We’re no nearer knowing what gave the girls cancer so we can’t afford to dismiss either notion completely. It’s essential that we keep an open mind.”
“As long as keeping an open mind doesn’t mean coming out with scare stories to the Press!” said the regional Board member who had had the run-in with Pereira. Neef now knew him to be Peter Baroda. He had asked one of the men standing beside him after Pereira left. It sounded as if Baroda had plenty of support in the room.