Miss Carter was on her feet again. ‘If it please your honour, we don’t believe that this meets the special needs of the case, and that Miss Xiao Ling, along with all the other accused here today, should be held in quarantined custody until such time as the court determines a proper resolution.’
‘Judge, I hadn’t finished,’ Stern said.
The judge nodded. ‘Go ahead, Mr. Stern.’
‘Your honour, we also have in court today two senior members of the federal task force assembled to deal with the special circumstances alluded to. That is Dr. Margaret Campbell, Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County, and Felipe Mendez, emeritus professor of genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. They are prepared to approve a diet for Miss Xiao Ling that will guarantee her status as a noninfectious person during the period of her bail.’
‘Objection, your honour. We don’t believe that anyone can make that guarantee.’
Judge McKinley sighed, as if he were starting to lose interest. ‘Mr. Stern? Do you have this list?’
Stern looked to the back of the court and received a nod from Mendez. ‘We do, Your Honour.’
‘Let me see it.’ The judge held out his hand.
Mendez rose and made his way to the bench. Xiao Ling watched the proceedings from her table, bewildered in spite of a running commentary provided by the court translator. Stern said, ‘Your honour, this is Professor Mendez.’ Mendez handed the list to the court officer who stood up and handed it up to the judge.
The judge considered it for a very long couple of minutes. Then he looked down at Mendez. ‘This looks like a menu from a Chinese take-away, Professor,’ he said, to a sprinkling of laughter from around the court. ‘Making me damned hungry, too.’ He looked at his watch. ‘And we’re still a couple of hours away from lunch.’ More laughter. Then his smile quickly faded and he asked sharply, ‘Professor, how can you guarantee this diet is safe?’
Mendez said, ‘Your Honour, the list of foods you have there has been prepared overnight by the Department of Health after extensive interviews with the prisoners appearing before you today. All these foods have been safely consumed without activating the flu virus. They form the basis of the diet to which all the prisoners will be subject, both for their own safety and for the safety of the officers in whose custody they will be placed.’
Hrycyk leaned forward to whisper urgently in Miss Carter’s ear. She stood up quickly. ‘Judge, is the professor really saying he can guarantee that this diet is safe?’
McKinley looked at Mendez. ‘Well, professor? Are you?’
Mendez smiled easily. ‘I’d stake my reputation on it, your honour.’
McKinley raised an eyebrow and looked at Miss Carter. ‘Miss Carter?’
She glanced at Hrycyk, who was tight-lipped with anger. But all he could do was give a frustrated little shrug. She turned back to Judge McKinley. ‘Ummm…’
The judge said, ‘Miss Carter, if all you’re prepared to do is issue Buddhist chants, then I’m afraid I’m going to have to grant Mr. Stern his request.’ He glanced at his diary. ‘I’ll set the hearing for one week from today. Meantime, Miss Xiao Ling is released into the custody of her brother.’
Miss Carter said quickly, ‘Your honour, if you would be prepared to grant a recess in this case, that would give me time to prepare a proper rebuttal.’
McKinley swung an irritated look in her direction. ‘Miss Carter, you can rebut all you like at the hearing next week. I’ve made my decision.’ He banged his wooden hammer on its gavel. ‘Next!’
II
Li and Xiao Ling embraced in the entrance lobby outside the Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom. Her face was wet with tears. She was confused and emotional, but aware that somehow the court had released her into the custody of her brother. The sergeant took her gently by the arm and told them that she’d have to go back to the Holliday Unit first to change and pick up her things. He figured she’d be ready in about an hour. Stern had made a hasty departure, saying he had a case in Houston that afternoon, and that he would be in touch about preparing a brief for the hearing next week.
Hrycyk banged out of the court in a foul mood. He hissed at Margaret, ‘You people are putting the whole goddamned country at risk!’
Margaret shook her head calmly. ‘This country’s in far greater danger from people like you, Agent Hrycyk. You’re a dinosaur, did you know that? A relic from another age.’
‘Yeah, sure,’ he said sourly and moved off to engage in a whispered conference with Miss Carter.
Margaret turned to find Mendez standing looking at a flag mounted inside a glass case on the wall. It had green, white and red vertical stripes with the date 1824 crudely scrawled on the central white band. The bottom left of the band was defaced by a single bullet hole. ‘You know what this is, my dear?’ he said. ‘It’s the flag that was flying over the Alamo when John Wayne and Richard Widmark got killed.’
Margaret laughed. ‘Don’t you mean Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie?’
Mendez smiled and tugged at his white goatee. ‘I can only ever see the actors,’ he said. ‘Hollywood spoils history for us, don’t you think?’ He turned twinkling eyes on her.
Her smile faded. She said, ‘Felipe, you took a real risk in there. Putting your reputation on the line like that.’
He laughed out loud. ‘My dear, my reputation is already in tatters. I have absolutely nothing to lose.’
Li approached them and held out his hand to Mendez. ‘I don’t know how to thank you, Professor.’
‘Just take good care of her,’ Mendez said. ‘And make sure she sticks to that diet.’
Margaret had a sudden thought. ‘Shouldn’t we send a copy of the diet up to Fort Detrick for Steve Cardiff?’
Mendez said, ‘I’m way ahead of you, my dear. It’s already done.’
‘Dr. Campbell…Mr. Li…’ They turned at the sound of Agent Fuller’s voice. He was accompanied by Hrycyk and by a well-groomed Chinese man whom Margaret had seen hanging around outside the college when they first arrived. ‘I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Yi Fenghi. Mr. Yi works for Councilman Soong, an elected member of Houston City Council and the recognised spokesperson for the city’s Chinese community.’
Yi bowed stiffly and shook hands with them each in turn. He was a small man, no more that five-six or seven at the most. He had a clean-shaven, round face and dark hair brushed straight back from his forehead and fixed there with gel. He wore an Armani suit, a white silk shirt and a plain blue tie. ‘Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Campbell. Gentlemen.’ His English was correct but stilted.
‘What do you say we go take a seat over there?’ Fuller said, indicating a group of comfortable chairs by the window forming a square around a central table. And they moved away from the figures milling outside the courtroom and arranged themselves around the square. The window looked out on to a car park at the back, within the horseshoe shape of the college.
Fuller said, ‘Apparently yesterday’s raids have created a fair amount of panic in Chinatown.’
Yi cut in. ‘Councilman Soong is very anxious that the community work with the police and the INS to sort out any problems that may exist. He has already been approached by many community leaders concerned that there has been no communication with the authorities over this new clampdown. So he has called a meeting for this afternoon and hopes that representatives from your agencies will also attend. For information and advice.’
‘I think we should go,’ Fuller said. ‘We’re going to need the community on our side when this thing really breaks. What do you think, Li?’