‘I’d love to.’
‘You’ll have to gown up.’
Steven was shown to a cloakroom outside the lab suite where he changed into green surgical scrubs and put plastic covers over his shoes. He covered his hair with a surgical hood and adjusted his mask so that his mouth and nose were properly covered. He met Leila outside.
‘We will not be going into the virus lab itself,’ she explained, ‘but even so, I don’t want to risk introducing any contaminants from the outside world. As you know, if bacteria were to get into the egg culture room we would lose everything and there would be no time to start again. We all gown up, even for the outer rooms.’
Leila placed her key in the electronic lock outside the lab and entered a five digit code: the mechanism buzzed and the door clicked open. Leila nodded to the technicians who were working inside and led the way over to a long, rectangular window in the far wall. ‘That’s where the race is being run,’ she said.
Steven looked through the glass into an adjoining lab where row upon row of hens’ eggs were incubating under dull red lights.
‘The seed virus for a vaccine against the Cambodia 5 strain,’ said Leila. ‘It’s now just a question as to whether enough will grow up in time to make the schedule for commercial production.’
They both watched as a technician working inside the egg lab examined the eggs one at a time by holding them over a simple box with a light source inside it. The Technician, who was wearing a full biohazard suit, acknowledged Leila’s presence at the window and angled the box so that she and Steven could see what he could see. The light shining through the thin shell showed up the developing embryo inside. The extra heat from the light bulb made it move. Steven thought it looked like an ultra sound scan of a human foetus.
‘We inject the virus into the amniotic cavity,’ said Leila. ‘And let nature take its course.’
‘Can you monitor viral growth?’ asked Steven.
‘We occasionally withdraw amniotic fluid from a single egg to check the titre,’ said Leila. ‘One egg will yield about two millilitres of amniotic fluid containing several billion virus particles if the conditions are right.’
‘But of course, there’s no way of knowing whether the seed strain you’ve chosen will be effective against the Cambodia virus until you try it?’ said Steven.
‘That’s true,’ said Leila. ‘But we can do certain lab tests,’ said Leila. ‘Of course, animal tests are out of the question after what happened.’
‘Quite so,’ said Steven.
‘Tests on monkeys — the only real way to be sure if the vaccine would be effective or not — would have to be carried out at a secure facility such as Porton Down or Fort Dietrich in the USA and there won’t be time for that.’
‘So it’ll be lab tests or nothing if the strain is to make this year’s vaccine?’
‘Oui.’
‘Will that really be good enough?’ asked Steven. He saw the smile reflected in Leila’s eyes above her mask.
‘Depends on how great the risk of a pandemic is perceived as being,’ she said. ‘And how badly governments want to protect their citizens.’
‘What’s the worst that can happen?’
‘The seed strain won’t work and the vaccine won’t provide any protection at all against the Cambodia strain.’
‘Then it sounds like there’s nothing to lose by giving it a try if it’s ready on time,’ said Steven.
‘That would be my view too,’ agreed Leila. ‘But the American FDA and the British MHPRA may have different ideas. They may want a different third strain incorporated in the vaccine — one that has been tried and tested.’
‘And which would be no good at all against an outbreak of the Cambodian virus?’ said Steven.
Leila nodded ruefully and added, ‘But no one would sue them for having taken a risk with public safety.’
Beware of falling rocks, thought Steven.
‘How much do you know about flu virus?’ asked Leila.
‘I’m no expert.’
‘Come, I’ll show you what we’ve been doing with it.’ She led Steven into her small office in the lab suite and spread an illustration of the virus particle on the desk. ‘You see, it is these spike-like molecules — the haemaglutinins — that bind to receptors on the surface of the cell that we have been concentrating on. If we can stimulate antibodies in the human body to attack them we will prevent the virus entering the cell and if it can’t get into the cell…’
‘It can’t replicate,’ said Steven.
‘Exactly.’
‘Then I wish you all the luck in the world, Doctor.’
‘Leila, please.’
‘And I’m Steven.’ He seized the moment. ‘Perhaps I could repay you for the tour by offering you dinner?’
Leila smiled. ‘Perhaps when this is all over,’ she said. ‘And we all have more time.’
‘I’ll hold you to that.’
‘It was only a perhaps.’
‘I thought you would be staying up there,’ said Macmillan when Steven appeared in his office next morning.
‘Not much I can do at the moment,’ said Steven. He told Macmillan of his meeting with Leila Martin and what he’d learned of the seed strain she was using. ‘Definitely different from the one Devon used.’
‘Thank God for that,’ said Macmillan. ‘I told the Earlybird committee yesterday about your misgivings over the monkey the army recovered. You’ve started quite a furore. The thought that Cambodia 5 virus might have fallen into the wrong hands seemed to concentrate minds wonderfully.’
‘What are they going to do?’
‘It was agreed that priority must be given to the new vaccine that Dr Martin is working on. The Health minister will speak to the Prime Minister about approaching the Americans with a view to relaxing FDA regulations for US vaccines and fast-tracking it through. He’s already warned the MHPRA not to throw unnecessary red tape at this one. They weren’t exactly flavour of the month with HMG last year when they pulled the plug on Auroragen and to top it off, this year’s an election year for us.’
‘We mustn’t forget that,’ said Steven sourly.
‘So what do I tell the papers?’ demanded James Rydell.
Frank Giles sighed and held up his palms. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I simply don’t know. We have questioned everyone with even the remotest connection to animal rights organisations and drawn a complete blank. No one knows this Ali and no one has ever heard of him save for the few who saw him at the Thorne Hunt on one occasion — the time when he pulled Hugo Blackmore off his horse and allegedly recruited Lyndon and Shanks that same evening.’
‘What about the three men who murdered Smith?’
‘Same story. No one has any idea who they are and I don’t think anyone’s protecting them. The animal rights brigade seems as shocked by the killings as everyone else.’
‘What about the car they used? Someone saw that and gave a description.’
‘But she didn’t get the number and Land Rover Defenders are part of the landscape in this part of the country.’
There was a long pause before Rydell said, ‘You do realise where you’re going with this, don’t you?’
Giles’ throat had gone dry. He had to swallow before saying, ‘Yes sir, I think I do… It pains me to say it but it’s beginning to look as if the killings had nothing at all to do with the animal rights movement… That was a blind. Devon and Smith were murdered for a different reason.’
Rydell nodded. ‘Unfortunately by people with names like Ali. Makes things awkward, wouldn’t you say?’
‘It does but I’m certain this wasn’t a racial thing.’
Rydell nodded. ‘What we need is an alternative motive and quickly. Others may not be so circumspect.’