MARCUS: Then bring them into Barrow. There’s an old Air Force base there, an Arctic research center.
GRADY: Ha! Barrow’s got a population of five thousand Eskimos, voters and veterans, and I’ll remind you that indigenous people were the most susceptible to flu in 1918. Whole villages perished. The base is not equipped for quarantine. Crews moving the sick would be at risk. The Quonset huts are eighty years old and would need to be fixed up. Costs in the Arctic are quadruple, so you’re saying we do a rush job and then cross our fingers that precautions are adequate? That the most deadly disease ever to hit mankind — stewing only one mile from a populated area — doesn’t get out? You think those people in town are going to stay quiet? You think Alaska’s senators are going to shut up?
[The tape records Grady making a sound of disgust.]
KLINGHOFF: Eileen, we’d have a disaster on our hands.
MARCUS: And murdering two hundred American sailors and Marines, you don’t call that a disaster?
PELFREY: You don’t have the corner on compassion, Eileen. Those are my guys up there, too.
GRADY: A calamity, awful, terrible, but let’s discuss how to limit damage. Scenario A: The White House learned there was a fatal, highly contagious disease on board. After quarantining the ship, the President decided — in consultation with the nation’s foremost infectious disease experts — that in the interest of American families, the valiant crew — on death’s door — was put to sleep. We bring her into U.S. waters. We transfer the crew to a barge, tell ’em they’re going ashore. We put ’em to sleep peacefully, spray them. Figure out about the ship after.
MARCUS: Gas ’em like Auschwitz.
GRADY: I resent that. Every person in this room has known for years that we might one day face an outbreak. Now it’s real. You didn’t have a problem endorsing conclusions when they were theoretical, Eileen. Auschwitz? Those people suffered. I’m saying we put our people to sleep. We might even consider announcing that the disease may have been introduced by an enemy. We’ll hunt down the people who did this. We will not rest until our dead are avenged. The President takes control, out of the gate. And we triple decontaminate the icebreaker. Of course, once there’s a potential enemy out there, terrorists, Congress goes nuts. Every governor. Every mayor. Every senator. Every damn candidate for any office in fifty states. What do you mean, terrorists have a disease weapon? How did they get it?
KLINGHOFF: I don’t think I like that can of worms.
BURGOYNE: Well, this scenario of yours assumes the crew will just go along. You tell them to hand over weapons. May I remind you there are twenty-five Marines aboard, who can easily blow a copter out of the sky. If they have any idea what you’re up to, you’ll have one hell of a fight.
GRADY: Okay, then, scenario B: We send her to the bottom. An accident. Like the submarine Thresher. One spread of torpedoes or missiles could do it. No one aboard would know what hit them. They’re cut off. A tragedy. But if we’re going to do it, we do it now!
PELFREY: Why can’t we just leave the ship alone, see if Dr. Rush makes progress? The Montana is quarantined at the moment so the illness can’t spread, for God’s sake.
MARCUS: I agree. Drop supplies. Or ask for medical volunteers, I’m sure many doctors would help, even knowing the risk. We show compassion. We save as many as we can. After the disease burns through, we keep the survivors in isolation, make sure they’re clean. That’s America! That’s the difference between us and… those other people.
KLINGHOFF: That doesn’t sound so bad to me.
GRADY: Sure, it sounds fine at first, benevolent, except… first, we just said the survivors may not be clean, and second, let’s put it in perspective. Remember President Jimmy Carter and Iran? You’ve got fifty-two American hostages taken. Instead of going in, attacking, endangering lives, Carter holds off, he’s the humanitarian President. He wants to avoid needless death. But what happens? The second the press knows, it becomes the lead story every night. You think this won’t be the same? DEATH SHIP, DAY ONE! DEATH SHIP, DAY EIGHTY! Roll call of the dead, on every screen in the world. Photos. Interviews with families. Congress demands an investigation, and someone digs up the other part. Washington at a standstill. The Russia treaty? The health initiative? Good luck! And when you finally decide to take action, we’re in court, blocked. Too late.
KLINGHOFF: Hmmmmm.
MARCUS: May I remind you that all the Iranian hostages got out without a single death in the end?
GRADY: There was one death, and it was that Presidency. Tell me, what happens if Colonel Rush, who already disobeyed orders if he watched the film, has the Marines fight back? Or maybe someone on board gets on the Internet, blogs, or the film gets out. Oh, that would be us taking control, all right. The whole thing on YouTube.
BURGOYNE: We’re fucked.
GRADY: What we need now is a kind of triage.
BURGOYNE: I’m afraid he’s right.
GRADY: I say either try to decontaminate the ship after putting to sleep — humanely — people who are frankly getting sick anyway. Or blow the ship straight out.
PELFREY: They’re not all sick. Some got over it! Some of them won’t even get sick at all!
GRADY: You don’t know that for sure. The death rate could go up. And anyway, the bigger problem isn’t even the ship. It’s the other thing.
MARCUS: Sounds like you’re talking about dogs. Put to sleep! Say what you mean. Murder!
PELFREY: Joe Rush and Edward Nakamura, I’ve worked with those two for years… I’ve been to their homes.
[The tape records silence at this point.]
KLINGHOFF: Eileen, you’re certainly making it hard.
MARCUS: Ha! I’m making it hard, he says.