The Emerald Virus (5 page)

    
Ron answered, “No, we didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. We did receive
promises of support from every agency we talked with and I think we should use
these offers to staff the hotlines and email data banks that Gene mentioned. In
fact, I’ve taken the liberty of turning the auditorium into a response center
with one hundred computer stations and an additional one hundred phone lines.
We’re in the process of transforming conference rooms throughout the city into
additional response centers. Finding the equipment and staff to install these
centers has actually been easy. I think by now everyone in the world
understands that this project is the most important project in the city and is
second only to the Centers for Disease Control’s project to find a vaccine. I
don’t anticipate having any trouble creating the response centers or staffing
them with qualified people.”

    
“Thanks Ron, that’s a great initiative. I’d like you to join Gene and continue
to build the teams needed to review incoming phone and email messages. You’ll
need to start by defining criteria for the team to use when categorizing
messages and the filtering devices required in getting the most pertinent and
important messages to the top quickly. Let me know if you need any help or
support from Dr. McCloud, Secretary Kemper or me.

    
“Sharon do you have anything else?”

 
   “I don’t, but I‘d like to suggest that I join Jody’s team and work on the
future bulletins. I was on the team that created ‘The National Strategy for
Pandemic Influenza’ and I have some ideas on what needs to be done next. I’d
also like to call in some of my teammates from that project to help. There was
a lot of talent involved in creating the ‘strategy’.”

    
“Good idea Sharon. Take the lead on bringing in others capable of assisting.
Jody, you’ll retain the overall lead, which means you decide which bulletins
are created and published first. I’ll be the final authority on the release.

    
“If anyone has additional needs for information or staff please stay after the
meeting and talk to me. I’d like everyone else to return to their teams. Any
questions before we end the meeting?”

    
A.J McCloud stood at this point and said, “I joined you this morning in part to
talk to you about the near future. As you know I’ve been in close contact with
the lab in Edinburgh, as well as with one of the labs in Ireland. As the Emerald
Virus has spread we are learning more about survivors and about the rate at
which the virus spreads. We are also learning a few other things. The most
important is that at some point family members of people playing important
roles in tracking and defining the actions of the Emerald Virus will begin to show
symptoms. At that point many will decide it is more important to be with their
families than to continue their work. That seems normal to me.”

    
A.J. smiled a little as she looked around the room and saw some of the team,
including Jack, frown or grimace at this news. She continued, “I’d like all of
you to remember the circumstances in which these professionals are working. The
virus is much closer to them than to us, and it is killing their friends and
family as we speak.

    
“At the rate the Emerald Virus is spreading we can expect the same thing to
happen to us within a matter of days or, if we are really lucky, weeks.

    
“If there were some place we thought would not be affected by the virus in the
short term, I would help you go there. However, we don’t know of a single place
where we can find safety from the virus. I don’t want any of you worrying about
what to do with your families when the virus does arrive. You and you alone
will know when the time is right for you to leave this project and to be with
your families. The timing will be different for all of you. I want you to feel
free to join your families when you decide to do so. Jack and I will support
your decision whatever the circumstances. I do ask that you let us know when
you depart for good. You can do that personally or by simply sending an email
to Irene whom I’ve asked to track the various teams and their members.”

    
A.J. added with a smile, “Some will be here until the end. You are welcome to
join us for all or part of that time. Irene is taking charge of the logistics
by bringing cots, food and water into the building. If we don’t get a
handle on this virus, getting staples near the end could be difficult so we are
starting now. If you have suggestions for Irene, please let her know. Jack,
that’s all I have for the group.”

    
“Thanks Doc, we all appreciate your support. Okay everyone thanks for coming.
I’ll see you all in the afternoon meeting.”

    
“Jody, let’s go over your draft bulletin. I’d like to release that this
morning. Gene let’s have the conference call with your high-tech firms here in
the conference room. I’d like to join you for that. Jim, if you have time
please come.”

    
Gene agreed and returned to work. Jody brought out the draft.

Department
of Homeland Security

Emerald
Virus Bulletin #2

November
6

Subject:
Why Some are Immune to the Emerald Virus

Distribution:
All Citizens

Released
by: Jack Sweeney,

For:
Dr. A.J. McCloud, Assistant Secretary of Health and Safety

    
Many questions have been asked about why some people seem to be immune to the Emerald
Virus, and about how many people will survive the Emerald Virus. I’ll try to
answer those questions as simply as possible.

    
First I’ll discuss the number of survivors. We have data from Ireland and
Scotland only, and that data is preliminary. It appears the virus came from the
west of the British Isles and landed first on the west coasts of Scotland and
Ireland; and then the coasts of Wales and Southern England. By now most of the
residents of the coastal villages have died, or, it appears, will die. However
a small number of people have not been infected by the virus. They have some
kind of built-in immunity and we refer to them as survivors. As you can imagine
during the chaos and grief that exists in these countries, reports are guesses
at best; as we get better data we will let you know our new estimates.

    
About 500,000 people live in the west coast regions of Ireland. We have reports
of three survivors from those areas. In Scotland the population numbers are
similar for west coast regions but eight survivors have been reported. If these
numbers are accurate the survival rate will be somewhere between 1 in 63,000
and 1 in 165,000 residents. When we include preliminary numbers for the virus
stricken areas of England and Wales, we believe there will be somewhere between
2,500 and 4,000 survivors in the U.S.

    
The answer to why some are immune lies in the nature of genetics and activity
within the DNA chain. Either immunity or the lack of immunity to any of the
thousands of viruses in the world is a result of a mutation in the genes. We
either gain or lose something as a result of a mutation.  In this case we are
talking about losing immunity to a virus. A mutation occurs in the DNA chain
and often has no impact on us at all. Mutations can be caused by some pretty
mundane things such as ultraviolet radiation or sunlight. Additionally, DNA
replicates itself continuously as part of the natural process; but DNA
replication itself can cause mutations.

    
Our belief right now is that the plant that hosts the Emerald Virus at some
time in the distant past was found commonly around the world. By distant past I
mean tens of thousands of years ago. Humans were immune to the Emerald Virus in
the past and we lived quite comfortably with the virus all around us. At some
point after the Emerald Virus host plant disappeared from the earth, a mutation
occurred and the gene that was a dominant protective gene in all humans
disappeared. Since the Emerald Virus was no longer active this change had no
impact on people at the time. However, as generations passed after the mutation
occurred, the dominant and recessive gene cycle began. Over a long enough
period of time a gene can cease to exist; and the mutation, in this case humans
born without immunity to the Emerald Virus, becomes the standard for all human
beings. Near the end of this cycle only a minimal number of people will still
carry the dominant gene that will protect them from the virus.

    
This is what we believe has occurred with the Emerald Virus. Once the plant
bearing the virus disappeared, the mutation within the DNA double helix was
harmless. On the other hand if the plant bearing the virus was abundant when
the first mutation occurred, that person would have died soon after birth and
the mutation would have died with him or her. Neither of these events occurred
however. The Emerald Virus temporarily disappeared, and during this period the
mutation became the norm, except for a very small number of people. Now the Emerald
Virus has returned and most of us are no longer equipped to deal with it.

    
Scientists around the world are working to find a vaccine, but the Emerald
Virus spreads so quickly and is so deadly that we are literally in a race with
death and no one knows what the outcome will be.

                                          
End/Emerald Virus Bulletin #2

=============================================================

    
When Jack finished reading the draft he asked Jody, “Do you really think we
should send out what amounts to a mass death notice this early in the process?”

    
Jody responded, “We agonized over that part but I was convinced by Harry, who
of course helped with this. He insisted that this kind of a stark notice would
have created quite a difference in how people in Scotland reacted. He said even
the people in Edinburgh were able to prepare themselves a little bit compared
to those on the coast and that we owed it to people to be very frank at a time like
this. If a miracle happens and we find a vaccine I’ll be happy to be chastised
for overreacting. On the other hand, if we don’t stop this virus everything in
the bulletin is necessary.”

    
Jack thought for a second and said, “You’re right Jody, this is no time to try
and protect people’s feelings. And you’re also right about the consequences of
sending the bulletin as it is. If we do take a beating for this, it won’t last
long.”

  
    At one o’clock Jack was back in the conference room with Gene, Jim and a
few others who wanted to listen in. Jack asked Gene to make the call to the
three firms that had offered assistance. Gene talked as he asked the operator
to initiate the conference call, “All three of these people are Vice Presidents
in their firms. They all understand what is at stake and they understand there
are no more rules. We’ve asked them to help take care of survivors and they’ve
agreed. There are no strings attached to anything.”

    
The operator’s voice came out of the speaker phone and said she would now
conference in the other three parties. Gene said “Good afternoon, or good
morning to you on the West Coast. I’m joined by my boss Jack Sweeney and the
head of our tech unit Jim Bosch. We have two of Jim’s people in the room as
observers, and Jack’s boss, Dr. A.J. McCloud, who is the Assistant Secretary of
Homeland Security for Health and Safety, may join us during the call. I’m
recording the call but only to save taking notes. I’ll use email to send a copy
of the recording to each of you immediately following this meeting. Please take
a minute and introduce yourselves. Kathy, start the introductions.”

    
Hi everyone, my name is Kathy Green and I am the Vice President of R&D for
a firm in Santa Fe known as High End Solutions. Our firm employs about two hundred
of the best tech people in the country. We focus on solutions that are out of
the mainstream and typically produce a one-of-a-kind solution. We are low key and
very good at what we do. We’re prepared to turn all of our resources toward any
technical issue you feel is important. We would like to have a single point of
contact in your organization and we would be willing to have our best people
brainstorm with your best people about what needs to be done, and to establish
priorities.”

    
Jack sat back in amazement. In a one-minute introduction Kathy Green had lifted
a large weight off his shoulders. He wanted to laugh but instead smiled and said,
“Kathy, you sound like a godsend to me. I have some things I’d like to see
accomplished, but I haven’t been sure where I could even start. Your
description of what your team is capable of gives me hope.

    
“Who would like to introduce themselves next?”

    
“Hi, I’m Dale Johnson, V.P. of Operations for Megatech. We are based in St.
Louis and we are the fourth largest Internet Service Provider in the country.
Our workforce of a couple thousand is spread throughout the country.

    
Kathy, while we’ve never met I’ve heard of you. It seems that your reputation
for getting down to business and getting things done is well deserved. I agree
with everything you’ve said in terms of helping Jack and his people with an
almost impossible task. Our senior officers brainstormed this issue this
morning; and while we have technical people that may be able to help you, we
believe the most important thing we can do is to keep our ISP service active
for survivors. We have also recently started a new cellular technology division
that will do the same thing for cell phones.”