Virus-72 Hours to Live (10 page)

Where is Evette, She thought as she stumbled
out of bed and found her robe? Did she call for a Doctor? For the
next few steps, she had no other thoughts except for her children.
Entering Beth's room, she immediately knew she wasn't doing well.
She was breathing very hard. Abby stumbled to her bedside and
stroked her brow. "Don't worry honey, I'll check on Dave then find
out where the Doctor is. I'll be right back."

Beth didn't answer but moved her head in
acknowledgment. Somehow, Abby found the strength to take the steps
necessary to walk across the hall into Dave's room and she found
the same. Dave was buried under his blankets and when found his
head she stroked it, saying, "Honey, I've got to find out about a
Doctor. Go ahead and rest, I'll be right back."

Somehow, Abby found the strength to walk to
the front door of the suite and when she opened the door, she knew
something was wrong, terribly wrong. Earl, who was the lead of her
security detail, was laying on the floor. The chair, he was using
by her door, had turned over and it was lying next to him. She
didn't need to check him because she could hear his labored
breathing and a weak cough. She bent to touch him and said, "Earl,
hold on I'll try to find someone."

He didn't move and Abby took almost all of
her strength to stand and turning, she tried Evette's door on the
opposite side of the hall. The door was unlocked, which seemed
unusual and when she opened the door her heart skipped a beat.
Evette was laying on the floor in the same clothes she wore that
morning for breakfast. Abby knelt or almost collapsed and touched
her friend's hand. It was cold and it hit Abby, Evette was dead;
she had walked to her room after the breakfast and collapsed right
there, Oh my God, Evette!

The dire reality of the situation hit her
like a brick. Beth and Dave could be dying. What should she do? Her
little strength allowed her to almost fall across the hall back
into her suite and she went immediately to Beth's room. "Honey, I
want you and Dave to be together then I'll try to get help." She
found the strength to pick up her 5-year-old daughter and carry her
into her son's room. She placed her on the bed and covered her with
one of Dave's piled up blankets. She turned on her communicator
panel and tried to call for help, but there was no answer from the
front desk. She tried the main operator and some of the other icons
on the screen; no one answered.

Her strength was almost gone, and all she
could do, was to curl up with her children and pray.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Oasis; SC."

"Go ahead, this is Oasis," said the on-duty
Oasis control center controller.

"Get Commander Herl online please."

"Stand by...,"

"Joan, I have a call from SC and they want
to talk with you. Should I patch it through your comm or are you
headed in this direction?"

"I'll be there in a minute," she said as she
moved out of the conference area. She looked at Tom and said,
"Please continue reviewing the Desert Beach resupply inventory. I
don't want those moon people to say we shorted them on something. I
have to go to the center and talk to Mother."

"Will do."

"SC, Commander, will be here in a second,"
said the Oasis center controller.

Joan entered the comm center a few minutes
later and looked at the picture of Larry on the comm screen, "SC
this is Joan, what have you got Larry?"

"I doubt you've been monitoring the
international news broadcasts but something unusual is happening.
Yesterday a strange illness started in the southern part of the
Russian Caucasus and for some reason, it is spreading across the
world at an alarming rate. It's called Hovarti. The bad news is
that it appears to be very infectious and contagious. It also has a
very high mortality rate. I've checked with our medical staff and
they are monitoring the situation closely. I don't know how serious
this is, but it's getting my attention."

"Ok Larry, I'm not sure what you're
expecting me to do with this information."

After a pause, "I heard the transmission
from OS210, someone onboard wasn't feeling well. That,
unfortunately, is how this virus starts. Just to be on the safe
side, consider this serious until our medical staff understands
what is happening. I agree with you following the standard
contamination protocols until we agree. Please keep us posted how
they do after the docking."

"Will do, and likewise you keep me posted on
any progress understanding that virus? I'm sure it's nothing and it
will blow over in a couple of days. OS210 is due to dock in a few
minutes and we've already separated area A12 for them. Larry...
let's keep this between you and me. Oasis out."

"Will do Joan, SC out."

Commander Joan Herl leaned on a comm panel
while she thought about the last transmission. The implications
were unpleasant and even thinking someone was coming on board with
a dangerous disease was a major concern. The contamination
protocols were set-up for that exact reason, but no one ever
expected them to be used fully. From time to time, a ship would
dock and someone would have stomach flu or an occasional slight
fever. In all of those cases, the issue was resolved in a short
time and the hatches were opened. Of course, there would be a
little ribbing and harassment for the person who 'almost infected'
Oasis. In this case, it could be very serious or even disastrous
and she had to make sure before moving beyond the protocols.

Joan suddenly stopped in her thoughts and
remembered two of her maintenance crew personnel had reported late
for duty at the beginning of the last shift. She turned to Lucy,
who was the OCC duty controller. "Abram where is Lloyd and Dennis?
Have you talked to them lately?"

"Not for about an hour, they're on the
inside of the ring with five SMUs servicing the positioning jets
and working on sections B7 and B8."

Joan switched her comm unit to external,
"Lloyd, Dennis this is Joan Herl. How are you guys doing?"

There wasn't an immediate response. Turning
towards Abram, "Are Lloyd and Dennis somewhere where we might have
interference with transmission and reception?"

"Stand-by I'll check their beacons. It's
near the end of the shift so they may be in the airlock," Abram
said as he checked the onboard locator beacons. "Commander I've
located them, Lloyd is in the mess hall and Dennis is moving
towards his quarters. Apparently they quit shift a few minutes
early."

Joan switched her comm back to internal and
said, "Lloyd Davis, Dennis Wilton this is Commander Herl please
check-in."

"Commander this is Lloyd."

"Lloyd you were with Dennis?"

"Yes, Dennis felt like crap and went to his
bunk. I suspect he went off comm trying to get some sleep."

Joan thought for a minute, "Lloyd, your
beacon shows you're in the mess hall now. Where else have you been
since the end of the shift?"

"We came in through airlock 7A and came
right to the mess hall. Then Dennis chucked his cookies and went
back to his bunk. I'm leaving the mess hall now."

"Lloyd you two are bunking together
right?"

"Yes, we're in RA11, he's in bunk A and I'm
in B."

"Ok, Lloyd, please check on Dennis and ask
him to remain in your quarters until I clear him out. Also, I'd
like you to remain there. I'll have Dr. Chevesky from OS210 give
you guys a call."

"Yes, commander. Why is Dr. Chevesky from
OS210 talking with us? They haven't docked yet?"

"Dennis, I don't have a complete answer yet.
There is some kind of virus going around on Earth and one of the
OS210 crew might have it. We aren't sure if you and Dennis picked
it up somehow. We're putting OS210 in section A12, in quarantine,
until we figure it out and right now Dr. Chevesky has most of the
information. Don't be concerned, I'm just trying to keep everyone
healthy and you might just have to put up with each other for a day
or two until we figure it out."

"Ok Commander, I'll tell Dennis. How could
we catch something from someone on a ship that is just
docking?"

"Lloyd, I don't know. I just have some
people that don't feel well and we have to figure it out. Give me a
little while and I'll get back to you."

Joan was already in the Oasis control
center. She stayed in the background and watched the crews onboard
Oasis and OS210 do a professional job of docking. It didn't seem
anyone on OS210 was concerned about being isolated in section A12;
they knew the protocols and weren't concerned about a virus. Just
prior to their launch they would have been 'heads down' getting
ready for the launch and wouldn't have paid much attention to Earth
news.

"OS210; Commander Herl."

"Yes, Commander?"

"As soon as Dr. Chevesky gets onboard have
him contact me on intercom."

"Will do."

Once the docking was complete, the crew
moved through CAT Delta to section 12. The SMUs began their jobs of
moving the storage modules from OS210 to the storage areas onboard
Oasis.

After a few minutes, Joan saw a light on her
personal comm-link; she knew it was Dr. Chevesky and she smiled
because he was wise enough to be discrete and call on the private
link.

"This is Commander Herl," Joan said as she
saw the first pictures of Doctor Chevesky. At first glance, he
looked to be in his sixty's and had a great head of long hair.

"Commander this is Dr. Chevesky. I'm sure
you want an update on Bernard's condition."

"Yes, Doctor go-ahead."

"Apparently it started just prior to launch
and he was so busy he didn't pay a lot of attention to his cough.
It progressed rapidly through the launch and the first orbit. By
the time, we got close to docking it had progressed until he was
having difficulty breathing. At this point, I have him on O2 and,
although he appears stabilized for the moment, I'm very
concerned."

"I'm afraid your concerns might be
warranted. SC called me after you reported a sick crewman and they
said there is a very series virus called Hovarti spreading on
Earth. It is very contagious, and it is popping up in many places.
They're concerned that Bernard might have it. There is a lot of
concern; the virus seems to be very serious. As soon as you can,
get on a secure link to the med staff at SC. Get an update from
them, then check back with me and let me know what you guys come up
with. Until we know what's going on we're staying with the strict
contamination protocols."

"I understand. I'll call them
immediately."

"Doc I've got one guy who feels terrible and
I'm concerned about his roommate. I've asked them to remain in
their quarters until you talk with them. Their names are Lloyd
Davis and Dennis Wilton. Dennis is the one who is feeling bad right
now. When you get your guys settled please give them a call and
give your me best opinion without seeing them."

"Yes Commander, I'll do my best."

Joan remained motionless thinking. Her staff
in the control center didn't know the details, but they knew
something was up. Applying the contamination protocols wasn't
unusual, but the reason was usually obvious. In this case, the lack
of information concerned everyone.

Joan could leave the rest of her staff to
complete their duties so she maneuvered up rotation to where Tom
was finishing. She was moving slowly up rotation and as she passed
through a bulkhead, she ran into Tom, who was moving down-rotation.
He was moving quickly after finishing the resupply list and was
just about to say something when he saw the look on her face. Most
of the crew couldn't read her emotions because she was 'wearing her
command face.' Her husband could read her like a book and he
immediately knew something was up.

"You look like something is not going well;
what's up?"

"I don't know yet and I don't want any
rumors spreading, so let's just leave it hanging until I get some
more information."

He knew the burden of command and he knew
Joan, so the discussion stopped there. He changed the subject and
commented, "The review is done and I think everyone has bought into
the supply list. The SMU's have started to break apart the
materials that came in on OS210 and putting them on DB438. It
should be loaded by the end of shift. If you're hungry, maybe we
could drop by the mess and get something?"

She nodded and they changed direction and
moved towards the mess hall. They didn't say anything en route and
Tom suspected something major was up, but he didn't ask again. When
they entered, the mess hall had the typical level of noise. Joan
made a mental note that there were at least 10 people in there.
Unfortunately, the shift change occurred while Dennis and Lloyd
were there so there may have been 20 people in the mess.

Joan sat and Tom went to the coffee pot for
two cups of coffee. As he approached Joan, her personal
communicator beeped and she waived Tom off indicating that she
needed to take the call immediately and in private. Tom saw a
friend and redirected his path to take up some time talking with
him.

Joan took a second to gain her composure and
she looked at the Doctor's image as she prepared to answer. He
didn't look happy, she thought.

"Go ahead Doctor."

"I conferred with the SC Medical Staff and
particularly Doctor Kneel. I've worked with her for years and I
have absolute trust in her opinion. We think we have a case of the
Hovarti Virus. It appears the virus is spreading at an alarming
rate around the world. The bad news is the mortality rate is bad,
very bad. I've already isolated the patient further from the rest
of the crew, but I'm afraid it might already be too late. We have
only a couple of hours and we'll know for sure. If the patient
succumbs then, it is almost definitely Hovarti. If that is the
case, then we're likely to lose the rest of OS210 crew within 48-72
hours. Some of them are already coming down with symptoms. I
haven't had a chance to call your patient and his roommate, but I'm
concerned and I'll call them right now and let you know."