Jaye Michael

PART THREE: REVOLUTION

Chapter Twenty: Preparation

Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage
with a college education.
– Mark Twain

OCTOBER 21, 5:55 P.M., AN ISOLATED FARM, LOCATION DELETED CONSISTENT WITH PROVISIONS OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT

“They’re finally going to let us leave?” Eunice L. asked as she and Lyle E. cuddled on the padded bay window.

“Not quite, my dear.” Dr. Harriman pointed back to Captain Schultz standing behind him. “The Captain and I have come to an agreement.”

“But he’s our jailer. How the hell can we trust him?” Lyle E. was standing now, fists balled in anger. Eunice L. still sat but her hands were clenched tightly around Lyle E.’s arm, as if to restrain him.

“Children, children. I think you’ll find this acceptable. Why don’t we sit down and I’ll explain?”

“With him here? I don’t think so,” Lyle E. growled.

“Lyle, please. Sit down and listen.” Dr. Harriman turned to Captain Schultz.

“Maybe you should step outside for a few moments, Captain.”

“Yes. That seems like a good idea.” He turned and left the room.

“Now Lyle, please sit down and listen.” Dr. Harriman sat on the chair by the desk. Lyle E. glared at him and the door the Captain had just exited through. No one spoke. Finally, Eunice L. gave a gentle tug and guided him back down beside her.

“Thank you Lyle. Now if I may begin.

OCTOBER 21, 7:05 P.M., AN ISOLATED FARM, LOCATION DELETED CONSISTENT WITH PROVISIONS OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT

The dining room table was once again in use. Captain Schultz was seated at one end with Sergeant Challer standing behind him. Lyle E., Eunice L. and Dr. Harriman sat opposite him. Lyle E. was clearly still untrusting of Captain Schultz’s word, but was now at least willing to listen.

“Captain, I think Lyle and Eunice need to hear from you what is happening and what agreements we’d like to reach.”

“Is that true Mr. Abbot, Ms. Branca?” Captain Schultz calmly waited for a response. It took a while. Lyle E. and Eunice L. looked questioningly at each other. Finally, Eunice L. grudgingly nodded.

“Well,” Lyle E. spoke for them, “We don’t know if we can trust you, but whether we like it or not, you’re the only game in town.”

“Yeah. So let’s make a deal, Kay?”

Captain Schultz stared hard at them for a moment and then glanced over to Dr. Harriman, who smiled. “The floor is all yours Captain.”

“Very well. Let me start with a bit of history. I run what is euphemistically called a ‘black op.’ That’s a project that no one will admit exists.” He stopped to watch for a reaction. Lyle E. frowned while Eunice L. looked bored.

“The military significance of the virus you and Dr. Sternlicht were developing was unbelievable.

“So much for the U.S. government’s ban on bio warfare,” Lyle E. snorted disgustedly. Eunice L. crossed her arms over her chest and looked even more bored.

“No. You misunderstand. The goal was not to infect large groups of people regardless of Dr. Sternlicht’s apparent plans to the contrary. Please let me finish.” He held up a hand to prevent Lyle E. from saying anything.

“The purpose of this program was to prevent distribution of this virus until it could be done safely. Improperly used we could have an imposter running the country. Properly used, as your grant proposal clearly elaborated, it could save thousands of lives. The ancillary benefits are beyond imagination: body molding, cures to just about every imaginable genetic problem...this thing could probably even re-grow missing limbs. Given the way this thing attacks any other DNA that enters the body; it might even be the cure for innumerable viral infections, maybe even the common cold. It could even result in functional immortality.”

“We knew all that. What we don’t know is what you want and whether we can trust you. Kay?”

“Yeah. You don’t exactly have a great track record. Kidnap, illegal surveillance, should I go on?”

“No. I understand your concern.”

“Concern?” Lyle E. stood up fists balled, glaring. “Concern? You understand our concern? Why you...” Lyle E. gasped and swallowed several times at a complete loss for words. Dr. Harriman quickly interrupted before his daughter could get his second wind.

“That’s enough Lyle. Listen to the man.” Dr. Harriman was using his no-more-nonsense voice. Lyle E. blanched and sat down. She stopping sputtering, but continued to glare at the soldier.

“Thank you, Dr. Harriman.” Captain Schultz glanced briefly at each of the young adults, calculating his odds of success before continuing. “You’re right. Maybe I don’t really understand. What I do understand is that we have a situation where a scientific discovery which could have been used for the benefit of mankind has been used to change five human beings into some sort of human rat hybrid. There are an unknown but hopefully small number of infected people spreading this virus in at least two widely separated areas of the country and we still don’t have a cure, a stabilizing agent or even an assurance that the virus will eventually die off in a fully transformed host body. We also have a lead researcher who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, possibly–no, probably–with a sample of the virus. Would you care to guess how many foreign governments I suspect are going to be bidding for that virus within the next few weeks? I think I can safely say that the problems here are currently much greater than the petty issue of whether we can trust each other. There is a real risk to national, and possibly global, security.” He stopped and waited.

“He’s right, children. We need to cooperate or live with the knowledge that we might have permitted a major biological disaster to ravage our planet.”

“We know all that,” Lyle E. grudgingly admitted. “What we don’t know is why don’t you just call in the CDC, the army, or whatever other governmental agencies are needed to fix the problem? In other words, what do you need us for?”

“Yeah, answer that. Kay?” Eunice L. chimed in patting Lyle E.’s hand proudly.

“Certainly. As I said, Dr. Sternlicht has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. More specifically, he seems to have absconded with a possibly considerable supply of the virus. While there are no indications yet that his absence is the result of outside influences, it’s really hard to imagine that he is not responsible for the sabotage that transformed those poor people in the barn.” Captain Schultz glanced at Dr. Harriman who motioned for him to continue. Eunice L. and Lyle E. were silent, apparently astonished from the looks on their faces.

“Additionally, since he seems to be the agent responsible for the creation of the rat people, he has probably developed a method of mass dissemination of the virus.”

“Probably airborne.” Dr. Harriman chimed in.

“Finally, we believe that he has developed a method of rendering the virus non contagious.”

Silence.

Eunice L. was the first to speak. “I understand that you are concerned about national security. I understand that you think Dr. Sternlicht is responsible for doing some really horrible things. He’s not our favorite person in the world either.” Lyle E. nodded in agreement as she considered. “What we don’t understand is why you suddenly want our help.”

“My apologies. I’ve been awake the last 40 hours and I’m very tired. I neglected to mention that we have reason to believe Dr. Sternlicht has changed his body form, probably to a female form. Standard investigative techniques are not going to work. We will need people like you who are familiar with his characteristic behaviors,” Captain Schultz stopped to rub his red rimmed eyes, “mannerisms if you will. You two are more knowledgeable regarding Dr. Sternlicht’s quirks and preferences than anyone else. Man or women, old or young, he could be anyone. Only someone who knows his most intimate peculiarities and preferences has a chance of finding him. No one I can enlist has that knowledge. We need you two to help us find him.”

Again silence, continuing silence while Lyle E. and Eunice L. glared at the Captain. Eunice L.’s hand blindly groped for Lyle E.’s and squeezed it to show her support for his answer, what ever it might be.

“Children?” Dr. Harriman interceded on behalf of the Captain yet again. “We’ve discussed this. Your choices are relatively clear. Do nothing and remain prisoners, provide limited support such as development of the ‘fixative’ the Captain has mentioned and live with the possibility that you might have allowed a major evil to be unleashed on the world, or provide full support and help make sure the virus has at least some chance of being used for the benefit of others.”

“Why don’t you go through that list of questions we came up with Lyle E.?” He continued when there was still no answer.

“Oh, alright, Daddy. I’ll start.” Lyle E.’s smile faded as he redirected his attention back to Captain Schultz. “If we’re still contagious, why would you let us out?”

“Because I don’t have much choice and because you know that you are only contagious if there is a transfer of bodily fluids. Are you planning on kissing, having intercourse or otherwise trading bodily fluids with anyone?” They glanced guiltily at each and Captain Schultz smiled knowingly. “Exactly. Perhaps I should reword that to say ‘...with anyone not already contagious.’ Next question?”

“What kind of ‘fixer’ are we talking about and how close is it to being available?”

“That’s not my area of expertise. Perhaps Dr. Harriman could better answer that question?”

“Certainly. While Dr. Sternlicht was quite careful to redirect the technicians away from an effective antiviral agent specific to this virus, examination of the options he apparently avoided in conjunction with my own experimentation suggests that H. Pilori could serve the purpose and destroy the virus within a week with little more than some minor stomach problems and heartburn before treatment to eliminate the H. Pilori.”

“Wait a minute. How does a bacteria that causes symptoms of stomach ulcer kill a virus?” Eunice L. interjected with disbelief.

“Normally it would not. In this case, however, it can be modified so that one of its side effects is acidosis, a slight increase in the acidity of blood. The result is that the virus is destroyed without further harm to the body over a several day period.”

“Couldn’t I obtain the same result with an ulcer or with a really good hangover?”

“Yes, my dear. It seems that someone with an ulcer might not be able to be effected by the virus in the first place, but you’d need to maintain a three day drunk, not impossible but certainly quite difficult.” Eunice L. nodded in understanding and then her face lit up.

“That means there is a vaccine, of sorts, H. Pilori.”

“Well...” Dr. Harriman considered, “It could be, but its utility is a bit limited. The continuous heartburn, stomach pain and flatulence would be a problem that would make it difficult to argue for its use as a long-term preventative agent. Even if used, it remains with the host body only as long as they avoid taking a simple course of antibiotics, one of the most commonly prescribed medications. This significantly limits its reliability as a vaccine. At best, followed by a ten day course of an antibiotic, it would eliminate the continuing contagion aspect of the virus.”

Lyle E. has been silent and admittedly somewhat bored by the technical nature of the conversation. As it seemed to be finally winding down a bit, he interjected. “To get back to basics, does that mean we can stop worrying about being contagious?”

“Yes, my dear. I think so, just as soon as I can test my hypothesis.”

“Fine. How long will that be?”

“Probably less than a month, but to be absolutely sure, I would want multiple trials and longitudinal testing...say three months.”

“And you, Captain,” Lyle E. turned to him. “You would let us out of here without being certain that we are no longer infectious?”

“As I stated before, you understand the risks of further public infection. You are our best hope for finding Dr. Sternlicht and I don’t know how you could do that from here. Yes, you would be permitted to leave here.”

“No limitations?”

“I don’t know if you would call it a limitation, but neither of you are trained investigators and, while we will provide some crash training, I would prefer to team you up with partners that can handle that aspect of the search.”

“So they’ll be our watchdogs?”

“No, but I can’t think of any way to convince you.” Another glance at Eunice L., who waved a hand encouraging him to move on.

“What about Dr. Harriman?” Eunice L. asked. “He knows Dr. Sternlicht better than either of us.”

Captain Schultz deferred to Dr. Harriman. “Yes children, but I’ve been asked to supervise the research here and I’m getting a bit old to go traipsing about searching out spies and evildoers. You really are the best people to find Maximilian.”

“Okay. The final questions; actually its just one really big question. What happens to all of us, Daddy, Eunice, me, and Dr. Sternlicht once this is all over?”

“You’re right, “Captain Schultz laughed, “That’s a whopper of a question all right, but let me try to respond. First, Dr. Sternlicht has signed a national security agreement. If he has violated it, he can and will be held accountable; although it is highly unlikely that this would be done in a public manner. The rest of you will be free to do what you wish, except that as a prerequisite you will be required to sign a similar security agreement. Once signed, you will not be permitted to discuss this with anyone who does not have a similar level of security. If you are referring to a return to your original body forms, Dr. Harriman would be more knowledgeable than me, but I think it would be possible, if you so desired.” He stopped and absently scratched his ear. “Oh, and although you didn’t ask, we will also do our best to turn Dr. Sternlicht’s victims in the barn back into functional members of society.” He paused briefly to assess his audience’s response. It was still iffy.

“If I’ve answered all of your questions, the ball is back in your court. I don’t have a lot of time to wait for an answer. Will you help?”