Crime Zero (37 page)

Sharon Bibb tapped her fingers on the table. "That's all fine and dandy. But surely we've got to assume the worst. We've got to work on a vaccine for the Peace Plague and Phase Three in case it gets out."

Allardyce nodded. "The problem is that these are extremely complex recombinant viral vectors. Most of my people don't have that kind of specific experience. Not to find a solution fast anyway. This has taken Prince years to develop. We have, what, a few months?"

Bibb sighed in agreement. "The same at Atlanta. We tend to specialize in combating naturally occurring emerging viruses."

There was a pause as all eyes looked to Kathy.

"Kathy, how long have you worked in this particular area?" asked the President.

Kathy nervously ruffled her hair, and Luke could see her shoulders sag as if suddenly laden down with a heavy burden. "Almost ten years."

"With Alice Prince?" asked Sharon Bibb.

Kathy nodded.

"And Crime Zero is based on your work?" said Allardyce, nodding slowly.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is," Kathy whispered.

Pamela Weiss leaned forward then and looked straight at Kathy. "I want you to lead the task force looking for a vaccine. Would you do that? Can you do that?"

Luke watched as Kathy hesitated and then gave a small nod.

The President then turned to Sharon Bibb and Allardyce. "You will supply Dr. Kerr with all the personnel and resources she needs."

Both nodded.

"Where shall we base the main BioSafety lab?" asked Bibb. "Atlanta or here at USAMRIID?"

"I'd personally prefer to work somewhere I know," said Kathy, "and somewhere where there's a large library of relevant samples at hand. How about ViroVector? The Womb there is the most advanced virology lab I've ever used."

Allardyce gave a resigned shrug. "Well, we would be effectively commandeering the site after the President's meeting with Alice and Naylor, so taking control isn't an issue. And it's got a slammer, hasn't it?"

"Yes and a submarine," said Kathy.

"What the hell's a slammer?" asked Todd Sullivan.

"A BioSafety Level Four hospital," said Allardyce.

"And a submarine?"

"A BioSafety Level Four morgue," said Kathy.

There was a short silence.

"OK," said Weiss, "that's agreed. Let's move on." She turned to Jack Bloom. "What contingencies are in place if it all goes down the drain?"

Bloom pushed a strand of black hair off his forehead and pulled a sheet of paper from an attache case beside him. Decker could see that the sheet was made of flash paper. One whisper of flame, and it would disappear in a puff of smoke. "Naturally this information doesn't go outside this room. We must plan for the worst-case scenario but present the best case to the media and the public. Panic must be avoided at all costs. Every exercise conducted by any agency in this or any other country involving the spread of an airborne pathogen has shown that once the population panics, the shit hits the fan.

"This applies internationally as well. We tell no other world leader the full story about Phase Three until we are sure it has been released. The golden rule is we give people information only if they can do something positive with it.

"So first of all, the cover story is the Peace Plague in Iraq. We are helping seek a vaccine while at the same time taking precautions in the extremely unlikely event that it spreads beyond those borders. These precautions will not be specified, but if they are discovered, we will just put them down to extreme caution.

"Let's start with the bleakest scenario. Fifty-five mass graves have been prepared across the nation, at least one in every state. These have been around for decades, and the largest can hold up to fifty thousand. Most of these are disused mine shafts, quarries, and natural caves, but the current capacity won't cover our little problem. So we are already seeking more sites." He looked up and gave a humorless grin. "At least Director Naylor and Dr. Prince, our two angels of death, allowed time for the dying to bury the dead.

"Next, the key personnel list, including everyone vital to maintaining the nation's basic infrastructure, has been updated. All those on it have been allocated space in quarantined accommodation. Again, our angels of death have thought this through as well. If we ensure that women are trained to undertake all vital tasks, then disruption can be kept to a minimum even if the worst happens."

Bloom paused and looked around the table at their pale faces. "Oh, it's not all bad, not yet at any rate," he said dryly, giving a sardonic smile. "On a more positive note there are numerous contingencies in place to contain this thing and stop it from causing any damage." He turned to McCloud. "Bill, do you want to run us through what the bureau's got?"

McCloud leaned forward, his hands clasped on the table. "Basically it's all the standard stuff, but there's lots of it. On the operation side we've got a squad of Hostage Rescue Team trained ninjas on standby in every major city equipped with full body armor, Racal biosuits, and Envirochem sprays. Similar squads will be deployed to secure ViroVector when the President meets with Madeline and Alice. I'm also going to get a team of IT specialist tech agents to work on taking control of this TITANIA computer."

The Hostage Rescue Team ninjas had impressed Decker when he'd seen them training at Quantico in their jet black portable Racal biological space suits and body armor. He hoped they and their suits wouldn't be needed.

As the meeting drew to a close and Weiss confirmed what everyone had to do, Decker allowed himself to think about tomorrow. On arriving here three hours ago, he had called Barzini. Although forbidden to talk of Crime Zero, he had been able to tell Joey that Kathy and he were OK. Barzini had told him that Matty's funeral had been arranged for tomorrow, and Decker had said he would make it.

He turned to McCloud as he rose from the table. "Bill, keep me in the loop, won't you? I need to go to a funeral tomorrow for a few hours, but I want to be involved in this."

McCloud patted him on the shoulder and gave a dry laugh. "Involved? Shit, Spook, you're stuck right in the middle of this thing."

Chapter 35.

Smart Suite, ViroVector Solutions, Palo Alto. Sunday, November 9, 10:30 A.M.

Alice Prince tried to quell the worry gnawing at her stomach. She didn't think it particularly odd that Pamela had asked for their advice on the Iraq epidemic. They were her oldest friends, and ViroVector could offer real practical help. She was only surprised that her advice hadn't been sought before. Finding the pulse box in the Womb was dangerous. But just because Kathy Kerr now knew about Crime Zero didn't mean that Pamela Weiss did.

Alice sat on Madeline's right at the head of the conference table, and from their vantage point they could see the main door of the Smart Suite. Behind them was the screen wall, its array of screens and cameras perusing the room.

Whatever Alice felt, Madeline had become so paranoid and taken such extreme precautions that it made her think the unthinkable. What if the President really did know about their involvement in Crime Zero? The idea filled her with dread.

But if the President did genuinely want help with the Iraq epidemic, then the meeting offered a great opportunity to plant the possibility of what could happen in Weiss's mind, to ready her for the reality of Crime Zero.

Coiling the pendant chain around her little finger, Alice hoped that Madeline's man, Associate Director Jackson, was correct in his hunch about where Luke Decker and Kathy Kerr might be today. They had to be taken out of the equation.

A voice on the intercom told them that the President had arrived and within a matter of moments would be shown into the room. Standing but not moving away from the table, Alice watched two staff members open the door and show Pamela Weiss to a seat before leaving again. To Alice's relief Pamela made no move to embrace them both, content with a cool verbal greeting. She looked strained, drawn.

To Alice's surprise Pamela had come alone. No advisers. No backup.

Alice's heart began to beat a little faster.

"How long have we known each other?" asked Pamela with a sad smile. "It must be thirty years."

Alice flashed a nervous glance at Madeline, but the FBI director kept her face expressionless.

"Yes, about that," said Alice.

Pamela nodded. "And we're friends, aren't we?"

"Best of friends," said Madeline.

"And I've never lied to you, you know? I have never purposefully deceived you."

Alice's heart was beating so fast now she was sure Madeline or even Pamela at the other end of the table might hear it.

"And I've never lied to you," replied Madeline.

"What about all the lies on Conscience?"

"They weren't harmful. They were to protect you," said Madeline. Alice couldn't believe Madeline's calm.

Pamela paused then and looked at Alice, those wonderful blue eyes staring right into her soul. "Did you know that the symptoms of the epidemic in Iraq exactly match those exhibited by Axelman and the other death row prisoners at San Quentin?"

Alice didn't know what to say.

"I need your help to solve a problem. I'm going to ask you one question, and if our relationship has meant anything, I need you to tell me the truth--as both your friend and your President." Pamela turned back to Madeline. "Do you know what is behind the Iraq epidemic?"

Alice felt hot and cold rushes down the back of her neck. It was their chance to confess all, to tell Pamela everything and involve her in their plans.

"No," said Madeline with a frown as if the idea were preposterous. "No, of course not. No."

Pamela turned back to her, and Alice thought she saw the glint of tears in her eyes. "What does my other oldest friend say?"

Alice desperately wanted to say yes, but Madeline caught her eye and gave her an icy look.

"No," said Alice, realizing the consequences of her denial even as the syllable left her lips.

Slowly Pamela nodded, still keeping her eyes fixed on Alice. "Would either of you do anything to hurt me?"

"Of course not," said Madeline quickly.

"Or my family?"

"No," said Madeline.

But Alice found it harder to lie so quickly. "No," she whispered eventually.

"So, Alice, help me understand something," said Pamela. Her eyes were definitely moist now. Alice hated confrontation, especially with her friend; she was rigid with tension. "Tell me then, why do you want to murder my husband and sons? Why do you want to kill your own godson?"

Alice gasped, her throat suddenly so tight she could barely breathe.

"Pamela, what are you talking about?" asked Madeline, still calm.

But Alice was far from calm. She began shaking her head. "But I don't want to murder your family."

"Well then, Alice, for the sake of my children and Libby, help me stop Crime Zero."

The silence seemed to last minutes. Alice turned pleadingly to Madeline, but she looked just as shocked.

"You must understand, Pamela," Madeline said, rising to her feet. "We did this for you." She sounded angry more than concerned. "We can explain everything."

At that moment the President rose and walked to the door and opened it. "I want someone else to hear this, another old friend of yours who'll understand the science a lot better than I would."

Alice watched as Kathy Kerr, the second woman she had betrayed, walked into the room.

"Tell us everything," said the President, beckoning for Kathy Kerr to stand beside her. "We're listening."

Chapter 36.

Hills of Eternity Cemetery, Colma, California. Sunday, November 9, 11:00 A.M.

Colma was the world's only incorporated city where the dead outnumbered the living. Just west of San Francisco Airport, this necropolis had been home to most of the Bay Area's cemeteries since 1902, when the city and the county board of supervisors had outlawed all burials in the city of San Francisco.

Contemplating this, Luke Decker felt a small shiver as he helped carry Matty's coffin over the rolling lawns of the Hills of Eternity Cemetery, one of three specifically Jewish plots in Colma. When he was a child, a ghoulish teacher had once told him that if all the human dead from the beginning of time were added together, the total would still fall short of the billions alive today. Now he wondered whether, if the third phase of Crime Zero were allowed to run its deadly course, that statistic would still be true.