The Emerald Virus (4 page)

    
Jack finished his coffee and said, “Sounds good, I’ll see you at one-thirty.” He
tried to return her smile but found that he couldn’t.

    
Jack walked into his office where his assistant Irene was waiting for him.
Irene was a slight woman in her late twenties with a good education from George
Washington University and who was currently finishing up her graduate work at
the same school. She had proven valuable in the eighteen months she had worked
for Jack, and he planned to give her greater responsibilities as soon as she
completed her Masters of Science degree. He realized now that she was probably
going to be very involved in the current crisis.

    
She said, “Jack, the team is gathered in the conference room. Nine are present
and the four regional members will be on video conference. I wasn’t sure what
to do so I asked for principals only. We have three other leaders out of the
office altogether. If you want I can have the folks sitting in for them join
the meeting.”

    
“Please do that. It’s okay if they’re a couple of minutes late. Then call those
three and see if you can link them in telephonically. Tell them I’m sorry to
mess up a day off or vacation for them, but I want them in on this. They all
carry Homeland Security cell phones for that reason. No excuses and no delays.”

    
“I’ll get right on it. When will the meeting start?”

    
“In about five minutes. Shortly after it starts we’ll have a five minute break
and we’ll work from the end of the break until we finish the briefing for
Secretary Kemper. The briefing has to be ready by one-thirty when I’ll meet
with Dr. McCloud. Irene, no interruptions please, unless it’s Dr. McCloud, and
please call Harry Skipperton at eleven o’clock. Send the call to me in the
conference room.”

    
Irene realized that Jack was dead serious and she could not figure what had
changed since he’d arrived this morning light and chipper. But without
questioning, she said, “Alright. What do you want to do about lunch?”

    
“I don’t think we’ll worry about lunch for a while. By the way, I know this is
all a mystery to you so I want you to join us for the beginning of the meeting
so you’ll understand what’s going on. It won’t take long.”

    
“Thank you Jack, I appreciate your including me in whatever this is.”

    
Jack spent a couple of minutes getting his thoughts together and entered the
conference room. The table was a typical rectangular table that would seat
twelve people easily and more if they crowded in. The walls were beige with scenic
pictures on two walls and portraits of current political leaders on one wall. 
The American flag stood in a stand in the front corner. One wall was windows
that looked out on Constitution Avenue.

     
The pre-meeting buzz ended abruptly as Jack took his seat at the head of the
table.  Without saying a word he opened his laptop and pushed the play button.
Every person in the room listened intently while the recorded conversation
between Jack and Harry was voiced into the conference room. When it ended Jack
turned off the recorder and while the room broke into agitated conversation and
a multiplicity of questions, Jack feigned reading something from the screen of
his laptop. He wanted everyone in the room to get over the shock and have at
least a minute or two to gather themselves.

    
When Jack felt he could no longer avoid the questions he closed his laptop and
looked up. Silence returned to the room. Jack said, “Okay everyone, you now
know as much as Dr. McCloud and I know about this virus. I played the
conversation to her a couple of minutes ago. Our most pressing job is to
prepare a briefing for Dr. McCloud to give to Secretary Kemper at two o’clock
this afternoon. Actually, we’ll need the briefing for my one-thirty pre-brief
with Dr. McCloud.

    
“Less than an hour ago I went through the same shock that all of you are now
experiencing. I know it takes a couple of minutes to catch your breath.

    
“The most immediate problem we’ll face in the short term is that we aren’t
going to have enough time to do what will be asked of us. Of course we’ll get
the most critical things done one way or another. I can’t stress enough how
important it is for each of you remain calm as we sort through the available
options. For now we’re going to take a five minute break. I want each of you to
call your wives, husbands, significant others, parents or whomever else you
feel you need to call and inform them that we are in the middle of a crisis and
you will be at the mercy of your job for the next few days. My guess is that
this will hit the national news this afternoon or evening, so while I don’t
want you panicking your friends or families by trying to describe the virus
now, they’ll realize soon enough the importance of what you’re working on. I
honestly don’t know at this point what all this will entail, but I assure you,
it will take your best efforts for the foreseeable future, so don’t make any
promises about being home very soon or very often. When you come back, bring
with you one of your best people. If we need to put more chairs in the room
we’ll do so. Each of you will put together a team in your own sections so you
can involve whomever you want at that point. For now I want to make sure that
we don’t rely solely on one person from each section.”

    
Jack didn’t mention that he was concerned that if the virus reached D.C.
unchecked, that he would start losing staff, and he needed to make sure he
didn’t lose knowledge at the same time.

    
Jack looked around the room at the serious faces. He thought it was interesting
that while the people at this meeting were men and women, young and not so
young, Caucasian and minority, every face looked the same. They all looked
concerned but with no sign of panic; they were all serious but no one looked
desperate; they were all anxious, but anxious to get started problem solving.
Jack said, “When I hired you I did so because I thought you were the best.
Since then you’ve proven me right over and over. We will be amongst the leaders
in the battle against the Emerald Virus. Stay grounded, focused and confident.
As always, talk to me about any issue for which you feel the need, I’m here for
the duration. I’ll see you back here in five minutes.”

     
Jack remained seated at the head of the conference table and thought about
where he and his team should start. While he was thinking, Irene returned with
a cup of coffee and set it in front of him. He was about halfway through the
coffee before he realized she had been there. When he did he had to smile. He
knew he could trust Irene to help him out as they traveled this particular
journey together. He hoped for her sake as well as his that the journey wasn’t
too short.

    
After ten minutes or so everyone had returned. Jack opened by reminding
everyone to turn off the ringers on cell phones and that no interruptions would
be allowed. He also told them that the eleven o’clock call to Harry would be
put on the conference room speaker so all could listen.

    
Addressing the expanded group he said “There are some issues we have to come to
grips with. The most important of these is whether to recommend to Secretary
Kemper that we close the borders. Jody, I want you and your team to chart the
pros and cons for me. Include your best estimates of the effectiveness of this
strategy. I know it won’t stop the virus in the long run but will it
substantially increase the time we’ll have to find a cure? I know we’ll need
input from Defense to do this but we’re going to keep this within Homeland
Security until we brief the Secretary.

    
“Jim, I’d like you and your folks to work with Jody on creating some computer
models that will give us a visualization of the spread of the virus with and without
closing our borders. We don’t have much time so please go ahead and start now. Gordon,
you’ll act for Jim for the remainder of this meeting. Jody, you have the lead.
I want you and Jim to start now so grab a conference room. I’d like the two of
you to join us back here for Harry’s call. I’m guessing that call will take
five to ten minutes. Following the call I’ll want a progress report from the
two of you.” I know this will require an uncomfortable amount of speculation
but we have no choice. Document the model as you build it and look at the
country regionally, by population and by geography.

     
“Sandy, I want you and your team to take the lead on public communications.
Gene, I want you and your team to work with Sandy. We want to make
recommendations on what information to send to the public, how often, using
what media and for what purpose. I also want recommendations on what, if any
differences we want to make in how we communicate with the medical community or
the business community. Start with the ‘The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness,
Response and Recovery Guide’ and the ‘National Strategy for Pandemic
Influenza’. We’ve worked on those plans in the past so use what you can now.
Cite those documents in the briefing. I want to make sure Secretary Kemper
doesn’t think we’re shooting from the hip. Those plans were created over a
period of months by the best people in the business, specifically for
disasters. For that reason they should guide us, even though no plan takes into
account an airborne filo virus.

    
“I’d like Sharon and Ron to use their teams to make recommendations on what
agencies should be used for what purpose. I know Homeland Security, Defense and
the Centers for Disease Control will play large roles. Define the Defense role
as well as our role. Include Border Patrol, Coast Guard and all the others your
teams think will play a substantial role. Ron you have the lead.

    
“If the Secretary and the President agree, our role will include communicating
with the public on all aspects of the Emerald Virus. I want to specifically
think about those immune to the virus and what we can do to make sure they have
the best chance to survive in the long run. I’m not ready to write off the rest
of the population, but finding a vaccine for the virus will be in the hands of
the medical community. We’ll focus on the needs of a limited number of
survivors for now.

    
“Susan, I’ve saved you for last. I want you and your team to brainstorm this
entire issue. What else can we do in terms of both prevention and preparedness?

    
“I know all of you are aware of the plans that have been made to protect the
American public from dangers of all kinds. Our problem is, no one has made
plans for the end of the world. Regardless, as long as there’s a possibility
for a vaccine, or for survivors, we owe the country our best effort.

    
“Each of you will have ten minutes for progress reports. Jody and Jim, I’ll
want your report at ten minutes past eleven.

    
“Sandy and Gene, I’ll see you at twenty minutes past eleven; Sharon and Ron
I’ll see you at eleven thirty; Susan I want you and two of your team leads to
join me at eleven o’clock for Harry’s phone call and for the progress reports.
At eleven forty you and your team and I will discuss other areas in need of
attention. Irene, please send an email to everyone in the room with the
schedule. After you send the email check back with me, then plan on joining
Susan and her team.

    
“Use whatever conference rooms or empty offices you can find, work quickly but
work quietly. I don’t want to start a panic.

    
“I’ve done all of the talking to this point. Let’s take a minute for any
questions or comments from anyone in the group.”

    
When no one said a thing Jack said, “I’ll see you back here at eleven”.

Friday,
Washington D.C. (Real Time)

    
Seventy-two hours later Jack was thinking about the nightmare that had been his
last three days. The efforts of his teams had been well received, but he wasn’t
sure they could make a substantial difference to the country. He did know that
they would give everything they could to the effort, but he also knew that he
was going to be challenged to keep his team together once the virus hit DC area,
and it would be here soon. He would have to face that issue as the different
scenarios played out.

    
Jack knew he would continue to work through the crisis. He was single and had
no family left. He was an only child, born late to parents who had both died of
natural causes over five years ago. He couldn’t picture doing anything but
working, especially if the virus arrived in DC unchecked.

    
He had spent the past minutes thinking about Tuesday’s briefing with Secretary
Kemper, who had accepted almost all of the recommendations made by the team.
Jack knew this was because Secretary Kemper recognized that his own strengths were
his knowledge of politics and the confidence of the President, and there was
nothing from the political arena that would help if the virus remained
unchecked.

    
Jack was excited that the Secretary and the President had agreed that Jack’s
team would be responsible for communication with the general public about any
actions the public should or shouldn’t take. CDC in Atlanta would be
responsible for daily press releases concerning the virus itself and progress
made towards finding a vaccine. Jack’s team would provide pertinent information
to those who were affected by the virus and those who were not.  

    
Since Tuesday Jack and Harry talked often and Jack was aware that more
survivors had been found. To this point no progress had been made toward
finding why there were any survivors at all. More and more active cases of the Emerald
Virus were reported and there were now so many that record keeping was going to
be almost impossible. Jack was concerned that Edinburgh itself was about to
reach epidemic proportions and that Harry would be lost.     

    
Jack looked up, realizing that his team leaders had joined him for the morning
meeting and said, “Good morning, I hope all of you slept well last night. I
know you’ve been working long hours and that sleep is at a premium, but I want
all of you to remember that you have families to support and your own health to
take care of. You all know what’s at stake and you are all capable of using
your own judgment. If you have to go home to put your kids to bed then do so.
If you want to come in at four in the morning instead of working into the wee
hours then do so. Make your own decisions but do what you can to make sure you
take care of yourselves.”

    
Jack wasn’t sure his message was going to do any good. He knew that most of the
people in the room, including himself, had spent one or two of the last three
nights in the office. Jack had been home once since the phone call on Tuesday.
He had slept for a couple of hours, showered and shaved, and then packed a bag
for the office. He knew he could shower in the basement gym and continue to
sleep on the sofa in Dr. McCloud’s office. He also knew that going home to an
empty apartment wasn’t going to do him any good.

    
A. J. McCloud entered the conference room and took the first available seat
just as Jack said, “Jody, let everyone know where you are on the border issue.”

    
She listened as Jody said, “As you know, Secretary Kemper raised the issue of
closing the borders with the President. The President would not make that call
until he informed the public about the Emerald Virus. In his address to the
nation Tuesday evening he mentioned that he was considering closing the
borders. The reaction Wednesday was so negative that he decided to leave the
borders open.”

    
“His first reaction was to close the borders on Wednesday. But after listening
to the negative reaction he was reminded that there were tens of thousands of
American citizens and about 200,000 members of the uniformed services currently
deployed or stationed outside of the U.S. None would be able to return home if
the borders were closed. Additionally, there were hundreds of thousands of
non-citizens currently in the U.S., many of whom would try to return to their
home countries. Ultimately the President decided to keep the borders open for
three reasons. The first was to avoid the panic that would result from closing
the borders; the second was at the rate the Emerald Virus was spreading,
closing the borders would at best be a very temporary bandage; and lastly, the
President came to the conclusion that if the Emerald Virus is as bad as it
appears to be, the he did not want to enact extraordinary measures to keep
families apart during this crisis.”

    
Jack said, “Thanks Jody. Unfortunately, airports around the world are a mess
right now and I don’t think that’s going to improve. Many of the European
airport employees, pilots and crew members have simply walked off the job. More
will do so as their family members come down with the Emerald Virus. All forms
of transportation will be similarly affected in the near term. In essence
borders are being closed in part due to this dynamic.

    
“Jody, how is your team coming with the bulletin that explains survivors to the
public? Have you had time to talk to Harry? Jody replied, “I’ve had time to
discuss this with Harry and to work with my team on the bulletin. I have a
draft I’d like to share with you after the meeting. I’ve also been working with
Jim on the statistical models you requested. Fortunately we have the basic
models complete as of late last night.”

    
“Thanks Jody, that’s good news. Jim, how is your statistical model working
given the information we’ve received since Tuesday?”

   
“As Jody said we have a good grip on the population model, particularly for the
eastern third of the U.S. where the population is dense. It’s much more
difficult to build a model for the Great Plains and the West. The population is
so sparse outside of the metro areas that we can’t begin to guess which remote
areas will be affected first and which will be affected later. As we get better
and better data from Europe and Asia, and we learn more about air currents
moving into and through western North America, we’ll be able to build a model
that will give us an idea of how quickly the virus will spread to the remote
areas. We simply aren’t ready for that yet.”

    
A.J. McCloud interjected by saying “Jim, can you have a trial run of the model
for the eastern third of the country ready later today?”

    
“Sure, whenever you’re ready let me know and my team and I will walk you
through it. As we get more and better data the margin of error will decrease,
but we think the model itself is as solid as we can make it for the more
densely populated areas. The only problem is the shock of seeing how quickly
the Emerald Virus spreads, and how quickly it kills”. 

    
“Okay Jim, I’ll be ready for that shock at eleven o’clock in my office. Please
join me there. Jack, I received your email with the first Emerald Virus
bulletin attached. Have you released it?”

   
“I sent it just before this meeting.
I’ll
let you know what feedback I get. And as soon as I go over the draft with Jody
I’ll release the second bulletin. That should happen shortly after this
meeting.”

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

Department
of Homeland Security

Emerald
Virus Bulletin #1

November
6

Subject:
Information Update

Distribution:
All Citizens

Released
by: Jack Sweeney,

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

    
This is the first of a series of bulletins I will release to the general public
in order to keep all residents informed, and to help those who survive the Emerald
Virus prepare for the future.

    
These bulletins assume that the scientific community will not discover a
vaccine for use against the virus in time to save most of us. I believe this
worst case scenario will help us best prepare for the future.

    
Using the information we have we believe there will be survivors. We don’t know
how many there will be but reports from Western Europe show a minimal number at
best. As soon as we can make an estimate, we will publicize that number. 

    
While I don’t know how many of these bulletins will be issued, or how often, my
intent for the near future is to release a bulletin at least every other day,
and more often if need be.

    
As many of you know, the virus is currently affecting Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
England and the west coasts of Norway, Sweden, Belgian, France, Portugal and
Spain and it is spreading rapidly. It appears that symptoms of the virus are
visible after one week and the virus is fatal for 100% of those affected; those
we refer to as survivors have not been affected by the virus at all. From the
first symptom death takes 12 to 14 days. The young and the old die soonest.

    
For now the best you can do is to remain calm. We don’t know where in the U.S.
the Emerald Virus will first take root but it will probably happen in multiple
places at once.

    
The virus spreads through contact with people and animals infected with the
virus and by wind currents which carry the virus. We believe that because the
virus can be carried by the both wind and air currents that there is no
location safe from the Emerald Virus. It will affect all of us and apparently
it will happen quickly.

    
A very small number of our leaders, including scientists looking for a vaccine
to be used against the Emerald Virus, and members of the military, will be
evacuated to bunkers in various locations around the country. Our political
leaders will stay in touch with survivors and continue to provide all
assistance possible.

    
To that end we have established a web site for survivors of all countries to
use in order to communicate and to share experiences following the initial
period of devastation. This web site is
www.TheEmeraldVirus.com
. We are currently
building chat capabilities for survivors and hope to add video capabilities in
the near term that will allow survivors using laptops or computers with video
cameras to have face-to- face discussions.

                                         
End/Emerald Virus Bulletin #1

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

A.J.
nodded and Jack continued.

    
“Sandy, are you and Gene prepared to give an update on communication with the
medical community, the business community and the public?”

     
Sandy replied, “Yes we are. First, we haven’t spent much time with medical
bulletins since CDC is covering communication about the virus itself. We have
asked CDC for the electronic address list they use and we’ll be prepared to use
the same list if and when we issue medical bulletins. Additionally we’ve set up
a web site that all citizens can review. All bulletins will be posted on the
web site. We’ve chosen a commercial web site rather than a government web site
because we want citizens around the world to feel comfortable using this web
site. We’ll start advertising the site today. We’ll send bulletins to all TV
and radio stations in the country and ask them to help us get the word out. We
would also like the TV and radio stations to read our bulletins to their
listening audiences whenever we release one. We have asked all state and local
governments to print the bulletins and make them available at all public sites,
government offices, banks, filling stations and grocery stores. The web site
will be simple and straightforward, and we have it working now.”

    
Gene added, “We’re also creating a separate address group of all businesses
that think they may be able to help and all citizens who think they can help.
We’ll send all of our information to anyone who registers on these sites. I’m
not sure we have enough staff to stay on top of whatever suggestions we’ll
receive but I think we need to try.

    
“We’re also going to need a method for survivors to be able to communicate.
I’ve asked for help from the technical community and I’ve already received a
couple of phone calls and emails from some high-tech firms offering assistance.
I plan on having a conference call with these folks this afternoon
.”

    
Jack replied, “Good work guys. Jim, if you can spare any techies from your
modeling project let Sandy and Gene know. It looks like they can use the help.”

    
Sandy said, “Thanks Jack. For the record I’d like to acknowledge those who
worked on ‘The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response and Recovery Guide’.
The Guide wasn’t created for this type of threat, but without it we would have
taken a lot longer to get to this point.”

    
“Thanks Sandy. Ron and Sharon, did you find anything new or useful in your
search for the responsibilities of other agencies?”