The Emerald Virus Read online

  Jack replied, “Whoa. I never gave a bunker a thought and off the top of my head I wouldn’t know where to start in finding those capable of carrying on our work in a bunker. I’ll need some time to think that through.”

  “I have given it some thought and I think we should first ask the team leaders for volunteers. My guess is that there won’t be many volunteers since families are not included. Once we know who volunteers, we may have to coerce others to participate, based on needed skills; but that should be a last resort. Just for the record, I will not participate. As a microbiologist I don’t have a skill set you can use to prepare survivors, and by volunteering I would simply be taking a spot that could be better utilized by someone of your choice. Roger and I will spend whatever time we have with our children and grandkids. Both of our children and the two grandkids should be at our house later today. I’ll work until either my family members or I display symptoms and then I’ll play each day by ear. I’ll want to spend as much time with them as I can.

  “On the other hand I think you should volunteer. You’re single with no close family. More importantly this whole thing has been your idea, and no one has a better feel for the things that need to be researched and published than you do. I don’t want an answer right now. Let’s wait to see who volunteers and then you and I will collectively decide on the names to forward to Secretary Kemper and then the President. I’ll join you for your afternoon meeting and we’ll explain the issue to the primary staff at that time. I’ll need responses from everyone first thing in the morning. We have a ten o’clock meeting with the Secretary tomorrow morning to make our pitch.”

  “Okay, now let’s talk about those you believe are absolutely critical to the effort and should be added to the bunker team.”

  Jack responded, “I’m not sure if any one person is critical. I’ve tried to keep multiple people involved in every facet of our work because I know we’ll start losing staff once the virus reaches DC. But we’ll need at least one of the high-tech group members, at least one of the public communication and coordination group and probably two from our research group. I’d add one generalist to that mix and one pure scientist. That would be six members with one of them having overall responsibility.”

  “That sounds workable to me although we may be shorting ourselves. I’ll think more about the makeup and let you know this afternoon if I’ve come up with additional skills I think we’ll need. We only get one shot at this so we need to be sure. We will probably add some redundancy to your list as well. Secretary Kemper agrees that this is the most important group of people in Homeland Security today, and I think the President is about to come to that conclusion himself. I think a group of ten might be doable for the bunker team, even though space is at a premium. ”

  “Thanks Dr. McCloud, I’ll look forward to our meeting this afternoon.”

  A.J. laughed and said, “Jack, you finally jumped over the name protocol barrier in the last meeting; please don’t backtrack so soon”.

  Jack grinned and said, “Okay Doc, I’ll see you later.”

  When A.J. was alone she spent some time thinking about Jack Sweeney. She knew that he would not volunteer to save himself as long is he thought there were others that were capable. He would not put himself at the top of a list of the most deserving people, but she would wait until morning and work through that issue. One way or another she believed Jack Sweeney would lead this team into the future.

  As Jack walked to his office, he thought about what A.J. had said. He could name four people immediately who should be on the bunker team. The problem was that he didn’t know if they were in a position to volunteer. He wouldn’t try to force anyone to leave their family at a time like this. As he reached his office, Jack stopped at Irene’s desk and asked her to join him in his office.

  As Irene took a chair at the work table, Jack sat on the edge of the table and thought about how to open the discussion. After a minute or so he said, “Irene, A.J. is going to talk to the staff this afternoon about who would like to volunteer to evacuate into one of the national bunkers in order to continue to work with survivors of the Virus. I’d like you to consider volunteering. I know this is a surprise, and I don’t need an answer now, but I wanted to let you know I think you would be an important member of that team.”

  “Jack, I’m not sure why you think that. I’m a good admin person, and I can do research; but there are a lot of special skill sets on the staff and I don’t see myself competing with any of our experts.”

  “I thought you would feel that way, but take a minute and look at this from my perspective. The experts are all very good at what they do, but they tend to look at the world from a very narrow perspective. We need someone who has an unrestricted view of the world under the current circumstances; someone who will voice ideas that may be out of the ordinary. I’ve watched you grow and progress and I think you’re close enough to the problem to understand where the team is going, and confident enough to speak up. And of course, whoever ends up on the bunker team is going to need a lot of help keeping organized, and our experts are famous for the chaos in which they work. You’re our expert in that area and you’ll have the confidence of everyone on the team.”

  Jack smiled at Irene as he said, “I know this is too much to ask of any person; and while I don’t know a lot about your personal life, I do know that you will make the best decision you can.”

  One of the things Jack liked about Irene was that she stayed calm and in control. While she laughed easily, she never let herself go too far. As he looked at Irene now he could see the slightest tick under her left eye, and he knew that was a sign of stress. He had seen that specific tell when Irene’s father had died last year. He also knew that was the only sign of stress he would see. He didn’t know how calm she was or wasn’t on the inside, but he felt sure she would let him know if this was too much for her.

  Irene replied, “Thanks Jack. I appreciate the offer, the support, and the fact that sometimes I think you know the professional side of me better than I do. I’ll think about what to do and talk to my sister and her husband this evening. By the way, you’ll be in the bunker too, won’t you?”

  Jack told her he had just found out about this himself and he hadn’t yet had time to think about it. He felt a little guilty since he was almost sure he would not volunteer. There were too many others with better skill sets.

  Several hours later Jack hung up the telephone after spending thirty minutes talking with Harry. He walked down the hall to the conference room and convened the afternoon team leaders’ meeting; and as promised A.J. was there. After listening to the team leaders report on progress and helping them tweak their plans a bit, he told the group that Dr. McCloud had something important to say to them.

  A.J. opened by telling them exactly what she had told Jack earlier in the day. She then said, “Meet with your senior staff this afternoon and let them know they can choose to volunteer. But remember, I don’t want volunteers looking at this as a means of salvation. First of all you will be underground living in a bunker. No sunlight, military style meals called “Meals Ready to Eat” or MREs, that are made to heat on an engine block if need be after mixing them with water. You’ll probably use chemical toilets and shower infrequently to save water. The air will be filtered and re-filtered. The lights will be kept as low as possible to save power and you will have little interaction with anyone outside of the bunker.

  Secretary Kemper, Jack and I will make the final selections from the group of volunteers. There will be no discussion about the final decision. One more thing, whether you volunteer or not I would like to know if there are any members you feel must be on the bunker team.”

  A.J. looked around the room and saw some very mixed emotions. She thought she saw hope on one or two faces and she knew that was not the emotion that would lead to the best decisions. She decided to give the team leaders more information.

  “I want all of you to think about one last fact before you make your deci
sions. These bunkers were built to survive a nuclear explosion. The filtering systems were built to defend against nuclear winter. There are no promises that these filtering systems will work against the Emerald Virus. Remember, virus particles are amazingly small, up to 100 times smaller than bacteria. If the bunker filters aren’t up to this task, you will be exposed to the virus while in an isolated location with no hope of getting close to your family before the end.’

  “One last note, we will probably be given space in one of the military bunkers. Since this crisis is not due to war, the military bunkers will not be staffed to their fullest. We asked for room so that this team could to continue to work with survivors and the President has agreed. Only the number of spots available is still open to discussion. Use email to send Jack your answers by tomorrow morning. He and I will meet at eight o’clock. Use email to send recommendations on who you think must be on the team to me. Thank you, I know this will be a tough decision for all of you, and Jack and I will support whatever decision you make.”

  Sunday: Washington D.C.

  Jack sat in A.J.’s office at eight o’clock the next morning. He had with him the emails from his team leads and he was surprised that of the 120 people working on this project only fourteen had volunteered. From that group he didn’t think there were ten he could recommend.

  A.J. looked up and said, “I’ve received emails from all of the team leaders and there is only one person they all think should be on the team. All of them said you were the critical piece.”

  Jack looked surprised and said, “Are you sure that wasn’t Tom? I would think that his technical expertise is the most important skill of all.”

  “Jack, you know the importance of leadership. Your folks know the same thing, and they recognize that you’re the best leader most of them have known.

  “By the way, I can’t seem to find your email giving me your decision; do you think it’s lost in the email system?”

  Jack laughed and said, “No, I don’t think the email system failed. I haven’t yet sent it. I wanted to talk to my staff first and I just finished those talks.”

  A.J. looked at Jack with a questioning look but didn’t say a word. She was really anxious for Jack to agree to volunteer but she was going to wait for him to decide.

  Jack finally said, “This is against my better judgment but I’m going to agree to volunteer.”

  A.J. breathed a sigh of relieve and said, “Jack, what I haven’t told you is that I’ve received emails from five team leaders saying that either they or a senior team member would volunteer but only if you led the team. Thankfully we now have an expanded list to review.”

  Thirty minutes later they had a tentative list of ten team members with two alternates. Surprisingly the only real discussion concerned Irene. A.J. wasn’t sure Irene was seasoned enough to deal with the pressure of this assignment. Jack explained his reasoning and analysis. After discussing Irene’s skills Vis a Vis those of the individual she would be replacing A.J. agreed to support Jack’s choice.

  Following the meeting with Secretary Kemper, Jack and A.J. walked back to A.J.’s office. The Secretary had agreed with their list of candidates but had first gone over the background of everyone on the list in some detail. Jack thought it was interesting that the Secretary had listened intently to the rationale for wanting Irene on the team but did not question the choice. A.J. had explained that one of their criteria was no spouses and no children. Of the twelve candidates on the list, five were single, three were divorced, two were separated from their spouses and the remaining two were widowed. Two of the team had adult children who lived in different regions of the country and would stay at their own homes during the crisis.

  A.J. said, “I was surprised that Secretary Kemper so quickly agreed with our list. I was also surprised that we could have additional people if we thought it helpful. I’m glad you had an answer in mind.”

  “Fortunately, I had thought about the merits of including John Needle just to add redundancy in the high-tech communications area but that would have meant one less scientist and I couldn’t make that trade. John also has experience in low-tech communications and in the back of my mind I think that might be critical to the survivors in the long run. John was a radio operator in the Navy, and he is currently licensed as a ham radio operator. I’m glad we could add him to the team.”

  “Why do you think low-tech communications will be so important?”

  “First, because of the electrical power requirements; it takes a lot less power to operate a ham radio than it does to keep a computer network active. Secondly, cell phone networks will all fail over time due to lack of maintenance. Ham radios can be used indefinitely, especially with the amount of inventory currently available in stores today. They don’t use any kind of a network that has to be maintained. You just need a radio on each end of the conversation.”

  A.J. laughed lightly as she said, “Jack, will you continue to think of everything?”

  Jack smiled at the compliment and responded, “My team and I, with the help of a lot of others, will think of all of the big things, and we will be able to help survivors prepare for them. My fear is that we will miss one small but important thing that will cost lives. That one little thing is what we’ll continue to search for as survivors share early experiences with us.”

  “Jack, you are the best I’ve ever known at visualizing the unintended consequences of current actions. I’m very confident that you’re the best person for this job. But, you’re human and you’ll make mistakes. Your most important job will be to deal with those mistakes quickly and get back to the business of saving lives.”

  “Thanks Doc. I just hope I’m nearly as good as you think I am.”

  “There is one last thing, Jack. Let your folks know that the bunker we will be assigned to will be in the southwest, but the name and location will remain classified until the team arrives at the bunker. Everyone needs to be prepared to fly as early as Tuesday morning. The military will provide us with large backpacks for everyone to use. We should have those tomorrow. Gear for each team member will be restricted to what they can fit in that backpack and one small carry-on for personal gear like laptops, cell phones, electronic storage devices, etc. The military will also provide the carry-on bag. Redundant equipment will be available at the bunker so no one will need to take duplicate equipment. I let our military contact know that we will need both PCs and Macs. Additionally, if need be, we will have access to the military system in the bunker.”

  “Our military liaison will also give us a list of recommended items to pack. Our folks aren’t restricted to that list, but they will do well to pay attention to the military on this one. The environment of the bunker should drive the list of things to bring. Everyone will be issued lightweight coveralls to wear. No other outside clothing will be needed. No food or beverages can be packed. Anyone on prescription medicine needs to provide the prescription information to the military docs, who will ensure adequate supplies will be available in the bunker. And don’t ask me what ‘adequate’ means. I have no idea. Sometimes you just have to trust the experts.”

  Jack agreed to pass the word and added, “If you don’t mind I’ll have Irene pass her logistics project to Nancy so she can focus on preparation. Our volunteers won’t have much time for goodbyes. While none of them have spouses some of them have family in the area. I think this will be hardest on them.”

  Chapter Five: The Blue Wolf Ranch

  Wilhelm Klein and his wife Johanna left Cuxhaven, Germany, in the late winter of 1861 bound for America. While the late winter passage through the North Sea and across the Atlantic was harsh, the young couple wanted to be in New York before summer. Will, as he came to be known in his new country, carried with him all of the money his father and his father-in-law had saved during their lives. Both their parents had also sold everything they could to raise money for the trip. Will’s job was to find a place to live, with work for himself, and prospects suitable for the younger memb
ers of both families. Others would join Will and Johanna as soon as that was feasible. Both Will’s parents and Johanna’s parents were willing to consider immigrating to the new world, but first and foremost they wanted a more promising life for their children; even if this meant a lengthy separation.

  Will worked the docks of his North Sea town as a young teenager. He then apprenticed as a blacksmith where he learned how to work with metals and livestock. While he loved his home region of Lower Saxony, he made just enough money to survive and had at best a bleak future. More importantly, he wanted to marry Johanna but did not see how he could ever afford to support a wife and children.

  Will and Johanna were never sure which of their fathers had first come up with the idea, but both men together talked to them about marrying and moving to America in order to provide a better life for their families. Will and Johanna talked about the good and bad and decided that they owed it to both themselves and their families to make this work. They knew how hard this would be, but they had both grown up in working class families and hard work was a part of their lives. The prospect of a great adventure was amazing to both of them, but this amazement was balanced by fear.

  They were married in February and sailed for New York in late March aboard the German Snow Brig ‘Elbe’ sailing under the flag of Hamburg. The Elbe was a sailing ship built in Kiel by Hilbert in 1850 and was past its prime when Will and Johanna boarded the ship. They arrived in New York harbor in late May.