Chapter 8: Men in Black

I WALKED INTO ED’S OFFICE and felt the big man’s ever-present shadow fall over me. My story was lying on the editor’s desk.

“You have genuine sources to back this up?”

“Yes. They’ve asked to remain out of the picture until the story is picked up elsewhere. There’s a real fear out there that the government is quashing the real story and the people who would tell it,” I said.

“Aren’t you worried?”

“I just work in your shadow.”

“This story isn’t enough. We need to know how and when this virus was distributed. What do you have?”

“Boom.” I made that explosive motion toward the sky the guy in the bar made.

“What does that mean?”

“I didn’t know, but being with the doctors today as they explored my prostate, I got to thinking back. Existing pregnancies weren’t affected by the sterilization. Adjusting for differing lengths of pregnancy and a less than uniform spread around the world, babies may have kept being conceived for about two more months, according to the chart Ulman gave me showing births at Orlando General. Then nothing. So, I started exploring events from ten to twelve months ago. Boom.” I made the gesture again.

“The laser light show in the sky when military satellites destroyed each other,” Ed nodded.

“Relax. We’re not at war,” I quoted the president. “The war was over in a couple of hours but it didn’t stay in space. One or more of those satellites had biological weapons on it. Probably targeted toward a specific country. But the explosions 120 miles up, scattered the virus around the globe and it descended on all men, not just the targeted population.”

“It’s a lot of speculation. But it all fits together. Especially, the government coverup. Get on the phone and get comments from Homeland Security, NASA, and the Joint Fucking Chiefs of Staff. While you’re doing that, we’ll send this out over the wire and let the world pick up the news. I want it in as many hands as possible before they try to stop the story from spreading. This is bigger than our newspaper, Ramsey. It’s bigger than both of us.” Of course, there was no wire to send things over these days. The story went by way of the internet to the AP news desk. From there it was emailed to editors around the globe as the story took top position on the website.

My follow-up story on the biological weapons used to spread the disease from space along with denials and ‘no comment’ from various spokespeople hit the wire fifteen minutes later. By then, I was pretty sure the phones at Homeland Security and the Pentagon were ringing off the proverbial hook.

“Senator, you sit on the Armed Services Committee. Did you know about the biological weapons pointed at earth?” I finally reached the office of Florida Senator Tom Truman and wasn’t wasting time getting right to the point. One of the reasons the senator has served so long is that he always keeps the press on his side.

“Ramsey, I know the common opinion is that we’re supposed to know everything. We’ve known the satellite battle must have had something to do with the sterilization for some time. But honestly, we don’t know who started it all nor when those antique satellites were launched,” the senator said seriously.

“It seems like multiple treaties against the use of biological weapons and the weaponization of space have been violated. Wouldn’t you agree?” I pressed.

“These satellites might have all been up there before any treaties were signed,” Truman sighed. “Of course, by today’s standards we’re appalled that anyone would contemplate putting such devastating weapons of mass destruction in earth’s orbit. But we can’t judge people of the past by standards of the present. I’m sure whoever did this was only thinking of protecting their people.”

“So, you don’t think anyone is to blame for this?”

“I am certainly not going to assign blame. Not unless there is incontrovertible evidence. Do you have that?”

“No.”

“Then don’t spread unfounded stories.” The senator’s voice was stern.

“We have to print the news. Everyone has a right to know.”

“It’s the continuation of your personal rights I’m concerned with.” Truman let the statement hang in the air. Was that a threat? “I think we’re finished here. Have a good day, Ramsey.”

Any sane man would have taken that as a warning to back off, but there are few sane reporters. I had a new bone to chew. Someone had poisoned the atmosphere and sterilized all men. I planned to find out who.

There was an alert on my phone and I called up the latest ‘official bulletin’ from the government. They were wasting no time looking like they were responding to the national emergency. It had only been a year since the explosions.

Recognizing the need for quick action in this national emergency, the Department of Health and Human Servicing has announced the creation of the National Repopulation Project. The agency, created weeks ago, is well underway with a staff of top grade scientists and doctors to research a way to advance the goal of starting repopulation of our country.

The first act of the NRP has been to confiscate all existing stores of banked sperm in the US and its territories. Sperm banks had previously been closed by the agency in order to ensure their safety and avoid a run on the sperm banks. Now all stores of banked sperm have been moved to an isolation facility in Kentucky. We are investigating the best ways in which to utilize the banked sperm for research bent on discovering the biological effect of the sterilization and how to reverse it.

All available resources have been diverted to this project which will be led by Chief Scientist Dr. Joe Mangeler. Dr. Mangeler addressed the NRP briefly while being sworn in.

“We have a grave responsibility,” Mangeler said. “We need to study the genetic makeup of the sperm currently banked and the applications of those applying for in vitro fertilization to ensure that our finest traits are passed down to future generations. We will experiment only on inferior sperm to discover how to snap them back to life. We encourage every American female to submit an application for in vitro fertilization. The application will appear on our official website as soon as possible. After screening applications, we will request a DNA test to be sure the selected applicants have no damaging DNA markers that might be passed down. We are certain that with the research we have undertaken, we will be able to begin repopulation within a year or two.”

The NRP will presently share unused facilities at the CDC until a specialized research facility can be built and staffed.

Which, I figured, means it’s up to us to find our own way back. Now that it was an official government office, we could assume nothing would happen in the near future and when it does only a few ‘qualified candidates’ will be able to afford it. That won’t fly with the lovely Dr. Smith, waiting for me at home in Smith Stadium.