Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke up and was getting ready to leave for work when the doorbell rang. The FBI was there with orders to take me to Washington. I packed a bag hurriedly and kissed my wife goodbye. In the car, I learned that Ralph and Dora were also on their way to the plane to take them all to Washington. In the air, I learned that I would be briefing the President and his cabinet. I objected that I was unprepared, it would waste precious time, and might infect others who wouldn't otherwise be infected as soon. My objections were ignored.

We arrived at the airport and were taken by limousine to the White House. There, we were inspected by the Secret Service who, after hearing my objections, held us until the Secretary of Defense came out, met us and escorted us with Secret Service personnel following to the Situation Room. The President, the Vice President and most of the Cabinet were there. The Secretary sat down and announced, "Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, ladies and gentlemen, This is James Woods and his colleagues who will brief us on issues stemming from the Polk City, Florida, problem."

"Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretaries, I was picked up this morning by the FBI with no explanation about this trip and therefore have no briefing documents nor a prepared briefing. I regret that but, when you don't tell people what you want, it lessens your chance of getting it.

"What I can tell you is that there were three steps in the Polk City incident. The first was a breech in the roof, a spill releasing SL47, and then a nuclear explosion of the entire facility. The obvious part of all this is the nuclear blast with the earthquake following. Those were bad enough. The other and more significant part of this disaster was the release of SL47. SL47 was a virus that appeared in cancer research. Our facility was using a variant which seemed to attack cancer cells. There is no known antidote. My team has confirmed that it has already spread as far as Chapel Hill yesterday. My colleagues and I are infected. I tried to object to being brought here and those objections were ignored and overruled. Just by being here and speaking, we have probably infected every one of you sooner than you would have been. SL47 is almost universally fatal and death occurs within five days of infection.

"We could have had this conference via video which the CEO of my company probably suggested. That would have saved time, put off your infection, and allowed us time to prepare and to work. After answering any questions, my team and I would like to return to Chapel Hill where we can work and be with our families."

The Secret Service personnel had started to move forward but a hand wave from the President stopped them both times. The President grinned ruefully and said, "I apologize for your trip. Your CEO did request that we use a video conference. Sometimes, a request is filled in something less than the best way. I needed information and, as the request went down the line, people changed it to suit what they thought I wanted rather than what had actually been requested." He looked at his Chief of Staff as he said that. That man turned an even whiter shade of pale as he realized that what he had requested in an effort to help the President had. in all likelihood, moved his own date of death sooner. "I have a few questions that I would like for you to address. I understand you have contacted the CDC. Do you have any realistic hope that they can accomplish anything?"

"No, sir, our company has been working on this under contract for over a year since the compound was discovered and had no success. The CDC would have to be incredibly lucky to find an antidote in time."

"I see. Why did you contact Oak Ridge?"

"They designed our plant and might have some clue about the explosion. Also, they would know from their telemetry that more had occurred than a nuclear accident. There was no reason not to make a full disclosure. If there were a problem in the plant, they should know to keep others from having the same problem. Mr. President, what is the country going to do?"

"I don't know yet. One last question, what is the fatality index on SL47?"

"No one knows for sure as there have been too few exposures to make a complete determination but our people's best estimates are a fatality rate of ninety-nine percent or higher." That statement stunned all.

The Vice President said, "That means, if your numbers are correct, that less than three million people will survive."

"Sir, that is an estimate. I am not really up on its derivation sufficiently well enough to argue the matter. So far, every human being who has been exposed to SL47 has died within five days of exposure. That is a fact that I know."