Executive orders - Tom Clancy [312]
He had his list. He made three telephone calls. The calls were relayed through several cutout chains, and in Lebanon and elsewhere, people made travel plans.
SO, HOW'D WE do, coach? Jack asked with a smile.
The ice got pretty thin, but I guess you didn't get wet, Arnie van Damm said with visible relief. You hit the interest groups pretty hard.
Isn't it okay to trash the special interests? Hell, everybody else does!
It depends on which groups and which interests, Mr. President. They all have spokespersons, too, and some of them can come across like Mother Teresa after a nice-pill-right before they slash your throat with a machete. The chief of staff paused. Still, you handled yourself pretty well. You didn't say anything they could turn against you too badly. We'll see how they cut it up for tonight, and then what Donner and Plumber say at the end. The last couple of minutes count the most.
THE TUBES ARRIVED in Atlanta in a very secure container called a hatbox because of its shape. It was in its way a highly sophisticated device, designed to hold the most dangerous of materials in total safety, multiple-sealed, and spec'd to survive violent impacts. It was covered with biohazard warning labels and was treated with great respect by the handlers, including the FedEx deliveryman who'd handed it over this morning at 9:14.
The hatbox was taken to a secure lab, where the outside was checked for damage, sprayed with a powerful chemical disinfectant, and then opened under strict containment procedures. The accompanying documents explained why this was necessary. The two blood tubes were suspected to contain viruses which caused hemorrhagic fever. That could mean any of several such diseases from Africa-the indicated continent of origin-all of which were things to be avoided. A technician working in a glove box made the transfer after examining the containers for leaks. There were none he could see, and more disinfectant spray made sure of that. The blood would be tested for antibodies and compared with other samples. The documentation went off to the office of Dr. Lorenz in the Special Pathogens Branch.
GUS, ALEX. Dr. Lorenz heard on the phone.
Still not getting any fishing in?
Maybe this weekend. There's a guy in neurosurgery with a boat, and we have the house pretty well set up, finally. Dr. Alexandre was looking out the window of his office at east Baltimore. One could see the harbor, which led to the Chesapeake Bay, and there were supposed to be rockfish out there.
What's happening? Gus asked, as his secretary came in with a folder.
Just checking in on the outbreak in Zaire. Anything new?
Zip, thank God. We're out of the critical time. This one burned out in a hurry. We were very- Lorenz stopped when he opened the folder and scanned the cover sheet. Wait a minute. Khartoum? he muttered to himself.
Alexandre waited patiently. Lorenz was a slow, careful reader. An elderly man, rather like Ralph Forster, he took his time with things, which was one of the reasons he was a brilliant experimental scientist. Lorenz rarely took a false step. He thought too much before moving his feet.
We just had two samples come in from Khartoum. Cover sheet is from a Dr. MacGregor, the English Hospital in Khartoum, two patients, adult male and four-year-old female, possible hemorrhagic fever. The samples are in the lab now.
Khartoum? Sudan?
That's what it says, Gus confirmed.
Long way from the Congo, man.
Airplanes, Alex, airplanes, Lorenz observed. If there was one thing that frightened epidemiologists, it was international air travel. The cover sheet didn't say much, but it did give phone and fax numbers. Okay, well, we have to run the tests and see.
What about the samples from before?
Finished the mapping yesterday. Ebola Zaire, Mayinga sub-type, identical with the samples from 1976, down to the last amino acid.
The airborne one,