Chapter 15
15
When she got back to the makeshift interview room, she slid back into the chair next to Gil. His phone was nowhere to be seen. He probably hadn’t turned it on yet. Under the table, she passed her own phone to him, with the text she’d sent him displayed on the screen.
He scanned it, stiffened, then gave a curt nod.
Contagion.
That explained the alarm, the high security, everything. But it still didn’t entirely make sense. For instance, she hadn’t gotten sick after spending time with Victor. No one had warned her that she should monitor herself for symptoms.
She remembered the way the trooper had assessed her so carefully. Had he been told to look for signs of illness, without saying so?
So many questions…
Before she could spin her wheels into even more wild directions, the door opened and five people strode in. Two of them were in uniform, and three in civilian clothes. All wore badges.
Under the table, Gil took her hand reassuringly. Sergeant Thomson stood at attention, her gaze fixed on the wall, while a ponderous man who must be her superior officer took her seat. A woman with graying blond hair in a clip claimed the chair next to him. She wore a simple striped blouse with the sleeves rolled up and pleated slacks. The casualness of her outfit relaxed Ani, as did her concerned smile.
All that vanished as soon as she spoke.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Christianson with the Centers for Disease Control. These are members of my team. You’re Ani Devi and Gilbert McGowan?”
Suspicion confirmed.
Even though she’d already guessed it, Ani felt a cold trickle of fear down her spine. The CDC was serious, beyond serious. Whatever contagion was going on, it was getting top-level attention.
“Yes, that’s us,” Gil said. “Can you explain what this is all about?”
“I can explain some things. But first, can you tell me everything you know about Victor Canseco?”
Gil shook his head. “No,” he said simply. “You first. We have a right to know why we got kidnapped in the middle of the night.”
“Rescued,” muttered Sergeant Thomson, then snapped back to her military posture.
“She’s right.” The imposing man spoke crisply. “I’m Colonel Heron. You could have been killed if we hadn’t pulled you out. Now answer the doctor’s questions.”
Ani’s heart was racing so fast that she felt lightheaded. Amazingly, Gil seemed unfazed by the military crew surrounding them. “How about this. You’re worried that Victor is spreading some kind of virus or something. But neither of us is sick. If you were worried about that, you’d all be wearing biohazard suits. So we’re a little confused.”
She was really glad that Gil was doing the talking. The sheer number of military and medical personnel in this tiny room was daunting.
“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked. She turned to Ani. “Have you noticed any symptoms since your contact with Victor Canseco?”
“What sort of symptoms?” Ani asked warily.
“Fever, chills, headache, fatigue, that sort of thing. They vary quite a bit.”
“Those are all pretty common, but no, I haven’t had any of those. Gil, have you?”
“No,” he said shortly.
“That’s good to hear. We’d like to administer a blood test to both of you, with your permission, of course. Just to make sure you’re in the clear.” She eyed Gil’s stony expression, then shot a glance at the colonel. He gave a reluctant go-ahead nod. “But obviously you deserve an explanation first,” she said smoothly.
Ani felt Gil squeeze her hand, and she squeezed back. Lord, she was glad not to face all this on her own.
“We believe that Victor Canseco may have come into contact with what’s known as a Methuselah microbe. Sometimes popularly known as a zombie virus.”
Ani’s mouth fell open, the word zombie echoing through her mind. That wasn’t what it meant, she knew that, but…
Gil said quickly, “My brother told me about them. They’re pathogens that have been frozen in the permafrost for hundreds or thousands of years. When the permafrost thaws, and they come into contact with humans, they’re able to evade our immune systems because we haven’t evolved along with them.”
“Correct.” The doctor gave him a relieved smile. “I’m glad I didn’t have to explain it. I understand your brother studies glaciers. You’re probably well aware of this phenomenon.”
“He studies the j?kulhlaup.”
They all gazed at him blankly, but he didn’t bother to explain. Ani wondered, absurdly, if he’d had to practice saying that word until he got it right.
Gil continued. “But it’s mostly a theoretical worry. So far, no zombie virus has triggered any widespread disease outbreaks.”
“That’s because not many people live in areas where the permafrost is thawing. Low population density is on our side. But we take all reports of outbreaks very seriously and we have to investigate them.”
“Do those investigations usually include the Army?” Gil asked. A reasonable question, but it caused the colonel’s face to go stern and stony.
“That’s classified.”
The doctor stepped in. “We sometimes work with the military, particularly in areas like Alaska where there isn’t much infrastructure.” Maybe the CDC doctor was playing the role of good cop, Ani thought. It was working for Ani.
“Have you identified the virus?” she asked the doctor. “What do you know about it?”
“I can’t get into all the details, and I must ask you both to keep all of this to yourself. The last thing we need is a panic when there’s no need for one.”
“Yeah, because missile attacks and amphibious helicopter missions never provoke panic,” Gil murmured.
“That missile wasn’t us,” snapped the colonel.
“Then who was it?”
Ani knew the answer before it came. “Classified.”
For a moment, no one spoke. Then the doctor cleared her throat. “We believe the virus is from a rare class called omegavirus. Some virologists thought it was extinct, that’s how uncommon it is. A group of mine workers became infected a few weeks ago in Ninuk, near the Arctic Circle. They were doing some core sampling deep in the permafrost layer. We managed to contain that outbreak, except for one loose end. Victor Canseco. He was doing research in that area before he came to Firelight Ridge.”
“So you’re tracking down everyone he’s been in contact with, even if they’re in a cabin in the wilderness?” Gil shook his head. “That’s dedication.”
“Has anyone else gotten sick?” Ani asked, thinking of the pilot, dead in his backyard, and the girl who worked for him, although nausea and vomiting weren’t on the list of symptoms that Dr. Christianson had mentioned.
“That’s classified,” growled the colonel.
“Did Victor have the virus? Was he contagious when I talked to him?”
The colonel and the doctor exchanged a glance. “We don’t know. That’s why we’d like to test you.” She turned to Gil. “I understand Victor Canseco’s a friend of yours. Do you know where we could find him?”
“I don’t know where he is.” Ani noticed that he didn’t mention that he’d spoken to Victor on the phone. Interesting.
“My brother Lachlan is closer to Victor than I am,” he continued. “Have you talked to him?”
“We have. He hasn’t seen Victor since he came back from Ninuk.”
Gil’s visible tension eased and he relaxed back in his chair. Always so protective of his brother, thought Ani.
The doctor pulled out an iPad and tapped into it. “Now I have to ask again, would you be willing to provide a blood sample so we can make sure you haven’t been infected by this virus? We’re trying to learn everything we can about it.” She turned to Ani. “We’re most worried about you, since you talked to Canseco in close proximity.”
Ani nodded tightly, thinking of Victor’s sweaty face. “What happens if we’ve been infected? Is there a treatment?”
“At this point we have no treatment, this virus is too unfamiliar. But we can manage the symptoms. We expect that it’s hardest on kids and the elderly, like most viruses. If you test positive, we’d ask you to confine yourselves to a private space until you’re clear of the omegavirus.”
“Quarantine?” Ani’s heart sank. The worst part of Ani’s entire marriage had played out during Covid lockdown. John had been a nightmare to live with. In fact, that time had finally opened her eyes to the fact that they weren’t a good match, that he only loved her when she was idolizing him. The only saving grace was that she was an essential worker and so they’d kept distance from each other.
“Entirely voluntary. I wouldn’t call it quarantine, just a simple precaution. But if we find you’re clear, then there will be no need for that.”
There was no question in Ani’s mind that if she had a virus, she wanted to know about it. “I consent, with the stipulation that you don’t retain my blood sample unless it’s useful for research.”
“That’s fair. If you’re clear, we’ll destroy it. If you’re not, we’d like to know more about this virus, with your permission.”
“Can I have a moment with my doctor?” Gil asked. “In private. Patient-doctor confidentiality.”
At Dr. Christianson’s nod, Ani followed Gil out of the room. He drew her close to whisper in her ear. “You think it’s safe to do this?”
She whispered back. “I want to know if I have a virus. I don’t want to get anyone sick. I’ve been thinking about all the people I’ve been in contact with. My friends, everyone in Firelight Ridge. You.”
“You’re worried about me?”
“Of course. Apparently I’m your doctor.”
A whisper of a laugh against her ear. “If we have to be quarantined, would you mind if we did it together?”
“That would be nice. But will you be offended if I still hope we don’t have it?”
“Not at all. Hell, if we don’t, we can always self-quarantine just for the fun of it.”
“I like the way you think.”
When their whispered consultation was over, they pulled away and faced the interrogators, who were watching them curiously.
“We’ll do it,” she said, speaking for both of them.
One of the other CDC doctors, a young curly-haired man who’d been waiting patiently next to Sergeant Thomson, stepped forward with a blood test kit.
“We can take it from here,” Dr. Christianson told the colonel. “No need for an audience for this part.”
With a nod, he rose to his feet and cleared the room with little more than a glance. Everyone seemed to relax after that, even the young doctor taking their blood. In fact, he relaxed so much that he must have forgotten she was a doctor who knew all about blood samples.
Instead of watching the sterile tip of the needle ease into her vein, she scanned the rest of the kit and his clipboard for any information she could spot. And there it was. A few other labels were pasted onto a collection log. She scanned the names from her upside down angle and committed them to memory. Marshall. Cross. Jacobson. Tuft.
One name was missing. Canseco.
Why were they having so much trouble tracking him down? Was Victor running away from the CDC? Or was he…she sucked in a breath, thinking again of the pilot. Was Victor Canseco dead too?