‘Wow, but...’
‘WHO support for Petrov’s research at Beer Sheva was signed off by Lagarde and the flask found in Petrov’s lab was addressed to Lagarde in Geneva.’
Steven shrugged and shook his head. ‘In which case we all want to know what was in it.’
‘You could say. US Intelligence are expecting it to be a new, synthetic drug, highly addictive and useful in the cause of enslaving people for life. Do you have any thoughts on the subject?’
Steven felt embarrassed but confessed, ‘I thought it might be a new super-efficient vaccine, capable of conferring immunity to multiple diseases.’
‘I hope you didn’t bet your house on that,’ said Jane.
They both smiled and the conversation relaxed.
Steven said, ‘Ten minutes ago I was intent on flying to Geneva to find out what had happened to the flasks Petrov had been sending. I suspect that might have been a wasted journey?’
‘We managed to get Israeli help in intercepting the flask before it was collected for delivery to WHO,’ said Jane. ‘It’s on its way to England as we speak.’
‘Why England?’ said Steven.
‘A decision had to be made, CDC Atlanta or Porton Down in England, toss of a coin, England won — or lost depending on how you look at it, then maximum biological security had to be agreed on — the flask could contain anything for all we know, Lassa Fever, Marburg disease, Ebola or the latest Chelsea party drug.’
‘Keep me in the loop?’ Steven asked.
‘Will do,’ said Jane, looking as if she meant it.’
If there had been a can lying on the pavement outside MI6 headquarters, Steven would have kicked it into the back of beyond in a bid to free himself of the frustration he felt. He had come here hoping to get information about the vaccines Petrov had been working on and now he was leaving, feeling he’d just taken a giant step backwards. Whatever Petrov had been working on, he had obviously finished before his killers had got to him. His lab had been cleared for shut-down, leaving the only clue in the flask he had prepared for transport to WHO in Geneva.
His mood didn’t improve when he got back to the Home Office and sensed that Jean and John Macmillan were exchanging glances behind his back as if preparing to tell him something he was not going to like.
‘I take it you haven’t heard,’ said Macmillan.
‘Heard what?’
‘The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have announced a new outbreak of Ebola.’
‘You’re kidding,’ said Steven, ‘How can they? It’s only a week since they announced the epidemic was over. What the hell are they playing at?’ He felt angry and confused at the same time. ‘There must be some kind of misunderstanding,’ he insisted.
‘That’s what we thought too,’ said Jean, ‘but they’re officially notifying it.’
‘Crazy, crazy, crazy,’ said Steven. ‘It has to be a left-over pocket of disease from the outbreak they’ve just declared over. Did they say where the new cases are?’
‘North Kivu Province,’ said Jean, referring to her notes.
‘But that’s a lawless hell hole, hundreds of miles away from Equateur... how in God’s name did it get there...’
Macmillan shook his head and said, ‘It didn’t travel from Equateur, they’ve had more than forty cases of haemorrhagic fever in Kivu and seventeen have been confirmed as being Ebola by lab tests. The real crunch came when genetic testing of the virus revealed it to be a completely different strain from the one in Equateur: that’s why they’re calling it a new outbreak; they have no option, it really is.’
‘The tenth,’ Steven murmured, feeling utterly dejected and not at all looking forward to an upcoming discussion with Tally.
‘I just can’t believe it,’ said Tally. ‘The world’s gone crazy... Less than a week since the end of one outbreak another one erupts... it’s just not possible... it’s just not fair!’
Steven could hear the emotion in Tally’s voice and it wasn’t making things any easier for him to persuade her that she must turn away from it all. ‘How did you hear about it?’ he asked.
‘The regional manager for WHO, Marcus Altman, called me this morning. He’s not sure what’s going to happen...’
‘Tally, what do you know about North Kivu?’
‘It’s hundreds of miles away from where I am.’
‘I’ve been investigating with help from the Foreign Office,’ Steven said, ‘it’s a little piece of hell on earth, completely without law and order with a civilian population living under the most atrocious conditions because so much in the way of housing has been destroyed in the continual fighting in the region. This has led to such severe overcrowding that Ebola will rage through the community like a forest fire after a long drought. The warring factions are completely without mercy and would put ISIS to shame when it came to inflicting pain and slaughter on their fellow citizens. You must not even consider going there.’
‘I haven’t been asked... no one has... no one saw it coming,’ said Tally, still sounding upset.
‘You might be,’ said Steven. ‘In the absence of any better idea, it will be an almost automatic thing for the authorities to ask those already in the country to carry on without putting any real thought into it and that could lead to absolute disaster. It’s clear thinking that’s needed not three cheers for the firemen as they walk into the flames never to return.’
‘We can’t just turn our backs, Steven.’
‘You must. It’s time for others to do the right thing, it’s a different response that’s needed.’
‘Which is?’
‘They have to stop the virus getting out of Kivu. Nothing else matters. Kivu is to all intents a war zone where no one can tell friend from foe. It’s pointless for outsiders to even try. All acts of human kindness will have to be side-lined and cold hard facts recognised. You know as well as I do, we cannot treat Ebola — we have nothing to treat it with — and highly skilled nursing will only save one in ten at great risk to the nurses. All efforts have to be centred on stopping the virus escaping and starting the pandemic we all fear could sweep the world. The only thing we have in our armoury is a vaccine and please God, we can get enough of it. It has to be used to create a belt of healthy immunised people round the whole infected region so that the virus cannot cross it. Viruses need living tissue to survive. If they can’t find someone new to infect, they will die. People trying to break out of the region have to be turned back.’
‘And if they have guns?’
‘They will have to be met by people with bigger guns.’
‘But, who...’
‘Surrounding countries will be keen to protect their borders and allowed to do so but United Nations action will be needed — and I mean action, not a bunch of freeloaders sitting on their arses passing resolutions.’
‘Oh my God,’ Tally murmured, ‘I need time to get my head round all this. I don’t know what to say.’
‘Please promise me you won’t agree to go anywhere before we speak again. I would get down on my knees and beg you to come home as quickly as possible if I thought it would do any good, but I know it wouldn’t and, ultimately, you will make up your own mind, so, promise me that?’
‘I promise.’
Twelve
It was strange for Steven to feel dread over the prospect of hearing from Tally, but that was how he felt as he waited for her to phone the following evening. When the call finally came, he let it ring more than a couple of times, still fearing that he was about to be told that she had decided to stay on in DRC and go to Kivu Province.
‘Hi, how are you?’ he said with a slight croak in his throat. Tally didn’t seem to notice. ‘It’s been such a strange day,’ she said, ‘the news of another outbreak has taken everyone by surprise and, because so many people were packing up and preparing to wind down, there’s been a real lack of communication all round. From what little I did manage to pick up here and there, it seems that what you said about Kivu was absolutely right; it’s virtually a war zone and the general feeling is that the new system of area management just won’t work there.’