“The dots are connecting,” Kincaid commented, “but I can’t figure out why.”
“Before Che, in the late forties, the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA, had interest in a place called The Mission because it was reported to be a gathering place for members of the defeated Third Reich. It’s well known that there was an escape pipeline to South America for Nazis during and after the war. The OSS/CIA heard rumors that the scientists who weren’t snatched up by our Operation Paperclip or the Russians went to The Mission,” Quinn added.
“Despite that, they weren’t able to find the exact location of The Mission. They got word from some contacts that it was originally from Spain, and that it had come over the Atlantic sometime in the fifteenth century. But beyond that, it seems like the CIA stopped the investigation.”
“Wait a second,” Kincaid said. “Columbus didn’t discover America until 1492.” “I’m just telling you what the CIA uncovered. Perhaps those date problems are why the CIA didn’t follow through on the investigation.”
“Or perhaps there was another reason they dropped the investigation.” Kincaid looked around the Cube. “Like they’ve stopped digging at Dulce.”
Quinn shut the folder. “I don’t know.” He opened another folder. “But my computer whiz kid has managed to pull something out of one of the hard drives Turcotte got out of Scorpion Base and it references The Mission.”
“What is it?” Kincaid asked.
Quinn smiled. “You think the Che Guevara stuff is weird, wait until you read this.” He slid a computer printout over to Kincaid, who picked it up and read:
THE MISSION & The Inquisition (research reconstruction and field report 10/21/92-Coridan-)
Overview:
The Papal Inquisition was instituted in 1231 for the apprehension and trial of heretics. The Mission, now established, as previous entries note, in central Italy, seized upon this opportunity to expand its power aligning itself with the church. It was to continue in this role both in the Old and New Worlds for the next four centuries until the hysteria that fueled the Inquisition waned. The Inquisition was only one of several actions The Mission undertook during this time period, but one that bears our interest.
While the Inquisition focused on heretics, The Mission’s task in this quest was more specific. It was to weed out those individuals who posed a threat in terms of theoretical advancement.
That they were effective in this effort can be seen by the lack of scientific advancement by mankind for the next several centuries.
The Mission seemed to want to ride a line between encouraging economic development, to increase mankind’s numbers, and holding back scientific development, to decrease mankind’s potential. Examples:
In 1600 Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for postulating a heliocentric system. I found direct evidence of Mission involvement in both designating Bruno for the Inquisition and forcing through his conviction and execution. More interesting is The Mission’s involvement in the case of Galileo. The 1616 Edict on Copernicanism can be laid to The Mission’s desire to keep mankind from looking to the stars, even at the most base level. As a result, in 1624, after publication of his “Dialogue on the Tides,” Galileo was brought to Rome to be tried for heresy. Again, involvement of The Mission can be found through the office of the Fiscal Proctor, one of the officers of the Inquisition. In this case, the Proctor went by the name Domeka, which I have traced to The Mission and other actions (see App. 1 for cross-references).
That the Inquisition was not completely successful — Galileo was only sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life — indicates not the waning power of The Mission but rather the influence of TOWW.
“What’s TOWW?” Kincaid had finished reading.
“I have no idea,” Quinn said. “I’m having my computer guy check.”
Kincaid handed the printout back. “Geez, if they put Galileo away—” He didn’t finish the sentence, just shaking his head.
“I’m forwarding this to Dr. Duncan,” Quinn said. “She can figure out what to do with it.” He looked up at the red digits on the clock that glowed at one of the rooms. “Under four hours until they launch at the Cape and Vandenberg.” Quinn held the cigarette up. “Better get a carton.”
“I have lived many years by saying no to stupid ideas,” Lo Fa said.
“I have lived many years also,” Che Lu said. “But there is more to life than just breathing.”
“Ah, don’t start that with me.” Lo Fa tapped the side of his head with a crooked finger. “I have also had many people try to play with my mind over the years.”
Che Lu laughed. “Your mind is like a rock. Who would want to play with it?”
Lo Fa’s dark eyes were looking about the guerrilla camp. The women were gathered to one side, talking quietly among themselves, while the children played around them. The men, those who weren’t on guard, were resting. Finally his eyes returned to Che Lu.
“I will go with you. But only me. I will order the others to move west, to get away from the army.”
“How will we get in the tomb?” Che Lu asked.
“I will get us in. The same way I was able to get you away from there when the army was shooting at the Russians and Americans. You get us out once you find what you are looking for.”
“It’s a filovirus.” Kenyon had finally isolated the bug.
“A filovirus?” Turcotte asked.
“A ‘thread virus,’” Kenyon said. “Most viruses are round. A filo is long. Looks like a jumbled string. Ebola’s a filo, as is Marburg.”
“So this is a cousin to Ebola?” Yakov asked.
“We don’t know,” Kenyon said. “This thing is an emerging virus.”
“Emerging from where?” Turcotte asked.
“We don’t know,” Kenyon said.
“What do you know?” Yakov demanded.
“Where did it come from?” Turcotte asked, glancing at Yakov. “Is it man-made?”
“Man-made?” Kenyon frowned. “Why would anyone let something like this loose? Many viruses are simply nature’s defense against mankind’s incursions into places we never were before.”
“What do you mean?” Turcotte asked.
“We’re tearing up the rain forest,” Kenyon said, “and so far, most of the nastiest bugs we’ve seen — the variants of Ebola and Marburg — have come out of the rain forest in Africa. It was only a matter of time before something came out of the Amazon. Humans have upset the ecological balance, and these viruses are fighting back against humans to re-right the balance.”
“Are you saying this virus was always there in the forest and we came in and activated it?” Turcotte asked. Yakov was shaking his head.
“This virus,” Kenyon said, “is what we call an emerging one. There are three ways viruses emerge: they jump from one species — which usually they are relatively benign in — to another, which they aren’t benign in; or the virus is a new evolution from another type of virus, a mutation, basically; or it could have always existed and move from a smaller population to a larger population. In the last case, this thing could have been killing humans out in the jungle for thousands of years, but now it’s moved out into the general population.”
“Is that possible?” Turcotte asked. “Wouldn’t someone have noticed?”
“Not necessarily,” Kenyon said. “We’re now beginning to believe that the AIDS virus might have been around for quite a while. Cases as far back as forty years ago are now being uncovered. They just didn’t know what it was back there and called it something else. And it stayed in a very small population.”
“Isn’t there a fourth way a virus develops?” Yakov growled. “A man goes into a lab and tinkers with something, and out comes a virus that kills?”