Eventually, Tabitha forced Jim and me to go to bed. After the first successful test of the electrostatic filter system, we were both spent anyway. I hoped to get a few hours sleep and get back at it.
During the time we were testing the filter system, Tabitha, Anne Marie (when she wasn't hanging out with me), and Al had been working on a plan for our new homestead. Wherever we were, we still needed creature comforts. It looked like we would have to live in this hole for some time to come. At least until we found out what was going on with these attacks upon us. Obviously, this underground facility was some sort of well-equipped Air Force base. There were research facilities, bunkrooms, office rooms, a lot of abandoned areas, and there was constant regular Air Force staff roaming the halls. It was a big facility. My guess was that it was an old Cold War era base. I was oblivious to the fact, since I was mostly concerned with solving 'Becca's dilemma. However, somebody was taking care of us and doing a tremendous amount of work preparing quarters and gathering supplies for us. We had all arrived with basically what we had on our backs. In the room that Tabitha and I shared was a complete compliment of male and female paraphernalia and wardrobe. For the most part, the clothes were my size and my style, jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers—heck, even the same kind of toothpaste I like was in our cozy bathroom. Tabitha was taking care of us.
As cozy as our accommodations were, we all still would've rather been at home. We couldn't go home until we knew we were safe from our terrorist friends (or whatever they were). A lot of debate continued as to who our attackers had been and why, but, there were no forthcoming answers—even the guy we killed at Al's place had no telltale clues on him. Tabitha reassured all of us that various civilian and military entities were investigating the problem. Perhaps something on the guys we ran into at Al's house or that Tabitha tangled with at the hospital will offer some leads. We hoped that our black bag guys would solve the problem soon. I hoped somebody would take care of Friday. I mentioned this to Annie. She said that Tabitha took care of it. I later found out that all of our parents, extended families, and even our pets were being protected in different locations.
I slept for about twelve hours straight. When I finally stirred, I found that Jim had been back at work for several hours. I guess he just couldn't sleep and worry at the same time. Apparently, I could. Of course, my injuries and pain medication did help with that some. I made a note to myself to wake the hell up, get with it, and do something to help around here.
"How is she, Jim?" I asked him.
"The doctor says 'Becca's improved, whatever that means." Jim had spent the morning discussing possible treatments with the facility physicians. Tabitha and the doctor, Doctor Smith—if you believe that name—continued to talk as I patted Jim's shoulder. Tabitha nodded to me.
I had asked Tabitha the day before, "How can we keep these people at this facility with the possibility of a major explosion at any time? It isn't fair to them."
Tabitha assured me, "They all volunteered, Anson. And besides that, I couldn't force Anne Marie, Al, or Sara away with a thousand wild horses." Then she mumbled something about national security. "Besides, there are most likely other things at this facility that are just as explosive. Erh, well, explosive enough anyway."
"Jim and I were thinking that instead of attacking the dumbbells, perhaps we should go after the flu part," Tabitha changed subjects. Dr. Smith, John Smith, (I get a kick out of that) joined the conversation.
"We could try creating antibodies in a large creature like a horse or perhaps use something like Acyclovir for suppression therapy," he said.
"Acyclovir? Isn't that an old Herpes treatment?" I asked.
"Yes," Dr. Smith explained. "The drug was designed to be the opposite of the viral receptor. It basically attaches to the virus's receptors before it can attach to a cell. Thus it becomes inert and is eventually filtered out by the body's waste disposal system. Let me explain it the way I do to kids. The virus is like the bottom of a Lego block and a cell is like the top of a block. Viruses stick to the cell kinda like the Leggos stick together. Well, Acyclovir was designed to look like the virus end of the block. The hopes with this type of therapy is that if you throw enough of the antiviral blocks into the mix, the virus will stick to them instead of the body's cells. Then your body's own filtration system will take care of it from there."
"Yeah. I remember seeing a television special on it one time. We would have to tailor a drug to the virus's electromagnetic field," Jim said.
"That might work," I thought aloud. "We have the field of the virus mapped."
"But I don't see how we're going to create a pharmaceutical. It took years for the development of most suppression therapy drugs available today." Dr. Smith frowned and shook his head. "A chemical or biological process has to be discovered that will grow just the right shaped drug molecule. That takes years of effort."
I looked at Jim and smiled. "We'll build one from the atom up."
"What?" Dr. Smith looked surprised.
"Of course." Tabitha perked up. She subconsciously pulled the hair down over the scratches on her forehead and added, "We will build the drug molecule just like we built the Clemons Dumbbells. Genius!"
"Exactly," I nodded. "Jim, do you think you could build up a 3D computer model of the apparatus needed to grow the prototypes in a deposition chamber?" I asked.
"Sure Anson. But there're two problems there. One, we have no deposition chamber and two we could only build a few at a time." Jim replied.
"Good point." I turned to Dr. Smith, "How many virus cells are in her now?"
"Are you serious? I have no idea. There must be millions. There's no way to know exactly. At least none that I can think of. And remember, they continue to replicate," Dr. Smith said.
"Yes, yes. But the filtering has stopped further deterioration in her condition, which would lead one to suspect a steady state. This is simple rate equation stuff. Besides, how many grams of antibiotics does one usually take before getting well? Much much less than a kilogram. So let's assume that we need ten kilograms worth of these virus huggers. That amount should be overkill. We just need a facility to grow them."
"Dr. Smith, we made tons of the dumbbells from the atom up in about a year. We just need a manufacturing facility like Anson said." Jim had the gears turning in his head. I could see the look in his eyes. He wandered off into his mind and was designing something brilliant. He did that often. Jim's ability to solve problems on the spot had always amazed me. That was one of the things that interested me in being his advisor. I have to have a whiteboard or I can't think straight.
"Jim. Jim!" I got his attention. "Get to work designing the thing and Tab and I will get the equipment we need here like yesterday. Doc, you make sure she stays alive." He not only kept Rebecca alive, but he also convinced us that we probably only needed a few hundred grams of the virus huggers. I decided we should shoot for a kilogram.
Tabitha and I went back to our makeshift conference area, which was actually a conference area, and began listing materials and components. After a couple of hours, I realized that Anne Marie and Sara were bringing us sandwiches and soft drinks occasionally. About nine hours later, we had a complete list of the parts required to replicate the Huntsville nanotech factory. It's always easier to redo something better than it is to invent it in the first place. I intended that this nanotech lab would have updated gadgets and fixes to the things that we didn't necessarily like in the Huntsville lab. "Well that should do it. Now we just need somebody to acquire all of this stuff," I said.
"Leave it to me, Anson." Tabitha kissed me on the cheek, then she stood up and stretched.
"Some of this equipment is hard to find, Tabitha." I finished off another sandwich and stretched.