Oath of Office. Jack Mars

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СКАЧАТЬ nodded. “That’s right. The BSL-4 lab.”

      “It’s dangerous,” she said. “You realize that, I’m sure.”

      He nearly laughed. “Sweetheart, they don’t call me in when it’s safe.”

      Her voice was cold. “Well, please be careful. We love you, you know.”

      We love you.

      It was an odd way to say it, as if she and Gunner as a team loved him, but not necessarily as individuals.

      “I know,” he said. “I love you both very much.”

      There was silence over the line.

      “Becca?”

      “Luke, I can’t guarantee we’re going to be here when you get back.”

      Now, aboard the plane, he shook his head to clear it. It was part of the job. He had to compartmentalize. He was having family problems, yes. He didn’t know how to fix them. But he also couldn’t bring them with him to Galveston. They would distract him from what he was doing, and that could be dangerous, for himself and everyone involved. His focus on the matter at hand had to be total.

      He glanced out the window. The jet streaked across the sky, moving fast. Below them, white clouds skidded by. He took a deep breath.

      “All right, Trudy,” he said. “What do you have for us?”

      Trudy held up her computer tablet for everyone’s inspection. She positively beamed. “They gave me my old tablet back. Thanks, boss.”

      He shook his head and smiled just a touch. “Luke is fine. Now give it to us. Please.”

      “I’m going to assume no prior knowledge.”

      Luke nodded. “Fair enough.”

      “Okay. We are on our way to the Galveston National Laboratory, in Galveston, Texas. It is one of only four known Biosafety Level 4 facilities in the United States. These are the highest security microbiology research facilities, with the most extensive safety protocols for workers. These facilities deal with some of the most lethal and infectious viruses and bacteria known to science.”

      Swann raised a hand from out of his slump. “You say one of four known facilities. Are there unknown facilities?”

      Trudy shrugged. “Certain life sciences corporations, especially ones that are closely held, could have BSL-4 facilities without the government knowing about it. Yeah. It’s possible.”

      Swann nodded.

      “The thing that’s different about this facility in Galveston is the other three BSL-4 facilities are located on highly secure government installations. Galveston is the only one on an academic campus, a fact which was repeatedly raised as a security concern before the facility first opened in 2006.”

      “What did they do about it?” Ed Newsam said.

      Trudy smiled again. “They promised they’d be extra careful.”

      “Terrific,” Ed said.

      “Let’s get to the meat of it,” Luke said.

      Trudy nodded. “Okay. Three nights ago, a power failure occurred.”

      Luke drifted just a bit as Trudy went through the material the lab director covered with Susan and her staff the night before. The night guard, the woman, the vial of Ebola. He heard these things, but he was barely listening.

      An image of Becca and Gunner on the patio as he was leaving flashed in his mind. He tried to squash it, but it lingered on. For a long second, all he saw was Gunner staring down dejectedly at a striped bass on the grill.

      “It sure sounds like sabotage,” Newsam said.

      “It most likely was,” Trudy said. “The system was built for redundancy, and not only did the primary power source fail, the redundancy also failed. That just doesn’t happen very often unless someone helps it happen.”

      “What do we know about the woman who was inside at the time?” Luke said. “What is her name? Anything new on her?”

      “I did some looking into her. Aabha Rushdie, twenty-nine years old. She’s still missing. She has an exemplary record as a junior scientist. Doctorate in Microbiology. Highest honors at King’s College, London. Advanced training in BSL-3 and BSL-4 protocols, including certification to work solo in the lab, which is not a place everyone reaches.

      “She’s been at Galveston for three years, and has worked on a number of important programs, including the weapons program we’re concerned with.”

      “Okay,” Swann said. “This is a weapons program?”

      Trudy raised a hand. “I’ll get to that in a minute. Let me finish with Aabha. The most interesting thing about her is she died in 1990.”

      Everyone stared at Trudy.

      “Aabha Rushdie died in a car crash in Delhi, India, when she was four years old. Her parents moved to London soon after. Later, they divorced and Aabha’s mother moved back to India. Her father died of a heart attack seven years ago. And five years ago, Aabha suddenly came back to life, with a life story, schools attended, jobs, and glowing recommendations from college professors in India, all just in time to study for her doctorate in England.”

      “She’s a ghost,” Luke said.

      “It would seem so.”

      “But why is she Indian?”

      Trudy glanced at her notes. “There are about a billion people in India, but no is really sure of the total figure. The country is far behind the Western world in computerizing birth and death records. There’s widespread corruption in the civil services there, so it’s pretty straightforward to buy the identity of someone who is dead. India is a major global source of fake people.”

      “Yeah,” Swann said, “but then you have to hire an Indian ghost.”

      Trudy raised a finger. “Not necessarily. To Westerners, there’s very little difference in the appearance of people from northern India, where Delhi is, and people from Pakistan, which is right nearby. In fact, to Indians and Pakistanis themselves there isn’t much difference. So I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that Aabha Rushdie is actually a Pakistani, and most likely a Muslim. She might be an agent of the intelligence services there, or worse, a member of a conservative Sunni or Wahhabi sect.”

      Ed Newsam audibly groaned.

      Luke’s heart did a lazy belly flop somewhere inside his chest. Of all the analysts he had worked with, Trudy’s intel was always at the highest level. Her scenario-spinning ability might well be the best of the bunch. If she was correct in this case, then a Sunni from Pakistan had just stolen a vial of Ebola virus.

      Good morning. Rise and shine.

      He looked around at the four of them. His eyes landed on Trudy.

      “Give us all of it,” he said.

      “Okay, here comes the worst part,” Trudy said.

      “It СКАЧАТЬ