Acidalia
By Amanda D.
Chapter 5
Friday June 9 early morning:
The flames surrounded her and smoke filled her lungs as she and Rosey ran down the hallway. Everywhere they looked, the children begged to be saved. They gathered them up as they moved through the smoke, trying to get to the open window in the doctor's lounge, where a fire truck's ladder waited for them. All they needed to do was get the kids to it and they would all be safe.
They hurried as best they could, but the hallway seemed to stretch for miles. After what seemed like hours they finally arrived at the lounge door. Bursting through, they found the firemen waiting. Quickly, Rosey started grabbing the kids for Jen to hand out the window. One by one they were saved from the blaze. The impossibly long line never seemed to end.
Then the building shook. Everyone froze. The firemen began shouting for them to hurry, to go faster. Jen turned to Rosey and urged him to hurry. The building shook again, this time harder than before. Rosey shoved a small boy into her arms and pushed her though the window.
She put the boy into the fireman's arms and turned back to help Rosey onto the ladder. He moved towards her outstretched hand, slowly. "Hurry!" she urged, but he moved no faster. Suddenly the building shook a third time. The wall in front of her dissolved and fell towards the ground, carrying her friend and the rest of the children along with it. "ROSEY!!!!!" she screamed as she bolted upright, waves of terror flowing from her body and filling the room like a physical force.
A light flickered on and the door burst open. "Jen are you alright?" she heard a voice call out."
"Wha ... where ... where am I?" Her eyes darted around the suddenly illuminated room.
"It's OK, Honey. You're home now. It was just a dream," the voice soothed.
"A dream?" she asked uncomprehendingly.
"Yes, Baby, a dream. You're safe now."
"Oh God, ... Rosey, ... The children, ... Frank, ... Greg, ... They're dead ... all dead" she sobbed.
"Shhh, Honey. It'll be alright," Wendy Fisk whispered as she held her traumatized daughter closely.
****************
City Hospital 9:15 Am PDT:
"Excuse me, can you say that again?"
Bill Batson looked sympathetically at Laura, himself just as stunned at the news. "I said, according these results, you've become infected."
"How ... how can that be?" Laura asked, her lip beginning to quiver.
"I don't know. We ran the results through the standard test as well as DR. Ryan's version and both came back positive." he said sympathetically. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Laura looked up at Batson, sitting across his desk and saw the genuine sadness in his eyes. It was more than she could take, causing her to break and cry. Hopping out of his chair, Bill came around the desk and knelt next to the sobbing blonde woman, putting his hand around her shoulders and offered her what little comfort he could.
"Bill, don't! You ... you could catch it."
"Laura, right now, that's the last thing in the world I care about."
The two friends sat together in silence until the emotional storm passed. As the tears began to dry and the sobs tapered off she looked over at her good friend and asked "So now what?"
"I'm going to get hold of Sam and let her know. Then we'll get you set up in a private room. Once we know what going to happen with you, I'll see about getting you sent to Dillon, instead of Reynolds."
A chill shot up her spine at the thought of have to go to quarantine. Even Dillon, considered by some to be the best of the bunch, was quickly becoming a horribly overcrowded mess. Just a couple of days earlier, along with Dr.'s Blue and Ryan, Laura had toured the facility. The Doctor in charge, Gabriel Hauler, had done his best to put a good face on the situation, but even he admitted after a bit that there were just too many people there. The only bright spot was that the Army Corps of Engineers were digging out several subbasement levels to add more space. She didn't even want to contemplate Reynolds, not if even a quarter of the rumors that were seeping out of there were true.
"Bill as long as I'm able, I'd like to help out with some of the patients here, if that's OK with you."
"Of course. Your help is always welcome."
**************
Grayson Labs:
Sam Grayson sat beside the crib and cooed at her new cellmate. The infant girl, Sara she had been named, smiled at the sounds, inducing a similar smile on Sam's face. Leaning back to stretch, Sam shook her head in disbelief. When Laura had told her on Wednesday morning that the baby had survived the viral induced transformation and was going to become Sam's new roommate, her reaction had been one of stunned silence, followed by several hours of hemming and hawing on Sam's part about not wanting the responsibility, and of not knowing how to care for a child.
"Sam," Laura had scolded "you're a woman now. Nurturing is part of our make up. You'll do fine with the baby. You'll probably find that you like it, too. Besides, if you refuse they're going to send her to one of the quarantine centers."
Knowing better than to argue with her former lab partner, Sam had reluctantly agreed to her idea. Much to her surprise, Laura had been right. Taking care of the baby had been more rewarding than Sam could have ever imagined. The child had provided the confined scientist with a welcome distraction, and helped to stave off a growing case of cabin fever, though she could have done without the diapers.
From outside in the observation room, Mia Blue watched the young woman interact with the child and smiled to herself. Over the last few weeks her fondness for Sam had grown immensely. She was almost coming to think of her as a daughter. Reluctant to interrupt, but needing to speak, she keyed the newly installed intercom system. "Sam?"
Looking over her shoulder to see who was there, Sam put up a single finger to indicate that she needed a moment. Picking up the baby she said "Uh, OH, the boss is here. We'd better go see what she wants." Walking over to the desk, she picked up the headset. "Yeah boss, what's up?"
"I see you and your new roommate are getting along."
Kissing Sara on the top of the head, Sam replied "Yes, she's quite a little character."
"Sam, the Colonel asked me come down here and talk to you. We just received a call from Bill Batson. He said that ... oh, this is so hard to say..."
"What Mia? What is it?"
"Sam ... Laura has become infected somehow."
"She what? How is that possible?"
"We don't know yet, Sam. Perhaps it's because she was exposed to the original form of the virus, the one that changed you. You told me yourself she was in the room when the ajar air hose was discovered."
"Yes but ... After all this time? It doesn't make sense."
"Well the only other alternative, is one that I personally don't want to think about."
Nodding in understanding, Sam said "I've got to agree with you there. What's Bill going to do?"
"For now, she's staying at City. We want to keep her under observation. Both for her safety and ..."
"... we need to see what the virus does." Sam finished Mia's sentence for her, shivering at the thought of her friend being used as some kind of lab rat. Sam looked down at baby Sara and rolled her eyes at the irony, thinking, ‘Lab Rats are exactly what we all are at this point'. She swallowed hard, trying to remove the large lump that had formed in her throat and said "Well thank you, Mia, for coming down here and telling me personally."
"Sam, she's going to be OK." Mia tried to sound optimistic.
"I hope you're right," Sam replied worriedly.
*********************
San Francisco late afternoon:
Carlos Henry sat in the corner of the dirty warehouse hugging himself and rocking back and forth. He was cold, starved and scared beyond all imagining. Less than a week ago he had fallen asleep, a tall, dark hair and lightly tanned thirty five year old salesman, who had come to San Francisco on a business trip. As this was his first trip to the city, he had been very upset at the cough, fever and listlessness that had come on, interfering with his planned sightseeing in the world famous city. Hoping a good night's sleep would help make him feel better so he would be able to go out the following night, Carlos had climbed into bed at about 7:30 Pm Monday night.
He awoke to find the mid-afternoon sun shining brightly. Looking at the clock he found it to be a bit after 2:30 Pm. Bolting out of bed, Carlos almost slammed headlong into the wall, skidding to a stop as he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His mouth hung open as he'd found to his horror, the face of a young, brown eyed girl with dark hair and freckles looking back at him. A quick check revealed that the change was to more than just his face. His small, budding breasts, other anatomical changes, and lack of defined feminine shape led him to believe he was now somewhere between 11 and 13 years of age.
After the inspection was complete he had been too stunned to know how to react. He just stood there staring at his reflection, occasionally touching his face in disbelief while wondering how such a change could have happened. To be honest, Carlos admitted he would probably still be there if it hadn't been for the sudden all-consuming hunger that came over him about an hour after his awakening. Without consideration for his new form, he had called for room service and ordered everything he could think of, all to be charged to his room. However the bill exceeded his room's charge limit and the hotel manager, Mr. Edwards had come up to speak to him about it.
Edwards had been surprised when a young girl answered the door after he knocked. He asked the new girl where her father was. Carlos had tried to explain that he was the one who had rented the room and that something had happened causing him to change into an early adolescent girl. At first the manager didn't believe him, thinking the child was playing a joke on him, but the more Carlos explained, the more he came to think she might be telling the truth. Just when Carlos thought he was going to be alright, Edwards started screaming about some thing called Acidalia and ordered Carlos to get out of the hotel immediately.
Carlos had tried to reason with him, but the panicked manager literally pulled him out of the room and carried him down to the lobby. Carlos fought with everything he had, but his new body lacked the strength to do much in the way of damage. Growing increasingly desperate, Carlos bit Edwards arm while they descended in the elevator, which earned her a vicious slap across the face.
Once on the ground floor, the Mr. Edwards turned Carlos over to hotel security and ordered them to escort him off the property. He would have been sent out in just a robe if the kindly middle aged guard hadn't taken pity on him and grabbed an ill fitting pink striped shirt and some jeans from the lost and found, before doing as he had been instructed. As it was, they had thrown him out before he had been able to even grab his wallet, leaving him penniless.
Starving and broke, he'd been forced to wander the streets of the unfamiliar city. That first day had been an unending series of hunger and terror. To his disgust he'd found himself forced to look into some of the most unsanitary of places for sustenance. To good his fortune, or at least it appeared at the moment, to be fortune, a seemingly kindly old Chinese man by the name of Gin Li, found him foraging in the dumpster behind his restaurant.
"You there, what are you doing in there?" Gin had called out when he saw Carlos' bare feet sticking out of the top of the dumpster.
With a face nearly as red as the average sports car, Carlos stammered "I'm sorry, sir, I was just so hungry ... I ... I didn't mean to cause trouble."
"You girl, where are your parents?"
Carol stood there stumped by the question, having no clue how to answer him. It wasn't a question she had considered. When he began to look impatient, she told him, "I don't know."
"You not know?" he questioned as he scratched his balding head. "You are a runaway?"
Carol nodded.
"You're hungry? You want food? I have food inside if you like. Come in, I'll feed you if you want," the elderly gentleman said in a his thick accent.
Though he knew better than to just follow a strange man, his overwhelming hunger clouded his judgment, and Carlos had followed the old man into the back of the restaurant.
"Sit!" Gin told him as he went to fetch Carlos a plate full of food. Carlos sat as patiently as he could, trying to ignore his watering mouth and grumbling stomach. The smell of the kitchen was driving his senses crazy, and it was all he could do to stay put.
Gin reappeared with a overflowing plate, filled with just about every Chinese favorite Carlos could think of. He set it down in front of the starving new girl, and it was all she could do to keep from attacking it with her hands and stuffing her mouth. Gin smiled as she grunted with pleasure while she consumed plate after plate of exquisite Chinese cuisine.
At last, when she finally seemed to be finished. Gin remarked "My, my, girl you were hungry. What you name?"
"Name?" Carlos repeated trying to think fast. "My name is Carl ... um ... I mean Carol. Carol Henry."
"I'm Gin Li. This my restaurant."
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Li .... I don't have money, but I would pay you for all that food I ate. Is there anything you need done around here? I can wash dishes, clean tables, anything you need." As Carlos rambled, she noticed a strange grin appear on Gin's face.
"As matter of fact, there is something you do for me as payment," he replied getting to his feet. "come with me. I will show you how you can pay."
Gin's smile set a million alarms off in Carol's head as she got up and cautiously followed the old man down a short, poorly lit hallway. He stopped in front of a flimsy looking, badly painted red door. Opening it, he said, "Come, we go inside. Then you pay me for meal." He brushed his hand over his crotch. Carol's eyes opened wide as she caught his meaning.
"I ... I can't do that," she said in a panicky voice as she started to back away.
"You pay for meal!" Gin insisted, grabbing for her. As he reached toward her, Carol sidestepped his outstretched hand and pushed him back, his own momentum sending him crashing to the floor.
Without so much as a backward glance, Carol spun on her heels and sprinted down the hall towards the door she had used to enter the restaurant. It was just coming into sight when she heard Gin yelling something in Chinese. She pumped her legs harder as another voice answered and a hulking figure moved in to intercept her. Lunging for the door, she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. It slowed her only momentarily as the seam ripped and set her sprawling through the open door.
She'd hit the pavement outside hard, skinning her knees and palms. With no thought to her injuries, Carol leaped to her feet and bolted down the alley, shrugging off her tattered shirt as she ran. A shout from close behind sent a shot of fear through her. The accompanying surge of adrenalin pushed her legs even faster. The angry voices receded as she hit the end of the alleyway and ran into the crowd of people on the sidewalk beyond.
Much to her dismay, no one even seemed to notice the now shirtless youngster running through the streets. And run she did. For what seemed like hours, she criss-crossed the city, looking for a place to hide until exhaustion, or perhaps fate, had brought her to the warehouse where she now sat.
She had been hiding there for four days now, going out only when thirst or hunger forced her to. In all the time she remained hidden, Carol hadn't seen a single person anywhere, until she suddenly cringed in terror at the loud screech the rusted hinges of the front door made as it was opened. Curling herself into the tightest ball possible, she listened to the two voices as they approached her hiding space.
"This is it. What do you think?" Nicole said as she whipped the dust from the door off her hands.
"Well, it's certainly big enough for what we need it for. But it's going to take a lot of cleaning," Ellie replied with a grimace.
"As far as I know, no one has used this place in years. The only thing that should be here is my Dad's stuff, and that's way in the back room over there," Nicole said, pointing in the general direction of where Carol crouched watching them. "I figure, we can use this main area here to keep an eye on anyone going through the change. And with a little work and some materials, we can make that part over there into living quarters. As more people join us, we can always expand upstairs, too. What do you think?"
Ellie smiled at her friend. There was no way to describe how happy she was to see the changes that had come over Nicole. Somehow, she had not only become a beautiful 6' 1" woman who had somehow managed to retain much of her former self's physical strength, but there had been other, more subtle changes too. While Roger hadn't been slow or anything along those lines, he hadn't always been the sharpest tack in the drawer either. Nicole, on the other hand, seemed incredibly smart and quick when it came to learning new things.
When she walked, she exuded confidence, something Roger had never even had so much as a passing relationship with. Gone was the clumsy, self-conscious, socially inept, but loveable clod that Roger had been. Nicole was now in charge and Ellie couldn't have been happier. She said a silent prayer of thanks to God for his gifts to her friend.
"Earth to El? Come in please?" she heard Nicole say.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie; my mind must have wandered off for a minute there. What did you say?"
Smiling Nicole teased "You shouldn't let it wander off like that, it's way too little to be off on it own." Ellie stuck her tongue out at Nicole and the two women laughed light heartedly.
From her hiding place, Carol watched the two of them with growing alarm. It sounded to her like they planed on using this space for something. If that were true, she would need another place to hide, and that would pose a whole new set of problems for the new girl. While it certainly wasn't the Ritz, the dank warehouse had become something of a refuge for her, and she would be very reluctant to leave it.
The two women moved deeper into the building, talking and pointing at this or that. Carol moved closer to the grime covered office window, straining to decipher what they were saying. She leaned hard on the old glass, until much to her dismay, her weight caused a pane to fall out and crash to the floor. The women turned back towards the sound, one of them yelping "What the hell?"
As she heard the two women's footsteps coming towards her to investigate the noise, Carol scurried across the small room and dove behind the only possible hiding space, a large dilapidated desk.
"Looks like the putty must have given way on that old window." Ellie said.
As Nicole looked down at the broken glass, she heard the muffled sound of someone trying to control their breathing. Without lifting her head, she whispered "El, there's someone in there. Stay here while I go see who it is."
With catlike grace, Nicole hopped to her feet and moved stealthily around to the room's door. Ellie watched as Nicole burst though the door and pounced on something inside. A yelp of surprise, followed by a small crashing sound accompanied the redheaded giantess' assault.
Seconds later she reemerged with a small shirtless body, kicking, and obviously angry draped over one shoulder. Her captive howled with rage, demanding to be set free. Ignoring the child's words, Nicole strode over to where Ellie awaited her. As she set the intruder down, the diminutive girl lashed out, catching Nicole's check with a fingernail, cutting it. "ARRGGG!"
The small girl hopped up and looked wildly around the large room for the best escape route. She darted away from Ellie and Nicole and dove into a small alcove under the rusted stairway that led to the second floor.
Pulling her hand away from her face and seeing blood on it, Nicole growled, "Where is she?"
"Over there, under the stairway," Ellie replied, pointing to where Carol had hidden.
"I'm gonna kill that little brat when I get my hands on her," Nicole grumbled as she started walking towards Carol's hiding spot.
"Nicole!" Ellie admonished her, "She's scared. You burst into the room, pounced on the poor thing, wrestled with her and then carried her out on your shoulder. Did you ever think of going in there and trying to talk? No wonder she scratched you."
Red-faced, Nicole replied, "Aw, come on, El. You know I wouldn't really hurt her."
"I know you wouldn't, Sweetie, but she doesn't. Come on, let's see if we can get her to come out of there."
The two women strode over the stairway as Carol watched them from the alcove. Kneeling down, Ellie said "Sweetie? Are you OK? We're sorry if we scared you. We were just surprised to find someone here."
Ellie waited several silence filled seconds. "Sweetie? Can you hear me?"
"Leave me alone!" a small voice growled from the darkness.
"Please come out. We promise no one will hurt you. We just want to make sure you're alright."
Another silence filled interlude ended with the voice saying "OK, just keep that big palooka away from me."
Nicole rolled her eyes, but stepped back far enough away to let the girl know she meant no harm, but close enough to protect El if she needed it. Ellie gave Nicole a thankful look, then turned her attention back to the young child. "My name is Ellie, and my friend Nicole here has backed off. Will you come out of there now? Please?"
From the darkness under the stairs came the rustling sound of movement and then a sudden sharp cry of pain. "Sweetie, are you ok?"
"Oww, my foot." The voice complained. "I stubbed it on some kind of box of something under here." Seconds later, a frail form emerged from the murk.
Ellie gasped at how thin and drawn the youngster looked. "Honey, how long have you been in here?"
"A few days." Carol replied defensively.
"And the last time you ate anything?"
"Tuesday. I found some bread, still wrapped in a plastic bag, in a trash barrel near the park."
"Oh, Sweetie, where are your parents?"
Carol looked appraisingly at the lovely young woman with long curly hair standing in front of her and contemplated whether to tell her the truth or not. Deciding to take a chance, and being a poor liar, she told Ellie the truth. "I am, ...or was, thirty five."
A look of understanding and compassion passed over both women's faces simultaneously. "Acidalia?" the tall red head asked.
After a moment of non-comprehension, a startled look came over the girl's face. "Yeah. That's what the hotel manager said too, just before he threw me out."
"How long have you been on the streets?" Ellie asked, radiating a genuine concern that made Carol feel that she was now among friends.
With tears rolling down her face, Carol related her entire story. Nicole and Ellie listened to the entire tale without interruption, seething with anger and embarrassment at how this poor traveler had been treated by their fellow city dwellers. By the time Carol was finished, all three of them were in tears.
"What about your family? Have you tried to contact them?" Ellie asked when Carol had finished.
"Both of my parents are dead, and my wife and I divorced two years ago. We had no children, and haven't really spoken since. That, and the hotel threw me out before I could grab my wallet, so I've had no money."
Nicole went over and hugged the girl, ignoring the way the poor thing flinched as she touched her. "Little one, you're among friends now. We'll take care of you and make sure nothing like that happens to you again. You have my promise on that."
"Nicole, be careful or you'll crush her," Ellie jokingly admonished as Carol's eyes bulged out of her head slightly from the embrace.
"Sorry." Nicole said, letting the new girl go. Looking back towards the stairway she continued "Hmm, shall we see what it was that you caught you foot on under there?"
Nicole walked over to the alcove and after a bit of contorting, managed to squeeze herself into it. A loud clang preceded a few choice words about the banging of heads that made Ellie think of covering Carol's ears, despite her true age.
"Found it," Nicole announced once she'd recovered from her wound. Whatever it was she had discovered under there made a hellacious noise as Nicole pulled it free. Reemerging from the cramped space she complained "Oomph, this thing is heavy."
"What is it?" Ellie asked.
"Looks like the old trunk my Dad had me bring here for him. I wonder how it got under there?" Nicole said as she finally maneuvered the dust covered 3' by 2'foot locker into the middle of the floor.
"Any idea what's in it?" Carol asked.
"It was empty when I brought it in, but that was a couple years ago." Nicole replied, looking over the chest.
"Do you think we should open it?" Ellie asked.
"Well, it's not locked. Whoever put it under there must have figured no one would ever find it, so they weren't worried about security," Nicole replied, bending down and flipping the latch open, while trying to remember to watch out for her nails. Realizing she was thinking such feminine thoughts caused a quick smile to crease her lipstick covered lips.
The chest popped open to reveal a folded cream colored tarp. Nicole reached in and removed it, her eyes growing to the size of saucers as she spied what was hidden beneath. Seeing the look, Ellie asked "What's in there."
Numbly, Nicole replied "Money. Lots and lots of money," as she reached in and put her hand on it just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.
"Are you kidding me?" Ellie asked as she and Carol came over to view the contents for themselves. One glance into the chest confirmed the validity of Nicole's claim. "Jeesh, I guess you weren't kidding. How much do you think is in there?" Carol asked.
"No clue. Shall we find out?" Nicole asked holding up a fistful of bills.
***********************
Reynolds Saturday June 10 11:00 Am:
"Sir?" the intercom squawked.
"Yes?" Brady replied with obvious annoyance as he turned away from his computer monitor.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but Dr. Stanley is here and would like to speak to you."
Brady let out a deep sigh, "Fine, give me a moment and then send her in." He turned and shut off his monitor.
Moments later, the obese form of Dr. Paula Stanley lumbered into the Major's office. As she came through the door, Brady crinkled his nose in disgust. He had no real use for this fat, arrogant, so-called doctor, with her incessant whining about having to deal directly with Acidalia patients.
To Brady's mind, she should be praying to God that she could catch it. It might do her some good, from a looks standpoint anyhow. However the doctors compliance in his activities was essential, so Brady did his best to hide his loathing from her. Pushing his dislike aside, he put on his best fake smile, stood up and said "Paula, looking ravishing, as usual. What brings you here this fine morning?"
"Major, I need your permission for something."
"Yes? What would that be?"
"Since we opened, my staff and I have been busy checking on the physical health of all our patients here, and we've come across some astounding results in a few of them."
"Doctor, all your patients, as you call them, used to be men. I would expect a lot of unusual traits to show up."
"True enough, Major, but the ones that I'm talking about are truly remarkable. We have identified at least six individuals who seem to have an enhanced ability to heal themselves. Another one seems to have profoundly increased strength."
"What do you mean by enhanced healing and increased strength? Are you trying to tell me we have some kind of superwomen here?" Brady's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"No Major, none are superhuman by any means, just well above what would be considered normal. For example, Taylor Fredricks was a champion power lifter before becoming infected. She claims to have been able to lift in excess of seven hundred pounds at her peak. Now that she's been transformed, her strength isn't quite at that level, but it is certainly more than a petite 5' 4" woman should possess. We recently observed her moving several of the bunks around in her cell, and as you know each one of those weighs about 150lbs each. She moved them as easily as any man could have."
Having seen Fredricks in person, Brady was impressed by the doctor's claim. The girl certainly didn't look like a powerhouse, by any means. "OK. So what is it that you want to do with these women?"
"I'd like to separate them from the general population and do some testing on them."
"Testing? You mean experimenting?"
"Well yes, for lack of a better word. I'd like to test their abilities and see what their limits are. Also I'd like to do some genetic profiling on them, to determine how these attributes came about. If we can identify the genes that brought about these enhancements, it could be a tremendous benefit to all mankind." Dr. Stanley said smugly as she handed Brady a list of names. "These are the ones I'd like to start with."
Brady scanned down the list trying to decide whether to let the doctor conduct her experiments or not, when he stumbled across a very familiar name. "Thomas Logan is one of these enhanced infecties?"
"Yes she is. As a matter of fact, her healing abilities are truly astounding, even when compared to the others."
"Really? Doctor, just how would you go about testing the limits of ... say, Ms. Logan's healing capabilities?"
Paula smiled "Major, I assumed that answer would be obvious, especially to someone with your ... shall we say, taste for interrogation?"
Brady returned her smile. ‘Perhaps this woman isn't all that bad after all.' he thought to himself. To Dr. Stanley he said "Yes, doctor, I think finding out how these abilities function and their upper limits is a terrific idea, one that will benefit all of mankind if their secrets can be unlocked. You have my permission to use whomever you wish, in whatever manner you see fit. However, I do have one small request."
"Yes Major?"
"I want to be present during all testing on Logan."
Paula smiled brightly "I don't see that being a problem at all sir."
*********************
City Hospital 2:40 Pm:
Laura wound her way through incredibly crowded Acidalia ward, trying not to notice the stench of sickness that permeated the hallway like a physical thing as she made her first stop on this morning's rounds. Her new job was to help the floor's doctors and nurses by checking each patient's vital signs and updating their charts. Not the most challenging of jobs, but on the good side, it kept her mind busy. The bad part of it was that the constant contact with those inflicted with the virus. Having to watch them change, and seeing the emotional and physical distress it caused was a constant reminder of just how badly she and Sam had screwed up.
Vernon Lynne was a partner in one of the area's most powerful law firms, so City Hospital was treating him with extra care. He had a private room and was under constant supervision. Unfortunately, for Vernon, his transformation was going along at an incredibly slow rate. To make matters worse, he had remained conscious during the entire, incredibly painful process. The doctors had tried every method they could think of to help control the pain, however since he was being rebuilt at a genetic level, nothing was particularly effective.
As a man, he had been very handsome, tall with a deep baritone voice and a winning smile that had made female jurors swoon at the sight of it. Now, however, the virus induced transformation had seemingly robbed him of all that and more. It was almost as if he was being punished for some kind of misdeed in his life. ‘Perhaps he should have been nicer to others,' Laura though ruefully as numerous recountings of Vernon's legendary rudeness flashed though her mind.
She entered the room to find her charge, for the first time in days, looking focused, not lost in pain induced delirium. Looking over the lawyer's new form caused a pang of guilt to wash over Laura. Vernon had become a very short, fat, acne scarred woman with dark brown curly hair. "Vernon, nice to se you looking better this morning. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit!" she replied morosely.
"Well, you look a lot better," Laura tried to cheer the newly transformed girl up a bit.
"I look like hell. Dr Brannon was already in here this morning and showed me my new body. If I ever get my hands on that Dr. Ryson ..." she trailed off bitterly.
"Carla? What did she ever do to you?"
"What did she do? Haven't you watched the news? They announced just before I got sick that she was the one released this ... this virus or whatever it really is, ... into the world. They said that she was going to be charged with crimes against humanity. You know, like the Nazi's at Nuremberg were? "
Looking exasperated Laura told her "Carla isn't responsible for what happened to you, Vernon."
"You should call me Vera now. Vernon is dead." the portly new woman said bitterly.
"Fine, Vera then. Anyhow as I was saying, Carla isn't responsible for what happened to you."
"Carla? You talk like you know her?"
"I do know her." Laura replied wondering how much of the truth to tell this small bitter woman. After a moment's consideration, she decided that a little lie would work best for now. "She was an instructor of mine when I was in school."
Vera grumbled something that Laura couldn't quite make out, in response. Deciding it wasn't something worth pursuing, Laura let it side. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
"Yes. You can get out of here and leave me be. I don't want anything to do with any friends of that witch Ryson. On your way out, have them send me something to eat, too, will you? I'm fucken starving."
Without a word of response, Laura turned and left. As she walked out the door, she bumped into Dr. Erica Brannon, nearly knocking the slender, ocean blue eyed red head, to the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Erica,. I didn't see you there."
Bending over to pick up the handful of papers she'd dropped Brannon replied apologetically, "Don't worry about it, Laura. It was my fault, too. I wasn't looking where I was going either." Seeing the look of irritation on Laura's face she asked "Hey, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a run in with the former Vernon Lynne."
"Still upset, is she?"
"Yeah. You could say that."
"Well you won't have to worry about her for long. She's scheduled to be sent to Reynolds the day after tomorrow."
"Reynolds?" Laura repeated with obvious distaste. "Why there? Why not Dillon?"
"Dillon's pretty much full at least until they finish with the new addition they're putting on. Reynolds is still accepting new patients."
"But ... I thought ... well, with all the rumors about what's been going on there ..."
"I've heard some of them too ... but I don't make the decisions on where to send the infected ones. All I know is we certainly can't keep any more here."
Laura looked around at the severely overcrowded hallway. "I suppose you're right on that account."
Erica nodded in agreement. Changing the subject, she asked, "How are you feeling?"
"So far so good, I suppose."
Erica put her hand on Laura's head. "No fever yet. That's a good sign."
"Yeah, I know."
‘Yes of course you do. Did you hear that they're going to be making all the women here get tested now too?"
"No I hadn't heard that, but I suppose it makes sense. Better safe than sorry, and all that."
As Erica opened her mouth to reply, her pager started beeping. Looking down at the number it displayed, she said "I need to answer this, if you'll excuse me ..."
"Of course, do what you need to do."
"Thanks, Laura. I'll get with you later."
Laura looked down at her list of patients and move off in the direction of the next one's room.
******************
Washington DC. The White house
The Oval Office 5:15 Pm EDT:
"Mr. President?" Bill Reinhardt said urgently as he walked into the office, straightening his tie as he went.
Looking up from the stack of paper work laid out inform of him the President replied "What is it, Bill?"
"Mr. President, I just got word from over on the Hill, that that son of a bitch Senator George has managed to get approval for public hearings on your handling of the entire virus situation. He's also after the Congressional Military Oversight Committee to look into the Army's handling of the riots in Detroit and Providence."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No Sir. I wish I were."
"Shit! God damned political opportunistic son of a bitch! Like we don't have enough on our plates! Now here comes this little shit with delusions of grandeur, thinking he can use this to help his campaign! God damn it!"
Trying to get the subject back on track, Reinhardt said, "Sir all that aside, we need a plan. His committee is going to be issuing subpoenas starting on Tuesday for any and all documentation we have on how things were handled. I also heard that he's already asked that Jennifer Fisk, you know, the doctor from Rhode Island, to testify during one of the first sessions."
Fuller leaned forward and put head into his hands as he considered what to do. Ed George had been a constant thorn in his side ever since the Massachusetts Senator had announced his Presidential Campaign last November. In Fuller's opinion, the man was young, egotistical, handsome, and as smart as could be. To make matters worse, George was given a very good chance of unseating him in November. Now he had hooked up with the Fisk woman, whose sole purpose in life it seemed now, was speaking out against Fuller's handling of the Providence outbreak.
"Sir?"
"Yes Bill, I'm still here." Fuller lifted his suddenly pounding head.
"Your thoughts, Sir?"
"Have we managed to get anything on this Dr. Fisk yet? Anything at all we can use to discredit her?"
Looking disappointed, Reinhardt replied "Nothing so far. She was head of viral research at two distinguished children's hospitals; she's a long standing member of Mensa, her family are faithful Lutherans that go to church every Sunday, all her taxes have been paid on time. Christ, we had to look back eight years just to find a traffic violation."
"Wonderful, just what I need right now, a lily white doctor chasing me around the country."
"Well Sir, there are always other alternatives to publicly discrediting her."
Understanding his Chief of Staff's meaning, Fuller replied "I think it's a bit early in the game to think about eliminating her just yet. I think what we need to do is find something, anything ... Christ, make it up if we have to, but find a way to make something stick on her. That hospital she worked at was mostly destroyed by the fire. Most of her coworkers are dead, so we can be creative in what we come up with."
Reinhardt stood thoughtfully for a moment, then his face lit up and he said "Child abuse!"
"What?"
"Sir, we start a rumor that she was being investigated on charges of abusing the children under her care."
"You mean, like sexually?"
"Sexually, physically, emotionally ... whatever. We just float it out there to one of the newspapers and let them do our job for us. They'll hound her until she decides that being in the public eye isn't worth the price and goes back down whatever hole it was that she crawled out of."
"You know Bill, you really scare me sometimes with the way your mind works," Fuller said admiringly.
"Coming from you, Mr. President, I'll take that as high praise," Reinhardt joked. "But seriously, what do you want to do about these hearings?"
"I want you to find ever order, every memo, slip of paper, cocktail napkin, whatever and destroy them all. Especially anything concerning KLTR. The truth of what happened there can't be allowed to get out."
"I understand, Sir."
"And Bill, don't fuck this up like you did the last job I gave you, 'cause if this gets out, we're all fucked."
"Yes Sir. I understand completely," Reinhardt said with a small cringe.
"Good ... and get Kerry working on the abuse angle right away. We need this woman discredited before she says a word to Congress."
"Yes sir, I'll see it's taken care of, sir."
Fuller sat back down behind his desk and began looking through the paperwork on it. After a few moments he looked back up at Reinhardt "Was there something else?"
Looking uncomfortable Reinhardt said "Yes Mr. President there is one last thing I needed to talk to you about."
"Well spit it out then!"
"Well sir, I just heard from Joanne. She said her meeting with the Europeans went worse than expected. She couldn't get them to budge on the flight issue. Apparently they're considering stopping inbound shipping, too."
Fuller sat silently for a moment seething over the news. "Fine, get me General Alexander on the line ASAP! If they want to play hardball, we can too."
**************
Sunday June 11. 6:00 Pm PDT. KLTR News:
Good evening San Francisco. This is KLTR News, the evening edition.
"Our top story this evening is the claims from local doctors of the continued growth in the number of Acidalia cases in our area. While certain individuals in the medical community have been heard to intimate that the new testing procedures have cause a spike in new cases, the CDC has come out once again to dispel these, and I quote, "Wholly untrue statements."
Local CDC Head Mia Blue today at the County Memorial testing center had this to say "The Internet rumors and the innuendo being put out by people claiming to be area doctors appears to me to be a simple case of Internet scaremongering. With the help of the FBI, Military, and a handful of other groups, we have managed to track down several of these rumors to their sources and found the vast majority were started by individuals that aren't even doctors. One such person was actually found to be a 12 year old boy in Wisconsin."
"In other news, local officials today admitted that there have been no new leads in the search for domestic terrorist Warren Quinlan. A spokes woman for the San Francisco police today reiterated the authorities need for the public's help in bringing the vicious killer to justice. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Mr. Quinlan, the police urge you to contact them on their toll free anti-terrorism hot line."
"Internationally: Secretary of State Joanne Constantine's whirlwind eight day, ten country tour-de-force came to a disappointing end today as she met with leaders of the European Union and the NATO alliance in an effort to break the international ban on all flights originating in the United States. As with all previous stops, including China, Japan and South Korea, the member nations refused to lift the ban, despite assurances from the secretary that all outbound passengers are now being required to show proof of a negative testing for the dreaded virus.
"President Fuller expressed disappointment in the international community for their failure to work out a compromise with the secretary, and has once again threatened sanctions against any country that refuses to lift the ban.
A White House source today said the President has even considered stopping grain shipments if the International community doesn't come to its senses and drop the embargo."
"In national news: The House and Senate both unanimously passed two important pieces of legislation today during an emergency session. The first was to create a nationwide chain of Acidalia testing centers starting with all major metropolitan centers. The bill also included language that made weekly testing mandatory for all United States citizens, starting on July first. Local jurisdictions were also given the latitude to institute mandatory testing sooner if the centers in their area are completed earlier than the deadline."
"The second bill was an effort to counteract the growing number of unreported cases of the virus. The measure allows states to charge anyone found to be knowingly harboring any unreported Acidalia victim under a new federal law. The penalties include up to ten years imprisonment per offense. The measure comes down particularly hard on medical professionals, calling for mandatory prison time of up to fifteen year per offense, and loss of medical license for any doctor or registered nurse found to be harboring such individuals."
"Congress today also announced the formation of a special investigative committee to look into President Fuller's handling of the Acidalia crisis. Massachusetts Senator Edward George will be chairing the inquiry which will be comprised of both Democrats and Republicans. Chairman George also announced that on of the first witnesses called to testify will be Dr. Jenifer Fisk. Dr. Fisk, as you may well know, has become one of the most outspoken critics of President Fuller since the Providence riots."
"In a related story, Boston police today refused to comment of the accusations of child abuse that were leveled at Dr. Fisk today by the parents of a former patient at Boston's Children's hospital. The parents of Myra Thompson, who died last year at the world famous hospital from complications resulting from the flu, have come forward today accusing Dr. Fisk of physically abusing their daughter while she was under the doctor's care.
Dr. Fisk's lawyer, Phil Akamideus, had this to say when reached for comment, 'These accusations a patently untrue. Dr. Fisk never treated the girl, and has never met her parents. We look forward to being able to prove our innocence to the proper authorities.'"
"In other news: In a bizarre twist of illegal immigration, immigration officials in both Canada and Mexico filed formal complaints with the US Border Patrol service, claiming that lax enforcement on their part has led to a tremendous amount of illegal border crossings into each nation. Canada in particular, has seen thousands of United States citizens attempting to flee the virus illegally enter the country.
Mexican President Ramon Vila Lobos has reportedly reinforced his border guards with soldiers from the Mexican army. However, officials say the rumor that the solders have been ordered to shoot first at any illegals is completely false.