April 6: And What Goes Around (14 page)

"Can't
you just see the high and mighty hoeing a line of beans? No they live high on
the best of the Earth you or I will never see." He was thin enough to get
away with saying that. "But the plague will get to them just like every
corner of the Earth and clean out that foul nest," he promised.

The
crowd hooted their approval.

"That's
about all of that I can take," Jon said, muting the sound. The preacher
was silently doing another dance. "By your leave?" he asked, and got
a wave off from both of them to close the video.

"But
how many people watch this... thing?" April asked.

"He
has about a half million who actually belong to his church," Gunny said.
"Most of them tune in rather than attend. The church only holds about four
thousand. But if the other programming is boring he may get two million viewers
because he's regarded as 'entertaining'."

"So
it will get around?" April asked.

"Oh
yes
," Gunny assured her. "He's good for a thirty second spot
on the regular news when he is in rare form, and overseas they love to feature
him as if this is what North America is all about. The late night talk shows
and entertainment blogs will make at least a passing remark about it. They make
fun of him but it's still public exposure. He's a cultural icon."

"A
couple winks in my spex and I could put a half dozen rods through his
roof," April said.

"And
kill three or four thousand useful idiots?" Gunny asked. "Don't be
silly. You'd make him a martyr."

"I
wouldn't
do
it. But it's entertaining to imagine doing it," April
said.

"I'm
glad you have to actually
blink
." Jon said. "If you could just
think
about it, well, you might have an accident."

 "Oh yeah,
I'd
never
hook a weapon up to a mind reader," April agreed, using
the slang term for a  trainable brain imagining scanner. She never used one.
Having a file exist that modeled how she
thought
seemed like a bad idea.
If that got hacked it told people entirely too much about you. The severely
handicapped might have to use them to function but that was different.

"Here comes
the wave of secondary reports on the preacher," Jon said. "I have him
in my search tree now." All three of them had a flurry of responses.
Blogs, twenty-four hour newscasts and government denials there was anything
different about this flu. It was just a bit early and hadn't even been
positively typed yet according to the North American spox.

"Well that's
the clincher," Jon said. "When it's officially denied you know it's
true."

"I take it
the Larkin Line pilots were OK since you didn't contact us?" April asked.

"Yeah, they
were fine. The only trouble is now that they are aware of this flu they don't
want to go
back
to LEO and expose themselves. Both have gotten Life
Extension Therapy. Last I heard they were negotiating with old man Larkin to
run the shuttle but not leave the cabin when they pick up freight. You can
imagine what a pain that would be for him," Jon said.

"He already
has agents for warehousing and local pick-up and paper shuffling doesn't he?
Why not have them directly supervise loading too?" April asked.

"Because most
of them are Home citizens and have LET themselves. If this gets as bad as it
seems is possible I expect them to retreat to Home too. In fact, compounding
everything else that will be a problem, we can figure on a sudden influx of Home
citizens in LEO coming back here for safety."

"The other
habs under Earth law about LET have enough untreated people Larkin should be
able to hire dock workers," Gunny said. "Although it may cost a bit.
There isn't any place off Earth with excess workers to hire."

"And we have
yet to see if this strain of flu only hits those with LET or if it infects
completely natural people too, and how hard," April said.

"Ah, I think
I have your answer to that," Jon said. "Let me scroll back a bit.
Here, 'Elementary schools in Rome and several adjoining regions suspended
classes this morning on short notice. Notifying parents with messages left
before dawn in many cases. Several middle schools are also closed while others
remain open.'"

"So, it does
transmit to folks without altered genes," April said. "Now we need to
know how bad it is for them because it looks like it is
very
rough on
the gene mod people."

"That will
take awhile to know." Gunny thought awhile, the look of concentration on
his face keeping Jon and April silent. "I'll have my people with Earth
contacts observe funeral homes, morgues, and hospitals directly. They can
position cameras to see the loading docks and some will be visible by
satellite. Enough to get a good statistical sample for sure. We'll know way
ahead of any honest release of statistics by the governments."

"Send the
feed to Jeff," April suggested. "He has people on contract to do data
analysis in Asia."

"Thanks, that
would be stretching my guy's resources."

"I have to
set up quarantine procedures and inform the shuttle services nobody should
board for Home unless they are willing to be put in isolation if they test
positive. Where that's going to be I have no idea. It's not like we have all
this vacant cubic," Jon said, rubbing his eyes and pinching the bridge of
his nose. April had a sudden suspicion.

"Jon, did you
eat before you got here?"

"No, I was
sort of fixated on saving our little world."

"
Eat
," April commanded,  tossing him a sandwich.
"You can't save much on an empty stomach."

"Oh
my God it's a rout." It took about two hours for the wave of stories about
the epidemic to hit the financial markets. April had never seen anything like
it in her short life. There had been a correction of sorts when Home declared
independence, but mostly in space stocks. A bigger correction had occurred and
was in still in recovery from when China devolved into civil war.

This
was different. It was so overwhelming. She watched it progressing for awhile
before she remembered she still had a little bit of funds in equities of her
own and some she'd inherited. She entered an open order for everything to be sold.
If she got enough for a burger and fries she'd be lucky. A couple of the
smaller exchanges were locked down for the day already.

There
was too much to follow really. She put market reports on the com console screen
and intelligence reports and epidemic related news on the big screen. When
something really outrageous came up they'd call out to each other. After
another hour or so Gunny declared he was burned out and relinquished his third
of the screen. Jon took it because he was both juggling orders to his security
people and trying to keep up with what was happening.

"Just
so you both know, Dr. Lee has set up an isolation ward for four people docked
on the outside right by the north dock. Anyone who tests positive for a flu
virus can be moved to this isolation shelter before they ever come through the
bearing into spin or down an elevator," Jon said. "It's a fuel tank
converted to a mini-clinic with a separate ship environmental suite maintaining
it. There will be a vacuum gap between the airlock in the shelter and the one on
the hub."

"Jon,
folks from other habitats it won't matter, but most Earthies don't take drugs
to tolerate zero G. They don't plan on being weightless traveling long enough
to matter."

"Doc
Lee mentioned that," Jon said. "Even if infected most of them will
not be in isolation long enough for that to be a big issue. They'll be over the
flu and test clean in a couple weeks or they can start the drugs."

"Or
they'll be dead," Gunny grumbled.

"I
told Lee to talk to your friend Ames," Jon said. "That project is
pretty much in their hands now and I'm working on other stuff."

"What?
Enforcing a quarantine if we do have infected come here?" April asked.

"That's
pretty easy. I'm talking with your dad and trying to make sure we keep getting
supplies lifted. I'm expecting the handful of our own people on Tonga to lift
before it gets there. They'd be foolish not to. We'll need purchasing agents.
Your dad is trying to get Mitsubishi to send some people to Tonga to ensure our
supply for food and basic parts and stuff to keep the hab itself running. That
doesn't help the ship builders and fabricators. People like Zack who sell
private merchandise or businesses like your nightclub will have to fend for
themselves," he noted to April.

"You
don't think our old suppliers will keep shipping to us?" April asked.

"This
is the worst crash in a century. The world economy is so huge it
looks
like it is happening in slow motion, but it has momentum. It will go down for
weeks, maybe months, before it stabilizes. But when it hits bottom a lot of the
companies we dealt with won't
exist
anymore.  The first order of
business is to grab what is in the supply system while it is available,"
Jon said.

"You
seem to know a lot about economics for a security guy," April said.

"This
isn't even economics, it's just plain business, short term and practical, not
theoretical. We have no idea who won't be able to resupply us because they
don't have cash and can't get credit a week or a month from now. The people
they
have contracts with for raw materials or transport may not exist. Whoever is
functioning and can offer service or supply may be servicing their old
customers first and any new customers they are willing to pick up may find the
price is much higher. It may take awhile for it to all sort out so new lines of
supply are created," Jon said.

"What
are you guys buying?" Gunny asked before April could.

"Swimming
pool chlorine because it is the cheapest bulk form to make disinfectant
solution, gloves and respirator filters. The surgical gloves were already being
rationed by dealers by the time we called and the price jacked up. April's dad
was smart enough to buy up mechanic's and painter's gloves that are probably a
bit harder to cut or puncture anyway. All the other usual medical supplies. Food
of course. Just about anything that will lift. Now is not the time to be fussy
about demanding freeze dried and low weight packaging," Jon said.

"I'm
telling my guys to lay in what they can afford to," Gunny said. "We
may be asked to do security work where we have to be concerned about
infection."

"You
haven't had Life Extension Therapy though," April, pointed out.

"No,
"Gunny agreed, "but the flu is no fun, even the normal strains for us
unaltered people."

"You
raise an interesting point," Jon said. The change in his tone caught their
attention. "I haven't discussed it with April's dad, but if we need some
people to go down to Tonga and expedite purchasing and see that it is loaded
safety, it seems your security associates would be the perfect team for the
job. Have any of them started LET?"

"Not
to my knowledge. I doubt any of them have had the funds. We all arrived fairly
recently and our sort of work dropped off when we moved out of LEO. I'll ask if
any of them have a problem with Tonga. Chen of course can't go to Chinese
territory, and the rest of us need to avoid the USNA, but I've been to Tonga
and wouldn't have any trouble taking an assignment there at all," Gunny
said.

"You're
stealing my bodyguard?" April asked. She didn't like that at all.

"You
walk around without him half the time now that we're at L2. If we're
quarantined how much less danger from outside Home? And if this... " Jon
said waving at the screens, "is as bad as I think it will be, then there
won't be much business travel bringing in outsiders either. Also, it looks like
they will be at much less risk on an Earth mission than if we sent gene
modified people. I'll see you have an escort if you want one should Gunny need
to go down to Earth for us."

April
still looked pretty unhappy with him. She wasn't very good at masking her
feelings. "I
trust
Gunny. He's sudden death in both hands and smart
as hell."

Jon
took a deep breath looking at the overhead. He looked back down and forced an
unnatural  smile. That was scary. "I had thought to send Margaret or Theo
with you, but if you have a situation where you really feel in danger I'll
guard you myself. By then this rush will be over and it may actually be slow if
there is less traffic in and out. I can follow things on my pad or phone for a
few hours if you need me."

What
could she say to that? There was no way she could criticize Jon's skills. In
fact she'd never expected him to offer his valuable time.

"That...
is entirely acceptable," April admitted. "If I should happen to use
Margaret, I know she has wanted the reflex improving gene mod Dr. Ames offers.
Please tell her I'll drop a message on him that I'll cover the cost and she can
go get it any time you will allow her."

"Why
does she need my permission?" Jon asked her suspiciously.

"It's
one of those minor mods he administers by viral carrier. She'll have to be
isolated for two or three days. But it's well worth doing. It benefits your
department too."

"But
you aren't offering it to Theo or me?" He held up a hand quickly to stop
her from answering and added – "I'm not objecting or begging. I just find
it curious."

"I
don't have enough money to offer it to all my friends. Besides, I can't imagine
you being more dangerous. From what I've seen when we've worked out you are
pretty fast already. Anything you lack in speed you make up for by thinking
ahead and controlling the situation so you don't need speed. Theo... I'm not sure
how old Theo is," April admitted, "but I have never seen such a
thorough collection of nasty skill at inflicting violence on other humans. She
always seems to have
things
about her person I didn't even recognize as
weapons until she informs me how you use them. I've never had anybody else tell
me stories that I had to get out of my mind before I could go eat again."

"I
know what you mean," Jon admitted. "She had a Middle Eastern fellow
who had beaten his wife and threatened to kill her cuffed by her desk. He
called her a very nasty slur as a woman and she unlocked him took him in the
restroom. He was easily twice her size and she had a prolonged discussion about
it in there... Just him and her and a piece of plastic hose full of lead shot. I
was new to the job and all my other people stopped me from rushing in and
rescuing her. He never gave us any trouble again."

April
knew about that incident but could see Jon was repeating the story for Gunny.

"The
old lady who brought us coffee and looks like somebody's grandma?" Gunny
asked shocked.

"The
old lady who can walk a drunk beam rat in just by taking control of his thumb
and pinching nerves I never knew existed," Jon told him. "I saw one
get combative with her and she dropped him straight to his knees and made him
cry like a baby."

"I
guess there is something to be said for experience," Gunny admitted.

"I
think we know which way things are going now," April summed up their
research. "If anything comes in really significant, something we need to
react to right away, we'll text or call each other right away, OK?"

"That's
fine with me," Jon agreed. "Does that mean you're kicking me
out?" He asked April.

"Not
at all. It just means I think we're all burned out on trying to skim through
all
this feed," she said waving at the screen. "We need to set up some
better filters now based on what we've seen and expect to happen and change
how
we're working. Right now I'd like us to stop and have some more of those
sandwiches you brought. I have some pasta salad in the frige and I'll make a
fresh pot of coffee."

"Ah, OK. That sounds good. I can use a break,"
Jon agreed.

* * *

Irwin Hall leaned
back in his chair and stretched. The chair sensed what he was doing when he
kept pushing past a certain point, straightening out for him, and then went
back to the semi-reclining position he'd set as a base earlier when he relaxed.
In normal mode it slowly changed shape within a certain envelope and raised
ridges in alternating areas to make sure he didn't go numb or get blood clots
from sitting too long. Usually he wasn't aware of it moving. It did so fairly
slowly and he was so used to it he didn't think about its gentle nudges
anymore.

It had been a long
terrible day and he'd really needed the chair, although he had gotten up and
walked a few times to use the restroom or go in the vault, he hadn't taken the
time to walk to lunch or supper. The cafeteria was a three minute stroll away,
but he'd had lunch couriered to his desk and forgone supper completely. He
wasn't usually so compulsive about his work. Indeed he normally didn't approve
of people who failed to balance their life with reasonable hours. He didn't
intend to make a habit of it.

It's just that
today necessity forced it upon him because the markets on Earth below were in
turmoil. Prices of equities and bonds, currencies and commodities had see-sawed
the last month as people with wealth frantically tried to find a safe harbor
for their money. But today had been a general rout. Jeff Singh of the System
Trade Bank had called him mid-day warning him about some currency changes. He'd
already been at his desk six hours trying to save what he could. This crash was
damaging not just to small investors but central banks and even governments.
Irwin was of the opinion it was mostly futile to try to avoid damage with
everything already in free fall. The time to be thinking about safety had been
a year ago, or maybe even two years.

Nevertheless, he
had a fiduciary responsibility to his customers. The Private Bank of Home had
customers on every continent and he'd discharged his duty to them as well as he
could. The financial markets of the Earth never closed but they did peak in
activity following the sun. Computers never slept but human traders still had a
hand in the market and they only functioned so many hours a day. He'd followed
the trading from Moscow to Europe and London to New York and the Caribbean.
Then across the Pacific's tax haven islands and Sydney to Tokyo, Hong Kong and
Singapore. Far too many hours for one man. It didn't matter what happened
tomorrow because he would be sleeping and didn't expect to get up and be ready
to do business again for a good twelve hours. He was tired beyond continuing.

It was dark in the
bank. Just one spot light set to a low intensity above his desk. Enough to let
him find things on his desk and cut the contrast of his monitors to the dark
room. He hadn't wanted somebody seeing the office brightly lit up off shift and
thinking they were open for business. It was deep into the off shift, almost to
the time he'd normally be getting up instead of going home to bed.