April 6: And What Goes Around (27 page)

"Yeah, and an
eye patch and a parrot to go with the hook. Be glad I got that little
sucker," Gunny told him. "You'd go crazy with the itching while they
grew you a new head."

"Yes, well I meant
to say thank you for that," Chen said, suddenly somber. "I owe you
one. I'm serious. I do owe you any favor you ask I can deliver. I'm very aware
I owe you my life."

"Is this one
of those Chinese things where you feel burdened with a debt of honor?" Gunny
asked. "Because if it is I'll just have you run out for lunch or something
and say that squares us. I'm not going to have you moping around and feeling
uncomfortable with me until you can perform some suitably heroic deed to settle
my marker."

"I doubt I'll
have opportunity to do something comparable. Life is seldom so tidy," Chen
said.

"Hey, maybe
they can slice your hand off and attach it to me. Then
you
can spend the
year growing a hand back," Gunny suggested. He forced his eyelids open so
he could gauge Chen's reaction, and laughed at the look on his face. "Got
ya."

"Listen to
this," Jeff told April. "An agent of ours in Ontario informs us he
may have difficulty communicating with us soon. He's always sent us his reports
away from his home and job. He works for a pharmaceutical company and they are
asking all upper tier employees to stay in the hotel they acquired next to their
site. Basically the top thirty or so executives and the board of directors will
be asked to do everything by com and have no physical contact with clerical
workers or production people. If they go off site they will be tested for
viruses on returning and kept segregated in a suite for six days with retesting
before they are allowed back in the cafeteria or in contact with the other
workers. This is for the continuity of the company until the current epidemic
has abated."

"Are they
offering that to their whole family? Spouse and children?" April asked.

"He didn't
say. He's single so maybe they didn't feel they needed to tell him," Jeff
guessed. "But he's going to go into their isolation. That's why he'll have
trouble reporting now. That high up in a big company one person should make
enough to support a family, but you have to figure there will still be spouses
who have their own career and family. The better private schools in North America
still tend to physical attendance, not online instruction.

"I'd think
this would be a hard idea to sell just because people will go stir crazy who
are used to freedom of movement. You can buy just about anything online, but
people
like
to go outdoors and shop and eat out. They'd have to
see
people
all around them sick to agree, and by the time you actually see it around you it's
too late to isolate your group like this."

"This sounds
like they are terrified," April said. "It's a medical company so they
should have good sources of information. You wouldn't think they would be given
to panic. I think you should ask your other agents what areas of the medical
industry this company would have as resources for information. That may give us
some idea why they thought such a radical action necessary. Maybe it's worse
than we thought if they have better information than we do."

"Yes, but I
can have that done by normal researchers. No need to tie up valuable agents
doing research that can be done from public sources. But it's a good idea
still," Jeff said. "It doesn't look good for people without life
extension therapy. We have satellite images from the Rome area where this
started. The number of riders waiting for public transportation are way down.
The hospitals all have external triage set up and public announcements are very
uneven. The worst indication is that we've seen bulldozers used to cut big
trenches on the edge of town. I doubt there is a sudden campaign to build ponds
so we think they are going to be used for mass burials. That indicates to us
the funeral homes and morgues are near capacity. We'll see if they really are
used that way in a day or two.

"We expect
government announcements to be cheery, and the TV news and talk shows are still
mostly upbeat and hopeful, but the net sources are pretty grim. There are a few
towns and businesses who have told all but their most critical workers to stay
home in Europe. And the number of ambulances and police cars sitting idle in
their lots suggests they are staying home even if they do want them to report. We
can't be sure if they are home because they are sick too or just afraid. We
expect this level of infection to propagate from Rome with a slight
delay."

"What is slight
in this case?" April wondered.

"Three weeks
to propagate to the opposites side of the globe, I'm told. At least for any
city with a big airport. Longer or not at all for just a very few places,"
Jeff said. "The Isle of Man has isolated itself. You can leave but nobody
can come back until they announce it is permitted. The Canaries tried to do so
but failed already. Tasmania indicated they will try but I have my doubts. They
are just too big and there is going to be somebody who'll land a boat or a
light plane and they won't know about it. Really isolated towns in someplace
like the Australian outback have a better chance of enforcing a quarantine than
a big island. Places that only have one road or a rail line in and out."

"There isn't
anything we can do to help them is there?" April asked.

"Not that I
can see," Jeff said. "We are a few thousand and all the
infrastructure for making vaccine is down there. Flu vaccine is still made with
chicken eggs, and we're short on live chickens up here. About all we can do is
keep supplying the few cancer drugs and tech products that are made in zero G.
I'm sure we'll get a few super rich refugees, but don't think we'll see more a
couple dozen. The highest guess I heard was a couple hundred and I really doubt
that."

"How short on
space are we going to be? Especially if we get a couple extra hundred people,"
April worried. "They're not going to fit in the Holiday Inn."

"The new ring
is near done. There are two sections in pressure already. We'll have somewhere
to put them. Some of the people who were going to occupy those spaces will not
make it up from Earth, or will be persuaded by some billionaire's money to
delay taking possession right now. The consensus seems to be that we'll see
maybe a six month period where the supply system on Earth is disrupted enough to
prevent supplies from making it to the launch points. We have enough bulk food here
or coming that people won't
starve
, but we're not going to see fresh
raspberries or lamb chops on the menu for awhile," Jeff predicted.

"Won't
production go down too?" April asked. "The farmers and such will get
sick too."

Jeff looked really
unhappy. "Yeah, but there'll be fewer to feed too. It's that nasty."

"I'm going to
do a three day semi-fast and drop my gene mod metabolism back to a normal
level. It isn't fair for me to keep eating like I usually do if we may run
short," April decided.

"It would
look bad to keep eating a lot in public at least," Jeff agreed. "If
it isn't that hard to stop. I assume you've done this before?"

"Yes, once I
was old enough to understand why, and that it wasn't a punishment, my doctor
had me do a fast and ran metabolic tests to see that my gene tweaks worked the
way they are supposed to." April looked rather grim. "I remember my
mother said I was rather
moody
."

"Perhaps you
should avoid dealing with the public for a few days," Jeff suggested.

"That might be a good idea," April admitted reluctantly.
"I was little but I remember I felt more angry than hungry. At least I
already drink my coffee black."

* * *

Jon looked worried
sick on the screen. That was upsetting. He was pretty unflappable.

"Doc Lee has
two people from ISSII isolated in the outside shelter. A married couple. They
came in on a private charter shuttle so they have some money and they were
not
happy to be put in isolation. But they even more emphatically refused to return
to ISSII. They are demanding to be released and it's hard to make them
understand because both are asymptomatic. But they have sufficient viral load
to test infected. I hate to ask you, but I think we need to call the Assembly
to deal with this. I could reasonably be accused of false imprisonment doing
this on my own authority."

"Jon, we
don't really
have
a law against false imprisonment," Muños pointed
out.

"No, we
hardly have any laws at all yet, but the majority of our citizens still have a
mental list of North American laws and seem to apply the major offenses as if
they are a natural moral code. We haven't had to codify against murder and rape
and theft. Everybody seems to agree on the basics. And I don't want to have a
thousand
little
laws that can be used to generate income from fines.
Mitsubishi does a fine job of regulating safety and use of cubic by regulation.
I depend on the people seeing me as fair and reasonable or they'll stop
supporting me. If I irritate them they can easily refuse to fund us next vote
for appropriations. As it is now I get
donations
from some people who
see us as underfunded. I'm not eager to lose that sort of support."

"OK,"
Muños agreed. "I'll call an Assembly and we'll tie the couple into the
meeting from isolation so they can listen. Say 20:00 this evening. Please have
a really short reasonable explanation of the risks involved to present. There
are still people wrapped up in their own lives and businesses, oblivious to
what's happening. They'll need to be educated to the seriousness of it. I'm
going to call a number of associates after I announce an Assembly. I'll lobby
them to support you and ask them to call their friends in turn. If you feel
free to do so I suggest you do the same. We can't afford to lose control of
this."

"I'll quickly
make up a list and text you so we don't duplicate," Jon said. "That
might just irritate some busy people if we both call. If you see anybody who
you think you can influence better than me tell me too and I'll leave them to
you."

"What about
the pilot or pilots?" Muños asked. "These people might not show
symptoms but they should be contagious already with that viral load. The pilots
could be walking time bombs who will be a hazard in three to five days if
they've been infected."

"They opted
to return to ISSII without entering. They were briefly exposed to the
passengers boarding but said they never touched them. Indeed the pilot
described them as standoffish. They shared the air with them in the shuttle but
I have no idea how the routing and filtration works between cabins. They're
certainly aware of the hazard now. I wouldn't be surprised if they seek
antivirals when they get back home," Jon said.

"We're not
sure how effective they are with the nasty strain, but yeah," Muños
agreed, "I'd give it a try too, if I were exposed. Lee and  Ames have
identified some of the characteristics of the new strain from the data Jeff's
man Chen got us. It is mouse flu as a starting point, but it has sequences that
seem unique. We'll know more later but we will be able to ID this and tell it
from even the usual version of mouse flu soon."

"Does that
still show up" Jon asked, surprised.

"Yes. Some
varieties burn out. But if they get established in an animal population they
keep showing up from time to time. I think mouse flu is here to stay, but other
varieties don't keep reappearing. Nobody has seen the 1918 Spanish flu in the
wild for a long time. Before I start calling people I should ask – what exactly
do you intend to propose to the Assembly?"

"I want explicit
authority to refuse entry or isolate people who have been exposed to disease
for a reasonable incubation period. I want to be able to put those who actually
test as infected in strict quarantine. What is more problematic, I want
authority to turn away exposed persons if there is no housing available to hold
them in isolation. That's going to seem excessive to some people, but I feel it
is a matter of national survival and will testify to that," Jon said.

"For this
variety of flu?" Muños asked.

"For
anything," Jon insisted. "We need a contagious disease
policy
.
Not a onetime fix."

"How would
you feel about expanding the facilities for quarantine?" Muños asked.

"Paid for
with public money? No. They'll want to build another ring for it before you
know it, if we start down that road. Let somebody offer it as a paid service if
they want. The couple Lee has in quarantine right now already complained about having
to pay for their meals and haven't even been asked to pay a fee for the cubic
they are using. They had to be told Dr. Lee was not the
concierge of
a luxury hotel. When they complained about how cramped the quarters are
Dr. Lee told them it was a four person isolation unit and the woman just replied
with one word - 'Impossible'"

Muños made a disgusted face. "Who are these
people?"

"That's a really good question," Jon
allowed. "They were told you don't have to declare an identity to enter Home
so they haven't. The fellow smirked and declared they were John and Jan Doe. They
used an irrevocable corporate credit to subscribe to the cafeteria service and
they had at least some EuroMarks on them, the old fashioned non-depreciating
sort. I can tell they have money. They have the right sort of Earthie clothing
and way of carrying themselves. I've seen the sort before."

"Surely you could run their faces through Earthside
law databases and get an ID." Muños said.

"I could if I wanted to badly enough. They
back-charge me for a search
if
they
will do one and I doubt this couple is wanted for any crimes. I'm not disposed
to give Earth governments unsolicited information on our immigrants even if
they irritate me. They may have committed the crime of buying Life Extension
Therapy which is nobody's business but theirs. I don't
like
them or officious Mudball governments, but I'd tend
to favor the couple if I have to choose between the two. I'll try other less
official sources."

"If we have no holding facilities available it
doesn't make sense to argue with people at our airlock. We need to have them
tested at the other end before they get on a shuttle," Muños said.

"Except that ISSII and New Las Vegas are the
main sources of our traffic and both have refused to do so. They aren't doing
it for themselves, so they certainly don't see any need to do it for us,"
Jon said.

"That will last until they import a few
cases," Muños predicted. "Then they'll adopt it too late."