Flu

Chapter 112

The C.I.A.'s warning to the Coast Guard came just in time to position craft to rescue the W. H. Harvey crew. The responders reported caring for a few injuries but nothing fatal. From his perch above the beach, Jack regards that information from a secure text with mixed feelings. He prevented the loss of human life but not of the vessel. And Agapov is still out there. The Russian may have initiated detonation, but Jack doubts it. For a boat that far out, another vessel or even a satellite might have sent the signal.

He would have liked to take Agapov out, but it would have been a severe breach of security protocols and violated at least a law or two. As of now, he's assigned to bring Agapov in as quietly as possible. The powers that be want to understand why the Russians decided to attack the W.H. Harvey. As far as the agency knows, the boat was precisely what it said it was, a science vessel investigating novel species of algae. What novelty could a bunch of green goo have that would get Russian panties in a twist?"

With one arm around Alexis and the other around Kate, Rick stares out from the beach below his weekend retreat. To better see the rescue operations, his family passed around the binoculars he kept at the house. As far as they can tell, everyone's out of the water. As yet, his phone hasn't alerted him of any local news flashes. The lack of one is unusual, given the number of people, including his family, that witnessed or at least heard the explosion. But the Coast Guard could have put a lid on the outflow of information until they figure out what's going on. At the very least, Rick, and probably every other observer on the beach is anxious to know if everyone from the ship is all right.

The familiar ding of a text alert interrupts the writer's train of thought. "No fatalities. Jack." Rick turns to Martha. "Guess who just sent me a message that no one died?"

A triumphant expression flits across Martha's features. "Jack. I told you I saw him. I wonder what he has to do with all this."

"Whatever it is," Rick responds, "what happened out there was more than some unfortunate accident."

"I read about the W.H. Harvey," Alexis recalls. "The scientists aboard have been looking for marine organisms that can be used as therapeutics. I saw an abstract of a prepublication paper about an alga extract with activity against flu viruses, including the one that hit Kate. It was only a preliminary study, but it looked promising. The boat was probably gathering samples or tracking the organism's growth pattern."

Rick shakes his head. "Which would give anyone zero reasons to try to blow it up. Either what happened was an accident or something besides a flu drug from algae was involved."

"I'm going back to the house to use my laptop," Alexis decides. "Maybe I can get the full text of the paper."

"We should all go back," Kate declares. "There's nothing we can do out here, and if there's an investigation, looki-loos on the beach will be in the way."


Rick lights the fireplace and returns to the couch where Kate is curled up with a mug of cider and a cupcake. Kate samples the frosting topping the confection. These aren't as great as what Chef Auchincloss turns out, but they're still pretty good. Alexis ran back to her computer so fast after dinner that she didn't even take one. We should probably save her some."

Rick brushes the top of Kate's head with his lips. "I already put some away. But you know she gets like this when she's chasing a mystery. So do you, or you did before you worried about nourishment for The Peanut. And I run off to my computer when I get an inspiration too."

"But you usually take a plate with you," Kate reminds him.

Printout in hand, Alexis bounds into the room. "I found it!"

"The paper you were looking for?" Rick queries.

Alexis sweeps her hand through the air in a gesture straight out of Martha's playbook. "I tracked that down in the first five minutes I was searching. I also found some correspondence between the authors. But that didn't answer all my questions. At C.S.U. I saw analyses of chemical structures all the time. I've also seen a lot of them at Hudson U. There was something about the algae extract that looked familiar, a pyramid configuration in the middle. I started looking at biologically active molecules with that kind of structure. Some of them inhibit neurotransmitters, like acetylcholine. Usually, the ones that do that have a phosphorus atom right at the center of the pyramid. Nerve gases have that kind of structure, so do some insecticides. The algae extract has the pyramid but no phosphorous. So far, no comments I've seen explain why it seems to work against the flu, but speculate that it might interfere with other bio-active chemicals."

Rick rakes his fingers through his hair. "Give me a minute to flash back to A.P. Chemistry. So what you're telling us is the stuff the scientists from the W. H. Harvey came up with to go after the flu virus might block the action of other substances, like some really scary chemical weapons?"

Alexis nods. "The commentaries didn't say anything about blocking chemical weapons, but from the structure of the extract, it might happen. As far as I can tell, nobody's done the research yet."

Rick strokes the stubble now covering his jaw. "Or if someone did, they don't intend to announce it." Rick stares into empty air as Kate and Alexis exchange looks of anticipation. "As the world's waters warm," he begins his narration, "the added energy spurs the formation of intensifying storms. A previously undiscovered type of algae is dislodged from its undersea domain and collected by the valiant crew of the W.H. Harvey. On finding the new species, they do as they always do, analyze its activity, including anti-microbial capabilities. As humanity penetrates more deeply into wild territory, releasing exotic plagues, discovering ways to combat them grows increasingly vital.

"The Harvey's scientists run their standard spate of tests and assays, but the results are anything but standard. They find extraordinary action against a virus that is ravaging the health of the world. Exhilarated, they enthusiastically employ every tool at their disposal to determine its structure and put it out for all to see. They also suspect other possible applications for their discovery but are focused on assuaging the current suffering of humankind.

"Still, there are others with darker motives. They see the magic molecule as a threat to the effectiveness of one of their most potent weapons. So they send another weapon, a human weapon, to remove that threat. He goes after the W.H. Harvey and all aboard. He is able to take out the boat, but through the actions of a force for good, the precious humans aboard and their knowledge are spared to live and analyze another day. Once more, the good guys win."

"Nice story, Dad," Alexis comments, "but it sounds like you left the bad guys out there to try again. The forces of good haven't finished the job."

"And the logic of my brilliant daughter strikes again to spoil a perfectly good happy ending," Rick complains. "All right, the good guy will again venture out to free humankind from the railroad tracks of doom and foil the dastardly deeds of those who would inject their poison into the lifeblood of the world."

Alexis rolls her eyes. "Oh, brother! I'm going back to my room to run another search."

"Happy hunting!" Rick calls to his daughter's retreating back.

"That was a little over the top, Babe," Kate points out.

"It was deliberate," Rick confides. "I didn't want her to take me too seriously. Because if my father is involved, whatever is going down is very serious and very deadly."