Chapter 12

Over the next two days, Starsky's condition deteriorated even more. He was put on dialysis and aggressive treatment was started to try and clear the fluid from his lungs.

As expected, the doctors wanted to put him on life support but both Rachel and Hutch had refused. It was the hardest thing either one of them had ever had to do in their lives, but they were honoring Starsky's wishes, not their own.

Hutch was sitting by Starsky's side, holding his hand, when a nurse's aide appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Hutchinson," she said politely "There's a call for you at the nurse's station."

"Thank you." Hutch said without looking away from Starsky's face. Slowly, he laid his partner's hand down on the bed and patted it gently. "I'll be right back, buddy…don't go anywhere while I'm gone."

He hurried down the hall to the nurse's station and grabbed the receiver that was lying on the counter. "Yeah?" he said more gruffly than he intended.

"Hutch? It's Colonel Whitehead. I have some information I think you'll be very interested in. Can you come down here right away?"

"Colonel, Starsky isn't doing very well and I really don't want to leave him. Can't you just fax me what you have?"

"No. I'm sure you'll understand why not when you hear what I have to say." The Colonel said firmly.

"Okay…I can be there in a couple of hours. I have to get someone to stay with Starsky while I'm gone."

"Good, I'll see you then."

It was almost three hours later before Hutch finally arrived at the Colonel's office. He was immediately ushered inside. The Colonel was standing at the window, gazing out through the pane. As the door closed behind Hutch, he said, without turning around. "I'm glad you could make it, Ken. I'm sorry about Starsky. I wish there was something more I could do…but I'm afraid the best I can do is help you catch the person responsible for all this."

"You know who it is?" Hutch asked in a startled voice.

"Not directly, but I do know the connection between the five men and Vietnam, as well as the origin of the virus."

"Tell me." Hutch demanded through tightly clenched teeth, quickly losing patience.

The Colonel turned and walked over to his desk. Picking up a thick file lying there, he handed it to Hutch. "This is a copy of everything you need to know. It's highly classified information and I'm sure you'll realize why when you look it over." He sighed heavily, "In a nutshell…Starsky and the other four victims did serve on the same unit in Vietnam. One day, they were sent out on a mission. They were one man short so a new recruit was sent with them. His name was Tommy Collins. He was only 18 years old and had only been in country for three days. He should never have been sent with them but he was. He was too inexperienced." The Colonel slumped down in his chair to continue his story. "The squad was attacked and Tommy Collins was killed. Later, it was determined that he was killed by 'friendly fire'."

"By someone else on the squad." Hutch said, familiar with the term. He had heard it before. It was term the police department used too.

"Exactly. It was ruled an accident and nobody was ever charged and it was never disclosed who fired the fatal shot that killed him…but I will tell you that it did not come from Sergeant Starsky's weapon." He paused for a moment before continuing. This was obviously difficult for him. "The virus is a top secret compound that was developed by the military. A vial of the virus came up missing about six years ago…a civilian technician who worked at the facility where it was kept was suspected. She disappeared immediately after the theft. She was using the name Miranda Edwards but the military was able to determine that her real name was Susan Collins. She was Tommy Collins' sister."

"You mean she stole the virus and deliberately hunted down all these men as an act of revenge for her brother's death?"

"That's what we believe happened."

"And the military has known about this whole thing for the past six years and they never tried to warn any of the victims?" Hutch said angrily, his eyes flashing with a cold, icy rage.

"They didn't make the connection between the victims until after the third victim died. They've been trying to find the woman for the past six years but she's very good at concealing her real identity. We believe that she uses fake ids, changes the color of her hair, maybe even goes so far as to employ plastic surgery to keep her identify concealed."
"I need a picture of her."

"There's one in the file but it's seven years old…I'm not sure if it will be any help to you."

"Even if they didn't try to warn the other potential victims…why the hell didn't the military warn the public about the virus?" Hutch said grimly.

"You just answered your own question. Because they are the military. They didn't want the public to know that someone was out there using a virus that they developed to kill people."

"Well, if the military invented this virus…then they must have a cure." Hutch said hopefully.

His hopes were dashed when the Colonel shook his head solemnly. "Unfortunately, they don't. The other victims started to develop antibodies against the virus shortly before each of them died. But by then it was too late, they were weak…too sick to survive long enough for them to develop enough antibodies to be effective."

"So Starsky is still going to die…" Hutch whispered, his voice trailing off.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid so." The Colonel sighed heavily and looked closely at the big blond facing his desk. He chose his next words with care, "Be careful, Ken. I can assure you that the military is well aware of David's circumstances…they've been watching the case from a distance. They are not going to want to reveal their connection to all of this and they will do whatever they have to do to keep their part in this a secret."

Hutch gripped the file in his hands and smiled coldly. "Then I guess the public needs to know before they cover it up any further." The two men exchanged a glance, neither of them saying a word. They both knew what had to be done. Hutch turned and left the office. He had to get back to Bay City as soon as possible. He had a press conference to arrange.