Jack rang Martha on the way back to the Hub to drop off the digging cylinder. A UNIT helicopter dropped her off in the Plass and Miranda immediately set off with her to University Hospital to bring her up to speed. The two women remained at the hospital until late at night going over every available piece of data. The rest of the team handled the rift throughout the day and when Martha and Miranda had returned, they gathered everyone in the boardroom.
Both of them looked exhausted and frustrated. Miranda was sitting in her usual place at the foot of the table. She'd shifted over a bit towards Donovan so that Martha could have some space next to her. Martha looked a bit grim. Miranda tapped the tablet in front of her, displaying pictures of the three dead children in life.
"As you all know, all three of the Wilson's children have died," Miranda said. Under her breath, she added, "And may the Gods guide them to the afterlife…" She cleared her throat and continued. "Their parents, Barbara and Brian have both gone into respiratory arrest and machines are breathing for them. The five nurses and one doctor who treated Brian Wilson at A&E are all ill and their condition is worsening. The nurse who accidentally punctured herself is now showing symptoms. No one is responding to treatment."
Miranda tapped the tablet in front of her. Two pictures came up, side by side. "This is Cara Sommer, an A&E nurse. She came into direct contact with Brian Wilson's blood. It is thought that she became infected because of this open scrape on her arm. Along with all the other staff, she was immediately isolated and developed generalised flu-like symptoms forty eight hours after she was exposed."
"You keep saying flu-like symptoms, Will," Jack said, twisting in his chair. "What are we talking about exactly?"
Martha interjected, "Fever, chills, headache, malaise, muscle aches and weakness, and fatigue. There's also a bit of a dry cough and some nasal congestion. There's been sporadic complaints of light sensitivity as well."
"So someone infected would think they just had the flu or a bad cold," Donovan said.
"Exactly. They're what's called non-specific," Martha said.
"The progress of this disease appears to be nearly identical in each patient," Miranda said with a sigh. "The flu-like symptoms appear and then worsen until the victims become comatose. Once that occurs, the disease rapidly progresses."
"In the case of the Wilson family," Martha continued, "once they were comatose, their fevers rose to dangerous levels and then their internal organs started to fail then the lungs."
"After the onset of respiratory arrest, comes cardiac arrest and death," Miranda said, her face grave.
"Like with any disease, the children were the most strongly affected. It's why they died before the adults," Martha pointed out.
"At first, I was unwilling to classify this illness as alien despite the greenish tinge to the fingers. But that has changed. You might want to brace yourselves for the next image."
Miranda tapped the tablet and Donovan felt bile rise in his throat. The body bag was opened and inside there was no body at all. There was nothing more than multicoloured soup.
"When the funeral home came to collect the body of Stephanie Wilson, this is what they found," Miranda said. "As you can see, the body has disintegrated into this gelatinous mass. Even the bone and hair have melted away. The cause is completely unknown. I currently have monitors on the bodies of Sandra and Sean Wilson so that Martha and I can get a clearer picture of what caused this. Right now we have no guesses."
Martha interjected, "Even normal decomposition wouldn't do this."
"Status, Will?" Jack asked, quietly.
"Right now the illness appears to be blood borne. Direct contact with blood into an open wound or cut appears to be what causes transmission," Miranda said. "Neither Martha nor I nor the hospital staff have been able to isolate the cause so we cannot rule out the possibility that other bodily fluids carry the illness."
"We're lucky with that. If this was airborne…" Martha trailed off, shaking her head.
She didn't need to continue. If it were airborne, an untreatable and virulent disease that kills this quickly could spell the end of the human race.
"Fish? I want you to look back on the CCTV. It might help us to figure out how and when the Wilsons were infected. Maybe it can give us some more leads," Jack said. He put his hands onto the boardroom table, spreading his arms to the sides. "Martha? You take every precaution and let Will handle the dangerous stuff whenever possible. Right now, this is contained but I don't want to fall back on protocol to make sure it stays that way. Ianto, Gwen, Ethan and I will handle all the rift alerts."
Jack stood up, indicating the meeting was over. Everyone stood up as well and walked out of the boardroom. Miranda and Martha had a fast, hushed conversation while Donovan lingered behind. When Martha walked out of the room, Donovan touched Miranda's arm before she could leave.
"What does Jack mean by 'fall back on protocol'?" he asked.
Miranda's face became serious. "Thankfully this illness doesn't appear to be airborne. It is passed only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected individual. The staff at University Hospital were infected accidentally because accidents happen. There is one way to ensure that no more accidents happen."
Donovan looked at her, confused.
"If it comes to it… we will sterilise the situation," Miranda said, her voice like ice. "Infected individuals will be killed and their bodies incinerated."
"They're innocents, Miranda!" he cried, appalled.
"No, Ethan. Right now, they're a threat to the human race."
"What the fuck happened to an outbreak being 'neither here nor there'?" Donovan snapped at her.
"That was before I understood the seriousness of the situation," Miranda said, narrowing her eyes. "An illness with no treatment and no hope of recovery? An outbreak that only kills millions is not what we are facing here. If this illness spreads worldwide, it could mean extinction."
Donovan couldn't believe it. Not only was Miranda casually talking about murdering innocent people but she was also talking about millions of people dying like it was nothing.
"I don't know how you can be so fucking heartless! There are three dead kids and it's just another fucking day at the office for you! What kind of a mother are you?" Donovan barked and then stormed away.