Thank you for your reviews! Right, we've had our fun with OMG Gene's back, so now we need to get back to the plot. Also, the end of this chapter is a VERY IMPORTANT PLOT POINT. Just sayin'.
Chris quickly dropped the end of his cigarette on the ground and crushed it beneath the heel of his shoe. As he sucked his singed fingertips, he saw a movement in the shadows of the alleyway. Cautiously, he approached the movement, carefully keeping his gun concealed.
"I'm Chris Skelton," he said as he approached the shadowy figure. Gently, he pulled his warrant card from his jacket pocket to prove it.
"You know they'll kill me, don't you?" whispered the figure.
"They won't know you've spoken to us. Just tell us what you know and we'll protect you," said Chris, trying not to smile as he thought of how proud the Ma'am would be if she could hear him.
"The note you have and the warning at the end."
"Untold misery, yep."
The figure paused and looked around in fear. "If I'm seen talking to you-"
"What do they mean?" Chris asked, a note of urgency coming into his voice. "What's this 'untold misery'? When is it going to happen?"
"I don't know when," the figure hissed from the corner of his mouth, "but I know what it is. It is a bioterror attack."
"What path… patha…" Chris stopped and focussed. People were depending on him. "What pathogen?"
"German measles. They are preparing a release of germs."
"How do you know?"
"They've been testing different mechanisms of release. I have, with them."
"Where will they release it?"
"I don't know."
Chris raised his eyebrows in what he hoped was a threatening manner. He was shit at this. He wished Ray was there, he was much better at getting information out of snouts, information that they didn't even know they had. Course, the best man for this job would be the Guv but he was d-
Wait. The Guv was alive. He wasn't here because he was reviewing evidence for the case with Ray and Alex but he was still around. He wasn't dead anymore. It was strange how even though over a month had passed, the realisation still took him by surprise.
A slow smile spread across Chris' face, which looked more threatening than the eyebrows ever could have done, in the mind of the snout since he said in a hurry, "I can find out. I don't know, they haven't told me, but I can find out."
"By when?"
"Give me two weeks. In two weeks time I will tell you everything you need to know."
"We'll meet back here in two weeks," Chris agreed, "I may not be alone though."
The snout stopped at this and looked worried so Chris added, "It's OK, they're like me. Officers tryin' to work out what's going on. If you help us, we'll help you. I promise."
XXX
"Rubella," said Alex, writing the word on the whiteboard in neat red pen, "Also known as German measles. Airborne virus, causes symptoms similar to flu. It has an incubation period of two to three weeks."
"If rubella only causes flu," said Ray, from his chair in front of the whiteboard, "then why are the League bothering with it? Doesn't seem that terrifying, especially compared to the salmonella they used before."
"It fits," said Alex quietly, "It fits perfectly with their psychology, better than salmonella."
"How did I know psychology was going to come into this?" Gene muttered.
"If a woman catches rubella early enough in pregnancy it can cause spontaneous abortion. A miscarriage, Chris," said Alex as she noticed Chris' puzzled expression, "If the pregnancy makes it to full term and the child is born, it may have congenital rubella syndrome. This could lead to deafness, blindness, congenital heart disease and more."
"They're punishing both the mothers and the children," said Shaz, "They're blaming them for the way the animals were treated and for taking Cardoxymide."
"But how serious is the risk?" Gene asked, "Most of those women have had the MMR jab-"
"Don't bet your life on it," Alex said bitterly, "I haven't. My parents were anti-government and disagreed with mass-vaccination by the state so I never got it. In 1998, Andrew Wakefield will claim that the vaccine causes autism, but it's still the eighties, so that's not really relevant."
Alex sighed wearily over the whiteboard, oblivious to the funny looks her team were giving each other. She turned around.
"This isn't enough. We need more information."
XXX
"Bolls? Bolls. Are you coming to see this snout or what?"
Alex put her pen down, slowly. The snout hadn't made contact in two weeks but Chris was confident that he had the information they wanted, he was just too scared to tell them. As he pointed out to Ray, the way they left things was to meet up in person. He also pointed out that the snout had been terrified last time they met and was probably too scared to call the station.
"I can't Gene. I told you."
"You told me, yeah. You didn't tell me why."
Alex hesitated. "What if he's there?"
"That's sort of the point, Alex."
"He's been testing rubella. What if he has it?"
"So what if he has?" said Gene, trying not to let his impatience show. "You said that it causes flu-like symptoms in most people. If I can give gangsters nightmares, then I can sure as hell scare flu into submission, an' that goes for you an' all, Bolls."
Gene opened the office door and sighed as he noticed that Alex hadn't moved from behind her desk.
"What else did I tell you about rubella, Gene?"
The office door slammed shut. Gene's eyes widened. Finally he got it.
"It's very dangerous for pregnant women."