Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I just borrow the guys from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot and any other characters, especially the equines, that you will find in this fic. Please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.
Pairing: 2x1x2, 3x4, 13x6, H+C
Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, sap, angst, vet themes, AU
Rating: NC 17
Betaed by Karina *snugs*
Summary: Set 2 years after Equus and Heero is doing so well in his own business that he's taken June on as a working pupil. The qualifying shows for the International teams are well underway and it looks like it will be a good year for Heero, his pupils and horses... until Mother Nature steps in.
AN: This fic, although a complete work of fiction is based partially on fact. I will add notes at the end of chapters where necessary to clarify events and provide links where needed.
Dedication: To Leslie and Karina. Leslie for giving me the original idea for Equinity and encouraging and supporting me through the writing of all the fics thus far in the arc. And Karina for not just taking over as my much needed beta, (poor woman needs a medal!), but for also poking and prodding Fred until he went on strike, refusing to work on anything at all until I let him start this. Needless to say, we managed to come to a compromise... Fred gets to write a chapter of this one week... the next week he has to write a chapter of 'Bound'... Did I ever tell you all I hate my muse? :-)
Fic 5 in the Equine Intervention Arc.
Commenced December 2013 – ShenLong
AN: Thank you for the kind reviews and encouraging feedback. I can promise that I'm not about to kill off Zero... I think if I was to do that I'd get hunted down and shot! That equine appears to have found a fan club all of his own! :-)
"Rival Riders"
Chapter 35
Duo looked down the eye pieces again, just to be doubly sure of what he was seeing. The image hadn't changed. Pushing his seat back from the bench, he put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. "How the fuck am I going to deal with this?" he whispered to himself. "I don't think there has ever been a case of Equine Influenza here in Australia, or at least, none that I've ever heard of."
Several thoughts began to bombard his mind, the main one being 'Where the hell did Orion contract this from?' Desperately trying to sort through the chaos of thoughts running through his head, Duo took a deep breath.
Firstly he would need to let Heero and June know of his discovery. He would also need to let the Veterinary board know, fill Zechs and Hilde in on what he'd found and that would mean letting Treize know too. He'd also need to take samples from Nataku and get Zechs to take some swabs from Romeo so they could test those too and either confirm or deny the existence of the same disease in those two horses.
If Nataku and Romeo were also positive with their results, then given what he knew of the disease, the rest of the horses were also at risk of contracting it. And there lay another problem. Given how easily the virus could spread, every place he, Zechs and Hilde had been to on call outs or just in everyday life, would also need to be notified.
The headache exploded in his head with the thought of the ramifications of the disease – and that was just in the local area. If his and Zechs' theory that Orion and the others had picked this disease up whilst at Werribee, then what of all the other horses that had been there for the week and competing? All of them would have returned to their respective homes by now, probably even been out competing in other places and that meant the chances of this disease spreading were pretty much 100%.
"Oh, fuck, this is a nightmare." Duo rubbed his temples, trying to ease the ache that was rapidly increasing in his skull. First things, first, Duo thought to himself. Getting up from the seat, he turned the microscope off, removed the slide and rinsed it off. Placing all the used slides into a container, he sealed it and after washing his hands in betadine, he took the container through to the autoclave and set the items inside to be sterilized. With that done, he cleaned up the consulting room, placing the vials with their swabs inside from Orion into another container, sealing it and writing on the top. Once done the container was placed in the small fridge. Grabbing a few more swabs and vials, Duo left the surgery to head for the surgery stables to collect his samples from Nataku and give Heero and June the bad news.
# # #
Back at the Department of Agriculture, the various heads of their departments were all deeply absorbed in the various tasks they had been delegated. Oliver was busy compiling a list of each and every registered Veterinarian and Veterinary practice within the state of New South Wales. He'd been in contact with the Australian Veterinary Board - NSW branch and had a list being sent through. As that list was being compiled, he set about the task of drafting up a letter which could be e-mailed out to all those vets and practices. Oliver intended to let every vet know of the current situation regardless of whether they treated horses or not. The AVB had also been informed of the current situation and were on alert to assist the Department in any way it could.
The letter itself would be short and to the point, notifying everyone that a case of Equine Influenza had been identified within the state and asking all vets to take the appropriate precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. Any suspect or confirmed cases were to be immediately reported to the Agricultural Department and the AVB. Any and all suspect or confirmed cases were to be immediately quarantined, the property they were on also quarantined. Oliver also made certain to attach a copy of the procedures the vets were to follow when treating or visiting suspect or quarantined properties.
Whilst Oliver was busy with his notifications, Ron, the head technician was also flat out in tracking down a viable vaccine for the disease. He'd contacted several other countries around the world that used vaccines to keep their own equines EI free and so far was having a little luck. His biggest stumbling block would be to make enough of the vaccine for the equine population. With their only current source of the disease being the deceased show jumper in cold storage, Ron could see it would be an impossible task to make enough for all the horses Australia wide.
Benson and Cornes were having their own difficulties in tracking down any outbreak of the disease in Japan. The Japanese authorities were not very forthcoming in their information – the language barrier wasn't helping much either.
Wayne Jens from the resources department was liaising between Ron and Oliver in getting together enough chemical supplies to ensure all vets had enough to keep themselves 'clean' and prevent transmitting the disease from one property or equine to another. As properties with diseased equines were identified so the Department could send out supplies to those properties to try and help stop the spread of the virus.
Eric, on the other hand, had either hit the jackpot or sounded the death knell – depending on how you looked at it. With the information Hikado had passed over regarding the other horses that had traveled over from Japan with his own, he'd managed to track down all but one so far. Hikado's horse and three others had spent their quarantine time at Eastern Creek in NSW. The other three horses had traveled on to Spotswood in Victoria and spent their time at that quarantine station.
The list of places these horses had been to was growing rapidly and Eric could feel the fear growing with each discovery he made. Two of the Eastern Creek horses were thoroughbred stallions; purchased for breeding and were now at their respective new homes. Those two hadn't gone anywhere else other than direct to their homes, but that meant the horses currently on those stud farms – not to mention any visiting mares – would have all been subject to the virus. It was coming into the full height of the equine breeding season and there were millions of dollars tied up in the breeding of racehorses.
Aside from the virus being passed on, if pregnant mares caught it then there was a very strong chance they would abort the foals they were carrying and that could be catastrophic for the industry.
The remaining two horses from Eastern Creek had both been competition horses and a part of the Japanese Nations Cup team. When Eric realized this and noted just how many equines would have been at the Werribee grounds for the Cup event – and not just the cup teams, but all the other participants as well- he knew this was a bigger thing than what he could handle.
He would need some serious back up help to trace each and every competitor in the competition industry. He had his hands full with what he'd discovered so far, and that was only the four horses that had remained here in NSW. There were the other three in Victoria too.
Rubbing his tired eyes, Eric knew there would be only one sure fire way to get the word out to the entire equine industry...
...they would have to notify the media.
# # #
Walking into the surgery stables, Duo wasn't surprised to find only Orion and Nataku there. He'd pretty much guessed that Heero and June would be down at the other stables working the horses; and that in itself posed another, serious problem.
Given what little he knew of the disease, it would only be a matter of time before all the other horses in Heero's stable came down with it. Duo made a mental note to do as much research on Equine Influenza as he could. For the moment though he needed to take samples from Nataku and confirm or deny if she also had caught the virus.
With the swabs and vials in hand, Duo entered the mare's stable.
Back in the consulting room several minutes later, Duo was once again adding drops of the chemicals to the slide and sample, placing it on the staging plate and viewing the microscopic world. He felt his heart drop when the now familiar cells showed up. He'd held a sliver of hope that Nataku could still have just been suffering from a cold, but the view down the eye pieces didn't lie. Knowing he had to let Heero and June know what he'd discovered, he shut the microscope down, disposed of the slide and put the remaining samples into sealed bags and into the fridge. Washing his hands thoroughly in betadine, he left the surgery to find his husband and June.
Walking between the paddocks, Duo could hear the sound of hooves before he spotted his lover and June in the schooling paddock. June was riding Sandfire, Heero was on board Lunar. Duo paused at the fence to watch for a moment. Both horses were working well, the pair only doing flat work for a change, but even to Duo's inexperienced eye he could see the horses were listening intently to their riders and doing whatever they were asked.
He'd learned a lot from Heero over the years and enjoyed every minute of it. Somehow it seemed to make what news he was about to break to the pair even more difficult.
Spotting his partner by the fence, Heero drew rein, bringing Lunar to a walk and heading the mare in Duo's direction. June turned to see what Heero was up to and also picked up on the vet standing at the fence. Knowing he should have some results from Orion's earlier samples, she brought Sandfire to a walk and also rode over.
Bringing Lunar to a halt, Heero began to smile at his partner only to stop when he saw the grim look on Duo's face. "Duo?" he began, "What's wrong?"
June brought Sandfire to a halt beside Heero just as her boss finished speaking. Noting the look on the vet's face, June felt the knot of fear begin to build in her stomach.
"Heero, June, I need to talk to you both. I'm afraid it's rather serious," Duo began, struggling to find the words he needed.
"I see." Heero replied. "Look, we've finished working these two so how about we go up to the stables and you can tell us what's going on there?"
Duo nodded and turned to walk to the stables, his shoulders slumped.
Heero looked to June, the woman staring back. "I don't think I've ever seen Duo look so disturbed before," June said as she dismounted and ran her stirrups up.
"Me either," Heero said with a frown. "Whatever it is he's got to tell us I don't think I'm going to like it."
June kept her thoughts to herself.
Within a few minutes the two riders had unsaddled their horses and put them out in the paddocks. Returning to the stables, they found Duo leaning against a stable door, obviously locked deep in thought.
"Duo? What is it you need to tell us?" Heero prompted as he stood beside his husband.
With a deep sigh, Duo faced the pair. "There's no really easy way to say this and I was really hoping I was wrong, but the tests I've done pretty much confirm it."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Whatever it is, Duo, please tell us, you're starting to make me nervous here."
"Sorry. Look, I ran some tests on the samples I took from Orion this morning and I wasn't completely sure of what I was seeing under the microscope. I fetched one of my old text books and did the test they recommended in there and the result was positive. I also took a couple of swabs from Nataku and did the same tests on those and once again the result was positive. June, Heero, I'm so very sorry to tell you this, but the tests came back positive for what's known as Equine Influenza."
June and Heero let the words sink in, neither one saying anything for a moment; then June broke the silence.
"Equine Influenza? That's just a cold type thing only a bit worse than a cold, isn't it? I know in humans the 'Flu is worse than a cold and takes longer to get over so I assume it will be the same for the horses." June gave a relieved sigh. "For a moment there I thought you were going to say they both had some sort of exotic disease that there's no cure for."
Duo's face didn't change.
Heero looked deep into Duo's eyes and read the distress there. "It's more serious than that, isn't it?" he questioned, his voice almost a whisper.
"I'm afraid it is," Duo replied and lowered his eyes. "In some ways, you're right, June. Equine Influenza is similar to the 'Flu in humans, but..." Duo leveled his gaze at his husband. "But, there are two strains of EI, neither one of them good. The virus will infect the lungs and such, like it does in humans, the horse will become very sick and it takes several weeks for an animal to recover. In the older equine and pregnant mares, there is the risk of death, not usually the mares, but their unborn foals. It can also be fatal for normal horses too. But that's not the only thing that has me worried."
"Oh?" Heero was having a hard time connecting the dots.
"In all my career as a vet, plus my younger days before vet college, I've not heard of the disease at all in Australia. Yes, I've heard of it in other countries, but not here. EI is extremely infectious, in fact, it has just about a 100% infection rate in an unprotected horse society or one that's never had the disease before." Duo waited for the enormity of the situation to hit home.
"But you can treat Orion, can't you?" June whispered, her voice hitching a little.
Turning his eyes to look to the woman, Duo slowly shook his head. "No, there's no antibiotics or anything like that at all for treating the disease. It's a virus and as such, antibiotics are useless against it. All we can do is continue with the treatment we're currently providing, make the horse as comfortable as possible and hope for the best."
"What are the chances of survival?" Heero asked.
"The majority of horses do pull through, although there are a few that suffer with ongoing medical issues as a result of the infection; some may have respiratory problems or if the strain is the other type, there is the risk of heart muscle damage." Duo did his best to give Heero a reassuring smile.
"But what are the chances of a horse not surviving," Heero asked again. He wasn't trying to be difficult, he just wanted all the facts.
"The rate of fatalities is roughly one in a hundred," Duo replied quietly.
"I see." Heero thought on Duo's words. "Aside from the fact that our horses have contracted this disease – which is bad enough in itself – if what you're saying is true about the infection rate, then we could be looking at an epidemic."
"Yes."
"Oh shit. That could spell disaster for the country's equine economy," June whispered, realizing just how serious this was.
"Exactly," Duo stated and sighed.
"Okay, you're absolutely positive about this, Duo? Not that I'm doubting you or anything," Heero said.
"Yes, Heero. I've double checked and gone back through my text books. I'm positive this is a case of Equine Influenza."
"Then given how serious this is, I gather there are authorities that need to be notified and other steps and measures that need to be put into place?" Heero questioned.
"Yes, there are protocols that will need to be followed. As of now, the surgery stables and your stables are in complete quarantine lockdown. No horse is to leave or enter the property. I will have to notify the New South Wales branch of the AVB of my findings and also the Agricultural department. They will no doubt want me to send through samples to their labs so they can confirm my diagnosis. They will also advise us of what measures we will need to put into place and abide by whilst this disease runs its course. I will also need to let Hilde know and Zechs too. Which reminds me, I'll need Zechs to take samples from Romeo and test them too as he's also sick with a suspected cold."
"Where would they have caught this from?" June asked.
"I'm guessing they caught it at Werribee," Duo replied.
June frowned. "If that's the case, then which horse had the disease to start with? And more to the point, there were over three hundred horses at Werribee during the course of the week's events. Those horses would have all been exposed to the virus and have since returned to their own homes..."
"...and those horses came from different states as well as countries," Heero finished.
"Exactly."
"This is more than an epidemic, Duo, this is a catastrophe," Heero stated.
"I know." Duo pushed off the stable door. "I need to go and make some phone calls. Heero, when you've brought all the horses in I intend to take swabs and samples from all of them and test them for EI. Just because they're not showing any symptoms right now doesn't mean they haven't caught it."
"No problem. I'll let you know when they're all in and give you a hand."
"I'll help too," June said.
"Thanks, both of you. Heero, up at the surgery stables there's a large bottle of Betadine in the dispensary, could you bring it down here please? I'd like everyone to wash their hands with it after handling each horse. Once I know what other precautions and measures we will need to take, I'll put them into place. I'll be back later." Having done what he could for now, Duo left the stables to return to the cottage and make his calls.
Heero looked at June. "I suppose we should start bringing these animals in then and putting the protective measures into place. I'll also need to contact Wufei, Carl and Frank to let them know of this virus and that the stables are now in quarantine."
"I can't believe this is happening," June replied. "It just doesn't seem possible."
"I agree; but it is and we need to do our best to help our horses get over it."
"Yes, we do." June squared her shoulders. "I'll start putting the feeds in."
"Thank you."
#
Having returned to the cottage the first call Duo made was to Zechs to fill the other vet in on his findings. As expected, Zechs was completely shocked and stunned by Duo's revelation. Once the information had sunk in, the enormity of the situation hit home and Zechs told Duo he would immediately head to Treize's and inform him of Duo's suspicions regarding Romeo. He'd also place Treize's stables under quarantine pending the result of the swabs he would take from Romeo whilst on the property.
Having thanked Zechs and arranging to meet with him at the surgery a little later to conduct their tests, Duo hung up and contemplated his next call. Did he ring the Vet Board first, or the Department of Agriculture? He decided to ring the Vet Board and go from there.
Ten minutes later, Duo was hanging up the phone and rubbing his temples. The headache and nightmare were getting worse. The Veterinary Board had taken all possible details from him, confirmed he needed to place the stables under quarantine and advised him to ring the Department of Agriculture as they were also dealing with a suspected case of EI and would be able to let him know what measures would need to be put into place.
Taking a couple of minutes to make himself a coffee and take a couple of panadol for his headache, Duo felt fortified enough to deal with the Department of Agriculture.
Having made the initial call, he was re-routed through three different departments before finally reaching the department of Biosecurity.
"Now what?" muttered Eric as his phone began to ring. "Biosecurity, Eric Shaw speaking."
"Mr. Shaw, my name is Doctor Duo Maxwell from the Maxwell Veterinary Practice in Salsbury. I need to report two cases of what I believe to be Equine Influenza..."
# # #
Before heading to Treize's stables, Zechs did some background research into the Equine Influenza virus so he would be more familiar with its symptoms, diagnosis and outlook. By the time he'd finished reading, he was a lot wiser as to the disease and a lot more worried.
Knowing there wasn't much he could do about it though, he picked up his bag and headed for his boyfriend's stables to break the bad news.
"Doctor Merquise, I wasn't aware the boss had called you to come out," Otto greeted when he saw the vet's car pull up by the stable block.
"He didn't call me, Otto. I'm here at the request of Doctor Maxwell. It's to do with Romeo," Zechs replied once he'd exited his car.
"That doesn't sound promising," Otto stated with a frown.
"I'm afraid there's the possibility of some bad news coming, but I really need to speak with Mr. Khushrenada as Romeo is his horse."
"No problem, I quite understand. The boss is in the jumping paddock working with a youngster. I'll go fetch him for you."
"Thanks, Otto. I really don't like to disturb him when he's working, but I'm afraid this can't wait."
"Sounds serious."
"It is."
"I'll be back in a moment. You can wait in the staff room if you wish?"
"That's okay, I'll wait here." Zechs leaned back against the car door.
Otto disappeared in the direction of the paddocks, leaving the vet alone with his thoughts and doing his best to try and work out exactly what was the problem here.
A few minutes later Treize rode into the stable yard on a chestnut gelding. Dismounting he brought the reins over the horse's head. "No, Otto, call Joe to take care of Solar, whatever it is Doctor Merquise has to say regarding Romeo I'd like you to be there to hear it too."
"Okay, boss." Otto called for Joe who took over the task of unsaddling and settling the chestnut.
Treize's lips began to curl into a smile when he spotted his lover, but soon changed to a frown when he noted the serious expression on Zechs' face. Keeping things professional, Treize stopped before the vet. "Doctor Merquise, Otto said you called in on Duo's request, something about Romeo?"
"Yes, that's correct. As you know, two of the horses at Heero's stables are sick with suspected colds. Duo took some swabs from Orion this morning as the gelding was looking much worse. He ran several tests on the samples; the results of those tests were not something he expected. He also took swabs from Nataku and did the same tests on those; they also returned the same result." Zechs took a deep breath to steady himself for what he was about to say next. "Both horses have tested positive for the Equine Influenza Virus."
Treize raised an eyebrow. "You think Romeo could also have this virus?" Treize wasn't too clued up on EI. He'd heard about it, but never really took much notice of it. Being as the disease had never been in the country before, it wasn't something anyone gave a second thought to.
"Yes, we do. With your permission I'd like to take some swabs and run some tests on the samples. I should have a definite answer within an hour or so."
"I see. Of course you can take samples. I gather the sooner we can get an answer, the sooner we can start treating him properly for it," Treize said.
"Ah, that's just it. There isn't any specific treatment for it," Zechs replied.
"Doctor Merquise, if you don't mind, could you please explain in simple terms exactly what this Equine Influenza is and why it can't be treated?" Otto asked.
"I'll do my best to explain it as simply as possible." Zechs went on to let the pair know all he had learned himself in regards to the virus. By the time he'd finished his throat was as dry as the desert and both Treize and Otto were looking like they had been sucker punched.
"I had no idea it was that bad," Treize said, mulling the information over in his head.
"It's extremely serious and as you can imagine, it will spread like wildfire through the equine population here in Australia. I'm afraid that as of now, your stables are also in quarantine, and that means no horse is allowed to enter or leave the property until further notice."
"And how long will that be for?" Treize asked. "Not that I'm trying to be difficult or anything, but I do have shows to attend."
"I'm not sure. Duo is contacting the Department of Ag and the Vet board to report the cases and then we will have to abide by whatever their decision is. Look, Romeo may not have the virus, he could still just have a cold, but until I do the tests on the samples, we won't know for sure."
"And if the tests return a positive result?"
"Then I will need to notify the appropriate departments and go from there."
"I suggest you take the samples you need and do your tests, Doctor Merquise. Meanwhile I suppose we'd better start praying for a miracle."
tbc...
AN: The Equine Influenza virus actually came into Australia back in 2007. It was brought in by a thoroughbred racehorse imported from Japan where there had been a recent outbreak of the disease. The horse spent time at the Eastern Creek Quarantine Station which was close to several other equestrian venues. The disease can, and quite often is, spread by air born particles and this is how it made it from the quarantine station to the venues where it proceeded to infect every horse it came into contact with.