The Eden Plague by David VanDyke

Author:David VanDyke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reaper Press

-14-

“I was the first to do real research on the Eden Plague, in this century anyway, I think. Before me there was just an MD named Raphe Durgan. He said he was from the USDA, Department of Agriculture, but he didn’t act like it. He acted like an arrogant spymaster, always bragging about being ‘in the black world’ and ‘behind the green door’ and terms like those. Anyway, Durgan had figured out just from his initial analysis that the virus would have some interesting effects, maybe curative ones. He tried it out on animals but it didn’t do much; it seemed made for people. So he wanted a human test subject that would be grateful no matter what - someone dying, like I was.

“With me he got more than he bargained for - a complete cure - so he got me hired for the team and swore me to secrecy with all those government confidentiality clauses. He was ecstatic, and sent me over to Plum Island research center to take a look at the biological materials. He said the things were captured in Iraq from some technology smugglers looting the crumbling Soviet Union. Samples sealed in some Soviet-style containers, nothing but bio-hazard symbols on them. He’d gotten the Eden Plague virus from those samples - though we hadn’t named it yet.

“I knew there was some sort of politics involved. That old ‘WMD in Iraq’ argument. That’s why they set it up under the CDC, I think – someone outside of the usual national security establishment. I got the impression there was a lot of infighting among the CIA, Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice about it. It was all very hush-hush; I kept my mouth shut and just did the work. It’s what you do when you have a security clearance and you work on secret projects. I just wanted to do the research.”

“What about the containers?” Daniel asked, impatient.

“All but one had human remains in them. One had a whole human head, a woman. The others held half-burned pieces of flesh. One of them had a smaller container inside, that had been opened but was still half-full of a purified virus-like organism in an inert matrix.”

“So that was the Eden Plague?” inquired Zeke.

“No, it was something else. But the human remains were contaminated with the Eden Plague.”

“What about the pure sample?” Daniel asked.

“Let me tell it in my own way, okay sweetie?”

Daniel sat back and twined his fingers in hers. She’d called him “sweetie.” He shut up, a stupid grin on his face. The grin faded as he thought further. He didn’t usually react this way to a woman, getting hyper-infatuated. Another side-effect of the Eden Plague? That plus the combat high? His mind worried at the question, like a dog with a bone.

Elise went on. “After a cursory analysis, it was obvious both plagues were never-before-seen stuff, something new. I reported everything to Durgan alone. Pretty soon the CDC informed me the project was being transferred to Durgan’s company under a privatization initiative.

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