Page 23 of Jacob

“No.” Alex looked down a moment. “No, the real bad news is that Elias is very, very good at using CRISPR. I’m really good, too, but he is a master.”

At their blank looks, she sighed. “CRISPR is a genetic engineering tool that uses a sequence of DNA and its associated protein to edit the base pairs of a gene.

“CRISPR-Cas9 is a scissors-like chemical tool that can precisely cut and customize stretches of genetic material, such as human DNA. It can cut out the gene for lung cancer or hereditary blindness. It can manipulate the gene for, say, sickle-cell anemia and cure the person of the disease. It could theoretically also edit viruses to make them more contagious, more lethal. Like smallpox. Smallpox is lethal in 30% of the cases in humans. You could edit the virus to make it 99% or 100% lethal.”

Jacob and Nick were silent. Jacob was running through horrific scenarios in his head.

“But that’s not all,” Alex said.

“There’s more?” Jacob asked. His voice was hoarse and he cleared it.

“There’s more. Elias and I were doing groundbreaking research into kill switches. Which could be hugely beneficial, of course. We’re perfecting a technique Elias developed. If he perfects it, he would be eligible for the Nobel. As I said before, imagine being able to switch viruses off, at all. Each virus would have its own switch of course, which makes it hellaciously complex, but still…”

“Be good, right?” Jacob hoped that was the case. But Alex’s face did not hold hope.

“In theory, yes. Very good. But in the case of a deadly bioweapon… Do you know why there hasn’t been a war using bioweapons? There have been occasional cases of terrorism, like the use of anthrax right after 9/11. But state actors haven’t used bioterrorism. For basically the same reason we haven’t had nuclear warfare, even though at times we have come close. The reason is MAD—Mutually Assured Destruction. Something like weaponized smallpox, which would be incredibly lethal and spread incredibly fast, would spread throughout the world really quickly, a huge blowback for the country of origin of the attack. You could, in theory, engineer a vaccine for the engineered virus, but not in quantities that would save a nation. Just save at most a terror group. Anyone attempting a weaponized virus could reduce the world to ashes.”

“But?” Nick asked.

Alex nodded her head sharply. “But. There’s definitely a but. A very clever bioengineer, someone who can edit genes, could take it in several directions. And believe me when I say Dr. Elias Fielding is as smart as they come. You could, for example, engineer smallpox for a very short latency. Natural smallpox has a latency period—the period between infection and disease—of about 48 hours. Long enough for infected people to make their way around the world twice. But you could edit for a very short latency—an hour, say. An hour from the moment of contagion, you’re infected, with no known cure. It would spread like wildfire. But, of course a few people could escape or fly out, unknowingly. The whole world could become infected. It would bring down civilization and very few groups want that, really. A person who would want that is usually too insane, mind too disorderly, to plan something so intricate.”

“Not all evil bastards are insane,” Nick growled.

Alex sighed. “True. And there is a way around Mutually Assured Destruction. Build in an extinction factor. Construct a fast-acting, massively lethal, super-contagious virus, kill off an entire population in a restricted geographical area, then switch the virus off. Within these parameters—a genetically engineered virus, say smallpox, that spreads fast, is lethal, kills the local population quickly but is no longer contagious after a very short set period, and you could conquer, say, Taiwan in less than a week. But this is all conjecture. I have no idea how close anyone is to a genetically engineered small pox virus, or any other kind of virus.”

Jacob and Nick said nothing. There was nothing to say.

Nick spoke first. “I’ll put together a team.”

“Make sure every member has a biohazard suit,” Alex said quickly. “And not that MOPP nonsense. HAMMER suits. With HEPA filters, Bioclass five, in compliance withEN1073-1 and ISO 16603-ISO 16 604. One for each member of your team and at least one extra suit for each.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nick said. “Doctor.”

Alex sketched a smile. “Like I said, Alex will do.”

“Alex.”

Jacob shook off the dread he felt as Alex described a situation that was as dangerous as it gets. He could barely wrap his head around the idea of her walking into that. But she was also a world-class expert and their best chance of coming out of it alive. One thing he decided—they were leaving as soon as they could. No having dinner and sleeping here. They had to leave, stat.

“Nick, we’ll be wheels up in a couple of hours. Text me the coordinates of an airfield and meet me there with your team.”

“Will do. I think we should keep the team small until we know our facts.”

“Agreed. I’ll depend on you for manpower. I’ll come with gear.”

Nick clicked off and Jacob turned to face Alex. She was sitting composed, hands linked on her lap. But she was pale, white lines of stress bracketing her mouth. She understood exactly what she was getting into—the danger, the potential for catastrophe—but wasn’t wavering, not for a second.

He admired her composure.

He himself was going crazy with anxiety, facing the kind of fear he’d never felt before. Had only seen in others. You went on a mission with teammates. Men—almost always men—as well trained as you. Good with guns, with knives, with their fists, hell—with a rock. He never had to worry about them because they knew what they were doing, knew what the odds were, were very well-trained, willing to face mortal danger and usually came out on top, leaving dead bodies behind.

He’d never gone on a mission with a woman he cared about, a lot. Never happened, never thought it would happen. Alex was smart, yeah, but smarts don’t tell you to zig when you are supposed to zig and zag when you are supposed to zag. Smarts don’t make your weapon aim true. Smarts don’t protect you against bullets or grenades or missiles.

Alex was ridiculously unsuited for the mission. She’d never been athletic, not even as a girl. She was a straight A student all the way and her extracurricular activities were band and the Science Club. Editor of the school newspaper. She had always been sunny and tender-hearted. The absolute worst possible teammate. All of Jacob’s operators were mean sons of bitches, paranoid and tough. The complete opposite of Alex.

And yet, and yet… a small part of him thrilled to the idea that Alex was here, with him. After all these years. True, they were probably walking into danger and she was really mad at him. Those were downers but not enough to make him down. Nope. He was going to be withAlex.The last time he’d felt something even approaching happiness, it had been with her. Something deep inside, something that he didn’t know had been dead all these years, sparked to life.

All joy in the world, all softness and gentleness and kindness, all beauty was concentrated in her, and he was going to be with her, with that.

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