Page 41 of Viral Justice

“Plan for the worst, hope for the best?” Max shook his head. “Is that your motto?”

“It is today.” She turned and gestured at the two soldiers who’d appeared next to her. “This is Weapons Sergeant Bill Bullard and Medical Sergeant Tom Irving.”

Max shook their hands. “It’s just the four of us on this trip, so call me Max. My goal is to fly under the radar, so no ranks, sirs, or salutes.”

“Call me Bull.”

“I’m Tom to most people most of the time,” the medic said. “Unless shit’s going down, then I’m Tomahawk.”

“Let’s get moving,” Max said to them. “I’ll brief you in the air.”

They got on the bird and a few minutes later, they took off.

Max gave everyone a headset and began explaining to the two Special Forces soldiers the parameters of the mission.

“We’re going to a village in Northern Iraq. It was overrun by extremists last month, and approximately forty to fifty people were killed during the takeover. A week later, the extremists pulled out of the village to take over a larger one forty kilometers away. Quite a few of those people escaped and some of them landed in the first village because they had family members or friends there. Two weeks ago, a few people came down with high fevers and other flu-like symptoms. More people reported the same symptoms in the following days. Last night, a lot more people reported getting sick, enough to ask for help. Four of them died of what appears to be breathing difficulties. Our job is to get in, identify the pathogen, report the results to the WHO and our own command, then get out without injury.”

“Sir, is this going to be like the mission in Northern Lebanon, when your doctor ran into Akbar?” Bull asked.

“Unlikely. My doctor went into that camp not knowing what the pathogen was and worked on the assumption it could be anything. This time, I’m reasonably sure it’s an influenza virus, I just need to verify it and determine which one.”

“What if it isn’t?” Irving asked.

Max shrugged. “The mission will change.”

“And Akbar?”

“Is unlikely to be involved in this. He’s trying to create the next great plague. While the flu can be deadly, and has been in the past, there are easier pathogens to use as biological weapons than influenza. It’s just too...unpredictable.”

“Sounds like my last girlfriend,” Bull said.

Max looked confused. “You’re comparing your last girlfriend to the flu?”

“Yeah, when you put it that way,” Bull said, “it does sound kind of bad. But trust me, that bitch made me feel every flu symptom there is.”

Stone ignored him. “How many people live in this village?”

“Numbers seem in contention, but approximately six hundred. Two or three hundred are new.”

“Who got sick? The residents, the newcomers, or a bit of both?”

“Unknown, but those are good questions. We’ll have to ascertain all that when we get there.”

He unzipped the duffel bag nearest to him, took out a medium-sized bag and pulled out a fancy-looking medical mask, showing it to everyone. “This is a surgical mask designed to fit snugly on the face and create a seal so no air droplets can get in from the sides. They come in a bunch of sizes, so go through the bag and try them out until you find one that fits. Once you find the right size, take an extra mask and keep it with you.” He handed Stone the bag.

Max went back to the duffel bag, grabbed a small box and pulled several pairs of gloves out of it. “Take several pairs of gloves, as well.”

“Do we have a contact on the ground?” Stone asked.

“Yes, the UN has a couple of different groups with people in the village, an international aid group based out of France has a couple of people in the area, and the World Health Organization has a small emergency clinic set up. They’re the ones who contacted me about the flu. Officially, we’re not there. We’re not going to be there, and no matter what anyone says, we were never there.”

“Unofficially?”

“We’re coming in to support the WHO. Once we have a diagnosis, we leave. The army’s only official act in regard to the village will be a supply drop if needed of emergency food and/or medical supplies.”

Ali studied Max’s face as he finished speaking. His shoulders were raised, and that along with clenched hands told her there was more on his mind than he was saying. “In the interests of proper planning,” she began, and received instant attention from all three men. “What kind of worst-case scenarios could we see in this village?”

Max’s mouth tightened and she knew she’d read him correctly. He was worried about something. “Unfortunately, there’re several. When one group of extremists takes over a village they’ll usually kill a large number of the men and often boys. Sometimes they kidnap women and children. Sometimes they kill indiscriminately. Sometimes they target specific religious or ethnic groups. The Kurds have been hard-hit in the area. So have Christians, as well as any Muslims who don’t follow the teachings of the specific extremist group.”

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