“What?” Karp asked, not seeing what it could be.
“One of the victims at the campsite was a man named Len Craddock.” The DOP let the name hang out there as if it should mean something to the doctor.
“I don’t know who that is.”
“I do,” Mr. Shell said through the speaker, a hint of dread in his voice. “He’s the person who discovered the body of the gas station attendant.”
Dr. Karp could feel the skin tighten across his arms. The station attendant had been killed because he’d witnessed what was done to Ellison. His death had been made to look like a robbery and having someone find his body had been part of the plan.
“But it’s my understanding that precautions were taken,” the doctor said. “The car and the body were removed. There was nothing there to infect him.”
“Records indicate that the call Craddock made to the police was placed through a pay phone outside the station,” the DOP told them. “The only other call on that phone that day happened minutes before Mr. Shell’s team arrived on scene.”
“Oh, dear God,” Karp said.
“Mr. Shell?” the DOP asked.
Shell took a moment before he spoke. “There was obviously an oversight, sir. I will deal with it.”
“Yes, you will. You will also help ensure this does not spread. Dr. Karp, Major Ross, you, too, if necessary.”
“Perhaps it would be best for an immediate quarantine zone to be set up,” Major Ross suggested.
Dr. Karp frowned. “I’m not sure if that-”
“What?” the DOP asked. “Necessary? It’s an excellent suggestion, Major. Our people are already on it. We cannot afford mistakes. The only way we will succeed is to control events, not have them control us.”
“Sir, if I may ask,” Shell said. “Has anyone tried to trace the number Ellison called?”
“Why?”
“It could help in locating Captain Ash. Given this new development, I think it’s even more critical that we bring him in. He can link this outbreak to Barker Flats. And while a connection from that to Bluebird would be impossible, it could raise concerns and interfere with some of our future work, creating unnecessary delays.”
“Yes, Mr. Shell. We have discussed that here. In addition to helping with the outbreak, you need to continue hunting for Ash. Any additional men you need, please request from your department head and they’ll be immediately assigned to you. As for the phone number, it was to a disposable phone purchased in Milwaukee, and no longer seems to be in service.”
The doctor was relieved. He’d dodged a bullet with the outbreak, since most of the blame seemed to be falling on Mr. Shell. He was still vulnerable on the Ash issue, but there was a way he might be able to improve that situation, too.
“Director? I have an idea about how we might be able to flush out Captain Ash.”
17
Ash pushed himself outof his chair and moved over to the monitor, his eyes firmly affixed on the image of Dr. Karp.
In rapid succession, he asked, “Is he some kind of spy? Who does he work for? Does the Army know?”
“Dr. Karp is an American citizen,” Matt explained. “Until three years ago, he worked for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. He was then transferred to a classified assignment. That assignment eventually brought him to Barker Flats.”
Ash looked at Matt, confused. “Are you trying to say that the U.S. Government did this to my family?”
“We’re saying that Dr. Karp and the people he’s involved with did this to your family.”
“But you just said he works for the Army.”
Matt paused, then said, “The Army pays him a salary, yes.”
“So you
“The Army didn’t do this to you.”
Ash stared across the table. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Captain,” Rachel said, her voice soft. “You have unfortunately found yourself in a situation that is much, much larger than you can imagine. We have been…following this for many years, and sometimes it’s too much for even us to grasp.”
“Oh,” Ash said, taking a step back from the table. “Oh, I get it. You’re one of those conspiracy groups, aren’t you? What is this? Some kind of indoctrination? Trying to recruit me? Well, thanks for your help, but it’s time for me to leave.”
He turned for the door.
“If you’d stayed in your cell in California, you’d be dead now,” Matt said. “That much you can’t deny. We got you out. We saved your life. The least you could do is give us a few minutes to hear us out.”
“I think I’ve already heard enough.”
Matt started to speak again, but Rachel silenced him with a look as she stood up and moved between Ash and the door.
“Captain, I understand your doubts and concerns. You
“And staying here would be? With a bunch of crazies?”
She studied him for a second. “Just give me one moment.”
She walked over to a cabinet along the wall. From Ash’s angle he could see the envelope he’d brought from the desert sitting on the shelf inside. But if that’s what Rachel was retrieving, she didn’t get a chance to pull it out.
As she bent down, the door suddenly thrust open, and a man Ash hadn’t seen before rushed in.
“PCN,” he said quickly.
Matt touched the controls, and the television switched from the image of Dr. Karp to the Prime Cable News network. A Breaking News banner was running across the bottom of the screen, while the rest was taken up by a female anchor at the network’s New York studios.
“…confirm twenty-two deaths at this point. Roadblocks have been set up around the town, and no one is being allowed in or out.” The image changed to a shot of a desert highway. Parked across the road about fifty feet from the camera’s position were several military vehicles and a couple highway patrol cars. In the distance beyond them was what appeared to be the edge of a town.
“Residents of Sage Springs have been advised to remain in their homes until otherwise instructed. We’re told that a first-response CDC team is on scene now, and that more medical personnel are en route. To repeat, there has been a report of a severe outbreak of what looks like a deadly version of the flu in the town of Sage Springs, California.” The anchor put her hand to her ear. “All right. We have Tamara Costello now just outside the roadblock. Tamara, can you tell us what’s going on there at this moment?”
The voice changed but the picture remained the same. “Catherine, we have just been asked to tell anyone who has been in the vicinity of Sage Springs or the Mesquite Dunes Recreational Area in the past twenty-four hours to call a special hotline the California Department of Health has set up. I believe that number should be on the screen now.”
As if she were running the control room, the Breaking News banner was replaced by a new graphic that read
“Though there has been no official announcement,” the reporter went on, “speculation, confirmed by unofficial sources, is that this is not some naturally occurring outbreak, but has been caused by the deliberate release of a virus. One source I talked to believes this is a terrorist attack.”
“Tamara, if it
