have the cat catching it from the man who had been killed at Dr. Kegan’s, then infecting the others. If the man had it and was carrying it when he arrived, that would explain the cases outside of Athens.”
“Probably the two men in New York City sheltered him,” said Segio Nakami. “If they shared drinking or eating implements, had sex, any sort of intimate contact like that.”
“Gorman didn’t sleep with the cat,” said Dean sarcastically.
No one laughed.
“The effect of the host on the organism remains to be seen,” said Chaucer. “Again, we’re making guesses here based on incomplete data.”
Dean leaned back in the chair, his legs resting on the floor. Lia had her shoes off and was running her feet up and down them, teasing him.
“Is it always fatal?” asked Dean.
“Not enough cases to tell,” replied Lester. “So far, though, the answer has been yes. Of course, in terms of a disease outbreak, we’re at a very early stage — an incredibly early stage. We’re basically there at birth. That’s unheard of.”
“Maybe we’re not,” said Rubens. “It’s possible this has struck before and hasn’t been recognized.”
The experts began talking about that possibility. For Dean, the real question was whether Kegan had invented the bacteria.
And if so, why?
Money.
No.
Why?
He wouldn’t have.
“There’s a two-week gap in Kegan’s whereabouts six months ago that we’re looking at,” said Segio. “If we can find another outbreak, we might link the two.”
“Excuse me, what did you say?” asked Dean.
“It’s possible that Dr. Kegan was working on the bacteria elsewhere,” said the Desk Three analyst. “Because while he could have used the facilities at either his school or the Hudson Valley lab, we’ve come up with nothing definitive there.”
“He may just have been very careful,” said Chaucer.
“He wouldn’t do this,” said Dean.
No one spoke for a moment.
“The other theory would be that UKD came up with it,” said Segio finally. “And that for some reason they believed Dr. Kegan could cure it. And that they need a cure. The man in his house must have been their emissary. Instead of going with him, Dr. Kegan killed him.”
That didn’t fit particularly well, Dean thought. The people who had contacted him didn’t refer to the incident at all.
“We have linked the people who contacted you to UKD, Charlie,” added Rubens. “Thanks to Hercules. His actual name was Fedor Mylonas and he was a scientist and professor in Athens until a few years ago when he was involved in a pornography scandal with one of his students. Radoslaw Dlugsko contacted him roughly six weeks ago and he seems to have been doing some work for him. His area is bacteria, but the Greek military has a file on him, so he must have been familiar with weapons programs in some way.”
“Dlugsko is the arms dealer?” asked Lia, looking at Charlie.
“That’s his main claim to fame,” said Rubens. “He also runs a lucrative business selling stolen antiquities.”
“He has the bacteria?” asked Dean.
“We’re in the process of figuring that out.”
“How does Thailand come into this?” asked Dean.
“That’s where Kegan seems to have gone,” Rubens told him.
“Why?”
“Perhaps seeking a cure or an antidote. But we were hoping you might shed some light on his specific whereabouts,” said Rubens. “He’s been there before, but we haven’t found any photos or anything of that nature among his personal belongings. Did he mention any area in particular?”
“Yes,” said Dean. “Long time ago. When he was just out of school.”
“When he was just out of school?”
For the first time since Dean had met Rubens, the Desk Three director seemed surprised. Dean told him about Kegan’s stint as a WHO doctor. Apparently his resume did not list his months in Thailand along with his longer stays in Malaysia and the Philippines.
“Interesting,” said Rubens.
“What time were you talking about?” Dean asked.
“He was there eighteen months ago,” said Rubens. “For two weeks.”
“You sure? Eighteen months ago — I think he would have told me.”
“As far as ever going back to Thailand, were there other times?” asked Rubens.
Dean shook his head, looking at Lia. “Not that I know.”
“That’s where Tommy’s working on locating him?” asked Lia.
“Along those lines. He’s still in the bush with the Thai forces across the border.”
Dean glanced at her. Lia shook her head. It was clear that Rubens wasn’t giving them the whole story.
“What do we do now?” asked Dean.
“We’ve tracked Hercules’ travels over the past month and we’re reviewing intercepts related to those cities,” said Segio. “We’re still in the process of sorting everything out, but the theory that we have is that Hercules brought the bacteria with him to labs. We have two wire transactions that back this up, though we still need more details.”
“We’ll get them,” said Rubens. “In the meantime, we want to get people in place to move quickly once we have the details.”
“Makes sense,” said Dean.
“I’m glad you feel that way, Mr. Dean. If you feel up to traveling, I’d like you and Miss DeFrancesca to head south to the most problematic location.”
“Fine.”
“Where are we going?” Lia asked.
“Syria. Your plane should be waiting on the tarmac.”
59
Karr and Gidrey took turns humping Foster through the jungle, working their way across a pair of hills. While his com system still refused to work, Karr was confident that he was being tracked by the Art Room and figured that they’d eventually send a rescue team. The problem was to get to a place where a rescue would be easy.
They also had to stay alive long enough to be rescued.
The second time he took Foster over his shoulder, Karr nearly slipped with the weight. He got only about a hundred yards, then practically collapsed against the trees. Barely holding himself up, he slid Foster down. The Marine groaned.
“Wow,” said Karr. “I’m dizzy as hell.”
Gidrey said something that Karr couldn’t quite decipher. He slid down against the tree, trying to focus his thoughts. His body felt as if it had been pummeled.
“I can carry Foster but not you,” said Gidrey. “Maybe you’d better rest awhile.”
“If I rest I don’t know that I’m getting back up,” said Karr. He held out his hand; Gidrey pulled him to his feet.
“I’m no doctor, but I’d say you got a monster fever.”
“Really? I feel like horseshit.”
