The Second Sphere
Chapter 40

The virus was out.

I leaned to my left and let my head touch the cold, hard wall of the elevator. I closed my eyes and tried to keep the flashes of what just occurred out of my chip, but such an exercise was impossible.

When the doors opened, I opened my eyes and saw Shari at her desk. Bryant stomped off the elevator, and, without much thought, I followed him.

A controlled fear pressed at Shari’s face as she watched us go. I wondered how much she knew about this mess.

The alarm blared steadily around us, a series of hostile, swirling sounds that made my insides recoil. Emergency protocol locked the hospital facility. But, as we strode down the hallway, I realized that it didn’t matter. I’d seen Len and the others, already infected, running through the Laslow Building.

What kind of advice was there to give Quincy Laslow during this situation? There were plenty of protocols for bombings and manned attacks. But those protocols were rational and straightforward. The virus was anything but rational.

Quincy Laslow paced his spacious office. He wore smooth, pressed clothes, a dark shirt and a pair of brown pants. Three bot guards stood by his desk, thick-bodied silver contraptions with rifles in their strong hands.

“What the hell happened down there?” He said as he paced in concentric circles. He rubbed his hands together and stuck out his bottom lip.

“Well, sir,” Bryant said. He breathed hard, trying to catch up to the present. Then Bryant told him the story from beginning to end, not sparing any detail.

“So the virus is here?” Quincy asked. “It’s in our building?”

“Yes, sir,” Bryant said. “We believe so, sir. The troops that were sent to seal the medical facility? We saw the infected going after them. I can only assume that the virus was spread to them.”

“Jesus Christ,” Quincy said. His eyes were frantic as he thought about what he should do next.

“We need to get the building quarantined,” I said.

Quincy stopped and looked at me. Then, he walked to his desk and opened his link-up.

“This is Quincy Laslow. Emergency Protocol One is extended to the entire Laslow Building. I repeat: Emergency Protocol One is extended to the entire Laslow Building.” He stepped away from the link-up and raised his hands.

“What else do we need to do?” he asked.

Emergency Protocol One sealed all contaminated areas and called up all available Laslow troops. But all of these procedures were just for the Laslow Building. Anything beyond Laslow was on its own and there was no way for us to be certain, at that moment, whether or not the virus had escaped.

“We need to get in touch with the governor,” I said. “We need to have the sector doors sealed off as soon as we can.”

“Do you think this thing is beyond the Laslow Building already?” Quincy Laslow asked.

“It’s hard to say sir. If I were you, I’d call an Emergency Directors’ Session immediately, get the governor in front of us, and make a decision within the next ten minutes about what our next step should be,” Bryant said.

“Yes,” Quincy said. His face relaxed for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes, Emergency Directors’ Session.”

“Shari,” he said, as he leaned over his desk again, “get me all directors and deputy directors for an Emergency Directors’ Session.”

The directors and deputy directors of the various Laslow divisions trickled in. Handsome transfers stood next to windows or squeezed their way onto the long couches in the office. Their faces were grim. It took another five minutes for them to assemble in Quincy’s office. Bryant and I stood at the far end, away from the doors watching the scene unfold.

Most of the men and women I’d seen in passing before. They were former JSF generals and Three Spheres’ officials, people who had climbed government ladders so that they could be where they were: making money in the private sector, sliding by until they could retire back to earth, or at least take time off to enjoy more time at the Source. They greeted Bryant with nods, but regarded me rather coldly, each with a steely glare.

I focused on Nelson. He opened his mouth slightly, but remained silent as he stood on the other side of the office.

“I’d like to thank you all for coming,” Quincy said when they were all gathered. “You’re aware of the Emergency Protocol One declaration. What we’re facing now, according to briefings I’ve just received, is a biological threat that was first acquired this morning during a raid on a suspected Green Revolution facility.

“One of our troops was infected during that raid and was subsequently secured and quarantined. But when our physicians brought him around about forty minutes ago, he passed the virus to several of our staff. This is a fast moving virus. It has escaped our medical facility and now is likely in the Laslow building, and perhaps beyond,” he said.

A business suit-clad woman with bright reddish hair and aquiline features stood. “Sir, our surveillance has picked up activity that indicates the virus has escaped the building.”

Murmurs ran through the room.

“I’d like to keep the Governor informed of what has happened and I want you all here to show him that we’ve got our best minds working on how to deal with this. He’s just gotten the information about the virus and I’m sure he’s eager for an update and some strategy about how to deal with this situation.” Quincy leaned forward. “Shari, please see if the governor is available to speak.”

“My hope is to get the governor to shut the Sector doors and keep them shut until we make sure that the virus is under control,” Quincy said.

He looked up at the faces before him. “Are our forces ready to be deployed? If not, how much time do we need?”

A man with a thick neck, wearing a blue jacket and green tie, stood from the couch. He had short brown hair and a wide nose. There were wrinkles around his eyes. “Well, sir, we need about fifteen minutes to get everything in order. We’ve got men following Emergency Protocol One right now, making sure that the exits are secured and evacuating everything from the tenth floor down. But from what you’re saying, we might need additional troops to stamp this thing out.

“If I put out the call immediately, we might begin gathering our full forces, even those who aren’t currently on duty. But if the Sector doors get closed? We’ll likely be stuck with the troops that we’ve got, which might not be enough, according to the information you’ve just given us.”

“How many is that?” Quincy asked.

“About three hundred, sir,” the man responded. “But we’ve got another problem. The weapons depot is below the evacuated area. We only have access to a limited number of weapons above the tenth floor.”

“Well, it might be necessary to send several armed troops down to Weapons to acquire what you need,” Quincy said. “If it’s a matter of protecting this entire sector from getting infected, and we’re the only ones available? We don’t have much of a choice. We’ll do what we need to do.”

“Yes, sir. But, instead of closing the sector doors, it might be that we need to get JSF on the ground, too. I think we need to consider asking for their help.”

“Mr. Laslow, we can’t ask JSF for help,” I said. Heads turned. “We just need to get the sector doors closed as soon as possible. If we ask them for help and leave those sector doors open, we’ll be putting everyone on the second sphere at risk for infection. We can’t afford to take any chances with the rest of the population.”

“Thank you for your recommendation, Mr. Cox. It’ll be something that we push here as we talk to the Governor. But ultimately, it’s his call. We’ll carry out whatever orders he gives us,” Quincy said.

Suddenly, in front of us, was an image of the governor, Randy Busch. He was a man with a wide, brown face, and closely cropped hair. His eyes were kind, rather softened by the events that unfolded before us. He offered a forced smile.

“Laslow,” the governor said. “Give me an update on what your people saw out there and their recommended course of action. ”

“We have here, Bryant Valek, who was at our hospital facility when this happened. If I may, I’d like to give it over to him to let you know exactly what occurred in there.”

Bryant retold what happened on the dark side and the subsequent action at the hospital.

The Governor’s face moved before us. He squinted as he thought about what to say. “What do you think this is, gentlemen? Is the Green Revolution behind this or not?”

“We believe so. We captured a man this morning who was linked to this virus,” Bryant said. “He didn’t give us much. He’s on his way to our Martian facility now.”

“Shit,” the Governor said. “So what you’re telling me is that we don’t have anything about where this virus came from, no way that our people can get a handle on how to deal with this?”

“No sir,” Quincy said.

The governor ran his fingers through his short, dark hair. He closed his eyes for a moment, no doubt trying to conjure up an image of a plan. He turned to listen to someone off screen.

“My advisors are telling me that we should send JSF troops into your area if you don’t succeed in quelling this outbreak. Currently you don’t have access to the firepower needed to stop this.”

“That’s true, sir,” Quincy said. “We don’t have access to our Weapons Depot at the moment. But we hope to get several troops down there to secure the weaponry we need. Our worry is that if you leave the sector doors open, the virus could spread beyond the point of possible containment.”

“Let me ask you again, Mr. Laslow: Do you need our help?” the Governor asked.

Quincy’s hands fidgeted for a moment. “I’m not sure,” he said.

“Fuck,” I said under my breath. Bryant jabbed his elbow into my side. Quincy didn’t look at me. This sort of indecision was only shrinking the possibility of containment.

“Can you say whether anyone infected with this virus got out before you locked down the building?” the Governor asked.

“Governor, one of my people has confirmed that the virus has escaped the building,” Quincy Laslow said. “Are there any reports from your people about how far it might have spread?”

“No, I don’t have anything,” the Governor said. After a few moments, he nodded. “What I am prepared to do, before figuring out whether to send in troops, is to declare Martial Law in your sector, close the sector doors, and give over control of it to you. If you’re willing to take responsibility for it. We need more time to figure out whether we can enter or not. How long do you think it will take, Mr. Laslow, before you have your limited numbers prepared?”

“Less than ten minutes to have three hundred armed and ready,” Quincy said.

At that precise moment, Luis came in the room. He appeared flustered, his collar upturned and his hair mussed. He went directly to Quincy Laslow. He whispered something unintelligible.

Quincy leaned over his desk, listening to what Luis said. He sighed loudly and looked up. He ran his eyes over the crowd. His gaze settled on Nelson. Quincy nodded and called Nelson over with a wave of the hand.

Luis’ eyes filled with regret. Sorry he mouthed. But there was nothing for him to be sorry for. He was doing his job.

Nelson walked quickly over to where Quincy stood. The two men spoke in whispers. Nelson nodded. Then his eyes were on me; directly on me.

As I watched Nelson, I thought of how long I’d gamed the system, how long I’d pressed my luck. Whispers ran among the directors in the room, and dismayed eyes fell on me. When he was directly in front of me, Nelson put his hand on my shoulder.

“I need to talk to you for a minute,” he said. A tug of his head, motioning toward the doors, and he began to move. There were no choices for me at that moment. I moved past the eyes that followed my movement and stepped into the white hallway. When we were there, Nelson frowned and nodded toward the outer doors. I didn’t try to match his pace. Behind me, I heard the doors open again. Coming after me were the three bot guards.

“Don’t you think we should be sitting in there? The governor could make a bad decision,” I said. “I think it’s our obligation to try to stop him.”

“I don’t think you’re one to be giving advice to the Laslow Corporation, Orion,” Nelson said as we reached the end of the hallway. The doors in front of us opened. The three bots drew closer, crowding me against the wall.

“We know, Orion,” Nelson said.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said

“According to Luis Eckhart’s report, you were the one who inserted the virus into that throwaway.” The armed bots pressed my shoulders against the cold, metal walls. They grabbed my hands, pulling them apart. I felt warm metal drop on to my head. A pulse of electricity slid through my body.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stop.”

“Ask Bryant,” I said. “Ask Bryant, please. He’ll tell you. This is crazy. Come on, man. You were with me, Nelson. You saw me!” I tried to find sympathy, anything that might give me some hope. But I found an unmoved face.

“Mr. Cox, you’ve conspired against the Laslow Corporation and the Three Spheres Government. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Nelson read me my rights as the bots pushed me toward the elevator.

I felt the urge to speak rattle through my chip. But at that moment, I had no proof of my innocence and a mind order band on my head. My tongue was still. I could only follow orders.

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