Sir Richard walked out of Leeds Castle conference room, looking much the same as he had, when he’d met with the Foreign Secretary in London. John and Richard stood. “Is it over now?”
“No, Ricky. It’s far from over,” Sir Richard forced through his teeth. “It’s just beginning. We’ll talk in the chopper. Let’s go home. I’ve had all the meetings I can handle for one day.”
As soon as Sir Richard settled in his seat; the chopper lifted off. His cell phone rang. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he read the name and accepted the call. He knew she only called him in transit when it was an emergency. “What’s wrong, Mildred?”
“It’s Melissa, Sir. I can’t reach her cell phone, and she’s not responding to her voicemail. I’m concerned. She’s never failed to return my calls.”
“Thank you Mildred. I’ll take care of this.” Sir Richard ended the call. He pushed a speed button and waited. “Gary, can we safely use VICi to run a tracker check?”
“We should be able to, why, what’s up?”
Sam and Donna looked up from their work. Donna walked next to Gary. “What’s wrong?”
Gary held up his hand. “Hang on a second, D. It’s Sir Richard.
“Are Sam and Donna there with you?”
“Yes, Sir. Do I need to…?”
“No, it’s fine. She’s going to find out sooner or later, probably sooner.”
“Meetings didn’t go well?”
“Gary, you don’t want to know. Things are going to get really sticky, from now on. Mildred just tried to call Missy, and she’s not answering her cell phone. I need you to use VICi and see if you can locate her.”
“Hang on, let me switch my screen over, and logon to the complex.”
“Put me on speaker.”
Gary glanced at Donna. “Sir, are you sure?”
“Donna’s part of us now, Gary, and it looks like Sam is going to be hanging around her, so….”
“OK, Sir, you’re on speaker.”
“Hello, Donna, Sam. How is the research going?”
Donna smiled. “Hello, Sir Richard. It’s going good, now that I’ve figured out what I was doing wrong.”
“And that’s the death gene project you’re working on?”
Donna glanced at Gary and Sam. “Well… actually… I think we’ll make more progress by combining the two. I’ve just got to figure out what to use as a universal vector. Gary and Richard had the right idea, but rhinopharyngitis is the wrong vector. That’s why it worked with their Yoda fruit fly, but wouldn’t work consistently with mammals.”
Sir Richard chuckled at Donna’s enthusiasm. “So, can I expect that by the time I get back?”
“I don’t know about that, Sir Richard, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“What about the enhanced healing antibodies? Will they be helpful?”
“Yes Sir. That’s why it was so important for me to figure this thing out.”
“I’m sure you will, petal. Gary… anything?”
“No, Sir. I’ve scanned her apartment, the surrounding areas, and as much of D’Netics as VICi’s sensors can penetrate. Unless she’s in one of those blank areas, I can’t locate her.”
Donna frowned. “Who are you trying to locate?”
“Melissa Hart,” Sir Richard said with a sigh. “Gary, contact the team in Shreveport. Tell Joe to start a ground search of the area. I have a bad feeling about this, and I have to tell John. I’ll need you and the medical team on stand-by, Sam.”
“Always ready, Sir Richard.”
“I’ll be helping too,” Donna spoke up.
“Thank you, petal,” Sir Richard said. “I kind of figured you might. We’ll be at the Centre in about an hour. Unless you find out something Gary, I think I’ll wait until then to say anything to Ricky or John.”
“That might be wise,” Gary said. “Especially since John decided not to see Missy when he was in America.”
“See you soon, then.”
Gary locked his cell phone. “I have to phone the team in Shreveport. We can stop for today if you want.”
“No,” Donna said. “Go ahead and talk to Sir Richard’s team. If Forrest is responsible, Missy may need our help. Let’s keep plugging.” She went back to her workstation, next to Sam’s. “You don’t mind, do you Sam?”
Sam kissed her forehead. “No, sweetheart. I’ll sit here as long as you do. I’m as anxious to figure this out as you are.”
Donna smiled. “Thank you.”
“OK, well, I’m going to step in the other room and take care of this. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” Gary said as he stood to leave.
------------
Gary pulled the door to and called Sir Richard straight back. “Gary, I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon. What’s going on?”
Gary kept a wary eye on the door. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Donna, but I think we should consider getting Jared and his security team to help search for Missy.”
Sir Richard frowned. “Gary, my last conversation with Jared ended in angry words. I’m not sure he would even talk to me. He made it quite clear that he blames me for Donna being shot.”
“He was pretty upset when I called him about the BSV, but….”
“You called Jared about that?”
“Yes Sir, I did. It made sense that Jared’s phone could have been infected as well.”
“And if his was,” Sir Richard added, “…every cell phone that came in contact with his would have been infected, as well. So, what did you find out? Had Jared’s phone been infected?”
Gary groaned. “I kind of messed up on that part. I had him run ‘Dessert’ before we checked.”
“That wasn’t a smart move. You did right by calling him, but I’d rather you consulted me before doing something like this again.”
“Sir Richard, Jared and I have been friends for years. You’re not going to ask me to stop communicating with my friends, are you?”
“Of course not, Gary. We just have to be careful where Jared is concerned.”
“Sir Richard, Jared still loves Donna, as much as I’m sure she still loves him. Circumstances just won’t let them be together.”
“No, and this Bluetooth virus just proves how many leaks we’re still dealing with. I hope some of these disappear when we move to the complex. If you had him use ‘Dessert’ on his cell phone, will it still work? Will he have to get another SIM card?”
“No, Sir. The only thing targeted by ‘Dessert’ was ‘Acid Rain’.”
“Where was he when you talked to him?”
“Wickenburg, but Tim could have him in Shreveport in two hours. Sir, Jared knows his way around, and he has special talents for this kind of thing.”
“What sort of special talents, Gary?”
“I can’t say, but trust me. If Missy’s cover has been blown and Forrest has her, Jared is the person you need to be talking to.”
“All right, Gary. I’ll call him as soon as I get back to my office at the Centre. How are things going with Sam?”
“Surprisingly well. Of course, Richard is more skilled in this area, but under the circumstances, Sam is catching on quick.”
“So you still stand by your decision to let him work with Donna?”
“Sir Richard, this was Donna’s choice. But yes, I think it was a wise decision. I am a little concerned as to what will happen when Richard gets here.”
“If you don’t need him around, I’m sure I can keep Ricky busy.”
Gary chuckled. “I’m sure you could too, Sir Richard, but sooner or later Richard will have to learn to get along with Sam. Unless something changes, Sam and Donna could be together for a long time.”
“Then I guess we’ll find out tonight.”
------------
Donna re-read the notes and studied the results again.
“Well, that’s that,” Gary said as he sat back at his work station. Donna didn’t even acknowledge him. For the next half hour, she was in a world of her own. Finally she looked up, “We need HIV1.”
“What?” Sam’s head jerked in her direction. He studied her eyes. “Sweetheart… did you say we needed HIV1 - the virus responsible for AIDS?”
“Yes Sam. I did! We need an active sample of HIV1.”
Gary looked up, “Ok D – talk to me.” He knew Donna wouldn’t suggest something as drastic as AIDS if she didn’t know what she was talking about.
“We want something that will affect all the cells, not just part of them. Like I told Sir Richard, the HRV-A can’t do that, it’s simply not strong enough. At one time or another, everyone on the planet has experienced the common cold. When the HRV-A enters our bodies, our T-cells immediately identify it and mark it for destruction. Your modified virus has then been given a death sentence. It’s just a matter of time before it’s eradicated by the immune system.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Gary commented.
Donna grinned and continued. “HIV1 is stronger and has a wonderful feature that makes it an excellent delivery system. It affects all the cells at the same time, and then it starts changing. Each time the virus replicates a new generation it’s already mutated and the T-cells have to re-identify it, and send out a fresh troop of antibodies. But, by the time it’s done this, HIV1 has replicated itself thousands of times.”
Gary put his hands on Donna’s shoulders and kissed her cheek. “D, your theory is brilliant! There’s just one problem. To get permission to modify something like the HIV1 would mean going through a lot of red tape. We’d have to consult with a Research Ethics Committee, and the Human Genetics Commission. Over here, getting any kind of approval through the medical Research Council, takes months.”
“If I were back in the States, I’d go through the CDC. Don’t you have anything similar to that over here?”
“Yes - we do…” Sam interjected, “…but nobody – myself included - likes the idea of releasing a potentially life threatening virus. Getting permission would be difficult, unless….”
Donna looked up. “Unless what?”
“Unless you can convince Sir Richard to get on the band wagon. If you sell your idea to him, you could examine a piece of the spacecraft that crashed at Roswell, New Mexico.” Sam looked genuinely serious.
Gary rolled his eyes and chuckled. Donna narrowed her eyes at Gary, “Are you telling me…?”
Sam laughed, at how quickly Donna fell for it. “A figure of speech, sweetheart.”
Donna shook her fist at him and laughed. “That wasn’t funny!”