The Z Contingency

Chapter 14

As quickly as he could manage while wrapped up in his “space suit,” Gary prepared the samples for testing. Natalie had completed splicing the sequences into the genome of the virus from Uganda’s Patient Zero according to Gary’s specifications just the day before. As part of his doctoral program, Gary had created a computer model for simulating the disease progression of filovirus infections that, in many cases, rivaled what could be determined from animal models. He had improved upon it over the years, and could now use it to accurately predict how genetic modifications in many areas of the RNA sequence would alter the disease.

Gary had already used his model to confirm the expected behavior of the newly-created virus, and was now ready to confirm that Natalie’s splicing technique had introduced the intended changes. He carefully and methodically went through the protocol for preparing the samples, loaded them into the sequencer, and initiated the test. Then all he had to do was wait.

Natalie was poring over the latest paper discussing the merits of computer models over animal testing when Gary suddenly burst into her office without knocking. “Wow, Gary. You actually made it in here without standing in front of my door for five minutes first. I’ve never seen you this determined.” Gary’s face flushed, and he started stammering, immediately falling back to his usual demeanor.

“I’m so sorry. Barging in on you like that without knocking...” then lowering his voice for fear that he may be overheard, “but, we’ve done it.” he whispered excitedly. “We created a new Marburgvirus.” Gary paused, reflecting on the gravity of his statement. “Now we can start working on a vaccine.”

Natalie gave Gary a puzzled look. “By now you mean after we come back to work, right?” Gary stood there staring at Natalie, and now returned her puzzled look. Natalie continued, tapping the face of her wristwatch, “It’s 2:00 P.M.? There are only three hours left in the day? We wouldn’t get very far at all. We’re better off freezing the samples and starting fresh when we return.”

“Three hours is still three hours. We should get on this right away.”

“I don’t think so Gary.” Natalie knew her friend was passionate, maybe bordering on the obsessive about this new virus, but she also knew he wasn’t speaking rationally.

“You don’t seem to be taking this threat very seriously.”

“Excuse me? Gary, listen to yourself! Look, I risked...” Natalie realized their voices were getting louder. “Let’s take this conversation over to that office in your lab. It’s quieter, and you don’t have any neighbors there,” she seethed.

They walked to Gary’s lab in silence, barely even glancing at each other, and didn’t even acknowledge any of the people they encountered in the halls. When they finally arrived at Gary’s lab, after confirming that no one was around, Natalie stormed into the office where Gary was waiting, and slammed the door shut behind her. “What do you mean by suggesting that I’m not taking this seriously! Do you know how much I’m risking by helping you create this thing? My entire career is on the line if you’re wrong about this. You are such a bastard! I swear, if I didn’t take this seriously, I would tell you to just go screw yourself and do everything on your own from now on.”

“That didn’t come out the way I intended. I just meant that we could get a head start on things so we could hit the ground running on Monday.”

“What the hell, Gary? We’re NOT coming back on Monday.” Gary’s explanation did nothing to soothe Natalie’s raw emotions. She took a couple of deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. The stress of the situation was clearly taking a toll on her. “Well, in any case, there’s no turning back now, but working on the vaccine will have to wait.”