Extermination Day
keep from breathing it in. We’ve had limited contact with other CDC offices in the U.S. as well as our colleagues in other countries, and they’re reporting similar concentrations in their locales. So, basically, this virus is all over the planet.”
    “How is this possible?” Paulson asked. “How the hell has it been able to spread so quickly?”
    “We’re not sure, sir,” Bellany said. “Normally a naturally occurring virus starts in one location and spreads through human contact over time. If a virus becomes airborne, it typically is only able to survive for several hours at the most outside a host body. This virus is airborne, but we have no idea yet how long it can survive in the open. As for the spread, it had to occur at almost the same time throughout the world for everyone to get sick so quickly in a half-hour period. I can’t imagine how whoever did this coordinated the spread so precisely.”
    “I can shed light on that, Doctor,” General Rowan said before muting the video feed from Dr. Bellany. “Mr. President, I think it best that we talk about this in private.”
    “Go ahead,” Paulson said.
    “That light show that we saw about six hours ago? Well, we think the virus may have come from that.”
    “You mean the meteor shower?” Paulson shifted in his seat. This conversation was becoming more and more incredible, one unprecedented situation after another.
    “Yes, sir. Several atmospheric analysis satellites obtained detailed information during and after the time Earth passed through the meteor cloud. At first we thought it was just a routine meteor shower and reported that to President Diaz. Upon further analysis, though, we discovered that the meteor particles didn’t burn up upon entry into the atmosphere but instead dispersed throughout the planet’s ecosystem. One of the satellite’s collectors also grabbed a sample of the meteor cloud. Sir, the sample contained dense concentrations of the same organism that Dr. Bellany just showed us. The pictures I’ve seen look like the virus was in a spore form in space, with a strong outer hull that allowed it to survive entry into the atmosphere.”
    Paulson’s anger boiled as he balled his hands into firm fists, his seventy-two-year-old knuckles cracking and turning white. “So one of our enemies launched this thing into space?”
    “We’re still gathering data, sir, but it’s certainly possible. We’ve been watching all known terrorist groups, both domestic and foreign, for years, and they have nowhere near the level of sophistication to launch such an attack. That leaves the Chinese or the North Koreans. Or perhaps the Indians have the expertise. To do this, they would have had to launch a rocket far out into space, one that would hold the virus in its dormant form. And from the size of the virus cloud, it would have taken several rocket launches to transport that many tons of viral material into space.”
    “The Chinese have launched a lot of satellites the last several years,” Paulson said. “They could have simply switched out the payload in exchange for this engineered virus.”
    “It’s certainly possible. But then there’s the question of why. As we’ve seen, every country on the globe has been hit. If the Chinese or some rogue country wanted to do this, there would be no way for them to prevent large portions of their own population from being killed.”
    “Unless they had an antidote,” Paulson said, a cold shiver crawling up his spine. “God help us if this is something that they created and let loose.”
    “Intelligence is only trickling in, but we haven’t seen any population-scale immunity anywhere. Everyone is dying.” Rowan paused, flashing his eyes quickly to the side and then the ceiling before focusing back on Paulson. “However, the only data we have now is coming in from the Stream and feeds. We haven’t been able to get in touch with any agents on the ground.”
    Paulson knew what Rowan was thinking.
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