Jakarta Pandemic, The Read Online Free PDF Page A

if there wasn’t one.”
    “Well, they don’t have Uncle Sam’s money yet,” Alex added.
    He could hear some laughter on the line. Ted has got to be about to explode.
    “Look, that’s just a paranoid theory, okay? I don’t want to waste any more time discussing this, and I certainly don’t expect you to waste any time discussing theories like this with your customers. Anyway, back to the agenda. Can we reel it in here for a moment? Everyone okay?”
    The chatter on the line tapered off.
    “All right, so in the event that H16N1 arrives in the United States, Biosphere plans to redeploy the field sales force to areas reporting the highest number of initial cases, most likely large metro areas. Our likely redeployment area will be the Boston area and surrounding major cities. It could be as far away as Hartford, or as close as Portland. The company wants to saturate these areas with sales representatives in order to capture market share from Tamiflu and establish TerraFlu as doctors’ first choice to fight the pandemic. Biosphere will simultaneously launch a massive direct-to-consumer campaign via TV and radio.”
    There was complete silence on the line.
    “Any questions about this strategy?” he asked.
    I really can’t believe this, but I can’t say it’s a surprise.
    “Ted, does this mean that we could be sent away to augment another group, in an initial outbreak area?” Alex asked.
    Not me.
    “Actually, you would not be augmenting another group. You would be fully integrated into that group. But yes, that’s the concept.”
    “For how long?” Cheryl asked.
    “That hasn’t been determined yet. This is preliminary, and we don’t have all of the details yet.”
    “Where would we stay? Would we bring our families?” Amy asked.
    “I wouldn’t bring them closer to infected areas,” Alex interjected.
    “I’m not sure. There’s some talk about reserving blocks of hotel rooms for reassigned representatives, but nothing about families,” Ted said.
    Of course, why would a family concern Biosphere, or Ted.
    “This is just an idea right now, but it has gained a lot of traction, and I wanted to give you all the heads up. It makes sense in more ways than one and will provide us with an incredible opportunity to make a real impact during the pandemic. This strategy could be credited with playing a major role in stopping the spread of the flu in the U.S. We can all reap the rewards of this strategy.”
    He’s pissing the Kool-Aid all over us now.
    “If there are no more questions, I’ll let you get back into the field. First stop today should be your storage lockers. Drop off all of your samples there, and get back to calling on your customers. You should have those vouchers by tomorrow. Good luck.”
    Alex ended the call. Unbelievable.
    He had no intention of joining the Biosphere rapid deployment force and was essentially finished with Biosphere. He stared out at a particularly brilliant orange-red tree on the edge of the Yarmouth Internal Medicine’s parking lot.
    I know exactly what needs to be done.
    He started his car and headed to the nearest turnpike on-ramp.
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Friday, November 1, 2013
     
    Alex pulled into the parking garage at Maine Coast Internal Medicine’s flagship office building. The state-of-the–art, eight-story building housed nearly a hundred medical providers from several of MCIM’s previously scattered office sites. He parked as close to the main entrance as possible and grabbed his computer tablet, forming an insuppressible grin as he strode toward the elevator lobby.
    He arrived on the 5 th floor and approached Dr. Wright’s receptionist. A sign above and behind her displayed over a dozen physician names. All of them were internists, and more than half of them specialized in infectious disease. MCIM provided infectious disease specialists to most of the hospitals in southern Maine, and he could only imagine how busy they might be today.
    “Hey,