Jakarta Pandemic, The Read Online Free PDF Page B

seat, clearly stunned. “You’re not breaking the law by doing this, are you?”
    “No, not at all. I’m just going to make some people very, very unhappy.”
    “Thank you very much. Seriously, this means a lot to me, and will mean a lot to the other grumpy asses working with me, when the time comes. I still think the drug samples are an invaluable resource,” he said.
    Dr. Wright signed the tablet and handed it back. “Seriously, this is a tremendous help, Alex.”
    “My pleasure. If you can keep this on the down low for a while, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t want Biosphere to figure this out until I’m ready to deal with them. And don’t say anything about the Biosphere strategy to anyone. That could probably get me in more trouble than the samples. Confidentiality agreement stuff.”
    “Not a problem. Actually, I don’t think I’m going to keep the samples here just yet. Too tempting for staff and others. Samples have a tendency to disappear around here, despite their perceived unpopularity. No, I’ll pull my Land Rover around to your car and pile them in there for now. You fit all of it in your car?” he asked, surprised.
    “I put all of the seats down, and it’s jammed full. It may not be as much as you think, but I just got a shipment a week or so ago, so it’s more than I usually have in my storage unit.”
    “Whatever you have, I will gladly take off your hands. Where are you parked?”
    “Second level, pretty close to the elevators.”
    “Beautiful, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
    Alex picked up the computer tablet and checked Dr. Wright’s signature. He had just signed for Alex’s entire allotment. He decided then not to close out the transaction until he had disabled the wireless card. If he pressed “complete” right now, the transaction would probably set off some kind of alarm at their data collection center. He was sure that any transactions of TerraFlu samples will be flagged for immediate review.
    Last thing I need right now is Ted going apeshit.
    He opened the “Intel Pro Wireless Manager” and disabled the wireless card. He then clicked on the “Complete Transaction” icon. The transaction would be instantly transmitted when he enabled the wireless card.
    Sometime next week, probably.
    “See you in a few,” Alex said and moved to open the door. He looked back and saw Dr. Wright taking off his white coat, pulling his car keys out of his desk drawer.
    “Hey, before you open the door…”
    Alex took a few steps back toward Dr. Wright’s desk and leaned in.
    “If I were you, I’d make a few trips to the store and stock up on necessities. I heard from a very well-placed source that they are close to making an announcement about the classification of the mystery flu. If this turns out to be a truly novel flu strain, we are headed for a disaster of epic proportions. Remember the talk I gave at your regional sales meeting down in Stamford? Think about the worst case scenario I described and make it worse. Much worse,” Dr. Wright said in a hushed tone.
    “Jesus,” Alex said.
    Dr. Wright just nodded his head and grimaced. Alex left his office and walked back down toward the automatic door. Giddiness overtook him after Dr. Wright’s foreboding message, and he began to grin again. I can’t believe I just did that.
    He waited impatiently in front of the elevator, thinking about the lecture Dr. Wright had given to over two hundred sales representatives and managers in a jam-packed ballroom at the Stamford Hilton . Dr. Wright had spoken for close to an hour and a half about flu strain mutations, characteristics of history’s deadliest flus, flu transmission variables, and nearly every other scientific aspect of the influenza virus. His talk had been received with a standing ovation.
    Alex remembered the talk vividly because it had preceded his own harrowing lecture about the potential impact of pandemic flu on society. Thirty minutes of PowerPoint doomsday