Mortal Pathosis 2 (624 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 13 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by screamfeeder (View user info) at 2005-02-24 21:03:01 EST
1) http://www.ubersite.com/m/60461
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WENDSDAY, JULY, 23 1998
1100 HOURS
PALMYRA ATOLL
SOUTHERN ISLAND DOCK
It came bursting out of the road and onto the beach stopping just short of the dock. Dr. Feyman ducked down as both of the Army Specialists leveled their weapons. He looked up when he heard one of the men laughing and saw him lower his weapon. Dr. Feyman looked that the monster he had pictured in his mind and almost laughed himself.
It was a dark green HMMWV blasting rock music. A large olive skinned man was on top holding the .50 mounted on top and smoking a cigar. Dr. Feyman covered his eyes from the sand and dust that the large vehicle threw onto the dock. As he lowered his hand from his face, he was met with a face full of smiling teeth.
"Sergeant First Class Dominic Gutierrez sir. I assume you are Dr. Feyman? Don't let these two freak you out. Everyone over on the northern Island is pretty new and thinks those of us at the research center could use an MRI or three!"
The man was booming with energy and grinning like a fool. Dr. Feyman liked him immediately. Sgt. Gutierrez barked some orders at the two Specialists that were waiting on the dock and they started loading up the boxes into the back of the HMMWV with the help of the .50 gunner. Once it was all loaded up, the two Specialists got back in the boat and made way back to the airstrip. Dr. Feyman sat in the front seat with Sgt. Gutierrez driving. The other soldier went back to waving the .50 around the jungle.
"About a fifteen minute drive doc, then you can get some food and a sink-shower at the research center. Mr. Saito will meet you and can brief you on why you're here."
Dr. Feyman closed his eyes again and pictured his emerald green marble Triton shower back in Massachusetts.
WENDSDAY, JULY, 23 1998
1645 HOURS
PALMYRA ATOLL
UNITED STATES NATURE PRESERVE AND
RESEARCH FACILITY
BUILDING 2
"This is impossible!"
"No Dr. Feyman, I assure you, it's very real."
Dr. Feyman looked up from the screen attached to the electron microscope and rubbed his eyes before checking the settings and flashing a new image on the screen. High-powered electrons shot though the large red device and into the magnetic slide that held the sample. A new image grew layer by layer on the small monitor.
"But the crystallographic functions are all wrong! The conductivity is going backwards implying that the virus is actually reactive. This would require manipulation of the helices from scratch. We are talking about a full blown RNA rebuild of a virus!"
"Exactly."
Dr. Feyman stood up from the chair and ran his hand through his thinning grey hair. He glanced at the other person in the room and was surprised at the anticipation that showed on her face.
"Tell me Dr. Swane, how did you do this? Is this why I was brought here? Is the nature preserve staff actually infected with this? Does a standard measles immunization even protect against it? Do you understand..."
The woman cut off his barrage of questions with a wave of her hand. Dr. Feyman caught the scent of rose.
"That is all classified information Dr. Feyman. Ah but Mr. Saito here can certainly tell you more. I have some more work that needs to be done in the lab. You two enjoy your chat."
Dr. Swane removed the magnetically sealed sample from the electron microscope and placed in into a black metal case. Pulling her black hair into a ponytail, she slipped a white lab coat on and headed out the door. As she walked out of the room a small Japanese man glanced behind him at her retreating figure.
"She is a beautiful woman, wouldn't you agree Richard? Too bad she is smart enough to stay away from men like me." He chuckled to himself as he walked into the room and took a chair in the middle behind a small table.
"What the hell is going on Yutaka? I thought I was here to help diagnose an unknown measles strain." The doctor leaned back on the counter; arms crossed and stared at his old friend.
"Oh but you are. What you have just seen is a virus unlike any other life form in the world. We have to keep everything very low-key about this project. Thus you were simply told what would arouse the least amount of suspicion from any of the military men...or anyone else for that matter."
"So I assume then that this is no longer a nature preserve? I am sure I saw another electron microscope across the hall. And from the looks of things you have a Level 4 lab set up across the road. Not the kind of things that just appear out of the jungle fog because of a measles outbreak."
"Ever the perceptive one Richard. Yes you are correct. We have been on Palmyra for close to 9 months before you were brought on. The BL4 lab was actually finished last week and is in full operation. That is where we..."
"Are creating new viruses?" the doctor interrupted.
"Yes and no. The actual genetics are done elsewhere. Palmyra is where we are testing and modifying. That is where you come in." Yutaka shifted his weight and pulled a Polaroid out of his pocket. He slid it across the table. Dr. Feyman reached down and picked it up.
"Dear god."
The picture showed a middle aged man, his exact age were indiscernible due to the decomposition of the body. It looked as if someone had taken a blow torch and burned away portions of his body in very specific places. The skin on the left of the face was perfect, showing what looked like a person sleeping. The right side was completely gone, down to the bone, which was charred and cracked. There were holes punched around the shoulder and chest area. A large 5 inch wound on the left pectoral was deep enough that the doctor could see all the way through to the autopsy table the man was lying on.
'This is a test subject? He looks tortured!" Throwing the picture back on the table the doctor grabbed a chair and slammed it down across from Yutaka.
"Whatever the hell you are doing here, I want no part of it"
"Richard please, I want you to unde...."
"No damnit! I don't care what lofty goal your sick mind had in place when you thought this would be a good idea but I want out of here now. I do research, not black ops weapon testing."
"Oh, come now Richard. Stop being so dramatic, we are doing no such thing. That picture was taken over a year ago. That was one of the Department of Fish and Wildlife scientists that were working here before any of this ever started. There were 18 people working on these islands at one point. When a supply aircraft was unable to contact the research group on his radio he made a burst transmission to anyone in the area that may know why they were not picking up. Lucky for us the only radio within range was the Zeus, a sonar buoy and cable repair ship that was testing a new early detection system against the possible threat of Chinese subs. While the Zeus called home for instructions, the cargo plane landed on Palmyra Atoll. From what we know, at that point they encountered something that caused them to drop the supplies on the landing strip, board the plane and leave very fast."
"What do mean 'from what we know'? Didn't you ask the crew what they saw?" Dr. Feyman stood up and began pacing in front of the table. He did not like where this was going.
"Of course we would have, but the crew forgot to re-fuel in their haste. We believe they went down somewhere to the north-west, but without any radar data it was a futile attempt trying to find any wreckage. The Zeus was able to pick up one last transmission from the flight crew, about an hour after the first one. Come I'll let you hear it for yourself."
Yutaka then stood up and mentioned Dr. Feyman to follow him out of the room. They walked side by side down the narrow hallway of the small building. This was the smallest of 3 buildings on this Island. The largest building, a 2 story slate grey box, housed the scientific staff and military command personnel on the island. The other two were both square shaped laboratories that had been obviously upgraded recently.
Mr. Saito stopped at an office door that had the windows painted over. Fumbling with his keys me spoke without looking up.
"The radio transmission was almost completely static. We had to run it through the NSA and get all of the background removed before we realized what it actually said. Ah there we are." Unlocking and opening the door, Dr. Feyman looked inside and saw high-end radio equipment and satellite data on bright screens. A young man in a dirty grey shirt and khaki cargo pants was bobbing his head to music coming from the large headphones over his head. Yutaka stepped in and coughed.
"Oh shit, sorry man, um Mr. Saito. I finished those uhhh..." The young man stopped as Dr. Feyman entered.
"No worries Devlin, Dr. Feyman here is going to be helping us out in the lab. He is not military."
"Ahhhh uhhhh ok sir. Well I finished the tapings like you requested. You were right about Gutierrez sir. He knows about the missing samples."
Dr. Feyman raised an eyebrow at Yutaka.
"Nothing to worry about Richard. One of the original scientists that came here 9 months ago disappeared with one of the old strains we were playing with. We tracked him down on the south shore of the island. He was trying to swim to one of the islets. I ordered the marines to kill him. He had the samples on him, of that I am sure. That was about 5 weeks ago."
"And if he didn't Yutaka? What then?"
"The virus is very delicate. It cannot withstand violent temperature change or even prolonged air and sun exposure. The geneticists back in the states bred them that way. It is a non-issue. I just had Devlin here checking too see if any of the grunts had any idea about it. They have a tendency to report these sorts of things to their superiors."
"Can't have Congress finding out about your little project here, can you?"
"No, Richard, I suppose not." Yutaka's smile was all white teeth. "Devlin, pull up the recording from the Zeus, the untouched one."
Devlin opened up a folder and selected a file from a long list of audio files and pulled his headphones out of the computer next to him. The noise was almost pure static but Dr. Feyman could pick out some of what was said.
"...need help...anyone gets this...heading is 03...tried...dead...dead....please anyone...board..."
The tape cut off and started playing again. Devlin clicked the stop button.
"Now play the one we got back from the NSA. Listen carefully Richard."
The recording started, the quality was perfect.
"We need help. We are almost out of fuel and are losing altitude. If anyone gets this our heading is 0375. We are heading north from Palmyra. Jesus they attacked us. They tried to kill us. He was dead. They were all dead. Please anyone. We think one of them got on board. Oh god...."
The recording ended abruptly.
"What was that noise right at the end? It sounded like gunfire."
"It was not gunfire. None of the crew was armed and there was no reason for them to be. That sound was someone or something smashing in the cockpit door. At least that is what the sound engineers at the NSA told us."
Yutaka ran a hand over his slightly balding head and patted Devlin on the shoulder as he made for the door.
"Richard that plane was a military cargo twin turbo-prop. A Spartan so I'm told. Intel told me that it would take plasma cutters 15 minutes to cut through the cockpit door. Something smashed it down in 5 seconds."
"I want you to tell me right now Yutaka, what exactly is this virus?"
Dr. Feyman was led back into the hallway where Yutaka closed and locked the door.
"Come with me to the lab and I will tell you everything. I know you are not one to wait Richard and trust me; there is a lot to tell. We are on the verge of something that you will find very hard to believe. When I was first informed of this project I laughed in General Astleys' face. I had to actually see it to believe it."
User Reviews
Submitted by ChronicMasturbator (user info) at 2005-09-25 21:34:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-25 14:26:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Quality stuff right here folks
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-01 12:44:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I love stories like this.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-01 08:19:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
wow. Awesome story.
Oh and I forgot to mention previously...
+2 for Cambridge, MA w00t!
Submitted by Saxon (user info) at 2005-02-28 22:44:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Shit i missed this part but thank you for linking it.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-02-25 10:27:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
great stuff
Submitted by Joemama (user info) at 2005-02-25 03:42:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent writing
But I want another map
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-02-24 23:42:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
There's a lot of dialogue and explanation. This should be slow and boring. But it is not. Very well done so far. The plot thickens!
Submitted by Durae (user info) at 2005-02-24 23:31:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
very cool.
please tell me you're not going down the zombie-ish route. please god no.
Submitted by Pentameter (user info) at 2005-02-24 22:32:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I love love love the detail. It's amazing.
And I'm happy that I'm able to read your post.
=)
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-02-24 22:02:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
yes very enjoyable, but I needs me some more of your comedy tide me over.
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2005-02-24 21:44:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The only thing I didn't like was the beautiful scientist.
I hate how books always have beautiful scientist women who pull their hair back into ponytails. Why do they never mention of the men are hot?
It's just annoying.
Are you planning on posting one part per day? How many days worth? When does it end?
I like this. It reminds me a bit of Robert Littel... how you work in the facts and info.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-02-24 21:09:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Kickass. Really really really kickass.