Chapter 9
Day 12
Derrick and I wake up about 7:00 a.m. and hear voices coming from the kitchen area. We get dressed and walk into the kitchen and pour ourselves a cup of coffee.
“Good morning!” Derrick says to Trevor and Dane who are sitting at the kitchen table.
“Good morning Derrick, Kobi,” Trevor and Dane reply in unison.
The four of us have a good visit and discuss the plan for the day. At around 8:30 a.m., everyone is ready to go, so we get into the SUV and Trevor in his car. We are going into Darwin to meet Nicola at the lab. It takes us about 45 minutes to get there, and as we pull up in front, we see Nicola on the steps waiting for us. She is very glad to see us and invites us into the lab. She and Trevor immediately strike up a conversation and begin talking about what tests they are going to do next.
“Trevor,” I ask, “Do you need us to do anything?”
“No, I’m good. These tests are going to take most of the day,” he replies.
“Sounds good,” I say. “Here is Derrick’s cell phone number along with Dane’s. Please call us if you find out anything.”
Trevor will need to eventually contact the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the local, and the state authorities, because there is an infectious disease involved. He is not sure if the disease is contagious. Trevor thinks that it probably isn’t, because he did not get it from Carlos, but what about a bite or bodily fluid exchange? Could that spread the disease? That’s what they need to find out. Hopefully, Trevor and Nicola can identify some of the disease characteristics and provide that information when the CDC is contacted.
Dane is going to contact an old friend of his, Monti, and ask him to help us hunt and kill the infected dingoes. Monti is an Aboriginal guide in the Northern Territory and is an expert hunter as well. Finding the dingoes won’t be too hard since they have a chip implanted in them and can be tracked. We will need to purchase a few supplies for the hunt like tranquilizer guns, and protective gear. Trevor gave us a couple of thousand dollars to use for the supplies. It’s what was left of the monthly allotted food money for the chef at the facility.
The three of us decide to go to the Outdoor Sports Store and buy all of the supplies we will need for the hunt. Suddenly, without warning, a series of tones blasts out over the radio. The announcer on the radio is warning tourists not to go near wild dingoes. This is a standing warning because so many tourists want to get pictures with the dingoes. The tourists feed the dingoes, hoping to get a good photograph with a wild animal. The dingoes lose their ability to hunt and expect free food from the humans. Then when they don’t get the food they want, they get aggressive. The warning is not the normal warning. It is a directive advising people to immediately go indoors if a dingo is sighted, because they are attacking humans for no apparent reason. The warning was probably issued because of the family that was killed a few days ago.
The three of us instinctively know that the dingoes the announcer is talking about must be the ones from the facility. There were several locations mentioned in the broadcast where these dingoes were sighted--all within 100 kilometers of the facility. We will have to wait until Trevor and Nicola are finished in the lab before we decide what our next move will be. A couple of hours later, Nicola phones Dane with some disturbing news. Dane puts the call on speakerphone.
“Dane, this is Nicola. We have finished analyzing the blood samples, including the blood from Carlos. Both the dingo blood and the human blood contain the same microorganism which appears to behave like a parasite. We took a small sample of the infected blood and introduced it to a sample of my blood, and the parasite was extremely aggressive with its takeover of the uninfected red blood cells. Within a few minutes, every one of the red blood cells in the clean sample was infected. Thus we have to assume that it is contagious and can be contracted with any exchange of bodily fluids, a bite, or simple contact with the infected blood without protective gear. Hang on a minute, Trevor wants to talk to you.”
Trevor gets on the phone and says, “Now that we have more information on the parasite, I am going to call the CDC. I’m sure they will send a top notch team of scientists here to test the blood and draw their own conclusions. I don’t know how long it will take for them to get here, but I’ll call you back after I talk to the CDC.”
“Sounds like we might have an epidemic on our hands,” Dane says. “How is this going to be contained?”
“Let’s wait for the CDC to evaluate the situation, and we’ll go from there,” Trevor replies. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Okay Trevor, I’ll talk to you later.”
This isn’t sounding good, so we decide to head toward Nicola’s lab to improve our position since we don’t have a good arrival time for the CDC. At 5:15 p.m., Trevor calls us again and tells us that the CDC is right here in Darwin and they will be at the lab around 7:00 p.m. We decide to go pick up Trevor and Nicola and grab a quick bite of dinner and make sure we are back at the lab by 6:45 p.m.
The five of us plus three representatives from the CDC head into the conference room and begin discussing the issue. Trevor and Nicola present their evidence and conclusions from the tests they did earlier today. Trevor shows them the notebook that he found on Dr. Elliot and relays the unimaginable story to them like he did to us when we first met. Since the epidemic is not confined to a certain area, it will be nearly impossible to quarantine. They agree that the first place that needs to be quarantined and decontaminated is the lab facility.
Geoff, the lead CDC representative says, “We will send a team to the facility to check the hazardous vault area and the rest of the compound, especially
the kitchen. Once we have collected any specimens or contaminants, the facility will be burned. Dr. Tomblim, are you available tomorrow to accompany us to the lab?”
“Yes, of course,” Trevor replies.
“Great. Can you meet us here at 7:00 a.m. and we will follow you to the lab facility?” Geoff asks.
“Sure, no problem. I would like for Dr. Nicola Reese to accompany us since she’s the one who helped me identify the parasite.” Trevor requests.
At this point in the meeting, Dane speaks up and tells Geoff about the tracking devices that are in the six infected dingoes. He mentions that he has hired an Aboriginal guide and hunter to help track down the dingoes. With Trevor’s GPS and Monti’s skill and extraordinary perception, it shouldn’t be that difficult.
Geoff looks at Dane with surprise and says, “And you don’t mind taking on the burden of hunting and destroying the infected dingoes?”
“No, not at all. I know this country like the back of my hand and Monti is the best man I know, so between the two of us, this won’t be hard at all.” Dane responds.
“Super! We’ll send a CDC member along with you to make sure the dingoes are disposed of properly. I’m sure you are very competent, and I am not questioning your abilities, but I have to send a team member along with you. It is procedure.” Geoff explains.
“I don’t have a problem with that, Geoff. Thanks for your confidence.” Dane says as he shakes Geoff’s hand. “The plan for disposing of the dingoes is pretty simple. We will shoot them and then burn the bodies.”
“Great. Be sure to wear protective gear, especially when you are burning the bodies. May I also suggest soaking the freshly killed dingoes with bleach so the blood doesn’t contaminate the soil and spread,” Geoff requests.
After the meeting, we all go to Dane’s house, including Nicola. She is part of our team now, so we want to make sure we include her in all of our conversations. The CDC values her input and will probably ask her to stay on and help them until the crisis is over. The CDC has unofficially declared the parasite as a disease for which there is no known cure. They have decided not to make this information public because they don’t want people to panic, but they are treating the disease as a possible epidemic and will follow standard protocol. The decision wil
l be made at a later time how to inform the public, if at all.
Nicola will go with Trevor to the facility tomorrow, and Dane, Derrick, and I are going to Monti’s house.