Chapter 20
Matthew has finished collecting blood from the nine employees, and Derrick and Dane are busy corralling the sheep. Once they get the sheep into the holding pen, they will direct them into a long chute where the blood can be taken from every fifth animal. Derrick and Dane will collect the blood while the sheep handlers corral them into the upper pasture, where they will be quarantined until further notice. Each sheep has a tag number on his ear; that is how we will keep track of the samples and find out which ones are bad.
Taylor and I get busy with the employees’ blood. We are putting a small sample of the blood on a microscope slide. The slide is placed on the stage of the microscope and looked at carefully. The first sample is positive. The second sample--positive. Third--positive. All nine of the samples test positive for the parasite. We expected them to be infected since they live here on the station, so we don’t need to worry about it spreading to the public right now.
Corralling the sheep into the low pasture is taking a lot longer than anticipated. They are scattered all over the land. So, it’s going to be a while before we are ready to start testing the sheep blood. We are probably going to spend the night in a little hotel we saw not too far from here in Morawa. As soon as Derrick and Dane are finished gathering up the sheep and collecting blood, we will call it a day and check into the hotel.
Taylor decides to physically check each one of the employees for any discoloration they may have. I told him exactly what to look for, so he shouldn’t need my help. I decide to give Geoff a quick call.
“Hi, Geoff. It’s Kobi.”
“Hey, Kobi, what’s going on?”
“You first. What’s going on there?”
“Well, I have some bad news. Marci died earlier this evening. We had her in the medical coma, but the parasite finally took over, and she stopped breathing. Stolz is pretty shaken up about it and wanted to personally dispose of her body in the incinerator.”
“Oh, that is terrible. Are Nicola and Trevor any closer to finding an antidote?”
“No, not really. The stronger strength embalming fluid kills the parasite. The problem now is figuring out how to administer it to a patient without the obvious other problems. No one has ever tried injecting embalming fluid into a living person, so we are exploring unchartered territory. We are talking to the mortician here in Darwin, he thinks that the formaldehyde will probably kill the flesh, especially at the injection site. If it is injected into the bloodstream, he thinks it will cause immediate death.”
Geoff continues, “We don’t really know where to go from here with the embalming fluid option. The only thing we can do is infect a mouse with the parasite and inject a small amount of the embalming fluid into the mouse and see what happens. I am not confident that the outcome will be positive. Tell me what is happening at the station.”
“The body was infected, so we had to burn it. The soil around the grave is also infected, and so is the drinking water. Since the soil was infected with the parasite, we had to exhume the bodies of her daughter and grandson. Luckily, they were not infected. Her property has a well, and an independent groundwater system. We are going to have some surveyors confirm that the water here does not tie into any other water system, just to be safe. All nine of the employees here are infected. Here is the odd thing, Geoff. Mrs. Jones is not infected. She drinks and cooks with the infected water and is not infected. How can that be?”
“I don’t know, Kobi. Find out if she is on any type of medication. Get a full list with the dosage information. Also, if she is taking any kind of herbs or oils like flaxseed or fish, get that information too.”
“Okay, I’ll ask her. I make a list for you and send it as soon as I can. She also has about 150 sheep that are going to be tested as well. Derrick and Dane are in charge of corralling the sheep and collecting the blood. They are out there right now searching for the sheep to bring in. I think it’s going to take them a lot longer than they anticipated to find them. She has about 500 acres out here, so it may take until dark or even maybe part of tomorrow to get them in.”
“I’m glad Derrick is able to help. How are you going to test all of the animals?”
“We are planning to draw blood randomly. The sample size will be 30 sheep which is one fifth of the herd. Chances are, if all 30 are infected, the whole herd will be. They will all be held in quarantine. I’ll get a medication list and fax it to you. I think there is a fax in the lab truck. Give me your fax and I’ll call you when I send it.”
Geoff gives me the number and we hang up for now. I go back inside the house and find Mrs. Jones sitting at the kitchen table. I tell her that all of the employees are infected with the parasite. She is just sick about it and feels responsible for their situation. But, I assure her that it is not her fault—she had no idea that Thom’s body was infected.
“Mrs. Jones, are you taking any medication on a regular basis?”
“Yes. I am on a whole lot of medicine actually. Hang on, I will get the list for you. I have it typed and saved on the computer because every time I go to the doctor, they want a current list of medications. I got tired of writing it down every single time, so I typed it. I’ll be right back.”
She leaves the room and walks towards the back of the house. I am really thirsty and would love a drink, so I go to the kitchen and grab a glass. As I am holding it up to the faucet, I realize what I am doing. Holy cow!! I quickly go outside to the lab truck and get a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge in the back. It’s funny how we are creatures of habit.
Mrs. Jones returns to the kitchen after about ten minutes, and apologizes for taking so long. “My computer is a dinosaur and I think the squirrels running on the inside, keeping things moving, are elderly.”
“No problem, Mrs. Jones. Thank you so much. My boss in Darwin thinks that perhaps something in this list of medications has made you immune to the parasite. The cure might be on this piece of paper. Please excuse me while I go to the truck and fax this list to Darwin. I’ll be right back.”
I go to the truck and fax the list to Geoff. I immediately call him to let him know I’m sending the list. “It’s on the way. We are going to stay at a hotel a little closer to the station tonight. I’ll give you a call in the morning when we are back on site. Good night, Geoff.” He tells me to get some rest and we’ll talk later on.
Derrick and Dane are done for the evening. It is getting dark fast, and they haven’t found all the sheep yet. They will get an early start tomorrow and hopefully by noon, we can start the testing. I poke my head inside Mrs. Jones’ house and tell her good night. She knows we will be back bright and early in the morning, but I assured her not to worry about having coffee for us. We will bring our own.
So, we are off to the hotel. It’s only about twenty minutes from the station and an easy drive. The hotel is nothing to brag about, but all we need is a place to park our heads for the evening. When we check in, we tell the desk clerk to expect us for three nights. Hopefully, it won’t take that long, but we reserve the rooms just to be sure. Taylor and Matthew are securing the samples and the lab truck while we check in.
Luckily there is a restaurant attached to the hotel, so we grab a quick bite before we shower and go to bed. The food is nothing fancy or exotic, but it is good and fills the vacant space in our bellies. I will call Geoff first thing in the morning to check on things. But for now, just a shower and some sleep.