Dominated by DNA Part 18

Anne cleared her throat. “Several months ago, rumours began circulating about a chemical substance nicknamed ‘Parlour’. There were three stories linked to this name. One was that it was a new kind of designer narcotic, another was that it was a sex drug and the third option was a weapon. I’m sorry for repeating this part Chloé, but it is important.”

“The reference of Parlour is obvious, Anne. ‘Come into my Parlour, said the spider to the fly’.” Chloé commented.

“That’s true, with our present knowledge. Your information and help has been invaluable Chloé, and that’s why I’m telling you all of this. The FBI needed to get someone into GEN-DAWN to monitor the situation and to find out what is truly happening. Putting an experienced agent in there would stick out like a sore thumb, so  my superiors decided that they needed someone who would stick out, but for a different reason. When you two applied for a course at the local college, it was an opportunity that they couldn’t ignore.”

Anne paused for a moment. “Chloé, your name flagged up with a tag connected to mine. When they saw Angela’s name turn up as well, it meant that we would have the perfect cover. One student would get a position at the research centre.”

“That was risky though, Anne.” Chloé said. “After I applied, I found that the positions were full and we were rejected. If it hadn’t been for the mistake and the two extra fully funded courses...” Chloé’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and then a suspicion ran through her mind. “There wasn’t a mistake, the FBI had the two extra spaces added and funded them just so that we would turn up. It was too good a chance to miss.”

“You are right Chloé, and I’m sorry about that. We had two foreign students to choose from, as a French or German student couldn’t possibly be an agent. I approached Angela the first week she was here. The only reason we approached Angela instead of you was so that we could play on people’s stereotypes. Had you gone in, the men would have been buzzing around you because of the ‘Ooh la la factor’. Angela could play the curt Teutonic German, and keep people at arm’s length. This has worked out very well. The director’s son and the director know about this, and spread the story that Angela obtained her position by sleeping with the director’s son.”

“When I checked through the normal files, I discovered about the sex drug tests that were being performed.” Angela said. “I spoke with Anne and we came to the conclusion that there was more to this than the drug.”

“It was due to intelligence reports about ‘Parlour’ that changed the situation, Chloé.” Anne said. “Terrorists would not be interested in a drug that gave women better orgasms. It was then that we felt that it was a cover for something, but we didn’t know what. Then the bottle was moved into Sara’s department on Monday.”

“Yes, the bottle that doesn’t exist.” Chloé said. “That bottle must contain an active virus.”

“Anthea said that she never saw Sara open the refrigerated unit, but she also said that she went out for lunch.” Anne thought for a moment before continuing. “Chloé, find out if Sara opened the fridge on Monday lunchtime, please. My guess is that she opened it at lunch and she became contaminated then.  The intruder was affected at lunchtime so that would indicate a time of twenty four hours between infection and activation.”

“When the police interrogated the intruder, it seems that his instructions were to restrain anyone in the room first, and once he obtained what he came for, any witnesses were ‘to be eliminated’. Chloé, Sara is alive today because she became infected. I have no doubt that the bottle was the true target of the intruder, and he would have searched the inventory and discovered it.”

“Anne, I believe that there is an old saying.” Chloé responded. “‘It’s an ill wind which blows no good’. Sara’s altered DNA proves that the virus is designed to rewrite the human genome to produce these primal pheromones. This at least has shown us how the effect works.”

“Yes, Chloé and this is what makes it such a lethal weapon.”

 “But Anne, one person is not a weapon. One person...” Chloé frowned. One person is just a problem, but what if it became more than one? “Mon Dieu! If it was used on masse, the effects could be dreadful! If it was turned into an aerosol form and sprayed into the air, you could infect a great many people!”

Anne took a deep breath. “After I gathered all of the information, I realised that as well. For an extreme example, I’ll use Manhattan Island, with a population of 1.6 million. Please note that these figures will be approximations, though. Suppose on lunchtime, the virus was released as an airborne version and covered the entire island. It would not be detected as it contains no toxic elements, and no one would present any symptoms of Illness. One day later, the adult women would feel weak and the men will be unable to control themselves. Very quickly, the entire adult female population of Manhattan are inescapably bound and gagged. Next, they would have to go through the shock of having a man ‘mate’ with them. Anyone who tries to stop them, or are even considered a threat will be ‘dealt with’ as I wanted to ‘deal’ with you two. As about a fifth of the population is under 18, you can image the casualties from this alone.”

Anne took a sip from her glass. “About half of the population is female, which comes to about 800,000. Remove the 20% of under eighteens from this and you still have 640,000 women bound and gagged on Manhattan Island. After the men have mated with them, they will be overcome by an unreasoning fear of being eaten. They will take the quickest route off the island. Many will throw themselves into the water if they cannot get off the bridges which will be packed with panicking males. People with firearms would use them to clear a path for themselves.”

“Then the authorities would send people to find out what was happening. As soon as they come into contact with the pheromones, which could be covering the island given the amount of women producing them, they will succumb and just add to the chaos. Then, people with chemical and biological protection suits would need to enter the area with detectors to try and find out what is happening. As it is a normal pheromone, and not a toxin, it would take time to detect.”

Anne paused for another drink. “Eventually, they detect the pheromone if they’re lucky, and they proceed with full protection. They have to get through the chaos and start to rescue the women. Soon, they detect that the pheromones have stopped and they remove the gear so that they can work faster. The women that are rescued are taken away from the island are taken to hospitals, schools and other locations.”

Anne stopped. “Then the hammer blow would come. About eighteen to twenty four hours later, the effect would start again. The full team of rescue workers in Manhattan would be overwhelmed and be of no further use. The rescued women would find themselves in exactly the same situation that they were before and there would be chaos in New York. Overall, we would need to effectively rescue at least 9,000 women per hour from the island, and I doubt that we could even manage half of that.”

Angela looked puzzled. “Why 9,000 an hour? Surely we wouldn’t need to rescue that many?”

Chloé thought for a second. “Because that is the number you would have to aim for to rescue the helpless population in three days. After that, the women would start dying of thirst.” Chloé’s expression changed to one of sheer horror. “Bigre! Anne, you are talking about the deaths of many people! I understand why you called it a weapon.”

Anne looked worried. “If it wasn’t for Sara’s contamination and your information, we wouldn’t have worked this out. At least we can comprehend the threat that we are up against. We may even be able to work out a detection system which will dispense the counter agent that Miss Smith is working on. We are forewarned at the very least, and that is something to be thankful for.”

Anne stood up and walked over to Chloé. “Chloé, I cannot thank you enough for your help in this matter. I must ask you to observe Sara over the weekend, as any further knowledge may be invaluable.”

“I have only played a very small part in this, Anne. You and Angela have gathered far more information. My contribution is only a minor one.”

“It is your knowledge that made the pieces fit together. Chloé, please believe me when I say that you may have helped to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.”

Chloé blushed at Anne’s comment. “If you say so Anne, but it does not feel like I have done anything special.”

“That’s how it always feels at this point Chloé, but things are going to move rapidly now. Angela, is Miss Smith still working on that counter agent?”

“Yes Anne, she told me that she will work on it for as long as she is able. Miss Smith wished that she had certain experts working with her and some extra equipment, though.” answered Angela.

“Does she have anybody in mind? Because whoever she wants, she will have, because that counteragent research is vital for security. When we have left, I will call her and get the personnel required.” Anne picked up a piece of paper and a pen, and then wrote down a telephone number. “This is my contact number, Chloé. You can call me any time of the day or night.  How do you plan to keep an eye on Sara over the weekend?”

“I have already planned to convince her how good it would be to spend the weekend with James and I, with her as a tied up captive. We could keep an eye on her, plus she won’t be alone here. Angela has the address if you need it.”

“Thank you Chloé, I don’t want anything bad to happen to Sara as a result of her getting inadvertently involved in this situation.”

Angela’s phone rang. “Hello, this is Angela here. Oh hello Miss Smith, did you get the bottle? OMG! That’s horrible! There’s absolutely no material that you can use in your research? That is bad news.” Angela looked at Anne. “Someone has added acid to the compound, and destroyed the virus. The only available material is Sara’s blood.”

“Could you hand your phone to me please, Angela.” Anne took the phone and held it to her ear. “Good evening Miss Smith, I am Agent Duncombe. I am informed that you require certain experts and equipment to speed up your research. I will give you a number to call, and they will assist you in obtaining anything that you need. Thank you for your assistance.” Anne then gave Miss Smith the number. “Do you have it written down? Good, is there anything else you need? I understand, you need to test the counter agent using a full adult subject. I have experienced the effect of the chemicals, and though I hate the idea of losing control, I hate the idea of subjecting someone else to this even more. Goodbye Miss Smith.” Anne ended the call and handed the phone back to Angela.

Chloé looked at Anne in surprise. “You are going to experience the siren’s call again?”

Anne looked back. “Chloé, I do not want to put someone else in that position. It was such a horrible experience, but having another person take my place is even worse.” Anne stood up and picked up her bag, and Angela stood up as well. “Now, unless there is anything else that you can contribute Chloé, I think that it’s time that we left.”

“I cannot think of anything right now, Anne. Maybe when I have had a good night’s sleep, a new detail may come to mind.”

Chloé stood up and walked to the apartment door, followed by Anne and Angela. “I hope that you can find out who is behind this, Anne. Whoever it is makes a television villain look like a boy scout.” Chloé said as she opened the door.

“I’m sure that we will find the person responsible, Chloé. It shouldn’t take long, now that we have the additional information. Anyway, goodnight and have fun with Sara.”

“Goodnight Chloé.” said Angela. “I hope that life can get back to normal after this.”

“Goodnight Angela, and good luck.” Anne and Angela walked out of the apartment and down the corridor, with Chloé closing the door behind them. This is a lot to take in, and I cannot even speak to James or Sara about it. Chloé took the glasses to the kitchen, washed then, dried them and put them away.

“Chloé, are you there? Chloé?” Sara’s voice made Chloé jump.  I think that it is time to continue entertaining Sara.

Chloé opened the bedroom door and sat down on the bed beside Sara...