Bottger nodded. "Yes, he says he"s solved the problem of the new anthrax biological weapon he"s been working on for the past three years."
Bergman shook his head. "I don"t know why he"s continued to work on anthrax," he said. "We tried that in Africa and the SUSA"s vaccines made it worthless as a weapon. All it succeeded in doing was to kill a lot of animals and aborigines."
"Wait until you hear what he"s accomplished," Bottger said with a sly grin as they entered the laboratory through double-sealed pneumatic doors, a precaution against accidental infection of the training facility.
As they walked into the room, a tall man with an acne-scarred face and wild hair looked up from a microscope he was peering into.
"Ah, Herr General Bottger," Krug said with a smile, wiping his hands on his white lab coat before shaking hands all around.
"Doctor," Bottger said, "perhaps you can explain your most 77.recent breakthrough to my a.s.sociates. They seem to have some doubt as to the efficacy of your bacteria as a weapon."
"Follow me, gentlemen," Krug said, leading them down dark pa.s.sages into what appeared to be a prison section, walled off with two-inch-thick gla.s.s.
He stepped up to the window and pointed inside. There were six beds in the room, upon which lay four men and two women with the dark skin of South American Indians. Their skin was covered with large, pustular sores and they were soaked with sweat, shivering and shaking as they coughed and hacked until blood ran from their mouths.
"I sprayed my anthrax into the cell of the man on the left four days ago. He initially developed flulike symptoms which lasted onlythirty-six hours, then apparently recovered. I then exposed the others to him. Twenty-four hours later, all were sick and are now as you see them."
Bergman shrugged. "So what, Doctor? I see nothing here to indicate any difference in the results from what we had several years ago."
Krug shook his head. "Ah, but there are several differences. Notice the animals in the cages around the room? They are unaffected by the bacterium, unlike the previous weapon, which left a barren area desolate of mammalian life forms. In addition, all of these subjects were previously vaccinated with the vaccine in the possession of the SUSA and the U.S. As you can see, it had no preventive effect on the sickness."
"Tell them the other part," Bottger urged.
"I have been able to make the anthrax infective from a spray that can be released by either bombs or missiles, and, unlike traditional respiratory anthrax, it is infective from person to person, so that the spray does not have to be everywhere to do its work. Once a segment of the population is infected, they stay healthy for several days, long enough to travel and infect hundreds of other unsuspecting citizens."
"Let me get this straight," Bergman said, "we now have a biological weapon that the SUSA and the U.S. have no vaccine 78.against, and it can be delivered by aerial bombs or missiles, and it will spread throughout the country person to person?"
"Yes," Krug said with a maniacal gleam in his eye. "Wonderful, isn"t it?"
"Is there no conventional treatment for the illness?" Hessner asked as he peered at the Indians who were near death.
Krug shrugged. "Yes. If the patients are caught very early in their illness, ma.s.sive doses of antibiotics will slow or even reverse the illness. But the amount needed will quickly use up the available supplies of even the richest country in a matter of days, leaving the rest of the populace at its mercy."
"And you have a vaccine I can use to inoculate my troops against this respiratory anthrax?" Bergman asked.
Krug nodded. "It is being manufactured on a large scale even as we speak."
"Will the SUSA scientists be able to duplicate this vaccine?" Hessner asked.
"Certainly, given enough time," Krug answered. "But the rapidity with which the illness spreads means they will lose at least fifty to sixty percent of their fighting forces before they can make enough to do any good."
"By that time, our armies should have been able to take control of all of the major cities and facilities in the country, forcing Raines to sue for peace," Bottger said, his eyes aflame with insane excitement.
After they"d returned to Bottger"s office, he poured them all brandy and handed out fat cigars to celebrate Dr. Krug"s accomplishment.As Bergman puffed his stogie and sipped his brandy, he had a thought.
"General Bottger, I have a suggestion," he said.
Bottger waved his hand in an expansive gesture. He was feeling good enough to take advice from anyone at this point. "Go ahead, Sergei."
"The last time we fought Raines, he learned of our bacterial weapons in time to formulate a vaccine against them. I suggest we keep Krug and his workers completely isolated from the 79.rest of the troops, just in case there are spies around who might tell Raines of our new weapon."
"Excellent idea, Sergei," Bottger said. "Anything else?"
"Yes. I further suggest that we hold off vaccinating our own troops until the last possible moment to keep any hint of our having new biological weapons from leaking out."
"I had already antic.i.p.ated such a move," Bottger said. "Dr. Krug a.s.sures me the vaccine only takes about a week to do its job, so we"ll plan to vaccinate our troops on the day they move out. At that time, we"ll initiate saturation bombing of Mexico City and points up to the southern border of the SUSA."
"Why not bomb the SUSA itself?" Hessner asked, smoke from the cigar trailing from his nostrils.
Bottger shook his head. "The SUSA is too well guarded, especially from an air a.s.sault. I fear none of our planes or missiles would get through." He paused to drink the remainder of his brandy in one large draught. "No, if we manage to infect a significant portion of the Mexican citizens, they will travel to the SUSA looking for help and thus spread the infection almost as fast our bombs could, and without wasting any of our precious aircraft on a futile a.s.sault."
Bergman nodded, smiling. "And additionally, in the initial stages of the plague, the SUSA will think their troops are protected from the anthrax, not knowing it is a new bug."
"Exactly," Bottger agreed. "For now, the most important thing is to keep the secret of our new weapon from being discovered by the SUSA or anyone else."
"That brings up an interesting point, General," Bergman said.
"Yes?"
"I fear it will be impossible to keep the secret if we start to vaccinate Perro Loco"s troops, or Claire Osterman"s Army in the U.S.
Raines would be sure to find out, perhaps in time to develop their own vaccine."
80.Bottger smiled once again. "Who said anything about giving the vaccine to either Loco or Osterman?""But, we"re gonna need their troops to help us in our takeover of the SUSA. We only have about twenty thousand mercenaries in our ranks,"
Bergman argued. "Hardly enough to form an a.s.sault on Mexico and the SUSA at the same time, even if a large percentage of their troops are becoming sick from the plague."
"I know that," Bottger said. "That is why I intend to hold off on the biological weapon until Perro Loco has taken or is very close to taking Mexico City. Once that has occurred, to h.e.l.l with him and his troops, we will no longer need them."
"What about Osterman"s Army?" Hessner asked.
"The plan at this point is for her to hara.s.s Raines and the SUSA from the north, to divide his attention between her and Mexico. While I don"t plan to bomb the U.S. itself, the disease will invariably make its way northward once it"s gotten a hold in the SUSA. By that time, Osterman and her Army will likewise be of little use to us. Once the entire continent of North America is reeling under the influence of the plague, I will offer the vaccine on condition I am appointed lifetime ruler of the entire continent."
"What is to keep them from going back on their word once they have the vaccine?" Hessner asked. "We can"t possibly hold the entire continent with only twenty thousand men."
"Don"t worry, my friend," Bottger said, leaning back in his chair and puffing on his cigar. "If there is one thing I"ve found in all my years as a general, it is that there are plenty of people in every country who are willing to switch sides to the winning side in time of war. Just look at the history of World War II, when many of the most idealistic Frenchmen joined the Vichy government and helped Germany rule their conquered country. I have no doubt the SUSA and the U.S. will be little different. I don"t think we"ll have any problem identifying and recruiting men to help us rule, once we"ve attained power."
81."So, what is our next step?" Bergman asked, stubbing out his cigar in an ashtray.
"a.s.sign men you know are completely reliable to guard Dr. Krug"s lab and his records," Bottger said. "I"d suggest you use only men who have been with us from the start, back during the Africa campaign or before."
Bergman nodded. "Anything else?"
"Yes, you must get our men in fighting shape as soon as possible. It is my understanding Perro Loco is going to start his a.s.sault on Mexico City within the month. We must be ready to step in as soon as he"s done all the hard work. I want our army ama.s.sed on the southern border of the SUSA at the time the bombings with our plague organism commence, for it will only be a matter of days after that when the SUSA will begin to feel the effects of the plague, and our army must be ready to invade on a moment"s notice."
82 Ten Ben Raines stopped for a moment outside the hospital room and tried to rearrange his face into a hopeful expression to replace the sorrowfulone it now held.
He knocked on the door and entered.
In spite of knowing how sick he was, Ben was still surprised by Dr.
Lamar Chase"s pale, drawn face. It had been almost twenty-four hours since Ben"s doctor and longtime friend had had his heart attack while playing golf on the headquarters" course. This was the first time Chase"s doctors had allowed anyone to visit the ailing physician.
"Hi, Doc," Ben called as he entered the room, trying to sound cheerful.
Lamar rolled his head to the side and smiled wanly at Ben. "Howdy, Ben,"
he said, even his voice sounding weak and tired.
Ben knew the man, who was in his sixties, had been slowing down of late, but he"d had no idea his friend was so sick. He took a chair next to the bed and put his hand on his friend"s arm.
"So, what happened, old friend?" Ben asked.
Lamar smiled, and Ben could see some of his old personality shine through.
"Well, first of all it was hot enough to fry eggs on the greens, and I should"ve known better than to try and play on such a day," Lamar said.
"On the next to the last hole, I hit my ball into a sand trap ... a really deep bunker. After I hit 83.it out-right next to the pin, by the way-I started to climb out of the bunker and felt like a mule kicked me in the chest."
Ben nodded. "Your doctors said it was a minor heart attack."
Lamar grimaced. "There ain"t no such thing as a minor heart attack, podna," he said. "I"m afraid I won"t be much use to you in the upcoming war with those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds down in Mexico."
"Sure you will, Doc," Ben tried to rea.s.sure him, though he knew he spoke the truth. "The doctors say you"re gonna be fine."
Lamar nodded. "Sure, if I take it easy and don"t do anything stupid, like playing golf in a hundred-and-ten-degree heat, or traveling to Mexico where a hundred and ten is considered a nice fall day."
"Well," Ben said, "we"ll make do somehow."
"That"s what I want to talk to you about, Ben. There"s this new young doctor I want you to a.s.sign to take my place. He"s a little green, but I"ve never met a, smarter or better all-around doctor."
"And just what is this young hotshot"s name?" Ben asked. He knew Lamar was a hard taskmaster, and anyone who got such praise from him had to be the real deal.
"Larry Buck," Lamar replied. "He"s top-notch, and not afraid to get in there where the action is if need be. He just got off a tour with the scouts as a field medic." Lamar smiled grimly. "Said he wanted some field experience with gunshot wounds and such.""Sounds like just the sort of man I need on my team. Have you spoken to him about it?"
"Yes. As soon as I was out of ICU, I called him on the phone and we talked it over. He"s all for it if you"ll have him."
"Doc," Ben said seriously, "I"ve known you almost twenty years. When was the last time I neglected to take your advice?"
"When I told you to stay out of the field and give up those hand-rolled cancer sticks of yours."
84.Ben laughed. Doc had indeed told him he was getting too old to be traipsing around the world fighting battles. He"d said it was a younger man"s game. In his heart, Ben knew his old friend was right. . . that he was slowing down as he got older and it would be sooner rather than later when he would finally have to resign himself to doing his generaling from a desk instead of a HumVee in the field.
"All right, so I still smoke occasionally. But other than that, I"ll take your advice and hire this Dr. Buck on as my team physician and the Surgeon General of the entire command."
Lamar rested his head back on his pillow, a smile on his face. "Good.
Now get the h.e.l.l out of here and let me rest. Don"t you know I"ve had a heart attack and need my sleep?"
"Okay, pal," Ben said, ruffling the gray hair on Lamar"s head. "I"ll see you later, all right?"
"If you"re lucky," Lamar slurred, already beginning to fall asleep.
Dr. Larry Buck stepped up to Ben"s desk and snapped to attention. "Dr.
Buck reporting as ordered, sir!"
Ben smiled. The man was indeed young. He looked to be no more than thirty on the outside. He was also remarkably fit for a doctor. Standing almost six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a head of unruly black hair that fell in a comma over his right eyebrow, he was a good-looking man who looked more like the scouts he"d trained with than an M.D.
"First off, Larry, we don"t go in much for salutes and formality around here. As a member of my team, you"ll be family. I can"t abide yes-men or sycophants. When I ask for your opinion, I don"t care whose ox gets gored. I want your honest thoughts."
"Yes, sir ... uh, Ben."
"That"s why Lamar and I got along so well and why he did such a good job of keeping my team and the Army healthy.
85.He"s the type that"d walk right up to the devil and tell him he wasn"t drinking enough water."
Larry laughed. "You got that right, Ben. That"s one of the reasons Iasked to be a.s.signed to his command when I graduated from the military academy medical school."
"Most of the rest of the team is on a.s.signment in South America right now, so you"ll have to wait to meet them."
"I"ve already familiarized myself with all of their medical records, Ben."
Ben eyebrows raised. "That include mine?" he asked.
Larry grinned. "Especially yours. Doc Chase told me if I let anything happen to you, he"d personally kick my a.s.s from here to there."
"How do you think he is, really?" Ben asked, becoming serious.
Larry nodded. "Looks like he"s gonna be okay. They did a cath on him this morning and he only had a partial blockage of the left main coronary artery, the one they call widow-maker. Dr. Polukof did an angioplasty on him and cleared the blockage completely, so he should do fine unless he overdoes it before he"s healed."
"I take it you"ll make sure that doesn"t happen, correct?" Ben said pointedly.
"Yes, sir. I"ve got two of the toughest nurses on the ward watching him twenty-four hours a day. They"re both ex-marine nurses, so even Doc Chase won"t be able to scare them off."
"Have you had a chance to go over Lamar"s records to see if there"s anything about his chain of command you want to change?"
"Yes, and the only suggestion I"d make is to have a few more female doctors a.s.signed here. Lamar was something of an old-fashioned doc who didn"t think women belonged in battle situations."
"And you disagree?"
"Yes. From what I"ve seen, women are able to handle the emotional stress of combat surgery and battlefield medicine 86.better than men, and the men patients are less likely to give women docs the guff they do the male docs."
"Then go ahead and make whatever changes you deem necessary. It"s your command now, Larry, so make the best of it."
"Yes, sir."
"Eagle One to Nest, Eagle One to Nest," Anna said into the microphone.