The black stain spread from the landmasses and began to seep outward in ever-widening circles, carried by the mingling currents into every ocean of the world. In relation to the volume of water it was an exceedingly minute concentration. But it had been genetically adapted to survive in conditions that otherwise would have dissipated and destroyed it.
To the scientists at Starbuck, who had accomplished the task set them, their pride and jubilation was unclouded by any fears of what might happen now that the Primary Plan had been implemented and successfully concluded. They reasoned that the amount of TCDD in global terms was infinitesimal, hardly enough to be measured even with the most sensitive instruments.
Literally a drop in the ocean.
The film was all the more horrific because it was silent: mute dreamlike images of death.
Continuous movement and fast disjointed cutting engendered in the viewer the impression that this was the work of an insane director who'd abandoned the conventional techniques of moviemaking and instead pointed his camera randomly at bodies erupting with cancerous growths and babies decaying in gutters. As a horror film it was brilliant in its totally objective noninvolvement: a clinical record in lurid, disgusting Technicolor.
Shot by telephoto lens from a helicopter, whose shadow flitted brokenly over buildings and raced along streets, this was official ASP footage of the results of the Primary Plan--proof of its success for the politicians and military brass.
"I'm impressed, Lloyd," hissed Wayne Hansom, the secretary of state, into General Madden's ear. "Not a sign of life and yet all facilities left intact. We couldn't have achieved this even with our neutron bomb capability."
"Aside from which, the expense would have been prohibitive on this scale. The cost effectiveness of a bacteriological strike can't be matched by any other method." Madden's voice was soft and measured as usual, yet with an undercurrent of excitement, of nervous glee. "We're talking about a few cents per hundred thousand, Wayne. Plus we made use of the army's existing delivery technology--no fancy systems had to be developed. It was all the usual hardware manned by crews specially trained in handling contaminants."
They lapsed into engrossed silence, watching the film, an aide replenishing their glasses when they ran dry. Madden had seen it perhaps a dozen times already but wasn't bored. The close-ups were fascinating. The Primary Plan had fulfilled all their expectations and the secretary of state would have no hesitation in commending ASP's role to the president when he made his report.
One of the State Department officials had a question. How soon before the target figure of 4.3 billion was met? At this moment in time, he pointed out, there was a considerable shortfall.
Madden delegated that one to Major Jones, whose stolid black features concealed a brain bulging with data. "Our original projection was C Day plus four months for virtual wipeout of the Designated Areas, but it now appears more realistic to think in terms of C Day plus six months. Right this minute we're approaching two billion, which means that all cities and large towns have been zilched. Obviously the dense urban populations were easiest to hit. The rural and less-populated regions will take longer for precisely that reason. But the virus will get to them eventually because nothing can stop it. By C Day plus six"-- he turned down both thumbs--"total wipeout."
Hansom and Madden exchanged looks, smiling into each other's eyes.
"As I understand it, you're completely happy about containment." This was neither statement nor query, but rather a nervous plea for reassurance from Jim Devanney, the assistant secretary of state. Fingers drumming the arm of his chair, eyes behind gold-rimmed bifocals swiv-eling from face to face.
Madden's faint smile snapped off like a light. "Completely. Isn't that right, Lutz?"
"TCDD in the form of the virus as developed at Starbuck is highly contagious and is transmitted either by person-to-person contact or through the water supply," intoned the scientific officer. "It can't be transmitted any other way. There is no risk of spreading the infection to landmasses many thousands of miles away, absolutely none whatsoever."
"Supposing an infected person were to carry the disease to the
United States," Devanney proposed. "That's possible, isn't it, if they take days or even weeks to die after being infected?"
Lutz smiled, amused by the naivete of the layman.
"And what about the people he traveled with--those on the same aircraft or ship?" Devanney persisted.
