Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

“As many as you can provide.”

Fiona gets up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Lisa leans against the desk while waiting for Fiona to return. The steady ticking of the art deco clock draws her attention. Eventually, she lifts it, surprised by its substantial weight. On the bottom, she notices a carved inscription that reads: To G, With all my love. W.

Lisa assumes the G must stands for some pet name, and she feels a pang of sympathy for Fiona. To have lost her otherwise healthy husband to complications of the flu—or possibly even the flu shot—strikes her as particularly cruel. She wonders if that’s what motivates Fiona to do the work she does.

Fiona returns cradling a box. At the sight of the clock in Lisa’s hand, she scowls slightly, and Lisa carefully replaces the timepiece where it was.

Fiona lowers the box onto the desk and opens the top flaps. She pulls out one of the presealed packages holding fifty vials of vaccine. “We still have vaccine from six separate batches.” She motions to the tag on top of the seal. “These numbers indicate the date of the original production runs in the plant at Littleton.”

“OK, thank you.”

Fiona carefully replaces the package in the box, closes the flaps, and then passes it to Lisa.

“Oh, Fiona, one other thing.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes, please don’t ship any of the supply back to Massachusetts yet.”

“Why not?”

“We might not be done with it.”

Fiona grimaces. “You’re still planning on using it?”

“All I can tell you is that we might not be done with it.”

CHAPTER 53

Nathan focuses on the simple blue, rectangular shape of the UN’s Secretariat Tower, which is framed in the center of the CEO office’s window. But today it doesn’t provide the usual calming effect.

“You were saying?” Peter asks in the same chilly tone he has been using since Nathan first sat down across from him.

“I have no idea how this could’ve happened, Peter. There was no signal noise whatsoever in all the trials. This complication came out of nowhere.”

“To fuck this company into near financial ruin, apparently,” Peter snarls as he slams his hand on the desk. “Did you see the share price today?”

The value of Delaware’s stock price has fallen by almost 30 percent since the announcement of the vaccine trial’s suspension. “Wait until the market gets word of the criminal cover-up they’re trying to pin on us,” Nathan says.

Peter’s fingertips blanch as he presses them against the wood. “That cannot happen, Nathan.”

“How do we stop it?”

“What evidence do they have?”

Nathan shrugs.

“Exactly. They’ve got nothing.”

Nathan eyes the CEO for a long moment. “Those ‘spies’ you mentioned last time we spoke. What do they know about the website?”

“They only watch, Nathan.” Peter’s lips break into a sly smile. “But there’s little they don’t see.”

Nathan’s stomach churns at the veiled threat. “I should probably go back to Seattle,” he says.

“What for?”

“Not fair to leave Fiona there alone to deal with all of this,” Nathan says, but mainly he wants to get as far away from the office—and Peter—as possible. “She tells me that Public Health has confiscated a bunch of samples of Neissovax to analyze themselves.”

“What will they find in them, Nathan?”

“The same thing we did. The vaccine is pure.”

“Hmm.”

“They’ve also asked us to keep the entire supply in the warehouse there.”

“More evidence?”

“No idea. Lisa is leaving us in the dark now.”

“Then what’s the point of you going back?”

Nathan wonders the same. He cannot believe how much has changed in a single day. Yesterday, he thought Lisa was destined to become his lover. Now she threatens to be his undoing. And yet he still wants to see her again. “Maybe Lisa will confide in me. Maybe I can convince her in person.”

“And maybe she won’t, and maybe you can’t.”

“Something tells me we haven’t seen the end of this yet.”

“What more could there be?”

Nathan shakes his head. “Not sure.”

Peter studies his fingers for a long moment. “Fine. Go to Seattle. See what you can sort out.”

Nathan rises to his feet.

“I’ve always liked you,” Peter says. “You know that, right?”

Nathan nods once.

“I suppose I’ve always seen a bit of my younger self in you.”

There was a time when Nathan might have taken that as a compliment. Not today.

“But, Nathan, this company comes before anything or anyone.” Peter’s tone is frigid. “I hope you understand that.”

Only too well.

CHAPTER 54

Lisa struggles to get through the morning’s Outbreak Control Team meeting on day fourteen of the epidemic. Not only because of poor sleep. Her thoughts drift and dart in multiple directions, and she feels guilty for withholding the news of the poisoned vaccine from the rest of the committee. But the FBI agents were adamant about the need for secrecy, and with good reason.

Had Angela shown up, Lisa knows she wouldn’t have been able to keep that bombshell to herself. But Angela’s chair remains empty throughout the meeting. Lisa tries not to assume the worst about her friend, but it’s difficult, particularly in light of all the depressing developments about the worsening spread of meningitis. In total, thirty-one people have already died—thirty-two, including Darius—the oldest of whom was only thirty-six years old. With the infection raging in four distinct geographical clusters across the city, Seattle’s death toll is poised to eclipse Iceland’s. Even more frustrating, two of the recently hospitalized victims had chosen not to take the prophylactic antibiotics that they were given, despite the warnings.

We won’t be able to control this without restarting the Neissovax campaign! Lisa wants to scream, but she says little during the meeting.

She is just sitting down back at her desk when her phone rings. She answers and a familiar voice says, “Lisa, hello, it’s Edwin Davis from Harborview ICU.”

“Oh, hi, Edwin.”

“I get it,” he says with a sad chuckle. “At this point, I wouldn’t want to hear from me, either.”

“You’ve got new patients from the outbreak?”

“Indirectly, I suppose.”

“How so?”

“I admitted another patient with a severe vaccine reaction. Thought you’d want to hear.”

“I do.” Lisa’s heart