The Hill - BLACKBIRD book 5

5. the virus

The Falcon needed but a soft hop to part with the ground. Everybody unbuckled their seatbelts and relaxed. They'd had a first talk about the case on their way to DC, so now Gillian didn't call the whole team over. She promised herself not to blush and stutter like an idiot and approached Brock's solitary seat.

"Want some sit rep, sir?" she asked with a business smile.

"Sure."

He followed her and sat in front of Russell and Aldana, who shared her tablet with Russell and handed Brock a folder. Across the aisle, Hank turned his seat around to face them and Tanya joined them a moment later, taking the empty seat by Brock, while Gillian sat on Hank's armrest.

Brock turned to the folder and flicked through it until Aldana started. "Over the last two weeks, ten people were admitted in Savannah hospitals with meningitis symptoms," she said. "But all their tests came negative for this disease. It took some days until the doctors identified the virus affecting them, and the results of those tests are the reason why we've been sent over."

"Medley said it's a possible bio attack," said Russell. "Something with meningitis symptoms... Could it be a neuro agent?"

Hank raised his eyebrows. "The virus turned out to be Borna."

"Never heard of it," said Brock with a mild scowl.

"No wonder," replied Hank. "The Borna virus is rarely detected in humans. The disorders it causes are usually mistaken as psychiatric issues, so nobody thinks of looking for a virus infection. It's mostly reported in animals such as horses and sheep, which suddenly suffer violent behavior shifts."

"That's why is alarming that ten people got infected in as many days, in the same city," said Gillian. "Especially presenting a prognosis so severe to make it look like meningitis. When all the patients came positive for BVD—that's the short for Borna Virus Disease—the hospitals alerted the authorities and our field office in Savannah called CT."

"The catch is that the virus they isolated is not 100% pure Borna," said Hank. Brock and Russell stiffened at his words. "The match is about ninety-five percent. But that five-percent difference makes it a new or wild strain."

"How did they get infected?" asked Russell.

"That's the bad news," replied Hank. "I've been reading about this thing for the last two hours, and all I can tell for sure is that the Borna virus is a huge blank for medicine. However, they think the infection is caused by a combination of touching infected tissue and inhaling the virus from it."

"Problem is that we don't have any idea how this wild strain works," said Aldana. "So we have no clue as to how it's transmitted."

"One thing's for sure," said Gillian. "It's not airborne, else we'd have more cases."

"I got in touch with the CDC," said Hank. "They promised to send us a report later today with what they have about the Borna. Hopefully, that'll help us tell what we're dealing with here."

Tanya said, "Kurt and I ran a first check on the patients, looking for overlaps, and we've found two groups. Six of them went to the aquarium last weekend. The other four went to the same theatre over the last week. We still need to dig deeper."

Gillian smiled and said to her and Hank, "Thanks, lads. Now enjoy your flight."

Hank stood up and followed Tanya toward the tail. He joined Fred and Ron for some poker, while the girl went back to beating Kurt. Aldana excused herself to go to the toilet. So Gillian decided to run for Chicken of the Year and took the vacant seat by Russell.

Brock could tell she was in a strictly-business mode, and it was no surprise. He'd expected her five arm-length distance. And after this introduction to the case, it was grave enough to justify her focus on it.

"So what do you think about this, Gillian?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Everything seems to point at an individual or group working on a neuro agent, at a trial stage to improve their delivery system in public places."

He narrowed his eyes at the word 'seems.'

"But...?" Russell said.

Gillian grimaced. "Something's off and I can't tell what."

"If not terrorism, what would you say it is?" asked Brock.

"You may laugh, sir, but I'm thinking a poisoner. That's why I asked for some brain backup."

Brock felt his fingertips tinkle, hooked instantly by Gillian's sharp instincts. "Why?"

She knew him well enough not to feel interrogated, and replied in that plain tone of hers, "First of all, because they modified the virus but didn't make it airborne. It's not a massive attack if you have to wait for the victims to come one by one and smell your poisoned rose."

"Maybe this is not about a massive attack, but something more subtle," said Russell. "Even if the virus spreads at small rates, the news about twenty patients can make thousands panic."

The smooth way they had to brainstorm helped Gillian to relax. "Yeah, I know. I can't explain it yet. But I smell a mission-oriented female poisoner on a revenge quest."

Brock tilted his head with a thoughtful frown while Russell scoffed. "You got me! I didn't see that coming!"

"You know me, Russ. Outside-the-box is my middle name."

They chuckled together and she turned to Brock. Not the man from her thousand dreams, but the sharp brain behind the piercing eyes. The professional she'd always admired. "What d'you think, sir? Did I drag you along for nothing?"

Brock was hardly able to wait for a heartbeat to shake his head. "Not at all. We can help whether it's a serial killer or terrorists. We need to know how the patients got infected and see how the new cases come up."

"You think there will be an escalation."

"That's what we should expect, yes."

"What about victimology?" asked Russell.

"Still didn't have a chance to take a good look at it. The case came in three hours ago and here we are, running like firefighters." Right out of a wild sex session with the man sitting now in front of me.

"Then we should take a look at that as well," said the man sitting in front of her.

At that point, Gillian saw Aldana coming back and gave in to her need to run away. She stood up with a very convincing smile. "I really need a coffee. Can I get you gents anything?"

"My girl, thanks," replied Russell with a wink.

**note: the Borna Virus and the BVD (Borna Virus Disease) do exist, and do have the effects on humans I describe here. I find it notorious that there's little available information about it and about ongoing investigations into it, and I found no statistics on it whatsoever. To date, there's no known/available treatment for BVD.