Cracks in the Spires

24: Subdue the Enemy without a fight.

The fourth day into his new job Varlon found the stuff waiting for him. The first three days there had merely been a tray with a flask of juice and some snacks, this morning there was a uniform, a water sampling kit and a package. Asken had left a note on the package, which in the circumstances was superfluous, but Varlon appreciated the gesture. 'Be careful this stuff is lethal.' That was probably an exaggeration, they weren't intending to kill anyone but then again in its concentrated form it might do. Varlon picked up the clipboard and read through the instructions. Senior Scientific Officer Grade 5 Ypi left the building, took one of the buggies from the Administration pool and drove himself to the compound containing the reservoir tanks and pumping systems for the Spires' water supply. He had no trouble, the guard at the gate gave his pass a cursory glance and waved him through. The technician was expecting him and was anxious to reassure him that all standards had been rigorously maintained. Varlon shrugged and gave him to understand that no-one doubted his efficiency it was just when a member of the elite complained their water tasted funny it had to be followed up.

Varlon declined the technician's half hearted offer of assistance and went down to the tanks. He walked round to the far side of the first tank. He donned the plastic gloves and face mask from the kit then opened the inspection hatch. The technician idly sat watching him set up the kit and and start dipping. Varlon finished the first set of samples and moved round to the next hatch which was below the technician's booth. He repeated the procedure making sure he stood in a way that half concealed the hatch from the camera. He drew up the first sample without problems but clumsily knocked the second bottle over as he withdrew it. He moved the kit and leant over to retrieve the bottle which had rolled a short distance across the top of the tank. This enabled him to drop the package out of his pocket into the water. A tug on the string opened it and disgorged a combination of salmonella, e-coli, and a couple of other nasty bugs into the water. He straightened up with the sample bottle which could not be used again and closed the hatch. He removed the mask and gloves and returned them and the contaminated sample bottle to the box, closed and locked it. He went back to the technician's office, recorded that he had drawn off three samples for analysis and left.

The first call for assistance from the Spires Hospital to the UpCit medical clinic was logged at 18.53. Most of the staff accompanied the elite to Greenland so the facility was only semi-operational and the few remaining personnel were currently coping with fifteen cases of what looked like food poisoning. The patients included one of the three doctors and four of the twelve support staff. They requested additional temporary personnel. The resource manager on duty immediately recognised that this would have a negative cost implication on the departmental budget and was not going to be the one stuffed for authorising it. She passed the request to her supervisor who, no less adept at the dodge responsibility game, passed it to the department manager. It was 20.30 by the time the request reached Asken. He listened to the Head of Resources and agreed that six medical support staff and two grade one medical officers could be sent and charged to the 'exceptional contingencies' budget line. By this time there had been two more calls for assistance as there were now thirty two cases of acute gastric illness in the Spires.

When Asken checked the next morning the total had climbed to a hundred and eight. A glance out of his office window showed Amsolo had not been relieved. He went back to the desk, made himself comfortable and started working his way through the monthly budget reports. His intern appeared mid morning with refreshments and Asken broke off from scanning columns of figures to glance out of the window. Amsolo appeared to have dozed off. His Pcoms buzzed and he returned to the desk. The Head of Resources sounded irritable.

"It's now over two hundred and they want more medical staff. Apparently half the staff we sent have also succumbed to whatever it is."

"It sounds severe. Perhaps we should consider quarantining the Spires. We don't want that spreading into UpCit. Do we have any idea what the cause is?"