jefflong.yearzero-第27章

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　〃Since　when　did　you　join　epidemics？〃
　〃Epidemics　kind　of　joined　me；〃　Miranda　answered。　〃Some　of　the　other　divisions　came　and　asked　if　I　could　help　with　different　aspects。〃
　〃I　don't　see　the　connection。〃　Alpha　Lab　specialized　in　genome　studies　and　cloning；　not　virus　hunting。　〃You　think　the　virus　is　still　alive　in　the　bones？〃
　〃Not　anymore。　We　know　it's　not。　Not　in　these　bones。　Molecular　Pathology　descended　on　them　like　termites；　putting　holes　in　everything；　chopping　specimens　into　splinters。　They　gave　up　looking　a　month　ago　and　threw　everything　in　storage　here。〃
　That's　what　Miranda　had　meant　bythe　bones　are　safe。
　〃They're　still　trying　to　get　their　hands　on　other　genetic　material　from　the　period；〃　said　Miranda。　〃But　it　won't　be　ing　from　Jerusalem。　Not　after　what　happened　to　those　Navy　kids。〃
　Kids。She　sounded　a　hundred　years　old。　Maybe　a　handful　of　the　sailors　had　been　her　age。　The　rest　had　been　veteran　soldiers　and　scientists；　men　and　women　twice　her　age　and　older。　Golding　had　lost　some　good　friends　to　the　operation。
　Three　months　ago；　the　Navy　had　sent　a　carrier　group　back　into　the　Mediterranean。　The　ships　carried　a　rare　alliance　of　specialists　from　the　Centers　for　Disease　Control；　the　National　Institutes　of　Health；　and　the　US　Army's　Medical　Research　Institute　for　Infectious　Diseases。　The　mission　was　televised；　Gulf　War…style；　24/7。　It　was　supposed　to　have　been　a　slam　dunk　for　American　know…how；　a　quick　end　to　The　End；　as　some　tabloids　had　dubbed　Corfu。
　People　everywhere　had　watched　the　operation　unfold。　The　broadcasts　were　full　of　subtle　drama　and　endless　sidebars　on　disease　control；　treatments　in　progress；　and　barrier　nursing　procedures。　On　deck；　the　crews　manned　their　stations　in　cotton　masks；　paper　booties；　and　latex　gloves。　Vessels　deployed　throughout　the　hot　zone　with　specific　targets。　They　approached　the　port　cities　of　Greece；　Israel；　Lebanon；　and　Egypt　as　if　World　War　III　were　about　to　erupt。　But　the　cradles　of　civilization　were　desolate。
　With　the　warships　floating　off　shore；　teams　of　virologists；　veterinarians；　entomologists；　physicians；　and　zoologists　had　been　airlifted　to　land　to　began　their　systematic　hunt。　Over　television；　the　cities　looked　like　empty　movie　sets。　The　peace　was　surreal。　In　Jerusalem；　the　walls　of　the　Old　City　glowed　like　molten　gold　in　the　summer　sun。　Massive　swarms　of　seabirds　circled　the　metro　areas；　choosing　their　feasts。　batants　no　longer　fought　for　the　holy　places。　There　were　no　pilgrims；　no　prophets；　no　merchants；　no　children。　Only　tourists　dressed　in　biohazard　〃moon〃　suits。
　Their　goal　was　simple：　find　the　virus。。。or　prion。。。whatever　type　of　microbe　Corfu　turned　out　to　be。　It　had　to　have　a　natural　reservoir；　a　place　of　origin。　So　far；　the　footprints　were　pure　science　fiction。　Epidemiologists　had　traced　the　contagion　to　an　eccentric　Greek　billionaire's　mansion　on　Corfu。　In　time…honored　tradition；　the　disease　had　been　named　after　its　point　of　outbreak。　It　was　now　known　that　the　Greek　had　collected…and　opened…Christian　relics；　and　routinely　sent　their　contents　to　various　labs　for　analysis。　Thanks　to　lab　precautions　and　swift　government　action；　the　earliest　emergence　of　Corfu　had　been　contained　to　the　cities　which　held　the　labs。　Investigators　quickly　pared　lab　notes　and　pinpointed　the　source；　a　Roman…era　glass　phial　with　bits　of　human　remains。　Diseased　remains。　The　problem　was　more　plicated　than　that。　There　was　a　source　behind　the　source。
　The　contagion　may　have　emerged…in　this　century…on　an　island　named　Corfu；　but　that　was　not　its　natural　reservoir。　Nor　was　the　relic；　which　had　traveled　from　country　to　country　over　two　thousand　years。　No　one　knew　the　relic's　provenance；　only　its　mythology。　Ready　to　believe　anything；　the　public　had　reached　its　own　conclusions。　The　relic　must　have　held　some　part　of　the　historical　Jesus。　The　disease　was；　therefore；　a　divine　punishment。　The　proof　lay　in　the　dictionary。　The　Latinplaga　referred　to　an　affliction；　calamity　or　evil　sent　by　God。
　Divine　or　not；　it　was　being　clear　that　the　natural　reservoir　was　not　just　a　place；　but　a　time。　All　portions　of　the　relic　had　long　since　disappeared　in　the　international　chaos。　But　according　to　lab　reports；　the　Greek's　wood　samples　had　been　dated　to　the　early　first　century。
　It　was　said　that　the　Tartars　besieging　Kaffa　in　the　year　1347　had　catapulted　corpses　infested　with　bubonic　plague　over　the　city　walls。　Corfu　was　the　equivalent。　A　disease　had　been　catapulted　through　time；　from　the　year　zero　into　the　twenty…first　century。　In　its　original　form；　twenty　centuries　ago；　the　virus　had　apparently　behaved　like　a　normal　virus。　It　killed；　but　it　also　left　survivors　who　could　then　transmit　it　to　other　hosts。　With　time；　contagions　tended　to　evolve　a　working　relationship　with　their　host　population。　From　syphilis　to　malaria；　once…lethal　diseases　grew　less　malevolent。　Killer　viruses　like　chickenpox　became　mere　childhood　diseases。　Even　AIDS　and　Ebola　and　the　fictitious　Andromeda　Strain　left　survivors。
　So　far；　Corfu　was　different。　Captured　and　contained　as　part　of　a　relic　two　thousand　years　ago；　the　virus　had　apparently　mutated。　It　had　grownmore　lethal。　Mathematically；　the　odds　were　just　as　great　that　a　virus　would　bee　more　deadly　than　less　deadly。　Until　this　point　in　time；　mankind　had　been　lucky；　that　was　all。　Now；　in　an　age　of　super　technology；　experts　refused　to　believe　their　own　statistics。　But　the　hard　fact　was　that　to　this　date　not　one　survivor　had　been　located　in　any　of　the　afflicted　countries。　Before　Corfu　made　its　appearance；　only　rabies　had　carried　that　kind　of　mortality　rate。
　Trying　to　locate　survivors　had　been　a　small　part　of　the　Navy　operation。　A　survivor　was　important　because　he　or　she　would　have　developed　an　antibody　to　bat　the　virus；　or　antigen。　With　the　antibody　identified；　scientists　could　at　least　be　creating　blood　tests　for　screening　out　carriers。　A　test；　or　diagnostic；　would　go　a　long　way　towards　protecting　still　healthy　populations。　So　far　that　line　of　investigation　was　a　bust。
　But；　once　upon　a　time；　therehad　been　survivors。　This　was　a　matter　of　logic。　The　virus　had　afflicted　at　least　one　individual　in　the　Levant　two　thousand　years　ago。　Possibly；　while　bottled　in　the　relic；　his　contaminated　tissue　had　evolved　into　modern…day　Corfu。　If　the　virus　had　infected　him；　it　would　surely　have　infected　others。　And　yet；　in　the　surviving　histories　of　Palestine　and　Egypt；　there　were　no　reports　of　devastating　plagues　during　that　same　period；　certainly　nothing　with　symptoms　like　Corfu　presented。　Tacitus　and　Josephus；　among　other　historians　living　in　the　first　century；　had　been　much　too　thorough　to　miss　such　a　detail。　And　so　far；　with　the　bug　still　eluding　their　view；　the　paleopathologists　and　other　researchers　could　only　guess　when　it　made　its　genetic　trespass　uponH。　sapiens。
　Somewhere　along　the　line；　the　virus　had　jumped　species　and　started　using　humans　as　a　host。　But　it　had　not　caused　a　noticeable　die…off。　That　suggested　two　things：　the　virus　had　probably　started　out　as　a　benign　invader；　and　some　of　its　victims　had　probably　recovered。　The　problem　for　modern　researchers　was　that　these　survivors　had　lived　two　millenia　ago。　Enter　the　Year　Zero　bones。
　While　entomologists　collected　insects　in　the　Mediterranean　basin；　and　zoologists　trapped　rats；　mice；　and　bats；　and　pathologists　took　tissue　samples　from　what　remained　of　plague　victims　in　the　streets；　and　Navy　SEALS　conducted　house　to　house　searches　for　living　survivors；　a　team　of　Seabees　had　excavated　the　famous　Golgotha　pit　in　the　caves　beneath　the　Church　of　the　Holy　Sepulchre。　They　didn't　waste　time。　A　bulldozer　scraped　away　the　upper　building。　A　backhoe　clawed　big　scoops　of　bone…rich　soil　into　a　sea　container。　On　board　the　USSTruman；　the　container　had　been　emptied；　the　soil　sifted；　and　the　bones　vaccuum　packaged　for　air　delivery　to　the　United　States。　Within　twelve　hours；　scientists　at　Los　Alamos　had　been　rooting　through　them　for　traces　of　either　the　original　virus　or　its　antibody。
　They　had　no　idea　what　they　were　looking　for。　No　one　knew　what　Corfu　looked　like。　Its　proteins　remained　a　mystery。　Blood　drawn　from　modern　victims　had　still　not　yielded　any　strange　microorganisms。　Corfu　acted　like　an　endogenous　virus；　a　type　of　retrovirus　that　could　lie　d