lost her own life in the process. I believe she could be an asset, though I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure where a shiny-new chemical engineer will fit in our operation.”
“Her science background could be an asset,” the CIA director said. “We could offer her a post at Langley. Since being brought up to speed on this yesterday, I’ve been considering who to utilize. I have a man I plan to assign to follow the money trail and he could probably use someone with a scientific background. It would also keep her out of the line of fire while she learns how to operate in the real world. My man could take her on as an apprentice of sorts. It’s not our usual way, of course, but nothing about this situation is normal.”
“After what happened with the original science team, I’d rather keep this information away from anyone else with the expertise to produce the contagion,” the CDC director said. “Donna Sullivan is a chemical engineer. While she is familiar with the concepts, I doubt she currently has the skill to recreate or improve upon the research. She’s a good choice to work with the CIA operative.” He backtracked. “Not that I don’t have confidence in your people, but too many people know about this already. We need to limit spread of this knowledge as much as possible. Since the girl already knows, it makes sense to utilize her.”
“Agreed.” The CIA man gave the other director a steely look. “Which is why I’m assigning John Petit to this case. He’s been in from the field for a few weeks after completing a mission, and I wanted to send him home for some R&R between jobs, but he’s too smart not to realize something’s going on with his sister. Utilizing him for this makes sense.”
Matt Sykes inwardly beamed. The CIA director had given him what he wanted without even realizing it. Matt had grown to like Sarah Petit and knew she and Xavier were an item. Bringing her brother in on this just made sense. Matt was glad to see the CIA director was proving to be sensible.
“If I might make a suggestion?” the NIH director spoke up. “It occurs to me that since Sarah Petit is immune, chances are that her brother might have the right kind of chemistry as well. Someone should run tests on his blood and make comparisons with his sister. This kind of study could help us nail down what makes one person immune and another not.”
Matt made a note of it. “I’ll have Dr. McCormick do the testing, if that’s agreeable.” Nods all around confirmed the plan.
Matt was pleased, they’d brought in someone who they probably wouldn’t have been able to keep out of it anyway and paired him with Donna. That girl had been traumatized by the death of her boyfriend and his attack on her. She needed a desk job for now, but she also needed to know that she was doing something to avenge her boyfriend’s senseless death.
He had interviewed the girl at length. She was young but she was a fighter. She had a desire for justice they could build upon, and good technical skills. He’d talked to her faculty advisor and discovered she was in the top ten percent of her class in a university that turned out some of the best engineers in the state. She could definitely be an asset if cultivated correctly. Matt didn’t know Sarah’s brother personally, but if Sarah was anything to go by, he’d be hell on wheels.
Just what the doctor ordered.
“Our objective, as I see it, is two-fold,” said one of the military brass gathered around the conference table. “First, we need to deal with the immediate threats as we find them. Long Island has been taken care of, but we still need to deal with Fort Bragg. Commander Sykes, the field operations are your bailiwick. That encompasses the science and investigative teams working on antidotes and cures. Second, we need to stop the potential sale of this technology. That’ll be in the hands of the CIA, if you’re agreeable, Director.”
The CIA man nodded. His expression was grave. “John Petit will be our man for that. I’m going to give him full authority to utilize our systems and intelligence on this problem. I assume you’ll do the same?”
Again there was general agreement all around the table, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs held out.
“I think we should meet the man,”