Black wind

himself to the Alaska Regional Hospital emergency room, his only hopes were for a quiet room and an attractive nurse to help him recuperate from whatever form of killer flu was knocking him out. Even when a parade of somber-looking medical professionals kept marching by to have a look at him and then insisted he be wheeled into quarantine, he was feeling too weak to be alarmed. Only when a pair of masked doctors finally informed him that he had tested positive for smallpox did his mind begin to whir. Two thoughts came to mind before delirium washed over his brain again: Could he defy the thirty percent mortality rate? And who else had he infected?
    Dirk, I have some terrifying news.” The fear in Sarah’s voice was palpable, even over the telephone.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s Irv. He’s sick in the hospital in Anchorage. The doctors say that he has contracted smallpox. I just can’t believe it.”
    “Smallpox? I thought that had all but been eliminated.”
    “Practically speaking, it has. If the doctors are correct with the diagnosis, it will be the first documented case in the United States in thirty years. The medical authorities are keeping it quiet, though the CDC is rushing vaccination supplies to Alaska in case an outbreak develops.”
    “How’s he holding up?”
    “He’s at a critical juncture,” Sarah replied, nearly choking on the words. “The next two or three days will be crucial to his outcome. He’s in quarantine at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage, along with three other people he has had close contact with.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” Dirk said with genuine concern in his voice. “Irv’s a tough old bird, I’m sure he’ll sail through without a hitch. Have you any idea how on earth he contracted smallpox?”
    “Well,” Sarah replied, swallowing hard, “the incubation period is approximately fourteen days. That would mean he became infected about the time we were on Yunaska … and aboard the Deep Endeavor!”
    “He may have contracted it on our ship?” Dirk asked incredulously.
    “I don’t know. It was either on the ship or on the island, but it matters little now. The smallpox virus is remarkably contagious. We need to work fast to check everyone who was onboard the Deep Endeavor and isolate those infected. Time is critical.”
    “What about you and Sandy? You were working and living together with Irv. Are you all right?”
    “As CDC employees, Sandy and I were both vaccinated two years ago after concerns were first raised about smallpox as a potential bioterrorist threat. Irv was on loan to us from the state of Alaska’s Department of Epidemiology and had not yet received his vaccination.”
    “Can the crew of the Deep Endeavor still be vaccinated?”
    “Unfortunately, it would do no good. The vaccine can be effective within a couple of days of exposure but becomes useless thereafter. It’s a terrible disease, as once you’ve contracted it there is nothing that can be done to combat it until it has run its course.”
    “I’ll contact Captain Burch and we’ll check on all the crew members as soon as possible.”
    “I will be back from Spokane this evening. If you can assemble the crew, I can help the ship’s doctor check each man for symptoms in the morning.”
    “Consider it done. Sarah, I could use another favor from you as well. Okay if I pick you up in the morning?”
    “Sure, that would be fine. And, Dirk … I pray that you are not infected.”
    “Don’t you worry,” he replied confidently. “There’s way too much rum in my blood to keep any bugs alive.”
    Dirk immediately called Captain Burch, and, with Leo Del-| gado’s help, quickly contacted each crew member who had sailed on the Deep Endeavor. To their relief, none of the men reported signs of illness, and all appeared at the NUMA field office the next morning
    As promised, Dirk picked up Sarah at her apartment early in the: morning, electing to drive the big ‘58 Chrysler.
    “My word, this is an enormous car,” Sarah declared as she climbed into the finned behemoth.
    “It’s the original definition of heavy metal,” Dirk grinned as he stoked the car out of the parking lot and drove toward the NUMA building.
    Many of the Deep Endeavor’s crew greeted Sarah warmly when she arrived before the assembled group, and she noted to herself how the entire crew behaved more like close family members than coworkers.
    “It is great to see my NUMA friends again,” she said,