I sat up in my bed. It was cool in the apartment, but I was covered in a layer of sweat. My heart knocked against my ribs. I got up and shut the window. Then I went out to the living room and ate a bowl of cereal. Maggie drank the milk while I got dressed. I went downstairs, got in my car, and drove. I felt like I was in some sort of twenty-second-century play. Or maybe fifth century B.C. I knew my lines, would play my role. Because if I didn’t, someone else would. And it always wound up in the same place anyway.
Ellen’s building was drenched in darkness. I walked through her lobby, stood in the elevator, and watched the numbers as they went up. Her door was closed. I turned the knob and found it unlocked. I would have been surprised if it wasn’t.
My feet knew the way, through the living room, down a hallway, to her bedroom. The noise was there. A murmur in the pitch. Weight on wood. I switched on a light and looked at her closet door. Then I walked over, paused another moment, and pulled it open.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The biological weapon described in this novel is, by design, purely fictional. Could this exact weapon be created using today’s technology? According to most of the scientists I spoke with, the answer is no. Could something similar, and even scarier, be created in a lab somewhere? According to the same experts, undoubtedly yes.
If you’re interested in hard information on the issue of black biology, check out The Gathering Biological Warfare Storm, a collection of essays put together under the aegis of the USAF Counterproliferation Center. It’s highly readable, fairly straightforward, and covers a wide range of issues. You should also check out Biohazard by Ken Alibeck and Stephen Handelman and The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. The Internet is, of course, awash with information on a host of related topics, including microbial forensics, bioinformatics, BioBricks, synthetic biology, and the science behind stealth viruses. If you Google “Fort Detrick Disease samples,” you can read about what’s been going on for the last twenty years at this country’s largest biological weapons research lab.
There remains a lot of uncertainty about the exact nature and scope of the threat posed by black biology and biological weapons. Most experts, however, seem to agree on at least two things. First, an attack somewhere in the world seems not a matter of if but when (with the “when” generally believed to be sooner rather than later). Second, the United States could hardly be less prepared to handle such an attack. From surveillance and detection to prevention, investigation, and the maintenance of our health care system, the United States remains nearly defenseless against this growing threat. One need look no further than a bipartisan congressional panel, which in January 2010, gave Congress and the Obama administration each an “F” for their efforts in this area, concluding that there still exists “no national plan to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts following a bioterror attack, and the United States lacks the technical and operational capabilities required for an adequate response.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A portion of the proceeds from this book is being donated to the Cambodian Children’s Fund. If you’re interested in learning more about this wonderful organization, check out its Web site at www.cambodianchildrensfund.org.
I’d like to thank all the people at Knopf and Vintage/Black Lizard for their enthusiasm and support. I’d especially like to thank my editor, Jordan Pavlin. This was a big book to write and would have been impossible without her editorial instincts and deft touch.
Thanks to David Gernert. He wears the hats of agent, editor, and friend—and wears them all exceedingly well.
Thanks to Garnett Kilberg Cohen, a brilliant Chicago writer and professor at Columbia College, who was kind enough to give my manuscript a first read. As usual, she was able to zero in on what was working and what wasn’t.
Thanks to my family and friends for all their support and encouragement.
Thanks, also, to everyone who has read my first three books. Hope you like this one.
Finally, I’d like to remember a wonderful friend, Danny Mendez. He loved books, and loved reading about the exploits of Michael Kelly in particular. We all miss you.
That’s it. Love you, Mary Frances.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Harvey is the author of The Chicago Way, The Fifth Floor, and The Third Rail and is also a journalist and documentary producer. His work has won multiple Emmy Awards and has received two Primetime Emmy nominations and an Academy Award nomination, among numerous other awards. He holds a law degree from Duke University, a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and a bachelor’s degree in classical languages from Holy Cross College. He lives, of course, in Chicago.
ALSO BY MICHAEL HARVEY
The Chicago Way
The Fifth Floor
The Third Rail
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Canary in a Cage
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Black Biology
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Quarantine
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Camp Chicago
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Loose Ends
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
A Note About the Author
Other Books by This Author