Caspar was waiting for her by the porter’s desk. “We’ve got Claudia in isolation, but she’s hysterical and I can’t get any sense out of her. Tarquin says I need to talk to you. I don’t understand what the flu virus was doing out of the Cat 3 lab. It’s an appalling breach of protocol. What was Claudia thinking?”
“She didn’t know what it was.”
Caspar looked blank. “But how could she not know? She’d transferred it herself!”
“No, she hadn’t. That’s the thing. It was all a fraud. She used a human virus instead of an avian one.”
“So, it’s not a strain of bird flu that can infect human cells that’s been released?” He was puzzled.
“Sorry, yes, it is,” Katie wailed. “It’s my fault. I feel terrible. I just couldn’t resist it. I saw where Claudia had gone wrong – and I did it. I transferred the virus. I wish I hadn’t, but I did.”
Caspar was staring at her with his mouth open. “It was you that transferred the virus? But how –”
“How did I know enough to do that? I’m not actually a technician – or rather I’m not just a technician. And my name’s not Caitlin Marsh.”
“It’s not? So who are you? No, no –” He held up his hand. “That can wait. Just to be absolutely clear: Claudia has smashed a flask containing an avian virus that has jumped the species barrier?”
Katie nodded. “That’s it.”
His expression was grim. “OK.” He reached for the phone on the porter’s desk and she got up to leave.
“Sit down over there,” he said. “We need to talk.”
She listened while he issued instructions.
By the time he’d finished, she understood that all physical contact with the mainland had ceased with the speed and efficiency of a shutter being dropped. The protocol was in place, of course, but still it was impressive, the decisiveness with which Caspar had taken charge.
“OK,” he said. “I want to hear all about it.” The affable Caspar had gone and his face was stony. “Who are you for a start and what are you doing here?”
“My name’s Katie Flanagan, Dr Katie Flanagan. I did a medical degree even though I didn’t go into clinical practice. Instead I went into research and got a PhD – I’ve had a couple of postdoc jobs, doing research into blood disorders. I’ve known Lyle for years. He thought there was something fishy about Claudia’s results and he fixed up for me to come and work here, so that I could, well...” Her voice trailed off. Katie couldn’t meet Caspar’s eye.
There was silence. When she looked up, Caspar was still staring at her with an expression that she couldn’t quite interpret. It looked like... she wasn’t sure what it looked like, but it was somehow familiar. It reminded her of someone or something.
“You came here to spy on Claudia and see if she was faking her results?” he asked.
Katie nodded.
He shook his head in amused disbelief. “That son of a gun! He slipped that past me alright. I had absolutely no idea.” To Katie’s amazement and relief, he started to laugh. He had every right to be furious and she was impressed by the sangfroid with which he was taking this revelation.
“What’s going to happen now?” she asked.
“I’ve alerted the public health people. Claudia stays in isolation until we know that she’s not infected. And the rest of us will have to be quarantined here at Debussy Point. We can’t risk something like this escaping into the general population. There’s no way of knowing how virulent it will be.”
“There’s a difference between something working in a petri dish and it working with an actual human host,” Katie pointed out.
“Sure. But we can’t take any risks. And the public have to be reassured. They need to know that we’re taking stringent measures. We have to work on the assumption that (a) it is likely to be highly contagious and (b) it could have as high a mortality rate as SARS or Spanish flu. One thing, we’ll know pretty soon if Claudia is infected. The incubation period’s not likely to be long, two or three days probably. Meanwhile we’ll take her temperature every few hours. Hopefully we can detect any infection before symptoms emerge and she becomes infectious. You and Tarquin are next in terms of risk, so I want you to quarantine yourself in your flat and I’ll get someone to monitor your temperature. Same for Tarquin.”
“What about Justin?”
He stared at her. “Who’s Justin?”
“My boyfriend. He turned up at the lab immediately after the accident.”
“He can’t leave the island. We’ll have to find accommodation for him here. He can stay in my flat if necessary.” He eyed her critically. “You look as if you’re on your last legs. Go and get some rest.”
She left the building in a daze and looked around for Justin. Her head was swimming and black sparks were flashing before her eyes. Justin was frowning and hurrying towards her. Was there something wrong, she wondered hazily? And then she realized, yes, there was something wrong with her. Her knees were buckling and Justin reached her just in time to take her weight before darkness closed in.