The sky was shining with a clear afternoon brightness that comes when the days are getting long but summer has not quite arrived.
He looked at his watch. “They’re letting us out at five. What are you going to do, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
He turned and faced her. “Do you like sushi?”
“Yes, I love sushi.”
“So do I. You know, there’s this incredible sushi place downtown, in an old industrial neighborhood. What do you say we ditch everybody and go eat some sushi?”
That seemed like a fine idea.
The Host
TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER, a three-year-old boy living on the Lower East Side developed Cobra brain virus infection and died at Bellevue Hospital. There was no indication of how he had become infected. It was possible that he had encountered some lingering crystals of virus. It was possible that in spite of days and weeks of treatment with disinfecting chemicals, some corners of the tunnels under the Lower East Side had remained hot. It wasn’t clear how long Cobra crystals might survive in the open air, if the place was dark and dry and free of damaging sunlight.
Alice Austen flew up from Atlanta and interviewed the boy’s family. She discovered that three days before his death, the boy had been bitten on the foot by a rat while he was asleep.
Then, in early September, a homeless man died of what later turned out to be Cobra infection in Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. He had been living in a subway tunnel under Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights. The abandoned tunnels in that area were vast, and obviously contained rats. The Jackson Heights tunnels connect directly to the east side of Manhattan through a tunnel under the East River. Possibly infected rats had migrated through the tunnel from Manhattan.
The homeless man’s body showed no evidence of a rat bite. Nevertheless, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control captured dozens of rats and tested their blood for Cobra. One of the rats tested positive. The rat seemed to have pulled out much of its fur in the belly area. The rat had survived a Cobra infection and had become a carrier of Cobra.
C.D.C. investigators tested more rats from other areas of the city and found that Cobra had entered the rat population, where it could survive without killing its host. Cobra and the rat had made an adjustment with each other. Suzanne Tanaka had first uncovered evidence that Cobra can survive in rodents when her mice became infected but didn’t die—and when one of the mice passed the virus to her, she inadvertently showed that transmission of Cobra can go from rodent to human. Viruses jump from one species to another all the time, and some researchers believe they have a tendency to fill ecological niches—habitats for disease. Cobra seemed to have found a niche in the rat population.
It wasn’t clear how Cobra had entered the rats. Possibly rats living in the Second Avenue tunnel had become infected when the bomb went off. Alice Austen wondered if the rats that had fed on the body of Lem in Houston Street had been the original source. Probably no one would ever know. In any case, Cobra had entered the ecosystems of the earth, and its future course could not be predicted.
Like all viruses, Cobra had no mind or consciousness, although in a biological sense Cobra was intelligent. Like all viruses, Cobra was nothing more than a program designed to replicate itself. It was an opportunist, and it knew how to wait. Cobra had achieved a kind of stasis in the rat, a point of balance. The rat was a good place to hide for an indefinite time, since the human species would never exterminate the rat. In its new host Cobra would cycle through generations of replication, perhaps changing, taking on new forms and strains, awaiting a chance to make another move, a wider breakthrough.
The Reality Behind The Cobra Event
The creation of advanced biological weapons using methods of genetic engineering and biotechnology is sometimes called “black biology.” My previous book, The Hot Zone, which was about the threat of emerging viruses, particularly the Ebola virus, led me naturally to biological weapons: What is a bioweapon? Who has them? What can these weapons do? The characters and story developed here are fictional, not based on any real persons or contemporary events, but the historical background is real, the government structures are real, and the science is real or based on what is possible.
The Cobra Event is also about forensics, which is the science of looking at physical evidence to analyze a crime and identify its perpetrator. I call the particular forensic operation in this book a “Reachdeep operation.” Reachdeep is a term invented by me, but it is in fact a special type of criminal investigation, and it is defined by a partly classified presidential order known as National Security Directive 7. If a biologic terror attack were to occur in the United States, there are organizations that would implement an operation similar to Reachdeep. My sources include people at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the U.S. military, and elsewhere in the government who have been given the task of preparing for a Directive 7 emergency. At one point I was at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where I heard an F.B.I. scientist who knows a lot about biological weapons describe them to a class of agents in training. He said in a simple way, “You will be dealing with this during your careers.” The room became very quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. I would say they believed him.
I pursued the subject of biological weapons with the same reporting methods I’ve used for my previous books, which were nonfiction. The nonfiction roots of this book run deep. I conducted numerous interviews with experts, some of whom did not wish to go on the record by name but were willing to give detailed factual information on condition of anonymity. My sources include eyewitnesses who have seen a variety of biological-weapons installations in different countries, and people who have developed and tested strategic bioweapons. They are scientists, medical doctors, and technical people, both military and nonmilitary. They understand what they have seen, and they describe it with precision.
As I drafted this story, I re-interviewed people, telling them the story as it developed, asking them, “Could this happen? Is this how the U.S. government would work? How would you respond to this?”
The transparent substance I call “viral glass” in this book is an actual material. I have chosen not to give its technical name or describe it too precisely. I have deliberately distorted and blurred certain key aspects of the bioweapons-making process so as not to publish a deployable recipe.
The biosensor technology that I call “Felix” does not presently exist but is in development. Biosensor research is often classified, so I have had to make educated guesses as to what may be possible. What I call the “hand-held Boink” biosensors actually do exist now in prototype form. (I call them Boinks because I imagine them giving off a chiming tone when they detect a biological weapon.) They have been partly developed by the United States Navy.
The natural strain of the virus in this book is real, and engineered strains of it have been developed with a broadened host range. The virus has great peaceful potential because it is so versatile. Its versatility also makes it a potential weapon. I have imagined the engineered form of the virus that appears here as Cobra, but it should be taken as one example of a wide range of possibilities that actually exist for the construction of advanced bioweapons. The knowledge is public, the techniques are commonplace. The dark apple hangs on the tree.
FOR MANY YEARS THE scientific community told itself and the public that biological weapons were not much of a problem, but recently there has been a painful shift in thinking. Many scientists have come to believe that biological weapons are a serious threat that has not been reckoned with. People close to this process have described it to me as an opening of the eyes. Even so, some experts are reluctant to talk too freely about biological weapons, for fear that the information could spark bioterrorism or might encourage countries to cross the threshold into biological weaponry. Other experts say that the problem has become so bad that the public simply must be told. I say that problems that aren’t moved into the light of general public discuss
ion become less manageable as time goes by. Public awareness can help shape a constructive response from governments and scientists around the world far more effectively than the lone warnings of a few experts.
In case anyone should accuse me of being “antiscience,” let me say that I am exactly the opposite of that. Open, peer-reviewed biological research can reap great benefits. Genetic engineering is a process, like metallurgy. Steel can be used for ploughshares or swords. What is dangerous is human intent. The next emerging virus may not come from a tropical rain forest; it may come from a bioreactor. In a deeper sense it will come from the human mind. To think that the power of the genetic code is not being bent toward weapons is to ignore the growing body of evidence, the lessons of history, and the reality of human nature. As Thucydides pointed out, hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared.
RICHARD PRESTON
September 1997
Glossary
aerobiology. The scientific study of the dispersal characteristics and infectivity of biological weapons in the air.
aerosol, bio-aerosol. A fine powder or liquid-droplet mist dispersed into the air. May be natural or a weapon.
Al Hakam. Biological-weapons facility in Iraq; disclosed by Iraq. Used for manufacturing anthrax up until 1995 or 1996. Destroyed by the United Nations in 1996.
Al Manal. Biological-weapons facility in Iraq; disclosed by Iraq. Produced nine thousand cubic yards of concentrated botulinum toxin (“bot tox”) during the Gulf War.
amplification. Multiplication of a virus. Takes place inside cells of a living host or in cells in a test tube or inside a bioreactor.
anthrax. Single-celled bacterial organism capable of forming spores. Produces a pneumonia-like fatal illness when used in weaponized form.
Asilomar Conference. A conference held in the spring of 1975 to debate the hazards of genetic engineering. Led to the publication of the Asilomar Safety Guidelines, a set of recommendations governing genetic-engineering experiments in the laboratory.
bacterium (pl. bacteria). A single-celled microorganism. The cell has no nucleus and a thick cell wall. The most common life-form on earth.
baculovirus. See nuclear polyhedrosis virus.
Biological Toxins and Weapons Convention of 1972. International treaty outlawing the development and use of biological weapons and poisons derived from living organisms. Ratified by 140 nations; increasingly ignored.
biological weapon (bioweapon). A living infectious organism used as a weapon or a nonliving toxin derived from a living organism and used as a weapon.
Biopreparat. A once-secret Soviet biotechnology organization formerly funded largely by the Soviet Ministry of Defense, and devoted largely but not entirely to the research, development, and production of biological weapons.
bioreactor. A tanklike production device designed for amplification of a virus.
Biosafety Level 3 Plus. A high level of biocontainment just below Level 4. Requires negative-pressure air with HEPA filtering and safety clothing with respirator masks.
black biology (informal). The clandestine use of biotechnology and genetic engineering to create recombinant or chimera weapons with artificially altered genetic material.
Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta (C.D.C.). The premier U.S. federal agency for epidemiology, disease control, and disease prevention.
chimera. In Greek mythology, a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon. Also a virus made in the laboratory by the mixing (recombination) of genetic material from other viruses. Normally done for peaceful purposes; has obvious military applications.
cloning. The growing of identical copies of an organism that has been genetically altered in the laboratory.
Cobra. A fictional recombinant virus made from the nuclear polyhedrosis virus, the rhinovirus, and smallpox.
Cohen and Boyer experiment. Performed in 1973, when Stanley N. Cohen, Herbert W. Boyer, and others succeeded in putting working foreign genes into the bacterium E. coli. It was the first transplantation of a functioning gene, and it ushered in the biotechnology revolution. This experiment is now repeated in high schools.
Corpus One. The main research building at the Obolensk Institute of Applied Microbiology, in Serpukhov, about seventy miles south of Moscow. Biological-weapons inspectors and experts believe that genetic engineering of weapons-grade Black Death (Yersinia pestis) occurred at the institute over a period of many years.
Corpus Zero. The nickname for a building at the Koltsovo Institute of Molecular Biology in Russia where experiments with airborne weaponized Ebola virus and dried weapons-grade smallpox virus have been carried out in giant explosion test chambers, work that may continue today. The building is described as being off limits to all outsiders. It was visited once by an American-British inspection team, in 1991.
diener. Assistant at an autopsy.
DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid. An extremely beautiful molecule, in the shape of a ribbon twisted into a double helix. It carries the genetic code in living creatures.
dry-line source. A source of powdered weapons-grade bioparticles that is moving in a line, thus dispersing the particles in a line. The line of particles spreads downwind over a potentially huge area of territory.
Engineering Research Facility (E.R.F.). A building at the F.B.I. Academy at Quantico where supersecret electronic research and development is carried on. Also the present location of the F.B.I.’s Hazardous Materials Response Unit.
Epidemic Intelligence Service (E.I.S.). Part of the Centers for Disease Control dedicated to investigating outbreaks of disease.
epidemiology. The study of epidemics of disease.
explosion test chamber. A closed steel chamber where aerosolized biological weapons are tested (aerobiology) on animals.
Felix. A fictional machine in a briefcase that rapidly sequences or “decodes” the DNA of living organisms.
forensic science. The scientific study of physical evidence at crime scenes.
gene. A length of DNA, generally around 1,500 bases long, that codes for a protein or an enzyme.
genetic engineering. The manipulation of the genetic material of an organism in a laboratory in order to make an organism with different characteristics.
genome. The entire complement of DNA of a living organism.
hand-held “Boink” biosensor. A partly real, partly fictional biosensor device that can almost instantly detect approximately twenty-five dangerous infective pathogens.
Hazardous Materials Response Unit (H.M.R.U.). The unit of the F.B.I. dedicated to forensic and emergency analysis of nuclear, chemical, and biological substances.
HEPA filter. High-efficiency particle-arrestor filter. Used to trap biological particles in the air, thus purifying the air.
hot agent. A lethal biological weapon or naturally lethal infective organism.
Johnston Atoll Field Trials. The large-scale testing of biological weapons done by the U.S. military between 1964 and 1969 in areas of open sea downwind of Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
Koltsovo Institute of Molecular Biology. A virology research complex near Novosibirsk, in Russia.
laydown, biological (informal). The release of a biological weapon into the air.
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. A genetic disease inherited only by boys. Caused by damage to a single gene, it results in a bizarre manifestation of stereotyped self-injury, biting of the lips, fingers, and arms, as well as aggression directed toward other people.
Maalin, Ali Maow. A cook in Somalia. In late October 1977 he had the last case of naturally occurring smallpox on the earth.
midbrain. The top of the brain stem; connects with the underside of the cerebrum. It controls such things as the action of the pupils in the eyes and respiration. It is evidently connected to primitive responses, such as feeding, chewing, and aggression.
nuclear polyhedrosis virus. Also known as the baculovirus. A large, unique insect virus, the genes of which don’t seem
to be related to any other organism on earth. Has the ability to convert the body of an insect into 40 percent virus material by dry weight. The virus particle has a rodlike shape (baculum means “rod” in Latin). The virus particles occur inside large crystals of a protein called polyhedrin.
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (O.C.M.E.). The medical examiner’s office for New York City, situated at 520 First Avenue in Manhattan.
Pasechnik, Vladimir. The first, and by no means the last, major defector from the Soviet (and now Russian) bioweapons program. He was head of the Institute for Ultrapure Preparations in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
pathologist, pathology. A doctor who studies diseased tissues and who performs autopsies.
polyhedrin. A crystalline protein manufactured in cell nuclei during infection with nuclear polyhedrosis virus.
prosector. The person in charge of an autopsy, who does the dissection.
recombinant virus. A virus made in the laboratory by the mixing (recombination) of genetic material from other viruses. Also known as a chimera.
rhinovirus. The common cold virus. Comes in more than one hundred types.
SIOC. Strategic Information Operations Center at F.B.I. headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. SIOC is a radio-secure complex of rooms on the fifth floor, equipped with videoconference capability.
smallpox. Variola virus. Causes blistering and pustules on the face and arms. Is incredibly contagious and highly lethal in human populations that lack immunity to it. One of the scourges of human history.
Snow, Dr. John. An early epidemiologist and London physician who identified a water pump on Broad Street in London as the source of a cholera outbreak in 1853.