“Exactly. David was already well into putting together a team to deal with a YARS outbreak when you made it unnecessary. And I think that highlights his importance pretty well. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that he’s the most important person in the world right now. Make no mistake, the number one threat to humanity is pandemic.” Ward leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. “I don’t know when it’s coming, but I guarantee that it is. And this time it could cost billions of lives. David is our first—maybe only—line of defense.”

A skeptical frown spread across Rapp’s face.

“You don’t believe me?” Ward said.

“I’m sure he’s smart, but he’s still one man. There are hundreds of pharmaceutical companies and thousands of scientists working on this kind of thing.”

“There are hundreds of intelligence agencies and thousands of operatives working across the globe. And yet you’re widely regarded as being unique.”

“If I was susceptible to flattery, I would have been dead a long time ago, Nick.”

“It was worth a try.”

“Right.”

Ward leaned back in his chair again. “David found something that all coronaviruses have in common. Based on that, he might be able to create a vaccine that would protect people against all of them—right down to the common cold.”

“And that’s a big deal?”

“One of the biggest in history. I mean, you dealt with a bioattack but that’s not the real threat. The real threat is something rising up naturally. Out of a Chinese wet market. Or from someone eating bush meat. Or humans going into a cave where humans haven’t been before. You experienced this directly. If something as deadly as YARS were to get out into the population, it would be game over.”

That wasn’t an exaggeration, Rapp knew. He’d just lived through a blackout that had killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and that would have killed a few hundred million more if it had continued. What would happen in a serious pandemic? One that took out huge numbers of people in their prime? The machinery that kept modern civilization afloat would fail. And it would happen in the blink of an eye.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me that your man is important. But he’s also almost sure to be dead. And, while the president might be willing to send people to wander around a jungle full of Gideon Auma’s men, I’m not. I take the safety of my team seriously. To me, this sounds like all risk and no reward.”