Dr. Lee was stunned at the applause that her presentation received. Her acceptance back into the medical community after years of exile was unexpected, and she was overcome with emotion. She left the stage, but instead of returning to her seat she strode to the exit. Tears welled in her eyes, and she needed to compose herself. She walked along the corridor, not sure where she was going.

Someone called her name. It was Dr. Huang, hurrying to catch up to her.

“That was a fine presentation,” he said, breathless from the chase.

“Thank you, Dr. Huang. I’ll return to the auditorium in a few minutes. It was quite an emotional experience for me, as you can imagine. But it was reassuring to hear that a worldwide pandemic is unlikely.”

“On the contrary, Dr. Lee, a pandemic is a certainty. And it will kill millions before it runs out of victims.”

Song Lee glanced at the door to the auditorium. “That’s not what I heard in there. Everyone seemed quite optimistic that this epidemic can be contained.”

“That’s because the speakers don’t know all the facts.”

“What are the facts, Dr. Huang? Why is this SARS epidemic any different from the last?”

“There is something I must tell you . . . this business about SARS . . . well, it’s a fraud.”

Lee glared at Huang.

“What are you saying?”

“The epidemic we are concerned about is caused by another pathogen, a variation of the influenza virus.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this? Why did you let me blather on about SARS?”

“It pained me to do so, but the presentation was intended as a smoke screen to hide the fact that the pathogen we are dealing with is much more dangerous than SARS.”

“The experts speaking in the auditorium may beg to differ . . .”

“That’s because we have been feeding them misleading information. When they have asked for specimens of the strain to help with their research, we have given them the old SARS virus. We are trying to prevent a panic.”

She felt a dryness in her mouth.

“What is this new pathogen?”

“It is a mutated form of the old influenza strain. It spreads faster, and the mortality rate is much higher. Death comes more quickly and more often. It’s incredibly adaptable.”

Dr. Lee stared in disbelief. “Hasn’t this country learned its lesson about secrecy?”

“We have learned it very well,” Dr. Huang said. “China is working with the United States. We and the Americans have agreed to keep the existence of this new pathogen a secret for now.”

“We saw before that delay in releasing information costs lives,” Lee said.

“We also saw forced quarantine,” Huang said. “Hospitals shuttered, travel and commerce interrupted, people attacked in Chinatowns around the world. We can’t tell the truth now. There’s no way to stop this pathogen until we’ve developed a vaccine.”

“You’re sure of this?”