There was a long silence. Finally, Ryland cleared his throat. “You know how premature I think this is,” he sighed. “But far as I’m concerned, majority rules. If both of you want this, then count me in.” He glanced from Leschuk to Horton and then shrugged. “Ellen?”

Horton scratched at nothing on the plastic tablecloth in front of her. She felt almost relieved that Leschuk had expressed the option of confessing to the FDA. And she felt another stab of guilt for not having had the courage to take the stand herself. Yet she couldn’t shake the glimmer of optimism that Kilburn had instilled in her.

“Viktor, I admire your position here,” Horton said. “I do. And two days ago I would have supported you wholeheartedly.”

Leschuk looked up at her with a confused shrug. “What has changed?”

“There has been a development in Vancouver, Canada. A new bacteria.”

Leschuk squinted at her. “What new bacteria?”

“An old school friend called me.” She went on to tell them about the emergence of MRGAS. And she explained how Oraloxin was being tested on the new superbug.

Ryland leaned forward in his seat. Face flushed, he gripped the edge of the table. “Well? Did Oraloxin work?”

“I haven’t heard,” Horton said. “The patient would have just received her first doses.”

Leschuk stared off in the distance. He shook his head slowly. “A group-A streptococcus resistant to every known antibiotic suddenly appears out of nowhere—”

“But it’s happened, Vik,” Ryland said with newfound urgency. “Ellen didn’t make this up!”

Horton nodded. “And if Oraloxin is effective in treating this infection where no other drug has … .”

Leschuk sighed. “It would be unethical not to try it because of a theoretical risk seen only in monkeys. That is your point. Correct?”

“I guess,” she said uncertainly.

Ryland stared wide-eyed at Horton. “Ellen, this is still your baby. What do you think?”

She looked down into her coffee cup. “I don’t think it will a make a difference if we wait a few more days. If Oraloxin doesn’t work against MRGAS,” she swallowed, “then I think Viktor’s right. We have to go to the FDA.”

“But if it does work?” Ryland asked.

She looked up at Ryland. His face was lit with boyish enthusiasm that she found appealing. Breaking into a spontaneous smile, she said, “Neil, let’s just wait and see what happens in Vancouver.”

25 - Seattle, Washington

25

Seattle, Washington

The convertible’s soft-top thudded under the pounding of the relentless rain. Even at maximum speed, the window wipers had trouble keeping up with the torrential downpour. Lopez had a vivid memory of her CDC colleagues in Atlanta warning her before she accepted the job that it “always rained in Seattle.” Not true. Long stretches of cloud-free sunshine highlighted Seattle’s lush beauty, but when the rain did come, sometimes it seemed to last forever.