Kazimi fought the urge to correct Pollack, who was convinced that he was part of an online task force made up of military men, scientists, and even bestselling writers of fictional suspense. Their mission, conceived and orchestrated by the president himself, was to create scenarios involving bioterrorism and then to devise ways to counter the danger. Kazimi skillfully bounced a soccer ball on one foot while awaiting the brilliant Northwestern University entomologist’s data transmission. It had taken years of constant effort, but finally Kazimi and his virtual team of experts were making real progress in developing a macrolide/beta lactam antibiotic to treat the Gram-positive fluctuation of the bacterium dubbed the Doomsday Germ. To his continued dismay, coming up with an effective treatment for the Gram-negative fluctuation continued to elude them.

At least Kazimi had the endless resources of the federal government at his disposal. The lab where he worked was located in the basement of a brownstone in Brightwood, a quiet Washington neighborhood near the District’s northern tip. To ensure secrecy, the government, at his suggestion, agreed to hide the lab in plain sight. Nobody, not even the resourceful One Hundred Neighbors, would presume to look for a government-run microbiology laboratory in a residential neighborhood.

Before he vanished, the lab had been built to Kazimi’s exacting specifications. He had incubators, freezers, an electron microscope, biological safety cabinets, plus several computers. What he did not have—at least not yet—was a viable treatment for the Doomsday Germ.

“Have you received my transmission?” Pollack asked.

Kazimi thought he heard a slight phase shift in Pollack’s voice—the equivalent of a digital quaver. Perhaps it was just his ears playing tricks again. Fourteen hours working with few breaks in a basement lab, with no access to sunlight, and rare direct human contact, could do that to a man. Yes, it was just his ears playing tricks, he decided. The data Pollack sent came through the decryption program just fine.

“I’ve received it,” Kazimi said.

“You’ll see that my latest approach does appear to inhibit bacterial protein synthesis, and that I’m also inhibiting ribosomal translocation. The main problem continues to be speed—killing the little beasties fast enough to overwhelm their ability to mutate and gain resistance. If we can accomplish that, the very elements that have been working against us will be working for us.”

“Very good,” Kazimi responded. “Give me a minute to review the findings in more detail.”

He saw the problem in a matter of seconds. Another scientist may have needed a day or two to spot the glitch, like finding a needle in a haystack of data, but not Kazimi.

“The bacteriostatic agent you have been using is getting in the way,” he said.

“Perhaps … No, wait. I see what you mean. I see exactly what you mean. Let me test the drug with a different one.”

“And with none at all.”