31

THURSDAY, 6:23 A.M.


With some trepidation, Jack entered the front office area. None of the secretaries had come in yet, and he wondered if they were going to have trouble running the reporter gauntlet. As he passed their desks he felt a little like he had in years past when he’d been summoned to Bingham’s office, knowing full well he was going to be tongue-lashed for his out-of-office shenanigans. The difference was that back then he’d been guilty. This time he was innocent, so he didn’t feel quite so vulnerable. Even more reassuring was that Laurie was now the chief. And in contrast to Bingham, he thought he could count on her recognizing his more positive personality attributes, even though at the moment he was hard put to think of any.

Laurie was sitting behind her desk. Dr. Paul Plodget, the deputy chief, was sitting directly across from her, taking advantage of the fact that Bingham’s desk was a partner’s desk. Both were on separate phones and both were mostly agreeing with whomever they were conversing. On the desk was a copy of the disturbing Daily News. Also in front of Laurie was a copy of the bulky OCME Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan and a notepad filled with her scribbling.

Jack walked over to the couch and sat down. It wasn’t long before both Laurie and Paul were off their respective phones. They looked across the room at Jack. Both looked shell-shocked and not happy.

“What a mess,” Laurie said. She shook her head. “This is a freaking disaster. The city has practically shut down. I can’t believe it.”

“I heard the subways and buses aren’t running,” Jack said.

“That’s only half of it,” Laurie said. “Just as I feared, it’s been like dominoes, with one knocking over the next. Schools are closed. Most businesses are closed. All gatherings are canceled, including movies, plays, and concerts. Everybody who can is trying to get out of the city. All incoming flights are being diverted. It’s craziness.”

“Does anyone know how this disaster came to pass?” Jack asked. He knew Laurie’s fear that something like this would happen, with all the preparedness efforts creating what she called a “wound-up spring.” But how could a piece of yellow journalism have such an effect, especially in an era familiar with supposedly “fake news”?

“It was definitely this article,” Laurie said, slapping the copy of the Daily News.

“I can understand that on a theoretical level,” Jack said. “But it still challenges believability that a single tabloid article unleashed this kind of reaction.”

“The proof is in the pudding,” Laurie said. “What Paul and I already learned was that the scheduled supervisor for the NYC Emergency Management Watch Command in charge of the city’s Emergency Operations Center had called in sick. In his stead was an underling who got ahold of the Daily News early this morning or had been informed of it, and he made one call here to the OCME to confirm there had been subway deaths as described. We still haven’t found out whom he talked with, but it was enough for him to throw the switch. Here in NYC it was to HAN, or the Health Alert Network, but once that happened, the alert arborized to unleash the whole kit and caboodle of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan.”

“That’s absurd,” Jack said.

“Maybe so,” Laurie agreed. “But it’s what we have to deal with.”

“Does NYC Emergency Management know that it is a false alarm?” Jack asked.

“They do now,” Laurie said. “Paul and I made sure of it. So does the Department of Health. We talked with both commissioners at length, and we are all on the same page.”

“So is the problem essentially over?” Jack asked, suddenly feeling a bit of encouragement.

“We wish it were that easy,” Laurie said. “It’s going to have to run itself out. Even FEMA was notified. The Department of Health Incident Command System took over mobilizing all the agencies under its jurisdiction, including both the NYPD and the NYFD, as well as all sixty-seven acute-care hospitals. Each one of those organizations are involved in their preplanned organizational strategies and have yet to be notified it’s a false alarm. Also, now that the subway system was shut down, it will take days to reactivate. The bus system is a little easier in that regard, but even that will take more than twenty-four hours before it is up and running. It’s all so much more complicated than one would imagine.”

“No one even considered the possibility of a false alarm to prepare for it,” Paul said. “Everyone is learning on the job.”

“Which brings me to a question I have to ask you,” Laurie said. “Did you have any contact at all with either the Daily News or the reporter who wrote this story?”

“I’m shocked you’re even asking,” Jack said, immediately taking offense.

“I was told I had to ask you by the Commissioner of Health,” Laurie said in her own defense. “And she is my boss. Please answer the question so that I can honestly respond to her.”

“Well, they only paid me fifty bucks,” Jack said. “But I also got a free year’s subscription.”

“Please, Jack. This is no time for your acerbic humor. We’ve also learned that a CDC epidemic intelligence officer and team are already on their way here. We tried to say their presence wasn’t needed, but we were told that they had already been involved, trying to identify an unknown virus from New York City, which I presume is from the initial subway death, and they want to look into that. Have you been in contact with the CDC when I asked you not to involve them?”

“The virologist from the Public Health Laboratory contacted them unbeknownst to me,” Jack snapped. “She said she wanted them to help identify the organism since they were so good at it. It certainly wasn’t my idea. And she said she gave them no details of the origin of the samples. If the CDC has associated them, that’s their business.”

“All right, back to the newspaper issue,” Laurie said. “How did the Daily News get your name? I mean, yours is the only name in the article.”

“Obviously, as it says in the article, they got it from the highly qualified, experienced inside source,” Jack shot back. “Certainly that lets me off the hook.”

“So you did not contact the Daily News,” Laurie said. “Please, just tell me straight out so I can pass it on. Sometimes you can be such a child.”

“I did not in any way, shape, or form contact the Daily News,” Jack snapped. He stood up and started for the door. He’d had enough. He needed a moment by himself before he said something he’d regret.

“Where are you going?” Laurie demanded. She, too, was losing patience.

“I need to let you adults sort out this unpleasant fiasco,” Jack said. “It’s above my pay grade. Hopefully I can find some work to do being a medical examiner to keep myself on an even keel. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to call.”

Jack walked out of the front office, marveling at the irony. He’d started his mini-crusade to avoid obsessing over Emma’s tentative diagnosis, which was responsible for turning his home life into an emotional trial. Now his crusade was turning his work life into something almost as bad.

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