Infected

Murray held up his hand, cutting off Amos’s next example. "I get the point, Doc. That’s riveting stuff, really it is, but snails and f.u.c.king roaches are a h.e.l.l of a ways away from human intelligence."

"Behavior is merely a chemical reaction, Mister Longworth," Amos said. "Human behavior involves more complicated reactions, but they are reactions nonetheless, and if a snail or — as you so eloquently put it, an effing roach— can be manipulated, then so, too, can a human."

Murray rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if some monster headache pounded the inside of his skull. "You know, I came here hoping for some good news, but this just gets worse every second. Okay, so someone out there has created a parasite that can manipulate human behavior. When the h.e.l.l are you two going to give me something I can use?"

"Mister Longworth, this is something incredibly advanced," Margaret said. Her voice grew cold and angry. This man wanted simple answers, yet there were none to give. "We’re talking a high degree of technological superiority. If this is an engineered organism, someone out there is so far ahead of us it’s difficult to conceive. To put it another way,if this parasite is engineered, we’re in a lot of trouble."

Murray scowled — it was clear that additional complications were not welcome. "What do you mean ‘if ’?"

"I suspect, and I should note that Amos disagrees with me, that this psychopathic behavior may not be intended, but is actually a side effect. The possibility remains that this is some kind of natural parasite, or if not natural, then it was not specifically designed to make people crazy."

Murray shook his head, then stared at the plaques on the wall. "It’s a weapon, Doctor Montoya, and a d.a.m.n good one at that. Don’t make this so complicated you can’t see what’s blatantly obvious. You handle the chemicals and such, and leave the strategic a.n.a.lysis to me. Now, I need ideas from you on how to fight this thing. Do you have any suggestions?"

Actually, Margaret had several suggestions, most of which involved a

"There are a couple of things we need to do. First, we need to expand the staff. We need some psychiatrists on board."

"Why?"

"All the hosts have shown severe behavioral disorders. If we’re going to learn how this thing works, we need a living host. We need a bigger staff and we need it quick, particularly a neurobiologist and neuropharmacologist. A psychologist might help us figure out how to handle deranged victims. And in the long run, we need to learn how to combat the parasite’s effects, possibly with drugs that modify behavior by countering the neurotransmitter overdose."

"I don’t think adding staff is a good idea, Margaret."

"We need these people, and we need them now. We could lose control of this any second. Information control is one thing. Letting a plague break out on our watch is another."

Murray’s fingers drummed the desktop. "Fine. I’ll start looking for people. I don’t need to tell you again just how secret this whole operation is, so I’m not going to have someone for you tomorrow or the next day. What have you got that I can use now?"

"Brewbaker had a small growth with colored fibers growing out of it," Margaret said. "This symptom is consistent with a condition called Morgellons disease. We think that the fibers are a parasite that died, but parts of it keep working. The fibers are made of cellulose, a material common in plants but not produced in any way in humans."

"Are the fibers conclusively connected with the triangles?"

"They are," Amos said. "The structure of the triangles is the same material as the fibers — cellulose. There is no way it’s a coincidence."

"And if you have the fibers," Murray asked, "then you have the triangles? You’re going to go psycho?"

Margaret leaned forward. "No, that’s not the case. It seems people can have the fibers and not develop the full-fledged parasite."

"And we haven’t seen the triangle growths before, not before the last few days? The CDC doesn’t have anything on it?"

"Not that we know of," Margaret said. "That doesn’t mean there haven’t been, or aren’t currently, more cases. They may have existed. We just didn’t find them."

"So the fiber thingies have been around for a few years, but the triangles

are new," Murray said. "Sounds like whoever is making the weapon is getting better at it."

Margaret swallowed. If she was going to get her way, now was the time. "The CDC may have information on Morgellons, including potential time lines of the condition and maps of people claiming to have this disease. We need to talk to Doctor Frank Cheng, who’s leading the investigation."

Murray leaned back in the director’s chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"We can’t get the CDC involved, Margaret. That’s why I lifted you out of that organization."

"We have to talk to this man," Margaret said. "It’s possible they have a database on this. If we’re lucky, they are tracking symptoms, dates of infection and other data that could potentially lead us to other parasite victims."

"I can’t allow it."

"You will allow it, Murray!" Margaret said. Murray’s gaze lowered until his cold eyes locked with hers. She couldn’t stop now, she had to see it through. "I’ve played this how you want it so far, but I will talk to this man, with or without your permission."