“No, but the people who died had similar symptoms. That’s what’s got us looking at the three together, trying to determine what they have in common.”
“What’s the symptom profile, incubation period, serial interval, viral shedding duration and case fatality rate?” Marta shot the questions out, impressing Crusher with her cool purpose and professionalism.
Priya gave her the information about the symptoms and incubation period. “We don’t know the source or transmission route. We’re working on that. We need a common thread and haven’t quite put our thumbs on it.”
Mara shook her head, drew in a deep breath and let it out. “When I get through the current issue, I want to know more.”
Priya nodded.
Marta pushed past one screen into another, diving deeper into several levels of data until she reached the one she was looking for.
“That’s the project you were working on before they laid you off from the CDC?” Priya pulled up a chair beside Marta.
Marta nodded. “It is.”
“That was a fairly nasty virus, if I recall. Did they assign someone else to work it after you left?” Priya asked.
“Not officially.” Marta’s jaw tightened, noting the dates the data was touched after her release from the CDC. “Someone has been in my research since then.”
She brought up another data location on the second screen and hit several keys, bringing up a slew of information Crusher couldn’t begin to understand.
Marta’s hand stilled on the keyboard. “This is the database Vasquez set up for me to continue my work. He wanted me to aerosolize the virus so it can be unleashed on a population via a ventilation system. He was very specific about what he wanted. He gave me eight weeks to make it happen.”
Priya whistled. “I’m sure you didn’t appreciate being told to make a biological weapon.”
Marta’s lips pressed into a tight line. “If I hadn’t done what he asked, they’d have killed me and then brought in someone else to do the dirty work. This way, I could control the release with binding proteins and, hopefully, get away and stop him somehow.”
“Ahh.” Priya nodded. “Smart.”
Marta glanced over her shoulder and shot a smile in Crusher’s direction, making his chest tighten. “That’s where Crush—Jack came on scene and rescued me from Vasquez’s compound in Colombia. I wouldn’t be here now without him.”
Priya turned to Crusher, her gaze raking him from head to toe as if studying him for the first time all over again. “I’m sure it didn’t hurt that your rescuer is a fine specimen of a human male.” She chuckled and touched Marta’s arm. “He can rescue me anytime.”
Heat rose up Crusher’s neck into his cheeks. “You don’t have to talk about me as if I’m not here.”
Priya leaned closer to Marta. “Is he as sexy in bed as he is just hovering over you?”
This time, Marta’s cheeks blushed a bright pink. “It’s not like that.”
“Still in the same room,” Crusher said, his lips quirking on the corners, strangely delighted she was blushing at the thought of being in bed with him.
Marta focused on the monitors. Her fingers clicked faster over the keyboard as she brought up several files and opened documents and spreadsheets. After she studied the data presented in bars and graphs, she sat back, her eyes rounding as she stared at the screen. “He’s too close.”
“What do you mean?” Priya asked.
“Whoever is working on the virus is close to unlocking the binding protein I put in place. We might only have seven days or less.” Marta clicked a few more keys. She clicked a few keys and nodded. “Good. I still have the access I need. I can put another flaw into the DNA that will stall him even more. Then he’ll have to work two flaws to get past the issue, thus buying us more time.”
“How can you do that remotely?” Crusher asked.
“We work with computers to tap into DNA. I have a backdoor into the data I was working on. I can get in, make the change and hide it so that it’s not obvious where it came from.”
“That’s brilliant.” Priya squeezed Marta’s shoulders. “You are the smartest person I know.”
Marta tapped her fingers against the keys, her focus on the screen, the data and saving lives. “Time?” she barked.
Crusher was so engrossed in Marta doing what she did with science, he had to shake himself out of the trance to glance at his watch. “We have thirty minutes before we need to be back at the airport and checked into our flight.”
Marta nodded and kept working.
