Virals(66)

"B19 was discovered in 1975." Shelton continued picking out facts. "It was the first parvovirus proven to infect people. There's still no vaccine. The last epidemic was in 1998." Shelton looked up. "Kids get it, mostly. Outbreaks are usually in nurseries or schools."

"What does B19 do?"

Shelton returned to the journal, again skimmed. "It leads to something known as 'fifth disease' or 'slapped cheek syndrome.'" Shelton's eyebrow rose. "Those names sound made up. Anyway, it looks like all B19 does is cause a bad rash for a few weeks."

"That's definitely not what happened to us."

Shelton continued reading. "B19 spreads via infected respiratory droplets. Coughs, I guess. Infected individuals can experience fever and fatigue."

"Now that sounds familiar."

Shelton nodded. "Once inside a host, B19 invades the red blood cell factories in the bone marrow. Symptoms begin a few days after exposure and last a week. Those infected are only contagious before showing symptoms."

"We caught our virus from Coop," Hi said. "Can dogs get B19?"

Shelton scanned the page. "No. B19 only infects humans."

"Then this is another dead end."

"I don't know. This seems important. We must be missing something."

"Let's copy the article then check out the references cited."

The shadows faded to gray, then black as Shelton and Hi pulled every source they could find. Loops led to loops and more loops. Nothing else jumped out at them.

At ten o'clock, the intercom clicked on and a prim voice informed patrons that the library was closing.

"I think we're onto something," Hi said. "I'm just not sure what. Let's bounce this off the others."

"Good idea."

A second warning was broadcast, somewhat chillier than the first.

The boys headed for the exit.





CHAPTER 48


Ben and I stood outside the doors of LIRI. Deep breathing. Trying to calm our jangling nerves.

The last thing we needed was a flare.

Only a zillion things could go wrong. But I saw no alternative. Karsten had answers. We needed them.

"If the old goat's still here, we're toast." Ben, always the optimist.

"He won't be. Karsten's due at the aquarium right now. And if he is here, we fall back on our excuse and leave."

I sounded confident, but Ben had a point. Tossing Karsten's office would be difficult with him sitting in it.

Hopefully we'd taken care of that.

"What if Karsten recognized my voice?" Ben hadn't wanted to make the call.

"The caller had to sound like an adult. Could I have pulled that off? Besides, you speak so rarely he probably has no a clue what you sound like."

I'd struggled with step one of the plan. To have any chance of success, we had to lure Karsten off the island.

My inspiration came from his online biography.

Dr. Marcus Karsten was director emeritus and veterinary consultant to the South Carolina Aquarium. Armed with that knowledge, tricking him had been a cakewalk.

Despite his nervousness, Ben smiled. "Karsten will be livid when he learns there was no penguin emergency."

Oh yeah. We had to move quickly. Already paranoid, Karsten might guess he'd been lured away on purpose and hurry back to Loggerhead. By then we had to be long gone.

"Ready?" I shook out my arms, hopped on my toes.

"Ready," Ben said.

We pushed into the main building and walked to the security office. Sam was manning the desk. Break there. Sam was less moody than Carl. And physically his polar opposite. Scarecrow thin and bald as a cue ball, he looked more like a cadaver than a guard.

Dragging reluctant eyes from his magazine, Sam acknowledged our presence. "Great. The troublemakers. Here to burn down the building?"

"Hello." I hit him with my most engaging smile. "We need to give my father some documents."

"Leave them in the box." Sam's eyes returned to his Guns & Ammo.

"I can't. These have to be faxed in the next thirty minutes. If not, we can't go."

Sam sighed, extended a hand. I handed over the forms.

"Math camp?" Chuckle. "You need shots for math camp? Better question: Why go?"

"Ha ha. Can we please just do this? We'll be out of your hair"--oops--"your way in no time."

Sam hesitated, perhaps wary of Karsten's recent foul temper. Finally, he nodded.

"Ya'll are in luck. Dr. K's out for the moment." Handing the papers back, he waved us though. "Don't sign in, and step on it. I don't want to get chewed out because of this."

"Thanks." We scurried down the hall before he could reconsider.

"No log in," Ben whispered. "Numb nuts just did us a favor."

"Time for some larceny."

We took the stairs to Karsten's office, all four flights. Kit's an elevator guy. Couldn't risk running into dear old Dad.

On four, the stairwell opened onto a short hallway. At the opposite end, a pair of frosted-glass doors closed off the director's suite.

Our last roadblock lay ahead: The Dragon.

Karsten's intolerance for noise is legendary. His secretary, Cordelia Hoke, is the only employee who works inside the inner sanctum. If we could dodge the Dragon, we'd have a chance.