Book of Stolen Tales by D. J. McIntosh

And their wives confirmed they’d had intimate relations since their return from Iraq. It may be too early to tell, but it looks as though it doesn’t spread through blood or bodily fluids either. Still, we were surprised you didn’t send them to Walter Reed.”
    â€œConfidentiality’s a primary issue,” Best said. “Walter Reed’s a big facility: hard to lock down, hard to keep quiet. If it does spread, we’ll have no choice. We’ll have to involve the major facilities. The subjects returned from Iraq a month ago; we can deduce that whatever they picked up, it came from over there.”
    Shaheen was beginning to get a glimmer of understanding. The main purpose of this facility was to keep any news of biological threats under the deepest possible cover. That probably meant they had no idea of what they were dealing with, and if it involved enemy action, no clue as to who exactly might be behind it.
    â€œLoretti and Hill are both microbiologists, correct?” Abbott said.
    Best nodded. “You received the records, I assume?”
    â€œYes.” Abbott checked her file. “Both of them initially complained of flu-like symptoms. Their doctors assumed they’d come down with a respiratory infection. Since then other symptoms have shown up and now the disease has progressed rapidly. The DTRA code named it ‘Black Death’ after the plague in the Middle Ages, I assume. Highly unlikely to be related to bubonic plague, if that’s what your people are thinking.” The doctor sighed. “I wish it was,” she confessed. “At least we’d know how to deal with it.”
    â€œYou still have no idea what’s caused it?” Best asked.
    â€œNot yet. But the lab’s working 24/7.” Shaheen saw the signs of worry in the deep lines etching the doctor’s brow. “It’s his skin that’s causing Loretti so much distress. It’s tightening up all over his body and drying out, like his skin’s in a slow cooker with an internal heat source. His temperature is very elevated but Hill’s is flat. Cortisol, GH, and norepinephrine levels are also very high, but that’s a predictable response to the terrific stress Loretti’s under. He has significant swelling and soreness in the glans and foreskin, acute blistering on his neck, and a severe case of oral thrush. That could be from a yeast infection he acquired in Iraq. I understand it’s a very starchy diet you feed them over there.”
    Best ignored her last comment. “What about a form of venereal disease?”
    Shaheen smirked and Abbott glanced disapprovingly at him.
    â€œTested negative for all known STDs. He’s experiencing hallucinations now too. Hardly surprising given his state.”
    Shaheen took all this in with growing awareness. Two Americans named Loretti and Hill had acquired some kind of disease, probably in Iraq. Virulent enough that it set off loud alarms. Shaheen had not been involved with the hunt for biological weapons, although he knew Washington placed a high priority on the search and so far had turned up nothing. The international intelligence community privately ruled out any biological threat from Hussein’s government well before the onset of the war. Could Loretti and Hill have discovered something after all?
    â€œI wanted you to see Loretti,” Best said to Shaheen, “so you’d know what we’re dealing with.”
    They walked down the corridor to a bank of tempered-glass windows. Two white-suited guards, heavily armed, stood on either side of a door. It reminded Shaheen of a high-security prison cell.
    â€œWe can’t go in,” Abbott said. “This is one-way viewing glass. Loretti’s been sedated, but even with that he’s been tearing at the restraints.”
    Shaheen was suddenly aware of a light dimming as though some form had cast a shadow over them where they stood. Abbott and Best