The Laptev Virus

Sarah didn’t know whether to smack him for interrupting or laugh it off. In the end she chose to just carry on talking as if he had not said anything. “Whatever the reason, the virus froze in the layers of snow and ice and then went into hibernation, so to speak, and over the years its capsid was covered with thick layers of hydrocarbons. When the drilling began, the virus was exposed to the more acidic sea water, which made changes to the capsid. Between that and the ice sheet melting, there were a series of bad coincidences, including the bear attack, which then led to the virus becoming more volatile and being released easily from the crushed ice sample. It then immediately contaminated the crew who was working there.

When they got back to the lab, the unsuspecting lab personnel, knowing that the ice core sample had been basically ruined for the delicate studies to which it would normally have been subjected, worked on the ice without due protection, and consequently they too became infected. Then Laptev spread through the air every time someone coughed or sneezed, like the flu virus does, and because of the icy gale, no one could radio for help or leave the compound. Basically, the conditions were ripe for the perfect storm.”

“Okay, this is good. You all have done wonderful work,” Rhonda said, and clapped a bit. She was joined by Oscar and Angela who each applauded a few times. Sarah also raised her hands, clapping for her team.

“Okay, how about the mice?” Sarah asked. “Any news on experiments with them?”

“We’ve infected several groups and we are running different tests. I’m afraid it will be a few more days before we have some answers,” said Emile. “We’d like to report on them in next week’s meeting.”

“Great,” said Sarah, ready to be done with the meeting. “We’ll adjourn then for the week. Please keep me abreast of any new developments, and meanwhile, let’s all carry on and see what else we can learn.”

CHAPTER 10

“We’ll keep this one succinct,” Rhonda assured Sarah as they headed down the hallway. “I know you’ve got work to do.”

Sarah had walked out of the lab to say goodbye to Rhonda, Oscar and Angela who had crashed her meeting with her researchers. The meeting had gone tremendously well, and she was eager to get back to her work, but now suddenly she was being drawn into another meeting, this time up in Rhonda’s office. Sarah’s earlier apprehension returned. She wondered about the purpose of the meeting—was Rhonda going to change her mind and insist that she and her team continue studying the Laptev virus for a longer period than the initial six weeks she had promised? Perhaps that is why Angela and Oscar had joined the meeting, to put their weight behind the new proposal?

She thought about it as she walked slowly to the elevator. Oscar, Angela and Rhonda were a few paces ahead, engrossed in conversation which she didn’t really mind missing. Well, the truth was that it might not be such an imposition on her lab after all if that is what they wanted to do. Her team was making terrific progress and clearly there were many more questions that could be answered by extending the project for several more months. With the rapid pace of their investigations thus far, they just might be able to discover some truly remarkable things about Laptev if they had more time.

When Sarah reached Rhonda’s office, the others were seated in chairs that were much more comfortable than the lab stools had been.

“Thanks, everyone,” said Angela. “Sarah, I’m astounded with the research you all have done so far. You have a remarkable team. They are witty, dynamic and definitely engaging. I’ll admit that I didn’t understand every single thing that they said, but I got the gist of it and I’ll be happy to report back to my CEO, Stan Sundback, that Riesigoil’s money is being well spent.”

Sarah accepted the compliment and the warm smiles that Rhonda and Oscar directed at her. She was more certain now that Angela would be saying something about extending the project. It was the only thing that made sense given the circumstances.

“Now, what I’ve got to say isn’t easy,” continued Angela. “I’m going to be frank with you all because what I’m about to say will also impact you, although to a lesser extent. You won’t be surprised to hear that as HSE VP, I cannot, in good conscience, authorize continued drilling in that part of the Arctic, even on a temporary basis.”

Sarah nodded. It was clear that the virus was still out there, and it was in more parts of the ice than they had originally known about. Authorizing a return to that part of the Arctic would be madness.

“However, if we cannot continue with our Arctic exploration, that leaves us, my company, in a quandary. We’ve spent a lot of money to set up machinery for drilling, and the shareholders are getting anxious about profits that will be lost if another company gets their wells in that area into production before we do.”