The Laptev Virus

Rhonda sighed. “I just spoke with Angela at Riesigoil. Apparently the shareholders are putting some heavy pressure on her to open the area back up for drilling.”

Sarah crossed her arms. She remembered how Angela had seemed pretty desperate. Apparently the CEO was waiting for Angela to give the thumbs up in order for drilling operations to go forward. Was Angela afraid that the CEO would become impatient with her? Surely she would have told him about her meeting at the university and the progress that Sarah and her team were making?

“She said that it was her decision, as the VP of Health and Safety, right?” asked Sarah. “She won’t agree to allow the company to go back there yet, will she? Not until we find out more about how to protect the workers from the Laptev virus.”

Rhonda let out a slow breath and Sarah noticed the dark makeup around her eyes was slightly smudged, as if even those hard lines were becoming tired.

“I don’t know, Sarah. I mean, I’m sure she certainly doesn’t want to. She knows the threat is still out there and she doesn’t want the company to lose any more people. The problem is that an inordinate amount of capital has been invested. And that much money can make people crazy.” Rhonda was silent for a moment, and then she said, “Angela told us that there is another company drilling in the area, I guess not that far away, and the shareholders are worried that the other company will find the petroleum reserves first.”

Sarah nodded. “But, surely Riesigoil owns the mineral rights of the land that they’ve staked out around Laptev Bay?”

“Like I said, there’s an awful lot of money in this. People don’t play fair when there’s that much money involved. Never have, never will. The way she was explaining it,” said Rhonda, a note of frustration seeping into her voice, “when companies drill nowadays, they rarely ever go straight down. They tunnel sideways, feeling with sensors located at the tips of the drilling instruments, and turning one way or the other depending on what they find. It’s quite different from the way things used to be. So it’s entirely possible that even if the main oil field is directly under the land that Riesigoil has staked out, someone from another company will reach the field before they do, and if so, they could have the well almost dry before Riesigoil gets to it. And that would mean a loss of billions, with a capital ‘B’, dollars.”

“I see,” said Sarah. She was quiet for a moment as she thought. Her team was definitely making progress, but it was nearly impossible to expect to resolve such a huge problem as the one the virus presented in just a few weeks. They had been fortunate to make so much progress thus far, but that was no guarantee that they would continue to fare so well. In research, one never knew how long it would take to discover answers.

“Now I know that this type of research normally takes much longer,” said Rhonda, as if she was reading Sarah’s thoughts. “I think I told you that three and a half weeks ago when the project first started. We don’t need to crack the nut wide open, Sarah. We just need to get far enough along that we can recommend that the site be re-opened in a safe manner.”

Sarah looked down at the moon boot on her sore ankle and gently raised it a few inches, contemplating the large black Velcro bands that held her foot captive. “Well, we’re not that far along yet,” she said quietly.

Rhonda pursed her lips in a resigned fashion. “I understand, believe me, and I’m pleased with the progress your group has made thus far. But let me remind you that half of the time allotted for this project has now elapsed. We are in the fourth week, and Angela is expecting further progress before long. Oscar is too. And so am I.”

Sarah let out a sigh. She hated the pressure, but it was inherent in a situation like this one, where people had lost their lives. “I’ll talk to the team again this afternoon,” she said, “and I’ll let you know as soon as something new is found. That’s the best I can do, Rhonda.”

Sarah ran her hand over her ponytail, smoothing it out in a distracted manner. She was glad that she did not have Angela’s position at the oil company. She was sure that it paid far better than what she earned at the university, but the stress was also commensurately higher.

CHAPTER 13

When she returned to her office, Sarah opened the data file that Emile had compiled on the most recent mice experiments and began scanning the results. The data was still crude and they would need to process it by applying several statistical tests to the numbers to be sure the results were reliable before any of them could be discussed or shared. Still, with the progress they had made so far, she was fairly certain that the results they were seeking would soon be within her grasp.