The Laptev Virus

“Yes, you’re right. Still, the two of them are fine, living in relative peace, when all of a sudden, in waltzes Laptev, the third wheel. Toxoplasmosis dude is not up to sharing, so he kicks Laptev in the butt. Totally gets rid of him,” Sarah said.

Emile crossed his arms and gave her a skeptical look.

“You guys have heard of this happening before, right?” said Sarah, her eyes shining with excitement. “I remember studying a case like this in a Parasitology class I took a long time ago. There was a type of acacia tree whose sap was particularly appealing to a certain type of ant which crawled up and down the trunk feeding on the sap that the tree produced. The tree and the ants had a symbiotic relationship. When, however, the tree was threatened by, say, a giraffe or an antelope, which decided to feast on some of the tree’s tender leaves, the ants would rush to the invader and pierce its tongue with their fiery venom, and the giraffes were soon dissuaded from making a meal of these leaves. In that manner, the ants were parasitizing an organism, the tree, which in turn they protected from another invasion by the giraffe.”

Drew and Rhonda nodded but everyone else still looked doubtful.

“I think it’s possible that this is a similar situation. In this case, this little Toxoplasmosis was doing the same thing that the ants did. It was protecting its host from harm by this attacking virus,” said Sarah.

Angela shook her head and blew out a long breath. “Well, if that doesn’t beat all.”

“Do people get Toxoplasmosis infections?” asked Miquela.

“Actually, they do,” said Sarah.

Everyone was silent for another moment while they digested this fact.

“Do you think, I mean, is it possible that some of the people who survived the Laptev infection in the Arctic could have had a Toxoplasmosis infection?” asked Tally.

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” said Sarah, now beaming.

“I’m on it right now,” said Angela. “I’ll have everyone who survived tested and I’ll let you know the results at the next meeting.”

CHAPTER 21

“Fascinating… yes, Stan, I believe this is exactly what we need. Now you can go ahead and open up drilling again,” said the voice on the other end of the line.

“But, we’re still not sure if that is enough of a protection,” said Stan, suddenly realizing that perhaps sharing this information had been a bad idea.

“You’ve confirmed that everyone from the barracks that survived Laptevgate had that cat infection. That’s what the blood tests revealed. And the testing at the university is showing that having the cat infection gave the mice immunity to the virus as well. Am I right?” said the voice in a reasonable manner.

“Yes, but her notes say that the data is preliminary. I was just informing you so you could be aware that progress is being made.”

“And so it is, Stan, so it is. Those university scientists, and scientists in general, they always take a long time to reveal their results. They can know something for years and not come out and say it outright. They always want to do ten million more tests, and write only little parts of it up in papers, so they can get a lot of fame. I know. My father was a scientist. My brother-in-law is a scientist. They’ve both told me all about how those types work. But we’re not that way. We’re businessmen. We get things done. Now that we have the answers, it’s time to open up the drilling area in Laptev Bay. Effective immediately.” There was a more steely tone to the voice now, but Stan was used to it. Shareholders were not known for their interpersonal skills.

“I hear you, Dennis, but I’m still somewhat concerned. What if some of the people we send up there don’t have that cat infection?”

The line was silent for enough time for Stan to become nervous. Finally he heard Dennis take a long breath through his nose.

“Tell you what. Only send people with the cat infection out to drill. Get them all those military grade gas masks. If everyone uses proper procedure when they are out on the ice, and they all detox thoroughly before they enter the camp, no one else should be affected.”

Stan sighed. He was beginning to regret having informed the Chairman of the Board about the information he had found on the server in Angela’s folder. Technically the folder was password protected, but as CEO, he had access to all the documents and even though she communicated frequently with him, he had continued to monitor all of her notes carefully. This operation was too important.

“I don’t know. I would feel awful if we lost any more people out there. And it would be terrible PR for Riesigoil.”

“For Chrissake, Stan, we’ve been abundantly cautious, and we hired the best scientists to do the research. Now we’ve got the data. I just don’t see any need to delay any further.”