Larry had tried to fix a meeting by email with New York senator Joe Fisher, but just as Larry landed at JFK, New York, the news was that he was in Washington. So, too, was the other New York senator Mary Collis.
He took a deep breath and emailed both of them, again telling them he was a doctor working for the US Embassy in Nigeria. He told them that a hundred recent deaths in Kano, which they might or might not have heard about, were caused by a genetically engineered virus and that he believed it was part of a deliberate plot to spread the virus as a form of population control. He was not, he said, suffering from paranoia. In fact, he had spoken to the US Ambassador who would acknowledge his sanity. As for the WHO, they seemed to have put the
cases in its unsolved mysteries file so what were their plan if the virus got out of control?
Despite his attempt to liven up an email, as soon as he’d hit send, he thought they might still think he was a crackpot and the email would end up in a spam box.
Another problem was that if they decided to check him out by calling the US Embassy in Abuja, they’d have heard nothing useful except confirmation that he worked in the commercial services section in Lagos for a short while and had now gone AWOL
He thought about contacting the press with the story but decided against it, thinking that it needed to stay within circles that could do something, not circles that fed on sensation or sought live interviews and quotes to sell adverts.
Larry did not even go outside JFK Airport. Instead, he flew to Washington.
***
In Bristol, Kevin had finally fixed a day and time to meet his member of Parliament. Not having voted for her, he was none too enthusiastic, but he had promised to start somewhere. He met Tom Weston for lunch and brought him up to date. By the time he’d finished, Tom had drunk two pints of beer and finished a steak and mushroom pie, peas, and chips.“So,” Kevin said at last, “what the fuck do I do?”
“Bloody hell,” Tom finally said. “All hell breaking loose. As for our local member of Parliament, I wouldn’t hold out much hope there.
She’s only interested in re-election. Why don’t you speak to the chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee - Lord Peterson?”
“I don’t know him,” said Kevin.
“I do,” said Tom. “I’ll call him.”