mc.theandromedastrein-第7章
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f scientists who would study any new organism。 After a number of studies of team position; five men were selected; including Jeremy Stone himself。 These five were prepared to mobilize immediately in the event of a biologic emergency。
Barely two years after his letter to the President; Stone was satisfied that 〃this country has the capability to deal with an unknown biologic agent。〃 He professed himself pleased with the response of Washington and the speed with which his ideas had been implemented。 But privately; he admitted to friends that it had been almost too easy; that Washington had agreed to his plans almost too readily。
Stone could not have known the reasons behind Washington's eagerness; or the very real concern many government officials had for the problem。 For Stone knew nothing; until the night he left the party and drove off in the blue military sedan; of Project Scoop。
***
〃It was the fastest thing we could arrange; sir;〃 the Army man said。
Stone stepped onto the airplane with a sense of absurdity。 It was a Boeing 727; pletely empty; the seats stretching back in long unbroken rows。
〃Sit; first class; if you like;〃 the Army man said; with a slight smile。 〃It doesn't matter。〃 A moment later he was gone。 He was not replaced by a stewardess but by a stern MP with a pistol on his hip who stood by the door as the engines started; whining softly in the night。
Stone sat back with the Scoop file in front of him and began to read。 It made fascinating reading; he went through it quickly; so quickly that the MP thought his passenger must be merely glancing at the file。 But Stone was reading every word。
Scoop was the brainchild of Major General Thomas Sparks; head of the Army Medical Corps; Chemical and Biological Warfare Division。 Sparks was responsible for the research of the CBW installations at Fort Detrick; Maryland; Harley; Indiana; and Dugway; Utah。 Stone had met him once or twice; and remembered him as being mild…mannered and bespectacled。 Not the sort of man to be expected in the job he held。
Reading on; Stone learned that Project Scoop was contracted to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 1963。 Its avowed aim was the collection of any organisms that might exist in 〃near space; 〃 the upper atmosphere of the earth。 Technically speaking; it was an Army project; but it was funded through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; a supposedly civilian organization。 In fact; NASA was a government agency with a heavy military mitment; 43 per cent of its contractual work was classified in 1963。
In theory; JPL was designing a satellite to enter the fringes of space and collect organisms and dust for study。 This was considered a project of pure science almost curiosity and was thus accepted by all the scientists working on the study。
In fact; the true aims were quite different。
The true aims of Scoop were to find new life forms that might benefit the Fort Detrick program。 In essence; it was a study to discover new biological weapons of war。
Detrick was a rambling structure in Maryland dedicated to the discovery of chemical…and…biological…warfare weapons。 Covering 1;300 acres; with a physical plant valued at 100;000;000; it ranked as one of the largest research facilities of any kind in the United States。 Only 15 per cent of its findings were published in open scientific journals; the rest were classified; as were the reports from Harley and Dugway。 Harley was a maximum…security installation that dealt largely with viruses。 In the previous ten years; a number of new viruses had been developed there; ranging from the variety coded Carrie Nation (which produces diarrhea) to the variety coded Arnold (which causes clonic seizures and death)。 The Dugway Proving Ground in Utah was larger than the state of Rhode Island and was used principally to test poison gases such as Tabun; Sklar; and Kuff…11。
Few Americans; Stone knew; were aware of the magnitude of U。S。 research into chemical and biological warfare。 The total government expenditure in CBW exceeded half a billion dollars a year。 Much of this was distributed to academic centers such as Johns Hopkins; Pennsylvania; and the University of Chicago; where studies of weapons systems were contracted under vague terms。 Sometimes; of course; the terms were not so vague。 The Johns Hopkins program was devised to evaluate 〃studies of actual or potential injuries and illnesses; studies on diseases of potential biological…warfare significance; and evaluation of certain chemical and immunological responses to certain toxoids and vaccines。〃
In the past eight years; none of the results from Johns Hopkins had been published openly。 Those from other universities; such as Chicago and UCLA; had occasionally been published; but these were considered within the military establishment to be 〃trial balloons〃 examples of ongoing research intended to intimidate foreign observers。 A classic was the paper by Tendron and five others entitled 〃Researches into a Toxin Which Rapidly Uncouples Oxidative Phosphorylation Through Cutaneous Absorption。〃
The paper described; but did not identify; a poison that would kill a person in less than a minute and was absorbed through the skin。 It was recognized that this was a relatively minor achievement pared to other toxins that had been devised in recent years。
With so much money and effort going into CBW; one might think that new and more virulent weapons would be continuously perfected。 However; this was not the case from 1961 to 1965; the conclusion of the Senate Preparedness Submittee in 1961 was that 〃conventional research has been less than satisfactory〃 and that 〃new avenues and approaches of inquiry〃 should be opened within the field。
That was precisely what Major General Thomas Sparks intended to do; with Project Scoop。
In final form; Scoop was a program to orbit seventeen satellites around the earth; collecting organisms and bringing them back to the surface。 Stone read the summaries of each previous flight。
Scoop I was a gold…plated satellite; cone…shaped; weighing thirty…seven pounds fully equipped。 It was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Purisima; California; on March 12; 1966。 Vandenberg is used for polar (north to south) orbits; as opposed to Cape Kennedy; which launches west to east; Vandenberg had the additional advantage of maintaining better secrecy than Kennedy。
Scoop I orbited for six days before being brought down。 It landed successfully in a swamp near Athens; Georgia。 Unfortunately; it was found to contain only standard earth organisms。
Scoop II burned up in reentry; as a result of instrumentation failure。 Scoop III also burned up; though it had a new type of plastic…and…tungsten…laminate heat shield。
Scoops IV and V were recovered intact from the Indian Ocean and the Appalachian foothills; but neither contained radically new organisms; those collected were harmless variants of S。 albus; a mon contaminant of normal human skin。 These failures led to a further increase in sterilization procedures prior to launch。
Scoop VI was launched on New Year's Day; 1967。 It incorporated all the latest refinements from earlier attempts。 High hopes rode with the revised satellite; which returned eleven days later; landing near Bombay; India。 Unknown to anyone; the 34th Airborne; then stationed in Evreux; France; just outside Paris; was dispatched to recover the capsule。 The 34th was on alert whenever a spaceflight went up; according to the procedures of Operation Scrub; a plan first devised to protect Mercury and Gemini capsules should one be forced to land in Soviet Russia or Eastern Bloc countries。 Scrub was the primary reason for keeping a single paratroop division in Western Europe in the first half of the 1960's。
Scoop VI was recovered uneventfully。 It was found to contain a previously unknown form of unicellular organism; coccobacillary in shape; gram…negative; coagulase; and triokinase…positive。 However; it proved generally benevolent to all living things with the exception of domestic female chickens; which it made moderately ill for a four…day period。
Among the Detrick staff; hope dimmed for the successful recovery of a pathogen from the Scoop program。 Nonetheless; Scoop VII was launched soon after Scoop VI。 The exact date is classified but it is believed to be February 5; 1967。 Scoop VII immediately went into stable orbit with an apogee of 317 miles and a perigee of 224 miles。 It remained in orbit for two and a half days。 At that time; the satellite abruptly left stable orbit for unknown reasons; and it was decided to bring it down by radio mand。
The anticipated landing site was a desolate area in northeastern Arizona。
***
Midway through the flight; his reading was interrupted by an officer who brought him a telephone and then stepped a respectful distance away while Stone talked。
〃Yes?〃 Stone said; feeling odd。 He was not accustomed to talking on the telephone in the middle of an airplane trip。
〃General Marcus here;〃 a tired voice said。 Stone did not know General Marcus。 〃I just wanted to inform you that all members of the team have been called in; with the exception of Professor Kirke。〃
〃What happened?〃
〃Professor Kirke is in the hospital;〃 General Marcus said。 〃You'll get further details when you touch down。〃
The conversation ended; Stone gave the telephone back to the officer。 He thought for a minute about the other men on the team; and wondered at their reactions as they were called out of bed。
There was Leavitt; of course。 He would respond quickly。 Leavitt was a clinical microbiologist; a man experienced in the treatment of infectious disease。 Leavitt had seen enough plagues and epidemics in his day to know the importance of quick action。 Besides; there was his ingrained pessimism; which never deserted him。 (Leavitt had once said; 〃At my wedding; all I could think of was how much alimony she'd cost me。〃) He was an irritable; grumbling; heavyset man with a morose face and sad eyes; which seemed to peer ahead into a bleak and miserable future; but he was also thoughtful; imaginative; and not afraid to think daringly。
Then there was the pathologist; Burton; in Houston。 Stone had never liked Burton very well; though he acknowledged his scientific talent。 Burton and Stone were different: where Stone was organized; Burton was sloppy; where Stone was controlled; Burton was impulsive; where Stone was confident; Burton was nervous; jumpy; petulant。 Colleagues referred to Burton as 〃the Stumbler;〃 partly because of his tendency to trip over his untied shoelaces and baggy trouser cuffs and partly because of his talent for tumbling by error into one important discovery after another。
And then Kirke; the anthropologist from Yale; who apparently was not going to be able to e。 If the report was true; Stone knew he was going to miss him。 Kirke was an ill…informed and rather foppish man who possessed; as if by accident; a superbly logical brain。 He was capable of grasping the essentials of a p