EXTINCTION || CHAPTER 3 || FICTION || STORY

CHAPTER 3

Beginning Of the End

In New Delhi, Dr. Mehak Rajput sat up with a cordless phone to her ear. "Jay?"
The line was dead.

She hung up and waited, expecting Jay to call back.
It was almost 2 a.m Saturday night, and she had been home alone, asleep for over three hours. She was wide awake now, though.

She felt the urge to look around the two-bedroom apartment and make sure there wasn't someone else inside. She has lived alone since she moved to Delhi in her twenties, and with a few exceptions, she has always felt safe.

She grabbed her cell phone, rose from the platform bed, and cautiously paced out of her bedroom. The cold hard floor gave her shivers. The front door was shut and the deadbolt locked. The door to the second bedroom, which she used as a home office, was also shut. She'd found that pictures of people dying of various diseases around the world were a real mood killer for the company, so she always kept her office door shut.
At the floor-to-ceiling window, she peered down at the street, which was mostly deserted at this hour.

She waited, still hoping for the home phone to ring. She has considered canceling the landline but a few people still had the number and the internet bill came cheaper with the phone.
She ran her hand through her shoulder-length hair. Which reminded her of her mother, they shared the same caramel brown skin. She wasn't quite sure what she'd gotten from her father who was English and died when she was six.

She sat down on the grey fabric couch and tucked her freezing feet under her bottom, trying to warm then. On her cell phone, she did something she hadn't done in a long time. She opened Google and searched for Jay Patel.

The first hit was the website for Putiya ulakam Capital, an investment firm, which invested in technologies that have the potential of changing the world. Jay was listed first on the Our People page as the founder and managing partner.

Mehak scanned the page of companies that Jay has invested in. Most were dealing with genetics and high tech stuff and some travel companies.

She clicked at the next link which was a video of Jay at a conference. Sitting in a club chair on stage, Jay spoke calmly, but with infectious enthusiasm. 

"Putiya ulakam means New World. We are looking for companies that have the potential of influencing the future. These companies will change the world for good."

**************

Mehak had just fallen asleep again when her cell-phone ringed. She didn't recognize the number.
"Mehak, I'm sorry to wake you."
Dr.Harsh Mathur said.

He was also an epidemiologist working with the World Health Organisation and had led rapid response teams around the world. Mehak had a similar job. The two epidemiologists had worked together a dozen of times in hotspots of disease 

outbreaks. 

"It's okay," she said. "What's happened?"
"I just emailed you."
"Hang on"
Mehak raced to the second bedroom, She sat at the desk, woke her laptop, and activated her secure VPN software, opening a remote link to her terminal at the NCDC.
"I see it, where is it from."
"Kashmir"
Dr.Harsh's words shocked Mehak.
"USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand, and many more. It's some kind of hemorrhagic fever."
"How many cases?"
"At the moment in India. Two. Both Chinese nationals, claim to be visiting the country. They are in Turtuk Government Hospital."

Mehak has never heard of Turtuk. She opened Google Maps and studied the location, which was in the northmost part of Leh."
"What about other areas?"
"There's something. All the infected people are Chinese. We have tried to get in touch with the Chineses officials but no one seems to be able to connect with them."

"I see an airport near Turtuk, that's not good."

Mehak massaged her temple. A functioning airport in the outbreak area was a nightmare scenario."

"We are inquiring about the airport- traffic, staff, etc. It's really late now so we'll be able to contact them soon. That's it for now, the WHO is deploying teams at all the locations of the outbreak." 
"Good. I'll talk to Gauri, and prepare for emergency deployment." Mehak said.
"Ok. I'll loop in other agencies and officials."

Mehak placed the phone on the desk. And looked at the world map and examined all the paces that Dr.Hash told. She picked a few thumb pins and pushed them in, marking all the locations. She still wasn't able to wrap her head around the news that she has heard for Dr.Harsh.  

She always kept two duffel bags ready: a hot-weather bag and a cold-weather bag. She grabbed the cold zone bag.
As soon as things slow down, she'd have to call her mother and tell her she is being deployed. Diwali was around the corner, and she had a feeling she is going to miss it.
She hated to admit it, but in a way, Mehak was relieved. Madhu was Mehak's sibling, but recently every conversation with Madhu had ended with her sister asking Mehak why she wasn't looking for a man and insisting that her chance for a family was rapidly slipping away.

On the street below, a man sitting in a car watched Mehak pull out of the underground parking deck.
He spoke into an open comm line as he cranked the car. "Subject is on the move. No visitors. No text messages. Only one phone call-from her contact at WHO."

........To be Continued.

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