CoronaGate E-Book

Horst Karbaum

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 193

Beschreibung

Peter Burstyn's been a father for a few weeks. Because his wife is ill, he has to take care of his little son besides work. He does research on virus strains at the Kanab Biological Laboratories in Kanab Utah-USA. He wants to find an antidote that works against all types of Coronavirus, re-gardless of the mutations. A mishap occurs, but before that, cases of infection occur in China, with which Peter has nothing to do except that he created the virus! American agents are working on mysterious projects in Italy, Turkey and Laos near the Chinese border. One of them gives a completely new interpretation of how their president's goal of "America first"! Sometimes reality even overtakes the authors' fantasies!

Leseprobe

Peter Burstyn has been a father for a few weeks. Because his wife is ill, he has to take care of his little son besides work. He does research on virus strains at the Kanab Biological Laboratories in Kanab Utah-USA. He wants to find an antidote that works against all types of Coronavirus, regardless of the mutations. A mishap occurs, but before that, cases of infection occur in China, with which Peter has nothing to do except that he created the virus!

American agents are working on mysterious projects in Italy, Turkey and Laos near the Chinese border. One of them gives a completely new interpretation of how their President's goal of "America first!“

Sometimes reality even overtakes the authors' fantasies!

~~~

Horst Karbaum, born in 1951, has worked as a consulting engineer for almost 50 years. Since 2016 he has been writing books, some under a pseudonym. Under his real name, he has so far published a children's book

"Little Peter on his way to the "Promised Land"". 

© 2020 Horst Karbaum

Cover: Horst Karbaum using

PixaBay - TheDigitalArtist - Cover wallpaper

PixaBay - Gerd Altmann - "Temporarily closed”

1st edition from 03. 30.2020

2ndedition of 04. 09.2020 (corrections)

3rd edition of 04. 09.2020 (English)

4th edition of 05.17.2020 (English corrections)

The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. Any use is prohibited without the consent of the publisher and the author. This applies in particular to electronic or other reproduction, translation, distribution and making available to the public.

All names, all persons and the plot are freely invented. Should people have similar names or have experienced something similar, this is purely coincidental and unintentional.

Horst Karbaum

CoronaGate

Foreword

Dear reader,

about a week ago I had a crazy idea and I had to start writing it down. Now it is already 60 pages and if it continues like this, I can publish soon, I had written on March 13. Now it is finished!

That day I saw a video on youtube about the Corona virus. My mouth remained open with astonishment. Already in 1981 Dean Koontz published a book "The Eyes of Darkness", which played with the idea that a virus was made by humans and released in Wuhan. Honestly, I knew nothing about it until that day.

But there is one thing Koontz certainly did not foresee, and that's what I'm bringing into play now.

Namely, that there are two ways to make the motto "America first!" come true. Let me describe the second.

As always, everything is fictitious and I don't believe that what I have written has any relation to reality, or does it?

Dortmund, Friday, March 30, 2020

Horst Karbaum

1 Kanab Biological Laboratories

T

he sunrise was worth its money. Peter Burstyn had no eyes for this. The night was short. Little Freddie made a fuss and Peter's wife Sally was still too weak after the difficult birth. So Peter had to do everything. He had taken a preparation course one evening when it was about involving the fathers. Change diapers, give bottles, wait for burps and so on. It was all very simple, the doll was lifelike, but it did not move.

Little Freddie cannot identify with the doll. Unlike her, he does not lie still. It seems as if he is happy to have escaped the darkness in the womb and to be able to move his legs without constantly bumping into it. In doing so he shows his good mood, which should make Peter happy, but after he threw the third diaper into the corner, because these cursed adhesive strips stuck everywhere but where it was supposed to, he breaks out in a sweat. It is mid of December and Freddie is now three weeks old, but last night he had outdone himself

But now, after Peter has struggled for an hour with his boy, he must hurry up to get to work on time. He jumps into his jeans, takes a sip of coffee that scalds his mouth and storms to the door.

Betty is just coming down the dusty street. She replaces him with his wife and child. He cannot take a vacation right now. His project has been given very high priority, an order from the very top. So he was glad that Betty, the good soul of Kanab, had agreed to run the house for him.

Betty has kept Kanab's diner running for decades and now in her mid-sixties her boss Frank Salomon has fired her. She was too slow for him, he said, pretending that guests had already complained. That was nonsense and everyone in Kanab knows that. Betty had become too expensive for him and he hired a little eighteen-year-old with dark skin as a waitress.

Frank may be the worst racist in Kanab, but with the small salary Florence is happy with, he looks beyond her skin color.

Betty has saved up, thank God, and her late husband earned well, so she can live well and without worries. But she sits at home all day long and has no job, which drives her crazy. That's where Little Freddie comes in handy. Little Fred couldn't have done better. Betty Kreuzer, her husband had German ancestors, is an angel and Freddie will thank her later, if he and she live long enough. Yeah, if!

~~~

Peter is driving the old Volvo station wagon today. On the way back he has to do some shopping for the family. Otherwise he always takes his bike and has to listen to lots of sayings. Ecologically thinking citizens are rare in Kanab, in the south of Utah on the border to Arizona.

Kanab is a dream come true if you want to spend a few days here as a hiker, but those who have to live in Kanab day in, day out do not have much in common with nature, unless they work for tourism. For example in the Visitor Center, where you can get advice and information about sights and hiking trails around Kanab.

Peter works in the Kanab Biological Laboratories. He is a biomedical scientist and knows a lot about viruses, bacteria and everything else that exists in the macrocosm of nature. At the age of twenty-five, he completed his Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering in San José. He and Sally got married immediately after that and moved to Kanab because he found a job there. That was three years ago and in the meantime he has found his way into Kanab. He even takes part in the annual rodeo. His special skill is riding on one of the wild bulls. They are actually not wild, but if you imagine that their testicles are tied with a rope, you can understand the animals.

Sally is not happy there at all. She gets on the nerves of the small town. She quit her studies to move here with Peter. At first she did not care where they lived, she had Peter and he was her universe, but Peter is working longer and longer. She waits for him many hours every day.

There are some women's groups and associations she could join, but she finds it difficult to get involved with the other women, almost all of whom were born and raised in Kanab. She tried it once. When her homemade quilt was finished, she couldn't stand it anymore with the Quiltmaker Guild of Kanab. When it wasn't about quilting, cooking and baking recipes were discussed and otherwise they talked about the children and what to think about so that they could have a quick career.

She would have liked to continue her studies, but San José or other universities are far away.

But children have been a topic for the Burstyns from the very beginning. They have thrown themselves into this new phase and if it continued like with her messed up pregnancy and the terribly exhausting birth, than she was heading for a problem again.

She likes the fact that she can now step out of it. Little Freddie is a beautiful child with everything that goes with it, but Sally is - still? - missing the feeling for him. She's hoping that when she recovers she'll be able to love her child and take care of it.

~~~

Peter is in the lab half an hour before he starts work in the morning. It takes him a while to get ready to go through the airlock with his protective clothing to the workplace. He is working on a highly complicated, top secret and highly dangerous thing. He's not even allowed to tell anyone at home what it is all about. Until a year ago, he was busy with various viruses, first of all influenza pathogens, in order to finally be able to get a serum on the market before the viruses are again immunized by new mutations and can hardly be kept in check by the vaccinations.

He is sure that they have the wrong approach. In order to be successful, they would have to predict with certainty what would be helpful against the viruses of the coming flu and, in order to do so, they would have to know what the new mutations are like. They would have to do things very differently, but how? He has a vague idea in his head, but it has not really been possible to grasp it so far. He suspects that the viruses must have a kind of base that remains the same despite all mutations. If this base was necessary for the viruses to survive and if it could be attacked, then the mutations would not matter. He is sure that one day he will discover this, his philosopher's stone, and then he would be sure to win the Nobel Prize.

He's not getting anywhere at the moment. He was assigned to study SARS a few months ago. The SARS virus had killed about one thousand people worldwide in 2002/2003, mainly in China, none in the USA. These viruses are also changing and Peter's approach could be helpful. In Germany, a colleague, John Ziebuhr from the Würzburg Institute of Virology and Immunobiology seems to be on a similar path to his. In a German daily newspaper1 he is quoted as saying: "The enzymatic cutlery used by the pathogen to reproduce is relatively constant and this is exactly where we attack".

This is exactly what Peter's idea is. But the prospect expressed by Ziebuhr of finding something in a few months was a fallacy. There is still no cure for SARS2. Peter has two approaches. The virus unwraps itself, so to speak, before it attaches its RNA3 to the nucleus of the host cell. This phase is so called decoating. If the decoating, i.e. the suturing of the viral coat, could be stopped, then the infestation of the host cell could be prevented.

His second approach is linked to the use of a new virus in which the RNA of the SARS virus is mirrored. This could then catch SARS viruses like cannon fodder before they reach the human host cells.

Peter continues his research and he is guided by the idea that he would become famous if he found an antidote.

Ben Steyrer, his boss took him aside one day

"Peter, what do you think, it's possible to create a new strain of SARS virus?"

"Are you crazy? We already have enough trouble with the existing type and should be glad that there hasn't been a new pandemic since 2003. Thousands of researchers around the world are searching for an antidote. It would be madness to create a new species that would then elude even the most promising approaches."

"Well, I'm only asking in theory. Is it possible?"

"Sure! You almost only have to wait and see. These things are constantly mutating. If you were to always favor one species whose characteristics you were interested in and destroy the rest, you could control that. But then no one knows what those traits are and how you can fight them if needed."

Ben Steyrer is an administrative person. He has no idea about biomedicine, biology or virology.

"You know, I had an idea yesterday in the shower. If our human body gives the virus a basis, let’s say something to help it develop and make us sick, then something could be done about it by taking that basis away, limiting the supply."

Peter's getting wise. It is not his angle, but it boils down to the same thing.

"Tell me, do people get sick because they are stripped of the basis for the virus to exist, or can they live without this ... thing?"

"So at the moment it is assumed that the virus in the respiratory tract restricts the movement of the cilia and makes it impossible."

He sees Ben's uncomprehending look: "Oh, you can imagine cilia like little hairs that move and carry mucus and everything else out of your airways. If this movement is prevented, the airways become blocked and harmful, infectious pathogens such as bacteria remain in them.

The virus apparently finds the receptor in the human airways in the cells that are responsible for the cilia and their movement, the receptor, oh sorry, a kind of adapter where it fits like a plug into a socket.

But listen, have you taken correspondence courses in virology? You old paper tiger, you have no idea what I'm doing here.

Ben smiles flattered. "So I'm on a good path! I always think of the best things when I shower. But back to the point.

If there was a Corona virus that worked the same way, but did not interfere with your cilia things, you could use it as a prevention and let them take the places of the bad viruses. Am I wrong?"

Damn it, he gets ideas. How did he find out that the SARS virus is also called Corona virus?

"Something's wrong," he speaks out loud. "I'm starting to feel really stupid. Someone who only counts the dollars and distributes tells me how to fight SARS. Is this really all your fault?"

"No, no, no! Just because I approach a matter with clear common sense and draw logical conclusions from it, you don't have to call me a fool who is incapable of doing that. Anyway, I want you to keep working in that direction. I'm going to take orders from the very top. It is just a formality to get the GO and you can start right away. Make a virus that's different and fight it!"

"Okay! And which one of us will win the Nobel Prize if it works out?"

"Why? I, of course!" Ben leaves the room laughing. "Well, if that's your fear, I can assure you, no one would give a science prize to a management stud like me. You can take it. I have no ambition."

"Oh Ben, something else: Why were my experimental virus strains taken out of storage and shipped two months ago? I'm now on the verge of a bottleneck."

Peter happened to notice that several samples from his stocks had been packed and sent to Asia.

"Don't worry. There was nothing I could do about it. It was an order from the very top as well.

"But there were some that I had already started experimenting on..."

"No, Peter, there's no point in discussing it. Just forget about it, okay? And keep it to yourself! This is an official order. Ben has become violent. Peter's never experienced him like that before.

2 Good Deals

C

ees Steenbrinck lets his cigarillo roll from the right to the left corner of his mouth. He always does this trick after a good deal. A truck is currently driving from his farm near the Cúc National Park Phương south of Hanoi in Vietnam.

It is a Tuesday in October, five weeks before Little Freddie was born in Kanab, thousands of miles from Vietnam.

In his hand he is holding a diplomatic pouch with many thousands of dollars, which he has just received from his client. For this he has sold him precious merchandise. Merchandise that he's always happy to see disappear from his farm. If the Vietnamese authorities find out that he is catching Malaysian and Chinese pangolins to sell them to Chinese smugglers, he is finished. The penalties for poaching are drastic. But no risk! No fun! has always been the motto of Cornelius Antonius Steenbrinck, as his full name is called. He is fifty-four, six foot seven, two hundred and twenty pounds. His hair is full and light blond and in his confusingly light blue eyes you can see his hard core.

Nobody messes with Cees. Rumor has it that someone tried to do it a long time ago, but you haven't even heard a rumor about him since. Cees has been in the Foreign Legion, mercenary on his own account in South Africa and now he thinks that the new wealth of the Chinese promotes the best business.

In Africa, he has a branch run by his good friend Piet van Stangeren. Piet and he are the world's largest traders for special animals and their ingredients, which are in great demand, especially on the Chinese market. Many thousands of Chinese nouveau riche owe their potency to them. It doesn't matter whether it is because of the crushed rhinoceros horns or because they imagine their beneficial effects.

Actually, Cees could quit and enjoy his wealth. He has apartments in Monaco, New York and Paris, a house in Portofino and he practically owns an island in the Aegean Sea alone, not big, it takes two hours on foot from one end to the other.

But he no longer does it because of the money, but because of the tension resulting from his illegal transactions. Just now, the pangolins' collector has given him a whole new idea. He told him that this time his cargo will be bought from him by Americans. Whites who have nothing to do with the Chinese at all. He couldn't tell him what they were planning.

"They won't eat them," his client said at the end.

Cees is going to look into it. Something's going on that's supposed to be secret. Secrets and their preservation can cost some people a lot of money. Let's see what they say when he knows what it is about and he offers them his silence. The thought tickles his stomach. He likes these feelings.

The load is equipped with a device that constantly sends GPS coordinates to him. As soon as he knows where it is going, he sits in his helicopter and flies after it. He does that himself. He doesn't let the thrill go to waste.

~~~

"Peter! It's urgent. Come out, there's something wrong with your boy!" He's scared. The petri dish falls out of his gloved hand. The contents are on his protective suit. Peter panics. There's something about Little Freddie! He needs to get out of here and go home.

In the airlock it takes forever to change the air and finally the outer door can be opened. It is a good thing he's got that Volvo instead of his bike today. It'll get him back home faster.

His mobile phone rings: "Peter? Betty here. I'm at the hospital with Freddie. "But don't be upset, he's fine, and I'm just there for security."

Peter ends the conversation and turns around. He'll have to take a different route to the hospital. The moment he gets there, he jumps out of the car and runs into the clinic.

"Where are you going?" the lady at the front desk yells after him.

That's right, where is he going, anyway? Breathlessly, he turns around and calls out to her, "I'm Peter Burstyn. My son Fred must be here somewhere."

"Oh, you're Little Freddie's daddy! Calm down. There's nothing wrong with this great guy. It is not unusual for a baby to slip out of your arms, especially when he's as sprightly as your Fred. But they almost never do anything about it, like they're already perfectly falling, like judoka.

So Betty and Fred are on the third floor of the children's ward and Doc Myers is with them. The elevator's back there on the left."

Still on the run and out of breath Peter slips into Dr. Myers' consulting room. It is packed and Little Freddie is wandering from arm to arm. He is the star for three sisters who want to hold and squeeze in all of them once. You can see the little charmer is having a lot of fun with the attention he gets.

At the sight Peter calms down. Everything really seems to be alright and he now takes his little rascal in his own arms.

"Betty, what happened? Freddie fell off?"

"Falling down seems exaggerated to me. I was sitting on the sofa and this rascal was twisting and turning like a snake. At some point he slipped out of my arm, first onto the sofa and from there slowly onto the floor.

I just wanted to make sure and asked Karl Checkers from across the street to drive us to the hospital.

Nothing happened! Isn't that Dr. Myers, Dr. Lucas?"

"Right! That happens a lot, but most of the time, nothing happens." Tim Myers smiles calmly at Peter. He is about thirty years old and looks like the archetype of a healthy, white American, blond, tall, athletic and with bright blue eyes. Dr. Lucas, on the other hand, is about sixty-five, also tall, but skinny with an attitude that suggests he is ill.

"Babies are like little kittens. They instinctively catch themselves in worse falls and nothing happens to them. Nevertheless, it was good that Mrs. Kreuzer came to us. One must immediately eliminate all doubt.

Do you have time to complete the formalities, Mr. Burstyn? Perhaps you could give Freddie back to the ladies, they're already in withdrawal and then go up to Room 101. You can take care of all that stuff there."

Hesitantly, Peter gives Freddie into one of the pairs of arms that stretch out towards him. He seems to struggle with himself, but finally he is on his way to the admissions office.

It doesn't take long before he can pick up his son again. Together with Betty he leaves the hospital completely calm and drives the two of them home.

'Why isn't Sally here? Is she feeling so bad?'

"Sally was asleep when it happened. I didn't want to worry her. She still needs her rest," says Betty, as if she was answering his thought.

Today Peter will take the rest of the day off.

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