A Flock of Ill Omens by Hart Johnson Read Free Book Online

few important questions about how he wanted things handled. His staff was pleased to see her and, though the news was bad, they were glad to know so they could start planning. Many office functions were at a standstill. Her father wasn't the only person who'd called in sick with the flu.
    It occurred to her that Corbin could actually be helpful here in a way that would help his career, too, so Dorene decided to call and let him know he'd been forgiven. Then she'd invite him up to schmooze and help in a real political office.
    He sounded like hell.
    “Corbin? I know you're furious, but I'm glad I came. Daddy's dying.”
    He gave a groan that sounded like, “I think I am, too.”
    “Are you sick?”
    “Mmm hmm.”
    “I thought you got your flu shot before I did.”
    “I did. Got it anyway.”
    “Oh, you poor thing. I'd come nurse you. I swear it. But with Daddy...”
    “I know. It's okay.”
    “I hope you feel better,” she said.
    “Me, too.”
     
    She could have let the guilt eat at her, but there was too much to do. She wanted her dad to have the peace of mind when he went that he'd left no giant emergencies. Unfortunately, a flu epidemic causes more than a few emergencies. At her father's request, and because they'd heard the governor was ill, Dorene filled out the paperwork requesting that Georgia be declared a state of emergency for him to sign. Then she tracked down the two people her father trusted to take over until the people of Georgia had a chance to voice their opinion.
    One of them had the flu. It was very surreal to realize how many important people were really sick. She wondered if it was the case everywhere.
    Public relations threatened to be the biggest nightmare in this crisis. Beau Duchamp, a televangelist, wanted a united front to prove to the people of Georgia that God would help them. Whatever that meant. And a list of cronies a mile long kept offering to help, undoubtedly with a lot of provisions for good press and substantial pieces of the resources of Georgia when the crisis was over.
    Dorene watched as the people in her father's office worked out deals and it left a sour taste in her mouth, but that was politics. The one time she said anything, she was shooed out and talked to like a third-grader. And since she didn't have an official appointment, there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.
     

1. 6. Sidney Knight:
    Portland, Oregon
    Roommate Trouble
     
    Sid was glad to be home. The familiar environment and the horsing around of her friends calmed her. But the flu and her brother's mysterious warning nagged at her over the next couple days. She couldn't concentrate on the third article she was meant to be writing, so she decided she would look into the dead birds a bit further.
    She'd already read everything she could find online about it, even using her University of Oregon alumni access to get articles that required subscriptions. Death rates in the US seemed high to her—higher than what China and Russia had reported, though she knew their media couldn't always be relied on for accuracy. What she really needed was a coastal community where she had some inroads so she could investigate a more personal angle of how this was affecting people's lives. It wasn't the only story, but it was a story she wasn't seeing. And a small town would have people who would talk to a young, unemployed reporter. That was harder to come by in Portland: recruiting a source, when you had no known name to earn their trust.
    It was the part of journalism that was hardest for her—reaching out to people she barely knew and calling in favors they didn't owe—but she'd learned to fake it. She'd had a friend in college from Astoria, and if any Oregon port was likely to be affected by this, that was it. The mouth of the Columbia River let in all the inland shipping in the state—a significant portion of what went into Washington, too. And the port authority there would be a perfect source for what official