Dogs by Nancy Kress Read Free Book Online

I’ll stay.” Billy nodded, clearly glad to escape. Meetings weren’t Billy’s thing. Jess just hoped Billy didn’t screw anything up out there alone.
    The mayor said, “Dr. Olatic from the hospital, Dr. Ramsay from Public Health, our county vet Dr. Carl Venters, and Sheriff Don DiBella. Now I’ll, uh, turn it over to Dr. Latkin.”
    Joseph Latkin was slim, small, maybe forty-five, intense. Jess thought that he looked competent but accustomed to having his way, like a lot of doctors. He had odd eyes, very pale blue, almost white. It made his gaze disconcerting, as if he had no irises at all and his eyeballs were a solid reflective surface, giving you back nothing but yourself. Despite his small size, he commanded the room without even mounting the judge’s dais.
    â€œPlease call me Joe. We’re here from the CDC to find out, first, if a pathogen is causing this canine behavior. There are other possibilities, such as an ingested environmental. The speed of onset in the dogs and the relatively confined geographical area suggest that could be the case, so we’ll start by examining the dogs’ stomachs.”
    Jess considered this. The dogs all ate something that turned them into killers? What could something like that possibly be?
    Latkin continued, “However, what you’ve told us so far is consistent with a certain class of brain pathogens that can turn animals very aggressive. We won’t know for sure until we dissect a few infected animals and examine their brains. To that end, some of us—” he nodded toward the twelve people seated to the left of the room “—will be working here in the portable lab, some with Dr. Venters, and two at the hospital and morgue, examining samples from victims. We’ll also have a constant, two-way flow of information and samples with Atlanta. I want to emphasize that if we determine that this animal behavior does have a disease-based cause, it will be absolutely necessary that we move fast to contain and neutralize the pathogen.”
    Jess voted silently for a brain disease. A pack of well-behaved family dogs, living peaceably for years side by side with their human pack, sleeping on kids’ beds, chasing balls and sticks, part of the annual Christmas picture. Then all of them, all at once, attack those same beloved owners. Something infecting their brains was the only thing that made sense to him. But, then, he wasn’t an epidemiologist.
    â€œLet me ask a question,” Dr. Latkin continued. “Why don’t I see anyone here from the Army Veterinary Corps in Frederick?”
    No one spoke. Jess could guess the answer: Nobody had thought of the Army Veterinary Corps, a tiny outfit based with the Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, twenty miles away. Certainly Jess, busy putting out fires for most of the last twenty-four hours, had not. The CDC was here probably because someone at the hospital had thought of them. Lou Hafner, small town mayor, didn’t think in terms of federal agencies.
    Dr. Latkin spoke over his shoulder to one of his people. “Julie, call USAMRIID and request the Veterinary Corps.” Julie rose and glided silently from the room.
    Latkin talked on, clarifying CDC procedures, stressing the need for information sharing. When he dismissed the meeting, Jess rose.
    â€œWait a minute, doctor. What about quarantining Tyler?”
    Dead silence.
    Mayor Hafner said, “Jess, I think that’s a bit premature.” He looked panicky.
    The sheriff said, his eyes narrowed, “What do you mean, Jess, by ‘quarantine’?”
    Jess wasn’t used to addressing a crowd. But he was used to animals. “Dogs wander. If this thing is a disease, a parasite or a virus or something, it seems to transfer pretty easy from one animal to the next, judging by the quickness that the whole thing blew up and—”
    â€œHow quick?”