CIRCLES OF TIME: The Great War
-by: the Yarnspinner-
the_yarnspinner@yahoo.com
http://strands-of-moonlight.my3gb.com
-or- http://strands-of-moonlight.6te.net
Rated: PG-13> Chapter 12 - Deadlier By Far <
It was the morning of March 11, 1918, at Fort Riley, Kansas. A young private, company cook Albert Gitchell, reported to the camp hospital before breakfast, suffering from headache, sore throat, and fever. Another soldier, Corporal Lee W. Blake, followed only minutes later, with similar complaints. Both quickly grew worse. By noon the number of ill soldiers had swelled to a hundred. Before the week was out, over 500 had been afflicted.
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By the end of May, 500 prisoners at San Quentin penitentiary in California were suffering from apparently the same malady that had struck Fort Riley. Other military bases were likewise beginning to report similar cases.
Afflicted soldiers were unwittingly carrying the still unknown virus with them as they were shipped out to join the war in Europe. While in mid-Atlantic, the 15th U.S. Cavalry suffered 36 cases of the outbreak, with six of the cases proving fatal. More ominously, the virus had jumped the Atlantic.
In June of 1918, Great Britain experienced 31,000 cases.
The disease, now known as Spanish Influenza, was cutting a swath far and wide. War plans were altered because of it. Germany's summer offensive had to be postponed when half a million German soldiers were afflicted. All the powers experienced a similar loss of manpower to the disease.
By July, the flu had spread worldwide, with outbreaks in Russia, North Africa, India, the Philippines, China, and New Zealand, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. It displaced the war as the leading killer, and struck across all social boundaries. It couldn't be seen before it struck, and modern medicine seemed powerless to stop it. The war could be escaped. The flu could not.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Albert studied the latest reports. The Havana center was under strict isolation protocols. Isolation and decontamination spells were in place, but no one could say with any certainty that these measures would stop this new virus that was spreading with terrifying swiftness. Aaron moved up behind him.
"Anything?" Aaron asked.
"Yes," Albert replied. "But I'm afraid it's all bad news."
Samuel, Daniel and Setsuna walked over.
"The Order is behind this," Albert said.
"They caused the flu outbreak?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know about that, but they are taking full advantage of it," Albert said. "They're collecting considerable amounts of life energy through their network."
"How much?" Aaron asked, clearly concerned.
"Over a million," Albert said. "But our transmitters have engaged and we're siphoning off about forty percent of that."
"But this thing is spreading like wildfire," Samuel observed. "The Order needs about six million lives to be sure of awakening Metallia. At the rate the flu epidemic is spreading, the death toll could easily be twice that."
Setsuna shook her head, then raised her hand, holding up four fingers.
"Four times?!" Albert exclaimed in shock. "My God! The war has killed about nine million so far, and that in four years. Given what Setsuna has just indicated, this flu epidemic will kill more than twice as many people, in less than twelve months."
"I will contact the other council members and notify them of this," Aaron said. "Samuel. When is Peter due back?"
"Tomorrow," Samuel said.
Aaron nodded. "Alright. In the meantime, Albert, I want you to calculate as closely as you can how fast the Order is actually collecting energy, both from the flu and the war. We need to know just how long we have until they reach that six million threshold."
"Understood," Albert said.
Aaron turned. "Daniel, contact Eric and have him start preparations for an assault on the Order's Brazilian center. Tell him he has top priority, anything he needs."
"Right," Daniel said. He then turned and hurried to send a message to Eric.
"Setsuna. We need as much information on the Brazilian center as we can get," Aaron told her. "We want to be ready to go just as soon as possible. Also, if at all possible, we need to know if they're making preparations in advance to be able to perform the awakening ceremony on short notice, or if they will need additional set up time."
"I understand," she said.
"Albert, do we have any information on the virus itself?" Aaron asked.
"The medical section reports that it's a variant on the basic influenza virus," Albert said.
"Is the Order's magic what makes this one so much worse?" Aaron asked.
"Apparently not," Albert replied. "Medical says that new mutations of influenza appear every few months or so. There's no sign of magic. This one appears to be just an extremely bad roll of the mutational dice."
"But the fact that the Order had taken the trouble to set up a global energy transfer system suggests they were planning something like this," Samuel said.
"Could be," Albert said. "We just don't have any evidence to connect them to the Spanish Flu virus."
"Well, that part of it doesn't make much difference right now," Aaron said. "We now know the Order is collecting the life energy of those who die from the flu, and that this means they could very soon have enough energy to accomplish their goal. That means we need to move as quickly as possible to stop them."- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alphonse entered a conference room in the Order's Swiss center, where the High Priest and two other Order council members, Charlotte and Stanley, were waiting. Several maps hung on the walls, and a number of file folders lay on the table.
"This plague of yours is proving immensely successful, Stanley. I congratulate you," Alphonse said.
"I cannot take credit for this," Stanley said. "This epidemic surfaced before we had a chance to implement our plans in that area, I'm afraid."
"This is purely natural?" the High Priest asked, clearly surprised.
"It certainly looks that way," Stanley said. "The influenza outbreak fit very well with our timetable, and our collection network was already in place, so the implementation team decided to forego unleashing our own plague, and simply cast the necessary spells to allow us to capture the life energy of those who succumb to the influenza."
Alphonse was leafing through a report on energy collection totals. "I certainly cannot argue with your team's decision, Stanley. We are already well ahead of your original projections. At this rate, we should be ready to perform the awakening ceremony for our great dark lord by the Fall of this year, or perhaps even earlier."
"That is good news indeed. I shall see about speeding along preparations for the ceremony," said the High Priest. "And I hear there is also good news concerning the war. The German Reichstag seems to have put its peace campaign behind it, voting to extend still more money to support Germany's war effort, while the Kaiser and his government have announced they are determined to fight to victory."
"I would not place much stock in that," Charlotte said, shaking her head. "The Germans are talking tough, but between the influenza and the Americans, their hand is extremely weak. Even before the flu started taking its toll on the German ranks, their drives were stalling when they ran up against fresh American units."
"I agree," said Alphonse. "A few in the German government may be fooling themselves into thinking they can still achieve a quick knockout blow against France and Britain, but it's pretty clear their opportunity for that has past. Now that the French have seen the Americans beginning to arrive in large numbers, and know that many, many more are coming, they've regained much of their will to fight."
"Very true," Charlotte agreed. "French fighting spirit has been stiffening."
"How much longer can we expect the war to go on?" Stanley asked.
Alphonse looked up from the file he was reading. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you... but I really don't give a damn. By this Fall, we'll have enough energy to awaken our dark lord, and after that, this war will be irrelevant. I think the only thing we need be concerned about now is the possibility of another raid by the Paladins."
The High Priest nodded. "We still don't know just how the Paladins managed their raid against our storage center in Austria," he pointed out. "If they were able to succeed against all the precautions we had made there, we must always be considering that they might find some way through all our defenses and preparations at our Brazilian center."
"I seem to remember being told that our defenses for the Brazilian center would be impregnable," Charlotte said.
"Yes, but we were told the same thing about the storage center in Austria," the High Priest said.
Alphonse was reading through a file. He pulled out one page, studying it closely, as a puzzled expression formed on his face. Flipping back through the previous file, he found the energy collection totals and began comparing the figures.
"Stanley, who did this math?" Alphonse asked. "I'm comparing influenza fatality projections with energy collection figures, and the collection figures appear to be short in every case."
Stanley nodded. "Yes. We decided to allow for the same loss rate we've been experiencing in collecting life energy from the battlefields, which has been running at about 35 percent. Last check of the influenza collection showed we were losing about 40 percent."
"But these projections showing us reaching our threshold by the Fall...?" Alphonse asked, holding up the page.
"Those figures take the forty percent loss into consideration," Stanley answered.
"Forgive me, but why are we accepting such a tremendous loss rate?" Charlotte asked.
"I'm afraid that is a holdover from when Francesca was in charge," Stanley said. "She refused to permit a thorough investigation of what was causing the loss of energy from the battlefield."
"And in Stanley's defense, his committee was also concerned about any overt activity that might tip our hand to the Paladins," the High Priest said.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Setsuna walked along the wide hallway of the Order's Brazilian center, completely cloaked from detection. Activity bustled around her. Crews seemed to be in a hurry.
She entered the cavernous altar chamber. Along the walls, the Order's mantra, 'the darkness shall triumph', was carved in large letters. A scaffold stood along one wall, where the carving was still in progress. Two more scaffolds rose above the spectators' section of the huge amphitheater to allow work on the ceiling, where lights were being installed, along with bars from which banners could be hung.
On the raised center section of the altar platform, a huge fire pit was being prepared. Walking around the platform, she found five holes bored into the floor around the pit, clearly forming the points of a pentagram. A magic crystal would need to go in each hole, but as yet there was no sign of any crystals. Benches were positioned along the edge of the platform for the wizards who would perform the ceremony. Seats were still being installed for those who would come to witness the event.
Another crew entered the room and moved down to the altar platform, bringing several crates with them. She watched them to see what they were doing. The men opened the crates and began laying the border for the pit.
She made her way back out of the chamber and moved out toward one of the energy storage rooms. Inside, the cylinders glowed with quantities of stolen energy. Here, the bustling activity was absent. Surprisingly, the doors were unguarded. One attendant stood at a control panel next to the door, monitoring the status of the cylinders in that room, while another attendant walked among the cylinders, checking each one.
Across the hall, Setsuna entered another storage room, finding it a mirror image of the first. Here, too, there were no guards at the doors, and just two staff members on duty. She walked slowly through the room, noting the energy readings of each cylinder. None of the cylinders was more than half full.
She left that room and made her way to the other side of the huge complex, where she slipped into yet another storage chamber. Once again, there seemed to be little evidence of any efforts to guard the storage rooms. As with the other chambers, none of the cylinders was more than half full.
She moved upstairs, finding a command room with a series of maps on the wall. One wizard and three mortals were on duty here, but all seemed to be buried in paperwork. Glancing over the wizard's shoulder, she saw he was reviewing status reports on the preparations of the center. In that file was a hand-written note urging faster progress. The reports, however, suggested there was still much to be done. The wizard scribbled his signature on the top report, and moved it aside. On the next page, Setsuna saw a report that showed the energy conduits within the center to carry the energy to the altar were still incomplete. She studied the document closely, memorizing the key details. The wizard shook his head in obvious frustration, and reached for a sheet of paper, writing out a note to the construction chief.
Setsuna inspected the maps, finding them to be charts of the Order's collection points. Much of what was shown here the Paladins had already identified.
On the next desk, she found what she was most looking for. A file lay open which outlined the center's security procedures. As she read through it, though, something nagged at her. There was almost no provision for dealing with attackers who succeeded in penetrating the facility. Continuing to examine the file, she could find no information on deployment of security forces within the center. Everything seemed to be based on preventing an attacker from getting in in the first place.
Heading downstairs, she entered a large barracks chamber. This was clearly prepared for at least fifty men, but as yet the chamber was unused, and all the closet spaces were empty.
She moved down the hall, finding quarters for the construction crews. Further along, she entered a room set up as a tavern. Several men sat at the bar. Their uniforms indicated they were supervisors.
"It's ridiculous," the first man said. "Each day I get memos saying that we have to move faster, and that the timetables have been moved up. I've barely got enough people in my section to be able to meet the original schedule."
"I know exactly what you mean," the second man said. "I've had to give up nearly half of my crew to help other sections. Now the conduits are so far behind schedule that we'll be lucky to get them finished before November."
"That's crazy," the first said. "What does it matter if the cosmetic touches get done if we can't get the energy up to the altar? You'd think that would be top priority."
The second man nodded. "You'd think so. But then, we're just here to work. We don't make the decisions."
A guard officer sat down next to them, and the bartender brought him a beer. "Are we comparing work troubles?" the officer asked.
The other two nodded.
The officer took a long swallow of his beer. "Well, you're not alone. We in security are supposed to keep the damn Paladins from blowing this place sky-high, but we've only got two squads to do a job that should take about twenty."
"We've all been told that the defensive spells here are impenetrable," the second said.
"They said the same thing about the storage center in Austria," the officer replied. "And they had at least thirty squads of security deployed there... for all the damn good it did."
"It sounds like some people are getting over confident," the first man said. "Looking ahead to the awakening of our dark lord."
"Well, once she's here, our problems will be over," the second man said. "But we do still have a lot of work to do before that happens."- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"So, they're that badly prepared?" Peter asked dubiously.
"That's what all the indications are," Setsuna said. "The files in the command room could have been plants, but not the guard officer and the two section chiefs."
"I'd have to agree with that," said Eric. "But I'm afraid we're not in a position to take advantage of it just yet."
"What are we waiting on?" Aaron asked.
"Half of my current team is down with the flu," Eric said. "And I'm still working on contingency plans."
"I actually have an idea for that," Daniel said. "But we'll need to test it out first."
"How long do we have?" Aaron asked Albert.
"Well, I was projecting December," Albert said. "But parts of the United States are experiencing a second wave of the flu, and the death toll worldwide is rising faster than before. Now I would have to say September. October is more likely, but let's call it September to be safe."
"That gives us barely a month," Peter observed.
Eric took a long, slow breath. "Daniel... I think we need to start going over this idea of yours. We're not going to be able to wait for my team to recover."
Daniel nodded, and he and Eric headed for the door.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
As August drew to a close, the flu was running rampant. In Boston, the Chelsea Naval Hospital was overwhelmed by this plague which seemed to pick out the fittest men and give them the harshest treatment.
This was not the standard flu the doctors had seen many times before, which caused general aches and pains, a low fever, and sinus congestion which went away after a few days bed rest. The men afflicted came in with a bluish complexion and purple blisters. A deep, hacking cough so interrupted normal breathing that victims could hardly take in enough oxygen. These conditions only got worse, and a bloody, foamy fluid filled up the lungs, literally drowning the victims.
A military parade of soldiers and sailors preparing to go off to war spread the disease to the civilian population of Boston, as was also happening all along the East Coast of the United States.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bernardo lay in bed, unable to move. The dark blotches covered his face and body, while deep, hacking coughs shook him uncontrollably. His body was drenched in sweat.
"This is not good," Thomas said softly.
"Forget... about... me," Bernardo gasped, between coughs. "Worry... about... your... self."
"This thing is airborne," Thomas said. "It's probably too late for that. All I can do now is hope the protective spell can block it."
Bernardo nodded, while Thomas applied a cold compress to his forehead. Thomas applied a spell to ease Bernardo's coughing.
"That will help for a little while, but not permanently I'm afraid," Thomas said.
They were in one of the Paladins' Boston safe houses. Bernardo and Thomas had attended the parade, and Bernardo developed the symptoms a little over a week later.
There was a knock at the door of Bernardo's bedroom. The door opened and a young Paladin doctor entered.
"Are you Thomas?" he asked.
"Yes," Thomas said, rising to his feet. "This is Bernardo."
"I am Henry. They told me you thought it was the Spanish Flu," he said. "But I can now see that for myself."
"Is there anything you can do for him?" Thomas asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Henry said. "But to be perfectly honest, I'd have to say that only Metallia is a bigger threat to humanity."
"It's that bad?"
"I'm afraid so. If this epidemic isn't brought under control, or doesn't burn itself out, very soon, it could lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it," Henry said.
The doctor sat down beside Bernardo and checked his pulse.
"I checked his temperature about ten minutes ago," Thomas said. "It was a hundred and five. I've been applying low grade spells to ease his coughing and to eliminate the fluid in his lungs."
"That's good thinking," Henry said. He then turned his attention back to Bernardo. "I'm going to apply a specific decontamination spell, Bernardo. This will be very uncomfortable, but it will purge the virus from your system. Only then can you really begin to recover. The disease has progressed too far for your body to have any hope of beating it on its own, I'm afraid."
Bernardo nodded his understanding.
"Is there any way I can assist?" Thomas asked.
"I don't think so, but thank you," Henry said.
Henry applied his spell. Bernardo immediately clenched his eyes shut and ground his teeth in pain.
"This will take a few minutes," Henry said.
Bernardo's breath grew short, and a new wave of coughing shook him violently.
"Thomas, try to relax his breathing again if you can," Henry instructed.
"Right," Thomas acknowledged, placing a hand on Bernardo's shoulder and applying a spell of his own.
Bernardo relaxed a bit, though still in pain.
After several minutes, Henry let his spell fade. Bernardo was wracked by coughing once again, and Thomas again helped to ease his breathing.
"I... don't... feel... any... better," Bernardo gasped.
"I know," Henry said. "The virus is gone, but its effects still remain. It's just that now, your body can deal with the symptoms."
"How long will he need?" Thomas asked.
"He should be able to get out of bed in perhaps five or six days," Henry said. "I'll leave you with some medication to help bring down the remnants of his fever. Don't use spells on him except to dry up his lungs, but you really shouldn't see any more problems with that now. I'll stop back in tomorrow morning to see how he's doing. But call me immediately if he should show any signs of getting worse."
"I understand," said Thomas. "Thank you very much."- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Samuel entered the main room. "I just heard from Thomas," he said. "Bernardo got hit with the flu quite badly."
"How is he?" Daniel asked.
"Henry, the doctor, got to him, and Bernardo is recovering," Samuel said. "But Thomas said Henry was not optimistic for the future if this virus doesn't start to fade pretty soon. I've also checked with Medical, and heard similar comments."
"But Setsuna has given us at least a rough idea of how many it will kill," said Albert. "Twenty million or so is certainly quite a significant loss, but hardly enough to bring down civilization."
"That's true," Peter said. "But she didn't say that the virus would just fade out on its own. I think we should still examine every possibility to bring this under control."
"I agree," Aaron said. "Peter, I'll contact Medical and ask them to come up with any recommendations they can."
"Good," Peter said. He then turned to Daniel. "How are preparations coming for raiding the Brazilian center?"
"They're coming along very well," Daniel said. "We could be ready in a few days."
"Excellent. I want to eliminate the Order's current threat just as soon as we can," Peter said. "If our intervention is required to bring the flu under control, I don't want us to have to divide our attention if at all possible."< To be continued >
* * * * * * * * * * * *
NOTE: I've tried to convey at least an impression of the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic, without getting too graphic. Though it is not as widely remembered as the plagues of the Middle Ages, the Spanish Flu killed 25 million people in just a year (compared with between 9 and 11 million dead in World War One), at a time when medical science thought it had learned how to immunize against such diseases. Medical science still cannot explain just why the 1918 outbreak was so deadly, nor why it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.Always remember, good gentles, that a yarnspinner works from and within existing legends and stories. The characters of "Sailor Moon" belong to others. In spinning my yarns, I do not seek to infringe on their rights of ownership, but merely to join with other fans to spread the legend still further. "The moonlight carries a message of love." Enjoy.
-05.11.2001