Silicon?
Why on Earth would there be silicon in Houser’s blood?
She examined the rest of the results and located several unknown proteins. There was a chance that those proteins belonged to some kind of virus. She wouldn’t know for sure until Besser did a full workup.
But the silicon…
Silicon was a substance used mainly in electronics, and also for some cosmetic procedures. Daniel Houser did not seem like the type to get breast implants.
So what? He has computer chips running through his blood stream?
Dr Clark knew experiments were being done that would produce machines and computers made from silicon that would be small enough to exist on a cellular level, but the technology was still in its infancy. Even getting something down to the size of a pinhead was a vast challenge to most of the scientific community. Nanotechnology was still closer to a pipedream than a reality, but for some reason it was the thing she was thinking of now.
Aren’t they looking at ways of bonding silicon-based machines with bacteria? Trying to find a way to combine biology with technology to make self-replicating, self-sustaining robots that can fight cancer cells and seek out infection?
Science fiction.
But Daniel Houser had silicon in his veins.
Dr Clark scratched her chin. She wasn’t about to believe in nanotechnology just yet, but the presence of silicon in her patient’s bloodstream, along with the unknown proteins, made her wonder if it was something manmade that had caused his condition. The patient had mentioned a possible terrorist attack, after all. It might be time to get someone else involved. She picked up the phone on her desk and dialled in the number for Disease Control.
Someone on the other end answered immediately.
“Oh, hello,” said Dr Clark. “My name is Dr Clark. I am calling from Southampton General Hospital. I have a patient that was complaining of flu-like symptoms about ninety minutes ago, but his condition has suddenly progressed to internal haemorrhaging.”
“Did you run blood tests?”
“Yes. Negative for Ebola and other conditions that would present similar symptoms.”
“Then what is your primary concern?”
“I found silicon in his blood.”
“Silicon?”
“And some unknown proteins.”
The voice on the other end of the line suddenly seemed more interested. “Has the patient been exposed to anything?”
Dr Clark thought about things and then nodded into the phone as she replied. “The patient is a merchant sailor. He was involved with the rescue operation for that cruise ship which sunk in the Mediterranean last week. He also said that some of his colleagues-”
“Isolate the patient and anybody who has been in contact with them.”
Dr Clark rocked back in her chair as if the person on the other end of the phone had punched her. “What?”
“We’ll have a team on site within the hour. You must enforce emergency protocols immediately.”
“What is going on? Who is this man? What does he have?”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then… “Dr Clark, there have been dozens of cases in the last few hours of people who were involved in the Mediterranean clean up operation becoming very sick. We have quarantined several ships already and the French Navy have currently closed all shipping lanes in the area. Your patient must have fallen under the radar somehow.”
Dr Clark felt the blood leaving her cheeks and making her face pale. “What does he have?”
“We…don’t know. The attack on the cruise ship may have been down to terrorists. They may have released something.”
Dr Clark’s mouth fell open. “I…”
“Just isolate that patient, Doctor, and stand by for our arrival.”