Free Independence Day Plague by Carla Lee Suson

the hell do you mean by that?”
    Dorado jumped in before McAfee could speak, “Bri, not now. Frank, I’ll talk with Starker and get back with you.”
    Cardell snatched his notebook and stalked out of the door, leaving the room empty except for the two men.
    “ Don’t antagonize him.” Dorado said quietly.
    “ He’s an asshole Napoleon type.”
    “ He’s got rank and seniority on you. He’ll cause you trouble later.”
    McAfee grinned, “That’s why I have you to watch my back, Chief.” He turned to reach for his notebook while Dorado gathered his. “What's the point of confronting the FBI guy?”
    “ Exactly what I stated: we need the open lines.”
    “ The Feds won’t give you anything freely though. Why push it now?”
    Dorado replied, “Politics. It’s now on the record. La Croix will remember that every time he thinks about refusing a request. The son of a bitch knows it makes sense. Cooperation is going to be the only way to get through all this shit. Besides which, Olsen requested it.” He paused and sighed, “Oh, shit.”
    “ What’s up, amigo?”
    “ We’ll be lucky to keep Olsen once she finds out Cardell is on the team. Lots of bad blood between them.”
    “ So get someone else. Use Jacobs, most special projects go to him.”
    “ No.” He sighed again as they walked out of the conference room. “I don’t need a prima donna like Cardell. I want Olsen. If I can't dump him, we’ll isolate the son-of-a bitch with some busy work so he can’t hurt the group.”
     
    “ The cost of bread products rose again for the fourth quarter as more farmers are predicted to sell their crops to the highly profitable ethanol factories rather than food industries. Economic analysts state that the country is heading for a food shortage crisis of historical proportions if current agricultural trends continue.
    “ In other news, despite requests from the State Department, China refuses to acknowledge any mistake for firing on the frigate, ‘U.S.S. Abernathy,” stating that the ship illegally sailed into their national waters. Press Secretary Larson says the U.S. denies entering China’s national boundaries, Yet, he stated that since no one was seriously injured, the U.S. would still move forward with the peace talks in July.”
    Mitchell sighed, turned the radio off and inserted the microdrive into the recorder. The story had to continue no matter how painful. Afterwards, his words could be immortalized over, and over again on the stack of 100 microdrives without suffering more. The envelopes laid nearby, already addressed to the FBI, world embassies in D.C., telebroadcast groups, media e-papers, the President himself and two authors, famed for their biographical works. The pain of retelling it felt almost beyond endurance. The nightmares continuously haunted his sleep but somehow didn’t seem real, not as truly ugly as having to speak the words now.
    Mitchell rubbed tired eyes. Deep sleep, or at least dreamless rest, was rare the past few days. The retelling forced open mental wounds, which now bled images into his mind. The glow of his antique analog watch displayed green time to being a few minutes before midnight. He pushed the enter key and adjusted the mike again.
    “ Imagine if you can, waking up the next day after the feast. The largest worry on your mind wavers somewhere between being hung over and whether everything will be packed in time for the movers. When my wife rose from her bed, feeling stiff and achy, I didn’t pay it too much attention. No one paid attention to the early symptoms.
    “ I only worried when Katie complained of cramps by that evening. Within two days, her lymph nodes were swollen, and her eyes looked continuously bloodshot. Only the horrors we worked with would cause this effect…”
     
     
    By the second night, the word left unspoken on everyone’s lips: contamination.
    Not everyone fell sick immediately. Small children and babysitters who didn’t attend the