Chapter 79

KIDS HAD BEEN DRINKING from a water fountain at the Red-wood City Elementary School. They got sick.... Those were the first chilling words that we heard.

Every heart in the room slammed to a stop at the same time. 8:42. Within seconds, Molinari was patched through to the principal of the school. A decision was made to evacuate¹ it immediately. Claire, who had strapped³ on a headset, was trying to get through to the EMS vehicle carrying the kids who had gotten sick.

Never before had I seen the most capable people in the city so utterly⁴ panicked. Molinari carefully instructed the principal: "No one touches the water until we get there. The school has to be cleared right now."

He ordered an FBI team on a copter down to Redwood City. The toxicology expert was hooked right into our speakers.

"If it's ricin," he said, "we're going to see immediate² convul-sions, massive broncho-constriction, with intense, influenza-like symptoms."

Claire had gotten patched through to the school nurse. She identified herself and said, "I need you to carefully describe the symptoms the children are showing."

"I didn't know what it was," a frantic⁶ voice came back. "The kids were suddenly weak, showing signs of severe nau-sea. Temperatures were almost a hundred and four. Abdomi-nal pain, throwing up."

One of the emergency copters had already gotten to the school and was circling, relaying film from above. Children were rushing out of the exits, guided by teachers. Frantic parents were arriving on the scene.

All of a sudden, a second report crackled over the air-waves. A worker had collapsed⁷ at a construction site in San Leandro. That was on the other side of the bay. They didn't know if it was a heart attack, or something ingested.

As we tried to follow up, a news flash broadcast came over one of the monitors: "Breaking news... In Redwood City, the local elementary school has been evacuated⁸ after chil-dren were rushed to a nearby hospital, having collapsed, showing signs of violent sickness, possibly related to a toxic⁵ substance. This, on top of broadcast alerts of possible terror-ist activity today..."

"Any more reports of illness from the school?" Molinari spoke⁹ into the phone.

"None yet," the principal replied. The school was com-pletely evacuated. The helicopter was still circling.

Suddenly a doctor from the ER gave us an update. "Their temperatures are one oh three point five to one oh four," the doctor reported. "Acute nausea¹⁰ and dyspnea. I don't know what's causing it. I've never had experience with this sort of thing before."

"You need to take immediate mouth and nasal swabs to determine if they were exposed," the toxins¹¹ expert was instructing. "And chest X-rays. Look for any kind of bilateral¹² infiltrates¹³."

Claire cut in. "How are the pulmonary functions? Breath-ing? Lung activity?"

Everyone waited anxiously. "They seem to be function-ing," the doctor reported.

Claire grabbed Molinari's arm. "Listen, I don't know what's going on here, but I don't think this is ricin," she said.

"How can you be sure?"

Claire had the floor. "Ricin attacks through a necrosis of the vascular¹⁴ cells. I saw the results. The lungs would already be starting to degrade. Also, ricin has a four-to-eight-hour incubation period, does it not, Dr. Taub?" she asked the toxi-cology expert on the line.

The expert begrudgingly¹⁵ agreed.

"That means they would've had to have been exposed during the night. If the lungs are symptom-free, I don't think it has anything to do with that water. I don't know if this is some kind of staph attack, or strychnine.... I don't think it's ricin."

The minutes passed slowly as the doctors in Redwood City ran through the first series of diagnostic tests.

An EMS team was already on the scene in San Leandro. They reported that the construction worker there was having a heart attack and had been stabilized¹⁶. "A heart attack," they repeated.

Minutes later, Redwood City reported back. A chest X-ray showed no deterioration¹⁷ of the lungs in any of the children. "The blood work showed traces of staphylococcal entero-toxin B."

I watched Claire's expression.

"What the hell does that mean?" Mayor Fiske demanded.

"It means they've got a severe staph infection," she said, exhaling¹⁸. "It's serious, and it's contagious¹⁹, but it's not ricin."

1 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

5 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

6 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

11 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

13 infiltrates   

n.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的名词复数 )v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Caves form when water infiltrates limestone. 水渗透石灰石则形成洞穴。 来自辞典例句
• The tumor encircles the colon and infiltrates into the wall. 肿瘤环绕结肠四周浸润肠壁。 来自互联网

14 vascular   

adj.血管的，脉管的

参考例句：

• The mechanism of this anomalous vascular response is unknown.此种不规则的血管反应的机制尚不清楚。
• The vascular changes interfere with diffusion of nutrients from plasma into adjacent perivascular tissue and cells.这些血管变化干扰了营养物质从血浆中向血管周围邻接的组织和细胞扩散。

15 begrudgingly   

小气地，吝啬地

参考例句：

• Then, begrudgingly, I clean up – which doesn't really take that much time. 于是，为了省钱，我打扫干净－－那也不需要花很多时间。
• His terrible directness made me feel peeved, and begrudgingly I conceded that he was right. 他的坦率让我恼火。我承认他是对的，但十分不甘心。

16 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

18 exhaling   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的现在分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• Take a deep breath inhaling slowly and exhaling slowly. 深呼吸，慢慢吸进，慢慢呼出。 来自互联网
• Unclasp your hands and return to the original position while exhaling. 呼气并松开双手恢复到原位。 来自互联网

19 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。