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They Key to Believingchapter 6
The Conspiracy SearchSloane arrived at the office at 8:45 in the morning. Everyone was already in the office and watched her as she walked through the laboratory door. She went straight to her office. Julie was the first to enter her office. Without even getting the chance to meet their new assistant, Sloane had a list of things for her to do. Julie walked up toward Sloane for instruction, with her right hand out to shake hands. “I am the new assistant for your Department. My name is --” “Your name is Julie, and hi,” Sloane responded, not even realizing that She was in such a rush to get work done that she had cut Julie off as she tried to introduce herself. “You know who I am already? ... You must be Sloane Emerson,” Julie said, remembering everything she could from her accompanying paperwork that she didn’t even have to glance at. “Where do I go and what would you like me to do?” “We’re working on finishing a book that we’re all writing part of here, and I’ve got my intro for the book done, and I need you to print it up for the staff. It will give them something to start from. Remind them that they need to do a two-sentence biography for the end of their chapter. Come back to me when you’re done; I’ll have more for you to do in a bit.” “Ms. Emerson, are you okay?” Looking up from her desk, she tucked her hair behind her ears. “Yes. Why?” “You’re late, I can tell it’s not like you, because the staff was even worried.” Eyeing the clock on the wall, Sloane spoke. “I’m in fifteen minutes early.” “Yes, on company time, but on... Emerson time, you’re late.” Sloane smiled. “I was up late finishing the introduction.” Sloane adjusted her position and looked more serious again. “Let me know as soon as you’ve finished printing the introduction. I’ve just hooked up my computer to the system, so I’m on the network -- so you can just take the file from my computer.” “I’ll get right on it. Sorry to pry.” “No problem.” Sloane watched the temp walk out of her office. “Wait -- one more thing.” Julie turned around, “Yes, what is it?” “I should have said this before, but it would be very helpful if you could go through past general e-mails about Emivir and drug questions and sort them for me as well. There are a few e-mail addresses to sort from, and we can get you on to mine as well for reading and saving purposes only. It would save me a lot of work, and it will help me sort the data that has been coming in.” “Not a problem,” she answered as she left. Julie didn’t need to know that Sloane was up late working on the introduction but also that she couldn’t sleep because of the e-mail she had received. Most of the letters amazed her, and to some extent made her sad, because it seemed to her that the people who coped the best with their illness were also the people who never seemed to deserve the hand that was dealt to them. But the letter that kept her awake was the one she had read suggesting that the United States government used this disease to their advantage -- and that bothered her the most. She decided that she needed to get to the bottom of that letter. But on to a vaccine first, Sloane thought. Thinking about the vaccine options, it seemed to make the most sense to her to focus on either a Recombinant Vector Vaccine or a Whole-Inactivated Virus Vaccine. Vaccines where part of the virus was deleted had a lesser chance of success than a vaccine where part of the virus is inactivated; that’s why she liked the idea of a Whole-Inactivated Virus Vaccine. If that could not be accomplished, she thought, she could attempt to use a live virus that’s not HIV by modifying it to transport part of HIV, hence the Recombinant Vector Vaccine. She started writing out tests for different projects, starting with a Whole-Inactivated Virus Vaccine first, when Julie walked back into the room. “Everyone has your chapter, Ms. Emerson. What else would you like me to do?” Sloane thought about the e-mail she had received last night. “I put another posting up this weekend, and I got a ton of e-mails about how people deal with having AIDS, and I would like you to download them to our network. That’s the first thing. Secondly, there was a particular e-mail in there, it was very short, and it talked about the government’s involvement in using AIDS on spies. Save that e-mail too, but also do some research for me and find out where that e-mail came from. Third, I would like you to go on line and get as much information as possible by the end of the day for me about government conspiracy theories.” Julie looked at her for a moment. “Government conspiracy theories?” “Oh, I’m sorry, government conspiracy theories about AIDS and the HIV virus.” “But...” Julie looked visibly confused. “But why?” “Oh, that e-mail I read made me realize that there are ideas out there about this disease that I’m not aware of. I’d like to learn about them.” Julie looked at her for a moment. “Download e-mails to the network, trace the e-mail related to the government, and look for AIDS government conspiracy theories.” “Yes. By the end of the day.” “Do you remember exactly what the e-mail you want me to trace said?” “Something like, ’I was a spy, the government cured me of AIDS.’” Julie looked around briefly again. “Okay...” She turned toward the door. Sloane spoke before Julie could leave. “I don’t think he was telling the truth in this e-mail. I don’t believe it, but I’ve been trying to understand how people view HIV and AIDS, how they deal with it, and this is an avenue I could read up on while I’m at home tonight. I might as well. Besides, I haven’t read any good fiction lately.” Julie smiled. Sloane knew that she had subdued Julie’s fears. Sloane watched Julie walk out of her office again, and instead of going back to outlining her vaccine tests she’d make a phone call. It was just after noon in New York when she called Quentin Publishing. “Carter Donovan, please.” Sloane waited to hear his voice. “This is Carter Donovan.” “Carter, it’s Sloane.” “How are you? No glitches with the book?” “No. I just finished my overview chapter, and it has been distributed to the staff so they know how the book starts. I did it over the weekend, so they should be able to finish up their parts by the end of the week. You’re going to have someone in here for us by next Monday?” “Yes ma’am. Glad to hear everything’s going according to your tight schedule.” “That’s not what I was calling about, actually.” “Really? I hope it was social.” “Hey, I’m the one that made the effort to be social last, I’m waiting for you to make the next move.” Carter could hear the smile come through in her voice. “I’ll keep that in mind then,” Carter answered. “Besides, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to come out here to visit me the ’rain capital’ of the country anyway.” Carter laughed and answered by saying, “I’ve never had an aversion to a good rain storm. So what were you really calling me about?” “You offered to send me some books that Quentin has published about homeopathy and about AIDS. Have you--” “Oh my God, I forgot. I can have a crate of books sent out to your office for tomorrow morning.” Sloane answered by saying, “And if anything applies to our book, I’m make sure to add Quentin Books to our references list.” “I’ll have those books out to you. Thanks for reminding me.” “Hey Carter, do you have any copies of that book of yours that you did the press check for last week?” “Yeah, I have a few here. Why?” “Could you throw one in the box for me?” “Sure, but it’s on economics, not AIDS.” “I know.” “Why is it so nice to talk to you?” “Carter, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” “Okay, I am going to visit you soon.” “You better. You could even use this book as an excuse.” “Another company perk, perhaps?” “Is it deserved?” “I wouldn’t take it if it wasn’t.” Sloane laughed. “I’m going to go do some work now.” “Keep me up to date on your progress. You’ll get your books tomorrow.” Sloane hung up the phone and looked back to her computer. Kyle knocked almost instantly. “Hey, Sloane,” he said, “I didn’t mean to interrupt...” “Don’t worry. I haven’t even talked to anyone in the laboratory yet, and I’ve been here for hours. How is everything going?” “Oh, it seems fine, we’re all just working. Got your chapter.” “Thought I better do it before people started working on theirs, so we were all on the same page.” “What are you working on?” “I’ve been trying to figure out how to approach the vaccine.” “What’s on your mind?” “HIV mutates at an alarmingly high rate. There are many strains of HIV. And consider that there are also many strains of influenza. But as a new strain develops, we are able to make a vaccine for it.” “Yes, but you’re comparing the flu to AIDS.” “That doesn’t change the fact that a vaccine is possible. Now if it’s just the flu we’re talking about, researchers usually use a live virus. That would mean that the two options to focus on are the Whole-Inactivated Virus Vaccine, then the Recombinant Vector Virus.” “Whole-Inactivated first? Why?” “I figured there’s a better chance of the body fighting the virus more effectively if it had the whole virus in the vaccine, with just a part of the virus inactivated. If that doesn’t work, I’d go for adding a part of the HIV virus to vaccinia, or some other virus carrier that would be harmless to the human body.” “So what’s next?” “I have been outlining tests that I want to start on. Have any ideas?” “Print something up by this afternoon and I’ll sleep on it.” “Maybe I’ll print up a few copies, for anyone who wants to look it over.” Sloane spent the rest of the afternoon coming up with tests for HIV, methods to make crucial parts of the virus inactive, so it would be safe to inject into animals, and later humans. She tried to disregard the spy message, but it still loomed in the back of her mind nonetheless. By the time lunch was over, though, she had to face up to the fact that she had to reply to that last e-mail she read. Getting on line, she sent a reply message to the e-mail recipient that had sent her the message that seemed to haunt her. From: S_Emerson@Madison-Ph.com To: user6@elect.cafe.com Date: Monday, 1:22 P.M. Subject: re: engineered AIDS Who are you? Why did you write that? You offer no evidence and expect me to believe you. Please explain yourself. Sloane signed off and tried to get back to work. By the end of the day Julie handed over a stack of papers on AIDS government conspiracy theories. Julie told her that one of her e-mails was returned to her; it was the message she sent to the writer of the conspiracy e-mail message. “It’s a user public account that cannot receive messages, only send messages,” Julie told her. “The e-mail account is from a coffee shop that has free computers for Internet use. I finally found the coffee house; it’s in Denver. I got the phone number and address for you.” “Thanks, Julie. Now I’ve got another job for you.” Julie looked up at her. “Does it need to be done tonight? It’s the end of the day.” “Some time tomorrow is fine. Can you look for all federal government agencies in the state of Colorado, and collect names and e-mail addresses from them? Also, look for e-mail addresses and staff lists for anyone in the FBI, the National Security Agency or the CIA.” “Do you know how hard that information is going to be to find?” “Let me know what you can do. There have to be government staff lists on the Internet. Do you have any strings you can pull?” “I don’t know. I’ll let you know tomorrow. I might have some computer friends that could help me out.” “Thanks a lot, Julie. I really appreciate it. You’ve been very helpful.” Sloane decided to read her stack of pages at home. After looking at the number of web sites Julie had listed for her, she realized that oddly enough, there were more conspiracy web sites for AIDS than there were homeopathy and nutrition pages for AIDS. There was a plethora of conspiracies for Sloane to choose from: 1. There were conspiracies that AIDS was manufactured by America and the Russians stole it and infected us, conspiracies that AIDS was manufactured by America to get rid of homosexuals, blacks and other minorities, conspiracies that AIDS was manufactured by America and accidentally escaped into laboratory tests, where researchers hoped nothing would go wrong. All of the germ warfare theories indicated that HIV was manufactured in the United States. Sloane immediately wanted to argue with the germ warfare theory. Everything she read implied that germ warfare could have happened, but none of the things she read could lend any credence to whether germ warfare actually did happen. The germ warfare conspiracy theorists presupposed that researchers had enough knowledge to create the AIDS virus. So many human experiments with resulting deaths for all subjects would have to have been engaged in, and there was no record of it. And testing would have taken over a decade, considering the length of time HIV stays in the body before damaging the human immune system and thus launching AIDS. This made Sloane sure that it couldn’t have been used, because the government would want a disease that killed much faster than HIV did. 2. There was a conspiracy not in the creation but in the severe and deliberate mishandling/mismanagement of the virus after it first spread. These theorists mentioned that researchers regularly have to beg for funding, that they are limited in what they have to work with and don’t make waves. Reading those web pages made her angry. She knew that nationally more money went toward AIDS research than to heart disease and possibly even cancer -- both of which had a broader base of people to affect and end up attacking many more people. It made her blood boil to think of a person having to work with their hands tied behind their back, as these theorists suggested. Then she wondered if their work could somehow be halted. From one web site with no address listing on it, she read: “Suppliers who sell drugs or equipment to doctors know that in any field there are only a handful of leaders, and thousands more who follow the prevailing conventional wisdom. These followers do not seem to evaluate new treatments on their merits. (...) And in today’s science and medicine, the leaders are those able to bring big money into their institutions. They remain leaders only so long as they remain acceptable to the political forces which control that money.” A part of her wanted to entirely agree with that theory, but that did not account for the private institutions that did research, such as Madison Pharmaceuticals. That was precisely the reason why she did not want to work at the University. 3. There was a theory that fundamentalist (religious) groups put pressure on the government to stop funding AIDS research. That could be possible, Sloane thought, with the number of right-wing lobby groups gaining money from congregations. However, she had to believe that someone would not only be able to fight those lobby groups but expose them and reveal what cruel intentions those religious institutions had. The possibility that this was an option wasn’t something she could argue with; again, it was the fact that there was no evidence to support the theory that made her want to argue it. Enough people would’ve wanted to discount those religious lobbying groups to have been able to expose them. 4. There was a theory that groups looked for a cancer that spread like a virus. This suggested that researchers were trying to create a virus, which was similar in theory to the first line of conspiracy theories she read about. And the more she read the more she wanted to argue, wanting proof, and knowing full well that these listings were only theories and that there would be no proof at all to be found. 5. Sloane then read an article about someone who attempted hot therapy, heating the blood to 108 degrees to emulate a tropical fever. The government stopped then they had one successful case and wanted to continue on. What she could not understand was why the government wanted to stop an experiment to help people unless there was evidence that this procedure could be too hazardous to the patient. This may be one of those situations, Sloane thought. Sloane knew it was a grave risk in performing any experiments with hot therapy; she thought that if people knew their bodies were decomposing they would be willing to undergo it, and then read on. 6. There were also reports of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), which when injected into humans immunized people against AIDS. There were examples of some prostitutes in Africa who didn’t seem to have the virus, even though they had constant unprotected sex with patrons. But there was never evidence of said prostitutes coming in contact with SIV. 7. There was a theory that AZT caused AIDS. When a patient is told they’re going to die, they are put on AZT, and their condition then deteriorates. Drug usage also weakens the immune system, but sex doesn’t. Most homosexuals use drugs on some level once they are diagnosed. HIV, according to these theories, is a livable condition that doesn’t deteriorate the immune system -- it was the strong drugs that attacked all parts of the immune system, which could not focus on just HIV-infected cells destroying the immune system. Sloane didn’t know about the validity of this, because she knew as a researcher what HIV could do. But it disturbed her, primarily because there might be patients out there who decide to reject drug usage for their treatment for AIDS because of what they think the government is doing to them, because they think all of the drugs will do them more harm than good. Sloane didn’t want people to decide not to take drugs that might save their lives because they blindly believed what one web page told them. But still, the more she read, the more it bothered her. It wasn’t as if she believed in any of these theories, but the fact that these ideas exist may be an indication of foul play somewhere. 8. There was the theory that the government has a war on drugs but secretly keeps a stream of drugs out there, along with infected needles to spread AIDS, to remove “undesirable people” from the planet. 9. There was a theory that the creation of HIV and AIDS was a government scheme to reduce the planet’s population. Declassified documents from meetings where dignitaries and government officials discussed the problem of over population mentioned that there should be research into controlling the possibility. Noting that even though these documents existed, she knew that anyone could post a web page, and there was never in the documents an agreement for population control, or to create a virus. 10. One theory purported that HIV is not a sexually transmitted disease but just a virus, like getting a cold, and can be transmitted by something as simple as sneezing. The government, however, wanted to change the sexual behavior of the citizens of the United States and so they proclaimed that HIV was a sexually transmitted disease. Sloane kept reminding herself that false conspiracy theories actually make people less interested in practicing safe behavior or getting tested. This was one reason why she was irritated. The government may not try to stop the theories because they affect the believers more than they affect the government. People most at risk may use conspiracy theories as a part of their denial. And most conspiracy theories, as she could tell, were scientifically unsound, or homophobic/racist in origin. Sloane walked over to the kitchen to get another glass of juice. She walked back to her desk in her apartment and reread a paragraph she couldn’t get over. “I know some people will read my letters and think that this could not have happened. You have too much faith in your government. I may not be able to ’prove’ my theories in the ’absolute’ sense, because in a relative universe absolute proof is impossible. The skeptic will demand absolute proof, knowing full well there is no such thing as absolute proof. This is no place for skeptics and cynics. This is a place where people rely on evidence, not merely unfounded ideas posed forth to them. This is a place where people decide what to believe in, based on what could have been.” This is what scared her, almost more than the idea that her government -- the government of the country she lived in -- could have created and unleashed this disease on the people -- the government by the people, for the people. In that one paragraph someone suggested that she should not rely on proof. “Proof is impossible, because we live in a relative universe?” Sloane said out loud. “Relative universe? The effects or intensity of gravity may be relative from one planet to another, but the concept of gravity is not relative. Things can be proven, and they are not relative.” Sloane started pacing. “They say we have too much faith in our government, but should we have faith in some nobody who had enough spare change to put up a web site? They discount faith, but then they discount logic and reason by saying that no proof is possible.” Sloane stopped and looked back at the paragraph. “What is their definition of a skeptic or a cynic?” For the sake of argument, she went to her dictionary on the corner of her desk and opened it to find some answers. cynic (sin’ik), n. 1. A person inclined to believe the motives for people’s actions are insincere and selfish. skeptic (skep’tik), n. 1. A person who questions the truth of theories or apparent facts; a doubter. 2. A person who questions or doubts the possibility or certainty that humans are capable of knowing anything. “A cynic would be more inclined to believe in a conspiracy theory than in their government, not doubt those theories!” she said in disgust at the dictionary. “And a skeptic could either question the argument of the conspiracy theory, or they could agree with that paragraph in that people are incapable of knowing anything!” She closed her dictionary, turned off the desk light and leaned back in her chair. “But if you know you’re incapable of knowing anything, doesn’t that mean that you know something for a fact, if that statement is something you know for a fact, and knowing something therefore negates your theory?” She posed her questions aloud in her darkened corner of the room. She looked over at her clock and realized that she had wrapped herself up in her work and that it was already past midnight. This was another one of those moments when people’s behavior and lack of logic escaped her. Sloane was in the office when Kyle walked in Tuesday morning. Kyle took off his coat and walked straight to her office. “Did you eat breakfast yet?” “No, I usually don’t eat breakfast. Why?” “I was going to use it as an excuse for a morning meeting.” Sloane stood up. “No problem. I can grab some coffee.” They walked out of the office and to Kyle’s car; he offered to drive to a local donut shop. When they arrived Sloane sat at a booth while Kyle got his food. Kyle slid into his seat and looked at her. “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” “Why wouldn’t it be?” “You seem to be acting a little strange, but I can’t put my finger on exactly how. But other people are noticing it in the laboratory too.” “I have eight different projects on my mind, that’s all.” Kyle pulled out his notebook and took the cap off his pen. “Let’s start with the first one.” “Kyle, you know most of it,” she answered. “There’s the integrase inhibitor, there’s reducing side effects and making the drugs easier to take, there’s improving Emivir, there’s coming up with drugs to attack only HIV, and not the entire immune system.” Kyle sensed her apprehension. “What? This is exactly what I’m talking about.” “Besides those I’ve got this homeopathy book, and I’ve done a lot of reading on how people have been dealing with AIDS, and it has made this a much more personal job. I’ve read the stories of people in prison with no will to live. I’ve read stories of people doing well, with the best attitudes, and I keep thinking, my God, all of these people have to go through so much, and they have to keep their spirits up the whole time. These people have a strength that usually goes without being tested.” “Your concern is the drugs. You can’t let yourself get that personal. This is exactly the potential problem with doing research like this.” “Kyle, you’re thinking of this as a laboratory experiment, and I’ve seen the human side of it. It just makes me think that there is so much on the line for these people, and I want to be able to make this work for them as well as for myself. But that’s not even all of it. After the four teams I’ve got the staff on doing four projects as well as working on the Home AIDS book, I’m working in my spare time on ideas for a vaccine and a cure.” “A cure? You’ve talked to me about a vaccine, but not a cure.” “Oh, I had an idea on how the cure has to be developed, but it’s just an idea, there’s nothing concrete to it yet.” Kyle took a bite out of his donut as Sloane sipped her coffee. “So you’re overworked?” Sloane paused. “I’ve never been overworked before.” “Maybe we’re pushing ourselves too far...” Kyle smiled and ate. Sloane let a moment pass in silence before she spoke. “Kyle, I’ve received some information that has been disturbing to me. I don’t know how else to describe it.” Kyle looked up. “What’s wrong? DID something happen to someone?” Sloane looked confused. “Oh, no, everything is fine, it’s about my AIDS research; it’s not personal. So I’m thinking about something else as well, so I guess I’m being pulled in eight directions.” “What is the new problem?” Kyle asked. “Oh...” Sloane knew she would sound foolish to Kyle if she told him the truth. “Someone e-mailed me with some information, and I don’t think it’s valid, but I can’t get it out of my mind either way.” “I don’t know what to tell you,” Kyle said. “I think the laboratory teams can handle the drug concerns, so get those out of your head. Your part of the homeopathy is done with; now just wait until the end of the week for the rest of the book and we’re set. So focus on the vaccines. Let the cure idea stay on the back burner. Keep thinking about it, but work on a vaccine now, because I think that’s your best bet. Maybe working on a vaccine will help you figure out what to do for a cure.” “I know, you’re probably right.” Sloane looked away, and noticed Kyle’s newspaper folded on the edge of their table. A headline caught her eye. “Mind if I look at your paper?” “Go right ahead.” Kyle continued eating while Sloane read the front page. She didn’t have any interest in looking for Steve’s column. “This is what gets me,” Sloane muttered. “What’s the matter?” Kyle asked. “Oh, these groups trying to introduce gun laws, outlawing guns in this country.” “Why on earth would you want a gun, Sloane?” “I don’t. But that’s irrelevant. I don’t want pornography, either, but I’m not trying to stop anyone else from getting it.” “But wouldn’t you feel safer knowing that guns were illegal?” “I’m not worried about the lawful people buying guns, I’m worried about the unlawful people who would rob me with their guns, who will still be able to get a gun on the black market whether or not guns become illegal.” “But what reason does a lawful person have to want or demand a gun?” “That’s not the issue. Whether they want it for protection, or for shooting birds, or skeet shooting, or hunting, that doesn’t matter. The government should not be able to tell everyone that they cannot have a gun.” “But we are a danger to ourselves with guns. Do you know how many accidental deaths a year occur with handguns?” Sloane set the paper down. “It’s not the government’s job to protect people from their own stupidity, the government’s job should be only to protect people from the force of others -- to protect people’s life, liberty, and their pursuit of happiness. Remember those words?” “Isn’t the government protecting our lives by outlawing guns?” “Maybe they should outlaw cars, then, since people get killed in them. Or maybe steak knives. Or scissors. Or ropes, you know, people can hang themselves with ropes.” “Sloane --” “No, Kyle, if you let the government control one aspect of your life, they will be fully justified in controlling every other aspect in that spectrum as well. One of the first things Adolph Hitler in his rise to power did was introduce gun laws so he could make sure the people he was about to put into concentration camps and gas chambers weren’t armed.” “But that’s Hitler. That’s not America.” “Kyle, the meaning of ’life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ is three things. One, someone has a right to their own life, and no one can take that away. Two, they are free, so that no one can force them to be slaves or do things against their will. Three, they have a right to make the effort to continue their lives, they have a right to what they earn, and no one can take that away from them. They have the right to go out and look for a job, to make their lives better. Nowhere does it say that people have a right to a government that will make decisions about their own safety for them. That’s not the role of government.” Kyle leaned back in his booth. “You know, you seem angry.” “Do you not think this is something worth being angry about?” “Do you actually think about these kind of things on a regular basis?” “Of course I do. My life and livelihood depend on it. Don’t you?” Kyle grabbed his coffee and folded his paper. “Don’t you have other things to worry about, say, like finding an AIDS vaccine?” “Sure. But remember to be grateful that you live where the government doesn’t take away our right to do that.” Sloane smiled. “Should we get back to the lab?” Kyle shook his head at her and slid out from the booth to head to work. By the end of the day Julie came up with a list of names and corresponding e-mail addresses for every federal agency in the state of Colorado as well as for the FBI, the National Security Agency and the CIA. Sloane was amazed that Julie was able to pull it off. “Ms. Emerson, all of the federal agencies in Colorado are for organizations such as water reclamation and energy conservation and resource distribution. Are you sure you want those lists combined with e-mail addresses from the FBI, the NSA and the CIA?” Sloane thought about the fact that spies wouldn’t be working for a water reclamation district, but if her contact was indeed a spy the agency might be a front for their real work. “Yes, please put them all into one list for this mailing,” Sloane said. “Keep them separate in our files, so we know what groups the addresses are from.” “Got it.” Throughout the day Sloane thought about her deciding to send this questionnaire to everyone: could any of those agencies in Colorado really be a front for a group of government spies? She had no reason to believe so. She shrugged it off and started writing up a generic questionnaire to be sent to all the names on the list. From: S_Emerson@Madison-Ph.com BCC: list@Madison-Ph.com Date: Tuesday, 4:56 p.m. Subject: AIDS survey Thank you in advance for your time. We are doing research about people’s awareness of AIDS and HIV. We are interested in finding out what people know about AIDS and how people view AIDS. You have been randomly selected; your participation in this survey will help us with education about AIDS. It should only take a short amount of time, and your answers will remain strictly confidential. Thank you for your participation. 1. Do you know anyone with AIDS or HIV? If so, how many people? 2. How does one contract HIV? 3. Where do you think HIV came from; where did it originate? 4. What preventative measures will stop the spread of HIV and AIDS? 5. What are your views on the spread of AIDS? Do you feel that it may affect you at some point in your life? Once again, thank you once again very much for your time and consideration. This will be the last e-mail you receive. Thank you. She told Julie to send the letter out to the list of people before she left work. Now it was just a matter of time, Sloane thought. Hopefully, if this person were from a government agency, they would recognize her e-mail address and write her back. She thought that maybe she should post a letter looking for someone who wrote her from that e-mail address. Asking Julie to contact the coffee shop the next morning to see if they had records of who used accounts at their business, Sloane already knew the answer would be no, that people paid in cash, that there were no video cameras in the cafe to monitor who sent e-mails. But she asked Julie to do it anyway. She also asked Julie to post messages on all major bulletin boards about AIDS as well as conspiracy theories asking for the person who sent that e-mail to her to write her back. She doubted that would work either. But she had to try. The next few days Sloane continued to work on her vaccine tests. She started two tests and was waiting for results. Thursday afternoon came and she still hadn’t checked her e-mail. Julie was proofreading other chapters of the book as they were completed. Late Thursday afternoon, her phone rang. “Sloane Emerson.” “It’s Toby.” “Toby, how are you? I haven’t heard from you since Miami.” “Yeah, well, that’s because I’ve been in a bit of a fight.” “Really? Who’s girlfriend did you sleep with?” Toby laughed. “I meant political fight.” Then he turned serious. “A fight with the University. They cut all the funding for my project.” This shocked her. “All of it? Why?” “They told me there was nothing there and that I should continue with the protease inhibitor research. It’s insane.” “Are they right?” “You know they’re not. You saw the results I had after the first trip.” “But to tell you to go back to work on protease inhibitors? There are enough protease inhibitors on the market now, your research should focus on something else, something more pressing.” “I’m sure the University is getting pressure from somewhere else... It’s driving me crazy.” “You really think they’re getting heat?” “Oh, I’m sure of it.” Toby answered. “Toby, do you remember the name of the company that purchased the land in the rain forest?” “I can get it, it’s in my notes. Why?” “Find out if they’re related to the U.S. government, or if they got a loan from the government, or if they had to get approval or anything.” “Why?” “It’s just a hunch. It may help you find out why you’re facing opposition with your research.” “You think the two relate?” “I don’t know, but this is one way to find out. Let me know what information you get,” Sloane said. “Okay. Thanks, Sloane.” “Why? I haven’t done anything.” “You keep working. You never let me wallow.” “What was that night in Miami, you know, ’whiskey night’?” Toby laughed. “What was the next morning, with you collecting rain forest research while I slept?” Toby paused before speaking. “I’ll call you.” After hanging up the phone, she thought for a moment about the fact that she never stopped working, and that trying to make something happen with Steve failed miserably. Then her mind went to what she just told Toby to do. The thought wasn’t that someone finally realized how financially irresponsible his research was, but that the same people that pulled the plug on his research bought and cleared the land Toby was working on. This frightened her. She couldn’t believe that someone was stopping Toby from working because he might be on to something. Reason and logic would dictate that his work was stopped because there was no merit in his expensive ideas. All this talk about conspiracies was getting to her, she thought. Looking over at her computer, she got on line to check her e-mail. There were four responses to her e-mail questionnaire. Sloane was amazed; they sent out hundreds of letters, and after days they received only four responses. From: T_Benson@fed.md.gov To: S_Emerson@Madison-Ph.com Date: Wednesday, 10:16 A.M. Subject: re: AIDS survey 1. No. 2. Through unprotected sex, through intravenous drug use with a contaminated needle, blood contact between someone with an infected person or through a transfusion of infected blood 3. Africa 4. Stop drugs, use condoms 5. I don’t think so. I’m happily married and do not use drugs. Sloane deleted the first e-mail and read on. From: 1057358@Water.CO.gov To: S_Emerson@Madison-Ph.com Date: Wednesday, 6:47 p.m. Subject: re: AIDS survey 1. Yes. Two people. 2. Sex and drug use, or sharing of blood. 3. Africa, from a monkey 4. Do not engage in immoral activity. 5. I don’t believe it will affect me because I take the appropriate precautions. Sloane was getting more and more disappointed. She thought there was no reason to look at the next two. She deleted the one message from her e-mail box, then opened the third letter. From: W_Owens@env.conserve.gov To: S_Emerson@Madison-Ph.com Date: Wednesday, 10:20 p.m. Subject: re: AIDS survey Was that a thinly veiled cover-up or did you not know you found me? 303.555.1843.
Click here for Chapter 7 of The Key To Believing
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portions of this book are in the following books:
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