Roxanne and the Viral Pandemic

Roxanne and the Viral Pandemic

The date: April 23, 2354

Location Fort Santiago Space Complex , Manila, Philippines.

“Hello Tim, honey, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I am just walking in the space lab's garden thinking things through and watching the rioters at the front gate.,” Roxanne said.

“I Just wanted to say I love you and please be careful. Don't forget to stay away from others. You don't want to catch the virus,” I said.

“Where are you now, exactly?” Roxanne asked me.

“Actually, I am not far from you. I am about to enter the space lab now.”

“Great! I will see you on level three in a half hour.”

“Bye for now hon,” and she hung up her transponder.

Roxanne Miller, the civilian contractor, electrical engineer, (aka Sparky) was walking through the garden near the space lab complex. She was walking by her self just thinking about her marriage to Timothy Crenshaw and her feelings towards the Manila government and the space lab.. Sure she loved her husband but she knew that he was bi-sexual. She saw the way he “checked out” other men's bodies. She was married to him for only three years; mostly happy years, but she had to make a decision. Timothy couldn't get her pregnant. He was sterile. Had Roxanne known this, she would never gotten married to him. Timothy was also an ideological conservative while she was a socialist. The marriage wasn't working, why did she marry him?

During these calamitous times, everyone needed to be careful. Sixty percent of the world's population had been decimated by the virus. This new strain of the novel virus 52, so far, has been proven resistant to any vaccines and the experts have proven that climate change is one of the reasons why this viral infection is spreading so fast and so deadly.

Timothy was on the third level of the space lab. The space lab was located on the outskirts of Manila, at Fort Santiago. The Philippines at this time was controlled by Brazil and Brazil was the world's leading super power. Brazil had control over many of the worlds economies and it had by far the strongest military in the world. It was also leading the world in finding a vaccine for this novel virus 52 because it had the most advanced research laboratories. Just like many other countries before it, Brazil was now the sole super-power.

Timothy was walking on the third level of the space lab when he ran into general Winfield.

General Winfield was a no nonsense, African American female, who did everything by the book.

“Crenshaw, where is your wife?” the general asked.

“She is walking in the garden right now mam. Did you have an appointment with her,” I replied.

“No, but I need to talk to both of you this evening. I will call her now,” the general said.

The general called my wife and told her to meet us in her office in ten minutes.

Ten minutes later we were in general Winfield's office. The general, my wife and I were in the general's office sitting around an oval wooden table. The general's plaques were clearly visible on the wall.

“Both of you must listen to me very carefully. As you both are aware of, the next lift off for Moon Base Tricor is scheduled for next Tuesday at ten am. You both know how important it is that we keep that Moon Base free of this novel virus that is plaguing the world. If that virus were to infect the Moon Base there is a good chance that that outpost would be annihilated. There are anti-governmental forces out there that want this mission and Moon Base Tricor to fail. Please use all available protocols when entering onto the Regency 2 space craft next week,” the general said with her arms folded.

But general, we are in the middle of monsoon season here on the Philippines and our lab being on the coast is extremely vulnerable to the flooding and rising sea level. It is bad enough we have rioters at our gates. Wouldn't it be better if we canceled this mission and waited for a better time to lift off,” I said in a matter of fact tone of voice.

“I understand this, but our supervisors back in Brazil want the Regency 2 to deliver the two electronic modules to Moon Base Tricor as soon as possible. You both know how important these modules are for the climate control system on that moon base” the general said.

“We understand,” my wife and I replied simultaneously.

****************************************

The next day I was at the complex's front gate. There must have been a thousand protesters at the gate. Almost all of them wearing masks. Many of the rioters were with children and many of them looked like they were hungry and afraid. Three million Filipinos have died of the plague so far and another three million have been displaced by the rising coastal waters. These people wanted off of this God forsaken island or they wanted to be rid of the Brazilian yoke around their necks.

Todd Parker was standing next to me at the gate. Todd is the thirty year old pilot of the Regency 2 space craft. I always liked him. He was a six foot two inch stud with tight buns. I can't help it; I like men as well as woman. I know I am a fifty-five year old married man but my marriage was a mistake. If I can't be faithful to my twenty-five year old wife, why stay married?

“Hi Todd. What's new?” I asked Todd while putting on my best smile

“I'm just looking at all those poor people out there. They are trapped on this island. They can't go anywhere because most of them are sick. Nobody wants them,” he replied.

“You ready for Tuesday's lift-off to Moon Base Tricor?” I asked Todd.

“I guess so. The hypersonic rockets are all fueled and we will have our final briefing Monday,” he answered.

“We are lifting off Tuesday at ten am, when will we dock at the lunar space station?” I inquired.

“We should dock in seven days. These hyper-sonic rocket engines will propel us through space at mach 15,” Todd said.

The gate guards were now firing tear gas grenades into the rioters to disperse them. But the rioters only seemed to become more enraged. The rain started pouring again. Todd and I backed into the doorway to get out of the rain.

“Do you think the weather will have an effect on lift-off?” I asked Todd.

“If you ask me, the Brazilians were ignorant to build a space center, lift-off complex, here on the coast of Manila. With the monsoon season and rising coastal waters and now this viral plague, I think this complex should be scrapped,” Todd said without looking at me.

While I was chatting with Todd I was trying to flirt with him. I had an affair with him when we were on Moon Base Tricor, but that was before I was married to Roxanne. I wouldn't mind having another tryst with him again.

***********************************************

The next day, my wife Roxanne was in a vehicle driving to pick up the two electronic modules on Cocomo Island that was about ten miles away. She was with an electrical engineer intern named Doris Melendez. Roxanne and Doris were of two contrasting personality types. Roxanne, twenty five years old, average height and weight, with dyed red hair that was cut into a radical styled pixy. Roxanne had socialist tattoos up and down her arm and neck. She had tattoos of the Black Panther movement on her left forearm, a tattoo of Simon Bolivar on her right forearm and an Antifa tattoo on her neck. Roxanne also had a nose ring that she wore when she wasn't on duty. If it wasn't for the fact that Roxanne was a genius when it came to fixing electrical components and programming them, general Winfield and the Space Association would have fired her a long time ago. Roxanne was a scholar at MIT, she was first in her class and she was also a leader.

Doris on the other hand was Roxanne's opposite. Doris did not have any tattoos or piercings nor did she have any socialist ideologies that anyone was aware of. Doris was of Ecuadorian decent, black hair, olive skin; pretty. She was just an intern, still in electrical engineering school and when she finishes school she would become a civilian contractor like Roxanne, Todd and my self. She was a follower.

“Hey Doris, you want to have some fun after we pick up those electronic modules from Cocomo Island?” Roxanne asked.

“Sure, what did you have in mind Roxy?”

“Let's head over to Agapito's shop for a drink.”

“What will Winfield say about that? Won't she be unhappy that we were mingling with the general population right before your lift-off?”

“Let me take care of that. I can program the car to make it seem we had car problems.”

Doris said: “Let's do this.”

So Roxanne and Doris drove to Cocomo Island and retrieved the electronic modules. The same modules needed for Moon Base Tricor's climate control system. After the two girls got the modules from Cocomo Island, they drove due North. The rain was really coming down and many of the roads were partially washed away. Manila was right on the coast and the combination of the rising sea levels and the monsoons were making the city very swampy.

Roxanne and Doris knew the location of Agapito's repair shop because they were there many times before. After driving for about twenty minutes Roxanne reached the shop. It was nearly four o'clock and the sun would be setting in two hours. They wanted to be back in the space lab complex before sun down because of the curfew imposed by the Manila government. A government that Roxanne was vehemently opposed to.

Roxanne parked outside Agapito's gated up storefront. There weren't any signs outside and many of the other places of business on the avenue seemed abandoned.

Roxanne used her transponder to call her friend Agapito in the shop. A minute later a Filipino man came out and opened the gate. He had a big smile on his face and he was missing two of his front teeth.

Agapito yelled from inside the gate: “Come in, welcome.”

“Unlock this stupid gate, let me in,” Roxanne shouted.

Agapito unlocked the gate and Roxanne and Doris ran into the shop with the two electronic modules they had picked up from Cocomo Island.. They didn't want to be on the streets with all the unrest in Manila going on.

Inside the shop were electronic devices of all kinds stacked on shelves. Roxanne and Doris were browsing among the shelves when Agapito told Doris to remain there in the shop and Roxanne to follow him into the back room.

“Listen, I got just what you wanted. Here take this.” Agapito said.

Agapito gave her a small medicine container with a few pills in it.

“Take it with you to Moon Base Tricor and take one or two pills when you get there. You will become contaminated with the virus, and then you could spread the virus to the others without them knowing it.

“Great, and what about the two electronic modules for the climate control system of the moon base. I want to fuck them up too. Where is your scanner Agapito?” Roxanne said.

Give me those two modules and I will encrypt a virus into both of them.” he replied.

Agapito plugged a scanner into the module and turned it on, Then he waited two minutes and that was that. The modules were contaminated with a virus.

“Long live the people!” Roxanne shouted as she raised her fist in a defiant salute.

“Long live the people,” Agapito shouted back.

Just then there was a commotion at the front gate. Agapito and Roxanne ran to the gate and saw some police officers cutting the lock on the gate. The police cut through the lock in seconds and they were in the shop. The police grabbed Roxanne and searched her. They found the container with the virus pills in it and the police secured it in a metal laboratory box. They next went into the back room and secured the two electronic modules.

Doris, who was secretly an undercover operative led them with the searches.

“I think that is everything. We have the two electronic modules and the vial of pills containing the novel 52 virus,” said an excited Doris to the police inspector who was now standing next to her.

The Police inspector said to Doris: “Job well done. We would've never caught these saboteurs if it weren't for you and your recording bug. They should each get twenty years in prison.”

Doris Melendez beamed, she knew she played her part of an intern well. She never drew Roxanne's or Agapito's suspicions. She would be glad to get on with her next assignment.

******************************************************

Two days later I was sitting across from my wife Roxanne in a jail visitors room. Roxanne looked angry. She had been locked up once before when she was a teen and she told me she was arrested for trespassing. She was now wearing an orange jumpsuit and she was makeup free. She looked like she hadn't slept last night.

“Why on God's earth did you try and sabotage the mission?” I asked with compassion.

“Tim, you most of all should know why,” she answered. What do we have in our marriage? Our marriage is in shambles. I see you coming on to Todd. I know you have feelings for men too.”

“But you are facing twenty years in prison. Didn't you realize that before you tried the sabotage?” I said.

“I hate this government and I hate the way the Brazilian cronies rule this island. It is unfair to the people. The government is spending billions of dollars for space research that is primarily designed to better the space military establishment and yet the people of this island go hungry. That money should be funneled into research to combat climate change, to combat this horrible virus and to feed the masses.. Don't you agree Tim?”

I was stuck for words. There was no use arguing with her. She would probably spend a good portion of her life locked away in a small decrepit cell. I put my hand up flat against the plastic divider and Roxanne did the same. Our hands matched up against the plastic. I then stood up and walked out of the room leaving her sitting there with a tear running down her cheek.

Todd was waiting for me, doubled parked outside the jail. I got into his new, red, 2354 Brazilian Ramapo, sports car. Todd looked at me, took my hand in his and asked me: “Is it over between you and her?”

I turned my head and looked into Todd's eyes and said: ?

The End