Vampire Chimeras Medical Thriller
By L. Kragie
Yes I did write a medical thriller novel in 2013 which features a fictional chimeric vaccine against hemorrhagic fever virus, dengue. Has lots of speculative science, international settings, military adventure, financial intrigues, danger, betrayal and, of course, a bit of romance.
*I will send a free file of this ebook to any paid subscribers who request it.* Formats: pdf, epub, mobi. Will send it to you via your email address.
And always, it is available at Amazon in both Kindle ebook and print.
Teaser excerpt:
Chapter 10
Washington DC, USA
“Don't be a pawn in somebody's game. Find the attitude which gives you the maximum strength and the maximum dignity, no matter what else is going on." -Anne Rice, The Witching Hour
"I feel like I need a napalm flame thrower, to burn off all these layers and layers of bullshit. And boy, does it ever stink." Diana finds herself sequestered in an FBI interrogation room with a guard, and is venting her response to being held, directing it to the one way mirror on the wall. The room is cramped, dingy, and smells of stale cigarettes, in addition to said 'bullshit'. She's been kept waiting and stewing in here for more than an hour.
"Just be patient. I already told you, the Special-Agent-in-Charge will be in here shortly. You can 'explain' yourself all you want then. In the meantime, please spare me the rant. No one's listening." With that, the guard picks up People and returns to her reading, ignoring her disruptive charge.
Dr. Diana Rigsby cannot believe she is here, under suspicion by the SEC and FBI as the source for a leak of insider information about World Therapeutics that lead to a market selloff frenzy, after someone dumped their shares, taking out the price highs. As soon as they called her, she contacted Dr. Patel for some Institute legal representation and support, but as per usual, his secretary claimed that he had to 'travel outside the country' and cannot be contacted, nor be involved. No surprise there.
Finally, the FBI Special Agent strides in to the room. He is the prototypical 'federal suit' -- topped off with aviator sunglasses, unnecessarily worn under the room's buzzing fluorescent ceiling lights. About six foot with a blond crew cut. Still in his thirties, so still hungry for action, ambitious. He flashes his shield and presents, "Here is my card."
SAC Brad S. Schmitt
Federal Bureau of Investigation
She reads it aloud, giggling, "So Agent, I see your name is SAC of 'BS' Schmitt. Oh where is that napalm..."
"Oh isn't that cute... well, it's really 'Bad Ass' Schmitt. And that's a side of me, you really don't want to see." Diana smirked at him in response, then tried to look around behind to his backside.
"Hey. This is a very serious matter. Do I need to remind you that Martha Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators? She went to prison for five months. I hear Martha Stewart is now touting, 'orange is the new black'. Keep it up and you may soon get to model for her."
SAC Schmitt went on to describe what they have gathered so far in their investigation. Right after Dr. Rigsby left the headquarters of World Therapeutics LLC, a multiple set of small sell orders were placed from several different alias accounts. FBI has connected these orders back to a seller using alias Nominee accounts; he/she manipulated the stock market and ultimately dumped a lot of the shares to sell at the market highs, before the stock price nosedived. They are working to get search warrants to subpoena the records at these broker agencies holding the Nominee and Street accounts. In time, they will be able to identify the seller.
Following the initial large sale of stock, an anonymous tip hit the cloud-based global database, GoogleTrends / Dengue, that was quickly gathering information about the explosive epidemic hitting Boca Grande in Central America. It said, "this outbreak is due to the World Therapeutics' missing vaccine trial subject who escaped and traveled to Boca Grande." At about the same time, the Twitterverse lit up, accusing the corporation of "making 'Frankenviruses' that will kill us all." Schmitt shook his head, glaring at Rigsby. "After that, the stock price for World Therapeutics rapidly tanked. It's just a penny stock now. They will be forced off the exchange, most likely. After pumping up the World Therapeutics stock price with their announcement of the start of their first clinical trial, there were a lot of short stock positions outstanding; these investors all benefited with the stock dump and subsequent price drop that came after the news hit on the sick trial subject and dengue outbreak. We will eventually find out who they are and link them back to you. Might as well 'fess up here and now, and get better terms at your sentencing."
He continues to interrogate Rigsby looking to find and document any hint of contact with this anonymous seller. In particular, he's seeking to link her actions with the critical timeline and use it to prove that it was she who tipped off the stock dumpers about the trouble with the trial and then sent out the twitter tweet to further tank the market. "I am gonna tear your data world to pieces 'til I find what I seek. We already have the search warrants executed."
"Listen to me, will you! You must! I did not do this! But, there is an international public health emergency happening right now, and I am the ONE person who knows the most about the organism that has gone rogue out there. My own daughter is caught up right in the middle of the epidemic's ground zero. I MUST GO DOWN THERE TO HELP THEM! If you don't let me, all these deaths will be on your head."
"Absolutely not. You officially are a Person-of-Interest in our investigation. Therefore, you are not to leave the jurisdiction, and especially not the country. Surrender your passport. NOW."
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