(And now, another of Chuck's Popcon tales.)

                                by Chuck Pearson

                            Epidemic:  Cause Unknown

Waaaarraahh!!  The siren wailed its song into the night, slowly and mournfully.
A man staggered out in front of the car and collapsed to the pavement.  Tires
screamed as the car halted.  The officer turned the body over with his foot. 
He leaped back into the car and sped off down the road.  His radio squawked as
he phoned in the report.

Across the state the governor drank coffee and smoked a dirty cigar as the news
came into popcon center.  The teletype messages piled in an ever increasing
stack.

"How's it going, Boss?  Slowly, I suppose?" the governor asked.

A short, balding man stopped in his aisleway, causing a minor traffic jam. 
"Not too well, I'm afraid.  Whatever is causing this sickness is moving around.
We can't pin down the source.  I'm afraid that this could cause an upset in
organization.  They probably did it."

"That could be it, though I doubt it.  They've never tried anything this big
before.  It's just an uncontrolled sickness."

The number of dead mounted over the weekend and then it fell to nothing.  As
soon as the epidemic was under control, Popcon investigators, previously
infiltrated into the World Health Organization, went into the field to discover
the cause.  John Healdern was attached to the state as special agent in charge.

"There were forty-nine who died of the disease.  There is no visible connection
between the victims.  Your job is to find the connection and the source."  The
head of Popcon in the state was sweating visibly.  An unexplained epidemic
could cost him his job and status.  He might again be forced to be ready at all
times of the night to go any place in the world on no notice.  He had become
used to his steady life.

Healdern looked the groveling man over with disgust.  He was used to working
with men who were devoted to their jobs because they believed in the work being
done.  He didn't like men who were out to gain comfort instead of to work.

The governor stuck in his two-bits.  "I think it was negligence that caused it.
There is no reason to believe it was one of their plots as has been
hypothesized."

The state head flushed.  It was strictly against procedure to speak out against
one's superior.  He refused to recognize the charge by answering it.

Healdern sent his agents into the field.  Any clue that could possibly help was
unearthed and brought to light.  The end result was:  nothing.

The governor sat in as temporary director while the investigation was held.  He
listened to the reports and gave considered opinions to the subject matter. 
Over and over again he torpedoed the idea that they were doing it.  He
continued to rate it as a case of negligence.

Then, on the fourth day, a clue.  A field agent phoned in that he had on the
hook a man who said he knew what had caused the epidemic.  Healdern told the
governor and headed for the address the agent had given him.  The governor got
on the phone.

Healdern sped across the city; the police escort barely was able to keep up. 
He arrived at the address and ran up the steps into the house.  On the floor
lay the special agent and the witness.  Both were dead.

Healdern called for an ambulance and called in the police.  Then he headed for
his office.

The staff of the headquarters stood ill-at-ease as the special agent stood
before them.  "One of you is a traitor.  One of you sold us out to them.  We
discovered that they were using Earth for a population dump and started actions
to prevent it.  Evidently, they still have agents on Earth.  Those agents are
trying to upset the population balance and thereby discredit us.  We are not
going to allow it.  I ask any of you who are harboring suspicions to please
report them.  You are dismissed."

After the assembled group had shuffled out, Healdern's understudy spoke.  "Do
you think they will tell us who it is?"

"No, I don't.  But it might make the enemy nervous to know that we suspect he
is part of our organization."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I don't even this he is part.  But if he is, he may be scared, I hope."

Two days later another special agent was killed.  A day after that, another
agent died in a car accident.  Healdern stormed and fumed, but there was no
connection between the dead men.

It was Healdern's understudy who finally discovered the link.  He was all
excited when he rushed up to the agent.  "I found the connections!" he shouted.

"What is it?" Healdern asked.

"The governor lectured in all the towns where the plague struck in the week
before it.  All the dead men were at his speeches."

The governor gave a speech a week later.  At the lecture hall was a blond young
man who was not recognizable as Healdern's understudy.  This altered person
drew a revolver and shot the lecturer.

Healdern attended the execution of his understudy.  The brave death gave him a
feeling of pleasure.  The boy had been too smart for comfort... and he liked
dedicated agents.

                                          [pp. 7 - 10, MERK-MAG #3, Summer 1966]

Updated April 12, 2001. If you have a comment about these web pages please send a note to the Fanac Webmaster. Thank you.