Page 42 of Wild Fever
We all took in the futuristic space with awe and wonder. I had never seen anything like it in real life.
“What the hell is going on here?” the sheriff grumbled.
A tall gentleman in a lab coat approached the sheriff and extended his hand. He was in his late 50s, with short white hair and a Caesar cut. He had a narrow face and a mustache and goatee. "I'm Dr. Cameron. Thanks for coming. It seems we've had a malfunction.”
"Malfunction?"
"Two of our patients are deceased," he said with a grim face, motioning to the stasis chambers that flashed red.
The sheriff stepped closer to a faulty cryo tube, and we followed.
The man inside was late 50s, early 60s, with wavy silver hair, tan skin, and a reasonably athletic build. The portal gave a view of his head and shoulders. The name on the display screen read Lance Wentworth. In the cryo-chamber next to him was a woman about the same age with short wavy auburn hair. Her name was Evelyn Wentworth.
26
“I'm going to ask again, and I’m going to be clear about it," the sheriff said. "What the hell is going on here?"
Dr. Cameron cringed. "There was a malfunction with the cooling system. Temperatures rose above optimal levels for at least 30 minutes, if not more. Unfortunately, without the proper thermal control, cellular structure can recrystallize, and cell membranes can rupture. We’re talking organ failure at a microscopic level. This is a sensitive procedure that requires exact tolerances. We’re still running diagnostics to understand what happened.”
"Are you trying to tell me that everyone in these pods is frozen, and theoretically still alive?"
"Except for the two deceased," Dr. Cameron said.
"Is this even legal?
"I can assure you it is, Sheriff. This is considered an experimental treatment for those with terminal conditions. Under the Right to Try Act, this type of treatment is permissible,even without FDA approval, as long as the patient enters into it voluntarily with full knowledge of the risks. We have obtained all the necessary waivers and consent forms." Dr. Cameron paused. “May I remind you, Sheriff, that in some cases, these patients are weeks or months from death. This is a proprietary metabolic suspension therapy that we believe fully complies with both state and federal law.”
The sheriff gave him a skeptical look. "I'm sure it isn't cheap."
"No, it's not. This is high tech, state-of-the-art equipment that requires constant monitoring."
"So why wasn't someone alerted the minute the temperature fluctuated?" the sheriff asked, his eyes glaring at Dr. Cameron.
Dr. Cameron cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "That's what we are trying to ascertain at the moment. We have a technician and a security guard on staff at night.”
The two gentlemen stood around, staring at the floor, looking guilty.
"I take it you've got security footage," the sheriff said, looking around for cameras.
"We do, and I'm happy to provide you with that footage and cooperate with your investigation fully. I can assure you, we are operating to the letter of the law and taking every precaution possible to ensure patient safety.”
"It seems every precaution wasn't enough,” Daniels muttered dryly.
"Have you had any security breaches on the island lately?" I asked.
"No," Dr. Cameron replied.
"How is your network security? Is it possible your computer systems could have been hacked?”
"I guess anything is possible at this point. I really don't understand it. We put in multiple failsafes. Someone should have been notified right away," Dr. Cameron said, glancing at a technician who stood nearby. It was clear the doctor wasn't happy about the situation and had some theories of his own.
I told the sheriff to get the IT guys out here ASAP. "They need to go through the system and see if there are any signs of intrusion.”
He agreed.
I asked Dr. Cameron if anything had been taken.
"Not that I'm aware of, but I haven't been able to do a full inventory yet. As you can imagine, this has been quite unsettling.”
