"Sonny Whitelaw - Rgesus Factor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Whitelaw Sonny)

to fund the most basic investigations into the epidemiology of Rhesus. There's no money to study the virus
itself. I'm not having the CDC wear this; there are too many dedicated people there. You need a
scapegoat? Here's my letter of resignation.'

He produced an envelope from his file case. The envelope was empty; he had no intention of being
tossed into career obscurity, but he knew how to play the game.

The President waved it aside. тАШNo, not this time. This time Congress is gonna wear the burden of its
stonewalling, I'll see to that. What I need is your recommendations. Can we contain it? Forcibly
quarantine the infected, like the army did with cholera victims?тАЩ His eyes darted between them.
Jean touched her wrist comunit and motioned to Clem; they were over time.

Leaning forward, his hand movements punctuating the urgency in his voice, Clem said, тАШNo, sir.
Quarantine is useless because Rhesus is not infectious, and although I used the term contagious, that's not
strictly accurate. The trigger, not the virus, is spreading like a contagion. You see, people can't catch
Rhesus from one another because it's already inside of themтАФit's an endogenous retrovirus. That means
it's hitchhiking in the DNA of people with Rhesus positive blood, just waiting to be switched on. I've seen
some nightmare microbes but Rhesus scares the hell out of me because it's in our genes.тАЩ He stared at
each of them in turn to emphasize his point. тАШIt's part of what makes us human.'

A shocked silence followed. The President ran a hand across the back of his neck, the asked, тАШWhat
percentage of the population are threatened?'

'Rh-negative is a genetically recessive trait that should have evolved into extinction,тАЩ replied Clem. тАШWhy
it hasn't ... well, maybe a genetic failsafe evolved at the same time as the virus. If we can't stop Rhesus, at
least Rh-negatives assure the continuation of the human species.'

'Don't beat about the bush,тАЩ Blake snapped.

'With all due respect, sir, I'm not. Ninety-two percent of the US population is Rh-positiveтАФand up to
sixty percent of these have already been infected. But politically, that's not the worst of it. Despite the
current low rate in Asia and Africa, unchecked, the virus will go active in almost one hundred percent of
non-Caucasians.'

'Good God!тАЩ Blake sat back in his chair and looked at Obermann. тАШJack, talk to me.'

Obermann swallowed and stammered. Jean said, тАШSir, if Rhesus really is in the genes of everyone who's
Rh-positive, the demographics are undeniable. Virtually one hundred percent of all Amerindians and
subgroups: South American Indians, Eskimos, Pacific Islanders and Asians, are Rh-positive. For African
Americans,тАЩ she glanced at Clem, тАШit's as high as ninety-six percent, and even the Rh-negatives in them
are from the injection of Caucasian genes in previous centuries. For native Africans it's near enough to
one hundred percent.'

'We're still running down statistics.тАЩ Obermann had finally found his voice. тАШHispanics are better off
because the Rh-negative gene originated in Spain, where thirty percent of the Basques are negativeтАФ'

'Okay, okay, I get the picture,тАЩ Blake interrupted. тАШBut Caucasians are almost as badly off, right?'

'About eighty-seven percent,тАЩ Jean replied. тАШBut we're talking racial extinction for non-Caucasians.'