FLU WARS: THE VIRA 38 STORY

Redondo Beach, California 2011

It was a warm, seemly glorious day in Southern California.  A cool breeze was blowing off the ocean and the palms were gently swaying.  It was the kind of day that brought me to California from Oklahoma in the first place. On this particular day, I had invited Jon Kidd, a friend and business associate, to my home.   We had picked up Akari, my two-year old daughter, from preschool and was heading toward my house where my wife had prepared a fabulous lunch for us.  It was a lunch we were never to have.  As I pulled into my driveway and into my garage, three federal agents ran up behind the car, pointed their guns at us and screamed for us to exit the vehicle.  Jon and I got out of the car and the agents quickly pushed me against the wall and handcuffed me.  As Akari cried out for me, the agents started to make a move towards her.  Knowing that they wanted to take her into protective custody, I immediately told Jon to take Akari upstairs.  The agents told me to shut up and for Jon not to move.  Even though Jon still had guns pointing at his head, I told himagain to take her and with that he gathered her up and took her upstairs. As the agents forced me into the back of their car, my mind flashed back to the time when it all started.  The day my journey into the secret and political world of emerging viruses began.