Chapter One Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty-Eight
23rd August 1969
Majuro, Marshall Islands
This stop wasn’t planned to be as long as the one at Western Samoa had been. It was mostly due to the population being far smaller and more spread out in the Marshall Islands. That didn’t however mean that less was expected of Kiki as she found herself taking a turn working in the intake triage supervising the Nurses who were doing most of the work as she dealt with the most difficult or complicated cases until she could pass them along. It also meant that she found herself dealing with the cranks and the opportunists, many of whom were the result of her presence. The man she was presently dealing with seemed to be exactly that sort of thing, however in a case of just deserts it turned out that he really did have a few medical issues that needed to be addressed.
At first Kiki had thought that the name given by the American had been a joke. However, the credentials provided by him and his companions, bodyguards from the U.S. Secret Service actually, panned out after several messages were sent to and from the Offices of Auswärtiges Amt who had been able to get in touch with their counterparts in the U.S. State Department. The photograph that had been sent via teletype confirmed that Kiki was dealing with Doctor Michael Rockefeller, who had been in the South Seas as a part of an expedition. He had not allowed his father assuming the Office of President of the United States to get in the way of his career as an Anthropologist. AA had also warned Kiki that they had received word that Michael had been directed by his father to travel from the Bismarck Archipelago to the Marshal Islands. That meant that he had traveled thousands of kilometers out of his way which made them suspicious. It also meant that the BND or BII had been keeping tabs on the American President’s son while he had been inside German territory. None of that surprised Kiki in the least, mostly because she was used to witnessing the stupidity of International Politics after a lifetime of it. Especially because of what the lab had come back with when they had conducted his preliminary bloodwork. There was a fair amount of justice in that he had used his health to get aboard and from the looks of it, Michael would have a substantially harder time getting off the ship. It was all an unnecessary complication that Kiki would have liked to have avoided.
“Hello Doctor Rockefeller” Kiki said, not even trying to hide her annoyance at his presence.
He grinned as soon as he saw Kiki enter the open examination bay that he was sitting in. He wouldn’t be for long. He didn’t seem to notice that Kiki was wearing a surgical mask and had her hands in rubber gloves. There two Marines outside the bay were wearing protective suits that were probably overkill, but that was standard protocol over matters like these.
“Nice to finally meet you Kristina” Michael said, his voice full of the smug condescension that most of the wealthy Americans that Kiki had encountered seemed to have.
“It is Doctor von Preussen in this context” Kiki corrected, “Will you please open your shirt.”
It took a moment for him to do it and Kiki felt along his side until she heard him take a sharp intake of breath due to the pain in his liver. That along with the other symptoms he was exhibiting just confirmed what the bloodwork had suspected, the other thing would require close observation over the coming days in the quarantine bays.
“It looks like you have Fasciola Hepatica, a parasitic infection” Kiki said as she wrote down the drug he would need to be dosed with.
“Parasitic?”
“From contaminated food or water” Kiki replied, “I would suggest that you employ a bit more caution in the future.”
“I tend to get a warm welcome from the places I visit” Michael said, “Often, it would be considered rude not to join in the meal if you are the guest of honor.”
Kiki just shrugged. Some people needed to learn lessons the hard way, occasionally more than once too.
“Is that all” Michael said.
“No” Kiki replied, “Our lab also detected the antibodies for measles, the concern is that you are a carrier who is not yet symptomatic.”
“Is that a joke?” Michael asked.
“I wish it were” Kiki replied, “We are having difficulty tracking down everyone you might have come into contact with over the last few days. Those you were on the airplane with yesterday are especially ticked off.”
“I wasn’t aware of that” Michael said, “So, I’m sure that these people will be reasonable enough once I get a chance to…”
He started to leave only to see the two Marines were blocking the front of the bay. They were full chemical suits that were designed to protect them from nuclear and biological hazards as well. That and the weapons clearly visible made them incredibly intimidating. The fact that they were from Tilo’s cadre, the men he had personally sprung from the brig to fight the Chinese made them willing to follow Kiki’s command. It was one of the few times that being the Angel of Anju proved to be to her advantage.
“Doctor Rockefeller is going to be our guest for the next ten days” Kiki said as she peeled the gloves off her hands. “Please show him to his quarters and make sure he is comfortable.”
“Yes, Ma’am” One of the Marines said as they dragged Michael away.
A few minutes later, Kiki had to explain what was going on to the four Secret Service Agents aboard. How the man they were guarding wasn’t going anywhere off the ship for the next several days. To her surprise, they didn’t seem to mind too much.
