Doctor Janice Merek died two days ago in a terrorist attack in Kurdistan. Two nights ago, someone walked into the lobby of her hotel, where she and a few others were apparently sharing drinks at the lobby bar. They were probably celebrating the end of a successful mission. They had brought with them new genetic treatments developed in Europe and the US meant to counter the nasty bugs that are the most deadly legacy of the War of Secession. Children, in particular, have been hard hit by some of them. And these are nasty bugs — the best money could buy, specially designed to turn your immune system against your internal organs. In those with weak immune systems, the young and the very old, I am told that your organs can liquefy in a matter of hours. Dr. Merek’s group had been an unqualified success. The new treatments had more than lived up to their expectations, and the training of the local doctors had been completed. As I type this, people all over Kurdistan are getting the first course of a treatment that will forever eliminate their vulnerability to the bugs from a ten year old war.
And a man walked into her hotel, past the security guards and the bio-sensors, and detonated a small bomb that released a genetically crafted virus into the air. It was a poor virus, garage work of the cheapest, most useless kind. But Dr. Merek was old, and tired from injecting lines of children eighteen hours a day for a week and a half, and standing close to the detonation point. The bug did its job and her and stopped her heart. She was the only casualty, except for the terrorist.
Of course, the government of Kurdistan does not list the Dr. as a victim of terrorism. This was a private killing gone wrong, according to them. There is no terrorism in Kurdistan. There are no Turkmen or Arabs upset at Kurdish independence. There are no Turks or Iranians enraged at Kurdish support for their violent brothers across the borders. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iraq has no interest in keeping Kurdistan destabilized. No, all is love and light and good-fellowship. There is no terrorism, just an unfortunate, though temporary, up tick in violent crime due to the recent world-wide recession. It is a tragedy, and the government of the Republic of Kurdistan sends it most heartfelt condolences for this death that is in no way connected to the terrorism that does not exist.
Dr. Merek was to take over our lab on her return from Kurdistan. She delayed her ascension to the post in order to make one last trip, to see this project through to the end. I only met her once, briefly, during the hiring process. Junior professors are not consulted on personal decisions. But when she was hear, the Doctor made a point of meeting with everyone associated with the lab, including technicians and junior members of the team. She was charming in an old money way, sure of her positions and status and using the surety as a reason to treat everyone as if they where important. She was unusual in that in academia. She was the only candidate for the position to ask to meet with me. The world lost a good person at a time when we can not afford those kinds of losses. Next to that, my regret at not being able to work with her seems small and meaningless.
But I regret it still.
