"Will they clean this one up as they did the last one, or will they demand surrender terms on this one?" the President asked.
The Secretary of State and the Secretary of War started to answer together, but it was State that got the first word in.
"I think they'll clean this one up," he said. "It would be a direct threat on which they'll demand surrender terms. That's just a guess, of course.
"The best teams of doctors are being organized and jetted over. The best bacteriologists the nation has at its command. Every antibiotic available is being sent."
"Will that make a dent?"
"No."
"How long can we keep it under wraps?"
"A week. Ten days, perhaps, with top security."
"Give it everything you've got. But keep it quiet until we know what the next move is. Twenty-four hour alert, of course, immediately."
"Even if the alert itself endangers the security wraps?"