“The serum was transported directly to me. Upon the assurance of my brother Chang, I orally vaccinated myself. I knew that the virus would spread to my city in a matter of hours and I wanted to be the first to be made immune. I became paralyzed as I sat here trying to contact my brothers.” The thin lips spread in a grotesque parody of a smile. “It seems that the chemical was flawed.”

“The cylinder Chang sent you contained a transitional vaccine that was going to be discarded. It could kill the virus, but it still paralyzed the host.”

“Then the research was a failure?”

“Not at all, One. The real vaccine is rapidly being produced throughout China and around the world in quantities that will stop the epidemic you started.”

The lips snapped back to a thin line.

“The fact that you are on Chang’s ship tells me that my brother is no longer in the picture. He would never allow you to live if he were alive.”

“I’m afraid Chang became a victim of his own violent impulses.”

“Too bad,” the hologram said without sadness. “Chang was brilliant in many ways but too often impetuous.”

Austin’s jaw hardened.

“The murder of scores of innocent people,” he said, “is not what most people would describe as impetuous.”

“That’s because our family has always looked at the world in a different way from others. Pyramid Triad was in existence centuries before your rabble chased the British back to England. We have not survived all this time by being sentimental when it comes to the deaths of others, or even deaths in our own family.”

“Glad to hear that,” Austin said, “because you won’t shed any tears over the loss of your brother Wen Lo.”

“Wen Lo is dead too?”

“He ran afoul of the Chinese Army . . . another casualty of your insane scheme.”

“There was nothing insane about it. Our country’s leadership is extremely fragile. The government would have reacted violently to protests in the streets. We would have encouraged the mob rule that would have followed and then stepped in to end the epidemic and take over the reins of government. With the vaccine, we would have held the power of life and death over a billion of our countrymen. We would have offered the same choice to the rest of the world in exchange for money and power. The plan was well thought out. We didn’t anticipate the interference from you and your NUMA friends.”

“NUMA doesn’t deserve all the credit,” Austin said. “You planted the seeds of your own destruction when you decided to play at being a three-headed god. You’re not the first ones to appoint yourselves immortals, and you won’t be the last, which is why I will always have job security.”

“Did you say the same thing when your CIA unit was dissolved?”