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Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

Roth thought about that. He thought about the networks of global interests that reached into Washington that even he, at the highest level of the CIA, couldn’t begin to infiltrate. He thought about the flood of foreign money that poured into congressional and senatorial election campaigns that no oversight committee could ever hope to stop. And he thought about Mansfield’s golf club, just a few miles away, that hadn’t wanted him as a member.

The president looked at him. “This war will create a whole new generation of American oligarchs, Roth. You think we live in a shitshow now? Wait until you see what our democracy looks like after this.”

“It will massively concentrate power,” Roth said.

“Oh, those bastards will tighten their fists like a vise-grip. They’ll move in on the banks, on the capital markets, on the voting system, and you better believe they’ll move in on the military.”

“The contracts.”

“The average American won’t know what hit him, Roth. And the crazy thing is, I’m president, and there’s not a thing I can do to stop it.”

“You mean if there’s war?” Roth said.

“Oh, they’ll be untouchable for generations to come.”

“If this virus hits, sir, frankly, it will cut through us like a scythe in a cornfield. It will ravage us. There won’t be a person in the country who isn’t touched by it.”

“And even the most peace-loving doves will be chomping at the bit for war.”

“If they release this virus, sir, God himself couldn’t hold back war.”

The president nodded. “A virus this powerful? It will wipe out entire swaths of the population. But would Davidov really use it?”

“All I can say,” Roth said, “is that he ordered it to be harvested. He sent someone up there to dig it up. It didn’t crawl out of the permafrost on its own. He sent them looking for it.”

“And when they found it…”

“When they found it, they brought it to a lab and weaponized it. Tatyana said that when she was at the lab, they had at least two vials. One of them was given to her.”

“The one she passed on to us?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the other?”

“Was for Davidov.”

“Every strand of this leads back to him,” the president said. “He’s the one man in the Kremlin with the mandate to do anything, literally anything, to keep the president in power. Even if it means unleashing Armageddon.”

“Sir, they’d release a thousand Armageddons if it kept them in power.”

The president nodded. He looked at Roth and said, “And the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

74

Lance had to go to a number of Roth’s safe houses to get everything he needed. He might have been going a little overboard, but this was one job he wasn’t taking any chances on.