BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset
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

Tatyana seemed to know emotion was a waste of time, and she did not give the impression she was someone who wasted time.

“I’m a doctor,” Sofia said. “I don’t know what role you have here, but I presume it’s not the same as mine.”

“My role is to protect the interests of the state,” Tatyana said.

Sofia nodded.

“That’s not so different from yours,” Tatyana said.

“My role is to save lives.”

Tatyana shook her head. “I’m sorry, doctor. I think we both know that’s not true. In a different world, maybe. But not in this one.”

Something in Sofia rose up, some well of emotion. She knew Tatyana was right. She was no longer a doctor, she was a bioweapons scientist. She was the scientist who’d created this pathogen. And that truth made her want to scream.

“You know they threatened me,” she said, “threatened my whole team.”

“That’s how things work sometimes.”

“They threatened to give us smallpox.”

“I’m sorry,” Tatyana said.

“I never would have done this if I’d had a choice.”

“We all work at gunpoint,” Tatyana said.

Sofia looked at her and realized it was true. Neither of them wanted this. Neither of them wanted the world to be this way. They didn’t want to see school children clawing at their necks, struggling to breathe, while scientists worked on creating diseases rather than curing them.

“What do you want from me?” Sofia said. “Why have you brought me here?”

“I’d settle for an antidote,” Tatyana said.

“To the bacillus?”

“Yes.”

Sofia shook her head. “There is no antidote,” she said.

“I don’t see how denying an antidote helps the situation. At the very least, we’d need it to inoculate our own troops on the battlefield.”

“I’m not denying it, Tatyana. We don’t have one.”

Tatyana took a moment to process the information. It was the first time Sofia had seen her flinch.

“Hundreds have died already,” she said. She spoke more quietly now. Almost in a whisper.

“I know that,” Sofia said.

Tatyana shook her head. “How can you create a weapon and not have an antidote?”

“Tatyana,” Sofia said. “This is nothing. This is a sideshow. Compared to the damage the virus will cause if it gets out, this bacillus is a drop in the ocean.”

Sofia watched Tatyana’s reaction. It seemed she was only now truly realizing what it was they were up against.

“Last time we met,” Sofia said, “I told you they’d asked for a biological Chernobyl. I was lying. The truth is, the virus in that vial, if it gets out, it’s not Chernobyl we’ll be looking at, it’s a full scale holocaust.”

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