With glass in hand, Yuri joined the others. He sat down in the empty chair.

“What would you like to talk about?” Yuri asked. He took a sip of his drink and relished its taste. Despite some recent misgivings about his relationship with his guests, he was happy and relieved they were there.

“With all these unexpected problems that have been popping up, we’ve decided things have to be speeded up,” Curt said. “Like we told you last night, we’re worried about security. After talking about it all day, we’ve decided we want to schedule the event for Friday. So, we want our half of the anthrax powder Thursday night. That’s two days from now.”

“This is very sudden,” Yuri said. He was visibly shocked. The plan had been to wait until he had enough of the bio-weapon before they’d plan the actual day of release.

“Maybe so,” Curt said. “But we feel strongly that this is the way it has to be.”

“It’s going to be difficult,” Yuri said. His eyes darted nervously back and forth between Curt and Steve. “Both lay-downs need at least four or five pounds for maximum effect.”

“That means we want at least four and preferably five pounds Thursday night,” Curt said. “This is not a discussion. Am I making myself clear?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Yuri stammered.

“Just say, ‘Fine, Curt: just come by and I’ll have it ready for you.’You originally told us it would be sealed in clear plastic and look like large sausages. Is that still the case?”

“Yes,” Yuri said. He took a sip from his glass and his hand trembled.

“And it’s safe to handle in that form,” Curt said. “I mean without a hazmat suit.”

“Unless the plastic breaks,” Yuri said. “The sausages will be heat-sealed and their outsides will be decontaminated.”

“How tough is this plastic?” Curt asked. “Like if we happened to drop one of the sausages, would that be a problem?”

“I haven’t tested that,” Yuri admitted. “But I wouldn’t advise dropping it or sticking it with anything. Under ideal conditions each one of these sausages will be capable of killing up to a hundred thousand people.”

“How many pounds do you have now?” Curt asked.

“I’m not sure,” Yuri said.

“Last night you said you might have enough by the end of the week,” Curt reminded him. “So you must have an idea. I mean, Thursday night is pretty close to the end of the week.”

“I did another harvest this morning,” Yuri said. “I didn’t weigh it.”

“So you’re close,” Curt said.