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Chapters (36)
  1. VECTOR
  2. Copyright page
  3. Dedication
  4. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  5. Epigraph
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. EPILOGUE
  34. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  35. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
  36. GLOSSARY

Curt shrugged. “Why not. Let’s see what we should do for our protection.” Curt laughed again. “As if we need that little prick’s help at this point.”

Steve reached back behind his seat and pulled out a folder closed with an elastic cord. He opened it, shuffled through the contents, and pulled out Yuri’s envelope.

“Whoa! This thing is thick,” Steve said. “What’d he do? Write a book?” He extended it toward Curt so he could take a look.

“Open it, for crissake,” Curt said.

Steve got his index finger under the sealed flap and tore it open. From inside the envelope, he pulled out a thick card sealed with another flap.

“What the hell?” Steve said.

Curt took his eyes off the road long enough to take a gander. “What does it say on the front?”

“To Curt and Steve from Rossiya-matoshka,” Steve said. “Whatever the hell that means.”

“Open it up!” Curt said.

Steve tore through the tab and as soon as he had the card leaped in his hands and snapped open. At the same time a coiled spring mechanism propelled a sizable puff of powder into the air along with a handful of tiny glittering stars. “Shit!” Steve yelled, startled by the small explosive device. Curt had started as well, mainly because Steve had. He had to fight to keep control of the truck. Both men sneezed violently and their eyes watered briefly. Curt brought the truck to a stop by the side of the road. Both men were coughing, the powder tickled their throats. Curt grabbed the card away from Steve, who then got out of the pickup to whisk the glittering stars off his lap.

Curt examined the card. There was nothing written inside. He looked in the envelope. There was nothing there either. Then, all of a sudden, he had a terrible premonition.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

_______________

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Unfortunately, much of what the characters in Vector say about bioweapons and bioterrorism is true. This holds most notably for Detective Lou Soldano’s comment concerning the potential for a major bioterrorism attack in the United States or Europe: it is not a question of whether one will occur, but rather, when. Indeed, there have already been several minor bioterrorist events in the United States.

In 1984, there was an intentional contamination of restaurant salad bars in Oregon, causing an outbreak of salmonel-losis in 751 people. In 1996, there was an intentional contamination of muffins and donuts in a hospital laboratory in Texas, causing an outbreak of Shigella dysenteriae in forty-five people.