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“For your own good, for treatment, you have to tell us,” Hawkins said. “Do you have the Marburg crossed with the hybrid measles virus, or were you made sick by a vaccine?”
“Only the vaccine,” Brickell said. “It’s crude, but Lionel believes it works. He used it on himself first, and then on Clarice. One person died from the vaccine, he’s buried above Clarice’s house. We’re not infectious.”
“Yeah, I believe you, you fuckin’ homicidal maniacs,” Hawkins said, letting the disgust seep into his voice. “You’re safe, but billions of people were gonna die when you hauled those tubes of virus media into airports…”
“Gaia’s dying, Gaia’s dying,” Johnson called from the other end of the line, his voice high and not quite whining.
“And you think that justifies killing more than half the people on earth?” Hawkins asked.
“Yes, we do. All the people on earth are going to die unless the global warming is stopped. It’s too late for any conventional methods,” Long said. “You and your fascist friends are killing billions morethan we would. All you’re doing is…nothing. Letting Gaia die. You can give me an injection. I don’t care. I don’t want to be here when Gaia dies.”
Hawkins went back to Brickell, the weakest of the three. “What airport were you supposed to go to? You can tell us, because you’re obviously not going to it.”
Brickell: “Miami, with a stop at Atlanta, and then on to Rio. I was supposed to release virus in the international gates of all three airports.”
Long: “Goddamnit, George, shut up.”
Hawkins, looking down at Brickell: “So George is your real first name? And you all know the names of all your accomplices?”
After hesitating, Brickell nodded. “First names. Not last.”
“Where was Rory going?”
“I don’t know where anyone else was going,” Brickell said. “Lionel gave us separate assignments. We weren’t supposed to talk about them with each other, so we couldn’t give them away if we got caught.”
Hawkins moved up beside Long: “Rory, if you cooperate…”
“Go away.”
Hawkins moved to Cameron Johnson: “Cameron, you’re not going anywhere. You could tell us the airports you were supposed to infect.”
Long called, “Cameron, if you tell them, they can eliminate those airports from their lists, and figure out where the others are going.”
Hawkins said, “There are hundreds of airports, Cameron—and if you talk to us, like a civilized human being, that will carry weight at your trial.”
Johnson turned his head to the side and said, “Help me…just help me.”
“Honestly?” Hawkins said. “We’re afraid to help you. We’re afraidyou’re infectious and will give us Marburg. If this so-called vaccine kills you, well, it kills you. Tough luck.”
“Then screw you, you fuckin’ monster, let us die,” Johnson said.
—
Hawkins went backto Brickell. “It’s hard to believe that Lionel would launch this plan if he hadn’t tested the hybrid virus on someone…did he do that?”
Brickell turned his head from side to side, his tongue flicking in and out like a snake’s; his face was swollen, red, and one hand crept across his stomach and seemed to squeeze a bit and he said, “Hurts. They didn’t say it would hurt this much.”
Hawkins nodded, and said, “Okay.” He reached down with one gloved hand, his fingers rigid, and jabbed Brickell in the stomach, hard, and the man tried to scream but not much came out but a gasp of breath and a groan, and saliva, and Hawkins jabbed him again. “I can’t think that your pain will amount to much compared to the pain of millions of children who have the raw Marburg…” And he jabbed Brickell again, and this time harder, and the man did manage to scream and tried to roll.
Hawkins pushed him flat again, and snarled, “John: was there a test?”
“Don’t…”
Hawkins jabbed him again, harder still. He snarled again and let Brickell hear the coarseness: “I can do this all day. This is what I do.”
“Ahhhh…Please…” And Brickell farted, a long, loud expulsion of gas that seeped into the RV’s air and Long said, “Ah, my God, you’re killing him.”
Hawkins: “So what?” He turned back to Brickell: “John? George? Whatever it is?”
