This wasn't quite the same thing. He would not be spreading organophosphate chemical poisons, but rather tiny virus particles. And the people walking through the cooling fog in the concourses and ramps to the stadium bowl would breathe them in, and their body chemistry would break down the nano-capsules, allowing the Shiva strands to go to work… slowly, of course… and they'd go home to spread the Shiva farther, and in four to six weeks after the ending of the Sydney Olympics, the plague would erupt worldwide, and a global panic would ensue. Then Horizon Corporation would announce that it had an experimental "A" vaccine that had worked in animals and primates-and was safe for human usage-ready for mass production, and so it would be mass-produced and distributed worldwide, and four to six weeks after injection, those people, too, would develop the Shiva symptoms, and with luck the world would be depopulated down to a fractional percentage of the current population. Disorders would break out, killing many of the people blessed by Nature with highly effective immune systems, and in six months or so, there would be just a few left, well organized and well equipped, safe in Kansas and Brazil, and in six months more they would be the inheritors of a world returning to its natural state. This wouldn't be like Dugway, a purposeless accident. This would be a considered act by a man who'd contemplated mass murder for all of his professional life, but who'd only helped kill innocent animals… He turned to look at his hosts.
"What's the extended weather forecast?"
"Hot and dry, old boy. I hope the athletes are fit. They'll need to be."
"Well, then, this fogging system will be a lifesaver," Gearing observed. "Just so the wrong people don't fool with it. With your permission, I'll have my people keep an eye on this thing."
"Fine," the senior cop agreed. The American was really fixated on this fogging system, but he'd been a gas soldier, and maybe that explained it.
Popov hadn't closed his shades the previous evening, and so the dawn awoke him rather abruptly. He opened his eyes, then squinted them in pain as the sun rose over the Kansas plains. The medicine cabinet in the bathroom, he found, had Tylenol and aspirin, and there were coffee grounds for the machine in the kitchen area, but nothing of value in the refrigerator. So he showered and had his coffee, then went out of the room looking for food. He found a cafeteria-a huge one-almost entirely empty of patrons, though there were a few people near the food tables, and there he went, got breakfast and sat alone, as he looked at the others in the cavernous room. Mainly people in their thirties and forties, he thought, professional looking, some wearing white laboratory coats."Mr. Popov?" a voice said. Dmitriy turned.
"Yes?
"I'm David Dawson, chief of security here. I have a badge for you to wear"-he handed over a white plastic shield that pinned to his shirt "and I'm supposed to show you around today. Welcome to Kansas."
"Thank you." Popov pinned the badge on. It even had his picture on it, the Russian saw.
"You want to wear that at all times, so that people know you belong here," Dawson explained helpfully.
"Yes, I understand." So this place was pass-controlled, and it had a director of site security. How interesting.
"How was your flight in last night?"
"Pleasant and uneventful," Popov replied, sipping his second coffee of the morning. "So, what is this place?"
"Well, Horizon set it up as a research facility. You know what the company does, right?"
"Yes." Popov nodded. "Medicines and biological research, a world leader."
"Well, this is another research-and-development facility for their work. It was just finished recently. We're bringing people in now. It will soon be the company's main facility."
"Why here in the middle of nothing?" Popov asked, looking around at the mainly empty cafeteria.
"Well, for starters, it's centrally located. You can be anywhere in the country in less than three hours. And nobody's around to bother us. It's a secure facility, too. Horizon does lots of work that requires protection, you see."
"Industrial espionage?"
Dawson nodded. "That's right. We worry about that."
"Will I be able to look around, see the grounds and such?"
"I'll drive you around myself. Mr. Henriksen told me to extend you the hospitality of the facility. Go ahead and finish your breakfast. I have a few things I have to do. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes."
