The Leaves in Winter (44 page)

Goodwin Godspeed Diye III

Chapter 42

Lugano-Agno
Airport

Switzerland

Knockout Mouse paused for security inspection with coat collar up and the brim of his driving cap low over his eyes. The guard’s
OK-to-pass
was efficient and polite yet Mouse said nothing in return. Papers in order, he pushed out the door and made brisk strides across the snow covered asphalt.

At his side swung a metal briefcase secured to a wrist. In front of him waited a private jet whose door swung open upon his approach. He squinted at the bright blue sky before scurrying up the steps. Once aboard, the crew secured the door behind him. A few steps down the aisle, Hasuru Tamasu waited for him.

“Where’s Heinrich?” Hasuru checked behind him.

Mouse unlocked the suitcase from his wrist.

“Still in
Milan
; he got delayed. He sent me along with this.”

Hasuru reached for the case. “How long is he going to make us wait?”

Mouse dug hands in coat pockets and sat in a leather chair across the aisle. “Last I heard he’s on the road.”

“I knew his little side trip would wind up in a delay.” Hasuru turned and gazed out a porthole window. “I envy you. The weather’s finally cleared; it’s gotten quite beautiful and you get to stay here a couple more days.”

Mouse snorted. “I’ve had enough of winter. I’d rather come back in spring.”

“Ah, yes, when the camellias and magnolias are in bloom and all the tourists are trying their hand at
dolce far niente
. The world is coming apart and everyone’s aspiring to be carefree and idle.”

“It’s better than spending all day in a clinic being worked over.”

“A minor annoyance considering all the lifetime you’re gaining.”

“As if it matters.”

Hasuru turned back from the window. “Of course it matters.”

“What good is extended life when 3rd Protocol is loose? Face it – Mass won.”

“The battle but not the war.” Hasuru eased back and patted the metal case with a gentle hand. “Have any idea what’s in here?”

Mouse sat expressionless. “That’s not my job.”

“Correct, but it should be your curiosity.”

Mouse resented Hasuru’s coyness. “What I’m supposed to know, I know.”

“You know that Eugene Mass is dead. What you don’t know is how much Leah Mass wanted to find his assassin. The same night he died she put the word out – she’d do whatever it took to get to the bottom of it.”

“And the briefcase?”

“Leah was willing to make a trade.”

“Of what?”

“We had proof that Curtis Labon was behind the assassination. She had the immunity vaccine.”

Mouse eyed the case. “A vaccine for 3rd Protocol? Is that what I’ve been carrying around?”

Hasuru nodded. “Remarkable, isn’t it? So as you see, the battle may be over but the world is ours to win.”

“I can’t believe you contacted her – and she listened.”

“Actually, Heinrich made the arrangements through an intermediary. I doubt she even knew it was us she was dealing with. It’s amazing how grief and anger can motivate some people to bargain with their devil.”

“We’ve never spoken to her…”

“But we always knew Mass must be developing a vaccine in parallel. We never could get close to it. It was his most guarded prize. Why
not
do business with Leah.”

“Why?” Mouse snapped. “They triggered Triple-Green. Why would she give it to you?”

“Apparently, with
Eugene
gone, Leah had no intention of releasing 3rd Protocol. If there’s no plague – then there’s no need for an immunity agent. She thought she was trading something she had rendered worthless.”

“This must have gone down before all the advertisements came out. Before Goodwin Godspeed Diye III.”

Hasuru smiled. “Fortunately for us.”

“And what does she think about the trade now?”

“Who knows; who cares? She can’t be happy but that’s business.”

“So Mass did it on his own – without her.”

“Mass had an insurance policy; something he hid in reserve, even from her. You’ve got to hand it to him; he was determined to help the planet no matter what. Even assassination wouldn’t stop it.”

“What about Labon?” asked Mouse.

Hasuru dismissed the topic with a wave of the hand. “He’s on his own. Mass left The Group as a rogue and now The Group is leaving Labon to his fate for similar behavior. None of us are to have any contact with him whatsoever.”

“You’ll let Leah take care of him so everyone keeps their hands clean.”

“Actions have consequences. He’s a big boy; he should have known that.”

Mouse stared at the case. The weight of what was possible rooted him in place.

“It’s hard to believe. Immunity is right there; the key to six billion lives.”

Hasuru looked away. “Why yes, it’ll save many lives.”

Mouse detected a hedge. With rising concern, he struggled to keep casual.

“You’re going to hand this over…make it available to the world?”

The pause was expectant. “We’re considering all factors…several options.”

“What’s to decide? Doesn’t it need to be mass-produced as soon as possible?”

“That’s right but it’s more complicated than that. Something like this is too important to turn over to governments or some other collection of bureaucrats. For twenty years we’ve had to deal with their incompetence and corruption. You know that; you’ve seen what we’ve had to go through. Over and over again the people in charge have proven incapable of coming to grips with long-range problems.”

Mouse moderated his tone; he wanted information not an argument. “The Group is going to distribute it?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll do the right thing.”

“What
is
the right thing?” Mouse meant the question literally even as Hasuru considered the matter with philosophical detachment.

“Precisely, it’s the age-old question. Differing vantage points yield different conclusions. Any answer may need adjustment given a change in circumstance.”

“But the facts won’t change. Billions of people will die…”

“Yes, yes,” interrupted Hasuru. “It’s a crisis, to be sure. It’s nothing that The Group would have sanctioned. We rejected Mass years ago when he first suggested it; that’s why he left us. But now that it’s begun, now that the unthinkable is happening, we have no choice but to take into consideration what it means. We can’t deny that circumstances have changed.”

“What are you saying? Never let a good crisis go to waste…”

Hasuru squinted and shook his head. “It’s not as crude as that but it’s true – the reality of things can’t be denied. We can go forward, we
will
go forward, but we can’t pretend it didn’t happen. Even if we raced to get the vaccine out to people today, the toll would still be enormous. As with anything, we need to step back and look at the positive side of things.”

“Having the vaccine available is the only thing positive,” asserted Mouse.

“Of course, but we have to think beyond that. What possible good can come out of this? If there is something of value, we should help it along.”

Mouse felt Hasuru’s growing distrust of the line of questioning and eased back. “So what now?”

Hasuru checked his wristwatch. “Well, if Heinrich ever gets here, we’ll take this case to his lab in
Basel
.”

“That’s not the 2nd Protocol lab…”

“No, but the city of
Basel
is German-speaking and it’s still in
Switzerland
. The Swiss penchant for privacy will come in handy and being so near to the borders of
France
and
Germany
will be convenient.”

“You’re keeping it at that one location?”

“For a while. The first order of business is getting key people immunized.”

Mouse wavered. “Does that include me?”

“Certainly.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Arrangements were made for your stopover in
Basel
on the way back, after you finish up here in a couple of days. When you got here with the case I planned on telling you.”

For Mouse, a game plan took shape. “I’d rather go with you now and be immunized.”

“But that’s so unnecessary. You have
GenLET
therapy to complete.”

“I can still do that afterwards can’t I?”

“I suppose so but it’s a lot of back-and-forth extra travel.”

Mouse pressed. “
GenLET
won’t do me any good if I catch the plague.”

“But a couple of days shouldn’t matter – the reports of sickness are in
Asia
.”

“And
Africa
. I just heard the news today of another outbreak.”

“Really? Well, if you want, I don’t care. Ride with us to
Basel
. If it’ll ease your mind, so be it. Just let the
GenLET
people know what you’re doing.”

“Oh, yeah,” remarked Mouse. “I’ll give them a call.” He lifted his phone from a coat pocket and held it in hand for a moment while deep in thought.

Hasuru pressed a call button intercom and ordered some food from the galley.

Mouse stood. “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

Hasuru barely gave notice as Mouse stepped down the aisle towards the back of the plane. On the way Mouse passed another Group member engaged in a video conference on his laptop. The Group member was too absorbed to acknowledge him.

The lavatory door shut behind Mouse and he locked it in place. Turning in the cramped space, he faced the washbasin mirror. For a full minute he stood and stared into the glass, at his face, into his eyes. He gripped the basin and leaned forward, on edge and with racing thoughts.

It took all the effort he had to keep under control and not shout his anger and frustration. The obscenity of Hasuru’s cool calculation, given the magnitude of human suffering underway, was alarming. Never had he heard The Group cater so callously to what was expedient over what was just.

The interchange with Hasuru was disturbing in so many ways.

For Mouse, it seemed certain now – the group would sit on what they had and let the plague ravish Asia and
India
, the most populace regions of the world. Then they’d stand by while
Africa
, the poorest continent with a soaring birth rate, got decimated. Only then would they make their discovery public.

They had chosen the middle ground. They wouldn’t stop 3rd Protocol as soon as possible yet neither would they allow the population collapse to continue unabated.

They would work the crisis for all it’s worth.

Afterwards their conscience would be clear, just the same as if Leah killed Curtis Labon. For both, they weren’t to blame. After all, it was Curtis who had gone rogue. It was Mass who had triggered wholesale death. They shared no guilt if 3rd Protocol should happen to run its course for awhile. Instead of six billion dead, a more acceptable compromise of three billion might do the planet some good.

In the end, the world would be better off and they would have no reason for self-reproach. If anything, they’d be left standing to reap the benefits of a humanity no longer stressed to the point of no return, but they’d be free of all responsibility for doing the unthinkable to get there.

Only one question remained – what would Leah Mass do?

Now that 3rd Protocol was taking lives, now that the engineered contagion was sweeping through continents, would she publically come forward with the vaccine? The CDC and WHO were at a loss on how to combat the virulent disease.