The Devil's Vial

by Brumbaugh,Byron

  Shannon rose from his chair and sat on the edge of his desk. The fingers of his hands curled over the desktop, his upper body being supported by straight arms. “I see,” he said. “And what do you have to say to the fact that you’ve been charged with murder a few weeks ago? You have shot at and injured police officers in the performance of their duty, hijacked an aircraft, kidnapped a prominent citizen, destroyed millions of dollars of private property, and caused general mayhem. Do you think you’re not answerable for your actions?”

  “We did what we had to do. They were trying to kill us! And most of the rest of humanity! Jesus Christ!” Alex took a deep breath as if trying to regain some control. “Look, I didn’t say you don’t have the power to hurt us - you obviously do, but I will not submit my will to you, follow your lead blindly, simply because you’re an authority. Those days have passed.”

  Oscar gave an emphatic nod and crossed his arms across his chest.

  Shannon looked at Alex for a moment. “Good,” he said. “Okay, let’s get to it then.” He fiddled with his tie for a moment, thinking. “First things first. Are you sure you completely destroyed the virus?”

  “Nothing could have survived that blast,” said Emily.

  “But could there be more virus elsewhere, in India maybe?”

  “Todd told us the vial we had was the only sample in existence,” said Alex. After a moment’s thought, he added, “But we don’t know they don’t have the ability to make more in India.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” said Richard as he reached inside his shirt and pulled out several small syringes filled with fluid. “I grabbed these from the lab just before we left. They’re supposed to be treatments and vaccines that protect from the virus. You’d better get them to the CDC as soon as possible so more can be manufactured.”

  “Richard! You’re beautiful!” Alex said. “Why didn’t I think to grab them?”

  “Brilliant!” said Emily. “Why didn’t you say you had those?”

  “I was so distracted by what was happening, I forgot I had them until we gathered up stuff to leave the island.”

  “We’ll get right on that,” Shannon said. He scooped up the syringes and waved for the man at the door to come pick them up. “Paul, would you please bring the equipment in and take these to someone who can get them to Atlanta?”

  “Yessir,” said the man as he took the syringes and turned to leave the room.

  Richard felt a tightening in his chest. He sure as hell hoped he was giving them to the right people.

  “Things have happened since you four blew up the lab.” Shannon paused again. “To put it simply, we need your help.” He looked each of them in the eye.

  “Whatever for?” asked Emily.

  “Let me show you,” said Shannon.

  “Wait a minute,” said Emily. “There was a guy who worked at the lab, his name was Armando, who helped us a lot. Do you know anything about him? Is he okay? He was supposed to meet us a couple days ago and never showed.”

  “I don’t know anything about him,” said Shannon, “but I’ll see what we can find out. I’m not surprised he didn’t show, though. Things have been locked down tight at the lab since the explosion. That’s why we were delayed in picking you up.”

  Emily frowned, but said nothing.

  “Well,” Shannon said, “the shit has hit the fan. It seems Oscar here was able to upload damning evidence as to what was going on in the lab. Once on the web, it became accessible to everyone.” Another pause. “That’s everyone, everywhere.”

  Oscar glowed.

  “Apparently, Oscar was able to contact some of his cronies who took the data and put it in e-mails, Twitter, Facebook - they passed it around in every digital format you can imagine. If you logged onto a computer, it was nearly impossible not to be redirected to information about what was going on. The word got out and anyone and everyone with access to a computer or a cell phone found out they were within a hairs breadth of dying. And I mean damn near everyone in the entire world. They also were pointed to where long lists of everyone involved could be found. My hat’s off to you, Oscar. You did a very impressive job.” He nodded in Oscar’s direction. “There’s no doubt that people at the very top of world politics planned to murder billions of people. These billions of people, at least those that have access to a computer, or knows someone with access, now know about it. And they are angry.”

  “So what’s that got to do with us?” asked Emily. “They should be angry. We are!”

  The man who took the syringes now returned with a large screen TV on a cart. He plugged it into the wall.

  Shannon got down from the desk and walked around to the TV. “Let me show you…” he said as he bent to turn it on.

  Now we’re going to watch TV? thought Richard.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “- in the streets,” came a disembodied voice from the TV. “Again today, thousands have gathered in Washington, around the Capitol and the White House.”

  On the screen appeared a crowd of people, some bearing signs, milling about behind barricades. Beyond a wrought iron fence stood the White House. Police stood at ease in front of the fence, in riot gear, taking no apparent action.

  “The President has made no further comments since the news conference yesterday - “

  “And that was pretty pathetic,” said Shannon. “They tried to do some spin-doctoring, but nobody bought it. There’s too much damning evidence of his direct involvement.”

  “There doesn’t seem to be much going on right now,” said another voice.

  “Not like earlier today, Bob,” said the first voice. “The crowd has quieted down quite a bit, at least for the moment.”

  “It’s interesting how there hasn’t been looting and rioting in Washington like there’s been in LA and elsewhere.”

  “I think the police are responsible for that, Jim. They seem to be quite passive, until they see signs of violence.”

  The scene changed from people standing in the streets to the TV studio where two men dressed in suits and ties sat behind a table, facing each other. “Not just passive. They’ve been taking part in the demonstrations and calling for the resignation of the people on the list, like everyone else - at least as long as things are peaceful…”

  “The list they’re referring to is the list of members of ‘The Survivors’ that you provided over the Internet,” said Shannon. He punched a button on the remote and the scene changed.

  More people appeared, but these were running about. There was smoke in the foreground and the distant background. Buildings and cars in the street were in flames and armed police were firing tear gas from behind protective shields. “In London, crowds have gathered again today. Rioting has spilled out into the suburbs. The central branch of the Bank of England was burned to the ground - “

  “A lot of businesses have been targeted, too,” said Shannon. “Many, if not all, of the businesses involved have been attacked, closed, destroyed.” Another channel, more crowds. “The same in Germany… “ More channels, more rioting. “India… Iran… Russia…. China… Kenya… It’s everywhere.” He shut off the TV. “Demonstrations, rioting, mob destruction; many countries are in open rebellion. Some, including here in the US, may not be far behind. Director Webb is in hiding, along with some members of Congress. Though some generals are on the list, it seems the rank and file of the military are in support of the people, though the nature and depth of that support is still uncertain.”

  “All this happened in just five days?” asked Emily with a note of incredulity.

  “It is happening. It’s unfolding right now, at this moment. The world has shut down; nothing is working. No airline flights; few if any cars or trucks are on the roads, businesses are closed, almost no one is going to work. Everybody is in the streets, waiting to see what happens, hoping to influence what does. ‘The Survivors’ hold a lot of economic, political and military power, but only at the consent of the ninety percent plus of the rest of humanity that a
ren’t on the list. And by all appearances, they, we, do not consent.”

  “Hey, a little revolution once in a while can be a good thing,” said Oscar.

  “Perhaps,” said Shannon. “But at what cost? Change is clearly needed, but I don’t think we want a total collapse that would make the dark ages look like a summer vacation for global order. That’s where you four come in.”

  “What in the world can we do about this? Even if we decided we should do something, and that’s far from obvious to me,” said Alex.

  “Well…” said Shannon. “The people are taking to the streets. They’re demanding action be taken against the perpetrators and their supporters.”

  “And they damn well should be!” said Emily.

  “I don’t understand,” said Alex. “What’s that got to do with us? You’re the FBI - take action.”

  “You see, the problem is,” said Shannon, “it’s hard for some people to separate the people involved from the institutions they controlled.”

  “I don’t blame them there,” said Oscar.

  “So, there are billions of people in the street demanding action, but they’re rioting. They want to destroy the institutions that have been established to take that action. They no longer trust them.”

  “Funny thing about that,” said Alex.

  “But we can’t have complete chaos, anarchy.”

  “Why not?” asked Oscar.

  “That would allow even more abuse of power. We need to replace the people at the top who were involved, but somehow retain enough of the institutions they headed so effectual change can be made.”

  “I, for one, would not want just the faces to change so the same kind of abuse would continue, just with different people at the top,” said Oscar.

  “But the answer is not to throw away everything that’s been built and start completely over, either,” Shannon said. He paused and took a deep breath. “I happen to believe in my country. I believe in the Constitution and have sworn to uphold it. We can use what our ancestors created to help us get out of this mess. The basic structure is sound; we can still use the system to advantage. Maybe we do need to make some changes, but we don’t have to raze what we’ve got to the ground to do it. Those people that attempted this thing should hang, and I’ll help tie the noose. But we need to maintain some order.”

  “I’m not sure I entirely agree,” Alex said.

  Shannon became quiet, got off the desk and stood. “When our ancient ancestors first started living in groups,” he said after a moment, “they acquired a survival advantage. At first, just because of numbers. But they also found if they worked together cooperatively, they had even more of an advantage. But people don’t just spontaneously cooperate, they need leadership. This leadership has evolved over time. At first, chieftains, then kings, then, as society became more complex, the rule of law, legislatures - institutions. Without that leadership and guidance, there would not be enough cooperation for a society to function.”

  “But I fail to see how any of this has anything to do with us,” said Alex. “What can we do one way or the other?”

  “Are you kidding? What you four have done at your own personal risk is to save the lives of all those billions of people out there on the street.” He waved his hand toward the TV. “And they know it. They don’t know all the details, but they know who you are. If there’s anyone in the world they’ll trust, it’s you four. And, at least for now, they will follow your lead. What’s needed right now, before things get too out of hand, is to rebuild faith in our institutions so we can work together to get through this. Talk to the people, give them faith, rally their support to rebuild what’s been lost; to build something new and better.”

  “Even if that’s true,” Emily said, “we wouldn‘t know what to do or say. Hell, I’m not even sure if we should help you.”

  “We don’t know what we should do either. This is the first time in the history of humanity where ninety percent of the human race is unified, willing, perhaps, to work toward a common goal.” Shannon threw his arms up in the air. “If the world were to be invaded by technologically superior aliens, I don’t think there’d be more potential for cooperation. This is an opportunity to get everyone to work together to solve our mutual problems - rid ourselves of those that would destroy us, find sustainability that’s environmentally friendly, universal peace and whatever prosperity that can be managed… But we have to maintain order and gain the cooperation of all these people. That’s where you come in. We need you to talk to them.”

  “We’re not politicians,” said Alex.

  “No, but people will listen to you. They trust you. Look, we don’t have the answers. This is all totally new territory. We haven’t had time to work it out. Hell, we don’t even know who ‘we’ are yet. But be a part of the solution. Give us your ideas; tell us what we haven’t thought of; talk us out of the bad ideas we come up with. Work with us. We can work together. I, and those like me, believe in the American ideal of democracy and we want to keep it, at least the essence of it, alive. Help us. You four are trusted by everyone. No one else in the world is, at this moment. Only you four have stood up and shown where you stand. Only you four made a choice when it really counted, that defined what you’re made of. Everyone else in the world is a question mark. You can use this notoriety to help guide the course of what happens next. You can be the spokesmen of a core of righteous experts who want to make a better world.” Shannon looked at Richard. “You can be their conscience, guiding them to make the right choices, so that nothing like this happens again.”

  There was a knock on the door. An agent entered and handed Shannon a piece of paper.

  Shannon read the note. “I have to leave. We have so much to discuss and so little time to take action. The four of you look exhausted. Maybe the best thing for now is to get some good food in you and let you sleep. But we can’t delay very long. History's happening, and it's happening now. Give us a moment and we’ll get you something to eat and some place to sleep. For now, I have to go. Please excuse me. We’ll meet after you’re fed, rested and cleaned up.”

  “Where’re you going?” asked Emily.

  Shannon held up the piece of paper. “There’s a small crisis I have to tend to. After pressure from multiple quarters, the President has decided to put himself in protective custody with the FBI. I’ve been asked to help coordinate it. It’s going to take at least a few hours.” He took a deep breath. “Things are really going down.” Turning, he followed the agent toward the door. “I will be back,” he said just before he left. Then he was gone; they were alone.

  “Crap,” said Alex. “Weren’t we in this same position last week? I feel just like I did listening to Todd trying to get us on board with him.” He paused, thinking. “But, at least Shannon’s not proposing the slaughter of billions of people.”

  “I don’t know the right thing to do,” said Emily. She looked up at Richard. “You haven’t said much, Richard. What do you think?”

  Richard tried to gather his thoughts. “I don’t know. I thought I knew. I thought I had a grip on what was right and good.” He paused. “But I chose differently…”

  “And rightfully so,” said Alex. “You did a good thing.”

  “No,” said Richard. “I did an expedient thing. It wasn’t a good thing.”

  “What're you talking about?” asked Oscar. “You stopped a guy from murdering billions of people. What could be more justified?”

  “It doesn't matter how justified it was. I took a man's life.” Richard shook his head. “Don't you understand? That was a very savage act and there are profound consequences - emotional, psychological and karmic. PTSD is only the tip of the iceberg.” He shrugged. “And none of it can be erased by arguing I did the right thing.”

  “So,” said Emily, “what do you think we should do now?”

  “Emily, you don’t need anyone to tell you what you should do.”

  “I don’t?”

  “Hell no. None of you do.
Emily, you’re a policewoman, sworn to serve and protect. You take care of people. Alex, you’re a physician. You take care of people too. As does Oscar, in his peculiar hacker-with-a-heart way.” He looked down at Buddy, who now lay quietly, panting softly, and gave him a pat. “Even Buddy takes care of people - he saved us all.” Buddy wagged his tail. “Something drove you all to make the professional and avocational choices you’ve made. Drove you to damn near lose everything to save billions of people. Call it whatever you like, but listen to that something. Let it be your guide.”

  Alex nodded. “So we continue doing what we’ve been doing.”

  Richard stuck his hands in his pockets. “And when we make mistakes,” he looked down at his feet, “as surely we will, we learn from them and go on. Looking after others is what we do. And it’s what we should continue to do. And we work with anyone, everyone, including Shannon and the FBI, who will help us do what needs to be done.”

  Alex took a deep breath and blew it out through pursed lips. “Well, right now, I feel the need to take care of myself. I’m beat. I need to eat a decent meal, take a shower, and then take a well-earned nap. After that, well, we’ll see.”

  “‘Hacker-with-a-heart.’ I kinda like that.” Oscar looked over at the desk. “Hey, do you think anybody’d mind if I dabble a little?” He interlaced his fingers and flexed them back in a stretch as he moved over toward the laptop Shannon left behind.

  Emily looked at Alex. “Well, I need to take a little break too,” she said.

  Maybe some food and a little rest would be a good idea, decided Richard. He was very tired. After that? Meditation? Why couldn’t he have just stayed in the monastery, led a nice quiet, calm, contemplative life? I wonder if I’ll ever see my Lama again. He swallowed hard. And if I do, what will I say to him?

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  The day after they met Shannon, they were moved to a large house just outside Washington. It was a ten bedroom mansion on twenty acres of rolling grassland; their nearest neighbors were a good quarter mile away. There was staff that took care of them and some armed guards that roamed the grounds. The guards were supposed to be there to keep people out, not them in, but Alex suspected it probably cut both ways. All in all, they were being treated as celebrities. Apparently, Shannon was still hoping they would come around and support his ideas of order and governance - and get the rest of America to follow. Alex wasn't so sure about doing that.