Game Changer (42 page)

“What needs to be done!” said
Rachel. “What, like wiping religion from the human race?”

“You’re quite the detective,” said
Kovonov in amusement. “But I’m not surprised you knew about this. I did happen
to notice Carmilla was on the island with you. Apparently, whoever was manning the
GeneScreen hotline got to her in time to disrupt my little experiment.”

He reached toward the table next
to him, carefully avoiding the empty goblet he had set there, and lifted the rectangular
stainless steel container from its surface. He pressed a small indentation on
one edge and the lid slowly slid open, accompanied by an electric whirring
sound.

“The case may be a little
excessive,” he said, “but it is protecting precious cargo.”

 
He reached inside and removed a small
stainless steel vial, about the size of his thumb, from a cushioned cavity, and
held it up to his eye. “This is it,” he announced proudly. “The virus Carmilla
fabricated for me. She truly is a rare talent. Almost in your league, Professor
Howard. Before too long I’ll be able to make it contagious.”
 

“You tested it on those
evangelicals in the Cockaponset woods,” said Quinn, “didn’t you?”

“Very good,” said Kovonov,
genuinely impressed. “I’m surprised you made this connection.”
 

“So why kill them afterward?”
pressed Quinn. “You’d already stripped them of their belief. Wasn’t that enough
damage?”

“With this much at stake, I couldn’t
take any chances. I had kept them as prisoners for days, and they had all seen
my face.”

“You can’t do this!” said
Rachel. “The eradication of religiosity is a bridge too far. Even you must know
that.”

“I
can
do this!” replied Kovonov. “And I
will!
You understand better than anyone how effective this virus
will be. All twenty evangelicals exposed to it lost their faith. The interviews
were fascinating. Even those who pretended to still have a strong belief at the
end were called out by my lie detector. When pressed, they admitted they were
having significant second thoughts about it all. Each fooled themselves into
believing this change of heart had been the culmination of thoughts that had
been brewing just under the surface for years. As you well know, Professor, if
the unconscious mind makes a decision, the conscious mind strives to find a way
to make sense of it, to take credit for it. Just because my virus forced their
unconscious into losing faith, it worked the same way. I thought you would
appreciate this finding.”

“Well you were wrong!” said
Rachel in disgust. “What you did is
unforgivable
.
And when I said
you can’t do this
, I
wasn’t speaking literally. Of course the virus will work. I was saying you
can’t do this because of its impact on humanity. You know it will affect all
religions, all supernatural beliefs.”

“Of course I do,” he replied,
returning the small vial to the case and setting it back on the table.

“Do you have any idea what that
might do to our species?” she said. “The unintended consequences? The scientist
in you knows this propensity is there for a reason. We evolved it. It’s an
integral part of the human condition.”

“I agree it’s an evolved feature,”
said Kovonov. “But so what? It’s vestigial. We evolved tonsils, an appendix, and
wisdom teeth. These are no longer needed. Same is true of religion.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,”
insisted Rachel. “Our fear of the unknown is as great as ever. Our need for
religion as great as ever. It’s a tenet of human nature as fundamental as sex
or hunger. And you’re just going to rip it out by its roots? Erasing these
areas of our brains might ramp up the neuroses of our species to unsustainable
levels. Do you really think this is a good time to take that chance?”

She forced her expression to
soften. “I get your frustration with religion,” she continued more calmly. “It
has
caused a lot of harm. But the
importance of
spirituality in human existence can’t be overemphasized. Only when this
spirituality impulse becomes entwined with a restrictive and dogmatic religious
creed are we threatened.”

Rachel paused, deciding on the best way to press
her argument further. “Do I
wish there weren’t extremists who interpreted
their religion as a call to send civilization into the Dark Ages, to kill all
non-believers, to bring about the Apocalypse? Of course I do. And I wish I
didn’t have to go through long lines at airports, or learn about a terror attack
somewhere in the world almost every day. But what you’re planning isn’t the
answer. Religion can become bastardized, but so can
everything
. Islamic extremism is a cancer on religion. But if you
can’t excise the tumor, you don’t vaporize the entire patient. You contain the
tumor and wait for an immune response to kick in.”

“This isn’t just about a
too-literal interpretation of Islam,” said Kovonov. “Throughout history
every
religion has been antagonistic to every
other
. Because if one divine faith is true,
every other must be a lie. The history of our species contains endless examples
of religious tribalism, of conquests justified in the name of a Creator,
spurring on our violent tendencies and leading to massive bloodshed.
Do
you know how many millions of people have been murdered in the name of Christ?
In the name of a savior who preached love and compassion and turn the other
cheek?”

“The crusades and pogroms were
many hundreds of years ago,” said Rachel defiantly. “The Christian religion has
now become the peaceful religion its deity intended. Through time, the same
will happen with Islamic extremists. If you could limit this to only the most
rabid extremists, stripping them of their core beliefs, of their passion for
jihad, this would be one thing. But you can’t. And I promise you that removing
all religiosity from the human species will only end in disaster. It will leave
a gaping hole in the human psyche that can never be filled.”

Kovonov smiled icily. “I guess we’ll soon get to find out.”

“Even if you strip religious belief from the jihadists,” said Rachel,
“this won’t stop the jihad. Not anymore. It’s been set in motion. For many it’s
all about their faith, but for many others it’s come to be about more than this.
About revenge, and hatred, and power. Once there is death and destruction on
both sides, it becomes self-fueling, the reasons that it began not important
anymore.”

“Now
this
is something I
can agree with,” said Kovonov. “Which is why the virus is only step
two
. Step one is to wipe out the current
generation of jihadists like so many cockroaches. Wipe the slate clean. Then introduce
the virus to prevent this cancer from ever growing back.”

“How do you plan to exterminate all jihadists?” said Quinn.
 

“I don’t. I plan to leave that to the most powerful military force
the world has ever seen. It’s
your
country that will end this worldwide threat, once and for all.”

“Not a chance,” said Quinn. “Our people
—
our leaders
—
haven’t shown an appetite to devote the boots on the ground and
financial resources needed to even dent this threat, let alone eliminate it.”

“They just haven’t been properly motivated yet,” said Kovonov
ominously.

Quinn had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Are you
saying
you’re
going to supply the
motivation?”

“I am, indeed,” said Kovonov smugly. “In just about two hours from
now, the instant the clock strikes midnight in your nation’s capitol, the San
Francisco Bay Area will no longer exist. It will suffer a nuclear detonation.
For a brief instant, it will become hotter than the sun, with only a mushroom
cloud to mark where a thriving city once stood.”

He stared at Quinn with a grim intensity. “How’s that for proper
motivation?”

69

Quinn was reeling. Could it be?
Was this madman’s true plan even worse than the elimination of all religious
belief? It was too horrible to even contemplate.

Just a short time earlier he and
Rachel had thought they were on the brink of stopping Kovonov cold. Now Quinn knew
his own life expectancy could be measured in days, at most, and that not only
was Kovonov untouched, he was crazier and more dangerous than ever.

Quinn shook his head as he came
to his senses. What was he thinking? Of course this last threat wasn’t true, regardless
of how resourceful and formidable Kovonov had shown himself to be.

“You’ve finally gone full bore
delusional,” he said. “Just getting a nuclear device into San Francisco would
be all but impossible. But you’re asking us to believe that you not only
managed this, but also orchestrated events so ISIS will take the fall for it?”

“Believe what you want,” said Kovonov.
“But that’s exactly what is about to happen.”

“How?” said Rachel.
 

“Glad you asked,” replied
Kovonov. “Remember Kim Jong-un? He may have been a psychotic imbecile, but he
had some people working for him who were exceedingly competent. You’ll find
this hard to believe, but they managed to sneak nuclear devices into six of
your cities several years back. Israel learned about this at the eleventh hour
from our fly drones. We were just able to stop them in time. And then we killed
Kim Jong-un. You have Israel to thank for averting a catastrophe and removing
an enemy from the board. But these nuclear devices remained in place.”
 

Quinn whitened. This threat had
suddenly become much more believable.

Kovonov studied his prisoners
with great interest, noting that both of them now looked like they had seen a ghost.
“Wortzman disclosed this to you already, didn’t he? I can tell from your
reaction.”

Quinn nodded woodenly. “He did.”

“Interesting,” said Kovonov. “I
never guessed my old boss would come clean about so much. Good. Now you know
I’m telling the truth. To continue, we only managed to stop North Korea because
we were able to get the detonation codes and change them at the last moment. We
later managed to remove five of the six devices in secret and transport them back
to Israel to add to our own arsenal. Which took some doing, I might add.”

He raised his eyebrows. “The
sixth, in San Francisco, had been embedded in the foundation of a skyscraper
that was being constructed at the time. There was no way for us to remove this
one without being obvious. Wortzman was adamant that we not tell your
government about stopping North Korea, which meant we couldn’t say anything
about the device. If we did, Wortzman worried it would raise too many questions
about our capabilities that he didn’t want to answer.”

“So you just left it there?” whispered
Quinn, feeling hollow, sickened.

“Why not? We were the only ones
with the activation codes and we wouldn’t use them under any circumstances.
Only a few people in all of Israel knew that this was the case, and the codes
were deleted from every database we had. All except one.”

“Which you found,” said Quinn.

Kovonov nodded. “I’ve had them for some
time now. But very recently I freed a member of ISIS’s military council who was
being held here in America. A man named al-Bilawy. He’s still in this country, and
I’ve programmed him to set off the nuke. But before he does this, he’ll make it
absolutely clear to your government that he and ISIS are responsible.”

He paused, seeming to enjoy the
horrified reaction of his audience.

“Not that he wouldn’t have been
thrilled to do this without any programming,” continued Kovonov, “but I wanted
to make sure he got your attention in the proper way. In just a few hours, he
will kick awake a sleeping giant. I’ll admit, the kick will be much more
painful than I would have liked. But then again, the giant is in a
coma
.”

He nodded proudly. “Once America is
awake, your country will flip on the light switch to reveal the full extent of
the cockroach infestation, and you will exterminate them once and for all. You
will finally worry more about the future of civilization than about political
correctness or possible collateral damage. America will turn its awesome might
to a scorched earth campaign deploying every missile, plane, and pair of boots
on the ground available to it.”

He paused for several seconds as if
visualizing this glorious future in his mind. “Then, once you’ve wiped the
slate clean and destroyed the caliphate, I’ll release my virus and make sure this
tumor never grows back.”

Kovonov nodded slowly. “And it all
begins in just a few hours in the City by the Bay.”
 

Tears welled up in Rachel Howard’s
eyes. “How can you do this?” she whispered, barely managing to get the words
out. “How can you kill millions of innocents like this?”

“If that’s what it takes to wake
the US up to the threat, I’m doing you and the world a favor. Believe me, if
not for Israel, San Francisco would have already been lost. Along with five
other American cities. And if I didn’t initiate this, the real jihadists would
very soon. The global caliphate has been allowed to grow too strong and too
bold. Your leaders have their heads buried so deep in the sand it’s inevitable.
I know you think I’m a monster, but I’m just speeding it along, amputating an
arm to save a life. Like Hiroshima, I’m taking innocent lives to spare even
more.”

“Yeah, you’re quite the humanitarian,”
spat Quinn.

“Just so you know, I did set
this up to give your country an out. But Davinroy failed to take it, as I knew
he would. He’s a jackass and a weakling. I made sure al-Bilawy gave him plenty
of notice. I made sure Davinroy knew that he couldn’t stop the detonation. In
this case, the only option he had was to begin a preemptive strike against
ISIS. Throw everything at them, including nuclear weapons, until they agreed to
call off their dog.”

“But this al-Bilawy
isn’t
their dog,” said Quinn. “He’s
yours.”

“True, but your president
doesn’t know that. Had he acted quickly with a preemptive strike, I would have
stopped al-Bilawy myself. But of course Davinroy did nothing. He continues to
live down to my every expectation. And San Francisco will have to pay the price
for his incompetence, his inaction.”
 

“You will go down in history in
the same breath as Stalin and Hitler,” said Quinn.

“I don’t care how history judges
me,” said Kovonov. “These other men sought global domination. I do what I do to
prevent
global domination.”

He shook his head. “As much fun
as this has been, Agent Quinn, it’s time for you to leave. While I prefer to
have companionship while I await America’s awakening, Dr. Howard will do just
fine. And with you here, I can’t help but feel like a third wheel. I’m sure you
understand.”

“Fuck you!” spat Quinn.

“No thanks,” said Kovonov. “But
when Dr. Howard makes this same offer, you can believe I’ll take her up on it.”

Quinn fought against his
restraints, even knowing it was useless, but retained just enough presence of
mind to stop before he injured himself.

Kovonov waited patiently for him
to settle back down. When he had, Kovonov reached into Quinn’s front pocket and
removed his cell phone. “While I was spying on Plum Island I heard McLeod tell
his men that the phones he issued to you were untraceable, even by him. I asked
my men not to destroy your phones when you were captured so I could study them.
Just curious how these compare to Israeli models.” He smiled. “In case you
didn’t know, I happen to have a PhD level of knowledge in electronics,
cryptography, and counter-surveillance.”

“Of course you do,” said Quinn.

“I also want to study you, Agent
Quinn. So I set up a makeshift lab a half mile from here. I’m going to have one
of my hired guns take you there now so I can complete a few choice experiments.”

“Do these experiments include
torturing me to death?”

“Maybe,” said Kovonov with a
shrug. “I guess we’ll just have to see how cooperative you are.”

***

Kovonov sent a text to one of
his mercenaries and a few minutes later left the prisoners alone so he could
meet with the man in the pitch-darkness beyond the cabin.

“I want you to come inside and
remove Kevin Moore from the premises,” he explained. “I told him you’d be
escorting him to a separate lab facility. So pretend that’s what you’re doing. If
he thinks he’ll be allowed to live he won’t be inclined to try something
desperate.”

“What do you really want me to
do with him?”

“Take him to the banks of the
river. To the grave your men dug for my, ah . . . fallen comrade earlier today.
Then kill him. The hole is big enough for them both. I didn’t have you fill it
in earlier for a reason.”

“Any other reasons to leave it
open I should know about?”

“None,” said Kovonov. “Finish
burying the bodies and make sure the gravesite blends in with the surroundings.”

He paused. “On another note, I
trust everyone on your team is currently manning their posts?”

“Of course.”

“Good. I don’t expect any
trouble, but I tend to be overcautious. I need you and your men on high alert
until midnight. After that you can get by with a single sentry while the rest
of you get some sleep. ”

“Understood,” said the
mercenary. “But back to this execution. You do realize that every kill triggers
the hundred grand bonus, even if the target is wrapped up with a bow. You can
do this yourself if you want to save the money. Your call.”

“I’m aware of the terms of our
agreement,” said Kovonov. “If I wasn’t planning to pay your bonus, I wouldn’t
have given you the assignment. Just get it done as soon as possible. No
hesitation.”

“That won’t be a problem.”