many more in Africa—were able to turn their attention with pride to the mosquito-eradication program that started that very morning in all of their major cities.
The program had been touted as a cure for malaria by the company sponsoring it, Pishon Chem. Not only would it be eradicating the disease, but it had brought money into the communities by hiring thousands of locals to walk through the cities and spray the streets with the special liquid mixture.
Pishon was an old word. It was one of the rivers that had surrounded the Garden of Eden, and therefore an apt name for one of the Project’s dummy companies.
In less accessible areas, where politics or geography had made the placement of shipping containers and the use of the malaria drug impossible, planes disguised as commercial aircraft dispensed the virus from above. The rate of initial infection from this method was calculated to be low, but low was enough. The Project knew the second round of infection—those getting it from the first—would initiate an incremental growth that would be impossible to stop.
There were other methods of exposure used here and there throughout the world. Misters in grocery stores designed to keep the produce fresh, free perfume and cologne samples being distributed at major international airports, and small bottles of “flavored water” being handed out at tourist sites in several major capitals of the world.
It was a massive effort that had taken decades to plan, and it was commencing nearly flawlessly. The previous directors of Project Eden would probably have been very proud, if it weren’t for the fact they were all dead.
IMPLEMENTATION DAY PLUS ONE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23 rd
World Population
7,176,607,708
Change Over Previous Day
+ 283,787
16
OUTSIDE MUMBAI, INDIA
6:39 AM INDIAN STANDARD TIME
D ESPITE HOW EXHAUSTED he’d been when he went to sleep the night before, Sanjay woke well before there was even a hint of daylight. His shoulders burned with tension, and he was finding it impossible to take anything but short, shallow breaths.
He lay that way for hours, trying to will himself back to sleep, but soon realized it was not going to happen. He wondered if he’d ever sleep well again.
If it weren’t for Kusum, he would have gotten up and walked around, hoping that would drive the anxiety from his veins, but she lay in his arms, asleep, and he had no desire to subject her to the same hell he was going through. As it was, he could tell her sleep wasn’t completely untroubled. Several times she’d twisted and jerked as her dreams momentarily took control of the rest of her body. A few times she’d even cried out.
He wondered, as she murmured what sounded like his name, exactly what she was dreaming about. Was he the hero or the villain in her nightmare? Or was it best not to know? He wasn’t even sure which one he was to her in real life.
What if he was wrong? What if what he’d learned were lies?
When the sky in the east started to yellow, he knew he could lie there no longer. He pulled his arm out from under her neck, and started to slowly move away.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’ve been awake for a while.”
“Oh,” he said, surprised. “I just thought I’d take a walk, see what’s around.”
She turned and looked at him for several seconds. “Were you lying to me yesterday?”
“No.”
She considered him some more, then touched her arm where he’d given her the shot. “I don’t feel any different.”
“It was a vaccine. I don’t think you are supposed to feel any different.”
“I just thought…”
She didn’t finish her thought. It took him a moment, but he finally realized that when she’d gone to sleep, she still believed he had drugged her.
“I told you. I have only been trying to save you.”
“If what you have told me is true, what about my family?”
It wasn’t the first time she’d
The program had been touted as a cure for malaria by the company sponsoring it, Pishon Chem. Not only would it be eradicating the disease, but it had brought money into the communities by hiring thousands of locals to walk through the cities and spray the streets with the special liquid mixture.
Pishon was an old word. It was one of the rivers that had surrounded the Garden of Eden, and therefore an apt name for one of the Project’s dummy companies.
In less accessible areas, where politics or geography had made the placement of shipping containers and the use of the malaria drug impossible, planes disguised as commercial aircraft dispensed the virus from above. The rate of initial infection from this method was calculated to be low, but low was enough. The Project knew the second round of infection—those getting it from the first—would initiate an incremental growth that would be impossible to stop.
There were other methods of exposure used here and there throughout the world. Misters in grocery stores designed to keep the produce fresh, free perfume and cologne samples being distributed at major international airports, and small bottles of “flavored water” being handed out at tourist sites in several major capitals of the world.
It was a massive effort that had taken decades to plan, and it was commencing nearly flawlessly. The previous directors of Project Eden would probably have been very proud, if it weren’t for the fact they were all dead.
IMPLEMENTATION DAY PLUS ONE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23 rd
World Population
7,176,607,708
Change Over Previous Day
+ 283,787
16
OUTSIDE MUMBAI, INDIA
6:39 AM INDIAN STANDARD TIME
D ESPITE HOW EXHAUSTED he’d been when he went to sleep the night before, Sanjay woke well before there was even a hint of daylight. His shoulders burned with tension, and he was finding it impossible to take anything but short, shallow breaths.
He lay that way for hours, trying to will himself back to sleep, but soon realized it was not going to happen. He wondered if he’d ever sleep well again.
If it weren’t for Kusum, he would have gotten up and walked around, hoping that would drive the anxiety from his veins, but she lay in his arms, asleep, and he had no desire to subject her to the same hell he was going through. As it was, he could tell her sleep wasn’t completely untroubled. Several times she’d twisted and jerked as her dreams momentarily took control of the rest of her body. A few times she’d even cried out.
He wondered, as she murmured what sounded like his name, exactly what she was dreaming about. Was he the hero or the villain in her nightmare? Or was it best not to know? He wasn’t even sure which one he was to her in real life.
What if he was wrong? What if what he’d learned were lies?
When the sky in the east started to yellow, he knew he could lie there no longer. He pulled his arm out from under her neck, and started to slowly move away.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’ve been awake for a while.”
“Oh,” he said, surprised. “I just thought I’d take a walk, see what’s around.”
She turned and looked at him for several seconds. “Were you lying to me yesterday?”
“No.”
She considered him some more, then touched her arm where he’d given her the shot. “I don’t feel any different.”
“It was a vaccine. I don’t think you are supposed to feel any different.”
“I just thought…”
She didn’t finish her thought. It took him a moment, but he finally realized that when she’d gone to sleep, she still believed he had drugged her.
“I told you. I have only been trying to save you.”
“If what you have told me is true, what about my family?”
It wasn’t the first time she’d
Similar Books
