RADEK’S palms were slick. The green thermos nearly slipped as he pulled it from the knapsack.
At the sound of rustling paper he startled guiltily, heart racing. It was only the map spread out on the ground next to him, lifting and dropping with a small breeze.
Sweat slid down the back of his neck. He felt eyes on him.
A glance over his shoulder told him he wasn’t imagining it. Captain Nagy leaned against the rear of the Hummer, a cigarette between his lips, watching.
Two other militiamen wearing the Ivanov crest were a short distance away. Alert, but at ease, playing dice on the hood of the vehicle as he’d given them all permission to do when he told them he needed a few minutes to study the map and take a water sample from the small pond.
Radek licked his lips. His heart stuttered in his chest.
His gaze went to hoof tracks captured in the mud. Elk. He was pretty sure of it. They matched the picture he’d slipped from his pocket and studied surreptitiously.
The thermos in his hand trembled. Inside it was the subtle movement of liquid.
He set it down on the ground before him. Losing his nerve for opening it and emptying the smart-virus into the pond.
What if the scientists were wrong? What if the virus mutated into something that affected humans?
Radek took several deep breaths. He pulled the map over in front of him, pretended to be concentrating on it, but instead of seeing elevation markings and penciled-in notations of where man had once built, he looked into his memory.
The laboratory was exactly where the file he’d recovered from the safe and decoded said it would be. It’d taken less than a day for the convict workers to get to it, and none of them had seen him remove something from the site.
So far he’d uncovered three canisters, unmarked except for a symbol indicating the virus’s ultimate target. Each coming with a sealed data file containing information on how the scientists planned to use the weapon they’d created in the event the Weres emerged from hiding.
Radek picked up the thermos. His stomach churned.
Activating the virus had been relatively simple. The scientists had factored in lack of technology and the possible collapse of civilization when they designed their postwar weapon.
Having the courage to use it was more difficult than Radek had envisioned in the safety of his private quarters. He closed his eyes and sank into a dream that had changed from one involving discovery and riches to one of glory.
The tightness in his chest eased as he imagined the crowds chanting his name. Heard again his father calling him a hero to the human race.
Courage returned. Nervousness became anticipation.
Radek opened his eyes and got to his feet. He knelt next to the pond. By his calculations, the smart-virus targeting werewolves by using elk as a vector should reproduce and be present in every mouthful of water by nightfall.
He uncapped the thermos. Submerged it in the pond so the watching militiamen would see what they expected to.
Fear returned with the irreversibility of his actions, the possibility he might be unleashing another plague on mankind.
Vomit rose in his throat.
He swallowed it down.
Drew strength from the golden dream of power and wealth and glory.
“I’m doing what needs to be done,” he whispered.