nanotech applications race, was, in truth, months or years ahead of them.
Next had come the intricate task of subverting the Lazarus Movement, of bending the loose organization slowly and inexorably to his unseen will. Movement leaders who opposed him had been pushed aside or killed, usually by one of the Horatii, the trio of assassins whose creation and training he had financed. Best of all, every unexplained death had acted as a spur toward further radicalism by those who were left alive.
Arranging the mysterious disappearance of his own father, the last of the original Lazarus Nine, had been comparative child's play. Once that was accomplished, Hideo had been free to secretly gather all of the frightened Movement's reins into his own hands. Best of all, though, the CIA-led search for Jinjiro had brought him into contact with Hal Burke. And with that, the last piece of Hideo's plan had fallen suddenly into place.
Hideo laughed coldly and quietly, remembering the ease with which he had gulled the CIA agent and, through him, others in the American and British intelligence services — playing on their paranoid fears of terrorism. By feeding them ever more damaging information about the Movement, he had manipulated Burke and his associates into launching their foolish and illegal war. From that day forward, all events had been managed according to his will, and his will alone.
The results spoke for themselves: The world's population was increasingly terrified and hunting for scapegoats. His competitors like Harcourt Biosciences were helpless, buried by an avalanche of new government restrictions on their research. The Lazarus Movement was growing stronger and more violent. And now the American and British spy services were rendered helpless by scandal and corrosive suspicion. By the time the first murderous rain of nanophages fell on Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, it would be impossible for anyone to uncover the terrible truth.
Hideo Nomura smiled to himself. After all, he thought savagely, how better to win a game than to play both sides at once?
Chapter Thirty-Six
The new digital video of Lazarus released by the Movement repeated the pattern of his first world broadcast in the wake of the Teller Institute Massacre. Pieces of untraceable footage arrived simultaneously in TV studios around the globe, each one with a different digitally constructed image of Lazarus designed to appeal to a particular audience.
“It is no longer possible to hide from the truth,” Lazarus said sadly. “The horrors we have witnessed testify that a new weapon is being unleashed on humanity — a weapon forged by a cruel and unnatural science. Humankind stands at a crossroads. Down one road, the road charted by our Movement, lies a world of peace and tranquillity. Down the other, a path laid down by greedy men obsessed by power and profit, lies a world wracked by war and genocide — a world of carnage and catastrophe.”
The Lazarus figure stared straight into the camera. “We must choose which of these two futures we will embrace,” he said. 'The ruinous advances of nanotechnology, genetic meddling, and cloning must be abandoned or suppressed before they destroy us all. Accordingly, the Movement calls on all governments — especially those in the so-called civilized nations of the West and the United States in particular — to immediately ban the study, development, and use of these sinister, life-destroying technologies.“ The face of Lazarus grew stern. ”Should any government fail to heed this demand, we will take matters into our own hands. We must act. We must save ourselves, our families, our races, and the Earth we all love. This is a struggle for the future of humankind and there is no time for further delay, no more room for neutrality. In this conflict, anyone who will not join us stands against us. Let those who are wise heed this warning!'
Thousands of demonstrators poured onto Berlin's grand central boulevard, Unter den Linden, their numbers swelling fast with every passing minute. Scores of scarlet and green Lazarus Movement banners fluttered near the front of the chanting crowd as it moved east from the chariot-topped Brandenburger Tor. Behind them came a growing array of other flags, placards, and posters. The Greens and Germany's other major environmental and antiglobalization groups were joining the Movement in a major show of force.
Their chants echoed harshly off the stone facades of the enormous public buildings lining the wide avenue. “NO TO NANOTECH! STOP THE MADNESS! BREAK THE AMERICAN WAR MACHINE! LET LAZARUS LEAD!”
The CNN crew covering the protest moved back up the steep steps of the Staatsoper, the state opera house, a still-elegant nineteenth-century building fronted by massive columns, seeking both a better vantage point and shelter from the angry crowd. The reporter, a slender, pretty brunette in her early thirties, had to shout into her microphone to be heard over the tumult spreading through the streets of the German capital. 'This demonstration seems to have taken the authorities here almost completely by surprise, John! What began two hours ago as just a small band of protesters inspired by the most recent Lazarus video has now become one of the largest political gatherings seen since the Wall came down! And now we understand that similar mass rallies against nanotechnology and U.S. policy are developing in cities around the world — in Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, and many others.“ She looked out over the sea of flags and signs flowing past the opera house. ”So far the crowd here in Berlin has stayed relatively peaceful, but officials fear that anarchists may peel off at any moment to begin smashing stores and office buildings owned by various American corporations — corporations the Lazarus Movement calls 'part of the death machine culture.' As the situation develops, we'll be standing by to bring it to you live!'
Twenty-five kilometers south of Cape Town, thick columns of black smoke billowed high above the Capricorn Business and Technology Park, staining the red-hued evening sky. Nearly a dozen once-gleaming buildings were on fire inside the high-tech industrial and research facility. Thousands of rioters swarmed along the ring road circling a central lake, smashing windows, overturning cars, and setting new blazes wherever they could. At first, the rampaging mob had aimed its efforts at American-owned biotech labs, but now, gripped by hysteria and rage, they were lashing out at every science-based business and firm in sight-destroying property and equipment worth tens of millions of dollars with total abandon.
The police, heavily outnumbered and unwilling to confront the screaming crowd with deadly force, had withdrawn from Capricorn and now manned a perimeter well outside the complex — hoping only to keep the destruction from spilling over into the surrounding suburbs. More pillars of smoke began rising from the ruined technology park as the strengthening wind whipped new fires through the looted buildings.
America's daytime TV viewers, tuning in to watch their favorite game shows or soap operas, instead found themselves watching nonstop news bulletins as the major networks and cable channels raced to keep up with events around the world.
As the violence spread through countries on five continents, not even the veteran CBS anchor could contain his growing excitement. “Hold on to your hats, folks,” he said, in a Southern drawl that deepened with every passing minute. “Because this wild ride is getting even wilder. French television has just dropped a bombshell — charging that the CIA and the FBI, with help from the British, have been conducting a secret campaign of murder and sabotage against the Lazarus Movement. Reporters in Paris say they can prove that former U.S. and British commandos and spies are responsible for the deaths of Lazarus leaders and activists around the world, including here in the United States. They also claim these attacks could only have been authorized at 'the very highest levels of the American and British governments.'”
The anchor looked up, speaking right into the camera with a grave expression on his face. “Now when our reporters asked officials in Washington and London to comment, they were given the royal brush-off. Everyone from the president and prime minister on down is refusing to say anything of substance to the press. No one knows whether that's just the usual reluctance to comment on intelligence operations and on criminal investigations or if it's because there's fire under all this smoke. But one thing is certain. The angry people across the globe burning all those American flags and smashing up American-owned businesses aren't going to wait to find out.”
'Listen very closely, Mr. Hanson. I don't want to hear any more waffling or evasion or bureaucratic mumbo
