Vector

'It's parked behind a pest control company out on Long Island, ' Curt said. 'It's used for the potato crop in- season.

There's no security.

It's there for the taking.'

'I want it in my garage, ' Yuri said.

'What's this new belligerency? ' Curt questioned. 'With the surprises you've had for us tonight, we are the ones who should be mad.'

'I just want the truck in the garage, ' Yuri demanded. 'That was the deal. It was supposed to be there already.'

'I think you'd better watch your tone, ' Steve said. 'Otherwise we'll be sending the shock troops to pay you a visit.'

'Don't threaten me, ' Yuri said.

'Otherwise you won't get anything. I'll sabotage the whole program.'

'Hey, hold up, you guys, ' Curt said. 'This is getting out of hand.

Let's not argue among ourselves. There's no problem here. We'll see that the truck is procured, brought into town, and put into your garage. Will that make you happy? '

'That was our agreement, ' Yuri said.

'Consider it done, ' Curt said. 'Meanwhile on your end you've got to take care of Connie. Fair enough? '

'It will be done tonight, ' Yuri said. He visibly relaxed and polished off the last of his drink.

'Good, ' Curt said. He rubbed his hands in a show of eagerness. 'Then let's talk about scheduling.

What if you gave up on the toxin and converted the second fermenter to anthrax? Wouldn't that mean we'd have enough product sooner? '

'Probably, ' Yuri said.

'What's the time frame realistically? ' Curt asked.

'By the end of the week or the beginning of the next if all goes well, ' Yuri said.

'That's music to my ears, ' Curt said, forcing himself to smile. He stood up. Steve followed suit.

'I have a question, ' Yuri said. 'What's a medical examiner? '

'It's a guy that looks at dead people and figures out why they died, ' Steve said.

'I thought so, ' Yuri said. He got to his feet.

'That's a curious question, ' Curt remarked. 'Why do you ask? '

'When I went back to the rug dealer's today to find out if he'd died, there was a man there taking cultures who said he was investigating the case.'

'Wait a sec, ' Curt commented. 'I thought you said that your ruse of infecting a rug dealer would preclude any investigation by the authorities.'

'I didn't say that, ' Yuri responded. 'I said that the authorities wouldn't suspect the release of a bio- weapon.'

'But the authorities know anthrax is used as a weapon, ' Curt said.

'What will keep them from getting suspicious? '

'Because they'll have a logical explanation for the episode, ' Yuri said. 'They'll be congratulating themselves for figuring it out. That's the way those people think.'

'What if they don't find any source? ' Curt asked.

'Or did you leave something for them to find on one of the rugs? '

'No, I didn't do that, ' Yuri admitted.

'Could that be a problem? ' Curt asked. 'Possibly, ' Yuri said. 'But I doubt it.'

'But you can't be a hundred percent certain, ' Curt said.

'Not a hundred percent but very close to it.' Curt let out an exasperated sigh. 'Suddenly there seems to be so many loose ends.'

'It's not going to be a problem, ' Yuri said. 'And we had to test the product. There'd be no sense in releasing it if it wasn't pathogenic.'

'Let's hope you're right, ' Curt said in a tired voice. He stood up and started for the door. 'We'll be in touch. Some of the boys will come by late tonight to deliver the pest control truck.'

'What if I'm not here? ' Yuri asked.

'You'd better be here, ' Curt said. 'You're the one making all the ruckus about this goddamn truck.'

'But I have to take care of Connie, ' Yuri said. 'I'll have to call emergency after she's had her fit. I might be at the hospital.'

'Oh, yeah, ' Curt said.

'I know what I'll do, ' Yuri said. 'When I go out with Connie I'll leave the garage door unlocked.'

'Perfect, ' Curt said. He waved and went out the door. Steve followed closely behind.

The two firemen trooped out of Yuri's house and climbed into the Dodge Ram without talking. Once the doors were closed Curt pounded the steering wheel with a closed fist. 'We got ourselves involved with a goddamned fruitcake, ' he snarled.

'I'm not going to say I told you so, ' Steve said.

'Jesus Christ, he's out to kill civilians, not government people, ' Curt complained. 'Here we are, patriots, trying to save the country, and we're forced to deal with a terrorist. What's this world coming to? '

'I think his wish for the Soviet Union to get back together involves a lot more than wanting to protect the nukes. I think he's a Commie.'

Curt started his truck and pulled out into the lane. It was like a slalom course trying to avoid all the trash cans. 'Maybe he is a Commie.

But whatever he is, he has no concept of security. It's too bad, because if the authorities get even a hint of what's coming, we've got to reevaluate the whole operation. When we first started planning this, it seemed like it would be so easy.'

'What are we going to do about him? ' Steve asked.

'I don't know. The trouble is we've got to play along in order to get our hands on the bio-weapon. He made that pretty clear with his threat to sabotage the whole setup, which I suppose means he'd trash the lab.'

'So we're going to get him the pest control truck? '

'I don't see where we have much choice, ' Curt said as he pulled out onto Oceanview Avenue. 'We'll get him the truck, but we'll also keep the pressure on him to come up with the eight or so pounds of anthrax powder as soon as possible. The sooner we can launch Operation Wolverine the better.'

MONDAY, OGTOBER 18

6:45 P.M.

Jack scooted across First Avenue at Thirtieth Street just before the light turned green for the traffic heading uptown. He coasted to the medical examiner's office loading dock and nodded to security as he carried his bike into the building. He waved to Marvin Fletcher, the evening mortuary tech, who was busy in the mortuary office getting ready for the evening's body pickups.

After locking his bike in its usual spot, Jack got on the elevator and headed up to the second floor toxicology lab. It was later than he'd planned on getting back to the office. Going through all the Corinthian Rug Company's records had taken much more time than he'd expected.

John Devries, the chief toxicologist, had already left for the day.

Jack was reduced to asking a night tech if the deputy chief had called about putting a rush on David Jefferson's specimens. David Jefferson was the prisoner-in-custody death Calvin was pressuring Jack about.

Unfortunately, the night tech had no idea about the case.

Back in the elevator, Jack went up to the DNA lab on the sixth floor.

Ted Lynch, the director, wasn't available, so Jack left his collection of culture tubes from the Corinthian Rug office with a technician. In the morning he wanted Ted to search for anthrax spores with the PCR.

Taking the stairs to the fifth floor, Jack ducked into the histology lab in hopes of encouraging Maureen O'Conner, the supervisor, to speed up processing Jefferson's microscopic sections. Jack had a good working relationship with Maureen, one he didn't share with John Devries, but it made no difference.

Maureen had also left for the day.