The Cure, стр. 33

‘Yes, we found a cure, but not a way to administer it. The Government planned to sell the drug through the Pharmaceutical companies, but we couldn’t get it into pill or liquid form. It was a gas which could be breathed in but there was no way it could be sold on the open market. And by the way, we are talking about gases that cannot even be found on planet Earth, that we had no idea if they had any long-term side effects. But Goldsmith was working to a deadline. The Pharmaceutical companies needed proof that it worked so Goldsmith set up an experimental test on a town just outside of Mississippi with a population of less than four thousand people. Out of those four thousand people two hundred of them had been involved in an asbestos poisoning accident, so for Goldsmith this was the perfect way to show them the cure worked. We went over those figures a thousand times and by having planes release the gas over the town it had a target area of five square miles. It should have gone airborne throughout the town and in theory cured anyone within the area of any illness they might have. Despite what the figures told us we were dealing with, Wanikiy and I were concerned about releasing that much gas, which had never been done. Goldsmith ignored me and your father and went ahead with the test. As soon as the gas was released and entered the atmosphere it started to expand at a rate we hadn’t seen. Within seconds our apparatuses were going off the charts as it spread outside of the town and continued growing. It could have easily killed everyone and everything. Instead the Cure completely covered the whole planet within hours, curing everyone in its path.

Nobody spoke.

‘The,’ Logan stopped. ‘Alien gas?’

‘Si, sounds loco tio,’ Mendez laughed ‘Yet here we are?’

‘Not exactly aliens my friend, but something we shouldn’t have taken so lightly,’ said the Professor. ‘It was a mistake on a scale never seen before. Of course, the Pharmaceutical companies were taken care of by the Government and the whole thing was covered up. I was taken into a room and Goldsmith asked me whether I could be trusted. I made the mistake of letting my feelings be known and that we should share what we knew so we could prepare against any side effects, but Goldsmith had other ideas and I was buried deep in a place where nobody would believe me if I even wanted to tell them. After a few weeks when I wasn’t joined by Wanikiy I guessed that he had made a different choice to me and the fact that you now stand before me confirms it. Logan, if it’s any consolation your father knew nothing of the experiment or what we were doing. As far as he is concerned The Cure was a natural event and when his predecessor committed Hari Kari, he was left with his legacy to clear up.’

‘This is too much to take in,’ said Tallulah.

‘It was a mistake? All this time and it was a mistake,’ said Logan.

‘Take a minute,’ said Mendez. ‘It’s a lot to process.’

Logan had so many questions to ask but Tallulah was his priority now. She was conflicted as to whether her father had been a victim or become the villain in everything Professor Brittle had just told them. Truthfully, she just wanted to break down and cry. He was also aware that the whole reason they were there in the first place was the mission to stop the government making another huge mistake. A mistake which would undoubtably affect the professor and his fellow prisoners first-hand.

They had come full circle back to the canteen where the rest of the group were sat chatting to the other prisoners, sharing tales and even jokes. They approached the others who all stood, as Logan and Tallulah were visibly shaken from what they had just heard. ‘Everything ok Boss?’ said Chuck to Logan.

Logan wasn’t sure he had the answer to that question, but he smiled and nodded. Mendez put a hand on his shoulder ‘Well, at least we now know you are not here to kill anyone,’ he laughed.

The laughter was short lived as he heard a gun cock and turned around to see Zack holding his gun against the Professors head ‘They may not be here to kill anyone, but I’ve got other plans.’

Chapter Fourteen

Danny pulled up to the trellis gates of the reservoir, which were hanging off as though something had hit them at force. The place was silent, and he walked the motorbike into the forecourt of the reservoir and removed the contents from the box on the back, throwing up the C4 and catching it again, before stopping himself and considering the consequences of dropping that little block of explosives. He could hear the whooshing of the water now, although he couldn’t see it and he closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air before exhaling and walking towards the entrance to the building.

It looked like any office building on the inside, minus the people rushing around and the fact that the reception was unmanned. He pulled out the diagrams that he had for the buildings and looked around for the entrance to the underground walkway which housed the main water system.

A loud beep sounded, and Danny jumped. Then an automated voice.

‘You are trespassing on government property. Please leave the building.’

Although technology had progressed massively in the last twenty years, Danny hadn’t seen outside of the base for years, and whilst he knew artificial intelligence was in place as a security measure, he wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. ‘I swear, if there are ‘replicants’ here it’s game over,’ he said to himself recollecting his entire experience of artificial