Storm (Swipe Series)

attack the very same Marked who had for years been Pledging their allegiance to him.
    “Why? I had no idea. At the time, I knew not what to make of any of it. The outbreak that sprang up in those Midwestern towns was as horrifying to me as it was to its poor victims. And it left me with no choice. My only option was to authorize its containment—an unfortunate task spearheaded by Michael Cheswick, and carried out by your sister and a specialized team of IMPS.
    “For weeks, I paced my office, confused and horrified by what had happened, hoping I could find a solution before the problem got worse.
    “Until I realized . . .
    “The towns that were hit . . . were the very same towns that Lahoma had seeded most recently. That was the link they shared. The storm.
    “And I saw, then, the beautiful elegance of Cylis’s plan. By attaching his activation protein to something as vital as rain, the delivery itself was foolproof. Even were I to discover Cylis’s plot, I would be powerless to stop it.”
    Now Lamson smiled. “The chancellor did not count on my willingness to halt the rain.” He sighed. “Though I suppose, looking back, all I really managed to do was sweep the tide back with a broom. To stop the rain was nearly as deadly as to allow the virus to spread. Either way, I’m sure Cylis knew he had won.”
    Lamson frowned. “I’m no saint, Logan. But what choice did I have? When faced with my options, I made the decision to save myown Marked citizens, and to hope that you Markless could fend for yourselves until the crisis had passed. It was . . . not ideal, I know. But the alternative was the certain collapse of America.”
    “Why?” Logan whispered. “Why would Cylis do this to us? He already had everything—you were mere months away from the Global Treaty by the time he put this plan in place. I don’t . . . I just don’t understand it . . .”
    And the general smiled wider now, in some perverse display of respect for the chancellor’s strategy. “Logan, right now an unstoppable plague is sweeping through our American State, and no one but us really knows why. All anyone sees is that Cylis’s European Marked are safe . . . and my American Marked are not. Especially in the context of our new Global Union, with its balance of power as tenuous and malleable as it is, the chancellor had devised the perfect way to weaken my state and prove my incompetence in one fell swoop. He could shatter the American State, then play the hero by helping to pick up the pieces. Survivors would flock to him as their one, true leader. And I would be a problem that solved itself. It was a coup fifteen years in the making.
    “And with your help, Cylis executed it flawlessly.
    “Connor Goodman,” Lamson said. “Connor Goodman was the last line of defense between America and the great plague Cylis had in store for us.
    “I had Connor’s parents on my side. And then, after that, I had Connor. If he could have just kept that mill offline long enough for me to strike a backdoor deal . . . well . . . who knows what might have happened. I figured, at least, that it was worth a try.” Lamson sighed. “And try I did. But unbeknownst to me, Cylis had Lily. And so, in the end, Cylis had you.
    “And you were the better ace in the hole.”
    Logan’s mind raced to keep up. A sense of vertigo overcame him as his whole world turned on its head. “But . . . in schools,” Logan protested. “In history class . . . in the news . . . you and Cylis were a team! Inseparable! That was always how it was told!”
    “It was in our interest to present it as such,” Lamson said. “Right up until the very end.” He laughed. “Even now, perhaps, it will be best remembered that way.”
    Lamson shrugged now, weakly. “The truth is, Logan, you and I both played directly into Cylis’s hand. All along. I, first, with one appeasement after the next. And you, second, in the final hour.” He hugged himself, smiling, thinking of it. “ You! The very symbol of the Markless resistance! Now, that was the icing on the cake.” He paused and drew a pained, rattling breath. “All this time, Logan, you were so sure, so certain, that you’d be the first to sap me of my power, my support. You and your Dust, slowly chipping away at the foundations of my American State . . .
    “But with one swift sleight of hand, Cylis leapfrogged all of that completely.
    “You were never the harbinger of my defeat, Logan. Cylis was. And now, with his version of