The Legacy

distastefully. ‘I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure. But we’ve checked and . . .’ he shook his head. ‘I don’t know how it happened, but it did.’
    Hillary’s mouth was still hanging open. ‘How many?’ she gasped. ‘How many tablets did they contaminate?’
    ‘We’re trying to establish that. Enough to have gone out of this country. Enough to mean that there are going to be more . . . bodies.’
    Hillary was staring at him uncertainly; he felt his shoulders rise slightly, felt his chin lift. He had the upper hand again. For now. For a little while.
    ‘I should have told you before.’ He looked at her intently. ‘I’m sorry, Hillary.’
    Hillary took a deep breath, then let it out. ‘I see,’ she said. ‘I see.’
    ‘The fact of the matter,’ Richard continued, warming to his theme, ‘is that we are in the grip of the worst terrorist attack of the past two hundred years. And people need to know that. You want the trust of the public? Get more police on the streets. Assign Pincent Pharma more guards. We need to root out the Underground once and for all and we need to work together. I need all Catchers and police working directly for me until the Underground is destroyed.’
    Hillary blanched. ‘We will work together Richard,’ she said. ‘But the Authorities are still in charge.’
    ‘Of course they are,’ Richard said impatiently, ‘but if the Underground has its way there won’t be anyone left to be in charge of. We have to destroy them, Hillary. We need to do it now.’
    Hillary nodded uncomfortably. ‘Very well. I’ll let the Chief of Police and the Catchers know,’ she said, her voice quieter. ‘So what do we say? What do we tell the people? Foreign governments?’
    Richard allowed the corners of his mouth to curl upwards. ‘We tell the truth. A population gripped by fear is a good thing. It will help us. If we encourage people to suspect their neighbours then it will make them welcome police swooping in at the dead of night. We will take bodies at the first sign of illness instead of when it’s taken hold. A slight fever and we’ll swoop. If there are protests, we’ll take the protesters. We’ll take anyone who challenges us, Hillary, and the ones left will let us do it because they will be afraid.’
    Hillary nodded silently. Then she looked up at Richard tentatively. ‘The batch that was contaminated,’ she said. ‘Is there any way of knowing . . . who might be . . . where the batch might have . . .’
    Richard nodded seriously and did his best not to smile. It had almost been too easy. She was afraid, just as everyone else would be, and in fear she turned to him, the benefactor, the saviour. He reached into his desk drawer, took out a blister pack of tablets and handed them to her. ‘Take these. You can be sure they’re safe,’ he lied. The contamination may have been fabricated, but if the drugs had been weakened by endless copying, who knew if this batch was any safer than another?
    Hillary took them. ‘Obviously it’s because of my job,’ she said quickly. ‘And we’ll need more safe batches for all key workers. Police, Catchers, and so on.’
    ‘Yes,’ Richard nodded smoothly. ‘They’ll be with you tomorrow.’
    ‘And you’ll find out how many? We need to be prepared. I need to talk to my counterparts around the world.’
    ‘Of course you do,’ Richard said. ‘You’ll be the first to know when we’re sure of the scale of this disaster. I’m very grateful, Hillary. I know this isn’t easy for you.’
    ‘No, it isn’t,’ Hillary said, standing up. ‘But at least you have finally told me the truth.’
    ‘I’d have told you sooner if I could,’ Richard said, looking at her earnestly, ‘but a whiff of this could turn to mass panic.’
    ‘It could,’ Hillary said, nodding, frown line etched into her forehead.
    ‘However, mass panic would enable more pressing measures to be taken,’ Richard continued. ‘We have to prevent another attack. We need to focus all our resources on crushing the Underground once and for all. All its supporters. Anyone who has ever shown any sympathy for their cause.’
    ‘Road blocks, more police, limited movement, more surveillance – yes,’ Hillary nodded.
    ‘Protesters taken into custody, gatherings banned,’ Richard suggested. ‘Opt Outs and suspected Underground sympathisers rounded up.’
    ‘Yes, yes, of course,’ Hillary said, standing up. Richard pressed a button on his