The Legacy

‘He surrendered to the Authorities,’ she said firmly. ‘There is due process to be fol owed, Richard. Everyone wil want to know what is happening to him. He is the most wanted man in the whole world, the most dangerous terrorist. We can’t just let Derek take him to a darkened room somewhere. We must be seen to punish him. To hang him if necessary.’
    ‘Hang him and he wil become a martyr,’ Derek seethed, not al owing his voice to rise. ‘That is what he wants. He has surrendered to save the Underground, to stem the at acks, calm the anarchy that his actions created. Hang him and people wil feel safe again, they wil become complacent. Hang him and another wil take his place.
    Give him to me and I wil root out every supporter, every sympathiser. Give him to me and the Underground wil no longer exist.’
    ‘Hil ary, you know it makes sense,’ Richard said evenly. ‘I understand that this is an Authorities mat er, but this man Pip wil have information that Pincent Pharma wil find very useful. How they breached our security, what else they had planned –’
    ‘What mat ers is that he won’t breach your security again,’ Hil ary said tersely. ‘The priority is to restore public confidence.’
    ‘But not to restore it too much,’ Derek interjected silkily.
    Hil ary pursed her lips. ‘A state of national emergency was declared last week,’
    she said tightly. ‘Half the world is threatening to declare war on us unless we put to death the man who murdered their people.’
    ‘Then he dies,’ Richard said with a shrug. ‘But later. He should suffer first. Derek can ensure that. Derek knows al about making people suffer and about get ing information from them. Let him have Pip first. We need him.’
    ‘You need to concentrate on containing the contamination,’ Hil ary said, her voice low and angry. ‘You said that it was one batch. And yet there are more and more bodies. I have just been on the phone to my counterparts in Sweden, Korea and the US, where the death tol s are rising. You assured me everything was under control.
    And it isn’t, Richard. It isn’t at al .’
    Derek looked at Richard meaningful y, then he leant forward and lowered his Derek looked at Richard meaningful y, then he leant forward and lowered his voice so that Hil ary had to strain to hear it. ‘If I may,’ he said. ‘The only way to ensure that the death tol does not rise is to ensure that al Pip’s al ies are caught before they can at empt more contamination.’
    Richard smiled grateful y at him. ‘Hil ary,’ he said, ‘Derek’s right. The contaminated batch was bigger than we’d hoped, but everything is under control.’
    ‘Real y?’ Hil ary asked, leaning towards him as she lowered her voice. ‘There are rumours of large pits being dug within the wal s of Pincent Pharma, Richard. Smoke has been spiral ing above your land for weeks. What have you been burning? And where are those affected being treated? You won’t let me see them. You won’t let anyone see them.’
    ‘Of course I won’t,’ Richard replied, his eyes narrowing. ‘No one can see the victims of contamination because they are in sterile units. The contamination has opened their systems to bacteria, to infection which must be contained. Everything we use in those units has been burnt or buried to protect the healthy. And in the meantime, with your help, we have been rounding up al the sick, al the liberals, al the Opt Outs, al those hidden children that people keep like lit le pets. You know that cal s to the Surplus hotline have gone through the roof? People are fal ing over themselves to point the finger, to voice their suspicions, to snitch on their neighbours. We are winning. But we can’t rest on our laurels. We need Pip to tel us everything he knows. Only then wil the world be safe again.’
    ‘So there wil be no more Missing?’ Hil ary asked tersely.
    Richard shot a conspiratorial look at Derek, who moved his head just enough to encourage his master. There had been another message that morning. The ring was on its way. Things were in motion.
    Richard nodded. ‘Yes, Hil ary. They wil stop.’
    Hil ary blinked slowly; her hands were gripping her bag so tightly that her knuckles were white.
    ‘One week,’ she said. ‘One week is al you have.’
    ‘That’s al I need,’ Derek said, sit ing back. ‘That’s enough.’
    An hour later, Jude looked for the last time around the room he’d spent the past two months in. It always