The Project 04 - Black Harvest

He still didn't know how the virus had gotten loose, but it didn't matter. He'd be seen as a savior by the American people.
    By then at least a million acres or more of prime American farmland would be a blackened waste. Studying the spread of the virus on a larger scale would allow him to refine the attack on Russia. That was a bonus. Also there would be profit opportunities for his genetic crops right here at home. So, perhaps it wasn't all bad.
    The front of the hotel was graced by a high, sweeping portico. His car would be here at any moment. The afternoon was pleasant. Dansinger stepped toward the curb, looking for his driver. He saw two men coming toward him. Both had a military look. They were about the same size. One was blond, the other dark haired. Both wore suits. Both were armed, he could see the bulges under their jackets. The blond man seemed vaguely foreign.
    "Harold Dansinger. Stop where you are." One of the men held up a credential holder with a picture and a gold badge.
    Where was his car? He turned to look for it. There was a distant sound like a dull pop and that was when the bullet took him. The white Stetson turned red. His skull exploded like a melon. He slammed backward onto the pavement. People began screaming.
    "Sniper," Nick yelled to Korov. They ducked behind a fat, round pillar holding up the portico. Chaos erupted in front of the hotel
    They both had their guns out. Korov risked a glance. No one shot at him. They waited. There were no more shots.
    Nick holstered his pistol. "He's gone. He wasn't after us."
    Dansinger lay on his back in a spreading pool of blood. His head was oddly flat against the pavement.
    Nick looked at the blood stained white Stetson. "Wrong color. It should have been black."
    "What?"
    "Never mind. Guess someone didn't want him answering any questions."
    "This is something I would expect in Chechnya. I thought Washington was different."
    "I guess not."

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

    Dansinger's murder didn't make it past the second page. The front page was devoted to the disaster in Nebraska. 200,000 acres of prime farmland and hundreds of buildings had gone up in flames before the antidote had been found and applied. It looked like the virus had been stopped.
    Rice was attacked from all sides. Congress was united in expressing righteous indignation that Rice had not consulted them before acting. There were threats of impeachment. The left screamed about napalm. The right wailed about the expense to taxpayers. Op Ed pundits posed pseudo-profound questions about morality, ethics and the Constitution, while the environmentalists made grave predictions of damage from the spraying. Lawsuits against the government appeared like mushrooms after rain.
    The media found it convenient for the moment to ignore the truth, that the blight had been stopped in its tracks before it could spread any further. Reason might eventually prevail, but Nick wasn't holding his breath. Rice was in for a rough ride.
    Steph was back. She was quiet. No one was surprised.
    Harker tapped her pen. "Rice is giving public strokes to Governor Wheeling and releasing federal funds to help the farmers that were hit. Congress doesn't dare block it. It would cost them their seats if they did. But he's in a fight for his life as far as the election goes."
    "Politics stinks." Nick scratched his ear. "Now Dansinger's gone, that leaves Lodge."
    Korov thought, Now we will get to it.
    "It so happens that the President agrees with you."
    "Who killed Dansinger?"
    "That's the question, isn't it? Rice wants us to confront Lodge in person. He specifically wants you and I to do it. Perhaps Lodge knows who shot our friend of the farmers. I thought we'd bring Major Korov along in the spirit of international cooperation. So he can report to his boss."
    "Rice still doesn't know about Arkady?" Nick and Korov had begun using their first names with each other.
    "No. He doesn't need to."
    "What do you have in mind?"
    "I've spoken with Hood. I don't think he's any part of this. He's arranged a meeting with Lodge."
    "Where?"
    "We'll beard the lion in his den. At his home in Virginia. It's set for this evening."
    Korov looked lost.
    Harker continued. "Selena and Lamont outside for backup. Ronnie and Steph can mind the fort. Hood will be there."
    If Korov looked lost before, now he was totally confused.
    "These idioms."
    Nick laughed. "Don't worry about it, Comrade. We're going to put an end to this, tonight."

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

    Selena