Broken Dreams(31)

“In a way. The States didn’t want their secret program to be discovered on their own soil so, when the opportunity came about, they moved the program to England.”

“Why did England allow that to happen?”

“The States were funding England to run the facility. The money helped refuel our economy. Not that it was doing well, but it would have been a lot worse.”

“So they don’t know about you? Who pays your salary?”

“The States, but they don’t know that a portion of the funding is paying us. If they knew about us, they would cut out some of the funds…possibly the whole program. Not that it would be a bad thing, but I felt obligated to stay faithful to my country. If they knew what England was doing with us, they would pull the program and fund it elsewhere.” I nodded. I was sickened about the involvement of the country I thought I knew and loved. It seemed like, no matter what, this program would have happened.

“Wait. They are paying you, and you’re spying on them? That’s rich.”

“Yeah, you can look at it that way, I suppose. Roger has them convinced that we were there at the complex to deal with the lab and security. He was convinced that the States would try to release the virus at any moment behind our backs. All they had to do was inject one person with a full dose, and boom. It would be like a nuclear weapon going off.

“The States idea was that they could release the virus and contain it at the borders, and it would wipe out the people of that country. A weapon of mass destruction of sorts, without the big boom. I believe it was Roger who wanted the power. He wanted to release it so he would have control and call all the shots. He wanted us to protect his agenda at any cost.”

“So that’s where you would come in? Protecting at any cost?” Henry nodded. “Why? That’s horrible. Innocent people would kill and be killed.” I began to get emotional again.

I was getting sick of the new Elaina. The past day’s events raced through my head. I felt a bit dizzy. I put my head into my hands. My thoughts were wild with sadness and anger. I kept seeing the death that was all around me.

“Elaina, maybe I should stop for now.” I looked up at him. I could see his pain and he could feel mine.

“No, go on. I need to hear this. What countries are on the list to be, essentially, executed?”

“The first one on the States list was North Korea. They felt it would be justified because of their crimes against their own people, and threats to other countries. The States would be able to get rid of one of their sworn enemies. There was plenty of intelligence that North Korea was going to rise up against the States. They have been launching what they call ‘weather satellites’, but we knew they were full of shit.”

“So they would kill all the people who are there by circumstance?”

“Yes.”

“But doesn’t that make them just as bad as Roger?”

“Yes. Yes, it does.”

“So where do you fit in with all this now?”

“Well, neither country trusts the other, and Roger doesn’t trust anyone. He has control issues, if you haven’t figured that out yet. He wanted full control, whether or not they wanted to give it to him. As it looks right now, Roger has won. I’m not sure how the virus was released yet, but I will find out. I do have my suspicions. And, mark my words, I will take care of it. Even if I have to die doing it.” He growled his last sentence.

I still had more questions. “How could they trust you, if they don’t trust each other?”

“The only thing I can think of is that I was on Roger’s payroll. I barely have an eighth grade education. They feel they can keep me honest by threatening to take away my income. I have no qualifications. I only have life and street skills. That’s not going to get me anywhere. They would expose me, and I would be left to my own devices. He had me by the bollocks.”

“But you ran the blood bank.”

“Yeah, I did, and they own it. I can read, write, and understand, Elaina, but I don’t have those important documents that declare me educated. I have spent a lot of my own time, through reading and research, educating myself the best that I could. Hence, all the books in the living room.” I decided to move away from the education part of the conversation. He was touchy about it. He always seemed intelligent to me. I would never have guessed that he had a lack of proper schooling.

“So the government probably knows the intent now?”

He took my hands and looked me in the eyes. “More than likely. That’s why this is confidential between us. If this gets out and your government is still up and running, they will figure out everything, hunt me…us down, and kill us.”