Genesis - Keith R. A. DeCandido [3]
"We have to get something, Aaron. The new legislation they got through Congress makes it even harder to prosecute them, and gives them tax breaks up the ass. If the rumors we're hearing are right and they're developing biological weapons…"
He trailed off. He certainly didn't need to elaborate. They lived in a world where people blew up vehicles filled with children, sent deadly poisons to total strangers, and flew airplanes into skyscrapers. Any kind of bio-terrorism weapon that could be produced by a company with Umbrella's resources would be eagerly embraced by any number of governments, and Aaron wasn't at all sanguine about the world's prospects if any of them got their hands on such weapons.
"All right." Aaron stood up. "We'll give it a try, Matthew. But we can't support her if things go wrong. People who go to work for the Hive sign five-year contracts, and NDAs that are binding in ways that only the most expensive lawyers in the world can make them. She's making a massive commitment here, and she'll be on her own."
"Not if she succeeds, she won't be." Matt spoke with a confidence that Aaron didn't share. "Prosecuting busted non-disclosure agreements will be the least of Umbrella's problems if this works."
"Your faith is touching." He took another sip of his wine. "I know what she's getting herself into, and obviously you do. The question is, does she?"
"Yes."
Matt spoke without a moment's hesitation, which made Aaron all the more suspicious. "Really?"
"Yes, really." The intense blue eyes bored into Aaron a second time. "Trust me, she has her reasons for wanting to do this."
"Very well." Aaron sighed. "I'll put the wheels in motion on our end. And God help all of us."
Two
IN HER MIND'S EYE, LISA BROWARD—NEE Lisa Addison—still saw the hollow look on Fadwa's face the day of Mahmoud's funeral.
It had been four years, and that look simply refused to dislodge from her brain.
"I gotta ask, Ms. Broward, why the change?"
"Hm?"
Lisa banished the image of Fadwa's eyes dripping with unattended-to tears, and forced herself to focus on the round face of Casey Acker, the human resources drone who was conducting her latest in a series of interviews with the Umbrella Corporation. Acker was a jovial, overweight man in his forties who was sweating more than he should in the air-conditioned office. His thick, plastic glasses kept slipping down his nose, and he constantly tried to get a glance between the buttons of the placket of Lisa's white shirt, as if he'd win some sort of prize if he actually spied the white lace of her bra. She found herself wishing she'd worn a pullover blouse—or at least buttoned her suit jacket.
"Why the new attitude, Ms. Broward? Six years ago, we offered you a similar job, and you turned it down. I gotta know what's changed in the last six years, y'know?"
Acker was the fourth person to ask her that question, and only wasn't the fifth because he was just the fourth person to interview her. With the ease of long practice, she repeated the answer she'd given the other three. "I had a steady job with Citibank at the time, and I wasn't prepared to leave New York. My husband and I were caring for his sick mother."
"And now?"
"She died—and my husband and I have since divorced."
"Really?" Acker said the word in such an eager voice that Lisa felt the sudden need to take a long, hot, cleansing shower. Of course, that image was probably one that would turn Acker on…
"Yes. Since the divorce, I've been working freelance, but steady work is getting harder to find." She sighed, brushing a lock of blond hair behind her ear. "With the economy the way it is, I'd like something steady. And I wouldn't mind starting over in a new city." Favoring Acker with a false smile, she added, "Even if it is half a mile underground."
Acker grinned, showing yellowed teeth. "Well, it don't get much steadier than Umbrella, Ms. Broward. You'll be thrilled