Whiteout - Ken Follett [0]
CHRISTMAS EVE
1 A.M.
3 A.M.
7 A.M.
7:30 A.M.
8 A.M.
8:30 A.M.
9 A.M.
9:30 A.M.
10 A.M.
11 A.M.
12 NOON
1 P.M.
2 P.M.
3 P.M.
4 P.M.
5 P.M.
6 P.M.
7 P.M.
8:30 P.M.
9:30 P.M.
10:30 P.M.
11:30 P.M.
CHRISTMAS DAY
MIDNIGHT
12:30 A.M.
12:35 A.M.
12:45 A.M.
12:55 A.M.
1:15 A.M.
1:30 A.M.
1:45 A.M.
2 A.M.
2:30 A.M.
3:30 A.M.
3:45 A.M.
4:15 A.M.
4:30 A.M.
5 A.M.
5:30 A.M.
5:45 A.M.
6 A.M.
6:15 A.M.
6:30 A.M.
6:45 A.M.
7 A.M.
7:15 A.M.
7:30 A.M.
7:45 A.M.
8 A.M.
8:15 A.M.
8:30 A.M.
8:45 A.M.
9 A.M.
10 A.M.
BOXING DAY
7 p.M.
CHRISTMAS DAY, A YEAR LATER
5:50 P.M.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Whiteout
A Dutton Book / published by arrangement with the author
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 by Ken Follett
This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.
For information address:
The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is
http://www.penguinputnam.com
ISBN: 978-1-1012-1037-6
A DUTTON BOOK®
Dutton Books first published by The Dutton Publishing Group, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
Dutton and the “D” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.
Electronic edition: February, 2005
ALSO BY KEN FOLLETT
The Modigliani Scandal
Paper Money
Eye of the Needle
Triple
The Key to Rebecca
The Man from St. Petersburg
On Wings of Eagles
Lie Down with Lions
The Pillars of the Earth
Night over Water
A Dangerous Fortune
A Place Called Freedom
The Third Twin
The Hammer of Eden
Code to Zero
Jackdaws
Hornet Flight
CHRISTMAS EVE
1 A.M.
TWO tired men looked at Antonia Gallo with resentment and hostility in their eyes. They wanted to go home, but she would not let them. And they knew she was right, which made it worse.
All three were in the personnel department of Oxenford Medical. Antonia, always called Toni, was facilities director, and her main responsibility was security. Oxenford was a small pharmaceuticals outfit—a boutique company, in stock market jargon—that did research on viruses that could kill. Security was deadly serious.
Toni had organized a spot check of supplies, and had found that two doses of an experimental drug were missing. That was bad enough: the drug, an antiviral agent, was top secret, its formula priceless. It might have been stolen for sale to a rival company. But another, more frightening possibility had brought the look of grim anxiety to Toni’s freckled face and drawn dark circles under her green eyes. A thief might have stolen the drug for personal use. And there was only one reason for that: someone had become infected by one of the lethal viruses used in Oxenford’s laboratories.
The labs were located in a vast nineteenth-century house built as a Scottish holiday home for a Victorian millionaire. It was nicknamed the Kremlin, because of the double row of fencing, the razor wire, the uniformed guards, and the state-of-the-art electronic security. But it looked more like a church, with pointed arches and a tower and rows of gargoyles along the roof.
The personnel office had been one of the grander bedrooms. It still had Gothic windows and linenfold paneling, but now there were filing cabinets instead of wardrobes, and desks with computers and phones where once there had been dressing tables crowded with crystal bottles and silver-backed brushes.