“Drew Peters again.”
“Maybe.” Smith shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. All I know is, when they didn’t air that video, when I saw that the government wasn’t evacuating, I realized what would happen if those bombs went off. And so I activated my contingency plan.”
“Shannon.”
“Shannon.”
Cooper thought back to that moment six month ago, him running down the hall at her, Shannon looking up, telling him to wait, that he didn’t understand. Jesus.
Would she have succeeded in stopping the bombs if he hadn’t caught her? Was this one more load on his creaking conscience?
“So who benefits from something like this, Cooper? Who benefits from the Exchange blowing up?”
“You asked your question.”
“Call this a follow-up.”
He knew the answer, both the one Smith wanted to hear and the larger truth behind it. Yesterday, he couldn’t have imagined admitting it. But this morning, as the first sharp rays of the sun split the horizon, he just said what his gift told him. “People who want a war.”
“That’s right. People who want a war. People who believe that it will make them richer, or more powerful. A few, even, who might truly believe that a war is necessary. But while there have been a handful of times in history when war truly was necessary, never, not once, has a war against our own children been justified. No, the people who want to start this war, they want to benefit from it.”
“How did the bombs go off if you didn’t trigger them?”
“Is that your question?”
“Call it a follow-up.”
Smith laughed. “All five had a radio trigger with a specific code frequency. No one but me knew the code.”
“So how—”
“Because I warned them.”
He stopped talking, let Cooper work it out. “Your message gave someone enough time to find the bombs and break the code.”
“Again, I didn’t realize just how ruthless my enemy was. I knew they hated me, knew they wanted a war. But even I never believed they would blow up their own building, kill a thousand people, just to foster it.”
“But…why?”
“Men will always find a reason.”
Cooper thought about that. Thought that it was probably true. “Next question. What about the rest?”
“The rest?”
“The other things you’ve done. Assassinations. Explosions. Viral attacks. All of it.”
A long silence. The sun broke the horizon, spilling bloody light across the east. As if on cue, Cooper heard birdsong, though he couldn’t see any birds.
Finally Smith said, “Are you asking if my hands are clean? They’re filthy. I’m sorry, but you wanted truth.”
“You are a terrorist.”
“I’m fighting a war. I’m fighting for my human rights, and the rights of people like me. I’m fighting for you, and Shannon, and the other million of us. Like your daughter.”
Cooper found himself on his feet before he realized he’d moved. “Be careful, John. Be very careful.”
“Oh, come off it.” Smith looked up at him mildly. “You want to kill me? You can. I’m no match for you in a fight. I knew you could last night, and I knew you could when I brought you up here. You don’t want me to talk about Kate? Fine. But I’m not the one who wants to put her in an academy.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why? Because you throw me off this rock?”
“Because…” Drew Peters’s voice in his head. Your daughter will never be tested. Whatever happens, I’ll take care of your family.
He sank to his knees. No more. Please. Enough. Not them, too.
I’ll take care of your family.