?On Tate now. Start uploading everything you receive and download Georgia?s last report directly to Senator Ryman. He needs to give it a glance.? Governor Tate was glaring. I flashed him a smile. ?I?ve been recording this whole time. But you knew that, didn?t you? Smart guy like you. Smart enough to get around our security. To get around our friends.?
?Miss Meissonier was a realist and a patriot who understood the trials facing this country,? said Tate, tone as stiff as his shoulders. ?She was proud to have the opportunity to serve.?
?Miss Meissonier was a twenty-four-year-old journalist who wrote poetry for a living,? I snapped. ?Miss Meissonier was our partner, and you had her killed because she wasn?t useful anymore.?
?David, is this true?? asked Emily, horror leeching the inflection from her voice. Senator Ryman had taken out his PDA and seemed to be growing older by the second as he stared at its screen. ?Did you? Eakly? The ranch?? Fury twisted her features, and before either I or her husband could react, she was out of her chair, launching herself at Governor Tate. ?My daughter! That was my daughter, you bastard! Those were my parents! Burn in hell, you??
Tate grabbed her wrists, twisting her to the side and locking his arm around her neck. His left hand, which had been under the table since I arrived, came into view, holding another of those plastic syringes. Unaware, Emily Ryman continued to struggle.
The senator went pale. ?Now, David, let?s not do anything rash here??
?I tried to send them home, Peter,? said Tate. ?I tried to get them off the campaign, out of harm?s way, out of my way. Now look where they?ve brought us. Me, holding your pretty little wife, with just one outbreak left between us and a happy ending. I would have given you the election. I would have made you the greatest American president of the past hundred years, because together, we would have remade this nation.?
?No election is worth this,? Ryman said. ?Emily, be still now, baby.? Looking confused and betrayed, Emily stopped struggling. Ryman lifted his hands into view, palms upward. ?What?ll it take for you to release her? My wife?s not a part of this.?
?I?m afraid you?re all a part of this now,? Tate said, with a small shake of his head. ?No one?s walking away. It?s gone too far for that. Maybe if you?d disposed of the journalists,? the word was almost spat, ?it could have gone differently. But there?s no use crying over spilled milk, now, is there??
?Put down the syringe, Governor,? I said, keeping the gun level. ?Let her go.?
?Shaun, the CDC is piggybacking our feed,? said Mahir. ?They?re not stopping the transmission, but they?re definitely listening in. Dave and Alaric are maintaining the integrity, but I don?t know that we can stop it if they want to cut us off.?
?Oh, they won?t cut us off, will you, Dr. Wynne?? I asked. I was starting to feel a little light-headed. This was all moving so damn fast.
Keep it together, dummy, hissed George. You think I want to be an only child?
?I?ve got it, George,? I muttered.
?What?s that?? asked Mahir.
?Nothing. Dr. Wynne? You there?? If it was him, the CDC was with us. If it was anybody else?
There was a crackle as the CDC broke into our channel. ?Here, Shaun,? said the familiar southern drawn of Dr. Joseph Wynne. Mahir was swearing in the background. ?Are you in any danger??
?Well, Governor Tate?s holding a syringe on Senator Ryman?s wife, and since the last two syringes we?ve seen have been full of Kellis-Amberlee, I?m not betting this one?s any different,? I said. ?I?ve got a gun on him, but I don?t think I can shoot before he sticks her.?
?We?re on our way. Can you stall him??
?Doing my best.? I forced my attention back to Governor Tate, who was watching me impassively. ?Come on, Governor. You know this is over. Why not put that thing down and go out like a man instead of like a murderer? More of one than you already are, I mean.?
?Not exactly diplomatic, there, Shaun,? said Dr. Wynne in my ear.
?Doing the best I can,? I said.
?Shaun, who are you talking to?? asked Senator Ryman. He looked edgy. Having a crazy dude holding a syringe of live virus on his wife probably had something to do with that.
?Dr. Joseph Wynne from the CDC,? I said. ?They?re on the way.?
?Thank God,? breathed the senator.
?Want to put it down now, Governor?? I asked. ?You know this is over.?