"MD Spenser - Humano Morphs 4 Air Morph One" - читать интересную книгу автора (Spenser M D)

"No ..." I said slowly. "I think they denied it. But you don't mean..."
"I don't know what I mean," Dr. Cumberton said. "But right now, that's the only explanation I can think of."
"So that explanation about it being a state-of-the-art milk factory is just a cover story," I said, and a chill ran up my spine. "And what we have right here in Atkinson, Nebraska, is a factory that actually manufactures anthrax, a deadly biological weapon capable of killing thousands and thousands of people all at once."


Chapter Sixteen

Silence descended upon the room like a shroud.
This whole thing seemed too serious, too frightening, too deadly to speak of. I felt as if I were at a funeral.
For a minute, the three of us stared at each other. I felt very sad, somehow. It seemed impossible to believe that our peaceful little town was in such danger. To think that someone had put our town, and everyone who lived in it, in such danger on purpose made me feel like crying.
Afraid the tears would come and embarrass me, I looked away from Freddy and Dr. Cumberton and gazed out the window. Everything outside looked dark and gray and gloomy. Rain spattered against the window and ran down the glass.
I bit my lip.
Suddenly, Freddy, normally the most quiet of people, broke the silence with a shout.
"I knew it!" he yelled. "I knew it!"
Dr. Cumberton and I stared at him.
"You knew that plant made anthrax?" I asked.
"No," Freddy said. "But I knew something wasn't right. I told you Ч remember? The thick, heavy walls that you noticed, the heavy security, the fingerprinting, the people in space suits. Remember? I told you none of it made sense! None of it made any sense at all!"
Now that he said it, I did remember. I knew I'd heard someone say that before. And he was right. None of it did make any sense.
I realized that Freddy and Dr. Cumberton were looking at me, as if they expected me to say something. They were waiting for me to take the lead.
I knew I had to so something. Doing nothing was unacceptable.
I stared out the window, thinking and watching the raindrops streak down the glass.
"We have to act quickly," I said.
"Why quickly?" Dr. Cumberton said.
I pointed out the window. Freddy and Dr. Cumberton looked.
"It's raining," I said slowly, as the thought formed in my mind. "The river is rising. If the Elkhorn floods the lagoon or the factory, it will be polluted
with anthrax. It will become a running river of death." I paused. Neither Freddy nor Dr. Cumberton
spoke.
"And the Elkhorn runs into ... ?" I asked.
"The Platte," Freddy breathed.
"And the Platte runs into ... ?"
"The Missouri," he said.
"And the Missouri runs into ... ?"
"The Mississippi," he whispered. I saw horror in his eyes.
"And the Mississippi River provides the water supply for the whole middle of the country, from here on down to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico," I said. "I read about it once in a book on how Herbert Hoover got to be president. A huge part of the country relies on the Mississippi for water."
No one spoke.
"Dr. Cumberton?" I asked. "If the Elkhorn became polluted with anthrax in the concentration you found in our sample, and the anthrax was carried downstream into the Platte and the Missouri and the Mississippi, how many people depend on the Mississippi for their drinking water? How many people could be poisoned? How many people might die?"
"Millions," Dr. Cumberton said. "Millions."


Chapter Seventeen

The next few days were among the worst of my life.
Freddy and Dr. Cumberton and I decided that the only thing to do was to notify the authorities. The factory had to be shut down and steps had to be taken to make sure that the poison already there did not find its way into the river.
I started with the mayor of Atkinson, Mel Hootersen. He let me into his office, and listened while I explained the whole thing.
But he wasn't too happy about what I had to say. The whole time he listened, he looked as if someone were holding a piece of dog poop under his nose.
Finally, he interrupted me.
"Son," he said. "Do you know how hard I worked to get the Nacirema Dairy Production and Research Center to build its new factory here in Atkinson? Do you have the slightest idea how much that center pays this town each year in taxes so little twerps like you can go to a decent school with computers and all that newfangled nonsense? Do you?"
I shook my head.
"A lot!" Mayor Hootersen said. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars every year! And if that factory were shut down, do you know what would happen? I would have to raise taxes, and then I'd be voted right out of office. No one wants to pay higher taxes, whether it's for education or anything else, and they'd just kick me out."
"What about higher taxes so that millions of people don't get poisoned?" I said, a little angrily.