Free The Coward's Way of War by Christopher Nuttall Page B

but also a real ladies man, hitting on every female who came into the office with a distressing rate of success.  Mija had never liked him, although she had to admit that he was good at worming information out of people.  The nasty side of her mind wondered how much he had learned during pillow talk.
     
    “No,” she said, crossly.  She was still trying to figure out what was going on, but very few people seemed prepared to talk to her.  All the signs pointed towards a major medical emergency – every medical professional in New York seemed to have been called to duty, along with every policeman and fireman in the city – but no one who was willing to talk knew what was going on.  “What’s happened?”
     
    “The editor sent Lois down to Town Hall to get an interview with Mayor Hundred himself,” Olson said.  He grinned openly; Lois was not only the star reporter, but a woman with a reputation as a real ball-buster, hated and adored in equal measure.  Privately, Mija considered her a snooty bitch.  “About seven minutes after she entered his office, two policemen came in and arrested her, carting her off to the police station in handcuffs.”
     
    He leered at her.  “I even have pictures,” he added, passing her a small palmtop.  Mija couldn't stop herself from smiling at the image, with Lois pinned between two burly policemen.  “I bet you that that will be all around the city by tonight.”
     
    “No bet,” Mija said.  Her mind caught up with her and she stopped, astonished.  America wasn't known for arresting reporters, not even the most obnoxious of the breed...and if Mayor Hundred had ordered Lois arrested, he could kiss his chances of re-election goodbye.  The New York Times would definitely file a lawsuit on her behalf, something that would smear not only the Mayor, but the NYPD as well.  Why had he taken the risk of arresting her?  “Do you know why?”
     
    “Perhaps she asked him the wrong question,” Olson speculated.  He winked at her and recovered the palmtop.  “Or perhaps she asked the right question.”
     
    He swaggered off towards a young intern’s desk, leaving Mija behind thinking hard.  All the signs pointed to a biological emergency of some kind, which meant...she suddenly became aware of silence falling across the office, broken only by the speakers.  The row of plasma screens mounted along the walls, which followed CNN, FOX, the BBC and other famous television channels, had all switched to a single broadcast.  The President’s face looked out at them, somehow subtly wrong.  It took Mija a moment to realise that she hadn’t gone through make-up; indeed, she looked worried.  Mija looked down at her computer and saw that the President’s speech was being fed online as well as over the television and radio channels.  The entire country would be hearing the speech.
     
    “My fellow Americans,” President Handley said.  The most powerful woman in the world sounded worried, as if she knew that things were very bad.  “It is with heavy heart that I must confirm to you that the country is under attack.  A number of people within our country have been infected with smallpox, a disease thought to have been exterminated in the wild decades ago.  The nature of the infection suggests that the outbreak was not natural.  Those people are the first victims of the greatest terrorist attack since 9/11.”
     
    There was dead silence in the office.  Mija had never known it to be so silent, not during the worst global crisis.  “There is no need to panic,” the President continued.  She sounded almost as if she were making the words up as she went along, adding a deeper layer of horror to her speech.  “Although the infection is serious, it can be treated and, with care, can be prevented from spreading further.  I have therefore, with the concurrence of my Cabinet, Congress and the State Governors, declared a state of emergency over the entire United States.