Bzrk Apocalypse Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
    best; I’m still fucking Bug Man .”
    “The Twins?” The man made a crestfallen face, an act, a little
    show that he was putting on. Bug Man wanted to punch him. “Oh,
    yes, the Twins . Well, Anthony, this is not really about them. I’m not
    able to tell you anything, really, but I can tell you that I don’t work for
    the Twins.”
    Bug Man took a breath. He’d forgotten to do that. “Who are you,
    then?”
    “My name is George. George William Frederick.”
    He said it as if it should mean something to Bug Man. And it did
    ping some distant, dusty strand of memory. But nothing meaningful.
    It was a name out of a different time, Bug Man felt.
    “You slept through history, didn’t you?” George William Fred-
    erick said. “That’s a shame. History is everything important, really.
    In any case, I’m here because the surveillance team that has been on
    you for every minute of the last month is outside, in the parking lot,
    drinking coffee in paper cups and eating HobNobs, confident that
    you will soon emerge with your groceries. They’ll follow you home,
    as per their orders, log your movements, and go off shift at eight p.m.
    They won’t bother with physical surveillance after that; they’ll be
    watching on the cameras they have in your home. Yes. So, as it hap-
    pens, this would actually be an opportune time for you to follow me,
    out of the back of the store, to a waiting car.”
    Bug Man immediately ran through some of the more embarrass-
    ing things that would have been observed by cameras in his home.
    But he was mostly over the concept of privacy. The Twins had had
    34
    BZRK APOCALYPSE
    cameras on him from the start of his employment by them.
    “And then?” Bug Man asked.
    George-With-Three-Names shrugged. “All I can tell you is that
    an Armstrong hit team is also looking for the right moment to shoot
    you, and tomorrow MI5 will bundle you off to prison where they or
    the Americans will do for you, and the third alternative, the one I’m
    offering you, is preferable.”
    Bug Man knew the man was speaking the truth. Or at least
    believed himself to be telling the truth.
    George-With-Three-Names. George William Frederick. The
    penny dropped.
    George III.
    The mad king.
    “You’re BZRK.”
    “Think what you like,” George said with a self-satisfied smile.
    “I’m your way out.”
    “You are going to kill me.” Bug Man was proud that he managed
    to get the words out with only a minor tremor in his voice.
    George tapped his waist. There was something there that was no
    belt buckle. “If that were my instruction, you’d never know about it.
    By the way, you’re not Roman Catholic, are you?”
    “What? Church of England, I guess. But—”
    “Good.”
    Bug Man let it go. The point was, this wasn’t an assassination.
    “Will I have time to say good-bye to my mother?”
    George shook his head.
    “Good,” Bug Man said. He nodded, smiled for himself alone, and
    thought, Okay then: back in the game .
    35
    (ARTIFACT)
    An exchange of texts
    Plath: Back in NYC. What is our mission?
    Lear: Destroy AFGC.
    Plath: What does that mean?
    Lear: Find and kill the Twins. Destroy all AFGC records. Kill or wire
    all AFGC scientists and engineers. Their technology must be obliterated.
    Plath: I’m to do this with 7 people?
    Lear: You had your vacation. Besides there is an 8th.
    Plath: Caligula?
    Lear: I’ve always found him very useful.
    [Long pause]
    Lear: Time is short, Plath.
    Plath: Short why?
    Lear: AFGC very close to developing remote biot killer. Nature
    unspecified. Days not weeks until it is weaponized. You must strike before
    then. Ticktock. Death or madness.
    36
    ELAPSED TIME
    The Gateway Hotel could not be repaired or rebuilt. The blowtorch
    heat of the burning LNG carrier ship had burned everything capable
    of burning. Natural gas burns at temperatures ranging from 3,000 to
    3,6000 degrees Fahrenheit, and that’s enough to incinerate furniture,
    carpet, and paint. It’s also enough to