'A billion? That's ridiculous. It would virtually bankrupt me.'
'You have an hour to decide. After that the price increases by a hundred million euros an hour. Once you leave here tomorrow the deal is off. Of course, if you can live without her then what I'm suggesting is ludicrous. If, however, you truly love her, it's the bargain of a lifetime. Why search for true love when you can buy it? Happiness is the best investment you'll ever make.'
Helmut lit a cigarette and relished the hit. 'You have an hour,' he repeated. 'Once you decide what you want to do, contact Klaus and he'll arrange everything.' He stood up and extended his hand. 'Enjoy the party, Feliks, and cherish your time with Kathryn. Don't be angry with us. We're not forcing you to do anything. We're merely offering you the chance to secure true love, which until now your money has been unable to buy.'
After Lysenko had left, Joachim entered the room with a tray of four small shot glasses moulded in ice. Each bore embossed images of Helmut and Phoebe's faces.
'Ah, thank you, Joachim.'
T like the glasses.' Klaus took one.
Helmut smiled. 'They were designed for tonight's toast. I thought we'd sample them to celebrate the success of Project Ilium.'
'Where's Max?' Klaus asked.
Helmut smiled. 'I haven't seen him or Stein since Max reported back from his trip with Isabella Bacci. Let him be. I suspect he's resting after his exertions.'
'She's no longer an issue?' Klaus added.
Helmut turned to Joachim, who had paled. 'I think we can safely say she's out of the equation.' He raised his glass. 'To the power of love.'
'To love,' the other men echoed, and drank.
ISABELLA SIPPED HER SCOTCH AS SHE LOOKED AT THE COMPUTER screen and her scribbled notes. She had always hated whisky, but as she struggled to make sense of the madness of Venus, its fiery taste soothed her jangling nerves and calmed her. For the last two hours she and Max had sat at the laptop, translating Joachim's scientific notes. She tried to ignore the confused and intense emotions Max brought out in her. On the lake she had been convinced he was going to kill her. And the shock, when he had turned the gun on Stein and told her he loved her, had been almost too much to bear. She still couldn't decide whether he was her tormentor or saviour. She believed him when he said he had tried to save her father, but doubted she could ever forgive him for his part in deceiving her and her friends with Ilium -- regardless of what he might do now to put it right.
What added to her confusion was that this time the drug hadn't worked on her or Max. Assuming it had been administered correctly, there was only one reason for this: the Zero Substitution Effect she had read about in her father's notes. But she didn't want to think about that. Not yet anyway.
Instead she focused on what she had learned about Venus and what she could do to stop it.
'Tell me what we've got so far,' Max said. He looked as tired as she felt.
She glanced down at her notes. 'Venus is an earlier version of the NiL drug inserted into one of Comvec's smart vectors. Your half-brother selected one of my father's prototypes and combined it with his Tag Vector.'
'Joachim could never get the authorities to approve his Tag Vector.'
'Probably for the same reasons that your father wanted to use it. It's virtually impossible to contain.'
'But why use one of the earlier NiL prototypes?'
'Because NiL Forty-two has no gender boundaries.'
'What?'
'No sexual chemistry. Let's say I imprinted my facial genetic code on Venus and injected it into a heterosexual woman or a homosexual man. They wouldn't want to have to sex with me, but they'd still adore me. What's more, any love they felt for anyone else -children, friends, family - would be neutrali2ed by their passion for me. It's far stronger than NiL Sixty-nine or Seventy-two. This was the version that made my father almost scrap the project. In his notes he called it an anti-love drug.'
She remembered sitting in her father's attic, reading his letters to her dead mother. 'Anyone I injected with the drug would worship me. They'd be compelled to gaze at my face, or a likeness of it. If they couldn't get their fix, they'd be beset by an almost intolerable anxiety. I'd become the centre of their existence -- a kind of god.
'But that's not all. By using the Tag Vector Joachim has added a new dimension. Let's say the patient, the victim, is a woman. As with NiL Sixty-nine or Seventy-two, her brain is reprogrammed while she sleeps, and love is triggered when she next sees the genetic facial imprint encoded in the drug. But after that Venus is different from both NiL Sixty-nine and Seventy-two.
'How?'
'First, it works across genders, as I said, and it's a liquid that has to be drunk rather than the powder that's injected. Second, as soon as the subject's love is triggered the airborne influenza component of the Tag 'Vector kicks in and she becomes an unwitting, infectious carrier, who can spread her devotion with just a cough, perpetuating the cycle.'
MAX'S HEAD ACHED. 'AND IT'S MY FATHER'S FACIAL GENETIC imprint on the drug.' 'Of course.'
His father had always been obsessed with duty and destiny, Max knew, and this fulfilled his ultimate fantasy. Venus would cure the world of every conflicting, confusing, weak aspect of love, and in its place leave just one pure strain: single-minded devotion to him. Helmut had probably convinced himself that he was doing the world a great service in purging it of love. He was helping it find a new sense of direction, unity and duty. He would become the ultimate patriarch, and the entire human species would become his devoted and obedient family.
He got up and paced the room. 'And, of course, this explains why he wanted this circus of a wedding. It fits perfectly with his plans. While the guests are here in a controlled environment he can watch them and choose his moment. He must be loving this.'
'According to Joachim's files, they plan to administer the drug some time today or tonight so it becomes live tomorrow.'
'Perfect,' groaned Max. 'Tomorrow the guests will be primed and all eyes will be on the happy couple in the ice chapel. As soon as they see my father their devotion will be triggered. When they return home they'll infect everyone they come into contact with. And because of the global media feeding frenzy that's going to follow this wedding, his face will be everywhere.' Max could barely get his mind round the enormity of his father's mad ambition.
'He'll be bigger than Christ,' she said. "Within days, Joachim's Tag Vector will have spread the NiL Forty-two genes around the world. Studies have shown that, with modern air travel, a flu-like virus can travel the globe in less than a week. In a matter of days most of the world will be obsessed with your father and feel no love for anyone else.'
Project Ilium had been intended to protect the financial future of his father's bank and punish a few disloyal key clients -- but it was a sideshow, Max realized now, a distraction from the main event. 'Are Klaus and Joachim in on this too?' he asked aloud. 'Joachim must be.'
'After the wedding it won't matter who was in on it. Once you're infected, you'll worship him too. But why do you think your half-brother helped him?'
Max could guess what had happened. From the first meeting, when Bacci had told them about his disastrous NiL #042 experiment, the seed would have been planted in his father's mind. It wouldn't have taken him long to come up with the combination of Bacci's drug and Joachim's Tag Vector. He would have flattered Joachim by asking him to make up a permanent version of the NiL #042 drug, which contained his facial imprint. And delighted, Joachim would have obliged, having no idea that his father intended to use it on him. Once Joachim was in his father's thrall, Helmut would have told him to combine it with the Tag Vector. The irony was that Joachim had always worshipped their father and would probably have done whatever he wanted anyway. His younger brother hadn't stood a chance.
'There's one more thing, Max,' Isabella said. 'Joachim's Tag Vector gives Venus a brilliant final twist that I'm sure delights your father.'
'What?'
'First, you've got to remember t
hat the key difference between the temporary Sixty-nine and the lifetime Seventy-two of the conventional NiL drug lies in the type of cells they target. Sixty-nine uses a vector that targets the somatic or body cells, which have a finite life. Once these cells die, the drug and its effects die with it. In the case of NiL Sixty-nine that takes about forty-eight hours.
'The Seventy-two vector not only targets the somatic cells but also the stem cells, which are constant throughout a person's life. Seventy-two and its effects stay with the subject until they die.' She sipped her drink. 'Venus, however, takes it to a whole new level.'
Max groaned. He knew what was coming. 'Go on.'
'Venus uses the Tag Vector, which doesn't only target the somatic cells or the stem cells but the sex cells responsible for reproduction. The Tag Vector was designed not only to pass gene-therapy cures from patient to patient, but from generation to generation. Once the second stage is triggered, the Tag Vector worms its DNA into either the man's testes or the woman's ovaries. Venus goes beyond permanent - it's eternal. Your father got Joachim to use his vector to make humanity adore him for ever. Even after he's dead people will still adore him, their descendants too.'
Max thought of the planned mausoleum, complete with preserved corpse, and he paled at the enormity of his father's effrontery. 'I've got to stop him,' he said. 'I've got to stop them all.'
'What if they've already released Venus? They might have put it in the milk at breakfast.' She reached for the bottle of mineral water on the sideboard. 'The staff put one of these in the rooms every day. Only a few of the guests need to be affected for Venus to spread.'
'In that case I've got to find out if they've administered it yet. If they haven't, I'll do what's necessary to stop it. If they have . . .' his eyes were dark with dread '. . . I can't let anyone leave this island.'
ISABELLAFELT SOME SYMPATHY FOR MAX. HE APPEARED TO BE taking full responsibility for what Helmut Kappel had done, as though his father's sins were his own. She thought then that she understood Max. He saw his mother as being all that was good in him and his father as all that was bad. After her death, for which he had blamed himself, he had allowed his father's values to dominate his life. Now, for whatever reason, he was committed to defying his family and everything that until now had defined him - by destroying them if necessary. Like her, he was alone.
'Even killing your father won't stop its effects. The world will still worship his image. The drug makes him immortal. We've got to stop the drug.'
'But how do we stop it? Is there an antidote to Venus?'
'No.' She checked through her notes. Even the Zero Substitution Effect only applied to later versions of her father's drug. Then an idea came to her. 'There is one approach that might work,' she said. 'According to the files, Joachim's Tag Vector has an Achilles heel' She told him about the tablets she had brought from Milan and unsuccessfully tried to give Phoebe. As she explained her plan, his eyes lit with fresh resolve.
'The problem,' she said, 'is how to administer the tablets secretly to everyone.'
That's easy,' he said. We won't do it secretly. We'll do it openly. I'll tell everyone to drink whatever you give them.'
'I don't understand.'
'I'm the best man. If I propose a toast to the bride and groom everyone has to drink it.' His eyes flashed her a challenge. 'The real problem is getting the tablets into the toast.'
She saw the light in his eyes and a glimmer of hope sparked within her. At last there was something she could do. 'I think I know a way,' she said, 'but I can't do it alone.'
'Isabella, we're in this together,' he said, 'so you're not alone. Not any more.'
THAT EVENING
TRADITIONSTIPULATES THAT ON THE EVE OF THEIR WEDDING THE bride and groom should not see each other, and although Helmut sat beside Phoebe during the New Year's Eve dinner, the rule was not breached. Everyone wore a mask. The women's represented Freya's face and the men's the god Odin's. No one was recognizable. Even the waitresses, attired in their breastplates, leather skirts, boots and helmets, wore gilded face visors.
As the hundred guests took their seats around the long trestle tables in the great hall, Helmut relished the irony that although tonight no one could recognize him soon everyone would. Tomorrow he would stand in the ice chapel beside the most beautiful woman in the world, and every pair of eyes, including Phoebe's, would be fixed on him. In a matter of days the world would look to him for leadership and direction.
He had once read that the most ubiquitous profile in the world was that of the Queen of England. Her image appeared on stamps and currency in Britain and many Commonwealth nations around the globe. But he would eclipse all royalty, presidents and film stars. Religious messiahs and prophets would fade from view. The Beatles had once joked that they were bigger than Jesus. He would be bigger than Jesus. Everyone, however exalted or powerful, would seek his counsel. He would bring order and strength to a weak, chaotic world.
He sat back in his chair and basked in the promise of the future. Everything was in place. Ilium had met its objectives: an hour ago Lysenko had gone the way of the others and authorized the movement of a billion euros to an escrow account. But Venus would bring far more.
Phoebe tapped his arm. 'I still can't believe Isabella left. What did she say?
'Forget about her,' he said. 'You've got three other bridesmaids.'
'But what did she say?'
'I told you. She was so ashamed of lying to you last night that she couldn't face you. She still doesn't agree with our marriage, and couldn't watch you make a huge mistake in marrying me.'
'She said that?'
'She's entitled to her opinion and I respect her candour. I'm sure that when she's had time to get used to the idea you'll be friends again. Now, concentrate on enjoying the evening.'
Explaining away Isabella's disappearance had been less of a problem with Phoebe than it had been with Hudsucker. When Helmut had explained to him that Isabella had returned home, the senator had been inconsolable.
The exquisite food and drink were served on silver plates and in crystal glasses that sparkled like diamonds in the lights. The toast would be drunk after the main course, venison, and Helmut watched Joachim reach into his jacket and extract a small key, ready to pass round the drinks he had so painstakingly prepared. But before he could move, Max stood up.
Where are you going?' Joachim asked.
'To prepare the toast.'
'But I've already arranged the moulded-ice glasses.'
'Leave it to me.'
'But--'
'I'm the best man. I should do it.'
Joachim glanced at his father and Helmut nodded. Max's change of attitude and renewed loyalty should be encouraged. Joachim frowned, but he handed Max the key. 'They're in the first freezer room next to the kitchens. The drinks are poured and laid out on trays. Just unlock the room, and tell the waitresses to serve them.'
Helmut watched Max walk through the great hall to die swing door that led to the kitchens. Then he saw two of Stein's Stasi enter from the reception hall. Both wore full Arctic gear with thick boots. They came into the room, walked over to him and one bent down to whisper, 'Herr Kappel, the dogs have found something you should see.'
When Helmut saw what the man held, his euphoria was replaced with anger. 'Come with me.'
MAX STRODE CASUALLY THROUGH THE GREAT HALL, SMILING AT THE guests as he passed them. He wanted desperately to hurry because there wasn't much time, but he knew either Joachim or his father might be watching. He walked into the kitchens and asked the way to the freezers. He followed the directions, passing numerous waitresses.
There was a tap on his shoulder. 'Can I help you, sir?'
He turned and hesitated for only a second. 'Yes. It's time to serve the drinks for the toast,' he told the waitress.
'Where are they?'
'This way.'
He led her to the freezer room, unlocked the door and stepped inside. There were two rooms: an outer cold room, which
the temperature gauge told Max was kept at four degrees Celsius, and an inner freezer kept at minus twenty-three. In the cold room, carcasses hung from hooks and large salmon lay in stainless-steel trays. He opened the inner door to the smaller freezer, which contained joints of meat hanging on hooks. A stainless-steel table stood in the middle with four square transparent trays set on it. Each held five rows of five ice glasses, moulded with the embossed face's of Helmut and Phoebe. Each had been filled with a shot of clear liquid.
'Are these for the toast?' the woman said.
He nodded and turned to close the door.
But a man was standing there. Even before he pulled off his mask Max knew it was his father. 'Please step outside, Max.'
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