Interlude

Emma could not comprehend the words being said.

"Mrs. O'Reilly, We cannot relinquish your husband's remains at this time." The agent's lips moved, and sounds came out, but they made no sense to her. Why not? She wanted to ask, more like scream, but she didn't. Her throat closed, and didn't open again for some time.

The agent had middle-eastern features, but spoke in a dark American accent. Almost as dark as whatever blackness rested just behind his eyes. His face contained no trace of sympathy, and no matter how hard she tried to elicit them with tears and silence, she could see no winces or guilty expressions.

Emma breathed, teary-eyed, "What does the secret service want with my husband's body? Isn't your job to protect the President or something?"

He dodged the last question. "We recovered his body in An Lộc shortly after the battle began. He appeared to have succumbed to an aneurism. But the autopsy indicated that a rare, undocumented virus may have been responsible. We have to retain the body for further testing."

This war. This damned war had taken everything from her. And now it wouldn't let her, her mother-in-law, her father-in-law, and her entire family, give her husband the burial he deserved.

She wiped the tear from her cheek. "I want to have a funeral for my husband, Mr. Kosan."

"I understand, Mrs. O'Reilly, but this is in the interest of the entire country. An epidemic would not be the best thing for us right now. Your husband is a hero, and even in death he can help save more innocent lives. Wouldn't you want that for him?"

"With all due respect, Mr. Kosan, my husband died of a brain aneurism. He's noone's hero except for the sorry sacks of shit that you work for. I wanted him to stay here. But he was pulled in by your propaganda, and your lies. He could have died here, and died loved. Now I have to go on knowing that he was on the battlefield, watching his friends die, and looking into the eyes of people who hated him. As far as I'm concerned, the aneurism is the hero for saving him from that hell." The tears began anew as she slammed the door in his face.

Kosan stared at the white door in front of him for a moment before turning around and walking along the cement path to the gate. The screeching of the hinges was met with the soft screeching of the black limousine's brakes.

He entered with a sigh.

"It went well, I take it?" Leona asked, looking forward.

Kosan responded, "About as well as expected. She's not happy."

"She will not be happy again for many years. That would have been true either way." She ended the conversation by pulling out the Farnsworth from her jacket pocket.

She adjusted the channel knob and pressed the black button next to it. A moment later, Hugo Miller's face popped up.

"Well, well, well, Mrs. L..." He joked. "What a surprise getting your call, I was just about to-"

"Enough, Hugo." Leona interrupted. "Have you had a chance to think about my offer?"

His face turned uncharacteristically serious. "Leona..." He sighed and rubbed his hand on his forehead. "I told you, doing this will probably get us all... you know... killed."

"Let Kosan and I worry about keeping the secrets, you just worry about the science. Is it possible?"

"Well, theoretically, yes."

"So, what's the problem?"

"Theory is one thing Leona, and putting that theory to use is a whole 'nother game. First of all, I told you we'd need the right man for-"

"We found him already."

"Really?" He looked surprised. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, get him down to the Warehouse fast so I can run some tests. We need to get him on ice right away." His fingers twitched and his eyes blinked rapidly as the gears turned in his head. "I haven't even begun to even THINK about even writing this down on paper, let alone getting it on the computer. Getting this to work is going to take all of the Warehouse's computer power and then some. This is crazy... even for us." He rambled on while Leona stared unimpressed and impatient.

"Hugo, enough. You're starting to sound like Arthur."

"Ha ha. You made a joke. That's a first!" Hugo laughed, before seeing Leona's face entirely devoid of humor. He coughed, trying to resume looking serious and failing at it.

"This could take years, L." He said softly.

"I realize that, and so does Adwin. We're willing to wait as long as you're willing to make this work." Leona said. "We can't forget why we're doing this."

Hugo's head lowered. "I understand." He raised his head again with an unsure smile. "Okay. I'm in. On two conditions..." Leona's eyebrow raised. "I want full reign over the entire Warehouse network, and I work around my own schedule."

Leona looked uncertain, but Kosan spoke up. "Done."

"Fantastic!" Hugo shouted. "Well, I'll get to work right away." He was about to shut the Farnsworth cover before Leona stopped him.

"And one more thing Hugo. Tell your team nothing. Not even Arthur. Kosan and I are the only ones who are to know about your progress in this operation. Is that clear?" She ordered, sternly.

Hugo nodded. "Yes, but–!" She closed the cover before he could protest, and resumed her silence.

Kosan stared out the window at the suburban Philadelphia landscape, and thought about the grieving widow of the unfortunate soldier. She was so young, and the war had demolished her faith in the US government and just about everything else. He felt a pang of sadness, but it shared space with a strange bit of hope. The melancholic feeling was partly due to this thought:

He may not have been a hero before, but he sure as hell is going to be one soon.

And the widow would never know that.