‘Bye, Ozzy,’ Eddie added. Seretse gave them both a tired look, but smiled in farewell.
Nina held her upbeat expression as she and Eddie walked to the elevators, but her facade crumbled as they descended towards the lobby of the Secretariat Building. He put his arm around her. ‘It’s okay,’ he said, trying to reassure her. ‘It’s okay.’
‘It’s not okay,’ she replied, struggling to keep her composure. ‘Eddie, I’m going to die! You saw the doctor’s report. Even if they didn’t know what was wrong with me, they still knew it was bad. The eitr infected me, and… I don’t know how long I’ve got.’
‘It might be years.’
‘And it might be weeks! The Russians told us how quickly the stuff can kill, even in small doses.’ She unconsciously touched her cheek; the red mark had faded, but was still visible, a hardened blemish against her otherwise smooth skin. ‘I only got hit by a drop, but we both know that’s all it takes. I’ve lasted longer than the nine steps Thor took, but… it’s only a matter of time.’
The elevator doors opened. She blinked away tears before stepping out. ‘All right then,’ said Eddie softly as he walked beside her. ‘We don’t know how long you’ve got. But there might be a cure out there somewhere. We can’t give up on finding it, ever — I’m sure as fuck not going to, and I’m not going to let you either! And until we find it, we can make what you’ve got — what we’ve got — as good as it possibly can be. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ she managed to say.
They crossed the lobby, heading for the exits to the plaza outside. Eddie looked around at their modernist surroundings. ‘You know, I’m actually going to miss this place.’
‘So am I,’ Nina replied. ‘But there’s something I’m going to miss more.’
‘What?’
‘Being—’ Her voice caught, choked off by a sudden rush of emotion. She breathed hard, forcing out the words. ‘Being the mother of your children.’
Eddie couldn’t reply, as overcome as his wife. Tears streaming, they went through the doors and out into the winter cold of New York.
Two days later, the weather was considerably warmer.
‘Are we there yet?’ said Nina in joking complaint as she wiped sweat from her forehead. Even though the rented 4x4 had air conditioning, the temperature at midday was still stifling.
‘Not much further,’ said Eddie as he guided their vehicle down the bumpy jungle track. Under normal circumstances, to hire a car in Vietnam he would first have had to apply for a Vietnamese driver’s licence, which would have taken at least a week. However, on this occasion the time to process the paperwork had been reduced to a couple of hours; they were both grateful to Seretse that their United Nations documentation would remain valid for a few months.
‘So this is where you came eight years ago?’ She watched the brilliant greenery roll by. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘Yeah, it is.’ He sounded almost surprised, prompting a questioning look from his wife. ‘I didn’t really get the chance to play tourist last time I was here. Besides, it was pissing it down.’
‘At least it’s not raining today. I wouldn’t fancy trekking through the jungle in a monsoon to find Natalia’s grave.’
He gave her a slightly confused glance. ‘Sorry, what?’
‘Natalia’s grave? That’s why we came here, remember. How far from the village is it?’
‘Oh, yeah.’ He seemed distracted, but there was something else to his attitude as well. Nina couldn’t quite tell what, though. Almost… expectant? ‘Not far.’
He guided the Nissan Patrol around a bend in the narrow track, bushes whipping at the vehicle’s flank. Ahead, a cluster of buildings came into view: the village of Ly Quang. ‘Is that it?’ Nina asked.
‘That’s it. Hasn’t changed much.’ He brought the 4x4 down the hill and pulled up outside the largest building.
The sweltering heat hit them the moment they opened the Patrol’s doors. Nina screwed up her eyes as pinpricks of sweat beaded around them, then surveyed their surroundings. It was clear that the village did not get many visitors; the few people in sight had already taken an interest in the new arrivals.
One of them, a woman Nina guessed to be in her mid thirties, regarded Eddie first with uncertainty, then dawning recognition. ‘Ay up,’ he said. ‘Looks like somebody remembers me.’
The woman hurried to the car to meet him, speaking excitedly. ‘Sorry, I still don’t speak Vietnamese,’ he replied with an apologetic shrug. ‘But this does.’
He took his phone from inside his leather jacket and brought up an app: an English — Vietnamese translator. A set of phrases had already been saved, a tap of Eddie’s finger prompting the phone to say the first in a mechanical voice. The woman did not seem wowed by the technology — the country’s cellular phone network had been massively expanded over the course of eight years — but her reaction to what it was saying was more excited.
‘What did you ask her?’ said Nina.
Eddie didn’t answer, instead tapping a second phrase. The woman listened, nodding enthusiastically, then waved for him to wait as she ran into the large building. ‘Eddie?’ Nina asked again. ‘What did it say?’
‘Just checking something,’ he replied, though he was having trouble holding back a smile.
‘What…’ Nina began, stopping as the Vietnamese woman reappeared — followed by someone else.
A blonde Caucasian woman in her late twenties, whose eyes widened in delighted shock at the sight of the Englishman. ‘Eddie!’ she cried. ‘My God! But that means…’
‘Yeah, that means.’ Eddie’s grin could no longer be contained. He turned to his wife. ‘Nina? I’d like you to meet Natalia Pöltl.’
Eight Years Earlier…
‘But you know I am right, Eddie,’ Natalia continued, desperation entering her voice. ‘And it is what I want to do. Please!’ She wrapped her hands around his. ‘I will not let anyone else die because of me. You have to do it. You have to!’ She squeezed his hands, then let go and turned away, getting down on her knees. ‘You… you know how to make it not hurt, don’t you?’ she said quietly.
‘Yeah, I do,’ he replied. ‘But—’
‘Then do it. It is the only way to end this.’ She raised her head, and closed her eyes.
He stared down at the young woman. ‘Are you sure this is what you want?’
‘Yes,’ came the reply.
He was silent for a long moment. Then he slowly raised the gun.
‘Please,’ whispered Natalia. ‘Do it.’
Chase hesitated — then pulled the trigger.
Natalia shrieked, flinching… before slowly opening one eye, not daring to speak for several seconds. ‘You… did not shoot me.’
Chase’s gun was pointed towards the sky, smoke curling from its barrel. ‘Course I didn’t bloody shoot you. I’m not a psychopath!’
‘But — you have to! If the Americans or the Russians take me alive, they will use me to—’
‘They won’t,’ he said firmly. ‘And you know why? ’Cause they’re going to think you are dead.’
Natalia stood, regarding him in confusion. ‘I do not understand.’
‘You will. You won’t like it, but you’ll understand.’ He set off, heading south-west. ‘Come on.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘To find your dead body.’
Bewildered, she followed him. ‘Eddie, what are you talking about?’
‘I’m going to keep my promises — both of them,’ he told her. ‘I promised to protect you, and you made me promise not to let anyone carry on your grandfather’s work. And I just had an idea how to do both of those things.’