Burning Angels

EPILOGUE

Within a matter of days of being plucked from the sea, Simon Chucks Bello had been rushed to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The source of his immunity was isolated from his blood. It was in turn synthesised into an inoculation that could be mass-produced, so that those not infected by the virus could be rendered immune.

A cure took longer to develop, but it was still ready in time to save most of those infected with the Gottvirus. The final death toll from the pandemic was less than thirteen hundred souls – still a huge tragedy, but nothing compared to what Hank Kammler had been intending.

At the height of the epidemic, the world had been on the verge of global meltdown. That number of people couldn’t die without there being panic on the streets. But the worst of the trouble and chaos had been averted. For once world governments had been open about what exactly the virus was and where it had come from. It had taken such honesty to re-establish confidence amongst the world’s peoples.

Even so, it was several months before the United Nation’s World Health Organisation was able to declare the pandemic over. By then, Simon Chucks Bello had been granted British citizenship and was a part of the Jaeger family.

He’d also been given the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour for those who have made an

exceptional contribution to the security of the United States and to world peace.

However, US President Joseph Byrne did not get to present him with the medal: amidst something of an intelligence-driven scandal, he had been voted out of power. Thankfully.

Jaeger’s team at Amani Beach – Raff, Alonzo, Kamishi and James – had taken a few injuries under intense fire, but they had escaped via the cover provided by the Taranis. All had survived. They still called Jaeger a glory boy and refused to let him forget leaving them to fight it out on that beach.

Irina Narov had made a full recovery – from both the virus and her injuries. But of course she blamed Jaeger for losing her precious commando dagger in the struggle with Jones.

At the time of writing, Hank Kammler – the former deputy director of the CIA – was still at large, location unknown. Unsurprisingly, he was now the world’s most wanted man.

And in the meantime, Jaeger, Ruth, Luke and ‘Bellows’, as he’d been nicknamed, were a family again. And Jaeger had commissioned a new dagger for Narov.

He’d made a special request that the blade be razor sharp.