The Next Big One by Derek Des Anges

Author:Derek Des Anges
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781326687595
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2016-05-10T04:30:00+00:00

Daniel’s choice of venue for a drawn-out debate about pursuing sources was less horrendous than his previous choices: it was still in Soho, but not specifically a gay pub; it wasn’t playing deafening volumes of shit pop music; this early in the evening it was still relatively empty, especially upstairs; and possibly in deference to the fact that Daniel had agreed to pay for the drinks, it was a Sam Smith’s and therefore not threatening drink deals on WKD. Most of the clientele seemed to be over fifty and already drunk.

“This more your sort of place?” Daniel asked, trying to nudge Ben into a seat by smacking him repeatedly with his foot. “Soviet levels of variety and old man furnishings?”

Ben shrugged. It was the kind of place he could have brought his dad to reduce the number of complaints, although as it was still in London there wasn’t much chance of them being truly minimised.

“Well, at least it’s cheap,” Daniel sighed, setting down the drinks. He threw himself onto what looked like a padded footstool. “Where were we. Oh, yes. You were failing to be a good journalist and chase a story.”

“I’ve thought about it,” Ben said, examining his drink. “Contacting them might be pointless but it’s not directly dangerous. Writing about them, on the other hand — I mean, what that did to Natalya.”

“Alright,” said Daniel, jabbing at the sticky table-top with the hand that wasn’t holding his drink. “One: if you don’t write about your investigations you’re not a journalist, you’re just a nosy git.” He took a sip and made a face of pleasant surprise. “Huh. Not as bad as I expected. And two, okay, if you’re not more concerned about the truth than anything else then you’re definitely not one of the good guy journalists.”

“Well, at least you’ve admitted there are good guy journalists,” Ben murmured.

Daniel made an expansive gesture of generalised forgiveness. “Bill writes for the papers,” he said, as if that settled the whole thing. “He has a proper agenda to stick to.”

“And I don’t?”

Daniel grimaced at him over the top of a cheap vodka coke. “Hard to tell, isn’t it? You don’t seem to have a stated aim. There isn’t a Ben Abstract reading ‘I have come to expose the truth about the origins of KBV come what may’, it’s more like ‘I have come to look uncomfortable in a variety of social situations and doorstep a selection of virologists for no discernable reason’.”

“So you don’t care that the backlash after I write things potentially hurts people?” Ben said, ignoring the assault on his character since it was probably going to be repeated soon.

Daniel shrugged. “You’re supposed to think the truth is more important.”

“Alright,” said Ben, putting his drink down without drinking any. “And what if it affects you? What if I write something and it fucks up your career or, I don’t know, someone comes to your house and…outs you or threatens your parents or…are you going to think the truth is

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