What did it matter if the United States had two hundred thousand nuclear weapons trained on the rest of the world if their enemies had the right biological weapons? A highly infectious airborne virus on the wind was virtually indefensible in open cities.
-- Carlos (Switzerland. paragraph 7)

Importance: This quote is important because it both establishes the antagonist's motives and plays on real fears the reader may have. Despite the ban across the world, biological weapons are a real threat that spans entire generations. Not only is it deadly, but as Carlos says, it is difficult to deal with. Powerful biological weapons could wipe out entire countries without anyone realizing they were attacked. This quote shows that this novel is set in the reader’s world, and the ambitions of Svensson and Carlos are truly terrifying.

Now he had two novels in his hands. Enough dead weight to pull him to the bottom of any...
-- Thomas (chapter 3 paragraph 5)