John Brightling
Dr. John Brightling is the main antagonist of the Rainbow Six novel.
Biography
John Brightling was born in 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Cornell University in the 1960s. In 1965 he earned a BS in Chemistry. In 1970, Brightling earned a PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Virginia. He then earned his MD at the same university in 1974. He later married Carol Brightling.
Due to the growing threat of environmental pollution, Brightling sought to find a way to find a solution. Carol proposed "The Project" which called for the development and release of a deadly virus to cause a mass extinction. The pair believed that after the pandemic, they could then rebuild the world in their image, free of pollution.
John and Carol founded the Horizon Corporation which specialized in developing cancer drugs and synthetic antibiotics. Secretly, the company was founded a front for clandestine biological warfare experiments to make their dream a reality. In the late 1980s, Carol decided to purse a political career in order to further her environmental agenda and to pass government secrets on biological warfare to the Horizon Corporation. John and Carol agreed to divorce one another in order to distance themselves in the public eye.
Brightling went on to became one of the world's leading experts in recombinant DNA technology and was also known in the industry for his unorthodox management style and strong political views. Brightling also became closely involved with a number of environmental issues, making sizable personal contributions to groups. In the late 1990s, Brightling's scientists succeeded in mutating a strain of the Ebola virus, known as the Shiva virus. Brightling then had his men kidnap homeless men and women off city streets for further testing.
With the Shiva virus now in hand, Brightling needed a way to easily distribute it without suspicion. In 1998, Brightling met Dimitriy Popov at a café in Paris. Intrigued by Popov's former affiliation with the KGB, Brightling flew Popov to America to serve as a security consultant for the Horizon Corporation. Ten months later in 1999, Brightling tasked Popov with orchestrating several terrorist attacks across the globe. This was done in order to raise awareness of terrorism and help the security firm, Global Security, land a contract for the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Owned by another ecoterrorist named Bill Hendrickson, Brightling planned to have him release the Shiva Virus at the games in order to start an epidemic. The Horizon Corporation would then distribute a vaccine that actually contains the virus itself, effectively killing the rest of the world's uninfected population.
Before the start of the Summer Games, Popov, who was oblivious of The Project, was informed of Rainbow's exitance by Brightling and Hendrickson. Brightling then tasked Popov with orchestrating an attack on the unit to discourage them from being deployed to the Summer Games. Despite several Rainbow causalities, Popov's attack on the organization fails and he is forced into hiding in Horizon's secret base in Kansas. Popov was later appalled to learn of the Project and contacted John Clark. This aided in thwarting Brightling plans and forced Brightling and other ecoterrorists to escape to another Horizon base in the Brazilian rain forest.
Clark tracked down the hideout and deployed Rainbow to the location. Rainbow is successful in defeating the terrorist's militia force and destroys their facility and supplies. Knowing that they may never be put on trial, Clark has the survivors stripped naked and left to fend for themselves in the jungle, taunting them to "reconnect with nature." When no survivors resurface in nearby towns, one agent notes that although people try to preserve nature, nature is not known for returning the favor.