Effected Intent, page 25
All two thousand of the spheres fit into the single vial and they packed desiccant in to keep them dry on the journey. Steve used Teflon tape to create an additional seal on the vial and they rinsed it before removing the vial from the sealed environment. It had gone smoothly and Steve had no doubt that they’d contained the smallpox.” Robert and Mickey came downstairs with the camera just as Steve finished packing it in the battery.
“I can’t believe our Korea guy is going to disperse the virus without being vaccinated. That’s pretty brave.” Jay said.
“It’s easy to forget how important a task we’re on, any one of us could die, that doesn’t really matter. The success of the project is what matters, along with the changes that come from it.” Robert focused his beady eyes on Jay, waiting for him to look away in shame or to say something. Jay chose to look away and Robert continued. “Let’s hope this arrives in one piece. I just had a conversation with our friend in Korea, telling him that the camera he wanted is on the way. I told him that he should change the batteries before using it because they’re old. He got the meaning and will let us know when he’s received it.”
Mickey took the camera and left for the UPS depot, which was just a few miles away and would get the package moving tonight. If all went according to plan there would be Coca Cola bottles being distributed in and around Seoul that were contaminated with smallpox. The Korean team member had gone to great lengths to demonstrate ties back to the North Korean government as well as some groups in that country who were very militant and bent on destruction. The South Korean authorities would point the finger north and the world will believe it was a conspiracy from inside Korea. It really didn’t matter where the blame came from, the United States government would be in scramble mode, locking down the borders and looking for the vaccine.
Steve turned into an automaton, going through the motions at work over the next few days, anxiously awaiting word that the virus had been launched. He wondered if any of those bottles would find their way to the airport there and end up transporting the virus all around the world. They may not need to do anything beyond this initial drop to create the chaos and anarchy Robert was looking for. He still couldn’t bring himself to say “we” when talking about the project, as if he was just playing a role in a play or a movie and wasn’t really a key participant in the pending destruction.
Claire was getting more concerned about Steve by the day and tried to discuss it with him again but he wasn’t hearing it. Every time she tried to talk to him he clammed up further until he wasn’t talking at all. She was going to have to hire a private investigator to see if he was having an affair or what was really going on at that other site. She didn’t even know exactly where it was, only had a vague idea. He didn’t even use his computer anymore, spent no time in the forums that had been his second life for the past few years. He just sat in his chair and pretended to read or stared into space. When he slept, he had horrible nightmares, talking and screaming in his sleep. She picked up some of it, seemed to be Vietnam related or about his brother, who he rarely talked about. She knew that his brother had died in the local prison but what could be bringing up those memories? Maybe the project had something to do with the prison on the hill.
At the site they had completed ten large batches of spheres, all with the smallpox virus in the center. They had reproduced a large amount of the vaccine as well, enough to make up almost fifty thousand vaccinations. There were now ten thousand vials of the contaminated virus and they were working to duplicate the virus so they could extend that much further. The package was somewhere in Korea by now and may even be delivered imminently, Steve had to talk about his plan now.
The evening wrap up meeting had brought no news of a delivery yet, though the man lived alone so he would probably miss the actual delivery. He had a good sized mailbox in his apartment and the delivery instructions said to leave the package if nobody was there to sign for it, which the UPS agent thought was odd but didn’t argue. Steve waited until everyone had given their updates, cleared his throat to muster his courage, and spoke. “I’ve been thinking about our plan and wanted to modify it if possible.”
Robert looked like him as though he had leprosy, his head cocked to the side. “You want to modify it? Who do you think you are?”
“Just let me speak Robert, if you don’t like it pretend I never brought it up.” Steve had his courage and the bird man didn’t shut him down, instead made a rolling motion with his left hand and said “spit it out then.”
“Our target is the government, we all agree on that account. I have some problem with all of the innocents being killed. It was our legacy from ‘Nam, everyone always says we murdered women and children. I don’t want this to be our legacy here. My idea is that we give the government the batch with the smallpox and let the general public have the real virus. This would be Biblical in nature, striking down at the heart of those we hate and leaving the others to decide the best way to proceed.
Everyone was holding their breath and looking at Robert, who was considering his words carefully. “I see where you’re coming from but I still think the impact of the cause would be much greater if millions died.”
“I like the plan Robert, have had more than enough of being called baby killer in my life. Even though we’ll be somewhere else, the American public will hold us up as heroes, admiring the surgical precision with which we decimated the piece of shit government that shafted us all of our lives.”
“Mickey, what about all of the hippies? Remember your stories of coming home and getting spit at? I thought you wanted revenge on them.” He felt his grip going away, his anger starting to take over. “This is about making the biggest statement in the history of the world!”
“I agree with Steve, it would be so much greater if only the pigs in power were dying, not innocent civilians. People won’t soon forget the judgment brought against the United States government. I think we should change the plan.”
“I’m with Rudy and Steve here.” Mickey said.
“I like this plan too.” Jay added, a bit quiet after his tongue lashing from Robert earlier.
“The government are going to be the first ones clamoring for the vaccine Robert, they think they’re above everyone else. We can take those greedy feelings and shove them right up their asses. No more President, cabinet, congress, senate or any of their sycophants. Think about it Robert, we might even get invited back to help run the new government.”
Robert thought for a minute, his hands together over his nose, his eyes staring into the black granite table of the war room. This was supposed to be so much more but he could see in the eyes of his team that they were sold on this new plan. He would have to settle or someone might crack. “Ok, let’s make two sets, one for the government and the rest for the general public. But let’s not limit ourselves to Washington, we’ve got lots of state and local government people to take out while we’ve got the chance.”
Everyone around the table nodded in agreement, the new plan silently approved. “I’m expecting that we’ll find out sometime tonight that the camera has been delivered. His flight is tomorrow night Korean time so we’ve got about thirty six hours if all goes according to plan. We need to continue bottling the vaccine and the virus, expect that this is our last weekend of peace while we watch CNN and wait for the shit to hit the fan.”
The meeting adjourned and Steve went home and had a civil dinner with Claire, telling her that the project was going to wrap up in the next week or two and it seemed like they were over the biggest hurdles. Claire was so relieved that he was communicating that she didn’t see the sadness in his eyes, the knowing that he’d be leaving her, possibly for good. Steve had thought about bringing home a syringe of the vaccine so Claire would be protected but there was no way she’d be able to keep that one quiet and Robert wouldn’t stand for him making arrangements for her to be protected. He was going to do this before he left, wanted to make sure to leave it behind so she wouldn’t get infected, though she might not want to live once she found out what he’d done. They even walked that night, going around the block as the sun was setting.
Steve checked his email that night and there was a message from Robert letting him know that the package had been received and would be dispersed the next day. He was going to check the forums but couldn’t bring himself to do anything but lay in bed and wonder what he’d gotten himself into.
****
It was lunchtime in Korea and the plant was relatively empty, the line shut down for the food break. He knew there was a two hour window on the stuff in the bottle so he waited until the break was nearly over and dispersed it into the large vat before walking back to his desk. Whistling as the line started back up, he watched the bottles start moving, making sure that the virus would be mixed in and sealed before the spheres vanished and hell was infused in the world’s favorite beverage. He held his breath when the two hour mark was reached, scared to breathe even though he knew it was all bottled up at this point. The cases were full and off to the warehouse, where they’d be picked up and shipped overnight around Seoul. The Coca Cola bottling company was a very efficient one.
His co-workers wished him a pleasant vacation as they left the plant for the night. He thanked them and went straight to the airport, where he’d fly directly to San Francisco and await further instructions. Once he was through security he found a public internet terminal and sent an email to Robert letting him know that the package had been successfully delivered and he was on his way across the ocean. He looked forward to seeing his old friend again soon. He signed off the computer and napped while he waited for the boarding call, wishing he could stay and watch the destruction take form.
Chapter 24
Darren Gets Enough
One more week of this and he’ll be completely crazy, Darren thought as he surfed the web looking for interesting news and checking out the new movie releases that were coming out. He’d been begging for work and had spent a couple of days combing through intel reports and chatter logs for some other cases but neither developed into anything important. George had dragged him off to another long lunch and bought another guitar in the process, something of a déjà vu of the past month around the office. There was a birthday luncheon for one of the other agents, Darren didn’t even remember who it was but had signed the card and donated twenty bucks toward the food and some presents. At least it was a diversion from waiting for something to happen.
He checked Jack’s website for the hundredth time this week and saw that something had changed. There was some additional information about supplies, indicating that they were in some kind of chemical production activity but not enough to nail them yet. This was getting old, seems like it’s never going to amount to anything. Frustrated, he wandered over to see how the party setup was proceeding. He helped hang decorations and set up the food and drinks, actually didn’t smell bad and the cake looked really good. Darren felt like he was in some corporate world, not the place for an adrenaline junkie. He settled in to yell surprise at the unassuming co-worker, still unsure who it was.
Bill had a very filling lunch, able to put aside the thoughts of what the terrorists were doing nearby long enough to enjoy what Kathy had brought. The mood was relaxed, as though everyone in the office was getting ready to go on vacation. He and Margie talked for a while, mostly about Joshua and what plans she had for the weekend. He reminisced about the summers in New York, thinking about the Institution and the memories of growing up in and on the water.
“If I was free this weekend the first thing I would do is get crispy in the sun and cool down in the water. I know Lake Erie isn’t the most beautiful body of water in the world but it would seem like heaven to me.”
“My aunt and uncle used to have a boat and we’d spend a lot of Saturdays out on the lake, doing exactly what you’re saying. Even tried water skiing a time or two but that didn’t work out so well.”
“We liked riding tire inner tubes better. It was easier to hold on and more fun. My dad used to call it legal child abuse and loved to drag us through wakes and try to get us off the tube.” Bill mused, getting lost in the memory.
Margie gave him time to remember and focused on what was left of her lunch. Bill didn’t really come back, cleaning up his dishes and wandering back to his desk without another word. He was lost in thought for some time, not enough memories and too much time between really good ones. Needing to get out of this mindset, Bill logged on to The Cause’s website to see if there was additional information. The site was still the same so he checked out the logging program to see if there’d been any email traffic to the chemist’s computer. There wasn’t much on the computer, the chemist either was using another machine or hadn’t been doing much lately online. Toward the end of the file there was text from an email communication from Robert that mentioned Korea being a go, though it didn’t mention a time or location within the country.
Bill updated the website to include the information from the email, setting up the website on a different virtual machine to further obfuscate his location. He used the same anonymous remailer and sent off a note to Darren, letting him know the website had been updated. He logged on to the Nigerian server to do this and also updated the box on the site, telling Darren that he wished he had more for him but something was definitely happening in Korea soon. He kept the connection open between Nigeria and Czechoslovakia, in case Darren responded.
The email popped up late in the afternoon, Darren staring dumbly out the window, waiting for the clock to reach four so he could go home. There was no sense sitting around to fight more traffic, better to start the weekend early and surprise Monica again, which she was really getting used to. They were going to Virginia beach in the morning, planning on spending the day there and getting some sun.
He read the mail and thought that it was good but not enough to call in the Calvary. The timing and location weren’t qualified and there was nothing new in any of the chatter to indicate corroborating evidence but this was a very big break in terms of expressed intent on the part of the terrorists. Darren checked the website but found nothing new except for the note from Jack.
“Why don’t you come forward? I can offer you protection and by working together we could solve this faster.” He refreshed the screen every few seconds, hoping that there’d be a response. Darren thought if he could get some one on one time with Jack he might be able to talk him into coming forward.
Bill stared at the screen, thinking about what to say without giving himself away. He was stumped and couldn’t come up with anything. He simply typed “Can’t right now, will keep you posted. Jack”
Darren was mad but didn’t want to push Jack away from the case. He had brought consistent evidence and the Korea lead helped substantiate what had been claimed before and meant that progress was happening. He left for the weekend thinking that things were going to open up soon.
Chapter 25
Korean Impact
Park Jung’s head was swimming and his legs felt like lead as he tried to get out of bed. He needed to go to work, hadn’t missed a day at the factory in over fifteen years but his body wasn’t cooperating. He was having trouble breathing and felt feverish, probably had picked up the flu from someone at the plant. His wife Min was standing at his side, arguing with him.
“You need to stay home today, the factory will survive without you for one day. You will rest and I’ll cook some food to make you feel better.”
“I cannot miss work, don’t want to lose my job.”
“You never miss work, they will understand. I’ll send Ho over to tell your boss that you will not be in.” Ho was their grandson, who shared their home with their daughter and son in law, who was in the military and stationed in the north, helping to guard the border between North and South Korea.
The older man started to argue with his wife but his body won and he lay back down, his breathing shallow. He slept most of the day, lost in dreams brought on by the fever, most of them about jungles and being unable to cool down. His wife sat on the bed and tried to comfort him, but it seemed that he was getting worse. Maybe it was a twenty four hour flu and he’d be better in the morning, she thought as she placed the cold cloth on his forehead and prayed the fever would subside overnight.
That night neither of them slept, the man screaming in terror as the nightmares raged on. At dawn’s first light she ran to get the doctor, who came with bag in hand. Min hadn’t noticed the sores that were forming on Jung’s torso and face and stared in horror when she and the doctor returned to the house. The doctor called for an ambulance and stayed away from the man, not knowing what he had but determining that it looked like something that might be contagious. He followed the ambulance to the hospital and told the paramedics to leave the body until he had a chance to talk to the doctors in the emergency room.
The hospital staff prepared an isolated room to treat the man and took extra precautions to protect themselves from the threat of infection. Jung was brought in on a stretcher, barely conscious now. “If I didn’t know any better I would say that this looks like Variola Major but there hasn’t been a case of it in a very long time.” The lead doctor said.
“We better call someone fast, if this is smallpox it’s nothing I’ve seen before, especially since he only showed symptoms in the past twenty four hours. Seal off this room and bring in the entire family so we can keep them in observation.” The hospital administrator had been called in during the setup of the room. A physician himself, he’d seen smallpox firsthand when he was young and remembered how contagious it was.
