His name is Alisama alZawami. You are holding him in a secret location in Montreal, Canada. The world thinks al- Zawami is dead, but we know differently. You have kept him captive, without trial, for over two years. It is time for you to release him.
“These demands are not negotiable. If you choose not to deal with us in a civilized manner, we will have no alternative but to inflict incredible casualties on your population. We will be in contact with you again soon, Mr. Rothery.”
The screen went black. J. D. Rothery walked across the room and switched on the lights. “How the hell does this guy know about al-Zawami?” he asked the room in general.
No one spoke for a few seconds. Tony Warner asked, “Who is this al-Zawami person?”
Rothery returned to his seat. He glanced at Jim Allenby and Craig Simms, but neither man spoke. “We captured Alisama alZawami about twenty-six months ago when we raided an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. It was simply a stroke of incredibly good luck. It was a joint operation with the FBI and the CIA, so Jim and Craig are in the loop on this one. This guy is one of the silent al-Qaeda leaders-not well known, but very intelligent and focused. He isn’t as militant as many other al-Qaeda leaders and has even suggested mediation to some problems rather than violence. We consider him to be a highly influential moderate in the al-Qaeda organization.”
“Then why would this Islamic Front for Justice want him and only him released?” Warner asked.
“No idea,” Rothery said.
“The guy on this DVD sounded more like a moderate than an extremist,” Jim Allenby said. “His tone was conciliatory, like he wanted to negotiate, not just release the virus.”
“Perhaps,” Rothery said. “I’ll have some experts watch the footage and see if they can figure out who this guy is or where he came from. But the bottom line is we still don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
“But this time you’re in a position where you can negotiate without anyone ever knowing,” Craig Simms said thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?” Rothery asked.
“These guys have asked for one-point-five billion in cash. That can be done on the sly without causing a lot of ripples. And so far as releasing al-Zawami, no one knows we have him. We could do it quietly, and nobody outside a very small circle would ever know we had met their demands.”
“Jesus, Jim. They’re threatening to unleash a plague on the country. Try to keep that in mind. The stakes here are extremely high. This isn’t just black and white. It’s very gray.” Craig Simms’s face was red as he glared at his FBI counterpart.
“Keep in mind you’re not the only one with a family, Craig,” Allenby said icily.
“Okay, enough,” Rothery said. “We’ve got a problem, and now we’ve got a deadline. We know when they plan to release the virus and we know what their demands are. So right now, we’re in a better position than we were an hour ago.” He rose and paced about the room. “Straight off the top, this information remains inside this room. There will be no mention of the deadline to the press or to any member of your staff without top-level clearance. Is this clearly understood?” Everyone in the room nodded silently.
“Jim, this is going to fall mostly on yours and my shoulders, as the threat is inside our borders. Craig, we’ll be looking for everything you can give us, despite the fact that the CIA is prohibited from using their powers domestically. Tony, get your rocket scientists at Crypto-City to calculate every conceivable method of releasing this virus on a mass scale. Every time you get another new scenario, forward it to Jim’s office. Jim, you take the information from NSA and run with it. If they say that the virus could be introduced through contaminated cups at Starbucks, get to the factory that makes the cups and check it out. Nothing falls through the cracks.
“Tony, I want you to follow up with the pharmaceutical companies trying to decode this virus. Especially GlasoKlan. They were the ones who had identified the nucleic acid genome. Stay on top of every advance these research groups make. If we can come up with a method to fight this virus, we’ve got bargaining power with these guys.” He stopped pacing for a moment and turned to Edward Henning. “Dr. Henning, what’s your take on all this? How much danger are we in?”
Henning was thoughtful and took a few seconds to choose his words. When he spoke, it was in a clear and concise manner. “We are in very serious trouble, Mr. Under Secretary. If the terrorists are serious about releasing the virus in one week, their method of doing so is probably already in place. It may be too late, even for them, to stop it. And although they appeared quite composed and ready to bargain in good faith, I doubt that is the case. My feeling is that no matter what you do, they’re going to release the virus.”
The room was absolutely silent.
“In my opinion,” Henning said quietly, “you have only one option. Find something to combat this virus.”
“And if we can’t?” Rothery said.
“Then be prepared for the terrorists to unleash the virus. And be prepared for it to be a lethal dose.”
51
Jennifer finished the last of her twenty-five laps in the pool and toweled off. The sun was hot for mid- September and the mercury was static at eighty-nine. Logically, September should be hot; technically, it was still summer until the twenty-first. She wrapped the towel around her waist, walked barefoot back through the lobby, and took the elevator to the fourth floor. Gordon let her in when she knocked.
She dressed and dried her hair, put on a few touches of makeup, and joined Gordon at the small table next to the bed. He was splitting his time between the computer, which was tied in to the Internet, and the television, which was locked on CNN. It was the top of the hour and a serious-looking man in his thirties was giving an update on the biological terrorist threat. Jennifer stood next to Gordon and watched the broadcast with her hand on his shoulder.
“There are conflicting reports as to whether the government task force, headed by J.D. Rothery of the Department of Homeland Security, has actually received demands from a group calling themselves the Islamic Front for Justice. Rothery and his counterparts from the FBI, CIA, and NSA are all denying there has been any communication. But CNN has information that appears to be authentic that indicates Rothery’s task force was issued an ultimatum yesterday. The ultimatum contains two as yet unknown demands with a deadline of September twenty-third. If that is true, the government has six days to avert what could become al-Qaeda’s deadliest strike against Americans on their own soil. When asked about the ultimatum, Rothery’s reply was terse.”
Rothery appeared on the screen walking into L’Enfant Plaza. The small printing in the corner read, “Saturday, September 17, 11 A.M.,” two hours earlier. Rothery did not stop moving as the reporter asked him about the demands but shot back a barbed reply. “I don’t know where you guys are getting your information, but you’re going to panic a lot of people for no reason.” The camera caught his back as he entered the building and then the screen flashed back to the reporter.
“This is Jason Langen reporting from Washington, D.C.”
Gordon set his hand on Jennifer’s and they interlocked fingers. “This is getting serious,” he said. “That Rothery guy looks pretty stressed.”
“He’s in the hot seat, all right. I wouldn’t want to be him right now.”
Gordon turned slightly to face her. “I’ve been surfing through some of the files on Enron and I’ve got an idea.”
“What’s that?” she asked, sitting on his knee.
“The securities commission are the big dogs here. They’re the ones who can bite. If we give them what we’ve got on Veritas, it’ll turn the heat on Andrews. He’ll be too busy trying to patch things up before the commission begins a formal investigation to worry about us. And once the securities auditors get their noses into the books, Andrews is in serious trouble.”
