‘He is, Mr President, but he’s also one of the world’s leading authorities on the genetic engineering of viruses,’ Curtis replied bluntly, barely controlling his frustration that even here, the word ‘Muslim’ was automatically associated with terrorism and another planet. With the media continually painting every Muslim as a terrorist, what hope was there for the wider and much less informed public, he thought grimly.
‘The employment of Muslim scientists in this area is not without precedent, Mr President.’ The Secretary of State’s voice was calm and reasonable. ‘One of the most respected virologists in this country, and indeed internationally, Professor Imran Sayed, is also a Muslim. He was born in Pakistan, and he’s employed by the US Army at USAMRIID.’ Curtis O’Connor was grateful for the Secretary of State’s wise counsel, although he immediately regretted the comparison as he watched the Secretary of Defense make a note.
‘If this threat gets out, Mr President, and if the past record of some agencies is anything to go by, it will,’ Dan Esposito said, glancing at O’Connor, ‘we will need to be in a position for you as President and Commander-in-Chief to front the cameras and tell the American people that in the event of an anthrax or smallpox attack you will have the situation under control. The anthrax attacks on Senator Daschle’s office and the others just days after 9/11 unnerved the entire population.’ Esposito’s jowls were wobbling like a turkey’s wattle as his gaze shifted from the President to the other members of the war cabinet. ‘If the terrorists can get hold of bioweapons they will and if this new threat materialises we will need to be a damn sight better prepared than we were for the first anthrax scare,’ he said, looking back at O’Connor. Dan Esposito never missed an opportunity to direct the blame away from the White House towards those he disliked; everyone in the room knew that Esposito disliked the calm, confident O’Connor. That said, O’Connor saw things from both sides and he knew that Esposito was right about one thing; releasing a deadly biological weapon into the atmosphere could ultimately wipe out hundreds of millions of people. There was no doubt that the original anthrax attacks directed at Senator Daschle and others had signalled a new phase in the war on terror.
‘You will need to be in a position to tell the American public that we have enough vaccine stocks to vaccinate every man, woman and child who has not already been inoculated, Mr President,’ Esposito concluded, his face flushed and agitated. ‘That will send a powerful message that we have things under control.’
‘It might not be as simple as that, Mr President,’ Curtis O’Connor argued, ignoring Esposito’s glare of disapproval. ‘Once smallpox was eradicated we stopped vaccinating people. That was over twenty-five years ago. Vaccinations for smallpox only last twenty years, so most people are now out of date. Furthermore, the India-1 strain, which the Russians are known to possess, is the most virulent of all the smallpox viruses we’ve encountered to date. We only hold enough vaccine to vaccinate about one-tenth of the population, keeping in mind that our armed forces and emergency responders have first priority. But even then our current vaccines would most likely be ineffective against strains like India-1.’
President Denver Harrison was looking decidedly uncomfortable and he abruptly brought the meeting to an end. As Dan Esposito walked past O’Connor on his way out of the room, he stopped and leaned towards him.
‘I’m beginning to wonder whose fucking side you’re on, Agent O’Connor,’ Esposito hissed.
Curtis O’Connor swung wearily back to his desk. A stolen windmill, he mused. It wasn’t making much sense, but it would in time.
The first of Khalid Kadeer’s devastating warning strikes was planned for the target city’s most vulnerable point; cruelly designed to paralyse one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
CHAPTER 11
‘H as anyone ever tried to cross Ebola with smallpox?’ Vice President Bolton asked.
‘The Russians have but I’m not sure they ever cracked it,’ Halliwell replied. ‘You remember that guy who defected, Dr Kanatjan Alibekov.’
‘Changed his name to Alibek.’
‘He’s the one. Used to be the number two in the Russian biological weapons program, Biopreparat. After he spilled his guts on just what the Russkies had been up to there was a lot of speculation in the media. There’s no doubt they weaponised anthrax and smallpox. Alibek confirmed that but they also had a go at genetically engineering different strains. With a DNA virus like smallpox that’s no mean feat. It took years to perfect but the Russians were eventually able to combine the DNA of smallpox with Venezuelan equine encephalitis or VEE – a brain virus that causes a blinding headache that’s so bad it puts you in a coma; the problem is it doesn’t usually kill you. There was speculation that one of their key scientists, a guy by the name of Dolinsky, might have been able to combine smallpox with Ebola, which is an RNA virus. Unlike the double stranded smallpox, Ebola’s RNA consists of a single strand of ribonucleic acid and I’ve not seen anything to confirm he was able to put them together – not on the open record anyway,’ Halliwell added, hoping that the Vice President might disclose more information from classified sources. Halliwell had long been fascinated with the prospect of a super virus and he’d followed the open speculation as closely as anyone at Langley or USAMRIID.
‘Dr Eduard Dolinsky?’ the Vice President asked.
‘That’s him. Pity he’s on the wrong side. He’s one of the best virologists medical science has ever produced.’
‘Interesting you should raise him. Dolinsky’s name came up a few months back when cabinet was discussing the Daschle anthrax attacks,’ the Vice President said. ‘We’ve got some intelligence that he might want to defect, although an agent called O’Connor and the CIA are putting their usual negative spin on it.’
‘Any idea why he’d want to defect?’ Halliwell asked, his interest well and truly aroused.
‘Not sure, although I gather that he’s working somewhere in Siberia so that might have something to do with it. Would he be useful to you? If he is, O’Connor and his friends can be tasked with getting him out,’ Bolton said with a sneer, not for the first time letting his vindictiveness override the need for security.
‘Someone like Dolinsky would be very useful. If we could overcome the technical problems, Chuck, a super virus like Ebolapox would not only spell the end of the Beijing Olympics, it would put those little bastards back years, perhaps decades.’
‘A super virus is no respecter of international borders, Richard,’ the Vice President said. ‘I don’t give a shit how many millions of Chinese we wipe out – the more the better – but we’d want to make damn sure we had a vaccine to protect Americans, especially our athletes, before we released it.’
‘You’ve hit the nail on the head, Chuck,’ Halliwell agreed, reaching again for the bourbon bottle. ‘Dolinsky is one of the few people, perhaps the only one, who could develop both the virus and its vaccine quickly. I can look after the distribution in Beijing,’ Halliwell said, knowing that money would fix that problem, ‘but I’d need your help to get the virus in through the black bag.’ Halliwell’s voice was strangely energised. The pieces were starting to fall into place and Halliwell could sense his destiny as the saviour of a grateful nation. Dolinsky was the missing link he’d been looking for. Provided the American nation had a vaccine for protection, a super virus would not only cause tens of millions of deaths, devastating the Chinese and their rampant economy, but the entire world would be clamoring for a vaccine that only Halliwell would be able to deliver.
‘That won’t be a problem,’ Bolton replied.
‘Dolinsky would be able to lead the development program but he would need two of our top scientists to help him,’ Halliwell said.
‘Just two?’
‘The fewer people that know about this, the better, Chuck. Genetic engineering has come a long way and provided they’re at the top of their field, two will be enough. You think you can sell it in Washington?’
The Vice President’s smile was cold and humourless. ‘I sold the idea of a new $500 million Biosafety Level 4 complex for you and I’ll be working on the contract for the production of smallpox vaccines as well, which comes in at another half a billion. The last time I looked your contracts in Iraq this year topped $300 million,’ he added meaningfully.
‘You will find there will be $10 million of that in your Bahamas account by the end of the week,’ Halliwell replied, just as meaningfully.
‘How vulnerable is the Beijing Olympics to this sort of attack?’ the Vice President asked.
