In the light of a blazing dawn, Jack Bauer, Layla Abernathy, and Tony Almeida watched the Peralta Storage facility collapse in on itself from the air. Burning cinders rose into the smoky sky. Howard and Crampton Streets were packed with emergency vehicles, lights flashing.
“There’s nothing more to see here,” Jack declared, directing the pilot to return to Manhattan.
Before they lifted off, Jack used a mobile Wi-Fi broad-band communications system to forward the contents of the enemy’s computer to experts at Langley.
Agent Foy was aboard Raptor One, on her way to CTU’s infirmary, where her injuries would be treated. Jack kept the laptop at his side once he realized it belonged to Said Kabbibi or one of his technicians.
“Morris, can you hear me?” Jack said into his headset.
“Loud and clear, Jack.”
“Any sign of the missing truck?”
There was a long sigh. “Jack, you’re asking for the impossible now. We’ve established the garage under the warehouse was too small to hold a large trailer truck like the other twelve vehicles, so we really don’t know what type of truck we’re looking for.”
“There must be something—”
“Peek out your window,” Morris interrupted. “There are quite literally thousands of trucks on the road right now. It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack while blindfolded.”
Jack bit back a curse. “Anything from Langley yet?”
“The bio-weapons experts are still reviewing the contents of the computer. Director Henderson urges patience.”
“Patience is no virtue when you’re running out of time,”
Jack shot back.
“Pithy, and well said,” Morris replied. “I’m going to remember that one.”
Layla Abernathy rested her hand on Jack’s arm. “Langley will come through,” she said. “They understand how urgent the situation is.”
Jack nodded, took a swig of water from a plastic bottle.
Across the bay from the pair, Tony slouched in a seat. Like Jack, he wore new scars from this day, and it wasn’t over yet.
Morris’s voice suddenly came on in Jack’s headset. “I have the Director of CTU’s Biological and Chemical Warfare Unit on line now,” he said. “I’ll put him through.”
As the connection was made, Tony sat up, adjusting his own headset. Layla tapped her foot nervously.
“Dr. Vogel here,” the Director began.
“What are we dealing with?” Jack asked without pre-amble. “Is it a biological or a chemical agent?”
“Both,” Vogel replied with equal bluntness. “The agent is called Zahhak, after a demonic snake of Persian my-thology, sometimes depicted with two heads. The name is apt because this substance brings death in two ways.”
“Explain,” Jack ordered.
“At first we thought we were dealing with a simple sarin compound,” Vogel replied. “Sarin, or O-Isopropyl meth-ylphosphonofluoridate, is a clear, colorless, and odorless nerve agent classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction. Sarin is nothing new, of course. It was developed in the late 1930s by German researchers looking for a better pesticide. What they created instead is one of the deadliest compounds on earth. Sarin has been used—”
“Zahhak is not sarin, then?” Jack interrupted.
“Not precisely,” Vogel said. “Like sarin, Zahhak is very unstable. It can break down in days, which is why Kabbibi needed a lab here in America to produce the weapon.
Various substances have been tried to make the agent more stable and increase its shelf life. A stabilizer chemical called tributylamine has been used in the past, with mixed results. Dr. Said Kabbibi tried something different, something revolutionary, and it worked.”
Jack’s impatience with the technician threatened to boil over. He opened his mouth to speak; Layla restrained him with a gesture.
“Layla Abernathy here,” she interrupted. “You said this was both a chemical and a biological weapon?”
“I was getting to that,” Vogel said testily. “Kabbibi initially tried to bond various bacteria with the sarin substance, hoping to make the chemical more stable. He tried many organics without success, until he stumbled upon bacteria called
“Two-prong?” Jack cut in.
“Let me explain,” Vogel said with a sigh. “A terrorist attack in the Middle East often involves two sets of explosive devices. After the initial blast and resulting casualties, emergency workers stream to the scene of the attack.
That’s when the terrorists unleash a second string of blasts, to kill those rushing to aid the victims.”
Jack frowned, recalling accounts he’d read of such dia-bolical attacks.
“When Zahhak is unleashed, the sarin compound immediately attacks the nervous system of its victims,” Vogel continued. “Symptoms present in minutes include runny nose, tightness in the chest, constriction of the pupils, nausea, drooling. Difficulty in breathing increases as the victims lose control of their bodily functions. They urinate.
Defecate. Vomit. Bleed from the nose and mouth. Death soon follows — but Zahhak’s threat doesn’t end there.”
“Explain,” Jack said tightly.
“The biological agent—
“Of what?” Abernathy asked.
“A condition commonly known as ‘flesh-eating bacteria’ occurs. The bacteria work too slowly to affect the initial victims of the gas, but their bodies and their bodily fluids are immediately contaminated with the bacteria.
“This is monstrous,” Layla whispered. “Emergency workers and hospital personnel would end up becoming the ones infected — emergency response would be taken out first.”
“It gets worse,” Vogel informed them. “Within minutes of dispersal through an aerosol dispenser, Zahhak forms a solid. In that state, the effects of the sarin are neutralized, but the malignant bacteria live on. In fact, it is virtually indestructible at this point. And the solid particles are mi-croscopic in size, so they become airborne, spreading the contagion across hundreds of miles.”
“Dr. Vogel, is there a vaccine or countermeasure to combat Zahhak?” Jack asked.
“Countermeasure?” Vogel replied, his tone bitter. “My colleagues and I are not precisely sure how this substance
or a pipe dream. Once Zahhak is unleashed, it is like a genie that can never be returned to its bottle.”
“What can we do?” rasped Jack.
“Stop it before it’s released,” Vogel replied. “In its liquid or gaseous state, Zahhak is very sensitive to moisture and heat, which is why Kabbibi needed liquid oxygen to keep the substance cool. Zahhak can be destroyed by heating it to a temperature above 160 degrees centigrade. It is also completely soluble in water — steam would be ideal to render the agent inert, but only in its liquid or gaseous state. Once it becomes a solid, there is nothing that can be done to contain its deadly effects.”
Vogel ended the call at that point, informing Jack he was scheduled to brief the President. Christopher Henderson came on line.
“Any thoughts, Jack?”
Bauer’s mind raced. “When I was talking to Dubic, and he believed he was talking to the Albino, Dubic said something about a rendezvous at the bull this morning. Is that a section of New York? A building, plaza, or
