Vector

chemical Ansul unit.

We're just making sure they rectified the oversight.'

'Let me see, ' Steve said.

'What, you don't believe me? ' Curt questioned. He slipped the copy of the violation from beneath the clasp on his clipboard and held it up in front of Steve's face.

'Well, I'll be a rat's ass, ' Steve said after glancing at the form.

'That's perfect.'

'Did you doubt a former Marine? ' Curt quipped.

'Screw you, ' Steve said kiddingly.

The two men continued toward the entrance, moving like military men with their heads high and their shoulders squared.

'This is going to be a perfect operation, ' Curt said under his breath.

'The largest FBI office outside of FBI Headquarters in D. C. is in here.

Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. It's going to be payback big time for Ruby Ridge.'

'I just wish there were more a.T.F agents here, ' Steve said. 'Then we'd be avenging Waco and the Branch Davidians at the same time.'

'The government's going to get the message, ' Curt said. 'Have no fear about that.'

'Are you really sure Yuri is going to come through? ' Steve asked.

Curt pulled his friend to a stop for the second time. People skirted them.

'What is it with you? ' Curt asked, keeping his voice low. 'How come all this negativity all of a sudden?

'

'Hey, I'm just asking, ' Steve said. 'After all, the guy's kind of a kook. You've admitted that yourself.

And he was a Commie.'

'He's no Commie now, ' Curt said.

'do tigers change their stripes? ' Steve asked. 'He's been saying some weird things lately, like wanting the Soviet Union to get back together.'

'That's just to be sure the nukes are safe, ' Curt said.

'I'm not so sure, ' Steve said. 'What about that comment he made about Stalin not being as bad as people think? I mean, that's crazy. Stalin killed thirty million of his own people.'

'That was weird, ' Curt admitted. He bit his lower lip, There were some loose screws in Yuri's brain, like Yuri not being content just to knock out the Jacob Javits Federal Building. He wanted to do a simultaneous laydown in Central Park so that the second agent would blow over the entire Upper East Side. His supposed rationale was to get as many Jewish bankers as possible. Curt thought that doing the Fed building was more than enough, but Yuri had been adamant.

'We've made a lot of effort on his behalf, ' Steve continued. 'We've had our boys steal those fermenters from the microbrewery over in New Jersey. We've been supplying him with all sorts of stuff.

We got the Klan to send up those crazy boxes of dirt from Oklahoma which Yuri said would have the bacteria he needed in it. Those guys down in Dixie must think we've gone crazy asking for dirt from a cattleyard.'

'Yuri said he could isolate the bacteria from it, ' Curt said. 'I read the same thing on the Internet, so it's legitimate.'

'Okay, ' Steve said. 'So it's true that botulinum bacteria and anthrax bugs are in dirt, particularly in livestock areas in the South, but what do we have to show for it. Nothing! Yuri's not shown us anything.

We've not seen any bacteria. We've not even seen this lab he's supposed to have built in his basement.'

'You think he could be taking us for a ride? ' Curt asked. The idea passed through his mind that Yuri might do his Central Park laydown and leave them high and dry.

'Anything's possible when you're dealing with a foreigner, ' Steve said.

'Especially a Russian. They've hated our guts for seventy years.'

'Ah, I think you're being paranoid, ' Curt said with a wave of his free hand. 'Yuri is not mad at us. And I know he wants to hit this Fed building. He's pissed at our government just like we are. They've refused to acknowledge his education. After all the years of schooling he's had, he's still driving a cab. Hell, I'd be pissed, too.'

'But we don't know he's had all the schooling he says he's had, ' Steve said.

'That's true, ' Curt said. There had been no way to check.

'Maybe this isn't the time to be talking about all this, ' Steve said.

'But now that we're on the brink of putting ourselves at risk going into this building when we are not supposed to, I wish we had more to go on to prove Yuri's doing his part.'

'Do you think there's a chance Yuri didn't work in the Soviet bio-weapons industry? ' Curt asked.

'I think he did, ' Steve said. 'He knows too much about it to be making it up, especially the personal stories like about his mother's death.

But what I've been asking myself is why the CIA wasn't more interested in him when he got to the U. S.

Maybe all he did was mop the floor instead of working on the production line like he's told us.'

'It was because he got to the U. S. too late, ' Curt said. 'Remember he told us about those two bio-weapons big shots who'd defected a couple of years before he got here. Apparently they told the CIA all they wanted to know, including how much the Soviet Union had violated the 1972 bio-weapons treaty.'

'All I'm saying is I'd like to see some proof of what Yuri's doing, ' Steve said. 'Anything.'

'Last week he said he was close to testing the anthrax, ' Curt said.

'I'd settle for that, ' Steve said. 'Provided the test works.'

'You've got a good point, ' Curt admitted. 'But I still think we should go ahead with this site visit.

We're not risking anything. especially with the captain out.'

'I guess you're right, ' Steve said. 'Especially with that violation notice you found.'

'So, you're game? '

'I'm game, ' Steve said.

The two men entered by way of the revolving door. They had to wait in line to go through the metal detector. Once through, they were directed to the maintenance office by the head of the security detail.

'So far so good, ' Steve whispered.

'Relax, ' Curt said. 'This is going to be a breeze.' The maintenance door was ajar. Curt preceded Steve and presented himself in front of a secretary's desk. The office was busy with people answering phones and typing into word processors.

'Can I help you? ' the secretary asked. She was a heavyset woman who was perspiring despite the air conditioning.

Curt opened his wallet and showed his lieutenant's Fire Department badge. The only time he wore the badge was with a black ribbon at funerals when he dressed in his class A uniform.

'Fire inspection, ' Curt said.

'Of course, ' the secretary said. 'Let me get the chief engineer.' She disappeared into an inner office.

Curt looked at Steve. 'Piece of cake.'

'Can you feel the amount of air movement in here? ' Steve asked.

'I do, ' Curt said.

Steve gave him the thumbsup. Curt nodded. He knew what Steve was thinking. The more the air moved around inside the building, the more efficiently the agent would be spread.

The chief engineer appeared a few moments later. He was a middleaged African-American, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie. Curt was taken aback. He expected coveralls and grease stains. Curt glanced briefly at Steve to see if he was equally surprised. If he was, he didn't show it.

'My name is David Wilson. What can I do for you gentlemen? I'm surprised you are here. There was no fire inspection scheduled for today.' David's tone was not confrontational, just questioning.

'That's correct, sir, ' Curt said. 'This is a nonscheduled visit to check up on the violation noted on the last inspection involving the grill downstairs. But as long as we're here, we'd like to run down the normal list and check the stand pipes, extinguishers, sprinklers, hoses, smoke detectors.. . you know, the usual.'

'The Ansul unit was installed immediately, ' David said. 'We sent the paperwork to the fire department directly.'