Derek Jorgensen had successfully recruited a number of Russian and Pakistani weapons scientists to join Odessa and work at the Einstein facility. Several of the scientists had worked at the Khan laboratories where Pakistan’s state-sponsored nuclear program had been born. After perfecting their nuclear arsenal, Pakistan then exported the weapons to customers, including terrorist organizations, around the globe.
“Welcome, comrade,” greeted Andre Kaspar, the Russian-born scientist who’d been recruited by Jorge Gruber to head up Einstein’s bioweapons program. Known as one of the world’s premier virologists, he’d been lured away from Moscow’s equivalent of the CDC by the promise of riches. He wasn’t interested in ideological battles. He wanted the good life like that of the Russian oligarchs, who traveled to Greece, Ukraine, and Georgia to enjoy women and fine dining.
When Kaspar left Moscow, he brought with him a sampling of smallpox from the State Research Center of Virology located in Koltsovo, Russia, together with two other scientists interested in a better life for themselves.
“Tell me about your progress, Doctor,” said the six-foot-four Wagner. He wasn’t one for small talk.
Kaspar extinguished his cigarette and quickly lit another one. The small lobby was the only part of Einstein where smoking was allowed. He inhaled deeply and turned toward the former KSK operative.
“Our first goal was to successfully extract the contents of the containers without creating a biological disaster. At your instructions, we limited our harvesting of the sarin to half of our supply and stored the other half within the laboratory.”
“What have you learned?” barked Wagner, growing weary of Kaspar’s smoking. His disapproving look was not lost on the scientist, who took one last drag before extinguishing the remainder of his cigarette into the sand-filled ashtray.
“Each canister contained sarin in either its pure form or as small sponges. We’ve tested the sponges and have concluded they were designed for deployment into a water supply or similar fluid.”
“Lethal levels?” asked Wagner as he followed Kaspar through an airlock and into a sterile hallway. The airlock sprayed both of the men with a fine mist that sterilized their clothing and removed the stench of cigarette smoke from Kaspar’s all-white surgical scrubs.
“Yes. Each sponge is remarkably uniform in their parts per million of the sarin. This will take the guesswork out of how many sponges to insert into a particular targeted location. As I explained to Herr Gruber on the phone, the most important step in the launch of a bioterror attack is the identification of the event and the location. Once we have that information, an appropriate amount of the sarin-soaked sponges can be determined.”
Kaspar gestured for Wagner to enter through a set of double doors into a large room with cubicles surrounded by computer monitors. Several Einstein personnel were working diligently at their computer stations, and the screens on the wall reflected their efforts.
Wagner stopped to study the monitors. Each one was labeled differently. “What are they working on?”
Kaspar stepped toward the walls. “There are a wide variety of routes of entry for biological weapons into the human body. Because of the enormous supply at our disposal, likely the largest in the world, by the way, we have many options.” Kaspar turned his back to Wagner and walked along the wall, pointing as he explained.
“The main routes of entry are inhalation, direct skin or mucous membrane contact, and via the gastrointestinal tract. Ingestion through food or drink is possible, but considered uncommon by many health organizations. Of course, their experience with sarin has been limited thus far.
“Here, we are working on various methods of delivery. Since sarin is a clear, odorless liquid, it can be aerosolized as a liquid spray or even in a light vapor form. Really, it’s quite remarkable in its lethality. It can contaminate water, food, the air we breathe, and, in aerosolized format, it can even contaminate agricultural products.”
Wagner continued to study the monitors. He pointed to the last screen on the end. “Combustible?”
“Ah, yes. A little-known fact. This is, once again, why the scientists at Riems Island were so remarkable. Most likely, through trial and error, they learned that sarin cannot be stored or transported in just any type of container. Sarin decomposes tin, magnesium, aluminum, and even cadmium-plated steel. In fact, contact with some of these metals may evolve the sarin into flammable hydrogen gas.
“Further, when heated, these containers can explode. Even if not purposefully heated, the vapors resulting from the decomposition, when mixed with oxygen, present an explosion hazard in any environment. The chemical properties of the sarin mixed with oxygen create a unique opportunity as an agent of biological warfare. The vapors are heavier than air. Once released, they will spread along the ground, collect and stay in poorly ventilated or confined areas such as sewers or basements. Lying in wait, if you will, until they are discovered or ignited.”
“Verdammt.” Wagner’s utterance expressed his amazement at the sarin’s deadly potential. He stifled his excitement and focused on the directive given to him by Derek Jorgensen. “Tell me about the lethality. How long does it take for the sarin to affect our targets?”
“Exposure to a nerve agent such as sarin can be rapidly fatal. For example, liquid sarin causes effects within seconds to minutes, and death occurs inside of ten minutes. Likewise, inhalation exposure is available on the same time course as liquid exposure to skin or the body’s orifices.”
“You made reference to ingestion,” interrupted Wagner.
“Yes. However, there are no studies available to identify a time course of effects following ingestion. When sarin was outlawed by international treaty, no further testing took place. To my knowledge, the ingestion method was never conducted on live creatures, even laboratory animals.”
Wagner thought for a moment. He was familiar with the work of Dr. Kurt Blome at Riems
