He hesitated and appeared to stutter. “Uh. Um. No. I do not. Please, I must go.”
Seconds later, the professor had fled his classroom and left the Gray Fox team alone.
Cam walked quickly to the door to confirm the professor had left the hallway. She saw him hastily walking toward the stairwell, where he glanced over his shoulder slightly before disappearing through the door. She turned to Gunner.
“What the hell was that all about? He looked like he’d seen a ghost.”
Before Gunner could answer, Bear joined in the inquisition. “Who is von Zwick? Dude freaked out when you mentioned his name and then ran like hell when you mentioned this place called Jamel.”
Gunner patted Bear on the shoulder and motioned for Cam to exit the room. “I’ll explain in the car. I wasn’t sure I was going to bring this up just now, but after the way things went, I needed to shock Herr Professor Brandt out of his comfort zone.”
“Why?” asked Cam.
“He lied to us the entire time.”
Chapter Seventeen
Odessa Science Facility
Greater Caucasus Mountains
Gabala, Azerbaijan
Daniel Wagner anxiously paced the floor as he awaited the arrival of Andre Kaspar, the Russian scientist and head of Einstein’s bioweapons program. Kaspar had been tasked with creating a deployment method for the sarin to be introduced into the central heat and air system in the U.S. Embassy located in Baku, one hundred thirty miles to their southeast.
Wagner was already uncomfortable with his mission to levy a first strike upon the United States. Derek Jorgensen wanted quick results, and this was the closest American target to Einstein. The native Azerbaijani people were predominantly Shia Muslims, who leaned toward an Iranian-Turkic appearance. His squad looked like they were the poster boys for Aryan Nation magazine, if there were such a thing.
Since Wagner brought his operatives from the KSK to join Jorgensen within the Odessa organization, he’d had scant time to recruit members of his team from the wide variety of cultures around the world. Jorgensen had tasked him with creating the functional equivalent of the American CIA. That would take years of recruiting and vetting of operatives.
Fortunately, through Odessa’s relationships with Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, several names were suggested to him, and he had them flown into Baku to be interviewed. He still intended to include half a dozen of his best operatives on the strike team. However, their German dialect coupled with their strong jawlines and primarily blond hair would cause them to stand out among the Azerbaijanis.
While he waited for Kaspar, he pored over the satellite images and recon photos taken by his team over the last forty-eight hours. The embassy was located in the heart of Baku, surrounded by high-rise residential complexes and consumer service venues. Movie theaters, supermarkets, and shopping centers surrounded the embassy complex.
The neighborhood was filled with pedestrian traffic, allowing his operatives to blend in with the locals. Extraction of the team was not going to be difficult. There were several means of transportation at his disposal and several routes leading away from the embassy.
Insertion was another matter. The key to success was execution. Anytime there were multiple moving parts in any complicated piece of machinery, the chances of a catastrophic failure loomed large. The same was true of a complex operation like this one. Wagner shook his head as he contemplated what the next twenty-four hours would bring. A simple bomb would kill everyone inside the embassy, but it would not have the desired worldwide effect. Killing was easy; instilling terror on a large scale required forethought and planning.
“My apologies for being late,” announced Kaspar as he rushed into the room with two scientists in tow. Each of them carried a cardboard box in their hands as if they were cradling a newborn baby. “We have the first two devices available to show you.”
Wagner’s eyes grew wide as he studied the body language of the scientists. He pointed at the boxes. “Are those hot?”
“Yes, of course,” replied Kaspar. “The required temperature has not—”
Wagner cut him off. “I mean, do they contain the sarin?”
“Yes, but they are harmless until activated. There is no threat of accidental leakage.”
Wagner was still unsure and didn’t give in to his curiosity to take a closer look. The two scientists set the boxes on the conference table and stepped away so Kaspar could explain.
“As we agreed, the best, most efficient method of deployment is to utilize the air-conditioning system. I trust you’ve obtained the necessary schematics?”
“Don’t you worry about that,” replied Wagner rudely. He didn’t like to be questioned by anyone other than a superior. “All you need to worry about is providing me a single primary delivery method and six secondary ones.”
Kaspar bristled, but he brushed off Wagner’s brusque nature. He was anxious to have the German out of his building.
“These are two of the six secondary devices. The other four are being assembled and will be available within hours.” He reached into his lab coat and retrieved a pair of nitrile gloves. After slipping them on, he reached for one of the devices and continued his explanation.
“We began with a Honeywell discharge air temperatures sensor, commonly referred to as DATS. In a normal system, this duct-mounted temperature probe has the ability to control heating and cooling equipment by sensing air temperature. It sends a signal cutting off heating or cooling elements when the thermostat’s desired temperature is reached. It is a common device used in heating and cooling systems since the year 2000 and, if your research is correct, has been installed in all U.S. embassies and consulates since 2008 as part of eco-friendly initiatives.”
“Yes, that has been confirmed,” said Wagner.
“Good. Your insertion team will exchange these DATS devices with the existing ones, which they’ll find located near the major air vents throughout the building. I will leave it up to you to determine the six locations providing the maximum impact.”
“We’ve done that. What if there is no existing sensor device in a particular location?”
“It doesn’t matter,” replied Kaspar. He
