Browning Breath of Death

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4835-5222-4
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 179 Seiten

Matt Grayson thought his life under control until discovering he possessed the framework for a biological weapon. Those wanting control of this creation hunt Grayson forcing him to decide how to deal with this unexpected package. His decision will determine if his already distorted life will continue or end.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Browning, Clint

Leseproben

CHAPTER 5 Only four miles today. Trace Philby pushed hard to compensate for the abbreviated run, recalling when he had shared these type excursions with his friend, a man now too busy. Philby told him that D.C. had distorted his focus in life. He in turn had called Philby a fanatic with his six-mile run in the morning, one hour in the gym in the evening, six days a week. In the past, when John McCormick had joined him in these physical endeavors, any friendly competition between the two typically saw McCormick placing second to Philby. Maybe McCormick now chose to demonstrate his new power by calling a meeting where attendance was mandatory. The early morning call provided Philby a general idea of the meeting’s purpose, but had disrupted his morning regiment. Philby began his cool down walk stopping to stretch in front of his leased residence. The quaint ambiance of the classic structure fronted by the cobblestones of Prince Street in the Old Town section of Alexandria meant nothing to Philby. The contract service provided upkeep of the small courtyard on the side, which Philby never used, and a maid kept the inside clean. The place furnished shelter while in Washington, and the location provided a reasonable drive time to the office. Philby quickly showered and shaved. Being late for this appointment would be unacceptable. After all, he was meeting with the President of the United States. Philby washed the yogurt and the bagel down with coffee. McCormick was even having a bad influence on his diet. Retrieving his keys and attaché case, Philby paused at the dresser, looking at the picture of his family. “I miss you.” * * * Philby watched President John Q. McCormick pace around the conference room. “What have we learned since the CIA’s tip on the possible use of a biological weapon by parties unknown?” The National Security Advisor, Paul Patterson, spoke for the group. “Unfortunately, not much, Mr. President. Since the initial message warning of the potential threat, the informant failed to make contact at the next scheduled time. Considering past performance and informational reliability, the CIA is assuming the contact has been neutralized. In what is now deemed unrelated, the increased security in customs uncovered three shipments of cultures destined for the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Although the CDC constantly receives specimens, these were improperly labeled, not packaged according to CDC shipping guidelines, and without a shipping manifest. No one seems to know from where or whom these specimens came. The contents were identified as non-threatening. CDC’s read is the specimens probably originated from some well meaning but ignorant field person. In other words, no connection.” After a few moments of silence, Philby thought McCormick realized he now shared the group’s collective knowledge. “You’re telling me that some informant highly rated by the CIA is probably dead or if captured, we hope died quickly. Before we lost him, this person informed us that somewhere, possibly even in this country, work is progressing rapidly on biological weapons research by an unknown entity, and a test might be conducted within days at an unknown location. And the results of God knows how many millions of dollars expended in the last forty-eight hours are three lousy cultures, which the CDC claims were not intended to kill the population of the world. Does that about sum it up? This is ridiculous. A biological weapon is not exactly the same as throwing some bags of fertilizer and diesel fuel in a truck and detonating the load.” General Booker, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff leaned forward. “Actually it might be easier than fertilizer,” he said. “What?” “Yes, sir. Consider packaging. A biological weapon could be delivered in minute amounts without use of a weapon delivery system, such as a missile or the less conventional truck. Put a few pounds of some ugly microbe in the water supply and kill a few hundred thousand people. From an economic perspective, the biological weapon is also very cost effective.” “How did you reach that conclusion General?” asked Patterson. Booker leaned back. “Unit cost per kill. Developing a nuclear warhead costs millions of dollars. To kill a few hundred thousand people with one bomb calculates out to millions of dollars per kill. But to develop a biological weapon costs a few hundred thousand and can potentially kill several hundred thousand people. Almost a one-to-one unit cost per kill. Maybe better.” “Let’s say I accept that. From the information I have, even if I possessed the knowledge, I would still need a lethal element from which to develop such a weapon. Right?” Patterson spoke up. “This country maintains pathogenic biological agents in places as the CDC and the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Security measures certainly prevent such things from being stolen. Granted these building blocks could exist in other countries, but we have a reasonable feel for what they are doing.” Gerald Montague, director of the CIA, had offered nothing in the briefing, but Philby sensed that was about to change when the director cleared his throat and passed his hand over his head. “Mr. President, laws tightening commerce in biological materials are in place. However, prior to that, one could obtain some ugly bugs with relative ease. One case actually involved an individual obtaining a bubonic plague culture. There are other possibilities. During the twenty fourteen Ebola outbreak in Africa, a plane landed in Liberia with what appeared to be a World Health Organization support team responding to the situation. The flight crew remained with the plane maintaining extremely close security while the passengers disappeared for two days. I say ‘disappeared’ because they had failed to log their destination with the onsite control center. When this supposed WHO team returned, the plane departed without the usual checks. Later officials verified that the plane had not been registered to WHO. A few days later reports from four villages indicated that a group claiming to be health workers entered quarantined areas taking cultures. In fact, they were a bit more aggressive, desecrating bodies and, in some cases, taking samples from the living. One of the more extreme interpretations on the situation, they were harvesting Ebola virus. Also, Mr. President, over fifty universities in this country store level III pathogens, which are used in research.” Montague finished his somber message. “Bottom line. If someone possessed the knowledge to weaponized a pathogen, locating such an element would not be an issue.” McCormick finally spoke. “Gerald, you certainly know how to brighten my day. What about the dead professor referenced in this morning’s report? What’s his name and involvement in this?” “Terry Lange,” said Patterson. “We determined that Lange was the last individual leaving the vault at the Southern California Lab for Genetics where classified documents were discovered missing. The documents included information on unique biodefense research. We also discovered that Lange had transmitted an encrypted file to a Doctor Matt Grayson at the Applied Genetics Research Lab in Austin. Due to Lange’s status and the fact he sent data to Grayson, we asked some questions about Grayson. A team will be arriving shortly to place him under surveillance. We are considering Lange part of the threat because he was working on advanced vaccines and treatments for some of the nastier viruses. Primary one, Ebola.” “I thought a vaccine existed for Ebola.” “Treatment yes. Vaccine is still in the developmental phase.” “Do I want to know how you found out about the data transmission?” asked McCormick, as he stopped pacing. “No.” “Do we know what the data contained?” “We are still working to break the encryption and translate the content.” “Then what gives you any clue either of these men might be involved in this rumored test? That is what you’re telling me, correct?” “Lange is not a U.S. citizen, and this Grayson is a bit of a maverick. Thirty-one years old. His research in genetics runs somewhat out of the mainstream. He has developed advanced computer models through which he can identify and design molecular structures. But it’s his personal life that raises flags. It is non-existent. Seems to be an extreme loner, shy, highly intelligent.” “That probably describes the majority of those working in research. I still have not heard anything indicating this man is a potential terrorist,” said McCormick. “In Grayson’s case, it’s more what we did not find. His tax return from last year indicated an income in excess of three hundred thousand dollars derived from his position, honorariums, and patent royalties. Grayson’s bank account shows his monthly expenses to be a fraction of his income, but there is no surplus in his checking account. No other accounts were uncovered. There are no visible high cost items or extravagancies in his life. Therefore, it’s...