by Frank Perry
attached. Surrounding the property was a rusty chain link fence. The gate was locked with a shiny chain and padlock.
Trailer Inspection
The police used a bolt cutter to open the gate wide for truckloads of equipment that had arrived. Police barricades blocked both ends of the street. Since it was after nightfall, the lighting trailers were placed adjacent to the dock and farther out in the parking lot. A large generator powered the lights through thick extension cords. One cord was placed on the dock for halogen lights to see inside the cargo van. Police officers broke through the office door at the end of the dock and began searching with flashlights.
The Seavan doors were open. Inside, the interior was like any other semi-truck trailer, long and narrow with no windows. The floor was strewn with wooden structures that looked like oversized pallets, plus a lot of packaging rubble. No evidence of a weapon could be seen.
Military trucks drove into the lot as the National Guard CSTs arrived. A Lieutenant Colonel named “Gates” approached the dock and vaulted up without using the stairs and asked to speak to whoever was in charge.
“I’m Agent Gallagher of the FBI.” He introduced Angela and gestured toward Chief Hoover.
Gates said, “Mr. Gallagher, we’ve been asked by the Governor’s office to provide support. My team is here to help if we can. So, how can we help?”
Luke answered,” Can you check for nuclear radiation in this trailer or the property here?”
Gates responded, “Is this a drill? Guess not, judging by your expressions. Yes, if there is any residue, we should be able to detect it. If we can locate enough, it can be analyzed later for its origin.”
Luke said, “Excellent, what should we do?”
“Just get out of the way and let my team go to work.”
A few minutes later three men dressed in yellow hazmat suits climbed the stairs to the dock carrying bulky bags of equipment. Colonel Gates stood aside and introduced his team. “This is our radiation team. That is Captain Horatio Scott our Radiation Safety Officer (RSO). The two guys with the equipment are Sgt. First Class Larry Bents and Sgt. Tim Holmes. The equipment they are deploying is a new ‘AreaRAE’ wireless gamma radiation sensor. In a few minutes, they will sweep the trailer. If they detect any residual radiation, markers will be painted, indicating the location. After the van, they will check the dock and the building. They can even check the parking lot around the truck if you want.”
Luke responded, “We’ll stay out of the way. How about some coffee if I can find a store nearby?”
Chief Hoover volunteered, “Actually, our Mobile Ops Center will be here shortly and will have refreshments aboard.”
Angela had gone into the building to help the search. Luke stayed with the Guardsmen. Shortly after beginning the search; a spray can of yellow luminescent paint was used to make an arrow pointing to a spot on the floor of the vehicle. A decimal number was painted also. Gates said, “They’re indicating the center of the ‘hot’ spot. The numbers indicate the intensity of the radiation reading.” Before long, the trailer had several marks on the floors and walls. A somber mood was evident around the area.
Two hours were needed to survey the dock and the building. The large doors leading from the dock to the interior were not opened to prevent air circulation. As the CSTs finished the interior, it was evident that the nuclear devices had been all over the interior of the building.
Luke said, “I’m no expert, but it looks like they might have disassembled the warhead and separated the MIRVs in here, judging by all the markers.”
Gates reacted, “Warhead!”
Luke retracted, “Sorry, that part’s classified.” Gates was the only one in earshot. Angela approached with her preliminary assessment.
“There are a couple offices and an open bay area up front. The rest of the building is this large open area. Except for the support beams, it’s essentially one big single-story shell about ten thousand feet of floor space with fifteen-foot ceilings. It’s probably just a distribution company.”
Luke said, “Is the electricity on? How about the phones? Chief, can you track down who owns the building?”
Chief Hoover said, “We should be able to get all that information, but it’ll have to be in the morning when people are at work.”
”That’s okay.”
When the CSTs finished, it took about half an hour for them to get out of their gear and stow equipment. The gamma detector was plugged into a laptop computer. Gates signaled for the federal agents to come to his HMMWV where the data was displayed on his computer, on the hood of the truck.
Gates commented, “This graph shows traces of weapons-grade enriched uranium inside the truck. Graphs of the other hot spots show the same material was present around the building. Some areas are more intense. Since you mentioned a warhead, I’m guessing there could be multiple bombs inside that might’ve been detached in here.”
Luke said, “This’s exactly what we needed Colonel.”
Angela asked, “Can you tell how many bombs were inside? Also, are the radiation trace amounts dangerous? Should we notify the EPA about this place?”
Gates answered, “Well, I’m not sure how many, since they could have been moved around to several locations in here, leaving traces each place.
“I’ll be sending you an e-report with a copy to the Kenosha PD department. I’m also obliged to send a report to the State Radiation Safety Officer, so this thing will probably get some attention.”
Luke said, “All right, but please mark it with the highest classification you can. This is extremely sensitive, publicity would jeopardize our case.”
“Understood.”
Trail from Kenosha
The agents departed from Kenosha after midnight. They knew phones were ringing all over Washington, DC. Since it was late, Luke dropped Angela at her apartment then drove the Government car to his place. He agreed to pick her up at six in the morning.
The next day they stopped at a doughnut shop for coffee and muffins, and were in the office before 7:00. The SAC and several other people, probably from Washington, were already in the conference room. They joined the meeting.
The conference room had laptops and wiring everywhere. More Washington bureaucracy was evident, judging by all new faces. Sam introduced them en mass and asked Luke to brief the group on yesterday’s discovery. Rachael Aston was the only familiar face and the others were all older than him.
Luke led them through their findings and asked Angela to fill in details about the physical structure of the building.
Sam asked, “Okay people, does anyone have any questions?” None did.
“So, I’d like to get organized. We need to proceed under strict security with the assumption that we have multiple nuclear devices in the US, possibly still in the Chicago area.
“We have senior personnel from all the federal agencies including ATF, DOJ, DOE, DOS, DOC, and DHS. Rachael Aston, from DOD, will coordinate with the security agencies.” He identified her.
“Each day at 1800 we will have a teleconference in this room with the Attorney General and other agencies at the Bureau’s conference facility. Agent Gallagher will remain the agent in charge of this investigation, but will coordinate closely with everyone. From this moment on, consider this a war room. Does anyone have anything to say?”
Rachael said, “Sam, I would like to schedule a security briefing at one o’clock today.”
Lee finished, “Okay, please get organized. We have about five hours before Rachael’s briefing. I apologize for the cramped quarters and we are looking for additional space in the building. Until we get more offices, this will be home. I expect that we will all be working long hours and we will be arranging for meals to be brought in for those who are not out in the field.”
Luke could only imagine how tired these folks were. Most had to have been called last night and ordered to Andrews Air Force Base for a flight to Chicago. The adren
alin was flowing freely.
Security Briefing
From the time she was a little girl, Rachael Aston stood out in a crowd. She was five feet eleven inches tall in her early teens. She was introverted, and did not mingle much with other girls. With limited friendships, her passions revolved around riding her horse and playing the piano. Attending prep school in Connecticut, she studied hard and excelled in all subjects. She did not date anyone seriously. Her father was a partner in a New York City law practice, which influenced her career choice. When she graduated at the top of her class in high school, she had her pick of colleges, choosing Boston College. She enjoyed living away from her parents, and the city provided the intellectual stimulation to begin asserting herself. It was okay to display her intellect; she enjoyed opportunities to debate issues with students around the city. With more than 300,000 university students in close proximity, her linguistic skills were tested constantly. She loved it and developed a different persona. Her parents were delighted with her transformation. She also “blossomed” as an engaging beauty.
After lunch, everyone was assembled for the meeting. Rachael connected an LCD projector to her laptop and made a statement that the information was classified as “Top Secret,” then began with some picture slides.
“The following three slides will show you damage to our Marine Barracks in Beirut and scenes from