Recall to Arms

by Frank Perry

things off, “As you all know, we have confirmed nuclear weapons in our area. Four of ten deployable warheads from a Soviet ICBM have been seized but six are still unaccounted for. I would like Rachael to brief you on the people and the group we’re up against then I want Agent Gallagher and Colonel Shields to fill in details from their last twenty four hours.”

  The briefings were given without visual aids. Chicago was the presumed target city, although there could be other cities.

  At the conclusion, Sam said, “Okay, we know how the bombs are to be detonated. The delivery mechanism is a fleet of taxis. In a few minutes, we’ll have a conference call with the Department of Justice, which may include the Department of Defense, and someone from the President’s office. I want to be sure you all understand the gravity of this situation and the necessity to remain 100% accurate in everything we say, no speculation. Is that clear?” Everyone acknowledged.

  Using the speakerphone embedded in the conference room table, Sam dialed the number of the DOJ Situation room. They heard one ring before a voice responded, “This is the Attorney General, to whom am I speaking?”

  “Mr. Secretary, this is Special Agent In Charge of the Chicago office, Sam Lee. With me are my staff and members of various other departments that are involved in our situation.”

  The Attorney General said, “Okay, with me are the senior representatives of DOE, DOD, DOJ, NSA, DHS and several members of the President’s staff including the National Security Advisor.” Several muffled ‘hellos’ were heard.

  Attorney General Javier Hernandez continued, “First, I want to thank all of you for responding to this crisis. Especially, I want to acknowledge Special Agent Luke Gallagher for sniffing this thing out so quickly, and also Peter Shields for his persistence in seeking reinstatement in the military, which I understand has resulted in capturing several nuclear bombs.”

  Lee said, “Yes sir, we are fortunate to have perceptive and motivated people here.”

  Hernandez continued, “Alright then, Sam, please explain your situation so everyone here is ready to help. We want to cut through any red tape. Many of the folks here are making themselves the principal points of contact for your team. I will be sending an email today with everyone’s contact information.”

  Lee commenced to tell the whole story with as much brevity as he could.

  Hernandez said, “Okay Sam, you need to brace yourself for reporters. I’m sorry, but the citizens must know that we have a nuclear threat. Much as I’d love to give you more time without alerting the terrorists, we can’t keep this from our people any longer. We hope we can avoid mass hysteria, but let’s face it, nothing this dangerous has happed before.”

  ”Understood sir, when will the announcement come?”

  Hernandez answered, “We’ll have some written statements issued by DHS in a couple hours, and I expect the President to address the nation tonight.”

  Lee said, “Thank you sir, we understand.”

  Plan Change

  One of the houses rented by Masood was a dilapidated farmhouse near Aurora, IL. Razzaq was staying there because he’d not gone there before, and he could see the road in both directions. There was an old barn to hide the cars. He needed to accelerate the timeline. Since Woodstock had been discovered, the enemy was getting closer. He needed to maintain surprise. All of his soldiers were called to the farm. They were to call his cellular phone five miles away to be observed. They could enter the driveway only when authorized.

  By seven o’clock that night, all men were at the house. Their planning meeting lasted until midnight. The “soldiers of god” were given their assignments and commanded to remain hidden.

  The President

  The National Security Council had been convened, along with the Joint Chiefs and four Cabinet Secretaries in the White House situation room for several hours as the raid on Woodstock was underway. The debate on information release was heated. In the end, it was decided that the people needed to be informed about the threat, and the Office of the President had arranged for a prime-time news briefing on a “matter of national emergency.” At eight o’clock EDT Monday evening, he gave a speech from the oval office.

  Good evening, my fellow Americans.

  I requested this time tonight to acquaint you with facts about a matter threatening our country.

  About two weeks ago, the FBI discovered evidence that a missile warhead, that is believed to contain ten nuclear explosive devices, may have been smuggled onto the United States mainland.

  Subsequently, a massive undertaking by our law enforcement, military and intelligence agencies was able to verify the existence of the warhead and to recover four of the explosive modules.

  These four nuclear bombs are now safely in our custody.

  Six explosive devices are still unaccounted for tonight.

  All of our resources are being employed to locate them and the people who may intend to use them against us.

  The four bombs that we captured were located in suburban Chicago, Illinois.

  We have reason to believe the six remaining bombs may also be in the Chicago area at this time.

  Let me stress that we have not received any threats or any timetable when these bombs might be used.

  We have activated the National Emergency Operations Center and are working closely with Illinois state and Chicago law enforcement, operating at Chicago’s Emergency Operations Center.

  Rest assured that all our resources will be working around the clock until this matter is resolved.

  I would ask for calm and for your understanding as our most severe emergency measures are taking place.

  I have declared a federal state of emergency for northern Illinois, and may extend this into neighboring states. The Defense Department and the Intelligence agencies are directed to provide all available resources to the State as necessary.

  Finally, as more information becomes available, I will keep you informed.

  Thank you.

  The Patriot Plan

  Everyone at the FBI office had gone home by midnight. Most had been up for forty hours, or more, and were exhausted. They were all back in the office before eight o’clock. A few hours of sleep and a shower revived them as they continued operating on adrenalin.

  Peter was the first person in the office, followed by Angela and several others. Luke slept the longest. Angela formed a theory overnight and wanted to share it with the team.

  With everyone assembled, Sam asked her to brief everyone. She was nervous, but addressed the group in a professional manner: “Some of what I’m describing is conjecture, and some is fact, but I think this story holds together. We need to understand the connection between the Patriot taxis at Woodstock and the remaining bombs.

  “Individual bombs would fit inside the trunk of a standard taxicab. I bet the Woodstock team witnessed the missing bombs exiting the building in the taxis.

  “If you remember, they counted ten marked vehicles and two plain white cars. Something spooked the terrorists before they finished converting all the cabs.

  “They knew about our discovery of the bomb site because they attempted to blow up the bombs, probably when their guards didn’t check in. Maybe our raid in Villa Park spooked them, we don’t know.”

  She went on, “Anyway, why use taxis? They can’t drive outside the city without attracting a lot of attention, right? On the other hand, the Patriot taxis are ubiquitous in downtown Chicago. At times, there must be a thousand cabs in the city.”

  Someone asked, “Are you saying that all six nuclear bombs are aimed at Chicago? Why waste all six on one city?”

  Peter interjected, “Actually, that wouldn’t be many, a typical ICBM package would use most of the payloads to destroy one downtown area. A bomb with a yield of one megaton wouldn’t destroy an entire downtown area. More likely, the original ten, or even the remaining six, in a grid pattern would be used together, causing catastrophic damage.”

  Angela went on,
“If the six bombs were all exploded downtown, we could lose most of the people and buildings. I did some on-line work this morning. The bomb used by McVeigh in Oklahoma City was equivalent to less than one ton of TNT. We’re talking one thousand times that amount for each bomb, and the downtown area of Chicago is pretty compact.”

  Angela finished, “I would expect an attack at morning rush hour, so the Middle Eastern countries would still be awake to get the news.”

  Setting the Stage

  Angela had articulated what others had been thinking. They needed a plan.

  Sam asked, “Okay, does anyone have any ideas where to begin?”

  Over the next several hours, the team developed a broad strategy focused first on isolating the vehicles. In parallel, they would focus on locating the terrorists.

  Luke and Angela were assigned to work on the taxi strategy. Peter and Rachael worked on intelligence sources. Employing DOD and NSA assets, persistent monitoring of various communications media could help locate the ‘bad guys’. Peter felt they might be able to pinpoint the transmitter used to send detonation signals. The receiver at Woodstock could be used to identify the transmit frequency. He speculated that there would be system checks of the detonators before the attack ensued.

  NSA would focus on interpreting electronic signals from, or to, Chicago. They would use super computer technology to isolate suspicious phone dialogue, email and facsimile communications.

  Rachael took the assignment to coordinate with NSA, and Peter would work the DOD side.

  Taxi Company

  Taxis were not actually owned by the Patriot Company. Angela was able to get a profile of the organization, even though there is no webpage. The official name was actually the Patriot Dispatch Company, Inc., which manages the assignments of the cabs and the standards for the taxi owners. She worked with the Chicago Department of Commerce to get the contact information for the Midwest Regional VP, located in Chicago. Patriot operated in several large cities. She called Charles (Charlie) Jones and set up a meeting at the FBI building.

  Charlie was a small man with poor skin and bowlegs. He wore a tropical shirt and had a Chicago Cubs baseball cap on his head. The title “Vice President” did not fit the physical image of the man that was escorted to a small conference room. Luke closed the door and Angela positioned herself across the table from Charlie. She began, “Mr. Jones, we appreciate you coming to our office today, and hope it isn’t a major inconvenience.”

  Jones said, “Heck no, that’s okay. Can you tell me what this is about?”

  Angela answered, “Sure, would you like something to drink?” Her hospitality just seemed to make him more nervous.

  ”No, that’s okay.”

  Angela went on, “All right, did you hear the President’s address last night?”

  With a quizzical look, he responded, “Okay, so you think our company’s involved?”

  Angela said “Actually, we don’t know much about your company, but we are investigating the possibility that taxis might be used to transport explosives into the city by terrorists. The Patriot cabs must be considered.”

  Jones said, “My company doesn’t actually own any cabs. We set up a distribution agreement with independent operators who own the cars. In some cases, owners have many cars and hire drivers, but a lot of them drive one or two themselves. We have pretty detailed contracts that control the conditions for operating a cab with our logos.”

  “How many cabs operate in Chicago under the Patriot brand?”

  ”Roughly, we have about eight hundred taxis in the Chicago branch.”

  “How do you keep track of so many?”

  Jones answered, “We have an online scheduling program that the drivers log onto each morning giving us their active or inactive status. On any given day, about fifteen percent are down for repairs or driver non-availability.”

  Angela said, “If we needed to contact the owners or drivers, or inspect the cars, can they all be identified?”

  “I think so, we have pretty good information.”

  They continued the dialogue for about an hour. Jones was cooperative and agreed to provide a computer file with all of the current Patriot taxi franchisees. He also agreed to update the information whenever a new cab was added, until the FBI was no longer interested.

  Intelligence

  In parallel with the discussions involving the taxis, Peter and Rachael were on separate phone calls arranging for surveillance equipment and personnel to be sent to Chicago. Peter knew the Air Force had some sophisticated electronic eaves-dropping equipment that could listen and decipher cell phone signals based on key words or word patterns in any language. Another function was the ability to locate the exact direction to the signal quickly. The process involved selected transcripts developed at the Army’s SIGINT facilities at either Ft. Meade or Ft. Huachuca. The Air Force specialists were both ground and air based. Following capture of voice data and analysis, specific phone numbers could be monitored. This intelligence capability led to numerous captures in the Iraq war.

  The NSA ELINT capability would be utilized in Washington, DC. In this case, the intelligence analysts would develop search criteria, similar to the processes used by the USAF to distill down to “signals of interest.” Post analysis of the data could lead to specific computers.

  All of the techniques were highly classified. A secure website would be used at the FBI office for data updates as they occurred.

  Within an hour, three EC-130H COMPASS CALL aircraft stationed with the 55th Electronic Combat Group (41st and 43d Electronic Combat Squadrons) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, were en route to Scott Air Force Base in central Illinois. These were highly modified versions of the C130 cargo planes, temporarily assigned to the Illinois Air National Guard, reporting to the State’s Adjutant General, who holds the military rank of Major General. They would arrive at Scott in about four hours. An OH-58 Kiowa helicopter was dispatched to carry Peter and Rachael to Scott. Using three aircraft would permit continuous coverage over the Chicago area flying in eight-hour shifts.

  The EC-130H had a crew of 13 people. Four members were responsible for flight and navigation (aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator and flight engineer), while nine members operate the electronics. SIGINT operations began at midnight on Tuesday, a few hours after the FBI team finished briefing the air force crews.

  Peter dozed on the flight back to Chicago, while Rachael enjoyed the ride flying at low altitude in the Kiowa. They landed on the roof of the federal building, which was quiet except for the team members working through the night in the office. Rachael went to an empty office for a few hours of sleep on a couch.

  Razzaq’s Re-plan

  With the President’s announcement, there was chaos in the city. Many of the people were leaving town. With heightened security, the chances of a coordinated attack were small. To be successful, Razzaq had to kill as many people as possible, or the President would claim his warnings saved lives.

  He reset the time for attack as Wednesday, seven days away. They could attack sooner, but he wanted security to relax following the President’s announcement. He was aware that the Americans have superior intelligence techniques, although he had no specific knowledge about it.

  Twelve other men were living in the building with him and they had no amusements except talking, praying and reading the Koran. Given the finality of their mission, they were eager to live a little longer. But, like all men, living too close together with no diversions, not even soccer, wore on their nerves. Razzaq found some of them using their cellular phones. He tried to stop it, but it was difficult to enforce. Most of his men were illiterate and could not comprehend danger as he did. His engineer was educated, but he was also Russian and not accepting of martyrdom.

  At the federal building, the conference room was abandoned as the team moved to the second floor of the building, which was vacant. Chicago police, Mayor’s office, Gove
rnor’s emergency management staff and the National Guard were quickly filling the space. Within Chicago, the 911 Emergency Communications Center was activated. Unfortunately, no one knew how long the crisis would last. Even with the horrendous threat, there was no panic and the Government people were united.

  Wednesday city traffic was lighter than usual and most employers were closed. Police were on patrol and erratic or unusual driving was dealt with severely.

  The Patriot taxi information was sent to Angela’s email address. If the scenario were correct, almost all Patriot taxis would be legitimate. They had to find the bad cars quickly, with absolute accuracy.

  Many federal personnel were constantly in communications with Washington. Through this interface, Luke found himself on the phone with the Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA is one of the most secretive in the Government due to dangers their people face every day, with agents embedded in drug smuggling operations. Some of the agency’s operations require tracking vehicles, and sophisticated tracking technologies have been developed. Luke was given a number to call and instructed to use a private office and a secure phone line.

  After dialing the number a voice on the other end answered, “Hello, please identify yourself.” Luke did so and repeated a series of numbers he was instructed to use to validate the call.

  “Agent Gallagher, my name is Ben Harris and I work in the Drug Enforcement Agency development laboratory. I’m not a field agent.”

  Luke said, “Okay.”

  Harris continued, “I understand that you may need to locate specific vehicles in traffic, and track them, is that right?”

  “We think there could be a nuclear attack using cars disguised as taxis. We can identify the valid cabs, about eight hundred, and we’d like to know if there is some way to identify the good ones from the bad in everyday traffic. We need to find up to ten fake cabs in city traffic.”

  Harris said, “Okay, I may be able to help. If you could find the fake cabs, we could put a transponder aboard with a number ID; but, tracking hundreds at one time in a close area is not practical if you need fast decision criteria.”

  Luke said, “We can’t locate the bad guys, so we’ll need to track the good cabs.”

  “All right then, will the cabs cooperate?”

  Luke answered, “If you mean, will they allow us to tag their cars, we can’t assume that.”

  ”Okay, can you get the cars in some kind of a situation where you could spray a clear compound on the roof?”

  “What do mean?”

  Harris answered, “We have a process we call Hotwax that uses a clear coating on a vehicle that can be seen with laser lighting using special goggles. It really is hot wax, one of the new polymers with an extra ingredient. We usually apply it in a car wash, and it lasts for months. The