by Finian Blake
“You have sixty seconds to remove everything that you wish to keep from your clothes.” Boris hurriedly emptied his pockets placing the contents on a chair. “Now, remove your clothes.” Boris stalled. “Strip naked or I will pluck you like a chicken.” Boris complied not wishing to be forcefully stripped in public. Nadia mercifully tossed him a pair of the bikini briefs that she selected. Next she tossed him a pair of silk boxers. “Boxers now Boris I don’t have all day.” James would have said something but he was snake fascinated by the bossy Amazon display that was developing before his eyes, wondering if she would do that in front of the camera.
Nadia looked at James, “All of the items selected are approved I need ten of each. Let’s go for outer wear.” Nadia left the changing booth pushing back out to the sales floor moving to the pants, she selected a few pair of jeans sending them to the changing room. She selected four pair of wash pants, bringing them back to the changing room. Boris was just pulling up a pair of jeans. Nadia studied the result, “I like the fit. We will take four pair of those. Boris went through three pair of wash pants before Nadia decided on a style, handing James the selected style. “We need 36 waist 30-inch inseam two pairs each black, brown, tan and green.”
Boris commented, “36-inch waist is tight.”
“Those were 38-inch waist that you were wearing and they were baggy. Two more weeks of screwing my sister and her girlfriend and 36-inch waist pants will be baggy. You are going to need a lot more protein in your diet if you keep pumping both of them.” James coughed loudly with disapproval. “My sister and her lesbian lover occasionally have an appetite for meat and threatened to kick the shit out of me if I molest him. Boris is the only man that passed the interview.”
He looked incredulous. Nadia lifted her blouse exposing the bruises and her breasts. “Nadia have you ever thought of being a movie star.”
“No, I couldn’t afford the pay cut. I now need dress shirts. I need sixteen neck and a twenty-nine sleeve. James showed her a line of boxes indicating two boxes with about fifteen shirts each in them. Nadia tossed one to Boris try that on. He did so finding that it fit perfectly. She selected three shirts pointing. “These are unacceptable, but we will take what is left in the two boxes.” Nadia went to the short sleeve knit shirts tossing one to Boris. Once again Nadia picked five shirts out of the size range and took the rest. Nadia moved to suits Nadia picked out five suits in a price range of $1,200 dollars each. She picked out four pair of dress shoes, four pair of casual shoes, three pair of tennis shoes.
James called for the tailor wishing that he could run the tape measure over Nadia. Nadia picked out a medium gray suit that only needed cuffs and sleeves adjusted. I want that suit ready by closing tonight.
He swallowed hard thinking of this commission. “I will deliver it personally. Just give me the address.” Nadia looked at the pile of merchandise on the counter. Let’s ring this up?” James went to work finishing up just as the tailor did. Nadia selected dark green wash pants, a pale green polo shirt and casual Eco shoes for Boris for the rest of his day. It was only just an hour and a half since they walked in the store.
James presented her with the bill half expecting her to declare that this was a joke. “With the tailor’s fees you are looking at $17,352.” Nadia calmly handed James her credit card without blinking. While her purse was open James looked inside seeing a stack of bills at least three inches thick guessing that they were not dollar bills. “Thank-you mam, if you will give me your address, I will be happy to deliver the suit personally.” He helped Xavier load the limo and watched the Bentley drive out of sight. James made a mental note to bring some friends with him when he delivered the suit.
Boris was concerned, “We have taken care of me what about the shopping that we were going to do for my mother and family.”
“Xavier, take us to the ‘Safe House’.” The car did not change direction and Nadia smiled. “We were heading there anyway. When they were getting their papers done, my sisters found out what they liked. We have furnished their apartments, stocked their food and provided cars for each family to use, so all that we have to do today is get your approval.” The apartment building was located on the outskirts of Baltimore. When the limo turned off of the main avenue, they passed between two small shopping centers that each held food stores. Xavier stopped momentarily for Nadia to point out the window. They have a food store, liquor store, hardware, barber shop, bank, gas station and three restaurants within a block of the apartments. Xavier drove down to the next corner pulling into a fenced parking lot. There were four Chevy Malibu parked in the covered parking. Nadia led the way. The neighborhood is good your mother can walk to the store if she wishes or somebody can drive her to the store. The Avenue is a bus route so she can take the bus too. There is a car assigned to each apartment so transportation is not a problem.” Nadia led the way into the building. Your mother is on the ground floor and this is her place. Nadia led the way around pointing out the different features with the final stop being the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator showing Boris that it was stocked and did the same with the pantries. “Each apartment is similarly stocked based on the preferences of the different families.”
Boris had tears in his eyes. “Why…?”
Nadia smiled broadly. “We need your expertise and access to secure files. We need to bring people like your friend Nikki over here too. Huge amounts of money can be made with the right help and the right information. We slip over the legal line when we use insider information to maximize our gain, but we still risk our money. Our remote viewing helps keep the risk small. The benefits are great and we spread the benefits among our friends.” Nadia wrapped her arms around Boris’s head smashing his head firmly into her cleavage, “Boris will you be our friend?” There was not a second’s hesitation.
“Most definitely, positively, without a doubt, I will be your friend.”
“Good Boris, we love our friends. You will not be going back to your lab tonight.”
“I will be staying here?”
“No you will have a bedroom here but you will be staying with Rhonda and Cherry tonight. First we are having dinner with many of the people that you will be working with and I will introduce you to my husband.”
“Husband…?” Boris sounded disappointed.
“Yes you will meet Ted tonight.”
Nabil took a one-ounce sample of rocket fuel placing it in a container putting a lighted flare with it and pressurized the container with oxygen until it burst. The resulting explosion was impressive. Figuring he had 40,000 times the fuel, he sat down at his computer and started to extrapolate the effective blast area. The devastation would be shattering. Everything within 100-yard radius would be leveled; the damage at 300 yards would be catastrophic and all of the glass within 700 yards would be shattered. Depending on the human concentration the blast could claim a few thousand. Nabil pulled up the video of the blast area and analyzed the cloud finding that the resulting fumes would have incredible hang time. Under the right circumstances tens of thousands would be affected.
Nabil took it one step further. The test blast was done after the container ruptured and the fumes reached the flame. He sat down at this computer figuring out what would happen if the blast occurred inside the container before it ruptured. Nabil was astounded when the results expanded by a factor of two point seven. A raw blast of 1,000 yards was incredible but 2,000 was beyond his wildest dreams. Maalik had to be notified. The total range of the effective blast would be around three quarters of a mile. This was a gift that we must use properly with exact timing. Nabil’s big challenge was to achieve ignition without losing pressure. It was time to have a close look at the trucks. Nabil went on line first not wanting to tip his hand to anyone. The most common kind of delivery truck was 2,500 gallons to 3,000 gallons holding the propane at 250 pounds per square inch and there was a blowout plug to prevent excessive pressure. From a variety of pictures there was usually an inspection plate held in place by several
heavy bolts, so there would be no problem getting the fuel inside. The plate could be drilled to introduce a high pressure line of any diameter. Nabil looked at the fuse plug noting that it could be easily disabled allowing the pressure to climb unchecked. He ran several models and found that oxygen could be introduced to the fuel at 3,000 pounds per square inch so that the mixture could be brought up to critical mass just before ignition. Nabil thought of many exotic ways to ignite the mixture not finding an attractive method. He needed a sure fire way for ignition.
Finally giving up for the evening Nabil decided to go out to his favorite restaurant for dinner. He was frustrated. He was an engineer and should have no problem with this small issue. He slammed the door to the car cursing the problem that eluded him. Nabil turned the key and the old Audi fired up with a back fire pop. He froze with a look of glee listening to the bucket of bolts firing all for cylinders in succession. Of course the engine had a controlled explosion in each cylinder. He would use a simple spark plug to set off the mixture. They even had remote starters now, so the bomber could be at a safe distance when the bomb went off. Nabil liked that idea since Maalik would have one of the women set the bomb off. That would probably be Uzma and Maalik did not know that she was the benefactor’s niece.
In his excitement Nabil drove straight to Maalik’s house, parking the car in behind a Chevy Suburban from four diamonds. Maalik motioned Nabil to pull up next to the other car. Maalik turned his back on the guest and made an angry face at Nabil.
“Come here my friend this is my boss Tom. He has come to express his regrets about Jamal and Haroun. It seems that there is a company life insurance policy and they did not put down a next of kin.”
“They were both young and we did not press the issue. It is both of our faults,” Tom said. “If you can give me a name we will amend the reports and the insurance will pay.”
Maalik shrugged, “I guess that their fathers would be next. I will have to call back home to get the addresses and proper names.”
Nabil was confused. “Does that mean that they did not do…?”
“The two issues are not linked. They died for what they did and the investigation has just begun.”
Tom really wanted to find out as much as he could about both men. One of the most important issues was finding out who was financing the operation.
“You would really pay the insurance?” Maalik was in disbelief.
“Your people believe in forgiveness,” Tom pointed out. “The father should not be punished for the sins of the son. It’s not much but $30,000 is still worth collecting.”
“Their families were not rich and the money will be a big help.” Maalik was thrilled that something could be done for the families.
Tom started to get in his car. “Oh, I have hired a new secretary and she is Moroccan. She transferred here from our French office. I was wondering if you would show her around. I believe that you may have seen her at one of the training sessions.”
“You forget that I work in the evening perhaps Nabil would be willing to help.”
Tom asked, “Nabil could I prevail on you. I would be willing to pay for dinner.”
“Perhaps tomorrow night, I promised to pray with Maalik for our brothers tonight.” Tom seemed to accept the excuse and left.
Maalik was decidedly unhappy. “Fool, I thought that we were not going to meet here. We have agreed that other places would be safer.”
“I know that we agreed but I have amazing news. I tested the rocket fuel. If it is prepared correctly we can devastate everything within a square kilometer. Nabil wanted revenge for Maalik’s lecture. “Have you selected a target yet?” Maalik’s jaw tightened in response to the question. Nabil continued, “Once we buy the truck it will take me two days to prepare it. We can make do with an auto mechanic if you can’t come up with a machinist, but we will need him soon.”
Maalik had to move. “What kind of a truck do we need?”
“A 3,000-gallon tank would be perfect. It could be an older truck that is mechanically reliable. It must be able to pass inspection but I suggest that we pick a target in Maryland or Washington otherwise we may have to stop at weigh stations. There are enough high density targets in the area to achieve our goal.”
“Nabil you have thought this out with great care what target would you suggest?”
A smile spread across Nabil’s face. “It is for our leader to choose. You need to make that decision or turn leadership over to me.” He stared into Maalik’s dark eyes waiting for the answer that he knew was coming.
Maalik’s eyes hardened, “Our benefactor made me the leader for a reason.”
“Then make a decision and lead. I will make your bomb and you will find me a liquid propane truck. We will also need a garage that we can modify the truck in. Do not take a short lease. Make it two years or longer.”
“But we will not need it for that long.”
“Don’t worry we will be leaving town afterward anyway. If you go for a short lease it will draw unwanted attention.”
Xavier took the limo to the temp agency next dropping Boris and Nadia off. Nadia was surprised to see Eden holding down the front desk. She was dressed in skintight stretch blue jeans and a tee shirt that was so tight that Nadia could see the texture of the lace bra that she was wearing. Topping off the outfit was a frizzy platinum blonde wig. Nadia and Boris both could not believe their eyes.
“Why are you working the front desk Eden?”
“Sera had to cook for the dinner tonight and volunteered me for the job. I was more computer literate than Rene. She didn’t like my truck stop tart comment and had me dress like this.” Eden had to laugh, “I guess that this isn’t so bad as far as hazing goes. They are sending a computer geek to fine tune our system so that we can sync with the FBI computers.” Boris stuck his head out from behind Nadia waving his hand.
Eden blanched, “Oh my god I’ve done it again!”
Boris stepped out with his hand extended. “I am not just a geek. I am a super geek, please call me Boris.”
“Eden this is Boris Baronov.”
Eden’s eyes flared, “As in Rocky and…”
“Bullwinkle…!” Nadia said trying to control her laughter. Boris joined the ladies in laughter too.
“Eden, take Boris in back and I will flip the closed sign out.”
Randal Byrne was cursing at a work station as Eden and Boris walked up behind him. “I can’t get into Nabil’s computer there is some kind of block that is refusing me.”
Boris smiled, “Please allow me.” Boris typed three lines of command and was in Nabil’s files in less than thirty seconds. “It appears that Nabil has been a very bad boy. He wants to make a big bomb and from his notes he believes that it will affect a three quarter mile area and the fumes will cause secondary respiratory problems for thousands of people down wind. I can’t tell if his conclusions are right but I will down load a copy that you can pass along. The good news is that he does not have a propane truck yet.”
Randal was seated bolt upright following Boris’s finger as it moved across the screen. “So you say that this could work?”
“I am a computer geek not a chemical geek. From my limited knowledge and his notes, this would be very effective.” Boris waved his hands at the screen. “He is an engineer with the EPA. Nabil knows how to test this shit. Randy I suggest that you get a copy of this. Get it to one of the FBI engineers making damn sure that it does not run through the EPA.”
“I will do that as soon as I reestablish the link to FBI headquarters. We lost it when I tried to use the code for the EPA.”
Boris pulled Randal’s chair back unceremoniously sitting down in a chair that Nadia rolled to him. Randal could not believe the speed at which Boris’s fingers moved over the key board. In less than two minutes Boris looked at Randal, “now, you will be able to access whatever you need to access.”
Randal gave Boris his best ‘who are you kidding’ look. “And how did you do that.”
&n
bsp; “I gave this computer a primary homeland security clearance. As long as you use this terminal, you can access any other computer in the system you want if you have the code and I can provide those for you.” Boris turned back to his computer. “I have dealt with Lenard over at the FBI labs. He can setup a back door operation for you.” Boris’s hands flew across the key board again causing the Skype camera to come on. A tired looking face appeared on the screen.
“Lenard I have a special request for you. I have a FBI Special Agent Byrne here and he wants to have some engineering notes evaluated.”
“Boris I am buried and I believe agents think that Special Agent means that they are special.”
“Lenard, do you want your computers to work when you come to work tomorrow morning?”
“Boris that is not funny. Put your ‘Special Agent’ on, but when this is done I quit. I have heard that there is a private group recruiting government geeks and I am going to go for the bucks.”
“$200,000 and you get to patent your discoveries if you give them license to use the discovery.”
“You Boris…?”
“They made me head geek…!”
Randal forcefully tapped Boris on the shoulder. “The information…!”
“Here it comes Lenard.” The four people watched Lenard scan the information on the screen. Lenard’s face contorted as he read the notes and after five minutes he looked up at the camera his face ashen.
“They missed a multiplier. The net effect will be twice that of what he figured.”
“You mean a mile and a half?” Randal choked.
“Yes there will be devastation for a mile and a half with collateral damage for an additional five miles. Depending on the wind it will cause respiratory effects for at least ten miles downwind.”
“Shit,” Randal muttered, “We don’t have enough evidence.”
Eden sputtered, “We know what they are going to do, just stop them now.”
“The laws of the United States of America apply to everyone even if they are not citizens,” Randal said. “We need enough evidence to convict them. We must watch and wait.”