Cobra Event

by Preston, Richard

  diener. Assistant at an autopsy.

  DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid. An extremely beautiful molecule, in the shape of a ribbon twisted into a double helix. It carries the genetic code in living creatures.

  dry-line source. A source of powdered weapons-grade bioparticles that is moving in a fine, thus dispersing

  the particles in a line. The line of particles spreads downwind over a potentially huge area of territory. Engineering Research Facility (E.R.F.) A building at the F.B.I. Academy at Quantico where supersecret electronic research and development is carried on. Also the present location of the F.B.I.'s Hazardous Materials Response Unit.

  Epidemic Intelligence Service (E.I.S.). Part of the Centers for Disease Control dedicated to investigat­ing outbreaks of disease.

  epidemiology. The study of epidemics of disease. explosion test chamber. A closed steel chamber where aerosolized biological weapons are tested (aerobiol­ogy) on animals.

  Felix. A fictional machine in a briefcase that rapidly sequences or 'decodes' the DNA of living organisms. forensic science. The scientific study of physical evi­dence at crime scenes.

  gene. A length of DNA, generally around 1,500 bases long, that codes for a protein or an enzyme. genetic engineering. The manipulation of the genetic material of an organism in a laboratory in order to make an organism with different characteristics. genome. The entire complement of DNA of a living organism.

  Hand-held 'Boink' biosensor. A partly real, partly fictional biosensor device that can almost instantly detect approximately twenty-five dangerous infective pathogens.

  Hazardous Materials Response Unit (H.M.R.U.). The unit of the F.B.I. dedicated to forensic and emergency analysis of nuclear, chemical, and biological substan­ces.

  HEPA filter. High-efficiency particle-arrestor filter. Used to trap biological particles in the air, thus purifying the air.

  hot agent. A lethal biological weapon or naturally lethal infective organism.

  Johnston Atoll Field Trials. The large-scale testing of biological weapons done by the U.S. military between 1964 and 1969 in areas of open sea downwind of Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

  Koltsovo Institute of Molecular Biology. A virology research complex near Novosibirsk, in Russia. laydown, biological (informal). The release of a biologi­cal weapon into the air.

  Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. A genetic disease inherited only by boys. Caused by damage to a single gene, it results in a bizarre manifestation of stereotyped self­injury, biting of the lips, fingers, and arms, as well as aggression directed toward other people.

  Maalin, Ali Maow. A cook in Somalia. In late October 1977 he had the last case of naturally occurring smallpox on the earth.

  midbrain. The top of the brain stem; connects with the underside of the cerebrum. It controls such things as the action of the pupils in the eyes and respiration. It is evidently connected to primitive responses, such as feeding, chewing, and aggression.

  nuclear polyhedrosis virus. Also known as the bacu­lovirus. A large, unique insect virus, the genes of which don't seem to be related to any other organism on earth. Has the ability to convert the body of an insect into 40 percent virus material by dry weight. The virus particle has a rodlike shape (baculo means 'rod' in Latin). The virus particles occur inside large crystals of a protein called polyhedrin.

  Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (O.C.M.E.). The medical examiner's office for New York City, situated at 520 First Avenue in Manhattan. Pasechnik, Vladimir. The first, and by no means the last, major defector from the Soviet (and now Russian)

  bioweapons program. He was head of the Institute for Ultrapure Preparations in Leningrad (now St Peters­burg).

  pathologist, pathology. A doctor who studies diseased tissues and who performs autopsies.

  polyhedrin. A crystalline protein manufactured in cell nuclei during infection with nuclear polyhedrosis virus.

  prosector. The person in charge of an autopsy, who does the dissection.

  recombinant virus. A virus made in the laboratory by the mixing (recombination) of genetic material from other viruses. Also known as a chimera.

  rhinovirus. The common cold virus. Comes in more than one hundred types.

  Sioc. Strategic Information Operations Center at F.B.I. headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. Sioc is a radio-secure complex of rooms on the fifth floor, equipped with videoconfer­ence capability.

  smallpox. Variola virus. Causes blistering and pustules on the face and arms. Is incredibly contagious and highly lethal in human populations that lack immun­ity to it. One of the scourges of human history.

  Snow, Dr John. An early epidemiologist and London physician who identified a water pump on Broad Street in London as the source of a cholera outbreak in 1853.

  strategic weapon. A weapon capable of destroying an army or a city or a nation.

  Sverdlovsk accident. An industrial accident resulting in the release of powdered weapons-grade anthrax into the air that occurred during the night of April 3, 1979, in the city of Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Russia, causing at least sixty-six deaths.

  swab. The central tool in the arsenal of the biological­

  weapons inspector, used for rubbing and sampling surfaces. Looks like a long Q-Tip, but has a wooden handle and a foam tip. When used with good laboratory backup, can potentially reveal the presence of black biology.

  tech agent (F.B.I. term). An F.B.I. agent who specializes in the operation of technical equipment, much of it electronic surveillance gear and communications equipment.

  transmissible. Contagious.

  United States Public Health Service. An unarmed branch of the U.S. military services, and one of the oldest. Now a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its responsibilities include the operation of the Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.).

  UNSCOM. United Nations Special Commission.

  UNSUB (F.B.I. term). Unknown subject; unknown perpe­trator of a crime.

  USAMRIID United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. The Army's principal biodefense lab.

  viral glass. A term used by the author to describe a glasslike material containing highly concentrated dry virus particles.

  virus. A disease-causing parasite smaller than a bacte­rium, consisting of a shell made of proteins and membranes and a core containing the genetic material DNA or RNA. A virus can replicate only inside living cells.

  weaponized, weaponization. A very difficult term to define in the area of biological weapons. Many experts define true weaponization as the act of mass produc­tion, preparation, and loading of biological material into a bomb or warhead or other delivery system. In this book, I deliberately use the term 'weaponization'

  to also refer to genetic engineering of a microorgan­ism for the purpose of creating a weapon. By my definition, the creation of a recombinant virus for use as a weapon is de facto weaponization.

  Acknowledgments

  The number of people who contributed to this book seems astonishing. It is a reflection of the necessary complexity of any federal bioterror action.

  I am profoundly grateful to my editor at Random House, Sharon DeLano. Her editorial judgment went into every detail, from the wording of sentences to the order and structure of scenes, and she contributed some important ideas, especially in the characters of Tom Cope and Alice Austen, and toward some of the twists at the end.

  In the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drew Richardson, the head of the Hazardous Materials Response Unit (H.M.R.U.) at Quantico, and Randall S. Murch, chief scientific officer of the F.B.I. laboratory in Washington, provided generous amounts of time and help. Randy Murch invented the term `universal foren­sics'; Will Hopkins's description of it at the Sioc meeting follows Randy's own words to me, although the angry skepticism voiced by the man at the White House does not exist in reality. Other H.M.R.U. people at Quantico gave help, especially David Wilson and Anne Keleher, and I ow
e thanks to Bruce Budowle, Cyrus Grover, Keith Monson, Kenneth Nimmich, and John Podlesny for their time. At the New York field office, Joseph Valiquette showed me around and gave me a lot of his time. At the

  F.B.I. laboratory in Washington, thanks to William Bodziak, F. Samuel Baechtel, Jennifer A. L. Smith, and Deborah Wang. I am also very grateful for the coopera­tion and assistance of the staff of the F.B.I.'s Public Affairs Office.

  At the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Richard Goodman, Stephen Ostroff, and Ruth Berkelman have been supportive friends and helpful minds. I Spent many pleasant days interviewing officers of the Epidemic Intelligence Service: Frederick Angulo, Lennox Archibald, Susan Cookson, Marc Fischer, Cindy Friedman, Jo Hofmann, Daniel Jernigan, Elise Jochimsen, David Kim, Orin Levine, Arthur Marx, Paul Mead, Jonathan Mermin, John Moroney, Don Noah, Pekka Nuorti, Nancy Rosenstein, Jeremy Sobel, and Joel Williams. Others at C.D.C. generously gave their time: Dan Colley, Marty Favero, Randy Hanzlick, Brian Holloway, Robert Howard, James Hughes, Rima Khabbaz, Scott Lillebridge, William Mar­tone, Joseph McDade, Bradley Perkins, C. J. Peters, Robert Pinner, and C.D.C. director David Satcher.

  Dr Frank J. Malinoski encouraged me from the very Start of thiS project. AS an eyewitness and participant in Several sensitive visits to Russian biowarfare facilities, he provided me with key insights into the reality of biological weapons in Russia. Many thanks also to Judy Malinoski for her personal Support.

  At the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Mary­land, Peter Jahrling provided extremely valuable insights, and thanks to USAMRIID commander David Franz. At the U.S. Navy Biological Defense Research Program, in Bethesda, James Burans provided a great deal of supportive friendship, not to mention unmeasura­ble hours of answers to my questions; and many thanks to William Nelson, David Frank, Gary Long, Beverly

  Mangold, and Farrell McAfee. Former undersecretary of the Navy Richard Danzig encouraged me in a literary Sense: he helped me believe that the subject was important and that words could be found. Many thanks also to Pamela Berkowski.

  At the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, many thanks to Ellen Borakove, David Schomburg, and Robert Shaler. At the Medical Center at Princeton (New Jersey), I am indebted to pathologists Elliot Krauss and Thamarai Saminathan and to diener Daniel Britt for allowing me to participate in a human autopsy. My notebook from that day is stained with blood and cerebral fluid, for they permitted me to have a hands-on experience as a reporter. And many thanks to Daniel Shapiro.

  The New York subway historian and expert Joe Cunningham helped me with the final chase scenes in the subway, and we spent many happy days tramping all over the city, especially above and below ground on the Lower East Side, inspecting tunnels, pacing out distan­ces, mapping action. Robert Lobenstein of the New York Transit Authority gave generously of his time, and I am also grateful to Roxanne Robertson for her help and supportive friendship.

  For expertise with the virus, I am especially grateful to Malcolm J. Fraser of Notre Dame University. Whatever scientific follies exist here are my fault and certainly not Mac Fraser's.

  At the Chelsea Garden Center in New York City I had valuable help from Betsy Smith and Nina Humphrey - it was Nina's idea to use forsythia as the plant that produced the grain of pollen in the Story. At the New York Botanical Garden, many thanks to Kevin Indoe for help with the pollen grain.

  Other experts gave interviews and time: Lowell T. Anderson, Anthony Carrano, William E. Clark,

  Sr, Frances de la Chapelle, Freeman Dyson, D. A. Henderson, Stephen S. Morse, Michael T. Osterholm, Marie Pizzorno, David Relman, Barbara Hatch Rosen­berg, H. R. 'Shep' Shepherd of the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Foundation, Jonathan Weiner, and Frank E. Young.

  Some of my most important sources did not wish to be named. I hope they will accept my profound thanks here. They know who they are.

  A number of people gave help under trying circum­stances as this book was being published. At Random House, special thanks to Joanne Barracca, Pamela Cannon, Andy Carpenter, Carole Lowenstein, Lesley Oelsner, Sybil Pincus, and Webb Younce. Also at Random House, Harold Evans, Ann Godoff, and Carol Schneider deserve thanks for their early enthusiastic support. At Janklow & Nesbit, special thanks to Lynn Nesbit, Cynthia Cannell, Eric Simonoff, and Tina Ben­nett. I am very grateful for the heroic work of the staff of North Market Street Graphics, especially Vicky Dawes, Lynn Duncan, Jim Fogel, Steve McCreary, and Cindy Szili. Nicole LaPorte, Matt Lane, and Harold Ambler gave emergency assistance. Many thanks to copy editor Bonnie Thompson, and thanks to my personal assistant Cheryl Wagaman for her deft work.

  Above all, loving thanks to my wife, Michelle, ever my guide star.